What’s Lurking In Your Household Air?

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:

• We tend to think of climate and pollution as an outdoors thing, but there are many relevant factors at play in our homes too.

  • Today’s main feature examines the science of optimal temperature, humidity, and air purity, to help get your home into the Goldilocks zone and as free from pathogens/pollutants as reasonably possible, making your home an environment where you can thrive healthily.

• 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 yet!

• Today’s featured recipe is for heart-healthy gochujang noodles—there’s a lot of phytochemical goodness going on in this one (and yes, even the noodles themselves are healthy—being full of rutin), so see the recipe for more!

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

A Word To The Wise

Watch and Learn

How To Get Your First Pull-Up

Pull-ups are a great compound exercise that works most of the upper body. However, it can be frustrating for many, if unable to do more than dangle and struggle while not going anywhere.

That’s not actually bad, by the way! Of course it’s not great athletic performance, but in terms of exercise, “dangling and struggling while not going anywhere” is an isometric exercise that has plenty of benefits of its own.

However, for those who would rather go up in the world, personal trainer Meg Gallagher shows the way:

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

Saturday Life Hacks

What’s Lurking In Your Household Air?

As individuals, we can’t do much about the outside air. We can try to spend more time in green spaces* and away from traffic, and we can wear face-masks—as was popular in Tokyo and other such large cities long before the pandemic struck.

*The well-known mental health benefits aside (and contrary to British politician Amber Rudd’s famous assertion in a televised political debate that “clean air doesn’t grow on trees”), clean air comes mostly from trees—their natural process of respiration scrubs not only carbon dioxide, but also pollutants, from the air before releasing oxygen without the pollutants. Neat!

See also this study: Site new care homes near trees and away from busy roads to protect residents' lungs

We are fortunate to be living in a world where most of us in industrialized countries can exercise a great degree of control over our home’s climate. But, what to do with all that power?

Temperature

Let’s start with the basics. Outside temperature may vary, but you probably have heating and air conditioning. There’s a simple answer here; the optimal temperature for human comfort and wellbeing is 20℃ / 68℉:

Scientists Identify a Universal Optimal Temperature For Life on Earth

But, for setting the thermostat in your home, 20℃ / 68℉ is perfect for most people, though down as far as 17℃ / 61℉ is fine too, provided other things such as humidity are in order. In fact, for sleeping, 18℃ / 62℉ is ideal. This is because the cooler temperature is one of the several things that tell our brain it is nighttime now, and thus trigger secretion of melatonin.

If you’re wondering about temperatures and respiratory viruses, by the way, check out:

The Cold Truth About Respiratory Infections: The Pathogens That Came In From The Cold

Humidity

Most people pay more attention to the temperature in their home than the humidity, and the latter is just as important:

So, if your average indoor humidity falls outside of that range, consider getting a humidifier or dehumidifier, to correct it. Example items on Amazon, for your convenience:

Humidity monitor | Humidifier | Dehumidifier

See also, about a seriously underestimated killer:

Pneumonia: Prevention Is Better Than Cure

Now, one last component to deal with, for perfect indoor air:

Pollution

We tend to think of pollution as an outdoors thing, and indeed, the pollution in your home will (hopefully!) be lower than that of a busy traffic intersection. However…

• The air you have inside comes from outside, and that matters if you’re in an urban area

• Even in suburban and rural areas, general atmospheric pollutants will reach you, and if you’ve ever been subject to wildfire smoke, you’ll know that’s no fun either.

• Gas appliances in the home cause indoor pollution, even when carbon monoxide levels are within levels considered acceptable. This polluting effect is much stronger for open gas flames (such as on gas cookers/stoves, or gas fires), than for closed gas heating systems (such as a gas-powered boiler for central heating).

• Wood stoves/fireplaces are not an improvement, in fact they are worse, and don’t get us started on coal. You should not be breathing these things, and definitely should not be burning them in an enclosed space.

• That air conditioning, humidifier, dehumidifier? They may be great for temperature and humidity, but please clean/change the filter more often than you think is necessary, or things will grow there and then your device will be adding pathogens to the air as it goes.

• Plug-in air-freshening devices? They may smell clean, but they are effectively spraying cleaning fluids into your lungs. So please don’t.

So, what of air purifiers? They can definitely be of benefit. for example:

Air Purifiers & Sleep

But watch out! Because if you don’t clean/change the filter regularly, guess what happens! That’s right, it’ll be colonized with bacteria/fungus and then be blowing those at you.

And no, not all of them will be visible to the naked eye:

Is Unnoticed Environmental Mold Harming Your Health?

Taking a holistic approach

The air is a very important factor for the health of your lungs (and thus, for the health of everything that’s fed oxygen by your lungs), but there are more things we can do as well:

Seven Things To Do For Good Lung Health!

Take care!

Our Sponsors Make This Publication Possible

The Viral Hearing Aid That Makes Conversations Effortless

Meet the world’s first hearing aids with dual processing: hear.com’s devices are backed by cutting-edge German technology, providing double the power + clarity.

Start your 45-day no-risk trial:

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

This Or That?

Vote on Which is Healthier

Yesterday we asked you to choose between pomegranate and cranberries—we picked the pomegranate (click here to read about why), as did 59% of you!

Now for today’s choice:

Click on whichever you think is better for you!

Bonus (Sponsored) Recommendation

Pop quiz: What’s the body’s most abundant protein? The answer: Collagen. NativePath's Certified Grass-Fed Collagen Powder is made from grass-fed, pasture-raised cows and contains 18 grams of protein per suggested serving. Start incorporating it daily to support skin elasticity, joint health, bone strength, and muscle growth and maintenance.

Recipes Worth Sharing

Heart-Healthy Gochujang Noodles

Soba noodles are a good source of rutin, which is great for the heart and blood.

Additionally, buckwheat (as soba noodles are made from) is healthier in various ways than rice, and certainly a lot healthier than wheat (remember that despite the name, buckwheat is about as related to wheat as a lionfish is to a lion).

This dish is filled with more than just fiber though; there are a lot of powerful polyphenols at play here in the greens, plus things like gingerol, capsaicin, allicin, and of course piperine:

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

Penny For Your Thoughts?

May your weekend be a breath of fresh air,

The 10almonds Team