Goji Berries vs Cherries – Which is Healthier?

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Our Verdict

When comparing goji berries to cherries, we picked the goji berries.

Why?

Looking at the macros first, goji berries have more protein, fiber, and carbs, as well as the lower glycemic index, although cherries are great too. Still, a clear and easy win here.

In the category of vitamins, goji berries have more of vitamins A and C, while cherries have more of vitamin K; in the other vitamins these two fruits are close enough to equal that variants in what kind of cherry it is will push it slightly one way or the other. However, it’s worth noting that goji berries have 1,991% more vitamin A and 16,033% more vitamin C, while cherries have only 20% more vitamin K. So, all in all, another clear win for goji berries.

When it comes to minerals, goji berries have more calcium and iron, while cherries have more copper. Again, the margins of difference are very much in goji berries’ favor, with 1,088% more calcium and 2,025% more iron, while cherries have 35% more copper. So, again, a win for goji berries.

The polyphenol contents of cherries differ far too much to comment here, but as a general rule of thumb, goji berries have more antioxidant powers than cherries, but cherries are also excellent for this.

In short, enjoy either or both, but goji berries are the more nutritionally dense!

Want to learn more?

You might like to read:

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  • Escape From The Clutches Of Shame

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    We’ve written before about managing various emotions, including “negative” ones. We put that in “scare quotes” because they also all have positive aspects, that are just generally overshadowed by the fact that the emotions themselves are not pleasant. But for example…

    We evolved our emotions, including the “negative” ones, for our own benefit as a species:

    • Stress keeps us safe by making sure we take important situations seriously
    • Anger keeps us safe by protecting us from threats
    • Disgust keeps us safe by helping us to avoid things that might cause disease
    • Anxiety keeps us safe by ensuring we don’t get complacent
    • Guilt keeps us safe by ensuring we can function as a community
    • Sadness keeps us safe by ensuring we value things that are important to us, and learn to become averse to losing them
    • …and so on

    You can read more about how to turn these off (or rather, at least pause them) when they’re misfiring and/or just plain not convenient, here:

    The Off-Button For Your Brain

    While it’s generally considered good to process feelings instead of putting them aside, the fact is that sometimes we have to hold it together while we do something, such that we can later have an emotional breakdown at a convenient time and place, instead of the supermarket or bank or office or airport or while entertaining houseguests or… etc.

    Today, though, we’re not putting things aside, for the most part (though we will get to that too).

    We’ll be dealing with shame, which is closely linked to the guilt we mentioned in that list there.

    See also: Reconsidering the Differences Between Shame and Guilt

    Shame’s purpose

    Shame’s purpose is to help us (as a community) avoid anti-social behavior for which we might be shamed, and thus exiled from the in-group. It helps us all function better together, which is how we thrive as a species.

    Shame, therefore, is often assumed to be something we can (and possibly should) use to ensure that we (ourselves and/or others) “do the right thing”.

    But there’s a catch…

    Shame only works negatively

    You may be thinking “well duh, it’s a negative emotion”, but this isn’t about negativity in the subjective sense, but rather, positive vs negative motivation:

    • Positive motivation: motivation that encourages us to do a given thing
    • Negative motivation: motivation that encourages us to specifically not do a given thing

    Shame is only useful as a negative motivation, i.e., encouraging us to specifically not do a given thing.

    Examples:

    • You cannot (in any way that sticks, at least) shame somebody into doing more housework.
    • You can, however, shame somebody out of drinking and driving.

    This distinction matters a lot when it comes to how we are with our children, or with our employees (or those placed under us in a management structure), or with people who otherwise look to us as leaders.

    It also matters when it comes to how we are with ourselves.

    Here’s a paper about this, by the way, with assorted real-world examples:

    The negative side of motivation: the role of shame

    From those examples, we can see that attempts to shame someone (including oneself) into doing something positive will generally not only fail, they will actively backfire, and people (including oneself) will often perform worse than pre-shaming.

    Looking inwards: healthy vs unhealthy shame

    Alcoholics Anonymous and similar programs use a degree of pro-social shame to help members abstain from the the act being shamed.

    Rather than the unhelpful shame of exiling a person from a group for doing a shameful thing, however, they take an approach of laying out the shame for all to see, feeling the worst of it and moving past it, which many report as being quite freeing emotionally while still [negatively] motivational to not use the substance in question in the future (and similar for activity-based addictions/compulsions, such as gambling, for example).

    As such, if you are trying to avoid doing a thing, shame can be a useful motivator. So by all means, if it’s appropriate to your goals, tell your friends/family about how you are now quitting this or that (be it an addiction, or just something generally unhealthy that you’d like to strike off your regular consumption/activity list).

    You will still be tempted! But the knowledge of the shame you would feel as a result will help keep you from straying into that temptation.

    If you are trying to do a thing, however, (even something thought of in a negative frame, such as “lose weight”), then shame is not helpful and you will do best to set it aside.

    You can shame yourself out of drinking sodas (if that’s your plan), but you can’t shame yourself into eating healthy meals. And even if your plan is just shaming yourself out of eating unhealthy food… Without a clear active positive replacement to focus on instead, all you’ll do there is give yourself an eating disorder. You’ll eat nothing when people are looking, and then either a) also eat next to nothing in private or else b) binge in secret, and feel terrible about yourself, neither of which are any good for you whatsoever.

    Similarly, you can shame yourself out of bed, but you can’t shame yourself into the gym:

    Is there positive in the negative? Understanding the role of guilt and shame in physical activity self-regulation

    Let it go

    There are some cases, especially those where shame has a large crossover with guilt, that it serves no purpose whatsoever, and is best processed and then put aside.

    For example, if you did something that you are ashamed of many years ago, and/or feel guilty about something that you did many years ago, but this is not an ongoing thing for you (i.e., it was a one-off bad decision, or a bad habit that have now long since dropped), then feeling shame and/or guilt about that does not benefit you or anyone else.

    As to how to process it and put it aside, if your thing harmed someone else, you could see if there’s a way to try to make amends (even if without confessing ill, such as by acting anonymously to benefit the person/group you harmed).

    And then, forgive yourself. Regardless of whether you feel like you deserve it. Make the useful choice, that better benefits you, and by extension those around you.

    If you are religious, you may find that of help here too. We’re a health science publication not a theological one, but for example: Buddhism preaches compassion including for oneself. Judaism preaches atonement. Christianity, absolution. For Islam, mercy is one of the holiest ideals of the religion, along with forgiveness. So while religion isn’t everyone’s thing, for those for whom it is, it can be an asset in this regard.

    For a more worldly approach:

    To Err Is Human; To Forgive, Healthy (Here’s How To Do It) ← this goes for when the forgiveness in question is for yourself, too—and we do write about that there (and how)!

    Take care!

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  • Brown Rice Protein: Strengths & Weaknesses

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    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 had a friend mention that recent research showed Brown Rice Protein Powder can be bad for you, possibly impacting your nutrient absorption. Is this true? I’ve been using it given it’s one of the few plant-based proteins with a full essential amino acid profile!❞

    Firstly: we couldn’t find anything to corroborate the “brown rice protein powder [adversely] impacts nutrient absorption” idea, but we suspect that the reason for this belief is: brown rice (not brown rice protein powder) contains phytic acid, which is something of an antinutrient, in that it indeed reduces absorption of various other nutrients.

    However, two things are important to note here:

    1. the phytic acid is found in whole grains, not in protein isolates as found in brown rice protein powder. The protein isolates contain protein… Isolated. No phytates!
    2. even in the case of eating whole grain rice, the phytic acid content is greatly reduced by two things: soaking and heating (especially if those two things are combined) ← doing this the way described results in bioavailability of nutrients that’s even better than if there were just no phytic acid, albeit it requires you having the time to soak, and do so at temperature.

    tl;dr = no, it’s not true, unless there truly is some groundbreaking new research we couldn’t find—it was almost certainly a case of an understandable confusion about phytic acid.

    Your question does give us one other thing to mention though:

    Brown rice indeed technically contains all 9 essential amino acids, but it’s very low in several of them, most notably lysine.

    However, if you use our Tasty Versatile Rice Recipe, the chia seeds we added to the rice have 100x the lysine that brown rice does, and the black pepper also boosts nutrient absorption.

    Because your brown rice protein powder is a rice protein powder and not simply rice, it’s possible that they’ve tweaked it to overcome rice’s amino acid deficiencies. But, if you’re looking for a plant-based protein powder that is definitely a complete protein, soy is a very good option assuming you’re not allergic to that:

    Amino Acid Compositions Of Soy Protein Isolate

    If you’re wondering where to get it, you can see examples of them next to each other on Amazon here:

    Brown Rice Protein Powder | Soy Protein Isolate Powder

    Enjoy!

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  • Herring vs Sardines – Which is Healthier?

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Our Verdict

    When comparing herring to sardine, we picked the sardines.

    Why?

    In terms of macros, they are about equal in protein and fat, but herring has about 2x the saturated fat and about 2x the cholesterol. So, sardines win this category easily.

    When it comes to vitamins, herring has more of vitamins B1, B2, B6, B9, and B12, while sardines have more of vitamins B3, E, and K. That’s a 5:3 win for herring, although it’s worth mentioning that the margins of difference are mostly not huge, except for that sardines have 26x the vitamin K content. Still, by the overall numbers, this one’s a win for herring.

    In the category of minerals, herring is not richer in any minerals*, while sardines are richer in calcium, copper, iron, manganese, phosphorus, and selenium, meaning a clear win for sardines.

    *unless we want to consider mercury to be a mineral, in which case, let’s mention that on average, herring is 6x higher in mercury. However, we consider that also a win for sardines.

    All in all, sardines are better for the heart (much lower in cholesterol), bones (much higher in calcium), and brain (much lower in mercury).

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    Farmed Fish vs Wild Caught: Antibiotics, Mercury, & More

    Take care!

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Related Posts

  • Brussels Sprouts vs Spirulina – Which is Healthier?
  • Oranges vs Lemons – Which is Healthier?

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Our Verdict

    When comparing oranges to lemons, we picked the oranges.

    Why?

    In the battle of these popular citrus fruits, there is a clear winner on the nutritional front.

    Things were initially promising for lemons when looking at the macros—lemons have a little more fiber while oranges are slightly higher in carbs, but the differences are small and both are very healthy in this regard.

    However, alas for this writer who prefers sour fruits to sweet ones (I’m sweet enough already), the micronutrient profiles tell a different story:

    In terms of vitamins, oranges have more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B9, E, and choline. In contrast, lemons have a (very) little more vitamin B6. You might be wondering about vitamin C, since both fruits are famous for that—they’re equal on vitamin C. But, with that stack we listed above, oranges clearly win the vitamin category easily.

    As for minerals, oranges boast more calcium, copper, magnesium, potassium, selenium, and zinc, while lemons have more iron, manganese, and phosphorus.

    Technically lemons also have more sodium, but the numbers are truly miniscule (by coincidence, we discover upon grabbing a calculator, you’d need to eat approximately your own bodyweight in whole lemons to get to the RDA of sodium—and that’s to reach the RDA, not the upper healthy limit) so we’ll overlook the tiny sodium difference as irrelevant. Which means, while closer than the vitamins category, oranges win on minerals with a 6:3 lead over lemons.

    Both fruits offer generous helpings of flavonoids and other polyphenols such as naringenin and hesperidin, which have anti-inflammatory properties and more specifically can also reduce allergy symptoms (unless, of course, you are allergic to citrus fruits, which is a relatively rare but extant allergy).

    In short: as ever, enjoy both; diversity is great for the health. But if you want to maximize the nutrients you get, it’s oranges.

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    Lemons vs Limes – Which is Healthier?

    Take care!

    Don’t Forget…

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  • Kombucha vs Kimchi – Which is Healthier

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    Our Verdict

    When comparing kombucha to kimchi, we picked the kombucha.

    Why?

    While both are very respectable gut-healthy fermented products,
    •⁠ ⁠the kombucha contains fermented tea, a little apple cider vinegar, and a little fiber
    •⁠ ⁠the kimchi contains (after the vegetables) 810 mg sodium in that little tin, and despite the vegetables, no fiber.

    You may reasonably be surprised that they managed to take something that is made of mostly vegetables and ended up with no fiber without juicing it, but they did. Fermented vegetables are great for the healthy bacteria benefits (and are tasty too!), but the osmotic pressure due to the salt destroys the cell walls and thus the fiber.

    Thus, we chose the kombucha that does the same job without delivering all that salt.

    However! If you are comparing kombucha and kimchi out in the wilds of your local supermarket, do still check individual labels. It’s not uncommon, for example, for stores to sell pre-made kombucha that’s loaded with sugar.

    About sugar and kombucha…

    Sugar is required to make kombucha, to feed the yeast and helpful bacteria. However, there should be none of that sugar left (or only the tiniest trace amount) in the final product, because the yeast (and friends) consumed and metabolized it.

    What some store brands do, however, is add in sugar afterwards, as they believe it improves the taste. This writer cannot imagine how, but that is their rationale in any case. Needless to say, it is not a healthy addition, and specifically, it’s bad for your gut, which (healthwise) is the whole point of drinking kombucha in the first place.

    Want some? Here is an example product on Amazon, but feel free to shop around as there are many flavors available!

    Read more about gut health: Gut Health 101

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  • Colloidal Gold’s Impressive Claims

    10almonds is reader-supported. We may, at no cost to you, receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

    All That Glitters…

    Today we’ll be examining colloidal gold supplementation.

    This issue of 10almonds brought to you by the writer suddenly getting lots of advertisements for this supplement. It’s not a new thing though, and has been around in one form or another since pretty much forever.

    Colloidal gold is…

    • Gold, as in the yellow metal
    • Colloidal, as in “very tiny insoluble particles dispersed though another substance (such as water)”

    What are the claims made for it?

    Honestly, just about everything is claimed for it. But to go with some popular claims:

    • Reduces inflammation
    • Supports skin health
    • Boosts immune function
    • Combats aging
    • Improves cognitive function

    So, what does the science say?

    Does it do those things?

    The short and oversimplified answer is: no

    However, there is a little bit of tangential merit, so we’re going to talk about the science of it, and how the leap gets made between what the science says and what the advertisements say.

    First… What makes gold so special, in general? Historically, three things:

    1. It’s quite rare
    2. It’s quite shiny
    3. It’s quite unreactive
    • The first is about supply and demand, so that’s not very important to us in this article.
    • The second is an aesthetic quality, which actually will have a little bit of relevance, but not much.
    • The third has been important historically (because it meant that shiny gold stayed shiny, because it didn’t tarnish), and now also important industrially too, as gold can be used in many processes where we basically need for nothing to happen (i.e., a very inert component is needed)

    That third quality—its unreactivity—has become important in medicine.

    When scientists need a way to deliver something (without the delivering object getting eaten by the body’s “eat everything” tendencies), or otherwise not interact chemically with anything around, gold is an excellent choice.

    Hence gold teeth, and gold fillings, by the way. They’re not just for the bling factor; they were developed because of their unreactivity and thus safety.

    So, what about those health claims we mentioned above?

    Here be science (creative interpretations not included)

    The most-backed-by-science claim from that list is “reduces inflammation”.

    Websites selling colloidal gold cite studies such as:

    Gold nanoparticles reduce inflammation in cerebral microvessels of mice with sepsis

    A promising title!The results of the study showed:

    ❝20 nm cit-AuNP treatment reduced leukocyte and platelet adhesion to cerebral blood vessels, prevented BBB failure, reduced TNF- concentration in brain, and ICAM-1 expression both in circulating polymorphonuclear (PMN) leukocytes and cerebral blood vessels of mice with sepsis. Furthermore, 20 nm cit-AuNP did not interfere with the antibiotic effect on the survival rate of mice with sepsis.❞

    That “20 nm cit-AuNP” means “20 nm citrate-covered gold nanoparticles”

    So it is not so much the antioxidant powers of gold being tested here, as the antioxidant powers of citrate, a known antioxidant. The gold was the carrying agent, whose mass and unreactivity allowed it to get where it needed to be.

    The paper does say the words “Gold nanoparticles have been demonstrated to own important anti-inflammatory properties“ in the abstract, but does not elaborate on that, reference it, or indicate how.

    Websites selling colloidal gold also cite papers such as:

    Anti-inflammatory effect of gold nanoparticles supported on metal oxides

    Another promising title! However the abstract mentions:

    ❝The effect was dependent on the MOx NPs chemical nature

    […]

    The effect of Au/TiO2 NPs was not related to Au NPs size❞

    MOx NPs = mineral oxide nanoparticles. In this case, the gold was a little more than a carrying agent, though, because the gold is described and explained as being a catalytic agent (i.e., its presence helps the attached mineral oxides react more quickly).

    We said that was the most-backed claim, and as you can see, it has some basis but is rather tenuous since the gold by itself won’t do anything; it just helps the mineral oxides.

    Next best-backed claim builds from that, which is “supports skin health”.

    Sometimes colloidal gold is sold as a facial tonic. By itself it’ll distribute (inert) gold nanoparticles across your skin, and may “give you a healthy glow”, because that’s what happens when you put shiny wet stuff on your face.

    Healthwise, if the facial tonic also contains some of the minerals we mentioned above, then it may have an antioxidant effect. But again, no minerals, no effect.

    The claim that it “combats aging” is really a tag-on to the “antioxidant” claim.

    As for the “supports immune health” claim… Websites selling colloid gold cite studies such as:

    Efficacy and Immune Response Elicited by Gold Nanoparticle- Based Nanovaccines against Infectious Diseases

    To keep things brief: gold can fight infectious diseases in much the same way that forks can fight hunger. It’s an inert carrying agent.

    As for “improves cognitive function”? The only paper we could find cited was that mouse sepsis study again, this time with the website saying “researchers found that rats treated with colloidal gold showed improved spatial memory and learning ability“ whereas the paper cited absolutely did not claim that, not remotely, not even anything close to that. It wasn’t even rats, it was mice, and they did not test their memory or learning.

    Is it safe?

    Colloidal gold supplementation is considered very safe, precisely because gold is one of the least chemically reactive substances you could possibly consume. It is special precisely because it so rarely does anything.

    However, impurities could be introduced in the production process, and the production process often involves incredibly harsh reagents to get the gold ions, and if any of those reagents are left in the solution, well, gold is safe but sodium borohydride and chloroauric acid aren’t!

    Where can I get some?

    In the unlikely event that our research review has given you an urge to try it, here’s an example product on Amazon

    Take care!

    Don’t Forget…

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