Wheat & Your Genes

Plus: the anatomy of sitting (spoiler: it's not good)

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The 10almonds Team
December 01, 2023

Today’s almonds have been activated by:

Thirty days hath November, and here we are on the 30th. It’s a great day to make plans for what healthy habits you want to set in place for the next month, and get the jump on New Year!

This way, people will be starting their New Year Resolutions, and you’ll already be a month in 😉 

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⏰ 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:

  • Wheat is not generally considered a good for the health, but its effects can depend in part on genetics, including ethnicity. The closer your ancestry can be traced to where wheat was first domesticated, the less harmful it will be for you, as a rule.

  • CBD can have a lot of beneficial effects, and/but CBD products are not well-standardized, and the labelling of edibles in particular is often not very accurate. Caution is wise.

  • Doesn’t it feel a bit brutal sometimes when the dentist is scraping off plaque?

    • Today’s sponsor, LIVFRESH, have developed a gel that safely dissolves plaque without harming the teeth or gums (this is such an impressive breakthrough that we included a link to the actual science in the sponsor section; check it out!)

Read on to learn about these things and more…

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👀 WATCH AND LEARN

Pain from Sitting Too Long? The Anatomy Of Prolonged sitting (2:08)

Are you sitting comfortably? You might want to take a stand:

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

❓ MAIN FEATURE

It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!

Have a question or a request? You can always hit “reply” to any of our emails, or use the feedback widget at the bottom!

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 😎

❝Just wondering what you think of Einkorn wheat/flour.❞

Wheat, in general, is not great! Whole wheat is of course better than refined.

How bad wheat is for us depends in part on our genetics, which in turn largely depends on how long our ancestors have been eating wheat. Since wheat was first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent area, the more closely one’s ancestry can be traced to there (if it can), the less harmful wheat will be to us.

(We couldn’t find a freely accessible paper for this, but evolutionary biologist Dr. Michael Rose has done a lot of research on it; maybe we’ll feature him as an expert one of these days)

Einkorn wheat is one of the oldest domesticated strains, which is good (because of the reason described above), and/but is high in gluten, which is generally considered not good—albeit perhaps a trade-off for it having a higher protein content (gluten being one of those proteins) and a good micronutrient profile in general.

Short answer: wheat is still not good, but if you tolerate gluten well and would like a micronutrient boost, then einkorn may not be a bad choice.

You might also like our previous main feature:

❝I take CBD gummies. I don't know if they are worth buying. Can you fo a study on the effectiveness of gummies❞

If you take them, and you’re not sure whether they’re worth it, then it sounds like you’re not getting any observable benefit from them?

If so, that would seem to answer your question, since presumably the reason that you are taking them is for relaxation and/or pain relief, so if you’re not getting the results you want, then no, they are not worth it.

However! CBD gummies are an incredibly diverse and not-well-studied product, so far, given the relative novelty of their legality. By diverse we mean, they’re not well-standardized.

In other words: the CBD gummies you get could be completely unlike CBD gummies from a different source.

CBD itself (i.e. in forms other than just gummies, and mostly as oil) has been studied somewhat better, and we did a main feature on it here:

And while we’re at it:

Cannabis Myths vs Reality ← This one is about cannabis products in general, and includes discussion of THC content and effects, which might not be so relevant to you, but may to some readers.

Companies selling CBD and CBD gummies may make bold claims that are not yet backed by science, so if you are buying them for those reasons, you might want to be aware:

One thing that we would add is that even though CBD is generally recognized as safe, it is possible to overdose on CBD gummies, so do watch your limits:

Take care!

📊 POLL

We turn the tables and ask you a question…

We’ll then talk about this tomorrow:

(Hypothetical thought-experiment time, so please ignore for a moment any reason you may feel that the following scenario might not apply to you)

You have unprotected sex with someone who, afterwards, conversationally mentions their HIV+ status. Do you...

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

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❤️ OUR SPONSORS MAKE THIS PUBLICATION POSSIBLE

Dissolve plaque, without harming teeth/gums

LIVFRESH make some bold claims:

  • ❝We have made the first breakthrough in the dental industry since 1914.❞

  • ❝LIVFRESH performs 250% better at removing plaque than a market leader❞

The first claim is about using molecular nanotechnology instead of abrasion, to remove plaque. The claim is worded a little strongly, but it genuinely is a major breakthrough.

The second claim... We love randomized clinical trials! So we looked it up, and found it:

Now, the sample size was small (33), but the results were overwhelmingly positive. And the test group had a worse gingival index than control, before starting—and much better afterwards:

In other words, the competition was stacked against the product, and it still won clear. With this in mind, we're very happy to recommend LIVFRESH's edathamil*-based dental gel!

*That's their patented formula that breaks down plaque on a molecular level, without damaging teeth.

It comes in multiple flavors, so you get two links today:

If you're unsure which to go for, we recommend the peppermint, as it has fewer ingredients, and is a true gel rather than a foaming gel.

PS: 10almonds subscribers can use code DENTAL20 for 20% off at checkout 😎

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

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🌏 AROUND THE WEB

What’s happening in the health world…

More to come tomorrow!

📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW

Food for Life: The New Science of Eating Well – by Dr. Tim Spector

This book is, as the author puts it, "an eater's guide to food and nutrition". Rather than telling us what to eat or not eat, he provides an overview of what the latest science has to say about various foods, and leaves us to make our own informed decisions.

He also stands firmly by the "personalized nutrition" idea that he introduced in his previous book which we reviewed the other day, and gives advice on what tests we might like to perform.

The writing style is accessible, without shying away from reference to hard science. Dr. Spector provides lots of information about key chemicals, genes, gut bacteria, and more—as well as simply providing a very enjoyable read along the way.

Bottom line: if you'd like a much better idea of what food is (and isn't) doing what, this book is an invaluable resource.

What did you think of today's newsletter?

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May today see you well-prepared for the coming month,

The 10almonds Team