Minimize Aging's Metabolic Slump

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Today’s 30-Second Summary

If you don’t have time to read the whole email today, here are some key takeaways:

• It’s common to experience a metabolic slump after a certain age (generally hormonally influenced, and yes, that goes for men too)

  • Today’s main feature examines the various factors and outcomes and how we can tweak them as we go

  • For example, interoception is more important than any pre-determined portion control, and the kind of exercise you get can matter more than how much you get!

• As we age, our collagen levels tend to get depleted more easily. Collagen is important not just for youthful good looks, but also for the health of bones and joints

  • Today’s sponsor NativePath are offering high-quality collagen without additives or harmful impurities

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

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TED-Ed | What happens during a stroke (4:59)

Dr. Vaibhav Goswami explains the different types of strokes, and what to expect:

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Putting A Spin On It

Hint: wet or dry, today’s mystery item is sure to give you a healthy glow

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❓ MAIN FEATURE

It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!

Have a question or a request? We love to hear from you!

In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!

As ever: if the question/request can be answered briefly, we’ll do it here in our Q&A Thursday edition. If not, we’ll make a main feature of it shortly afterwards!

So, no question/request too big or small 😎

❝I know that metabolism slows with age, are there any waypoints or things to look out for? I don't know whether I should be eating less, or doing less, or taking some other approach entirely. What's recommended?❞

Age and sex count for a lot with this one! As metabolism is in large part directed by hormones:

• For men, declining testosterone (often from around 45 onwards) can result in a metabolic slump

• For women, declining estrogen with the menopause does have an effect, but progesterone is the bigger factor for metabolism in the sense you are talking about.

In both cases, simply taking more of those hormones can often help, but please of course speak with an endocrinologist if that seems like a possible option for you, as your circumstances (and physiology) may vary.

If you’d like to go to that conversation well-armed with information, here are some good starting points, by the way:

• The Testosterone Drop, & Topping Up Testosterone

• Menopausal HRT: Bioidentical vs Animal (It Makes A Difference!)

And if you’re wondering about the natural vs pharmaceutical approaches…

• What Does “Balance Your Hormones” Even Mean?

• What You Should Have Been Told About The Menopause Beforehand

About your metabolic base rate

We tend to think of “fast metabolism good, slow metabolism bad”, and that’s a reasonable general premise… but it’s not necessarily always so.

After all, if you could double your metabolism and keep it there all the time, without changing anything else, well… You’ve heard the phrase “burning the candle at both ends”? So, having at least some downtime is important too.

See for example: Sleep Deprivation & Diabetes Risk

What’s critical, when it comes to base metabolic rate, is that your body must be capable of adequately processing what you are putting into it. Because if your body can’t keep up with the input, it’ll just start storing the excess chemical energy in the quickest and easiest way possible.

…which is a fast track to metabolic disorder in general and type 2 diabetes in particular. For more on the science and mechanics of this, see:

How To Prevent And Reverse Type 2 Diabetes

As for portion sizes…

Your body knows what you need, so listen to it. There is no external source of knowledge that can tell you how much food you need better than your own body itself can tell you.

You may be wondering “how exactly do I listen to my body, though?”, in which case, check out:

The Kitchen Doctor: Interoception & Mindful Eating

As for exercise…

When you exercise, your metabolic rate temporarily increases. After most kinds of exercise, your metabolism slumps again afterwards to compensate.

There are two ways to avoid this:

• Exercise Less, Move More ← it’s about maximizing time spent not sitting still

• High Intensity Interval Training ← a special kind of exercise, the only one known to keep the metabolism running high for a couple of hours afterwards, with no counter-slump

…which makes it pretty effective indeed 😎

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❤️ OUR SPONSORS MAKE THIS PUBLICATION POSSIBLE

NativePath Collagen

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.

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

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📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW

Beat Cancer Kitchen: Deliciously Simple Plant-Based Anticancer Recipes – by Chris Wark & Micah Wark

When we eat, many things can increase our cancer risk. Some we might remember to avoid, like ultra-processed foods and red meat. Others might be more neutral when it comes to cancer, neither good nor bad.

But! Some foods also have cancer-fighting properties. Which means reducing cancer risk, and/or having an anti-proliferative effect (i.e., shrinks or at least slows growth of tumors), in the event of already having cancer.

That's what Chris & Micah Wark are offering here; a cookbook built around anti-cancer foods—after the former beat his own cancer with the help of the latter. He had surgery, but skipped chemo, preferring to look to nutrition to keep cancer-free. Now 18 years later, and so far, so good.

The dietary advice here is entirely consistent with what we'd offer at 10almonds; it's plant-based, and high in anti-cancer phytonutrients.

The recipes themselves (of which there are about 70-ish) are as delicious and simple as the title suggests, and/but you might want to know:

• On the one hand, many recipes are things like sauces, condiments, or dressings, which in a recipe book can sometimes feel like underdelivering on the promise of recipes when we expect full meals

• On the other hand, those things if you just purchase them ready-made are usually the things with the most ultra-processed products, thus, having anticancer homemade versions instead here can actually make a very big difference

• On the third hand, there are plenty of starters/mains/desserts too!

Bottom line: if you're looking for an anti-cancer cookbook, this is a very good one whose ingredients aren't obscure (which can otherwise be a problem for some books of this kind)

Click here to check out Beat Cancer Kitchen, and take good care of yourself and your loved ones!

Wishing you a day full of vitality today and every day,

The 10almonds Team