Early Bird Or Night Owl? Genes vs Environment

10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

A Sliding Slope?

In Tuesday’s newsletter, we asked you how much control you believe we have over our sleep schedule, and got the above-depicted, below-described, set of responses:

  • 45% said “most people can control it; some people with sleep disorders cannot
  • 35% said “our genes predispose us to early/late, but we can slide it a bit
  • 15% said: “going against our hardwired sleep schedules is a road to ruin”
  • 5% said “anyone can adjust their sleep schedule with enough willpower”

You may be wondering: what’s with those single-digit numbers in the graph there? And the answer is: Tuesday’s email didn’t go out at the usual time due to a scheduling mistake (sorry!), which is probably what affected the number of responses (poll response levels vary, but are usually a lot higher than this).

Note: yes, this does mean most people who read our newsletter don’t vote. So, not to sound like a politician on the campaign trail, but… Your vote counts! We always love reading your comments when you add those, too—often they provide context that allow us to tailor what we focus on in our articles

However, those are the responses we got, so here we are!

What does the science say?

Anyone can adjust their sleep with enough willpower: True or False?

False, simply. It’s difficult for most people, but for many people with sleep disorders, it is outright impossible.

In a battle of narcolepsy vs willpower, for example, no amount of willpower will stop the brain from switching to sleep mode when it thinks it’s time to sleep:

❝Narcolepsy is the most common neurological cause of chronic sleepiness. The discovery about 20 years ago that narcolepsy is caused by selective loss of the neurons producing orexins sparked great advances in the field

[There is also] developing evidence that narcolepsy is an autoimmune disorder that may be caused by a T cell-mediated attack on the orexin neurons and explain how these new perspectives can inform better therapeutic approaches.❞

~ Dr. Carrie Mahoney et al. (lightly edited for brevity)

Source: The neurobiological basis of narcolepsy

For further reading, especially if this applies to you or a loved one:

Living with Narcolepsy: Current Management Strategies, Future Prospects, and Overlooked Real-Life Concerns

Our genes predispose us to early/late, but we can slide it a bit: True or False?

True! First, about our genes predisposing us:

Genome-wide association analysis of 89,283 individuals identifies genetic variants associated with self-reporting of being a morning person

…and also:

Gene distinguishes early birds from night owls and helps predict time of death

Now, as for the “can slide it a bit”, this is really just a function of the general categories of “early bird” and “night owl” spanning periods of time that allow for a few hours’ wiggle-room at either side.

However, it is recommended to make any actual changes more gradually, with the Sleep Foundation going so far as to recommend 30 minutes, or even just 15 minutes, of change per day:

Sleep Foundation | How to Fix Your Sleep Schedule

Going against our hardwired sleep schedule is a road to ruin: True or False?

False, contextually. By this we mean: our “hardwired” sleep schedule is (for most of us), genetically predisposed but not predetermined.

Also, genetic predispositions are not necessarily always good for us; one would not argue, for example, for avoiding going against a genetic predisposition to addiction.

Some genetic predispositions are just plain bad for us, and genes can be a bit of a lottery.

That said, we do recommend getting some insider knowledge (literally), by getting personal genomics tests done, if that’s a viable option for you, so you know what’s really a genetic trait (and what to do with that information) and what’s probably caused by something else (and what to do with that information):

Genetic Testing: Health Benefits & Methods

Take care!

Don’t Forget…

Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

Recommended

  • Cold Medicines & Heart Health
  • Blueberries vs Elderberries – Which is Healthier?
    Elderberries triumph with twice the fiber, more vitamins, and abundant minerals compared to blueberries—earning our berry top pick!

Learn to Age Gracefully

Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:

  • Older, Faster, Stronger – by Margaret Webb

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    The author, now in her 60s, made it her mission in her 50s to become the best runner she could. Before that, she’d been a keen runner previously, but let things slip rather in her 40s. But the book’s not about her 40s, it’s about her 50s and onwards, and other female runners in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and even 90s.

    There’s a lot of this book that’s about people’s individual stories, and those should certainly be enough to prompt almost any reader that “if they can do it, I can”.

    A lot, meanwhile, is about health and exercise science, training methods, and what has worked for various later-life athletes, including the author. So, it’s also partway instruction manual, with plenty of reference to science and medical considerations too.

    Bottom line: sometimes, life throws us challenges. Sometimes, the best response is “Yeah? Bet” and surprise everyone.

    Click here to check out Older, Faster, Stronger, and become all those cool things!

    Share This Post

  • Managing [E-word] Dysfunction Reactions

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!

    Have a question or a request? You can always hit “reply” to any of our emails, or use the feedback widget at the bottom!

    In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!

    As ever: if the question/request can be answered briefly, we’ll do it here in our Q&A Thursday edition. If not, we’ll make a main feature of it shortly afterwards!

    So, no question/request too big or small

    We had several requests pertaining to veganism, meatless mondays, and substitutions in recipes—so we’re going to cover those on a different day!

    As for questions we’re answering today…

    Q: Information on [e-word] dysfunction for those who have negative reactions to [the most common medications]?

    When it comes to that particular issue, one or more of these three factors are often involved:

    • Hormones
    • Circulation
    • Psychology

    The most common drugs (that we can’t name here) work on the circulation side of things—specifically, by increasing the localized blood pressure. The exact mechanism of this drug action is interesting, albeit beyond the scope of a quick answer here today. On the other hand, the way that they work can cause adverse blood-pressure-related side effects for some people; perhaps you’re one of them.

    To take matters into your own hands, so to speak, you can address each of those three things we just mentioned:

    Hormones

    Ask your doctor (or a reputable phlebotomy service) for a hormone test. If your free/serum testosterone levels are low (which becomes increasingly common in men over the age of 45), they may prescribe something—such as testosterone shots—specifically for that.

    This way, it treats the underlying cause, rather than offering a workaround like those common pills whose names we can’t mention here.

    Circulation

    Look after your heart health; eat for your heart health, and exercise regularly!

    Cold showers/baths also work wonders for vascular tone—which is precisely what you need in this matter. By rapidly changing temperatures (such as by turning off the hot water for the last couple of minutes of your shower, or by plunging into a cold bath), your blood vessels will get practice at constricting and maintaining that constriction as necessary.

    Psychology

    [E-word] dysfunction can also have a psychological basis. Unfortunately, this can also then be self-reinforcing, if recalling previous difficulties causes you to get distracted/insecure and lose the moment. One of the best things you can do to get out of this catch-22 situation is to not worry about it in the moment. Depending on what you and your partner(s) like to do in bed, there are plenty of other equally respectable options, so just switch track!

    Having a conversation about this in advance will probably be helpful, so that everyone’s on the same page of the script in that eventuality, and it becomes “no big deal”. Without that conversation, misunderstandings and insecurities could arise for your partner(s) as well as yourself (“aren’t I desirable enough?” etc).

    So, to recap, we recommend:

    • Have your hormones checked
    • Look after your circulation
    • Make the decision to have fun!

    Share This Post

  • Cranberry juice really can help with UTIs – and reduce reliance on antibiotics

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Cranberry juice has been used medicinally for centuries. Our new research indicates it should be a normal aspect of urinary tract infection (UTI) management today.

    While some benefits of cranberry compounds for the prevention of UTIs have been suspected for some time, it hasn’t been clear whether the benefits from cranberry juice were simply from drinking more fluid, or something in the fruit itself.

    For our study, published this week, we combined and collectively assessed 3,091 participants across more than 20 clinical trials.

    Our analysis indicates that increasing liquids reduces the rate of UTIs compared with no treatment, but cranberry in liquid form is even better at reducing UTIs and antibiotic use.

    Julie Falk/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND

    Are UTIs really that bad?

    Urinary tract infections affect more than 50% of women and 20% of men in their lifetime.

    Most commonly, UTIs are caused from the bug called Escherichia coli (E.coli). This bug lives harmlessly in our intestines, but can cause infection in the urinary tract. This is why, particularly for women, it is recommended people wipe from front to back after using the toilet.

    An untreated UTI can move up to the kidneys and cause even more serious illness.

    Even when not managing infection, many people are anxious about contracting a UTI. Sexually active women, pregnant women and older women may all be at increased risk.

    Why cranberries?

    To cause a UTI, the bacteria need to attach to the wall of the urinary bladder. Increasing fluids helps to flush out bacteria before it attaches (or makes its way up into the bladder).

    Some beneficial compounds in cranberry, such as proanthocyanidins (also called condensed tannins), prevent the bacteria from attaching to the wall itself.

    While there are treatments, over 90% of the bugs that cause UTIs exhibit some form of microbial resistance. This suggests that they are rapidly changing and some cases of UTI might be left untreatable.

    massive lake with red cranberries floating on surface for harvesting
    The juice of cranberries has long been thought to have infection-fighting properties. duckeesue/Shutterstock

    What we found

    Our analysis showed a 54% lower rate of UTIs from cranberry juice consumption compared to no treatment. This means that significantly fewer participants who regularly consumed cranberry juice (most commonly around 200 millilitres each day) reported having a UTI during the periods assessed in the studies we analysed.

    Cranberry juice was also linked to a 49% lower rate of antibiotic use than placebo liquid and a 59% lower rate than no treatment, based on analysis of indirect and direct effects across six studies. The use of cranberry compounds, whether in drinks or tablet form, also reduced the prevalence of symptoms associated with UTIs.

    While some studies we included presented conflicts of interest (such as receiving funding from cranberry companies), we took this “high risk of bias” into account when analysing the data.

    woman sips from large glass of red juice
    The study found extra hydration helped but not to the same extent as cranberry juice. Pixelshot/Shutterstock

    So, when can cranberry juice help?

    We found three main benefits of cranberry juice for UTIs.

    1. Reduced rates of infections

    Increasing fluids (for example, drinking more water) reduced the prevalence of UTIs, and taking cranberry compounds (such as tablets) was also beneficial. But the most benefits were identified from increasing fluids and taking cranberry compounds at the same time, such as with cranberry juice.

    2. Reduced use of antibiotics

    The data shows cranberry juice lowers the need to use antibiotics by 59%. This was identified as fewer participants in randomised cranberry juice groups required antibiotics.

    Increasing fluid intake also helped reduce antibiotic use (by 25%). But this was not as useful as increasing fluids at the same time as using cranberry compounds.

    Cranberry compounds alone (such as tablets without associated increases in fluid intake) did not affect antibiotic use.

    3. Reducing symptoms

    Taking cranberry compounds (in any form, liquid or tablet) reduced the symptoms of UTIs, as measured in the overall data, by more than five times.

    Take home advice

    While cranberry juice cannot treat a UTI, it can certainly be part of UTI management.

    If you suspect that you have a UTI, see your GP as soon as possible.

    Christian Moro, Associate Professor of Science & Medicine, Bond University and Charlotte Phelps, Senior Teaching Fellow, Medical Program, Bond University

    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

    Share This Post

Related Posts

  • Cold Medicines & Heart Health
  • Self-Compassion In A Relationship (Positives & Pitfalls)

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Practise Self-Compassion In Your Relationship (But Watch Out!)

    Let’s make clear up-front: this is not about “…but not too much”.

    With that in mind…

    Now let’s set the scene: you, a happily-partnered person, have inadvertently erred and upset your partner. They may or may not have already forgiven you, but you are still angry at yourself.

    Likely next steps include all or any of:

    • continuing to apologise and try to explain
    • self-deprecatory diatribes
    • self-flagellation, probably not literally but in the sense of “I don’t deserve…” and acting on that feeling
    • self-removal, because you don’t want to further inflict your bad self on your partner

    As you might guess, these are quite varied in their degree of healthiness:

    • apologising is good, as even is explaining, but once it’s done, it’s done; let it go
    • self-deprecation is pretty much never useful, let alone healthy
    • self-flagellation likewise; it is not only inherently self-destructive, but will likely create an additional problem for your partner too
    • self-removal can be good or bad depending on the manner of that removal: there’s a difference between just going cold and distant on your partner, and saying “I’m sorry; this is my fault not yours, I don’t want to take it out on you, so please give me half an hour by myself to regain my composure, and I will come back with love then if that’s ok with you”

    About that last: mentioning the specific timeframe e.g. “half an hour” is critical, by the way—don’t leave your partner hanging! And then do also follow through on that; come back with love after the half-hour elapses. We suggest mindfulness meditation in the interim (here’s our guide to how), if you’re not sure what to do to get you there.

    To Err Is Human; To Forgive, Healthy (Here’s How To Do It) ← this goes for when the forgiveness in question is for yourself, too—and we do write about that there (and how)!

    This is important, by the way; not forgiving yourself can cause more serious issues down the line:

    Self-blame-selective hyper-connectivity between anterior temporal and subgenual cortices predicts prognosis in major depressive disorder

    If, by the way, you’re hand-wringing over “but was my apology good enough really, or should I…” then here is how to do it. Basically, do this, and then draw a line under it and consider it done:

    The Apology Checklist ← you’ll want to keep a copy of this, perhaps in the notes app on your phone, or a screenshot if you prefer

    (the checklist is at the bottom of that page)

    The catch

    It’s you, you’re the catch 👈👈😎

    Ok, that being said, there is actually a catch in the less cheery sense of the word, and it is:

    “It is important to be compassionate about one’s occasional failings in a relationship” does not mean “It is healthy to be neglectful of one’s partner’s emotional needs; that’s self-care, looking after #1; let them take care of themself too”

    …because that’s simply not being a couple at all.

    Think about it this way: the famous airline advice,

    “Put on your own oxygen mask before helping others with theirs”

    …does not mean “Put on your own oxygen mask and then watch those kids suffocate; it’s everyone for themself”

    So, the same goes in relationships too. And, as ever, we have science for this. There was a recent (2024) study, involving hundreds of heterosexual couples aged 18–73, which looked at two things, each measured with a scaled questionnaire:

    • Subjective levels of self-compassion
    • Subjective levels of relationship satisfaction

    For example, questions included asking participants to rate, from 1–5 depending on how much they felt the statements described them, e.g:

    In my relationship with my partner, I:

    • treat myself kindly when I experience sorrow and suffering.
    • accept my faults and weaknesses.
    • try to see my mistakes as part of human nature.
    • see difficulties as part of every relationship that everyone goes through once.
    • try to get a balanced view of the situation when something unpleasant happens.
    • try to keep my feelings in balance when something upsets me.

    Note: that’s not multiple choice! It’s asking participants to rate each response as applicable or not to them, on a scale of 1–5.

    And…

    ❝Women’s self-compassion was also positively linked with men’s total relationship satisfaction. Thus, men seem to experience overall satisfaction with the relationship when their female partner is self-kind and self-caring in difficult situations.

    Unexpectedly, however, we found that men’s relationship-specific self-compassion was negatively associated with women’s fulfillment.

    Baker and McNulty (2011) reported that, only for men, a Self-Compassion x Conscientiousness interaction explained whether the positive effects of self-compassion on the relationship emerged, but such an interaction was not found for women.

    Highly self-compassionate men who were low in conscientiousness were less motivated than others to remedy interpersonal mistakes in their romantic relationships, and this tendency was in turn related to lower relationship satisfaction❞

    ~ Dr. Astrid Schütz et al. (2024)

    Read in full: Is caring for oneself relevant to happy relationship functioning? Exploring associations between self-compassion and romantic relationship satisfaction in actors and partners

    And if you’d like to read the cited older paper from 2011, here it is:

    Read in full: Self-compassion and relationship maintenance: the moderating roles of conscientiousness and gender

    The take-away here is not: “men should not practice self-compassion”

    (rather, they absolutely should)

    The take-away is: we must each take responsibility for managing our own mood as best we are able; practice self-forgiveness where applicable and forgive our partner where applicable (and communicate that!)…. And then go consciously back to the mutual care on which the relationship is hopefully founded.

    Which doesn’t just mean love-bombing, by the way, it also means listening:

    The Problem With Active Listening (And How To Do Better)

    To close… We say this often, but we mean it every time: take care!

    Don’t Forget…

    Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

    Learn to Age Gracefully

    Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:

  • Make Time – by Jake Knapp and John Zeratzky

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    We live in an information-saturated world, and we have done for so long now that it’s easy to forget: we did not evolve for this!

    It’s easy to say “unplug”, but the reality is:

    We also have to actually function in this fast-paced info-dense world whether we want to or not, and we are expected to be able to handle it.

    So… How?

    Appropriately enough, authors Knapp and Zeratsky present the answer in a skimmer-friendly fashion, with summaries and bullet points and diagrams and emboldened text forease of speed-reading. Who uses such tricks?!

    In short, less living life in “default mode scramble” and more about making an impact in the ways you actually want to, for you.

    We Recommend You Make Time For This Book Today!

    Don’t Forget…

    Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

    Learn to Age Gracefully

    Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:

  • Moringa Oleifera Against CVD, Diabetes, Alzheimer’s & Arsenic?

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    The Healthiest Drumstick

    Moringa oleifera is a tree, whose leaves and pods have medicinal properties (as well as simply being very high in nutrients). It’s also called the drumstick tree in English, but equally often it’s referred to simply as Moringa. It has enjoyed use in traditional medicine for thousands of years, and its many benefits have caught scientists’ attention more recently. For an overview before we begin, see:

    Medicinal utilization and nutritional properties of drumstick (Moringa oleifera)—A comprehensive review

    Now, let’s break it down…

    Anti-inflammatory

    It is full of antioxidants, which we’ll come to shortly, and they have abundant anti-inflammatory effects. Research into these so far has mostly beennon-human animal studies or else in vitro, hence the guarded “potential” for now:

    Potential anti-inflammatory phenolic glycosides from the medicinal plant Moringa oleifera fruits

    Speaking of potential though, it has been found to also reduce neuroinflammation specifically, which is good, because not every anti-inflammatory agent does that:

    In silico and pharmacokinetic studies of glucomoringin from Moringa oleifera root for Alzheimer’s disease like pathology

    Antioxidant

    It was hard to find studies that talked about its antioxidant powers that didn’t also add “and this, and this, and this” because of all its knock-on benefits, for example:

    ❝The results indicate that this plant possesses antioxidant, hypolipidaemic and antiatherosclerotic activities and has therapeutic potential for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.

    These effects were at degrees comparable to those of simvastatin.❞

    ~ Dr. Pilaipark Chumark et al.

    Source: The in vitro and ex vivo antioxidant properties, hypolipidaemic and antiatherosclerotic activities of water extract of Moringa oleifera Lam. leaves

    Likely a lot of its benefits in these regards come from the plant’s very high quercetin content, because quercetin does that too:

    Quercetin reduces blood pressure in hypertensive subjects

    For more about quercetin, you might like our previous main feature:

    Fight Inflammation & Protect Your Brain, With Quercetin

    Antidiabetic

    It also has been found to lower fasting blood sugar levels by 13.5%:

    Effect of supplementation of drumstick (Moringa oleifera) and amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor) leaves powder on antioxidant profile and oxidative status among postmenopausal women

    Anti-arsenic?

    We put a question mark there, because studies into this have only been done with non-human animals such as mice and rats so far, largely because there are not many human volunteers willing to sign up for arsenic poisoning (and no ethics board would pass it anyway).

    However, as arsenic contamination in some foods (such as rice) is a big concern, this is very promising. Here are some example studies, with mice and rats respectively:

    Is it safe?

    A popular food product through parts of Africa and (especially) South & West Asia, it has a very good safety profile. Generally the only health-related criticism of it is that it contains some anti-nutrients (that hinder bioavailability of its nutrients), but the nutrients outweigh the antinutrients sufficiently to render this a trifling trivium.

    In short: as ever, do check with your doctor/pharmacist to be sure, but in general terms, this is about as safe as most vegan whole foods; it just happens to also be something of a superfood, which puts it into the “nutraceutical” category. See also:

    Review of the Safety and Efficacy of Moringa oleifera

    Want to try some?

    We don’t sell it, but here for your convenience is an example product on Amazon 😎

    Enjoy!

    Don’t Forget…

    Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

    Learn to Age Gracefully

    Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails: