Tooth-Whitening That’s Safe For Your Teeth?
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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!
No question/request too big or small 😎
❝Is there any way of whitening teeth that works and isn’t harming the teeth or gums?❞
The short answer is “yes”!
A slightly longer answer “yes, but…”
First, let’s pro/con the most common options:
Professional in-office whitening:
- pros: fastest results, most noticeable whitening, generally safest
- cons: most expensive option, can cause temporary tooth sensitivity (because they’re still usually using peroxides etc, just, more carefully than you likely can)
Dentist-prescribed take-home kits:
- pros: strong results, longer-lasting than over-the-counter options
- cons: slower than in-office treatment, requires consistent use, increased risk of sensitivity, almost certainly will harm gums
Over-the-counter whitening kits:
- pros: cheaper than dentist options, moderate effectiveness, more convenient than prescriptions or in-office treatments
- cons: weaker results, potential for poor fit and gum irritation, inconsistent outcomes, quite a fuss to have to do it
Whitening pens / paint-on gels:
- pros: portable, convenient for touch-ups, low cost
- cons: very limited effectiveness, uneven coverage, short contact time reduces results, likely to harm gums
Whitening toothpaste:
- pros: cheapest option, easy to incorporate into routine, helps remove surface stains
- cons: minimal actual whitening (mostly surface-level), doesn’t change tooth color deeply
Home remedies (baking soda, charcoal, lemon, etc):
- pros: low cost, very accessible
- cons: little to no proven whitening effect, anything acidic will damage the enamel (you are putting an acid on a base, that’s not going to go well!), others are likely to inflame the gums and/or erode the enamel by indiscriminate abrasive action
Whitening mouthwash:
- pros: easy to use, adds minor stain prevention
- cons: very weak effect due to short contact time, mainly maintenance rather than active whitening
Now let’s narrow those down
Let’s throw out the home remedies, the pens/gels, and the OTC kits.
This brings us down to:
- Professional treatments / treatments prescribed by your dentist
- Whitening toothpaste (not very effective, but unlike most things on the list, not harmful)
- Whitening mouthwash (might as well)
There are also options that aren’t so common, such as: Professional-Style Dental Cleaning At Home?, which methods are safe and effective if and only if you do them correctly. In short, if you’re not confident scraping plaque off your teeth, for example, don’t do it. If any any doubt whatsoever, leave those medieval-looking implements aside, and see your dentist instead.
Hollywood’s most “perfect” whites would be nothing without the gums holding them in place. So, it may be a good idea to set aside the cosmetic whitening products that often harm gums (anything containing bleach / hydrogen peroxide, is generally a bad idea), and instead focus on your gums.
As for avoiding gum disease (periodontitis)?
❝In conclusion, periodontitis might enhance the association of biological aging with all-cause mortality in middle-aged and older adults.
Hence, maintaining and enhancing periodontal health is expected to become an intervention to slow aging and extend life span.❞
Source: Does Periodontitis Affect the Association of Biological Aging with Mortality?
To look after the whole, you have to take care of the parts. So, with this in mind:
- If You Have Gum Disease… Do This!
- How To Regrow Receding Gums
- Make Your Saliva Better For Your Teeth
Restore your enamel
“When it’s gone, it’s gone” is the common belief when it comes to tooth enamel. Nevertheless, there are such things as hydroxyapatite toothpaste which is not only as pathogen-killing as fluoride, but also has the added bonus of being based on one of the main minerals our teeth are made of (hydroxyapatite is a calcium phosphate compound), so it does aid in rebuilding,
There are pros and cons to both, by the way: Fluoride Toothpaste vs Non-Fluoride Toothpaste – Which is Healthier? ← with interesting numbers on the toxicity of each!
In that comparison (we compared fluoride to hydroxyapatite) we picked the fluoride on the basis of “they both do the job equally well, and they’re both very safe, but technically everything has a toxicity level, and fluoride’s is the relatively safest of these two very safe products”.
However, that’s assuming for the general job of “keeping teeth healthy”. If your teeth need remineralizing, hydroxyapatite will better promote that.
For more details, see: Tooth Remineralization: How To Heal Your Teeth Naturally
Want to learn more?
You might also like to read our own three-part series on dental health:
- Toothpastes & Mouthwashes: Which Help And Which Harm?
- Flossing Without Flossing?
- Less Common Oral Hygiene Options ← we recommend the miswak! Not only does it clean the teeth as well as or better than traditional brushing, but also it changes the composition of saliva to improve the oral microbiome, effectively turning your saliva into a biological mouthwash that kills unwanted microbes and is comfortable for the ones that should be there.
Take care!
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Tofu vs Seitan – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing tofu to seitan, we picked the tofu.
Why?
This one is not close!
In terms of macros, seitan does have about 2x the protein, but it also has 6x the carbs and 6x the sodium of tofu, as well as less fiber than tofu.. So we’ll call it a tie on macros. But…
Seitan is also much more processed than tofu, as tofu has usually just been fermented and possibly pressed (depending on kind). Seitan, in contrast, is processed gluten that has been extracted from wheat and usually had lots of things happen to it on the way (depending on kind).
About that protein… Tofu is a complete protein, meaning it has all of the essential amino acids. Seitain, meanwhile, is lacking in lysine.
When it comes to vitamins and minerals, again tofu easily comes out on top; tofu has 5x the calcium, similar iron, more magnesium, 2x the phosphorous, 150% of the potassium, and contains several other nutrients that seitan doesn’t, such as folate and choline.
So, easy winning for tofu across the board on micronutrients.
Tofu is also rich in isoflavones, antioxidant phytonutrients, while seitan has no such benefits.
So, another win for tofu.
There are two reasons you might choose seitan:
- prioritizing bulk protein above all other health considerations
- you are allergic to soy and not allergic to gluten
If neither of those things are the case, then tofu is the healthier choice!
Want to learn more?
You might like to read:
- Tempeh vs Tofu – Which is Healthier? ← tempeh is, nutritionally speaking, tofu but better. Of course on a culinary level, there are many recipes where tofu will work and tempeh wouldn’t, though.
- Gluten: What’s The Truth?
Take care!
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Fruit, Fiber, & Leafy Greens… On A Low-FODMAP Diet!
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Fiber For FODMAP-Avoiders
First, let’s quickly cover: what are FODMAPs?
FODMAPs are fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols.
In plainer English: they’re carbohydrates that are resistant to digestion.
This is, for most people most of the time, a good thing, for example:
When Is A Fiber Not A Fiber? When It’s A Resistant Starch.
Not for everyone…
However, if you have inflammatory bowel syndrome (IBS), including ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, or similar, then suddenly a lot of common dietary advice gets flipped on its head:
While digestion-resistant carbohydrates making it to the end parts of our digestive tract are good for our bacteria there, in the case of people with IBS or similar, it can be a bit too good for our bacteria there.
Which can mean gas (a natural by-product of bacterial respiration) accumulation, discomfort, water retention (as the pseudo-fiber draws water in and keeps it), and other related symptoms, causing discomfort, and potentially disease such as diarrhea.
Again: for most people this is not so (usually: quite the opposite; resistant starches improve things down there), but for those for whom it’s a thing, it’s a Big Bad Thing™.
Hold the veg? Hold your horses.
A common knee-jerk reaction is “I will avoid fruit and veg, then”.
Superficially, this can work, as many fruit & veg are high in FODMAPs (as are fermented dairy products, by the way).
However, a diet free from fruit and veg is not going to be healthy in any sustainable fashion.
There are, however, options for low-FODMAP fruit & veg, such as:
Fruits: bananas (if not overripe), kiwi, grapefruit, lemons, limes, melons, oranges, passionfruit, strawberries
Vegetables: alfalfa, bell peppers, bok choy, carrots, celery, cucumbers, eggplant, green beans, kale, lettuce, olives, parsnips, potatoes (and sweet potatoes, yams etc), radishes, spinach, squash, tomatoes*, turnips, zucchini
*our stance: botanically it’s a fruit, but culinarily it’s a vegetable.
For more on the science of this, check out:
Strategies for Producing Low FODMAPs Foodstuffs: Challenges and Perspectives ← table 2 is particularly informative when it comes to the above examples, and table 3 will advise about…
Bonus
Grains: oats, quinoa, rice, tapioca
…and wheat if the conditions in table 3 (linked above) are satisfied
(worth mentioning since grains also get a bad press when it comes to IBS, but that’s mostly because of wheat)
See also: Gluten: What’s The Truth?
Enjoy!
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6 Micro Habits That Reshape Your Body (No Gym Needed)
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It feels like almost nothing, but it makes all the difference:
Do it the easy way
First know this: your body shape is mainly driven by what you eat, how much you move, and how consistently you sustain both over time.
- Protein first: choose your protein source first at each meal to increase fullness during and after eating, reduce snacking, and slightly increase calorie burn through digestion.
- Add fruit & veg: include at least one additional fruit or vegetable with every meal to increase fiber, micronutrients, and meal volume while naturally improving portion balance.
- Tie water to meals: drink water with (and between) meals to support energy, reduce fatigue from dehydration, and help manage hunger without relying on willpower.
- Move for your phone: put your phone the other side of the room, so every check requires walking, sneakily increasing your daily step count while decreasing sedentary behavior.
- Take longer routes: deliberately choose longer routes (when walking, not when driving!) for everyday tasks, to accumulate extra steps and boost daily energy expenditure.
- Use waiting time: walk, otherwise exercise, or even just do a quick chore, while waiting for things like a kettle to boil to sneak in yet more extra movement.
With that in mind and without further ado, here are the 6 habits:
For more on each of these, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like:
15 Easy Japanese Habits That Will Transform Your Health
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Early Dementia Screening From Your Blood & More
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.
Dementia is, statistically speaking, the most feared disease in the US. Notwithstanding…
- heart disease killing more
- COVID being more of a lottery
- cancer being the “yes you can modify risk factors but it can come for anyone” life-changing (and often life-ending) disease,
…it’s still dementia that Americans report fearing the most.
And yet… Early dementia screening is seriously underused
It may be a case of a head-in-sand approach to avoid unwanted news, or it could be a case of not knowing what’s available.
So, with that in mind…
How to watch out: first line warning signs
You walk into a room of your house, and suddenly stop: “what did I come in here for?”, you wonder.
A moment later, you’re worrying whether this is a sign of age-related cognitive decline.
The good news: it usually isn’t. In fact, you did that when you were younger, too, you just didn’t pay enough attention at the time to remember it now.
Dementia-related memory loss is less “where did I put my car keys?”, and more “what is this thing for?” (it’s your car keys). Or at a less advanced stage: “whose are these car keys?” (they are yours).
You can read about some of the nuances here:
Is It Dementia? Spot The Signs (Because None Of Us Are Immune) ← If you’d like an objective test of memory and other cognitive impairments, this article also has a link to the industry’s gold standard test (it’s free)
(The Self-Administered Gerocognitive Exam (SAGE) is designed to detect early signs of cognitive, memory or thinking impairments)
Tests you can’t do at home
We wrote a little while back about how one kind of blood testing for Alzheimer’s disease works:
The Brain Alarm Signs That Warn Of Dementia
Why “Brain Alarm Signs” if it’s a blood test? Because 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.
It’s not the only blood test available though, see:
Highly accurate blood test for Alzheimer’s disease is similar or superior to clinical cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tests ← this one checks the ratio of phosporylated-tau217 to non-phosphorylated tau (which is a protein antibody), which equalled or outperformed FDA-approved CSF tests in classifying amyloid-β positron emission topography (PET, as in a PET scan) status, with a confidence interval as high as, or better than, industry standards.
If you don’t like having your blood taken, trust us that you’d find having your cerebrospinal fluid taken even less enjoyable, so this is a very welcome improvement!
In case you’re curious about how the CSF test works, here you go: NPTX2 in Cerebrospinal Fluid Predicts the Progression From Normal Cognition to Mild Cognitive Impairment ← NPTX2 is a protein biomarker of Alzheimer’s risk
…but again, we really think the blood test is preferable.
Tests beyond the physiological
There are, of course, psychological tests that can be done, including a linguistic analysis of your conversation, compared with a vast database of other people’s conversations, with and without various degrees of cognitive impairment
As Dr. Ioannis Paschalidis explains:
❝We wanted to predict what would happen in the next six years—and we found we can reasonably make that prediction with relatively good confidence and accuracy.
Rather than using acoustic features of speech, like enunciation or speed, the model is just pulling from the content of the interview—the words spoken, how they’re structured.
You can think of the score as the likelihood, the probability, that someone will remain stable or transition to dementia. It had significant predictive ability.
Digital is the new blood. You can collect it, analyze it for what is known today, store it, and reanalyze it for whatever new emerges tomorrow.❞
You can read the full paper here: Prediction of Alzheimer’s disease progression within 6 years using speech: A novel approach leveraging language models
See also: AI: The Doctor That Never Tires?
What if the news isn’t good?
While bad news is never welcome per se, it is preferable to not knowing, insofar as we can then take steps to manage the situation.
You may be wondering: what can be done that I wouldn’t already be doing to minimize my dementia risk in the first place?
And the answer is: yes, do continue those things of course, but there is more to do:
See: Beyond Guarding Against Dementia: When Age’s Brain-Changes Come Knocking
Take care!
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10 Tips To Build Muscle Without Weights
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.
Do you love weight-training? No? Then this one’s for you:
Worth its weight in hold…
Cori Lefkowitz, of “Redefining Strength” and “Strong At Every Age”, advises:
- Vary your posture and position: change exercise angles and stances to increase difficulty or target different muscles (e.g. elevated feet push-ups, narrow grip, pike push-ups).
- Use unilateral exercises: train one limb at a time (e.g. single-leg squats, single-arm push-ups) or use 80/20 variations to shift more load to one side and fix imbalances.
- Adjust the range of motion (ROM): increase ROM for more challenge and mobility (e.g. balance lunge) or reduce ROM with pulsing movements to keep muscles under constant tension.
- Combine multiple exercises: work the same muscle group with different movements back-to-back to reach fatigue and recruit more muscle fibers.
- Include isolation exercises: target specific muscles before or after compound moves to fully fatigue stubborn muscle groups.
- Change exercise tempo: slow down or speed up movements, add holds, or vary tempos in different portions of the exercise—in essence, confuse your muscles, which forces them to adapt.
- Use timed sets: perform exercises for time instead of reps to increase training density and push past failure. How can you push past failure, you ask? An example is doing push-ups until failure, and the remainder of the time you are then just pushing against the ground, still trying, even if you aren’t actually going anywhere.
- Increase total volume: embrace higher reps and sets, and design workouts or circuits to pack in more work without extending workout time excessively.
- Train muscle groups more frequently: work each area 3–4 times per week with bodyweight training to accumulate more weekly volume.
- Get creative with equipment: use bands, sliders, suspension trainers, or household items to add resistance, instability, and new challenges.
For more on each of these plus some visual demonstrations where applicable, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like:
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From Lupus To Arthritis: New Developments
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This week’s health news round-up highlights some things that are getting better, and some things that are getting worse, and how to be on the right side of both:
New hope for lupus sufferers
Lupus is currently treated mostly with lifelong medications to suppress the immune system, which is not only inconvenient, but also can leave people more open to infectious diseases. The latest development uses CAR T-cell technology (as has been used in cancer treatment for a while) to genetically modify cells to enable the body’s own immune system to behave properly:
Read in full: Exciting new lupus treatment could end need for lifelong medication
Related: How to Prevent (Or Reduce The Severity Of) Inflammatory Diseases
It’s in the hips
There are a lot of different kinds of hip replacements, and those with either delta ceramic or oxidised zirconium head with a highly cross-linked polyethylene liner/cup have the lowest risk of need for revision in the 15 years after surgery. This is important, because obviously, once it’s in there, you want it to be able to stay in there and not have to be touched again any time soon:
Read in full: Study identifies hip implant materials with the lowest risk of needing revision
Related: Nobody Likes Surgery, But Here’s How To Make It Much Less Bad
Sooner is better than later
Often, people won’t know about an unwanted pregnancy in the first six weeks, but for those who are able to catch it early, Very Early Medical Abortion (VEMA) offers a safe an effective way of doing so, with success rate being linked to earliness of intervention:
Read in full: Very early medication abortion is effective and safe, study finds
Related: What Might A Second Trump Presidency Look Like for Health Care?
Increased infectious disease risks from cattle farms
Many serious-to-humans infectious diseases enter the human population via the animal food chain, and in this case, bird flu becoming more rampant amongst cows is starting to pose a clear threat to humans, so this is definitely something to be aware of:
Read in full: Bird flu infects 1 in 14 dairy workers exposed; CDC urges better protections
Related: With Only Gloves To Protect Them, Farmworkers Say They Tend Sick Cows Amid Bird Flu
Herald of woe
Gut health affects most of the rest of health, and there are a lot of links between gut and bone health. In this case, an association has been found between certain changes in the gut microbiome, and subsequent onset of rheumatoid arthritis:
Read in full: Changes in gut microbiome could signal onset of rheumatoid arthritis
Related: Stop Sabotaging Your Gut
Take care!
Don’t Forget…
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