- 10almonds
- Posts
- Cold Weather Health Risks
Today’s almonds have been activated by:
❝Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength. Loving someone deeply gives you courage.❞
⏰ 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:
Waist circumference is more meaningful to health than BMI—see today’s featured video for 20 ways to trim it down!
Cold weather brings extra health risks, including obvious ones like hypothermia, and less obvious ones like heart attacks.
We’ll talk about reducing these risks and more, in today’s main feature.
Don’t want to cut out wheat, but do want the wheat products you consume to be healthier?
Today’s sponsor, Wildgrain, offers high-quality fresh bread, pastries, and pastas made with zero-bleach flour and no artificial additives!
Read on to learn about these things and more…
👀 WATCH AND LEARN
20 Easy Ways To Lose Belly Fat (9:50)
Waist circumference is generally considered more important than BMI, but how to tackle it? There are a lot of options:
Prefer text? You might like her Facebook group for text-based resources 😎
Want to watch it, but not right now? Bookmark it for later 🔖
🥶 MAIN FEATURE
Many Are Cold; Few Are Frozen
Many of those of us in the Northern Hemisphere are getting hit with a cold spell around now. How severe that may be depends on more precisely where we are, but it’s affecting a lot of people. So, with apologies to our readers in Australia, we’re going to do a special on that today.
Acute cold is, for most people, good for the health:
Persistent cold, not so much. Let’s look at the risks, and what can be done about them…
Hypothermia
It kills. Don’t let it kill you or your loved ones.
And, this is really important: it doesn’t care whether you’re on a mountain or not.
In other words: a lot of people understand (correctly!) that hypothermia is a big risk to hikers, climbers, and the like. But if the heating goes out in your house and the temperature drops for long enough before the heating is fixed, you can get hypothermia there too just the same if you’re not careful.
How cold is too cold? It doesn’t even have to be sub-zero. According to the CDC, temperatures of 4℃ (40℉) can be low enough to cause hypothermia if other factors combine:
CDC | Prevent Hypothermia & Frostbite ← you can also see the list of symptoms to watch out for, there!
Skin health
Not generally an existential risk, but we may as well stay healthy as not!
Cold air often means dry air, so use a moisturizer with an oil base (if you don’t care for fancy beauty products, ordinary coconut oil is top-tier).
Bonus if you do it after a warming bath/shower!
Heart health
Cold has a vasconstricting effect; that is to say, it causes the body’s vasculature to shrink, increasing localized blood pressure. If it’s a cold shower as above, that can be very invigorating. If it’s a week of sub-zero temperatures, it can become a problem.
❝Shoveling a little snow off your sidewalk may not seem like hard work. However, […] combined with the fact that the exposure to cold air can constrict blood vessels throughout the body, you're asking your heart to do a lot more work in conditions that are diminishing the heart's ability to function at its best.❞
If you have a heart condition, please do not shovel snow. Let someone else do it, or stay put.
And if you are normally able to exercise safely? Unless you’re sure your heart is in good order, exercising in the warmth, not the cold, seems to be the best bet.
See also: Heart Attack: His & Hers (Be Prepared!) ← can you remember which symptoms are for which sex? If not, now’s a good time to refresh that knowledge.
Immune health
We recently discussed how cold weather indirectly increases the risk of respiratory viral infection:
So, now’s the time to be extra on-guard about that.
Balance
Icy weather increases the risk of falling. If you think “having a fall” is something that happens to other/older people, please remember that there’s a first time for everything. Some tips:
Walk across icy patches with small steps in a flat-footed fashion like a penguin.
It may not be glamorous, but neither is going A-over-T and breaking (or even just spraining) things.
Use a handrail if available, even if you don’t think you need to.
You can also check out our previous article about falling (avoiding falling, minimizing the damage of falling, etc):
Take care!
❤️ OUR SPONSORS MAKE THIS PUBLICATION POSSIBLE
Stay Warm This Winter with Wildgrain
Wildgrain delivers artisan sourdough (and pasta… and pastries) that bakes from frozen in 25 minutes, no thawing required. Just pop your carb-of-choice in the oven, enjoy having your home smell like a French bakery, and bask in the warmth of endless compliments.
Unlike typical supermarket bread, Wildgrain prioritizes a slow fermentation process, making it not only easier on your belly but also lower in sugar and rich in nutrients. Every delightful bite supports small bakeries around the country, spreading the warmth even further.
As if 15,000 5-star reviews weren’t enough, Wildgrain is offering 10almonds readers free croissants for life! So, why wait? Order now and enjoy free delivery, tailor your box frequency, and customize your selection.
Please do visit our sponsors—they help keep 10almonds free
🤫 A WORD TO THE WISE
 | Herbs for Evidence-Based Health & HealingSome herbal remedies are sold “based on traditional use only”. Others have a large weight of science backing them up. We recommend knowing which are which! |
📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW
Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body – by Dr. Daniel Goleman & Dr. Richard Davidson
We know that meditation helps people to relax, but what more than that? This book explores the available science.
We say "explore the available science", but it'd be remiss of us not to note that the authors have also expanded the available science, conducting research in their own lab.
From stress tests and EEGs to attention tests and fMRIs, this book looks at the hard science of what different kinds of meditation do to the brain. Not just in terms of brain state, either, but gradual cumulative anatomical changes, too. Powerful stuff!
The style is very pop-science in presentation, easily comprehensible to all. Be aware though that this is an "if this, then that" book of science, not a how-to manual. If you want to learn to meditate, this isn't the book for that.
Bottom line: if you'd like to understand more about how different kinds of meditation affect the brain differently, this is the book for you.
What did you think of today's newsletter?We always love to hear from you, whether you leave us a comment or even just a click in the poll if you're speeding by! |
Warm winter wishes for a wonderful weekend,
The 10almonds Team