The Nasal Spray That Reverses Brain Aging
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.
First let’s note: biological age is not one thing but quite a lot of things, each of which can age at different rates.
See for example: Age & Aging: What Can (And Can’t) We Do About It?
So, when we say “reverses brain aging”, this really is just about brain aging, not the rest of the body, and specifically is about inflammatory aging (which, in fairness, is the most clinically-relevant kind of brain aging for most people).
So, while not a magical fountain of youth in all respects, this is very important:
Who nose how much difference this could make
Researchers (Dr. Padmashri A. Shetty et al.) gave aging mice two doses of a nasal spray containing extracellular vesicles* derived from human induced pluripotent stem cell neural stem cells, and the treated mice later showed less brain inflammation, healthier mitochondrial function, and better performance on memory tasks.
Importantly, the results lasted for months after just the two doses!
*We wrote about these before, here: The Brain Alarm Signs That Warn Of Dementia ← this is for when the blood gets (in very lay terms) bits of broken brain in it. Or more specifically, they tested the blood for density of cerebrovascular endothelial extracellular vesicles (CEEVs), which are bits of the cells from the lining of blood vessels in the brain. These cerebrovascular endothelial extracellular vesicles should not, ideally, be falling off and riding around your bloodstream, and the greater the density of them, the greater likelihood of mild cognitive impairment now, and by extension, dementia later.
This treatment was delivered intranasally because doing it that way allows molecules to bypass much of the blood-brain barrier* without surgery.
*And for more about that, you can read one of our guest articles, here: Our blood-brain barrier stops bugs and toxins getting to our brain. Here’s how it works
It works through two main pathways, which are:
- Against neuroinflamamtion: the study found reductions in activity related to the NLRP3 inflammasome and the cGAS-STING pathway, both strongly associated with chronic age-related brain inflammation.
- Protecting mitochondrial health: the treated mice showed improved expression of genes involved in mitochondrial respiratory chain integrity and oxidative phosphorylation, which is important because aging brains often develop impaired mitochondrial function, reducing cellular energy production, and thus (of course) reducing cognitive function.
In particular, many neurodegenerative conditions involve chronic neuroinflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction, so a noninvasive method like this that meaningfully helps against both is very promising indeed!
All that said, it does need to go through human trials next, and the nasal spray wasn’t a simple over-the-counter product, but rather was an advanced experimental therapy involving the aforementioned stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles manufactured under laboratory conditions—meaning we can’t expect it to hit pharmacy shelves soon.
Nevertheless, you can read the paper in full here: Intranasal Human NSC-Derived EVs Therapy Can Restrain Inflammatory Microglial Transcriptome, and NLRP3 and cGAS-STING Signalling, in Aged Hippocampus
And if you’d like to rejuvenate your brain in other ways while you’re waiting, then consider:
- When Age Is A Flexible Number
- Do Try This At Home: The 12-Week Brain Fitness Program
- Is There A Limit To How Much You Can Improve Your Brain?
Want to learn more?
You might like this book we reviewed a while back:
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:
-
Soy Beans vs Kidney Beans – Which is Healthier?
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.
Our Verdict
When comparing soy beans to kidney beans, we picked the soy.
Why?
In terms of macros, soy has 2x the protein, while kidney beans have nearly 3x the carbs and very slightly more fiber. Ratio-wise, the “very slightly more fiber” does not offset the “nearly 3x the carbs” when it comes to glycemic index (though both are still good, really, but this is a head-to-head so the comparison is relevant), and 2x the protein is also quite a bonus, so this category’s an easy win for soy.
In the category of vitamins, soy beans have more of vitamins A, B2, B6, C, E, K, and choline, while kidney beans have more of vitamins B3, B5, and B9, thus making for a 7:3 win for soy.
When it comes to minerals, soy beans have more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, while kidney beans are not higher in any mineral. Another clear win for soy.
Adding up the three strong wins for soy, makes for an overall easy win for soy. Still, enjoy either or both; diversity is good!
Want to learn more?
You might like to read:
Plant vs Animal Protein: Head to Head
Take care!
Share This Post
-
2 Key Things Women Should Eat More Of In Midlife For Healthier Old Age
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.
…and other items from this week’s health news:
Don’t go against the grain
Researchers followed 47,513 women (not in the stalker sense, in the longitudinal cohort study sense) recording their diets and health for more than 30 years. Those who ate more high-quality carbohydrates and fiber in midlife were more likely to age healthily. So, per this study, that’s what it would be good to focus on eating now, to enjoy better health in older age.
These “high-quality” carbs came from foods rich in fiber like whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes, while those who ate more refined carbs, such as by added sugar, white flour products, and highly-processed potato products, did not age so well.
Notably, this association continued to hold true even when related factors such as total calorie intake were taken into account. This is important, as a lot of refined carbohydrate products are also very high in calories, so it was critical to check that it was the carb quality that truly mattered, not the calorie count:
Read in full: Midlife intakes of high-quality carbohydrates and dietary fiber linked to better health in older women
Related: What Do The Different Kinds Of Fiber Do? 30 Foods That Rank Highest
Federal research cuts: what the impact will be
As the US’s federal government makes research funding cuts and plans more, it’s easy to despair and think “so much less science will be done”.
And, that’s partly true (alas), but it’s worth noting that the funding cuts are not random or equal, rather, they are being disproportionately applied to areas of science that contradict the opinions of the government. Similar to the approaches of stopping COVID testing so that case rates will go down, and stopping food quality testing so that there won’t be recalls all the time, a “what we don’t know can’t hurt us” approach is not only not ideal for public health, but also, will likely end up resulting in very misleading publication bias (because studies that don’t get funded, won’t get published), which also means there will likely be, proportionally, a significant rise in privately-funded research—which, private interests being what they are, will invariably mean a commercial bias, as studies will be disproportionately funded by companies with things to sell, instead of the National Institute of Health with the primary goal of actually safeguarding the nation’s health.
This is not cheerful news, but the good news for the majority of people is that, per the below-linked report, things that affect minorities are first on the chopping block. So statistically, that’s probably not you, dear reader (because that’s how “minority” works statistically). But watch out, because “women” is also a category on the “DEI” list, and as the report also notes, this means that research into women’s health issues will likely be restricted further.
Read in full: Academic medical researchers face the reality of federal cuts
Related: Vaccine Mythbusting
“Beans, beans, good for your heart” is about more than just the fiber content
Amongst the world’s scientific community, it’s fairly uncontroversial that most people could stand to eat more plants and fewer animal products. While the scientific consensus doesn’t hold for outright veganism being critical for health (indeed, fermented dairy products and fish are considered healthy in moderation, and poultry appears to be at least neutral in moderation), the worst offenders are well-established as processed and/or red meat, with pork going into the same metabolic category notwithstanding not being a red meat per se, and unfermented dairy products being something of a mixed bag, healthwise.
Which means that enjoying a wide array of plants as one’s main source of protein is beneficial. Since heart disease remains a #1 killer in the US, it’s worth mentioning that enjoying more plant-based protein is a statistically safe bet:
❝For every 20 grams of plant-based protein consumed each day, the risk for hypertension decreased by 16% compared to those who ate the fewest plant foods.❞
(ideally not diversifying into a wide array of processed meat substitutes though; that increased blood pressure risk in the study, probably due to the increased sodium content that’s common in such products)
Read in full: Plant-based proteins may help lower high blood pressure risk, research indicates
Share This Post
-
Yoga Safety: Simple Guidelines
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
❝I was wondering whether there were very simple, clear bullet points or instructions on things to be wary of in Yoga.❞
That’s quite a large topic, and not one that lends itself well to being conveyed in bullet points, but first we’ll share the article you sent us when sending this question:
Tips for Avoiding Yoga Injuries
…and next we’ll recommend the YouTube channel @livinleggings, whose videos we feature here from time to time. She (Liv) has a lot of good videos on problems/mistakes/injuries to avoid.
Here’s a great one to get you started:
Share This Post
-
How Not to Age – by Dr. Michael Greger
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.
First things first: it’s a great book, and it’s this reviewer’s favorite of Dr. Greger’s so far (for posterity: it’s just been published and this reviewer has just finished reading the copy she got on pre-order)
Unlike many popular physician authors, Dr. Greger doesn’t rehash a lot of old material, and instead favours prioritizing new material in each work. Where appropriate, he’ll send the reader to other books for more specific information (e.g: you want to know how to avoid premature death? Go read How Not To Die. You want to know how to lose weight? How Not To Diet. Etc).
In the category of new information, he has a lot to offer here. And with over 8,000 references, it’s information, not conjecture. On which note, we recommend the e-book version if that’s possible for you, for three reasons:
- It’s possible to just click the references and be taken straight to the cited paper itself online
- To try to keep the book’s size down, Dr. Greger has linked to other external resources too
- The only negative reviews on Amazon, so far, are people complaining that the print copy’s text is smaller than they’d like
For all its information-density (those 8,000+ references are packed into 600ish pages), the book is very readable even to a lay reader; the author is a very skilled writer.
As for the content, we can’t fit more than a few sentences here so forgive the brevity, but we’ll mention that he covers:
- Slowing 11 pathways of aging
- The optimal anti-aging regimen according to current best science
- Preserving function (specific individual aspects of aging, e.g. hearing, sight, cognitive function, sexual function, hair, bones, etc)
- “Dr. Greger’s Anti-Aging Eight”
In terms of “flavor” of anti-aging science, his approach can be summed up as: diet and lifestyle as foundation; specific supplements and interventions as cornerstones.
Bottom line: this is now the anti-aging book.
Click here to check out How Not To Age, and look after yourself with the best modern science!
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:
-
If You Have Gum Disease… Do This!
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.
Gingivitis can be reversed much more easily than periodontitis, so try to catch it before it progresses that far!
Here’s how:
Gums are the foundation of healthy teeth
First, arm yourself well: an electric toothbrush provides thousands of strokes, better plaque removal, more gum stimulation, and less user error than a manual brush, especially when angled towards your gums and guided tooth to tooth.
Next, expand your arsenal: a water flosser helps reduce swelling and bleeding by stimulating your gums and can reach deeper gum pockets that string floss cannot, making it especially useful against gingivitis or even more advanced gum disease.
That said, she does also say that even with daily water flossing, string floss is still needed to clean the tight contact points where two teeth meet. However, when water flossing daily, a floss pick used quickly between teeth is sufficient.
Another option is interproximal brushes: these clean between teeth using bristles rather than string, and can be very effective. Despite looking rather fiddly, they’re quite simple to use and can reduce missed areas compared with string floss, particularly for larger gaps or awkward angles.
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:
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:
-
Healthy Harissa Falafel Patties
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 can make these as regular falafel balls if you prefer, but patties are quicker and easier to cook, and are great for popping in a pitta.
You will need
For the falafels:
- 1 can chickpeas, drained, keep the chickpea water (aquafaba)
- 1 red onion, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp chickpea flour (also called gram flour or garbanzo bean flour)
- 1 bunch parsley
- 1 tbsp harissa paste
- Extra virgin olive oil for frying
For the harissa sauce:
- ½ cup crème fraîche or plant-based equivalent (you can use our Plant-Based Healthy Cream Cheese recipe and add the juice of 1 lemon)*
- 1 tbsp harissa paste (or adjust this quantity per your heat preference)
*if doing this, rather than waste the zest of the lemon, you can add the zest to the falafels if you like, but it’s by no means necessary, just an option
For serving:
- Wholegrain pitta or other flatbread (you can use our Healthy Homemade Flatbreads recipe)
- Salad (your preference; we recommend some salad leaves, sliced tomato, sliced cucumber, maybe some sliced onion, that sort of thing)
Method
(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)
1) Blend the chickpeas, 1 oz of the aquafaba, the onion, the parsley, and the harissa paste, until smooth. Then add in the chickpea flour until you get a thick batter. If you overdo it with the chickpea flour, add a little more of the aquafaba to equalize. Refrigerate the mixture for at least 30 minutes.
2) Heat some oil in a skillet, and spoon the falafel mixture into the pan to make the patties, cooking on both sides (you can use a spatula to gently turn them), and set them aside.
3) Mix the harissa sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
4) Assemble; best served warm, but enjoy it however you like!
Enjoy!
Want to learn more?
For those interested in more of what we have going on today:
- Why You’re Probably Not Getting Enough Fiber (And How To Fix It)
- Capsaicin For Weight Loss And Against Inflammation
- Hero Homemade Hummus ← another great option
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:
