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:

• When it comes to breastfeeding vs formula milk, breast indeed reigns supreme in terms of benefits

  • Today’s main feature looks at what some of its unique (and so far, not replicable) benefits are, as well as examining the alternative of formula milk.

• How’s your hydration looking today? For most people, at any given time, it’s not great. But it doesn’t have to be that way!

  • Today's sponsor NativePath is offering a 365-day money-back guarantee on their range of electrolyte and amino acid drink mixes, which are great for your kidneys, bladder, and pelvic floor muscles.

• Today’s featured recipe is for a tasty hot-or-cold soup that can be enjoyed in any weather!

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

A Word To The Wise

Watch and Learn

The Coffee-Cortisol Connection, And Two Ways To Tweak It For Health

Prefer text? The above video will take you to a 10almonds page with a text-overview, as well as the video!

Mythbusting Friday

Simply The Breast 🎶

In Wednesday’s newsletter, we asked you for your opinion on breast vs formula milk (for babies!), and got the above-depicted, below-described, set of responses:

• 80% said “Breast is best, as the slogan goes, and should be first choice”

• 20% said “They both have their strengths and weaknesses; use whatever”

• 0% said “Formula is formulated to be best, and should be first choice”

That’s the first time we’ve ever had a possible poll option come back with zero votes whatsoever! It seems this topic is relatively uncontentious amongst our readership, so we’ll keep things brief today, but there is still a little mythbusting to be done.

So, what does the science say?

[Breast milk should be the first choice] at least for the few few weeks and months for the benefit of baby's health as breast milk has protective factors formula does not: True or False?

True! The wording here was taken from one of our readers’ responses, by the way (thank you, Robin). There are a good number of those protective factors, the most well-known of which is passing on immune cells and cell-like things; in other words, immune-related information being passed from parent* to child.

*usually the mother, though in principle it could be someone else and in practice sometimes it is; the only real requirements are that the other person be healthy, lactating, and willing.

As for immune benefits, see for example:

Perspectives on Immunoglobulins in Colostrum and Milk

And for that matter, also:

Colostrum is required for the postnatal ontogeny of small intestine innate lymphoid type 2 cells and successful anti-helminth defences

(Colostrum is simply the milk that is produced for a short period after giving birth; the composition of milk will tend to change later)

In any case, immunoglobulin A is a very important component in breast milk (colostrum and later), as well as lactoferrin (has an important antimicrobial effect and is good for the newborn’s gut), and a plethora of cytokines:

Cytokines in Human Milk

As for that about the gut, lactoferrin isn’t the only breast milk component that benefits this, by far, and there’s a lot that can’t be replicated yet:

Human Breast Milk and the Gastrointestinal Innate Immune System

As long as your infant/child is nutritiously fed, it shouldn't matter if it comes from breast or formula: True or False?

False! Formula milk will not convey those immune benefits.

This doesn’t mean that formula-feeding is neglectful; as several people who commented mentioned*, there are many reasons a person may not be able to breastfeed, and they certainly should not be shamed for that.

*(including the reader whose words we borrowed for this True/False item; the words we quoted above were prefaced with: “Not everyone is able to breastfeed for many different reasons”)

But, while formula milk is a very good second choice, and absolutely a respectable choice if breast milk isn’t an option (or an acceptable option) for whatever reason, it still does not convey all the health benefits of breast milk—yet! The day may come when they’ll find a way to replicate the immune benefits, but today is not that day.

They both have their strengths and weaknesses: True or False?

True! But formula’s strengths are only in the category of convenience and sometimes necessity—formula conveys no health benefits that breast milk could not do better, if available.

For many babies, formula means they get to eat, when without it they would starve due to non-availability of breast milk. That’s a pretty important role!

Note also: this is a health science publication, not a philosophical publication, but we’d be remiss not to mention one thing; let’s bring it in under the umbrella of sociology:

The right to bodily autonomy continues to be the right to bodily autonomy even if somebody else wants/needs something from your body.

Therefore, while there are indeed many good reasons for not being able to breastfeed, or even just not being safely* able to breastfeed, it is at the very least this writer’s opinion that nobody should be pressed to give their reason for not breastfeeding; “no” is already a sufficient answer.

*Writer’s example re safety: when I was born, my mother was on such drugs that it would have been a very bad idea for her to breastfeed me. There are plenty of other possible reasons why it might be unsafe for someone one way or another, but “on drugs that have a clear ‘do not take while pregnant or nursing’ warning” is a relatively common one.

All that said, for those who are willing and safely able, the science is clear: breast is best.

Want to read more?

The World Health Organization has a wealth of information (including explanations of its recommendations of, where possible, exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months, ideally continuing some breastfeeding for the first 2 years), here:

World Health Organization | Breastfeeding

Take care!

Our Sponsors Make This Publication Possible

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This Or That?

Vote on Which is Healthier

Yesterday we asked you to choose between walnuts and cashews—we picked the walnuts (click here to read about why), as did 85% of you!

Now for today’s choice:

Click on whichever you think is better for you!

Bonus (Sponsored) Recommendation

We know 10almonds readers love learning in a convenient, bite-size fashion. Here’s a list of some other newsletters our readers also enjoy; check them out!

Recipes Worth Sharing

Tasty Hot-Or-Cold Soup

Full of fiber as well as vitamins and minerals, this versatile “serve it hot or cold” soup is great whatever the weather—give it a try:

Click below for our full recipe, and learn its secrets:

One-Minute Book Review

Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness – by Steve Magness

It’s easy to say that we must push ourselves if we want to achieve worthwhile things—and it’s also easy to push ourselves into an early grave by overreaching. So, how to do the former, without doing the latter?

That’s what this book’s about. The author, speaking from a background in the science of sports psychology, applies his accumulated knowledge and understanding to the more general problems of life.

Most of us are, after all, not sportspeople or if we are, not serious ones. Those few who are, will get benefit from this book too! But it’s mostly aimed at the rest of us who are trying to work out whether/when we should scale up, scale back, change track, or double down:

• How much can we really achieve in our career?

• How about in retirement?

• Do we ever really get too old for athletic feats, or should we keep pressing on?

Magness brings philosophy and psychological science together, to help us sort our way through.

Nor is this just a pep talk—there’s readily applicable, practical, real-world advice here, things to enable us to do our (real!) best without getting overwhelmed.

The style is pop-science, very easy-reading, and clear and comprehensible throughout—without succumbing to undue padding either.

Bottom line: this is a very pleasant read, that promises to make life more meaningful and manageable at the same time. Highly recommendable!

Click here to check out Do Hard Things, and get the most out of life!

Penny For Your Thoughts?

May today see you well-prepared for the coming weekend,

The 10almonds Team