Antibiotics? Think Thrice

Today’s almonds have been activated by:

⏰ IN A RUSH?

Today’s 30-Second Summary

If you don’t have time to read the whole email today, here are some key takeaways:

• Antibiotics can be a life-saving medicine, but they can also be a life-ending one

  • Today’s main feature looks at some of the ways antibiotics can kill us…

  • …and also looks at how one of the things antibiotics are popularly considered best for (treating lower respiratory tract infections, e.g. chesty coughs etc), they might in reality not be helpful at all, according to the latest evidence.

• Have you tried everything for sleep and still find yourself getting to sleep later than you’d like, and/or sleeping less soundly than you’d like?

  • Today’s sponsor Cornbread Hemp is offering 30% of their gummies that combine organic CBD with lavender, valerian, and chamomile, for a synergistic soporific effect that’ll have you peacefully snoozing in no time, guaranteed (literally, they offer a guarantee).

Read on to learn more about these things, or click here to visit our archive

🤫 A WORD TO THE WISE

👀 WATCH AND LEARN

A lymph-healthy "hug" exercise for the lungs and the heart! (2:29)

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

Want to watch it, but not right now? Bookmark it for later 🔖

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED…

• Biohack Your Brain (book)

• Neurotransmitter Cheatsheet

❓ MYSTERY ITEM

When “Chest Is Best”…

Hint: today’s mystery item gets to the heart of good health

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED…

• How To Make Drinking Less Harmful

• Heart Attack: His & Hers (Be Prepared!)

💊 MAIN FEATURE

Antibiotics: Useful Even Less Often Than Previously Believed (And Still Just As Dangerous)

You probably already know that antibiotics shouldn’t be taken unless absolutely necessary. Not only does taking antibiotics frivolously increase antibiotic resistance (which is bad, and kills people), but also…

It’s entirely possible for the antibiotics to not only not help, but instead wipe out your gut’s “good bacteria” that were keeping other things in check.

Those “other things” can include fungi like Candida albicans.

Candida, which we all have in us to some degree, feeds on sugar (including the sugar formed from breaking down alcohol, by the way) and refined carbs. Then it grows, and puts its roots through your intestinal walls, linking with your neural system. Then it makes you crave the very things that will feed it and allow it to put bigger holes in your intestinal walls.

Don’t believe us? Read: Candida albicans-Induced Epithelial Damage Mediates Translocation through Intestinal Barriers

(That’s scientist-speak for “Candida puts holes in your intestines, and stuff can then go through those holes”)

And as for how that comes about, it’s like we said:

See also: Candida albicans as a commensal and opportunistic pathogen in the intestine

That’s not all…

And that’s just C. albicans, never mind things like C. diff. that can just outright kill you easily.

We don’t have room to go into everything here, but you might like to check out:

Four Ways Antibiotics Can Kill You

It gets worse (now comes the new news)

So, what are antibiotics good for? Surely, for clearing up chesty coughs, lower respiratory tract infections, right? It’s certainly one of the two things that antibiotics are most well-known for being good at and often necessary for (the other being preventing/treating sepsis, for example in serious and messy wounds).

But wait…

A large, nationwide (US) observational study of people who sought treatment in primary or urgent care settings for lower respiratory tract infections found…

(drumroll please)

…the use of antibiotics provided no measurable impact on the severity or duration of coughs even if a bacterial infection was present.

Read for yourself:

Antibiotics Not Associated with Shorter Duration or Reduced Severity of Acute Lower Respiratory Tract Infection

And in the words of the lead author of that study,

So, what’s to be done about this? On a large scale, Dr. Merenstein recommends:

This does remind us that, while not a RCT, there is a good ongoing observational study that everyone with a smartphone can participate in:

Dr. Peter Small's medical AI: "The Cough Doctor"

In the meantime, he advises that when COVID and SARS have been ruled out, then “basic symptom-relieving medications plus time brings a resolution to most people’s infections”.

You can read a lot more detail here:

Antibiotics aren't effective for most lower tract respiratory infections

In summary…

Sometimes, antibiotics really are a necessary and life-saving medication. But most of the time they’re not, and given their great potential for harm, they may be best simultaneously viewed as the very dangerous threat they also are, and used only when those “heavy guns” are truly what’s required.

Take care!

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED…

• Drug Metabolism (When You’re Not Average!)

• Is Chiropractic All It’s Cracked Up To Be?

❤️ OUR SPONSORS MAKE THIS PUBLICATION POSSIBLE

Think you’ve tried everything? Use the oldest herb in the book for quality sleep.

Feel like you've tried everything? It's time to turn to the oldest herb in the book for a sleep solution that stands the test of time. Hemp-derived CBD is your ticket to a night of uninterrupted rest, and Cornbread Hemp’s CBD Sleep Gummies take it to the next level.

Bid farewell to those nights of waking up halfway through and the grogginess that follows. So, what makes their gummies unique? They harness the power of all-natural ingredients, combining organic CBD with lavender, valerian, and chamomile. These plant powered ingredients work harmoniously together to guide you into a peaceful slumber while ensuring you wake up feeling refreshed.

Featuring a 25mg CBD and 1mg THC introductory dose and a 50mg CBD and 2mg THC stronger dose, you can choose the strength that's right for you.

Order now and experience the time-honored benefits of all-natural sleep support. Plus, subscribers can save 30% off site wide (with a minimum purchase of $55) when you order today with code CBDSLEEP30. Sweet dreams, guaranteed.

Please do visit our sponsors—they help keep 10almonds free

Browse By Category

📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW

Seed Saving Secrets: Essential Techniques & Tips for Preppers and Gardeners. Master Harvesting, Storing, and Growing Seeds – by Alice Mirren

We all know that home-grown is best, and yet many of us are not exactly farmers (this reviewer tries with mixed results—hardy crops survive; others, not so much). While it's easy to blame the acidic soil, the harsh climate, or not having enough time and money (this reviewer blames all of the above), the fact remains that a skilled gardener can produce a good crop in any conditions.

That's where this book helps; right from the beginning, from the seeds. Have you ever bought a pack of seeds, excitedly sown them, and then had a germination rate of zero or something close to that (this reviewer has)?

Alice Mirren takes us on a tour of how to save seeds from plants you know are regionally viable (not the product of some vast globalized industry that doesn't know you live in an ancient bog with a cold south-east wind blowing in from Siberia), and then how to care for and curate them, how to store them for future years, how to keep a self-perpetuating seed bank.

She goes beyond that, though. Regular 10almonds readers might remember about the supercentenarian "Blue Zones", and how big factors in healthy longevity include community and purpose; Mirren advocates for organizing community seed banks, which will also mean that everyone (including you) has access to much more diverse seeds, and when it comes to the perils of natural selection, diversity means survival. Otherwise, if you have just one seed type, a single blight can wipe out everything pretty much overnight.

Bottom line: if you grow your own food or would like to, this is a "bible of..." level book that you absolutely should have to hand.

Click here to check out Seed Saving Secrets, and see the results in your kitchen and on your plate!

Wishing you robust health and happiness,

The 10almonds Team