Enjoy Bitter Foods For Your Heart & Brain

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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:

• A good rule of thumb is that foods that have a taste that is bitter, astringent, or pungent, will tend to be richer in polyphenols

  • This has many benefits, but most notably for your heart and brain

  • Today’s main feature covers the science of these, examples, and what to do if you don’t like those tastes!

• Would you like to exercise at the gym more, and/but would like your workout to be more science-based?

  • Today’s sponsor Orangetheory Fitness are offering a free trial session (US only, though) of their heart-rate-based training program. Check them out!

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

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🌶️ MAIN FEATURE

When Bitter Is Better

A good general rule of thumb for “does this food contain a lot of healthy polyphenols?” is:

“is this (edible) plant bitter/astringent/pungent”?

If it is, it’s probably rich in polyphenols:

Deciphering the role of bitter and astringent polyphenols in promoting well-being

…which is why it’s no surprise that black coffee and bitter chocolate score highly, as do hot peppers and even garlic.

See also: Our Top 5 Spices: How Much Is Enough For Benefits?

Even fruits, generally considered something sweet to eat, often contain more polyphenols when they are bitter—many berries are great examples of this!

Read more: Goji Berries: Which Benefits Do They Really Have?

You can read more about the science of this here:

Sensory Nutrition and Bitterness and Astringency of Polyphenols

Important for multiple reasons (including heart and brain health)

Polyphenols have many benefits, and they’re most well known for their heart-healthy properties, but their antioxidant effect (and other mechanisms) also means these foods are generally neuroprotectants too:

A century of research shows eating these compounds can help protect against heart disease and Alzheimer's

The science of this is not all as obvious as you might think!

It is reasonable to expect “ok, this has antioxidant effect, so it will reduce oxidative damage to brain cells too”, and while that is true (and yes, polyphenols do cross the blood-brain barrier), they also help in other ways, including through the gut:

Where to Look into the Puzzle of Polyphenols and Health? The Postbiotics and Gut Microbiota Associated with Human Metabotypes

What if I don’t like bitter/astringent/pungent foods?

If you do not have a medical condition that proscribes them (do check with your doctor if unsure), the best advice is to simply eat them anyway, and your tastes will adapt.

It will also help if you avoid sweet foods (though this too is also a good general rule of thumb!), as this will move the balance of where your brain’s “set range” is for “good taste”.

Bonus tip: dark chocolate (80%+ cocoa if possible, 95% if you can get it) and chilli peppers go great with each other. Here’s an example of a chilli chocolate product on Amazon; it’s 70% cocoa (which is not bad, but could be better). You might be able to get a higher percentage locally, especially if you ask your local chocolatière, or make it yourself! 😋

Enjoy!

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📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW

How I Cured My Silent Reflux: The Counterintuitive Path to Healing Acid Reflux, GERD, and Silent Reflux (LPR) – by Don Daniels

Acid reflux, in its various forms (not all of which include heartburn as a symptom!), affects around 1 in 8 people. Often it takes the form of coughing or excess mucus after eating, and it can trigger ostensibly random sweats, for example.

Don Daniels does an excellent job of demystifying the various kinds of acid reflux, explaining clearly and simply the mechanics of what is going on for each of them and why.

Further, he talks about the medications that can make things worse (and how and why), and supplements that can make it better (and supplements that can make it worse, too!), and a multiphase plan (diet on, meds weaned off, supplements on, supplements weaned off when asymptomatic, diet adjust to a new normal) to get free from acid reflux.

The writing style is simple, clear, and jargon-free, while referencing plenty of scientific literature, often quoting from it and providing sources, much like we often do at 10almonds. There are 50+ such references in all, for a 105-page book.

So, do also note that yes, it’s quite a short book for the price, but the content is of value and wouldn’t have benefitted from padding of the kind that many authors do just to make the book longer.

Bottom line: if you have, or suspect you may have, an acid reflux condition of any kind, then this book can guide you through fixing that.

Click here to check out How I Cured My Silent Reflux, and put up with it no longer!

Wishing you the tastiest of good health,

The 10almonds Team