Is Your Gut Leading You Into Osteoporosis?

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:

• Bacterioides vulgatus, a very common gut bacterium, suppresses the gut’s production of valeric acid, a short-chain fatty acid that increases bone density

  • The science is new and more research is needed, but it appears that consuming more valeric acid (as found in certain foods—see main feature) corrects this and leads to stronger, denser bones.

• Not everyone wants to quit alcohol. So, if you're going to drink, you might as well enjoy your drinks mindfully!

  • Today’s sponsor, Sunnyside, is an app that helps you change your relationship with alcohol, so that your choice is really your choice—not a mindless habit that you don’t even truly take joy in.

Read on to learn about these things and more…

👀 WATCH AND LEARN

Robin walked with a weighted vest for 30 days—here's what to avoid (9:30)

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

Prefer text? Aside from her own experience, here are the papers she cited:

• Physiological impact of load carriage exercise: current understanding and future research directions

• Effects of Load Carriage on Postural Control and Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters during Level and Uphill Walking

• Long-term Exercise Using Weighted Vests Prevents Hip Bone Loss in Postmenopausal Women

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

🦴 MAIN FEATURE

Bacterioides Vulgatus & Bone Health

We’ve talked before about the importance of gut health:

• Making Friends With Your Gut (You Can Thank Us Later)

And we’ve shared quite some information and resources on osteoporosis:

• The Bare-bones Truth: Osteoporosis Mythbusting

• Osteoporosis Exercises (What To Do, And What To Avoid)

• Vit D + Calcium: Too Much Of A Good Thing?

• Collagen For Bones: We Are Such Stuff As Fish Are Made Of

• Which Osteoporosis Medication, If Any, Is Right For You?

How the two are connected

A recent study looked at Bacterioides vulgatus, a very common gut bacterium, and found that it suppresses the gut’s production of valeric acid, a short-chain fatty acid that enhances bone density:

Pop-sci source: Does gut bacteria cause osteoporosis?

The study didn’t stop there, though. They proceeded to test, with a rodent model, the effect of giving them either:

• more B. vulgatus, or

• valeric acid supplements

The results of this were as expected:

• Those who were given more B. vulgatus got worse bone microstructure

• Those who were given valeric acid supplements got stronger bones overall

Study source: Gut microbiota impacts bone via Bacteroides vulgatus-valeric acid-related pathways

Where can I get valeric acid?

We couldn’t find a handy supplement for this, but it is in many foods, including avocados, blueberries, cocoa beans, and an assortment of birds.

Click here to see a more extensive food list (you’ll need to scroll down a little)

Bonus: if you happen to be on HRT in the form of Estradiol valerate (e.g: Progynova), then that “valerate” is an ester of valeric acid, that your body can metabolize and use as such.

Enjoy!

❤️ OUR SPONSORS MAKE THIS PUBLICATION POSSIBLE

Drink a bit less and still enjoy drinking

146 million U.S. adults drink alcohol, and 47% want to cut back. If you're one of them, Sunnyside has the tools to help, and they'll never judge you.

Sunnyside can help you reach your goals in a flexible, judgement-free way that allows you to achieve a healthier relationship with alcohol on your own terms.

Every membership includes:

• Drink planning and tracking tools

• Coaching from real humans when you need it

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In the first 30 days, here are a few benefits you can expect:

• $50+ saved

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• 2,500 calories cut

So, as well as being good for your health, this app might even pay for itself!

PS: there's a free 15-day trial, so you can get to know how it works before committing 😎

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

🌍 AROUND THE WEB

What’s happening in the health world…

• Vibrating pill may give dieters a feeling of fullness, study suggests

• Emerging COVID variant is spreading ahead of the holidays. Are you still protected?

• Ease up on drinking to cut your risk for “holiday heart syndrome”, doctors warn

• New COVID vaccine induces good antibody response to mutated viral variants, finds study

• Previously unrecognized class of antibodies can broadly neutralize multiple virus strains

• Do I need to shock my penis? Probably not, but it does need looking after

• Unapproved “fat-dissolving” injections are leaving patients maimed, FDA warns

More to come tomorrow!

📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW

You Are Not a Before Picture: The best-selling inspirational guide to help you tackle diet culture, find self-acceptance and make peace with your body – by Alex Light

It's that time of year, and many of us are looking at what we'll do in the coming days, weeks, and months to level-up our health. So... Is this a demotivational book?

Quite the opposite! It's rather a case of an often much-needed reminder to ensure that our plans are really our own, and really are what's best for us. Why wouldn't they be, you ask?

Much of diet culture (ubiquitous! From magazine covers to movie stars to the models advertising anything from health insurance to water filters) has us reaching for "body goals" that are not possible without a different skeleton and genes and compromises and post-production edits.

Alex Light—herself having moved from the fashion and beauty industry into health education—sets out in a clear, easy-reading manner, how we can look after ourselves, not be neglectful of our bodies, and/but also not get distracted into unhelpful, impossible, castles-in-the-air.

Bottom line: you cannot self-hate your way into good health, and good health will always be much more attainable than a body that's just not yours. This book can help you sort out which is which.

Click here to check out You Are Not A Before Picture, and appreciate all you and your body can (and do) do for each other!

May your health go always from strength to strength,

The 10almonds Team