Cabbage vs Kale – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing cabbage to kale, we picked the kale.
Why?
Here we go again, pitting Brassica oleracea vs Brassica oleracea. One species, many cultivars! Notwithstanding being the same species, there are important nutritional differences:
In terms of macros, kale has more protein, carbs, and fiber, and even has the lower glycemic index, not that cabbage is bad at all, of course. But nominally, kale gets the win on all counts in this category.
In the category of vitamins, cabbage has more of vitamins B5 and choline, while kale has more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B7, B9, C, E, and K. An easy win for kale!
When it comes to minerals, it’s even more decisive: cabbage is not higher in any minerals, while kale has more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc. Another clear win for kale.
Adding up the sections makes it very clear that kale wins the day, but we’d like to mention that cabbage was good in all of these metrics too; kale was just better!
Want to learn more?
You might like to read:
21 Most Beneficial Polyphenols & What Foods Have Them
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The Longevity Code – by Dr. Kris Verburgh
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Notwithstanding the subtitle claim of “secrets from the leading edge of science”, we’ll note up front that this book was published in 2015, and what was new then, isn’t now. However, what was new then is still important now, so we think the book merits attention just the same.
The book examines why certain creatures (like humans) seem programmed to grow old and die, and why others (few others, but enough to make a list) either simply do not age, or else do age but can become younger when they hit a certain point. If this is the first you’re hearing of biologically immortal creatures, we’ll mention: they can and do die, just, their cause of death is usually by being eaten. But on a cellular and structural level, they don’t age. They grow to maturity and then just stay that way until one day they get eaten (or fall to some similar external circumstance).
Tackling the question of “why do we age?” (not as a philosophical question, but rather as an engineering question) is important to tackle the critical question of “…and could we not?”, and that’s what much of this book is about.
The real reason that compared to other mammals, humans live (for example) slightly longer than bats but not as long as naked mole rats, comes down mostly to genes, which makes it sound like things are set in stone, but rather, even without outright gene-editing technologies like CRISPR, gene expression is often quite modifiable, and often modifiable not just by drugs, but also by supplements, and indeed by nutraceuticals, which means also by diet, plus diet-adjacent things like fasting.
While this is mostly an explanatory book rather than a how-to, there’s enough to make practical use of, and even a recipes section.
The style is very gripping pop-science—or at least, if you’re anything like this reviewer, you’ll find it a page-turner. While being light on citations as we go (not like some authors who will mark several citations per page, or in the extreme, for every declarative sentence made), there is a reassuring bibliography at the back.
Bottom line: if you’re interested in the “under the hood” of aging, then you will love this book.
Click here to check out The Longevity Code, and slow down the aging process to live well for longer!
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Languishing – by Prof. Corey Keyes
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We’ve written before about depression and “flourishing” but what about when one isn’t exactly flourishing, but is not necessarily in the depths of depression either? That’s what this book is about.
Prof. Keyes offers, from his extensive research, hope for those who do not check enough of the boxes to be considered depressed, but who are also definitely more in the lane of “surviving” than “thriving”.
Specifically, he outlines five key ways to make the step from languishing to flourishing, based not on motivational rhetoric, but actual data-based science:
- Learn (creating your personal story of self-growth)
- Connect (building relationships, on the individual level and especially on the community level)
- Transcend (developing psychological resilience to the unexpected)
- Help (others! This is about finding your purpose, and then actively living it)
- Play (this is a necessary “recharge” element that many people miss, especially as we get older)
With regard to finding one’s purpose being given the one-word summary of “help”, this is a callback to our tribal origins, and how we thrive and flourish best and feel happiest when we have a role to fulfil and provide value to those around us)
Bottom line: if you’re not at the point of struggling to get out of bed each day, but you’re also not exactly leaping out of bed with a smile, this book can help get you from one place to the other.
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Jackfruit vs Durian – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing jackfruit to durian, we picked the durian.
Why?
Durian may look and smell like it has come directly from Hell, but there’s a lot of goodness in there!
First, let’s talk macros: jackfruit and durian are both unusually high in protein, for fruits. That said, jackfruit does have slightly more protein—but durian has more than 2x the fiber, for only slightly more carbs, so we call this section a win for durian.
Like most fruits, these two are an abundance source of vitamins; jackfruit has more of vitamins A and E, while durian has more of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B9, and C. Another win for durian.
When it comes to minerals, jackfruit has more calcium, while durian has more copper, iron, manganese, phosphorus, and zinc. We don’t usually measure this one as there’s not much in most foods (unless added in artificially), but durian is also high in sulfur, specifically in “volatile sulfur compounds”, which account for some of its smell, and are—notwithstanding the alarming name—harmless. In any case, mineral content is another win for durian.
These three things add up to one big win for durian.
There is one thing to watch out for, though: durian inhibits aldehyde dehydrogenase, which the body uses to metabolize alcohol. So, we recommend you don’t drink-and-durian, as it can increase the risk of alcohol poisoning, and even if alcohol consumption is moderate, it’ll simply stay in your system for longer, doing more damage while it’s there. Of course, it is best to simply avoid drinking alcohol regardless, durian or no durian, but the above is good to know for those who do imbibe.
A final word on durians: if you haven’t had it before, or had it and it was terrible, then know: much like a banana or an avocado, durian has a rather brief “ideal ripeness” phase for eating. It should be of moderate firmness; neither tough nor squishy. It should not have discolored spikes, nor should it have little holes in, nor be leaking fluid, and it should not smell of sweat and vinegar, although it should smell like sulfurous eggs, onions, and cheese. Basically, if it smells like a cheese-and-onion omelette made in Hell, it’s probably good. If it smells like something that died and then was kept warm in someone’s armpit for a day, it’s probably not. The best way to have a good first experience with a durian is to enjoy one with someone who knows and enjoys durians, as they will be able to pick one that’s right, and will know if it’s not (durian-sellers may not necessarily have your best interests at heart, and may seek to palm off over-ripe durians on people who don’t know better).
Enjoy!
Want to learn more?
You might like to read:
What’s Your Plant Diversity Score?
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Why You Can’t Skimp On Amino Acids
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Our body requires 20 amino acids (the building blocks of protein), 9 of which it can’t synthesize (thus called: “essential”) and absolutely must get from food. Normally, we get these amino acids from protein in our diet, and we can also supplement them by taking amino acid supplements if we wish.
Specifically, we require (per kg of bodyweight) a daily average of:
- Histidine: 10 mg
- Isoleucine: 20 mg
- Leucine: 39 mg
- Lysine: 30 mg
- Methionine: 10.4 mg
- Phenylalanine*: 25 mg
- Threonine: 15 mg
- Tryptophan: 4 mg
- Valine: 26 mg
*combined with the non-essential amino acid tyrosine
Source: Protein and Amino Acid Requirements In Human Nutrition: WHO Technical Report
Why this matters
A lot of attention is given to protein, and making sure we get enough of it, especially as we get older, because the risk of sarcopenia (muscle mass loss) increases with age:
However, not every protein comes with a complete set of essential amino acids, and/or have only trace amounts of of some amino acids, meaning that a dietary deficiency can arrive if one’s diet is too restrictive.
And, if we become deficient in even just one amino acid, then bad things start to happen quite soon. We only have so much space, so we’re going to oversimplify here, but:
- Histidine: is needed to produce histamine (vital for immune responses, amongst other things), and is also important for maintaining the myelin sheaths on nerve cells.
- Isoleucine: is very involved in muscle metabolism and makes up the bulk of muscle tissue.
- Leucine: is critical for muscle synthesis and repair, as well as wound healing in general, and blood sugar regulation.
- Lysine: is also critical in muscle synthesis, as well as calcium absorption and hormone production, as well as making collagen.
- Methionine: is very important for energy metabolism, zinc absorption, and detoxification.
- Phenylalanine: is a necessary building block of a lot of neurotransmitters, as well as being a building block of some amino acids not listed here (i.e., the ones your body synthesizes, but can’t without phenylalanine).
- Threonine: is mostly about collagen and elastin production, and is also very important for your joints, as well as fat metabolism.
- Tryptophan: is the body’s primary precursor to serotonin, so good luck making the latter without the former.
- Valine: is mostly about muscle growth and regeneration.
So there you see, the ill effects of deficiency can range from “muscle atrophy” to “brain stops working” and “bones fall apart” and more. In short, any essential amino acid deficiency not remedied will ultimately result in death; we literally become non-viable as organisms without these 9 things.
What to do about it (the “life hack” part)
Firstly, if you eat a lot of animal products, those are “complete” proteins, meaning that they contain all 9 essential amino acids in sensible quantities. The reason that all animal products have these, is because they are just as essential for the other animals as they are for us, so they, just like us, must consume (and thus contain) them.
However, a lot of animal products come with other health risks:
Do We Need Animal Products To Be Healthy? ← this covers which animal products are definitely very health-risky, and which are probably fine according to current best science
…so many people may prefer to get more (or possibly all) dietary protein from plants.
However, plants, unlike us, do not need to consume all 9 essential amino acids, and this may or may not contain them all.
Soy is famously a “complete” protein insofar as it has all the amino acids we need.
But what if you’re allergic to soy?
Good news! Peas are also a “complete” protein and will do the job just fine. They’re also usually cheaper.
Final note
An oft-forgotten thing is that some other amino acids are “conditionally essential”, meaning that while we can technically synthesize them, sometimes we can’t synthesize enough and must get them from our diet.
The conditions that trigger this “conditionally essential” status are usually such things as fighting a serious illness, recovering from a serious injury, or pregnancy—basically, things where your body has to work at 110% efficiency if it wants to get through it in one piece, and that extra 10% has to come from somewhere outside the body.
Examples of commonly conditionally essential amino acids are arginine and glycine.
Arginine is critical for a lot of cell-signalling processes as well as mitochondrial function, as well as being a precursor to other amino acids, including creatine.
As for glycine?
Check out: The Sweet Truth About Glycine
Enjoy!
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Stimulant Users Are Caught in Fatal ‘Fourth Wave’ of Opioid Epidemic
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In Pawtucket, Rhode Island, near a storefront advertising “free” cellphones, J.R. sat in an empty back stairwell and showed a reporter how he tries to avoid overdosing when he smokes crack cocaine. KFF Health News is identifying him by his initials because he fears being arrested for using illegal drugs.
It had been several hours since his last hit, and the chatty, middle-aged man’s hands moved quickly. In one hand, he held a glass pipe. In the other, a lentil-size crumb of cocaine.
Or at least J.R. hoped it was cocaine, pure cocaine — uncontaminated by fentanyl, a potent opioid that was linked to about 75% of all overdose deaths in Rhode Island in 2022. He flicked his lighter to “test” his supply. He believed that if it had a “cigar-like sweet smell,” he said, it would mean that the cocaine was laced with fentanyl. He put the pipe to his lips and took a tentative puff. “No sweet,” he said, reassured.
But this method offers only false and dangerous reassurance. A mistake can be fatal.
It is impossible to tell whether a drug contains fentanyl by the taste or smell. “Somebody can believe that they can smell it or taste it, or see it … but that’s not a scientific test,” said Josiah “Jody” Rich, an addiction specialist and researcher who teaches at Brown University. “People are going to die today because they buy some cocaine that they don’t know has fentanyl in it.”
The first wave of the long-running and devastating opioid epidemic began in the United States with the abuse of prescription painkillers in the early 2000s. The second wave involved an increase in heroin use, starting around 2010. The third wave began when powerful synthetic opioids such as fentanyl started appearing in the supply around 2015. Now experts are observing a fourth phase of the deadly epidemic.
The mix of stimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamines with fentanyl — a synthetic opioid 50 times as powerful as heroin — is driving what experts call the opioid epidemic’s “fourth wave.” The mixture of stimulants and fentanyl presents powerful challenges to efforts to reduce overdoses because many users of stimulants don’t know they are at risk of ingesting opioids, so they don’t take overdose precautions.
The only way to know whether cocaine or other stimulants contain fentanyl is to use drug-checking tools such as fentanyl test strips — a best practice for what’s known as “harm reduction,” now embraced by federal health officials in combating drug overdose deaths. Fentanyl test strips cost as little as $2 for a two-pack online, but many front-line organizations also give them out free.
Nationwide, illicit stimulants mixed with fentanyl were the most common drugs found in fentanyl-related overdoses, according to a study published in 2023 in the scientific journal Addiction. The stimulant in the fatal mixture tends to be cocaine in the Northeast, and methamphetamine in the West and much of the Midwest and South.
“The No. 1 thing that people in the U.S. are dying from in terms of drug overdoses is the combination of fentanyl and a stimulant,’’ said Joseph Friedman, a researcher at UCLA and the study’s lead author. “Black and African Americans are disproportionately affected by this crisis to a large magnitude, especially in the Northeast.”
Friedman was also the lead author of another new study, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, that shows the fourth wave of the opioid epidemic is driving up the mortality rate among older Black Americans (ages 55-64) and, more recently, Hispanic people. Friedman said part of the reason street fentanyl is so deadly is that there’s no way to tell how potent it is. Hospitals have safely used medical-grade fentanyl for surgical pain because the potency is strictly regulated, but “the potency fluctuates wildly in the illicit market” Friedman said.
Studies of street drugs, he said, show that in illicit drugs the potency can vary from 1% to 70% fentanyl.
“Imagine ordering a mixed drink in a bar and it contains one to 70 shots,” Friedman said, “and the only way you know is to start drinking it. … There would be a huge number of alcohol overdose deaths.”
Drug-checking technology can provide a rough estimate of fentanyl concentration, he said, but to get a precise measure requires sending drugs to a laboratory.
It’s not clear how much of the latest trend in polydrug use — in which users mix substances, such as cocaine and fentanyl, for example — is accidental versus intentional. It can vary for individual users: a recent study from Millennium Health found that most people who use fentanyl do so at times intentionally and other times unintentionally.
People often use stimulants to power through the rapid withdrawal from fentanyl, Friedman said. And the high-risk practice of using cocaine or meth with heroin, known as “speedballing,” has been around for decades. Other factors include manufacturers’ adding the cheap synthetic opioid to a stimulant to stretch their supply, or dealers mixing up bags.
Researchers say many people still think they are using unadulterated cocaine or crack — a misconception that can be deadly. “Folks who are using stimulants, and not intentionally using opioids, are unprepared to respond to an opioid overdose,” said Brown University epidemiologist Jaclyn White Hughto, “because they don’t perceive themselves to be at risk.” Hughto is a principal investigator in a new, unpublished study called “Preventing Overdoses Involving Stimulants.”
Hughto and the team surveyed more than 260 people in Rhode Island and Massachusetts who use drugs, including some who manufacture and distribute stimulants such as cocaine. More than 60% of the people they interviewed in Rhode Island had bought or used stimulants that they later found out had fentanyl in them. And many of the people interviewed in the study also use drugs alone. That means that if they do overdose, they may not be found until it’s too late.
In 2022, Rhode Island had the fourth-highest rate of overdose deaths involving cocaine in 2022, after Washington, D.C., Delaware, and Vermont, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The fourth wave is also hitting stimulant users who choose pills over what they perceive as more dangerous drugs such as cocaine in an effort to avoid fentanyl. That’s what happened to Jennifer Dubois’ son Cliffton.
Dubois was a single mother raising two Black sons. The older son, Cliffton, had been struggling with addiction since he was 14, she said. Cliffton also had been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and a mood disorder.
In March 2020, Cliffton had checked into a rehab program as the pandemic ramped up, Dubois said. Because of the lockdown at rehab, Cliffton was upset about not being able to visit with his mother. “He said, ‘If I can’t see my mom, I can’t do treatment,’” Dubois recalled. “And I begged him” to stay in treatment.
But soon after, Cliffton left the rehab program. He showed up at her door. “And I just cried,” she said.
Dubois’ younger son was living at home. She didn’t want Cliffton doing drugs around his younger brother. So she gave Cliffton an ultimatum: “If you want to stay home, you have to stay drug-free.”
Cliffton went to stay with family friends, first in Atlanta and later in Woonsocket, an old mill city that has Rhode Island’s highest rate of drug overdose deaths.
In August 2020, Cliffton overdosed but was revived. Cliffton later confided that he’d been snorting cocaine in a car with a friend, Dubois said. Hospital records show he tested positive for fentanyl.
“He was really scared,” Dubois said. After the overdose, he tried to “leave the cocaine and the hard drugs alone,” she said. “But he was taking pills.” Eight months later, on April 17, 2021, Cliffton was found unresponsive in the bedroom of a family member’s home.
The night before, Cliffton had bought counterfeit Adderall, according to the police report. What he didn’t know was that the Adderall pill was laced with fentanyl. “He thought by staying away from the street drugs and just taking pills, he was doing better,” Dubois said.
A fentanyl test strip could have saved his life.
This article is from a partnership that includes The Public’s Radio, NPR, and KFF Health News.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.
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KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.
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This article first appeared on KFF Health News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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Heal & Reenergize Your Brain With Optimized Sleep Cycles
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Sometimes 8 hours sleep can result in grogginess while 6 hours can result in waking up fresh as a daisy, so what gives? Dr. Tracey Marks explains, in this short video.
Getting more than Zs in
Sleep involves 90-minute cycles, usually in 4 stages:
- Stage 1: (drowsy state): brief muscle jerks; lasts a few minutes.
- Stage 2: (light sleep): sleep spindles for memory consolidation; 50% of total sleep.
- Stage 3 (deep sleep): tissue repair, immune support, brain toxin removal via the glymphatic system.
- Stage 4 (REM sleep): emotional processing, creativity, problem-solving, and dreaming.
Some things can disrupt some or all of those. To give a few common examples:
- Alcohol: impairs REM sleep.
- Caffeine: hinders deep sleep even if consumed hours before bed.
- Screentime: delays sleep onset due to blue light (but not by much); the greater problem is that it can also disrupt REM sleep due to mental stimulation.
To optimize things, Dr. Marks recommends:
- 90-minute rule: plan sleep to align with full cycles (e.g: 22:30 to 06:00 = 7½ hours, which is 5x 90-minute cycles).
- Smart alarms: use sleep-tracking apps with built-in alarm, to wake you up during light sleep phases.
- Strategic naps: keep naps to 20 minutes or a full 90-minute cycle.
- Pink noise: improves deep sleep.
- Meal timing: avoid eating within 3 hours of bedtime.
- Natural light: get morning light exposure in the morning to strengthen circadian rhythm.
For more on all of this, enjoy:
Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!
Want to learn more?
You might also like to read:
Calculate (And Enjoy) The Perfect Night’s Sleep
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