The Anti-Allergy Nasal Spray That Kills COVID & More
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It’s a surprising headline, because the primary function of an anti-allergy medication is generally to dial down the immune system.
Thus, if you want to defend against a virus, then one would expect that the last thing you’d want to squirt up your nose (aside, perhaps, from the virus itself) would be an anti-allergen.
And yet…
Azelastine’s antiviral powers
Researchers (Dr. Thorsten Lehr et al.) investigated the effects of a common anti-allergy nasal spray (azelastine) against various kinds of respiratory virus infection, including COVID.
What they did: 450 participants were split into two groups; 227 used azelastine nasal spray three times daily for 56 days, 223 used a placebo spray.
What they found: only 2.2% of the azelastine group got infected with SARS-CoV-2 versus 6.7% in the placebo group, a very statistically-significant threefold difference.
They further found: only 1.8% of the azelastine group got infected with rhinovirus versus 6.3% in the placebo group, reflecting the anti-COVID result.
But COVID and rhinovirus are both enteroviruses, and enterovirus can often be beaten with measures that don’t work on other viruses, because the chemical “envelope” that contains them can be disrupted—not something one can do vs an unenveloped virus (such as influenza) which doesn’t have an envelope to disrupt.
So, how does it perform vs flu? There’s good and bad news:
- Good news: azelastine does have anti-viral properties that work against flu also
- Bad news: or rather, good for the study participants but bad for science—the overall number of cases of flu in this study population was too low for statistical significance.
For azelastine’s antiviral-vs-flu properties, see this older, in vitro study:
Antiviral Potential of Azelastine against Major Respiratory Viruses
For the study we’ve been talking about today, you can find the paper itself here:
Azelastine Nasal Spray for Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Infections
How useful is this?
The researchers emphasize (as researchers always do) the need for larger, multicentre studies to confirm results and test effectiveness against other respiratory pathogens, but as it stands, they are confident enough to say that this could serve as a cheap, accessible preventive option, particularly for vulnerable groups and/or during travel and high-risk periods (i.e. when there’s a local spike in cases, and/or you will be unavoidably in a high-risk situation, e.g. being in a closed environment with many people for a while).
If you’d like some, you can get it from your local pharmacy or online; we don’t sell it, but here’s an example product for your convenience.
There, of course, also other ways to improve the odds to keep yourself and your loved ones safe:
Vaccines are considered the “gold standard” against COVID and many other infectious diseases, for their very high rate of efficacy, clear science, and at least moderately lasting effects (i.e., it’s not something like handwashing*, which must be redone very frequently).
Since vaccines are not without their popular misunderstanders, we have written a little about that, here: Vaccine Mythbusting
*See also: The Truth About Handwashing ← for another mythbusting edition, covering what actually works against what, and what doesn’t—as well as the disparity between people’s self-reports of handwashing, and how often/well they actually wash their hands!
So, those are important ones, but still not the only things we can do; consider for example: Beyond Supplements: The Real Immune-Boosters! ← most people don’t know these things and the huge difference they make
And for that matter: Why Some People Get Sick More (And How To Not Be One Of Them) ← for a very prophylactic approach
Take care!
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Chia Seeds vs Flax Seeds – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing chia to flax, we picked the chia.
Why?
Both are great! And it’s certainly close. Both are good sources of protein, fiber, and healthy fats.
Flax seeds contain a little more fat (but it is healthy fat), while chia seeds contain a little more fiber.
They’re both good sources of vitamins and minerals, but chia seeds contain more. In particular, chia seeds have about twice as much calcium and selenium, and notably more iron and phosphorous—though flax seeds do have more potassium.
Of course the perfect solution is to enjoy both, but since for the purpose of this exercise we have to pick one, we’d say chia comes out on top—even if flax is not far behind.
Enjoy!
Learn more
For more on these, check out:
Take care!
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Beetroot vs Eggplant – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing beetroot to eggplant, we picked the beetroot.
Why?
It’s close!
In terms of macros, they’re equal on fiber, while beetroot has slightly more protein and carbs. In both cases, despite being quite firm vegetables when raw, they are nevertheless both mostly water. We’re calling this category a tie.
In the category of vitamins, beetroot has more of vitamins A, B2, B9, and C, while eggplant has more of vitamins B3, B5, B6, E, and K. That’s a marginal victory for eggplant.
When it comes to minerals, however, beetroot has more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, while eggplant is not higher in any minerals. A clear and easy win for beetroot this time.
In terms of polyphenols, both have good-but-different health-giving polyphenols to share, including the quercetin in beetroot and caffeic acid in eggplant—nothing that would tip one ahead of the other, though.
All in all, the categories added up are balanced, but beetroot won the minerals category much more convincingly than eggplant won the vitamins category, so we’re giving this one to beetroot, even if only on tie-breakers!
Of course, enjoy either or both; diversity is good 😎
Want to learn more?
You might like to read:
Beetroot For More Than Just Your Blood Pressure ← more beetroot benefits
Take care!
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Heavy Metal Detox In A Pill?
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 have previous discussed assorted approaches to “detoxing”:
Detox: What’s Real, What’s Not, What’s Useful, What’s Dangerous?
Today we’re going to be looking at one we didn’t cover there, which is zeolite.
What is zeolite?
Zeolite is a mineral that occurs naturally and can also be synthesized, and it’s famous for absorbing other stuff from around it. Because of this property, it’s used in many things, including:
- Petrochemical catalysis
- Water treatment
- Nuclear waste reprocessing
- Cat litter
- Supplements (for detox purposes)
That’s, uh… An interesting list, isn’t it? So, we were curious as to whether this mineral that’s also used in fish tank filters is, in fact, overpriced gravel being sold to the gullible as a health supplement.
We had to do some digging on this one
Our journey didn’t start well, with this very dubious-looking paper being cited by a company selling zeolite supplements:
This immediately prompted two questions:
- Who is eating graphene?!* That stuff does not occur in nature (or at least; it hasn’t ever been found; the universe is a big place so it might exist elsewhere), has only relatively recently been synthesized, is very difficult to produce, is two-dimensional while being hard as diamonds, and exists only in truly tiny lab-made quantities worldwide. It would be orders of magnitude easier to find and eat uranium.
- Is this a reputable journal? Which question was easier to answer than the former one, and the answer is “no”; we hadn’t heard of this journal (ACTA Scientific), and neither it seems had most of the Internet, but we did find it on a list of predatory journals, here.
*The citation given in the above paper should by rights answer the question of who is eating graphene, since by rights they must have demonstrated it somehow, but it just doesn’t. Instead, it links to what it claims is a paper titled “Oxygenated Zeolite (Clinoptilite) Efficiently Removes Aluminum & Graphene Oxide”, but is in reality just someone’s blog post with a screenshot of an actual paper entitled “Novel, oxygenated clinoptilolite material efficiently removes aluminium from aluminium chloride-intoxicated rats in vivo”). Looking up this real paper in its real journal, it does not mention graphene.
All this to say: sometimes, unscrupulous people will just plain lie to you, which is why peer review is important, as is sourcing data from reputable journals. Which is what we do for you so that you don’t have to 🙂
It does, actually, work though (for heavy metal detox)
Notwithstanding the aforementioned bunk, we found this from a more reputable publisher:
❝In this study, we have presented clinical evidence supporting the use of an activated clinoptilolite (zeolite) suspension to safely and effectively increase the urinary excretion of potentially toxic heavy metals in healthy volunteers without negatively impacting the electrolyte profiles of the participants.
Significant increases in the urinary excretion of aluminum, antimony, arsenic, bismuth, cadmium, lead, mercury, nickel and tin were observed in the subjects participating in the two study groups as compared to placebo controls.❞
Also good for the gut and against inflammation
Specifically, it’s good for gut barrier integrity, i.e., against “leaky gut syndrome”:
❝Twelve weeks of zeolite supplementation exerted beneficial effects on intestinal wall integrity as indicated via decreased concentrations of the tight junction modulator zonulin.
This was accompanied by mild anti-inflammatory effects in this cohort of aerobically trained subjects.❞
May also be good against neurodegenerative diseases
If it is (which is plausible), it’ll probably because of removing heavy metals and improving gut barrier integrity—in other words, the things we just looked at in the two reputable peer-reviewed studies we examined above.
But the science is young for this one; here’s the current state of things:
Zeolite and Neurodegenerative Diseases
Is it safe?
Safety reviews have found it to be safe, for example:
Critical Review on Zeolite Clinoptilolite Safety and Medical Applications in vivo
However, if you are taking regular medications, we recommend checking with your pharmacist or doctor to ensure that zeolite will not also remove those medications from your system!
Want to try some?
We don’t sell it, but here for your convenience is an example product on Amazon 😎
Enjoy!
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Did You Believe These Skincare Myths?
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.
Dr. Michelle Wong gives us the insider knowledge:
If you scratch the surface…
Here are some popular myths that just aren’t true, and their continued prevalence has more to do with cognitive biases than anything else:
- “Chemical sunscreens need time to activate”: both chemical and mineral sunscreens start blocking UV immediately after application, and the recommendation to apply them 20–30 minutes before sun exposure mainly exists so the product can dry and thus not get accidentally wiped off.
- “You should avoid layering products under chemical sunscreen”: there’s no special requirement to use fewer products under chemical sunscreen compared with mineral sunscreen.
- “Ingredient percentages tell you how effective a product is”: the listed percentage of an ingredient (such as 2% niacinamide) doesn’t guarantee performance because stability, formulation, packaging, and delivery systems determine how much actually reaches your skin.
- “Peeling gels remove large amounts of dead skin”: the solid mass formed when rubbing peeling gels are in large part the product itself reacting with oils on your skin rather than quite that much skin being removed.
- “Hyaluronic acid can hold 1,000 times its weight in water”: there’s no reliable evidence supporting this claim, and experimental analysis suggests hyaluronic acid binds roughly 40–85% of its weight in water instead.
- “Hyaluronic acid dries out your skin if you don’t use a moisturizer on top”: humectants like hyaluronic acid don’t pull water out of your skin, because hydrogen bonds only work at extremely short distances.
- “Hyaluronic acid must be applied to damp skin to work properly”: serums and moisturizers already contain large amounts of water, so applying them to damp skin doesn’t significantly change hydration results.
For more on each of these, plus a short discussion of the cognitive biases involved, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like:
Skincare “Scams” That Are Actually Very Recommendable
Take care!
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Green Curry Salmon Burgers
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These lean and healthy burgers are as quick and easy to make as they are good for entertaining. The serving-bed has its nutritional secrets too! All in all, an especially heart-healthy and brain-healthy dish.
You will need
- 4 skinless salmon fillets, cubed (Vegetarian/Vegan? Consider this Plant-Based Salmon Recipe or, since they are getting blended, simply substitute 1½ cups cooked chickpeas instead with 1 tbsp tahini)
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tbsp thai green curry paste
- juice of two limes, plus wedges to serve
- 1 cup quinoa
- ½ cup edamame beans, thawed if they were frozen
- large bunch fresh cilantro (or parsley if you have the “soap “cilantro tastes like soap” gene), chopped
- extra virgin olive oil, for frying
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tsp black pepper, coarse ground
Method
(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)
1) Put the salmon, garlic, curry paste, nutritional yeast, and half the lime juice into a food processor, and blend until smooth.
2) Remove, divide into four parts, and shape into burger patty shapes. Put them in the fridge where they can firm up while we do the next bit.
3) Cook the quinoa with the tablespoon of chia seeds added (which means boiling water and then letting it simmer for 10–15 minutes; when the quinoa is tender and unfurled a little, it’s done).
4) Drain the quinoa with a sieve, and stir in the edamame beans, the rest of the lime juice, the cilantro, and the black pepper. Set aside.
5) Using the olive oil, fry the salmon burgers for about 5 minutes on each side.
6) Serve; we recommend putting the burgers atop the rest, and adding a dash of lime at the table.
(it can also be served this way!)
Enjoy!
Want to learn more?
For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:
- Farmed Fish vs Wild–Caught
- Level-Up Your Fiber Intake! (Without Difficulty Or Discomfort)
- What Omega-3 Fatty Acids Really Do For Us
- If You’re Not Taking Chia, You’re Missing Out
- Our Top 5 Spices: How Much Is Enough For Benefits?
Take care!
Don’t Forget…
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The Obesity Code – by Dr. Jason Fung
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.
Firstly, if you have already read Dr. Fung’s other book, The Diabetes Code, which we reviewed a little while ago, you can probably skip this one. It has mostly the same information, presented with a different focus.
While The Diabetes Code assumes you are diabetic, or prediabetic, or concerned about avoiding/reversing those conditions, The Obesity Code assumes you are obese, or heading in that direction, or otherwise are concerned about avoiding/reversing obesity.
What it’s not, though, is a weight loss book. Will it help if you want to lose weight? Yes, absolutely. But there is no talk here of weight loss goals, nor any motivational coaching, nor week-by-week plans, etc.
Instead, it’s more an informative textbook. With exactly the sort of philosophy we like here at 10almonds: putting information into people’s hands, so everyone can make the best decisions for themselves, rather than blindly following someone else’s program.
Dr. Fung explains why various dieting approaches don’t work, and how we can work around such things as our genetics, as well as most external factors except for poverty. He also talks us through how to change our body’s insulin response, and get our body working more like a lean machine and less like a larder for hard times.
Bottom line: this is a no-frills explanation of why your body does what it does when it comes to fat storage, and how to make it behave differently about that.
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