What you need to know about xylazine
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Xylazine is a non-opioid tranquilizer designed for veterinary use in animals. The sedative is not approved for use in people, yet it’s becoming more prevalent in the illicit drug supply.
Sometimes called “tranq,” it’s often mixed with other drugs, such as fentanyl, a potent opioid responsible for a growing number of overdose deaths. Last year, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy declared fentanyl mixed with xylazine an “emerging threat.”
Read on to learn more about xylazine: what happens when people take it, what to do if an overdose is suspected, and how harm reduction tools can prevent overdose deaths.
How are people who use drugs exposed to xylazine?
Studies show people are exposed to xylazine—knowingly or unknowingly—when it’s mixed with other drugs like heroin, cocaine, meth, and, most frequently, fentanyl. When combined with opioids or other drugs, it increases the risk of a drug overdose.
What happens if someone takes xylazine?
Taking xylazine can cause drowsiness, amnesia, slow breathing, slow heart rate, dangerously low blood pressure, wounds that can become infected, and death, especially when taken in combination with other drugs.
Why does xylazine increase the risk of overdose?
Xylazine is a central nervous system depressant, which means that it slows down the body’s heart rate and breathing. It can also enhance the effects of other depressants, such as opioids, which may lead to suffocation.
What are the signs of a xylazine-related overdose?
Xylazine-related overdoses look like opioid overdoses. A person who has overdosed may exhibit a slow pulse, slow breathing, blurry vision, disorientation, drowsiness, confusion, blue skin, and loss of consciousness.
How many people die from xylazine-related overdoses in the U.S.?
Xylazine-related overdose deaths in the U.S. rose from 102 deaths in 2018 to 3,468 deaths in 2021. Most occurred in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. Fentanyl was the most frequently co-occurring drug involved in those deaths.
What should I do if an overdose is suspected?
If you suspect that a person has overdosed on any drug, call 911 and give them naloxone—sometimes sold under the brand name Narcan—a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose. You should also stay with the person who has overdosed until first responders arrive. Most states have Good Samaritan laws, which protect people who have overdosed and those assisting them from certain criminal penalties.
While naloxone cannot reverse the effects of xylazine alone, experts recommend administering naloxone if an overdose is suspected because it’s often mixed with opioids.
You can get naloxone for free from some nonprofit organizations and government-run programs. You can also purchase over-the-counter naloxone at pharmacies, grocery and convenience stores, and other retailers.
Learn how to use naloxone in this short training video from the American Medical Association, or sign up for a free online training.
How can people prevent xylazine-related overdoses?
Harm reduction programs are community programs that prevent drug overdoses, reduce the spread of infectious diseases, and connect people to medical care. These programs provide lifesaving tools like naloxone, as well as fentanyl and xylazine test strips, which can detect the presence of these drugs in a substance and prevent overdoses. Drug test strips can also be ordered online.
However, test strips are considered “drug paraphernalia” in some states and are not legal everywhere. Learn more about state laws around drug checking equipment from the Network for Public Health Law.
Learn more about harm reduction from the CDC.
This article first appeared on Public Good News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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The Blue Zones Kitchen – by Dan Buettner
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We’ve previously reviewed Buettner’s other book, The Blue Zones: 9 Lessons For Living Longer From The People Who’ve Lived The Longest, and with this one, it’s now time to focus on the dietary aspect.
As the title and subtitle promises, we get 100 recipes, inspired by Blue Zone cuisines. The recipes themselves have been tweaked a little for maximum healthiness, eliminating some ingredients that do crop up in the Blue Zones but are exceptions to their higher average healthiness rather than the rule.
The recipes are arranged by geographic zone rather than by meal type, so it might take a full read-through before knowing where to find everything, but it makes it a very enjoyable “coffee-table book” to browse, as well as being practical in the kitchen. The ingredients are mostly easy to find globally, and most can be acquired at a large supermarket and/or health food store. In the case of substitutions, most are obvious, e.g. if you don’t have wild fennel where you are, use cultivated, for example.
In the category of criticism, it appears that Buettner is very unfamiliar with spices, and so has skipped them almost entirely. We at 10almonds could never skip them, and heartily recommend adding your own spices, for their health benefits and flavors. It may take a little experimentation to know what will work with what recipes, but if you’re accustomed to cooking with spices normally, it’s unlikely that you’ll err by going with your heart here.
Bottom line: we’d give this book a once-over for spice additions, but aside from that, it’s a fine book of cuisine-by-location cooking.
Click here to check out The Blue Zones Kitchen, and get cooking into your own three digits!
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Broccoli vs Asparagus – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing broccoli to asparagus, we picked the broccoli.
Why?
Both are great! But broccoli does distinguish itself:
In terms of macros, broccoli has slightly more protein, carbs, and fiber. The two vegetables have the same glycemic index. We’ll call this a slight win for broccoli based mainly on the higher fiber, but it’s not by a huge amount.
When it comes to vitamins, broccoli has more of vitamins B5, B6, B9, C, K, and choline, whereas asparagus has more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, and E. This would already be a 6:5 marginal win for broccoli, but it’s worth bearing in mind that broccoli’s margins are greater, especially with broccoli having around 15x the amount of vitamin C. So, a clear win for broccoli, respectable as asparagus may be.
In the category of minerals, broccoli has more calcium, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium, while asparagus boasts more copper, iron, and zinc. A 6:3 win for broccoli here.
Both vegetables also contain generous amounts of antioxidant polyphenols and other beneficial phytochemicals, often a little different from each other, so that’s a case for enjoying both.
Still, if you’re going to pick just one, we recommend the broccoli!
Want to learn more?
You might like to read:
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Do Try This At Home: The 12-Week Brain Fitness Program
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12 Weeks To Measurably Boost Your Brain
This is Dr. Majid Fotuhi. From humble beginnings (being smuggled out of Iran in 1980 to avoid death in the war), he went on (after teaching himself English, French, and German, hedging his bets as he didn’t know for sure where life would lead him) to get his MD from Harvard Medical School and his PhD in neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University. Since then, he’s had a decades-long illustrious career in neurology and neurophysiology.
What does he want us to know?
The Brain Fitness Program
This is not, by the way, something he’s selling. Rather, it was a landmark 12-week study in which 127 people aged 60–80, of which 63% female, all with a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment, underwent an interventional trial—in other words, a 12-week brain fitness course.
After it, 84% of the participants showed statistically significant improvements in cognitive function.
Not only that, but of those who underwent MRI testing before and after (not possible for everyone due to practical limitations), 71% showed either no further deterioration of the hippocampus, or actual growth above the baseline volume of the hippocampus (that’s good, and it means functionally the memory center of the brain has been rejuvenated).
You can read a little more about the study here:
As for what the program consisted of, and what Dr. Fotuhi thus recommends for everyone…
Cognitive stimulation
This is critical, so we’re going to spend most time on this one—the others we can give just a quick note and a pointer.
In the study this came in several forms and had the benefit of neurofeedback technology, but he says we can replicate most of the effects by simply doing something cognitively stimulating. Whatever challenges your brain is good, but for maximum effect, it should involve the language faculties of the brain, since these are what tend to get hit most by age-related cognitive decline, and are also what tends to have the biggest impact on life when lost.
If you lose your keys, that’s an inconvenience, but if you can’t communicate what is distressing you, or understand what someone is explaining to you, that’s many times worse—and that kind of thing is a common reality for many people with dementia.
To keep the lights brightly lit in that part of the brain: language-learning is good, at whatever level suits you personally. In other words: there’s a difference between entry-level Duolingo Spanish, and critically analysing Rumi’s poetry in the original Persian, so go with whatever is challenging and/but accessible for you—just like you wouldn’t go to the gym for the first time and try to deadlift 500lbs, but you also probably wouldn’t do curls with the same 1lb weights every day for 10 years.
In other words: progressive overloading is key, for the brain as well as for muscles. Start easy, but if you’re breezing through everything, it’s time to step it up.
If for some reason you’re really set against the idea of learning another language, though, check out:
Reading As A Cognitive Exercise ← there are specific tips here for ensuring your reading is (and remains) cognitively beneficial
Mediterranean diet
Shocking nobody, this is once again recommended. You might like to check out the brain-healthy “MIND” tweak to it, here:
Four Ways To Upgrade The Mediterranean Diet ← it’s the fourth one
Omega-3 supplementation
Nothing complicated here. The brain needs a healthy balance of these fatty acids to function properly, and most people have an incorrect balance (too little omega-3 for the omega-6 present):
What Omega-3 Fatty Acids Really Do For Us ← scroll to “against cognitive decline”
Increasing fitness
There’s a good rule of thumb: what’s healthy for your heart, is healthy for your brain. This is because, like every other organ in your body, the brain does not function well without good circulation bringing plenty of oxygen and nutrients, which means good cardiovascular health is necessary. The brain is extra sensitive to this because it’s a demanding organ in terms of how much stuff it needs delivering via blood, and also because of the (necessary; we’d die quickly and horribly without it) impediment of the blood-brain barrier, and the possibility of beta-amyloid plaques and similar woes (they will build up if circulation isn’t good).
How To Reduce Your Alzheimer’s Risk ← number two on the list here
Practising mindfulness medication
This is also straightforward, but not to be underestimated or skipped over:
No-Frills, Evidence-Based Mindfulness
Want to step it up? Check out:
Meditation Games That You’ll Actually Enjoy
Lastly…
Dr. Fotuhi wants us to consider looking after our brain the same way we look after our teeth. No, he doesn’t want us to brush our brain, but he does want us to take small measurable actions multiple times per day, every day.
You can’t just spend the day doing nothing but brushing your teeth for the entirety of January the 1st and then expect them to be healthy for the rest of the year; it doesn’t work like that—and it doesn’t work like that for the brain, either.
So, make the habits, and keep them going
Take care!
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Pajama Pilates – by Maria Mankin
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If The Science Of Pilates was a bit more information than you wanted to get up and running with Pilates at home, then this book offers a much easier way in.
As the name suggests, it’s all about convenience, and making things as easy as possible while enjoying the gradual cumulative gains that come when one practises even just a little every day instead of thinking “well I would, but I have to read all this technical stuff and get changed and clear a space and…”, and thus results in meaningful improvements to mobility and strength over time.
The 40 exercises promised by the subtitle are demonstrate via cute illustrations, of which the cover art is a good representative example. There’s nothing unduly technical here, and yet everything is quite clear. There are also simple practical explanations for each, as well as an initial overview of Pilates as a whole, its principles and necessary knowledge and so forth.
Bottom line: if you’d like to get into Pilates but it has seemed sufficiently taxing that you’ve never quite got started, or if you did then it didn’t stick, then this book can make things easier.
Click here to check out Pajama Pilates, and get ready to pajama Pilates party!
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Serotonin vs Dopamine (Know The Differences)
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Of the various neurotransmitters that people confuse with each other, serotonin and dopamine are the two highest on the list (with oxytocin coming third as people often attribute its effects to serotonin). But, for all they are both “happiness molecules”, serotonin and dopamine are quite different, and are even opposites in some ways:
More than just happiness
Let’s break it down:
Similarities:
- Both are neurotransmitters, neuromodulators, and monoamines.
- Both impact cognition, mood, energy, behavior, memory, and learning.
- Both influence social behavior, though in different ways.
Differences (settle in; there are many):
- Chemical structure:
- Dopamine: catecholamine (derived from phenylalanine and tyrosine)
- Serotonin: indoleamine (derived from tryptophan)
- Derivatives:
- Dopamine → noradrenaline and adrenaline (stress and alertness)
- Serotonin → melatonin (sleep and circadian rhythm)
- Effects on mental state:
- Dopamine: drives action, motivation, and impulsivity.
- Serotonin: promotes calmness, behavioral inhibition, and cooperation.
- Role in memory and learning:
- Dopamine: key in attention and working memory
- Serotonin: crucial for hippocampus activation and long-term memory
Symptoms of imbalance:
- Low dopamine:
- Loss of motivation, focus, emotion, and activity
- Linked to Parkinson’s disease and ADHD
- Low serotonin:
- Sadness, irritability, poor sleep, and digestive issues
- Linked to PTSD, anxiety, and OCD
- High dopamine:
- Excessive drive, impulsivity, addictions, psychosis
- High serotonin:
- Nervousness, nausea, and in extreme cases, serotonin syndrome (which can be fatal)
Brain networks:
- Dopamine: four pathways controlling movement, attention, executive function, and hormones.
- Serotonin: widely distributed across the cortex, partially overlapping with dopamine systems.
Speed of production:
- Dopamine: can spike and deplete quickly; fatigues faster with overuse.
- Serotonin: more stable, releasing steadily over longer periods.
Illustrative examples:
- Coffee boosts dopamine but loses its effect with repeated use.
- Sunlight helps maintain serotonin levels over time.
If you remember nothing else, remember this:
- Dopamine: action, motivation, and alertness.
- Serotonin: contentment, happiness, and calmness.
For more on all of the above, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
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Is chocolate milk a good recovery drink after a workout? A dietitian reviews the evidence
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Whether you enjoy chocolate milk regularly, as a weekend treat, or as an occasional dose of childhood nostalgia, it probably wouldn’t be the first option you think of for post-workout recovery.
Unless you’re on TikTok, perhaps. According to many people on the social media platform, chocolate milk is not only delicious, but it offers benefits comparable to sports drinks after a workout.
So is there any evidence to support this? Let’s take a look.
eldar nurkovic/Shutterstock Rehydrating after a workout is important
Water accounts for somewhere between 50% and 60% of our body weight. Water has many important functions in the body, including helping to keep our body at the right temperature through sweating.
We lose water naturally from our bodies when we sweat, as well as through our breathing and when we go to the toilet. So it’s important to stay hydrated to replenish the water we lose.
When we don’t, we become dehydrated, which can put a strain on our bodies. Signs and symptoms of dehydration can range from thirst and dizziness to low blood pressure and confusion.
Athletes, because of their higher levels of exertion, lose more water through sweating and from respiration (when their breathing rate gets faster). If they’re training or competing in hot or humid environments they will sweat even more.
Dehydration impacts athletes’ performance and like for all of us, can affect their health.
So finding ways to ensure athletes rehydrate quickly during and after they train or compete is important. Fortunately, sports scientists and dietitians have done research looking at the composition of different fluids to understand which ones rehydrate athletes most effectively.
The beverage hydration index
The best hydrating drinks are those the body retains the most of once they’ve been consumed. By doing studies where they give people different drinks in standardised conditions, scientists have been able to determine how various options stack up.
To this end, they’ve developed something called the beverage hydration index, which measures to what degree different fluids hydrate a person compared to still water.
According to this index beverages with similar fluid retention to still water include sparkling water, sports drinks, cola, diet cola, tea, coffee, and beer below 4% alcohol. That said, alcohol is probably best avoided when recovering from exercise.
Beverages with superior fluid retention to still water include milk (both full-fat and skim), soy milk, orange juice and oral rehydration solutions.
This body of research indicates that when it comes to rehydration after exercise, unflavoured milk (full fat, skim or soy) is better than sports drinks.
But what about chocolate milk?
A small study looked at the effects of chocolate milk compared to plain milk on rehydration and exercise performance in futsal players (futsal is similar to soccer but played on a court indoors). The researchers found no difference in rehydration between the two. There’s no other published research to my knowledge looking at how chocolate milk compares to regular milk for rehydration during or after exercise.
But rehydration isn’t the only thing athletes look for in sports drinks. In the same study, drinking chocolate milk after play (referred to as the recovery period) increased the time it took for the futsal players to become exhausted in further exercise (a shuttle run test) four hours later.
This was also shown in a review of several clinical trials. The analysis found that, compared to different placebos (such as water) or other drinks containing fat, protein and carbohydrates, chocolate milk lengthened the time to exhaustion during exercise.
What’s in chocolate milk?
Milk contains protein, carbohydrates and electrolytes, each of which can affect hydration, performance, or both.
Protein is important for building muscle, which is beneficial for performance. The electrolytes in milk (including sodium and potassium) help to replace electrolytes lost through sweating, so can also be good for performance, and aid hydration.
Compared to regular milk, chocolate milk contains added sugar. This provides extra carbohydrates, which are likewise beneficial for performance. Carbohydrates provide an immediate source of energy for athletes’ working muscles, where they’re stored as glycogen. This might contribute to the edge chocolate milk appears to have over plain milk in terms of athletic endurance.
The added sugar in chocolate milk provides extra carbohydrates. Brent Hofacker/Shutterstock Coffee-flavoured milk has an additional advantage. It contains caffeine, which can improve athletic performance by reducing the perceived effort that goes into exercise.
One study showed that a frappe-type drink prepared with filtered coffee, skim milk and sugar led to better muscle glycogen levels after exercise compared to plain milk with an equivalent amount of sugar added.
So what’s the verdict?
Evidence shows chocolate milk can rehydrate better than water or sports drinks after exercise. But there isn’t evidence to suggest it can rehydrate better than plain milk. Chocolate milk does appear to improve athletic endurance compared to plain milk though.
Ultimately, the best drink for athletes to consume to rehydrate is the one they’re most likely to drink.
While many TikTok trends are not based on evidence, it seems chocolate milk could actually be a good option for recovery from exercise. And it will be cheaper than specialised sports nutrition products. You can buy different brands from the supermarket or make your own at home with a drinking chocolate powder.
This doesn’t mean everyone should look to chocolate milk when they’re feeling thirsty. Chocolate milk does have more calories than plain milk and many other drinks because of the added sugar. For most of us, chocolate milk may be best enjoyed as an occasional treat.
Evangeline Mantzioris, Program Director of Nutrition and Food Sciences, Accredited Practising Dietitian, University of South Australia
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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