⏰ 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 trainers can help you get a narrower waist for a photo, but their waist-slimming effects last minutes at most (organ damage may last longer, however).

• Posture-correctors may (the science is weak) have merit in helping you get used to keeping a good posture, but ultimately, it needs to be your own body doing it.

  • Wearable biofeedback devices (not widely available yet, but enjoying a lot of good science presently) do a much better job of “training” good posture.

• On the topic of digital safety... Data brokers collect and compile information about you, which can then be used by everyone from scammers to insurance companies to the government.

  • Today's sponsor, Incogni, are running Black Friday sale on their data removal service that scrubs your sensitive info from the web.

Read on to learn about these things and more…

👀 WATCH AND LEARN

Jasmine McDonald's beginner-friendly daily ballet core workout (8:49)

Who says it's too late to start? While those of us who have already passed the age of ten years old (without having started yet) might never perform in the Bolshoi Theater, we can improve our core strength, stability, and mobility:

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

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

⏳ MAIN FEATURE

Are Waist Trainers Just A Waste, And Are Posture Fixers A Quick Fix?

Yesterday, we asked you for your opinions on waist trainers and posture-fixing harnesses, and got the above-depicted, below-described set of results:

• The most popular response was “Waist trainers are purely cosmetic, so useless. Posture-fixers have merit”, with a little over a quarter of the votes.

• The least popular response was “Both are great tools to help us to optimal waist size and posture, respectively!”

• The other three answers each got a little under a quarter of the vote. In terms of discrete data, these were all 7±1, so basically, there was nothing in it.

The sample size was smaller than usual—perhaps the cluster of American holiday dates yesterday and today kept people busy! But, pressing on…

What does the science say?

Waist trainers are purely cosmetic, so, useless. True or False?

True, simply. Honestly, they’re not even that great for cosmetic purposes. They will indeed cinch in your middle, and this shape will be retained for a (very) short while after uncinching, because your organs have been squished inwards and may take a short while to get back to where they are supposed to be.

The American Board of Cosmetic Surgery may not be an unbiased source, but we’re struggling to find scientists who will even touch one of these, so, let’s see what these doctors have to say:

• Waist training can damage vital organs

• You will be slowly suffocating yourself

• Waist training simply doesn’t work

• You cannot drastically change your body shape with a piece of fabric*

Read: ABCS | 4 Reasons to Throw Your Waist Trainer in the Trash

*”But what about foot-binding?”—feet have many bones, whose growth can be physically restricted. Your waist has:

• organs: necessary! (long-term damage possible, but they’re not going away)

• muscles: slightly restrictable! (temporary restriction; no permanent change)

• fat: very squeezable! (temporary muffin; no permanent change)

Posture correctors have merit: True or False?

True—probably, and as a stepping-stone measure only.

The Ergonomics Health Association (a workplace health & safety organization) says:

Source: Do Posture Correctors Work? Here’s What Our Experts Think

That’s not very compelling, so we looked for studies, and found… Not much, actually. However, what we did find supported the idea that “they probably do help, but we seriously need better studies with less bias”:

 The use of posture-correcting shirts for managing musculoskeletal pain is not supported by current evidence

That is also not a compelling title, but here is where it pays to look at the studies and not just the titles. Basically, they found that the results were favorable to the posture-correctors—the science itself was just trash:

Since the benefit of posture correctors like this one is due to reminding the wearer to keep good posture, there is a lot more (good quality!) science for wearable biofeedback tech devices, such as this one:

Spine Cop: Posture Correction Monitor and Assistant

Take care!

❤️ OUR SPONSORS MAKE THIS PUBLICATION POSSIBLE

We’ve been trying to reach you…

…about your car’s extended warranty. Tired of getting those calls? Here’s your chance to protect yourself, your personal data, and your sanity.

Incogni is a personal data removal service that scrubs your sensitive info (think: SSN, DOB, home addresses, health information, and contact details) from the web.

With Incogni, you’ll worry way less about:

• Identity theft

• Health insurers raising your rates based on info from data brokers

• Robo and spam calls

• Scammers taking out loans in your name

Protect your personal info + get 60% off the Incogni annual plan at this link with code PRIVACY.

🌏 AROUND THE WEB

What’s happening in the health world…

• Brain imaging identifies biomarkers of mental illness

• Worried about getting a blood test? 5 tips to make them easier (and still accurate)

• Cardiologists reveal new heart disease risk calculator

• Australian study shows combined genomic screening for major hereditary diseases is cost-effective and health-saving

• Insecure renting ages you faster than owning a home, unemployment or obesity—better housing policy can change this

• Multi-ancestry study reveals 187 new genetic risk factors for prostate cancer

• Heart attack patients without traditional risk factors have high levels of coronary calcium, study finds

More to come tomorrow!

📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW

The Aesthetic Brain: How We Evolved to Desire Beauty and Enjoy Art – by Dr. Anjan Chatterjee

Dr. Anjan Chatterjee (not to be mistaken for Dr. Rangan Chatterjee, whose books we have also sometimes reviewed before) is a neurologist.

A lot about aesthetics is easy enough to understand. We like physical features in humans that suggest a healthy mate, and we like lush and/or colorful plants that reassure us that we will have plenty to eat.

But what about a beautiful building, or a charcoal drawing of some captivatingly eldritch horror? And what, neurologically speaking, is the difference between a bowl of fruit and a painting of a bowl of fruit? And what, if anything, does appreciation of such do for us?

In this very readable pop-science book, we learn about these things and many more, from the perspective of an experienced neurologist who explains things simply but with plenty of science.

Bottom line: if you'd like to understand how and why your brain does more things than just process tasks necessary for survival, this book will give you plenty of insight.

Click here to check out The Aesthetic Brain, and learn more about yours!

May today see you in great shape,

The 10almonds Team