The Diet Myth – by Dr. Tim Spector

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.

Why are we supposed to go low-carb, but get plenty of whole grains? Avoid saturated fat, but olive oil is one of the healthiest fats around? Will cheese kill us or save us? Even amongst the well-informed, there’s a lot of confusion. This book addresses these and many such topics.

A main theme of the book is howa lot of it relates to the state of our gut microbiome, and what is good or bad for that. He also discusses, for example, how microbes predict obesity better than genes, and the good news is: we can change our microbes a lot more easily than we can change our genes!

In the category of criticism, he repeats some decades-old bad science in some areas outside of his field (i.e. unrelated to nutrition), so that’s unfortunate, and/but doesn’t detract from the value of the book if we keep to the main topic.

Bottom line: if you’d like to understand better the physiology and microbiology behind why dieting does work for most people (and how to do it better), then this is a great book for that.

Click here to check out The Diet Myth, and learn the science behind the confusion!

Don’t Forget…

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

Recommended

  • Calm For Surgery – by Dr Chris Bonney
  • Sweet Dreams Are Made Of Cheese (Or Are They?)
    The Power of Numbers: Unlocking the Secrets of 234

Learn to Age Gracefully

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

  • Do You Have A Personalized Health Plan? (Here’s How)

    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.

    “Good health” is quite a broad umbrella, and while we all have a general idea of what “healthy” looks like, it’s easy to focus on some areas and overlook others.

    Of course, how much one does this will still depend on one’s level of interest in health, which can change over the course of life, and (barring serious midlife health-related curveballs such as a cancer diagnosis or something) often looks like an inverse bell curve:

    • As small kids, we probably barely thought about health
    • As teenagers, we probably had a narrow view of health (often related to whatever is considered sexually attractive at the time)
    • In our 20s, may have a bit of a health kick in which we learn and apply a lot… Which often then gets to later take a bit of a back seat to work responsibilities and so forth
    • This is commonly followed by a few decades of just trying to make it to Friday by any means necessary (definite risk factor for substance abuse of various kinds), double if we have kids, triple if we have work, kids, and are also solely responsible for managing the household.
    • Then just as suddenly as it is predictably, we are ambushed when approaching retirement age by a cluster of age-related increased health risks that we now get to do our best to mitigate—the focus here is “not dying early”. A lot of health education occurs at this time.
    • Finally, upon retirement, we actually get the time to truly focus on our health again, and now it’s easier to learn about all aspects of health, even if now there’s a need to juggle many health issues all at once, most of which affect the others.

    See also: How Likely Are You To Live To 100? ← in which we can also see a graph of 10almonds subscribers’ ages, consistent with the above

    So, let’s recap, and personalize our health plan

    There are often things we wish we could have focused on sooner, so now’s the time to figure out what future-you in your next decade (or later!) is going to thank you for having done now.

    So, while 20-year-old us might have been focusing on fat levels or athletic performance, how much does that really help us now? (With apologies to any readers in their 20s, but also, with the bonus for you: now’s the perfect time to plan ahead!)

    At 10almonds, while we cover very many health topics, we often especially focus on:

    • Brain health
    • Heart health
    • Gut health

    …because they affect everything else so much. We’ve listed them there in the order they appear in the body, but in fact it can be useful to view them upside down, because:

    • Gut health is critical for good metabolic health (a happy efficient gut allows us to process nutrients, including energy, efficiently)
    • Metabolic health is critical for good heart health (a nicely ticking metabolism will not strain our heart)
    • Heart health is critical for good brain health (a strong heart will nourish the brain with well-oxygenated blood and the nutrients it also carries)

    So, this isn’t a catch-22 at all! There is a clear starting point:

    Stop Sabotaging Your Gut

    “How do I do the other bits, though?”

    We have you covered here: Your Health Audit, From Head To Toe

    “Wait, where’s the personalization?”

    This comes once you’ve got those above things in order.

    Hopefully you know what particular health risks you have—as in, particular to you.

    First, you will have any current diagnoses, and a plan for treating those. Many chronic illnesses can be reversed or at least lessened with lifestyle changes, in particular, if we reduce chronic inflammation, which is implicated in countless chronic illnesses, and exacerbates most of the rest.

    So: How to Prevent (or Reduce) Inflammation

    The same goes for any heightened risks you have as a result of those current diagnoses.

    Next, you will have any genetic health risks—so here’s where genetic testing is a good one-shot tool, to get a lot of information all in one go.

    Learn more: The Real Benefit Of Genetic Testing

    …and then, of course, take appropriate steps to avoid suffering the things of which you are at increased genetic risk.

    Finally, you will have any personal concerns or goals—in other words, what do you want to still be able to do, later in life? It’s easy to say “everything”, but what’s most important?

    This writer’s example: I want to remain mobile, free from pain, and sharp of mind.

    That doesn’t mean I’ll neglect the rest of my health, but it does mean that I will regularly weigh my choices against whether they are consistent with those three things.

    As for how to plan for that?

    Check out: Train For The Event Of Your Life! ← this one is mostly about the mobility aspect; staying free from pain is in large part a matter of avoiding inflammation which we already discussed, and staying sharp of mind relies on the gut-heart-brain pipeline we also covered.

    You can also, of course, personalize your diet per which areas of health are the most important for you:

    Four Ways To Upgrade The Mediterranean (most anti-inflammatory, gut-healthiest, heart-healthiest, brain-healthiest)

    Take care!

    Share This Post

  • Sesame Chocolate Fudge

    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.

    If you’d like a sweet treat without skyrocketing your blood sugars with, well, rocket fuel… Today’s recipe can help you enjoy a taste of decadence that’s not bad for your blood sugars, and good for your heart and brain.

    You will need

    • ½ cup sesame seeds
    • ¼ cup cocoa powder
    • 3 tbsp maple syrup
    • 1 tbsp coconut oil (plus a little extra for the pan)

    Method

    (we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)

    1) Lightly toast the sesame seeds in a pan until golden brown. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

    2) Put them in a food processor, and blend on full speed until they start to form a dough-like mixture. This may take a few minutes, so be patient. We recommend doing it in 30-second sessions with a 30-second rest between them, to avoiding overheating the motor.

    3) Add the rest of the ingredients and blend to combine thoroughly—this should go easily now and only take 10 seconds or so, but judge it by eye.

    4) Grease an 8″ square baking tin with a little coconut oil, and add the mixture, patting it down to fill the tin, making sure it is well-compressed.

    5) Allow to chill in the fridge for 6 hours, until firm.

    6) Turn the fudge out onto a chopping board, and cut into the size squares you want. Serve, or store in the fridge until ready to serve.

    Enjoy!

    Want to learn more?

    For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:

    Take care!

    Share This Post

  • Best Salt for Neti Pots?

    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.

    ❓ Q&A With 10almonds Subscribers!

    Q: What kind of salt is best for neti pots?

    A: Non-iodised salt is usually recommended, but really, any human-safe salt is fine. By this we mean for example:

    • Sodium chloride (like most kitchen salts),
    • Potassium chloride (as found in “reduced sodium” kitchen salts), or
    • Magnesium sulfate (also known as epsom salts).

    Share This Post

Related Posts

  • Calm For Surgery – by Dr Chris Bonney
  • Brown Rice Protein: Strengths & Weaknesses

    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? We love to hear from you!

    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

    ❝I had a friend mention that recent research showed Brown Rice Protein Powder can be bad for you, possibly impacting your nutrient absorption. Is this true? I’ve been using it given it’s one of the few plant-based proteins with a full essential amino acid profile!❞

    Firstly: we couldn’t find anything to corroborate the “brown rice protein powder [adversely] impacts nutrient absorption” idea, but we suspect that the reason for this belief is: brown rice (not brown rice protein powder) contains phytic acid, which is something of an antinutrient, in that it indeed reduces absorption of various other nutrients.

    However, two things are important to note here:

    1. the phytic acid is found in whole grains, not in protein isolates as found in brown rice protein powder. The protein isolates contain protein… Isolated. No phytates!
    2. even in the case of eating whole grain rice, the phytic acid content is greatly reduced by two things: soaking and heating (especially if those two things are combined) ← doing this the way described results in bioavailability of nutrients that’s even better than if there were just no phytic acid, albeit it requires you having the time to soak, and do so at temperature.

    tl;dr = no, it’s not true, unless there truly is some groundbreaking new research we couldn’t find—it was almost certainly a case of an understandable confusion about phytic acid.

    Your question does give us one other thing to mention though:

    Brown rice indeed technically contains all 9 essential amino acids, but it’s very low in several of them, most notably lysine.

    However, if you use our Tasty Versatile Rice Recipe, the chia seeds we added to the rice have 100x the lysine that brown rice does, and the black pepper also boosts nutrient absorption.

    Because your brown rice protein powder is a rice protein powder and not simply rice, it’s possible that they’ve tweaked it to overcome rice’s amino acid deficiencies. But, if you’re looking for a plant-based protein powder that is definitely a complete protein, soy is a very good option assuming you’re not allergic to that:

    Amino Acid Compositions Of Soy Protein Isolate

    If you’re wondering where to get it, you can see examples of them next to each other on Amazon here:

    Brown Rice Protein Powder | Soy Protein Isolate Powder

    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:

  • Gutbliss – by Dr. Robynne Chutkan

    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’ve previously reviewed another of (gastroenterologist) Dr. Chutkan’s books, “The Anti-Viral Gut”, but Gutbliss is her most well-known book, and here’s why:

    This book goes into a lot more detail than most gut health books. You probably already know to eat fiber and enjoy an occasional probiotic, and chances are good you’ve already at least considered screening for food sensitivities/intolerances/allergies, especially common ones like lactose and gluten.

    So, well beyond such, Dr. Chutkan talks about the very many things that affect our gut health, and countless small tweaks we can make to improve things, and the very least not sabotage ourselves. A lot of the advice is of course dietary, but some is other aspects of lifestyle, and a lot of items are things like “do this at this time of day, not that time of day”, or “do this and this, but not together”, and similar such advices that come from a place of deep professional knowledge.

    The “10-day plan” promised by the subtitle is of course delivered, and while it may seem a bold claim, do remember that the life cycle of things in your gut is very very short, so 10 days is more than enough time for a complete reset, if doing things correctly.

    The style is very accessible pop science, making this very easy to implement.

    Bottom line: if you’d like your gut health to be better than it is, this book has a wealth of information to guide you through doing exactly that.

    Click here to check out Gutbliss, and enjoy how much healthier you can feel!

    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:

  • Sleep wrinkles are real. Here’s how they leave their mark

    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.

    You wake up, stagger to the bathroom and gaze into the mirror. No, you’re not imagining it. You’ve developed face wrinkles overnight. They’re sleep wrinkles.

    Sleep wrinkles are temporary. But as your skin loses its elasticity as you age, they can set in.

    Here’s what you can do to minimise the chance of them forming in the first place.

    How side-sleeping affects your face

    Your skin wrinkles for a number of reasons, including ageing, sun damage, smoking, poor hydration, habitual facial expressions (such as grinning, pouting, frowning, squinting) and sleeping positions.

    When you sleep on your side or stomach, your face skin is squeezed and crushed a lot more than if you sleep on your back. When you sleep on your side or stomach, gravity presses your face against the pillow. Your face skin is distorted as your skin is stretched, compressed and pulled in all directions as you move about in your sleep.

    You can reduce these external forces acting on the face by sleeping on your back or changing positions frequently.

    Doctors can tell which side you sleep on by looking at your face

    In a young face, sleep wrinkles are transient and disappear after waking.

    Temporary sleep wrinkles can become persistent with time and repetition. As we age, our skin loses elasticity (recoil) and extensibility (stretch), creating ideal conditions for sleep wrinkles or lines to set in and last longer.

    The time spent in each sleeping position, the magnitude of external forces applied to each area of the face, as well as the surface area of contact with the pillow surface, also affects the pattern and rate of sleep wrinkle formation.

    Skin specialists can often recognise this. People who favour sleeping on one side of their body tend to have a flatter face on their sleeping side and more visible sleep lines.

    Can a night skincare routine avoid sleep wrinkles?

    Collagen and elastin are two primary components of the dermis (inner layer) of skin. They form the skin structure and maintain the elasticity of skin.

    Skin structure
    The dermis is the inner layer of skin. mermaid3/Shutterstock

    Supplementing collagen through skincare routines to enhance skin elasticity can help reduce wrinkle formation.

    Hyaluronic acid is a naturally occurring molecule in human bodies. It holds our skin’s collagen and elastin in a proper configuration, stimulates the production of collagen and adds hydration, which can help slow down wrinkle formation. Hyaluronic acid is one of the most common active ingredients in skincare creams, gels and lotions.

    Moisturisers can hydrate the skin in different ways. “Occlusive” substances produce a thin layer of oil on the skin that prevents water loss due to evaporation. “Humectants” attract and hold water in the skin, and they can differ in their capacity to bind with water, which influences the degree of skin hydration.

    Do silk pillowcases actually make a difference?

    Bed with silk sheets and pillowcases
    Can they help? New Africa/Shutterstock

    Silk pillowcases can make a difference in wrinkle formation, if they let your skin glide and move, rather than adding friction and pressure on a single spot. If you can, use silk sheets and silk pillows.

    Studies have also shown pillows designed to reduce mechanical stress during sleep can prevent skin deformations. Such a pillow could be useful in slowing down and preventing the formation of certain facial wrinkles.

    Sleeping on your back can reduce the risk of sleep lines, as can a nighttime routine of moisturising before sleep.

    Otherwise, lifestyle choices and habits, such quitting smoking, drinking plenty of water, a healthy diet (eating enough vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, healthy fats, yogurt and other fermented foods) and regular use of sunscreens can help improve the appearance of the skin on our face.

    Yousuf Mohammed, Dermatology researcher, The University of Queensland; Khanh Phan, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, and Vania Rodrigues Leite E. Silva, Honorary Associate Professor, Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland

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

    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: