The Miracle of Flexibility – by Miranda Esmonde-White

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We’ve reviewed books about stretching before, so what makes this one different?

Mostly, it’s that this one takes a holistic approach, making the argument for looking after all parts of flexibility (even parts that might seem useless) because if one bit of us isn’t flexible, the others will start to suffer in compensation because of how that affects our posture, or movement, or in many cases our lack of movement.

Esmonde-White’s “flexibility, from your toes to your shoulders” approach is very consistent with her background as a professional ballet dancer, and now she brings it into her profession as a coach.

The book’s not just about stretching, though. It looks at problems and what can go wrong with posture and the body’s “musculoskeletal trifecta”, and also shares daily training routines that are tailored for specific sporting interests, and/or for those with specific chronic conditions and/or chronic pain. Working around what needs to be worked around, but also looking at strengthening what can be strengthened and fixing what can be fixed along the way.

Bottom line: if your flexibility needs an overhaul, this book is a very good “one-stop shop” for that.

Click here to check out The Miracle Of Flexibility, and discover what you can do!

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Recommended

  • Healthy Heart, Healthy Brain – by Dr. Bradley Bale & Dr. Amy Doneen
  • Understanding Cellulitis: Skin And Soft Tissue Infections
    Dr. Thomas Watchman demystifies skin infections like cellulitis, their severity, and when antibiotics become a necessary defense.

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  • 3 drugs that went from legal, to illegal, then back again

    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.

    Cannabis, cocaine and heroin have interesting life stories and long rap sheets. We might know them today as illicit drugs, but each was once legal.

    Then things changed. Racism and politics played a part in how we viewed them. We also learned more about their impact on health. Over time, they were declared illegal.

    But decades later, these drugs and their derivatives are being used legally, for medical purposes.

    Here’s how we ended up outlawing cannabis, cocaine and heroin, and what happened next.

    Peruvian Syrup, containing cocaine, was used to ‘cure’ a range of diseases. Smithsonian Museum of American History/Flickr

    Cannabis, religion and racism

    Cannabis plants originated in central Asia, spread to North Africa, and then to the Americas. People grew cannabis for its hemp fibre, used to make ropes and sacks. But it also had other properties. Like many other ancient medical discoveries, it all started with religion.

    Cannabis is mentioned in the Hindu texts known as the Vedas (1700-1100 BCE) as a sacred, feel-good plant. Cannabis or bhang is still used ritually in India today during festivals such as Shivratri and Holi.

    From the late 1700s, the British in India started taxing cannabis products. They also noticed a high rate of “Indian hemp insanity” – including what we’d now recognise as psychosis – in the colony. By the late 1800s, a British government investigation found only heavy cannabis use seemed to affect people’s mental health.

    Cannabis indica extract
    This drug bottle from the United States contains cannabis tincture. Wikimedia

    In the 1880s, cannabis was used therapeutically in the United States to treat tetanus, migraine and “insane delirium”. But not everyone agreed on (or even knew) the best dose. Local producers simply mixed up what they had into a tincture – soaking cannabis leaves and buds in alcohol to extract essential oils – and hoped for the best.

    So how did cannabis go from a slightly useless legal drug to a social menace?

    Some of it was from genuine health concerns about what was added to people’s food, drink and medicine.

    In 1908 in Australia, New South Wales listed cannabis as an ingredient that could “adulterate” food and drink (along with opium, cocaine and chloroform). To sell the product legally, you had to tell the customers it contained cannabis.

    Some of it was international politics. Moves to control cannabis use began in 1912 with the world’s first treaty against drug trafficking. The US and Italy both wanted cannabis included, but this didn’t happen until until 1925.

    Some of it was racism. The word marihuana is Spanish for cannabis (later Anglicised to marijuana) and the drug became associated with poor migrants. In 1915, El Paso, Texas, on the Mexican border, was the first US municipality to ban the non-medical cannabis trade.

    By the late 1930s, cannabis was firmly entrenched as a public menace and drug laws had been introduced across much of the US, Europe and (less quickly) Australia to prohibit its use. Cannabis was now a “poison” regulated alongside cocaine and opiates.

    Movie poster for 'Reefer Madness'
    The 1936 movie Reefer Madness fuelled cannabis paranoia. Motion Picture Ventures/Wikimedia Commons

    The 1936 movie Reefer Madness was a high point of cannabis paranoia. Cannabis smoking was also part of other “suspect” new subcultures such as Black jazz, the 1950s Beatnik movement and US service personnel returning from Vietnam.

    Today recreational cannabis use is associated with physical and mental harm. In the short term, it impairs your functioning, including your ability to learn, drive and pay attention. In the long term, harms include increasing the risk of psychosis.

    But what about cannabis as a medicine? Since the 1980s there has been a change in mood towards experimenting with cannabis as a therapeutic drug. Medicinal cannabis products are those that contain cannabidiol (CBD) or tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Today in Australia and some other countries, these can be prescribed by certain doctors to treat conditions when other medicines do not work.

    Medicinal cannabis has been touted as a treatment for some chronic conditions such as cancer pain and multiple sclerosis. But it’s not clear yet whether it’s effective for the range of chronic diseases it’s prescribed for. However, it does seem to improve the quality of life for people with some serious or terminal illnesses who are using other prescription drugs.

    Cocaine, tonics and addiction

    Several different species of the coca plant grow across Bolivia, Peru and Colombia. For centuries, local people chewed coca leaves or made them into a mildly stimulant tea. Coca and ayahuasca (a plant-based psychedelic) were also possibly used to sedate people before Inca human sacrifice.

    In 1860, German scientist Albert Niemann (1834-1861) isolated the alkaloid we now call “cocaine” from coca leaves. Niemann noticed that applying it to the tongue made it feel numb.

    But because effective anaesthetics such as ether and nitrous oxide had already been discovered, cocaine was mostly used instead in tonics and patent medicines.

    Hall's Coca Wine
    Hall’s Coca Wine was made from the leaves of the coca plant. Stephen Smith & Co/Wellcome Collection, CC BY

    Perhaps the most famous example was Coca-Cola, which contained cocaine when it was launched in 1886. But cocaine was used earlier, in 1860s Italy, in a drink called Vin Mariani – Pope Leo XIII was a fan.

    With cocaine-based products easily available, it quickly became a drug of addiction.

    Cocaine remained popular in the entertainment industry. Fictional detective Sherlock Holmes injected it, American actor Tallulah Bankhead swore by it, and novelist Agatha Christie used cocaine to kill off some of her characters.

    In 1914, cocaine possession was made illegal in the US. After the hippy era of the 1960s and 1970s, cocaine became the “it” drug of the yuppie 1980s. “Crack” cocaine also destroyed mostly Black American urban communities.

    Cocaine use is now associated with physical and mental harms. In the short and long term, it can cause problems with your heart and blood pressure and cause organ damage. At its worst, it can kill you. Right now, illegal cocaine production and use is also surging across the globe.

    But cocaine was always legal for medical and surgical use, most commonly in the form of cocaine hydrochloride. As well as acting as a painkiller, it’s a vasoconstrictor – it tightens blood vessels and reduces bleeding. So it’s still used in some types of surgery.

    Heroin, coughing and overdoses

    Opium has been used for pain relief ever since people worked out how to harvest the sap of the opium poppy. By the 19th century, addictive and potentially lethal opium-based products such as laudanum were widely available across the United Kingdom, Europe and the US. Opium addiction was also a real problem.

    Because of this, scientists were looking for safe and effective alternatives for pain relief and to help people cure their addictions.

    In 1874, English chemist Charles Romley Alder Wright (1844-1894) created diacetylmorphine (also known as diamorphine). Drug firm Bayer thought it might be useful in cough medicines, gave it the brand name Heroin and put it on the market in 1898. It made chest infections worse.

    Allenburys Throat Pastilles
    Allenburys Throat Pastilles contained heroin and cocaine. Seth Anderson/Flickr, CC BY-NC

    Although diamorphine was created with good intentions, this opiate was highly addictive. Shortly after it came on the market, it became clear that it was every bit as addictive as other opiates. This coincided with international moves to shut down the trade in non-medical opiates due to their devastating effect on China and other Asian countries.

    Like cannabis, heroin quickly developed radical chic. The mafia trafficked into the US and it became popular in the Harlem jazz scene, beatniks embraced it and US servicemen came back from Vietnam addicted to it. Heroin also helped kill US singers Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison.

    Today, we know heroin use and addiction contributes to a range of physical and mental health problems, as well as death from overdose.

    However, heroin-related harm is now being outpaced by powerful synthetic opioids such as oxycodone, fentanyl, and the nitazene group of drugs. In Australia, there were more deaths and hospital admissions from prescription opiate overdoses than from heroin overdoses.

    In a nutshell

    Not all medicines have a squeaky-clean history. And not all illicit drugs have always been illegal.

    Drugs’ legal status and how they’re used are shaped by factors such as politics, racism and social norms of the day, as well as their impact on health.

    Philippa Martyr, Lecturer, Pharmacology, Women’s Health, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Western Australia

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

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  • Is Vitamin C Worth The Hype? (Doctorly Investigates)

    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.

    Double Board-Certified Dermatologists Dr. Muneeb Shah & Dr. Luke Maxfield weigh in on vitamin C; is it worth the hype?

    Yes it is, but…

    There are some caveats, for example:

    • It’s best to apply vitamin C on clean, dry skin and let it set before layering other products.
    • Avoid mixing with oxidants like benzoyl peroxide (cancels out antioxidant effects).
    • Avoid combining with copper (may negate brightening benefits).
    • Do not use with hypochlorous acid (oxidative reactions cancel out benefits).
    • Be cautious with retinol due to irritation risks.

    However, used correctly, it does give very worthy benefits, and they recommend:

    • Morning use: acts as an antioxidant, pairs well with sunscreen for better protection from sun and environmental damage.
    • Night use: maximizes functions like improving tone, collagen production, texture, and reducing wrinkles.

    That’s not to say that at night it stops being an antioxidant or during the day it isn’t critical for collagen synthesis, but it is to say: because of the different things our bodies typically encounter and/or do during the day or night, those are the best times to get the most out of those benefits.

    They also review some popular products; here are some notes on their comments about them:

    • Skinceuticals C E Ferulic: research-backed, $180, effective but potentially irritating.
    • Skinceuticals Phloretin CF: includes 0.5% salicylic acid, good for acne-prone skin.
    • Dermatology Vitamin C E Ferulic: relatively more affordable ($70), fragrance-free, includes peptides and ceramides.
    • Drunk Elephant C-Firma: powder-to-serum formula, sued for patent infringement.
    • Paula’s Choice C15 Booster: reformulated, fragrance-free, similar to Skinceuticals.
    • Neutrogena Vitamin C Capsules: stabilized 20% ascorbic acid, single-use, travel-friendly.
    • La Roche-Posay Vitamin C Serum: contains fragrance and alcohol, not ideal for sensitive skin.
    • Matter of Fact Vitamin C Serum: includes ascorbic acid and ferulic acid, oily texture for dry skin.
    • Medik8 Super C Ferulic: stable 30% ethyl ascorbic acid, lightweight texture.
    • Naturium Vitamin C Complex: multi-form Vitamin C with niacinamide, alpha arbutin, and turmeric.
    • Timeless Vitamin C Serum: affordable ($20), 20% ascorbic acid with E and ferulic acid.

    For more on all of this, enjoy:

    Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

    Want to learn more?

    You might also like:

    More Than Skin-Deep: Six Ways To Eat For Healthier Skin ← this one’s about a lot more than just vitamin C 😎

    Take care!

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  • Four Habits That Drastically Improve Mobility

    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.

    Mobility is critical for health living, but stretching isn’t the entire story:

    Beyond just stretching

    Liv Townsend, of LivInLeggings fames, recommends these four habits:

    1. Sit less: prolonged sitting affects hip and shoulder mobility. Specifically, it affects it negatively. It is also a bringer of woe in many other ways beyond the scope of what we’re doing here today, but the important thing for mobility is to sit less. So, if you spent a lot of time at a desk, invest in a standing desk (writer’s note: I dearly love mine, which is technically a sit-stand converter like this one on Amazon but I just keep it in the up position all the time, so it’s easy to forget it has multiple settings. Anyway, it’s sooooooo much better for my back than sitting for hours at a time.). For how to deal with other (i.e. not desk-related) reasons you might be sitting a lot, check out: Stand Up For Your Health (Or Don’t*)
    2. Take creatine: more than just for strength and muscle-building (and even aside from its brain-benefits that it bestows to older people, but not young ones), creatine also supports mobility and flexibility. Any brand is fine, so long as creatine monohydrate is the sole ingredient. Also, micronized or not is also fine—that’s just to do with whether it’s been pre-compacted into super-tiny beads (so small that it will still effectively be a powder), which helps it to avoid clumping when mixed in a liquid, that’s all. It shouldn’t have any additives either way (so, check labels to ensure it doesn’t).
    3. Spend more time under tension: no, we’re not talking about texting your spouse “we need to talk”, but rather, this means that when we do stretch, we should spend longer in the stretched position. While dynamic stretching has its place, passive stretching (holding stretches for longer periods) is essential and shouldn’t be overlooked.
    4. Incorporate “movement snacks”: this is about when we are going about our daily life, we should move more while doing everyday tasks. Get in some shoulder stretches while waiting for the kettle to boil, deep squat while petting the dog, etc. These are very important, because mobility is very much a “use it or lose it” thing, and so moving in many different ways, frequently, is the only way to ensure full coverage (no stretching regimen is going to be able to cover the many compound movements that we do in everyday life).

    *That article also covers how to avoid the damage of sitting even if you cannot physically stand!

    For more on all of these, enjoy:

    Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

    Want to learn more?

    You might also like to read:

    Mobility As Though A Sporting Pursuit: Train For The Event Of Your Life!

    Take care!

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Related Posts

  • Healthy Heart, Healthy Brain – by Dr. Bradley Bale & Dr. Amy Doneen
  • Overdone It? How To Speed Up Recovery After Exercise

    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.

    How To Speed Up Recovery After A Workout (According To Actual Science)

    Has your enthusiasm ever been greater than your ability, when it comes to exercise?

    Perhaps you leapt excitedly into a new kind of exercise, or maybe you made a reprise of something you used to do, and found out the hard way you’re not in the same condition you used to be?

    If you’ve ever done an exercise session and then spent the next three days recovering, this one’s for you. And if you’ve never done that? Well, prevention is better than cure!

    Post-exercise stretching probably won’t do much to help

    If you like to stretch after a workout, great, don’t let us stop you. Stretching is, generally speaking, good.

    But: don’t rely on it to hasten recovery. Here’s what scientists Afonso et al. had to say recently, after doing a big review of a lot of available data:

    ❝There wasn’t sufficient statistical evidence to reject the null hypothesis that stretching and passive recovery have equivalent influence on recovery.

    Data is scarce, heterogeneous, and confidence in cumulative evidence is very low. Future research should address the limitations highlighted in our review, to allow for more informed recommendations.

    For now, evidence-based recommendations on whether post-exercise stretching should be applied for the purposes of recovery should be avoided, as the (insufficient) data that is available does not support related claims.❞

    Source: The Effectiveness of Post-exercise Stretching in Short-Term and Delayed Recovery of Strength, Range of Motion and Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

    …and breath! What a title.

    Hot and Cold

    Contrast bath therapy (alternating hot and cold, which notwithstanding the name, can also be done in a shower) can help reduce muscle soreness after workout, because of how the change in temperature stimulates vasodilation and vasoconstriction, reducing inflammation while speeding up healing:

    Contrast Water Therapy and Exercise Induced Muscle Damage: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

    If doing this in the shower isn’t practical for you, and you (like most people) have only one bathtub, then cold is the way to go for the most evidence-based benefits:

    Whole-Body Cryotherapy in Athletes: From Therapy to Stimulation. An Updated Review of the Literature

    Eat protein whenever, carbs after

    Eating protein before a workout can boost muscle protein synthesis. Be aware that even if you’re not bodybuilding, your body will still need to do cell replacement and repair, including in any muscle tissue that got damaged* during the workout

    If you don’t like eating before a workout, eating protein after is fine too:

    Pre- versus post-exercise protein intake has similar effects on muscular adaptations

    *Note: muscle tissue is supposed to get damaged (slightly!) during many kinds of workout.

    From lactic acid (that “burn” you feel when exercising) to microtears, the body’s post-workout job is to make the muscle stronger than before, and to do that, it needs you to have found the weak spots for it.

    That’s what exercise-to-exhaustion does.

    Eating carbs after a workout helps replace lost muscle glycogen.

    For a lot more details on optimal nutrition timing in the context of exercise (carbs, proteins, micronutrients, different kinds of exercise, etc), check out this very clear guide:

    International society of sports nutrition position stand: nutrient timing

    Alcohol is not the post-workout carb you want

    Shocking, right? But of course, it’s very common for casual sportspeople to hit the bar for a social drink after their activity of choice.

    However, consuming alcohol after exercise doesn’t merely fail to help, it actively inhibits glycogen replacement and protein synthesis:

    Alcohol Ingestion Impairs Maximal Post-Exercise Rates of Myofibrillar Protein Synthesis following a Single Bout of Concurrent Training

    Also, if you’re tempted to take alcohol “to relax”, please be aware that alcohol only feels relaxing because of what it does to the brain; to the rest of the body, it is anything but, and also raises blood pressure and cortisol levels.

    As to what to drink instead…

    Hydrate, and consider creatine and tart cherry supplementation

    Hydration is a no-brainer, but when you’re dehydrated, it’s easy to forget!

    Creatine is a very well-studied supplement, that helps recovery from intense exercise:

    International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: safety and efficacy of creatine supplementation in exercise, sport, and medicine

    Tart cherry juice has been found to reduce muscle damage, soreness, and inflammation after exercise:

    Powdered tart cherry supplementation demonstrates benefit on markers of catabolism and muscle soreness following an acute bout of intense lower body resistance exercise

    Wondering where you can get tart cherry powder? We don’t sell it (or anything else), but here’s an example product on Amazon.

    And of course, actually rest

    That includes good sleep, please. Otherwise…

    Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Acute Skeletal Muscle Recovery after Exercise

    Rest well!

    Don’t Forget…

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    Learn to Age Gracefully

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  • How We Age: The Science of Longevity – by Dr. Coleen Murphy

    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 is not a glossy “name brand” and has nothing to sell (besides her book). This shows, because it’s clearly not a book that was rushed out as a marketing ploy. Indeed, she begins with the words:

    ❝This book took me several years to write and is largely based on information I gathered while teaching my class, “Molecular Mechanisms of Longevity: The Genetics, Genomics, and Cell Biology of Aging,” at Princeton University.❞

    ~ Dr. Coleen Murphy

    Thus, as you may imagine, it’s a thorough book, thoughtful, with conscientious attention to detail. As a reader, you are essentially getting the knowledge of a Princeton genomics class.

    She covers what’s going on in our genes, in our cells, and in our bodies, when we age; why some animals don’t, and what things affect that. She talks biomarkers of aging and the industry gold standard “Health-Related Quality of Life” metrics. We learn about insulin signalling and FOXO targets; the role of caloric restriction or intermittent fasting, topics such as molecular homeostasis in the regulation of longevity (hello senolytics and chaperone-mediated autophagy), the microbiome and epigenetics, as well as mitochondrial management, cell replacement (including induced pluripotent stem cells), and even DNA repair. And yes, a lot about cognitive aging and how to slow it too.

    The style is academic and/but perfectly readable; she explains everything as we go. We’ll note, though, that it’s not dry academic—her personality comes through throughout, in a good way that makes it a pleasant read as well as an informative one.

    Bottom line: if you’d like a much deeper understanding of the mechanics of aging than we have room to get into in our articles at 10almonds, this book is a highly recommendable perfect opportunity.

    Click here to check out How We Age, and learn about the science of longevity!

    PS: we’ve reviewed a few books about the science of aging/longevity recently, and they’ve each been good, but if you’re going to get only one, we recommend this one, as in this reviewer’s opinion, it’s the best 😎

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  • Is TikTok right? Are there health benefits to eating sea moss?

    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.

    Sea moss is the latest “superfood” wellness influencers are swearing by. They claim sea moss products – usually in gel form – have multiple health benefits. These include supporting brain and immune function, or protecting against viruses and other microbes.

    But do these health claims stack up? Let’s take a look.

    Plataresca/Shutterstock

    What is sea moss?

    Sea moss is produced using a kind of seaweed – particularly red algae – that grow in various locations all around the world. Three main species are used in sea moss products:

    • Chondrus crispus (known as Irish moss or carrageenan moss)
    • Eucheuma cottonii (sea moss or seabird’s nest)
    • Gracilaria (Irish moss or ogonori).

    Some products also contain the brown algae Fucus vesiculosus (commonly known as bladderwrack, black tang, rockweed, sea grapes, bladder fucus, sea oak, cut weed, dyers fucus, red fucus or rock wrack).

    Most sea moss products are sold as a gel that can be added to recipes, used in smoothies, frozen into ice cubes or eaten on its own. The products also come in capsule form or can be purchased “raw” and used to make your own gels at home.

    A clump of red algae on wet sand and white pebbles.
    Several kinds of red algae are used in commercially-available sea moss products. Nancy Ann Bowe/Shutterstock

    What’s the evidence?

    Sea moss products claim a host of potential health benefits, from supporting immunity, to promoting skin health and enhancing mood and focus, among many others.

    But is there any evidence supporting these claims?

    Recent studies have reviewed the biological properties of the main sea moss species (Chondrus crispus, Eucheuma cottonii, Gracilaria and Fucus vesiculosus).

    They suggest these species may have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer, antidiabetic and probiotic properties.

    However, the vast majority of research relating to Chondrus crispus, Gracilaria and Fucus vesiculosus – and all of the research on Eucheuma cottonii – comes from studies done in test tubes or using cell and animal models. We should not assume the health effects seen would be the same in humans.

    In cell and animal studies, researchers usually administer algae in a laboratory and use specific extracts rich in bioactive compounds rather than commercially available sea moss products.

    They also use very different – often relatively larger – amounts compared to what someone would typically consume when they eat sea moss products.

    This means the existing studies can’t tell us about the human body’s processes when eating and digesting sea moss.

    Sea moss may have similar effects in humans. But so far there is very little evidence people who consume sea moss will experience any of the claimed health benefits.

    Nutritional value

    Eating sea moss does not replace the need for a balanced diet, including a variety of fruits and vegetables.

    Chondrus crispus, Eucheuma cottonii and Gracilaria, like many seaweeds, are rich sources of nutrients such as fatty acids, amino acids, vitamin C and minerals. These nutrients are also likely to be present in sea moss, although some may be lost during the preparation of the product (for example, soaking may reduce vitamin C content), and those that remain could be present in relatively low quantities.

    There are claims that sea moss may be harmful for people with thyroid problems. This relates to the relationship between thyroid function and iodine. The algae used to make sea moss are notable sources of iodine and excess iodine intake can contribute to thyroid problems, particularly for people with pre-existing conditions. That is why these products often carry disclaimers related to iodine sensitivity or thyroid health.

    Is it worth it?

    So you may be wondering if it’s worth trying sea moss. Here are a few things to consider before you decide whether to start scooping sea moss into your smoothies.

    A 375mL jar costs around $A25–$30 and lasts about seven to ten days, if you follow the recommended serving suggestion of two tablespoons per day. This makes it a relatively expensive source of nutrients.

    Two glass jars filled with dark pink gel.
    Sea moss is commonly sold as a gel that can be eaten on a kitchen bench. April Sims/Shutterstock

    Sea moss is often hyped for containing 92 different minerals. While there may be 92 minerals present, the amount of minerals in the algae will vary depending on growing location and conditions.

    The efficiency with which minerals from algae can be absorbed and used by the body also varies for different minerals. For example, sodium is absorbed well, while only about 50% of iodine is absorbed.

    But sea moss has also been shown to contain lead, mercury and other heavy metals – as well as radioactive elements (such as radon) that can be harmful to humans. Seaweeds are known for their ability to accumulate minerals from their environment, regardless of whether these are beneficial or harmful for human nutrition. Remember, more doesn’t always mean better.

    What else am I eating?

    While you won’t get a full nutritional breakdown on the jar, it is always wise to check what other ingredients you may be eating. Sea moss products can contain a range of other ingredients, such as lime, monk fruit powder, spirulina and ginger, among many others.

    These ingredients differ between brands and products, so be aware of your needs and always check.

    Despite their health claims, most sea moss products also carry disclaimers indicating that the products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

    If you have concerns about your health, always speak to a health professional for accurate and personalised medical advice.

    Margaret Murray, Senior Lecturer, Nutrition, Swinburne University of Technology

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

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