Coughing/Wheezing After Dinner?

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:

• Coughing/wheezing after eating a large meal can occur for a variety of reasons; some are easily remedied, others not so much

  • Today’s main feature looks at some of the most common causes by age range.

• Being unable to easily participate in spoken conversations is not just an inconvenience; it’s also a [causal, fixable] risk factor for age-related cognitive decline.

  • Today’s sponsor, Hear.com, are offering the most cutting-edge dual-processing technology in hearing aids that isolate and separate speech from background noise, now with their latest most advanced device, the IX!

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

🤫 A WORD TO THE WISE

👀 WATCH AND LEARN

Low Calorie High Protein Fudge Brownies (8:32)

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

The macros (for the entire tray):

• 296 Calories

• 34g Protein

• 45g Carbs

• 18g Fiber

• 4g Fat

Looking for the ingredients list? Click here to read it under the video 😎

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

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED…

• Small Changes For A Healthier Life

• How To Stay Alive (When You Really Don’t Want To)

• Heart Rate Zones, Oxalates, & More

❓ MYSTERY ITEM

What's In The Box?

Hint: if it's more than 9", you won't be able to fit it in, but aside from that, it keeps you protected from various nasties

DID YOU KNOW…

…that you can reply to any of our emails?

We love to hear from our readers—in fact, we actively encourage it. We want to make our content as relevant to your needs and interests as possible.

So, please do click reply to this email and send us any questions, feedback, or requests!

😖 MAIN FEATURE

The After-Dinner Activities You Don’t Want

Coughing and/or wheezing after eating is more common the younger or older someone is. Lest that seem contradictory: it’s a U-shaped bell-curve.

It can happen at any age and for any of a number of reasons, but there are patterns to the distribution:

Mostly affects younger people:

Allergies, asthma

Young people are less likely to have a body that’s fully adapted to all foods yet, and asthma can be triggered by certain foods (for example sulfites, a common preservative additive):

Adverse reactions to the sulphite additives

Foods/drinks that commonly contain sulfites include soft drinks, wines and beers, and dried fruit

As for the allergies side of things, you probably know the usual list of allergens to watch out for, e.g: dairy, fish, crustaceans, eggs, soy, wheat, nuts.

However, that’s far from an exhaustive list, so it’s good to see an allergist if you suspect it may be an allergic reaction.

Affects young and old people equally:

Again, there’s a dip in the middle where this doesn’t tend to affect younger adults so much, but for young and old people:

Dysphagia (difficulty swallowing)

For children, this can be a case of not having fully got used to eating yet if very small, and when growing, can be a case of “this body is constantly changing and that makes things difficult”.

For older people, this can can come from a variety of reasons, but common culprits include neurological disorders (including stroke and/or dementia), or a change in saliva quality and quantity—a side-effect of many medications:

Hyposalivation in Elderly Patients

(particularly useful in the article above is the table of drugs that are associated with this problem, and the various ways they may affect it)

Managing this may be different depending on what is causing your dysphagia (as it could be anything from antidepressants to cancer), so this is definitely one to see your doctor about. For some pointers, though:

NHS Inform | Dysphagia (swallowing problems)

Affects older people more:

Gastroesophagal reflux disease (GERD)

This is a kind of acid reflux, but chronic, and often with a slightly different set of symptoms.

GERD has no known cure once established, but its symptoms can be managed (or avoided in the first place) by:

• Healthy eating (Mediterranean diet is, as usual, great)

• Weight loss (if and only if obese)

• Avoiding trigger foods

• Eating smaller meals

• Practicing mindful eating

• Staying upright for 3–4 hours after eating

And of course, don’t smoke, and ideally don’t drink alcohol.

You can read more about this (and the different ways it can go from there), here:

NICE | Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease

Note: this above page refers to it as “GORD”, because of the British English spelling of “oesophagus” rather than “esophagus”. It’s the exact same organ and condition, just a different spelling.

Take care!

YOU MAY HAVE MISSED…

• Is Ant Oil Just “Snake Oil”?

• Are You Eating AGEs?

• Your Health Audit, From Head To Toe

❤️ OUR SPONSORS MAKE THIS PUBLICATION POSSIBLE

Meet the device ushering in a new era of hearing clarity

Discover unparalleled speech clarity with this advanced, state-of-the-art hearing aid.

With crystal-clear sound delivered to your ears and a sleek, discreet design powered by German technology, you can now enjoy clear speech with minimum background distractions, even in the noisiest environments.

Take comfort in our commitment to your hearing and try our 45-day no-risk trial today.

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

Browse By Category

📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW

Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You – by Dr. Ali Abdaal

“Rise and grind” is not a sustainable way to live. Yet for most of us, there are things we do have to do every day that we don’t necessarily do for fun. So, how to be productive with those things, and not feel like we are constantly compromising and sacrificing our time on this earth for some intrinsically trivial but extrinsically required activity that’ll be forgotten tomorrow?

And most of us do also have dreams and ambitions (and if you don’t, then what were they before life snatched them away from you?), things to work towards. So there is “carrot” for us as well as “stick”. But how to break the cycle and get more carrot and less stick, while being more productive than before?

Dr. Abdaal frames this principally in terms of neurology first, psychology next.

That when we are bored, we simply do not have the neurochemicals required to work well anyway, so addressing that first needs to be a priority. He lays out many ways of doing this, gives lots of practical tips, and brings attention to the ways it’s easy to go wrong (and how to fix those too).

The writing style is deceptively relaxed and casual, leading the reader smoothly into understanding of each topic before moving on.

Bottom line: if you want to get more done while feeling better about it (not a tired wreck), then this is the book for you!

Click here to check out Feel-Good Productivity, and thrive!

Wishing you a wonderfully restorative weekend,

The 10almonds Team