Banana Bread vs Bagel – Which is Healthier?

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The 10almonds Team

Our Verdict

When comparing banana bread to bagel, we picked the bagel.

Why?

Unlike most of the items we compare in this section, which are often “single ingredient” or at least highly standardized, today’s choices are rather dependent on recipe. Certainly, your banana bread and your bagels may not be the same as your neighbor’s. Nevertheless, to compare averages, we’ve gone with the FDA’s Food Central Database for reference values, using the most default average recipes available. Likely you could make either or both of them a little healthier, but as it is, this is how we’ve gone about making it a fair comparison. With that in mind…

In terms of macros, bagels have more than 2x the protein and about 4x the fiber, while banana bread has slightly higher carbs and about 7x more fat. You may be wondering: are the fats healthy? And the answer is, it could be better, could be worse. The FDA recipe went with margarine rather than butter, which lowered the saturated fat to being only ¼ of the total fat (it would have been higher, had they used butter) whereas bagels have no saturated fat at all—which characteristic is quite integral to bagels, unless you make egg bagels, which is rather a different beast. All in all, the macros category is a clear win for bagels, especially when we consider the carb to fiber ratio.

In the category of vitamins, bagels have on average more vitamin B1, B3, B5, and B9, while banana bread has on average more of vitamins A and C. A modest win for bagels.

When it comes to minerals, bagels are the more nutrient dense with more copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, while banana bread is not higher in any minerals. An obvious and easy win for bagels.

Closing thoughts: while the micronutrient profile quite possibly differs wildly from one baker to another, something that will probably stay more or less the same regardless is the carb to fiber ratio, and protein to fat. As a result, we’d weight the macros category as the more universally relevant. Bagels won in all categories today, as it happened, but it’s fairly safe to say that, on average, a baker who makes bagels and banana bread with the same levels of conscientiousness for health (or lack thereof) will tend to make bagels that are healthier than banana bread, based on the carb to fiber ratio, and the protein to fat ratio.

Enjoy!

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  • Technology: Good Or Bad For Brain Health In Later Life?

    The 10almonds Team

    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.

    The word “screentime” isn’t usually associated with anything positive. We all use apps to try to limit it, we all read articles telling us about how it hurts teenagers’ sleep and damages toddlers’ development.

    Now, it could be that the tech isn’t really to blame. This writer certainly remembers staying up late as a child without modern tech to blame! Perhaps you (dear reader) did the same.

    The case against tech

    There are several main potential problems:

    However! We can mitigate each of those:

    • Engage with our technology actively, and thus make it a cognitively stimulating activity; this means doing things that challenge us cognitively. It doesn’t have to mean hard stuff, but it does have to be the kind of thing we couldn’t do while half-asleep.
    • Consciously decide our technology’s access to us. For example, this writer has her phone silenced 100% of the time, and only allows a very few apps to give even silent notifications, and there are set hours when her phone goes completely untouched.
    • Decide what cognitive abilities we don’t care to maintain. You may be thinking “but surely, all our cognitive abilities are important!”, but… Are they? Is it truly critical for you to be able to do mental arithmetic rather than use a calculator? Do you really need to know how to spell “necessary eligibility embarrassment privilege”? Do you really need to know (by heart) your friend’s phone number? And, maybe you do! We all lead different lives, after all. But it may well be that there’s some merit to be found in picking your battles. This writer with dyscalculia (numerical equivalent of dyslexia) will use a calculator to do very simple calculations sometimes, for me it’s better to not waste my time expending a lot of mental energy on simple sums that I might still get wrong, and use that time and energy on more productive things. Perhaps you have a similar area of cognitive function that it makes sense for you to offload.

    The case for tech

    Much more research has been done into how technology use affects developing brains, than on how technology use affects aging brains.

    But “less” is not “none”, so…

    Our technology enables our connection to other people. It’s often viewed as the opposite, “people don’t know how to have a conversation these days; they’re all on their phones”, but before that it was radios, before that, newspapers/magazines; there’s always been something.

    But, phones were originally designed to connect humans to other humans, and that remains their principal function, in various ways.

    See also: Effectiveness of Technology Interventions in Addressing Social Isolation, Connectedness, and Loneliness in Older Adults: Systematic Umbrella Review

    And this is critical, because a lack of social connection is one of the highest predictors of cognitive decline:

    See for example: Late-life social activity and subsequent risk of dementia and mild cognitive impairment

    Plus, even on the less social side of things, technology can also help us to stay independent for longer:

    How can technology support ageing in place in healthy older adults? A systematic review

    …which again, beyond the obvious immediate health-related quality of life differences, has an impact on maintenance of cognitive functions.

    See further: A meta-analysis of technology use and cognitive aging

    Want to learn more?

    Check out:

    How To Make Social Media Work For Your Mental Health

    Take care!

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  • Is white rice bad for me? Can I make it lower GI or healthier?

    Emma Beckett – UNSW Sydney

    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.

    Rice is a culinary staple in Australia and around the world.

    It might seem like a given that brown rice is healthier than white and official public health resources often recommend brown rice instead of white as a “healthy swap”.

    But Australians definitely prefer white rice over brown. So, what’s the difference, and what do we need to know when choosing rice?

    Dragne Marius/Unsplash

    What makes rice white or brown?

    Rice “grains” are technically seeds. A complete, whole rice seed is called a “paddy”, which has multiple parts:

    1. the “hull” is the hard outer layer which protects the seed
    2. the “bran”, which is a softer protective layer containing the seed coat
    3. the “germ” or the embryo, which is the part of the seed that would develop into a new plant if was germinated
    4. the “endosperm”, which makes up most of the seed and is essentially the store of nutrients that feeds the developing plant as a seed grows into a plant.

    Rice needs to be processed for humans to eat it.

    Along with cleaning and drying, the hard hulls are removed since we can’t digest them. This is how brown rice is made, with the other three parts of the rice remaining intact. This means brown rice is regarded as a “wholegrain”.

    White rice, however, is a “refined” grain, as it is further polished to remove the bran and germ, leaving just the endosperm. This is a mechanical and not a chemical process.

    What’s the difference, nutritionally?

    Keeping the bran and the germ means brown rice has more magnesium, phosphorus, potassium B vitamins (niacin, folate, riboflavin and pyridoxine), iron, zinc and fibre.

    The germ and the bran also contain more bioactives (compounds in foods that aren’t essential nutrients but have health benefits), like oryzanols and phenolic compounds which have antioxidant effects.

    Brown rice
    Brown rice is cleaned and dried and the hard hulls are removed. Sung Min/Shutterstock

    But that doesn’t mean white rice is just empty calories. It still contains vitamins, minerals and some fibre, and is low in fat and salt, and is naturally gluten-free.

    White and brown rice actually have similar amounts of calories (or kilojoules) and total carbohydrates.

    There are studies that show eating more white rice is linked to a higher risk of type 2 diabetes. But it is difficult to know if this is down to the rice itself, or other related factors such as socioeconomic variables or other dietary patterns.

    What about the glycaemic index?

    The higher fibre means brown rice has a lower glycaemic index (GI), meaning it raises blood sugar levels more slowly. But this is highly variable between different rices within the white and brown categories.

    The GI system uses low (less than 55), medium (55–70) and high (above 70) categories. Brown rices fall into the low and medium categories. White rices fall in the medium and high.

    There are specific low-GI types available for both white and brown types. You can also lower the GI of rice by heating and then cooling it. This process converts some of the “available carbohydrates” into “resistant starch”, which then functions like dietary fibre.

    Are there any benefits to white rice?

    The taste and textural qualities of white and brown rices differ. White rice tends to have a softer texture and more mild or neutral flavour. Brown rice has a chewier texture and nuttier flavour.

    So, while you can technically substitute brown rice into most recipes, the experience will be different. Or other ingredients may need to be added or changed to create the desired texture.

    Removing more of the outer layers may also reduce the levels of contaminants such as pesticides.

    We don’t just eat rice

    Friends eat dinner on a rooftop terrace
    You’ll likely have vegetables and protein with your rice. Chay_Tee/Shutterstock

    Comparing white and brown rice seems like an easy way to boost nutritional value. But just because one food (brown rice) is more nutrient-dense doesn’t make the other food (white rice) “bad”.

    Ultimately, it’s not often that we eat just rice, so we don’t need the rice we choose to be the perfect one. Rice is typically the staple base of a more complex dish. So, it’s probably more important to think about what we eat with rice.

    Adding vegetables and lean proteins to rice-based dishes can easily add the micronutrients, bioactives and fibre that white rice is comparatively lacking, and this can likely do more to contribute to diet quality than eating brown rice instead.

    Emma Beckett, Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Nutrition, Dietetics & Food Innovation – School of Health Sciences, UNSW Sydney

    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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  • Hack Your Hunger

    The 10almonds Team

    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.

    When it comes to dealing with hunger, a common-sense way of dealing with it is “eat something”. However, many people find that they then eat the wrong things, in the wrong quantities, and end up in a cycle of overeating and being hungry.

    If this gets to the extreme, it can turn into a full-blown eating disorder:

    Eating Disorders: More Varied (And Prevalent) Than People Think

    …and even in more moderate presentations, the cycle of hunger and overeating is not great for the health. So, how to avoid that?

    Listen to your body (but: actually listen)

    Your body says: we’re running a little low on glycogen reserves so our energy’s going to start suffering in a few hours if we don’t eat some fruit, kill something and eat its fatty organs, or perhaps find some oily nuts.

    You hear: eat something bright and sugary, shout at the dog, eat some fried food, got it!

    Your body says: our water balance is a little off, we could do with some sodium, potassium, and perhaps some phosphorus to correct it.

    You hear: eat something salty, got it, potato chips coming right up!

    …and so on. Now, we know 10almonds readers are quite a health-conscious readership, so perhaps your responses are not quite like that. But the take-away point is still important: we need to listen to the whole message, and give the body what it actually needs, not what will just shut the message off the most quickly.

    Here’s how: Intuitive Eating Might Not Be What You Think

    Bonus: Interoception: Improving Our Awareness Of Body Cues

    About those cravings…

    As illustrated a little above, a lot of cravings might not be what they first appear, and in evolutionary terms, our body is centuries behind industrialization, in terms of adaptations, which means that even if we try to take the above into account, our responses can sometimes be inappropriate in the age of supermarkets.

    See also: The Science of Hunger, And How To Sate Cravings

    Natural appetite suppressants

    Eating more is not always the answer, not even if it’s more healthy food. And hunger pangs can be especially inconvenient if, for example, we are fasting at present, which is by the way a very healthful thing for most people:

    Learn more: Intermittent Fasting: What’s the truth?

    One way to suppress hunger is simply to trigger the stomach into sending “full” signals, which involves filling it. Since you do not want to overeat, the trick here is imply to use high-volume food.

    Consider for example: 30 grapes and 30 raisins have approximately the same calorie count (what with raisins being dried grapes, and the calories didn’t evaporate), but the bowl of fresh fruit is going to physically fill your stomach a lot more quickly than the tiny amount of dried fruit.

    More on this: Some Surprising Truths About Hunger And Satiety

    Protein is of course also an appetite suppressant, but it takes about 20 minutes for the signal to kick in. So a “hack” here is to snack on something proteinous at least 15 minutes before your main meal (for example, a portion of nuts while cooking, unless you’re allergic, or some dried fish unless you’re vegetarian/vegan; you get it, pick something high in protein and good for snacking, and have a small portion before your main meal).

    Nor is protein the only option!

    See also: 3 Natural Appetite Suppressants Better Than Ozempic

    Scale it down

    Related to the above, there is a feedback loop that occurs here. The more you eat, the more your stomach slowly grows to accommodate it; the less you eat, the more your stomach slowly shrinks because the body tries hard to be an efficient organism, and will not maintain something that isn’t being used.

    So, there’s a bit of a catch-22; sate your hunger by filling your stomach with high volume foods, but filling it will cause it to grow?

    The trick is: do the “eat until 80% full” thing. That’s full enough that you have had a nice meal and are not suffering, without stretching the stomach.

    Enjoy your food

    Seriously! Actually enjoy it. Which means paying full attention to it. Eating can and should be a wonderful experience, so it’s best savored rather than inhaling a bowl of something in 30 seconds.

    Have you seen those dog bowls that have obstructions to slow down how quickly a dog eats? We can leverage that kind of trick too! While you might not want to eat from a dog bowl, how about having a little bowl of pistachio nuts rather than ready-to-eat peanuts? Or any shelled nuts that we must shell as we go. If you’re allergic to nuts, there are plenty of other foods with a high work-to-food ratio. Take some time and enjoy that pomegranate, for instance!

    Not that we necessarily have to make things difficult for ourselves either; we can just take appropriate care to ensure a good dining experience. Life is for living, so why not enjoy it?

    See also: Mindful Eating: How To Get More Out Of What’s On Your Plate

    Enjoy!

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  • Being Mortal – by Dr. Atul Gawande

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    The 10almonds Team

    Maybe you want to “live forever or die trying”, and that’s an understandable goal… But are you prepared for “or die trying” being the outcome?

    This is not a cheerful book, if you’re anything like this reviewer, you will need a little towel or something to mop up the tears while you read. But it’s worth it.

    Dying is one thing; fighting for life is even generally considered a noble endeavor. Suffering alone isn’t fun, losing independence can feel humiliating, and seeing someone who was always a tower of strength, now a frail shadow of their former self, reduced to begging for something that they’re “not allowed”, can be worse.

    Do we want that for ourselves? For our loved ones? Can there be a happy medium between that, and the alternative to indeed “go gentle into that good night”?

    Dr. Gawande, a surgeon well-acquainted with death and dying, thinks so. But it involves work on our part, and being prepared for hard decisions.

    • What is most important to us, and what tradeoffs are we willing to make for it?
    • What, even, is actually an option to us with the resources available?
    • Can we make peace with a potentially bad lot? And… Should we?
    • When is fighting important, and when is it self-destructive?

    These (and others) are all difficult questions posed by Dr. Gawande, but critical ones.

    We don’t usually quote other people’s reviews when reviewing books here, but let’s consider the following words from the end of a long review on Amazon:

    ❝If “dying as we lived” is some kind of standard for how we should go, then maybe alone and medicalized makes some sense right now after all.❞

    ~ Pamela J. H.

    Bottom line: we all deserve better than that. And if we don’t take the time to think about what’s most important, then time will take it from us. This very insightful book may not have all the answers, but it has the questions, and it can help a lot in exploring them and deciding what matters most to us in the end, really.

    Click here to check out Being Mortal, and make every day count—because nothing matters more than that.

    Don’t Forget…

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  • Did You Believe These Skincare Myths?

    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.

    The 10almonds Team

    Dr. Michelle Wong gives us the insider knowledge:

    If you scratch the surface…

    Here are some popular myths that just aren’t true, and their continued prevalence has more to do with cognitive biases than anything else:

    • “Chemical sunscreens need time to activate”: both chemical and mineral sunscreens start blocking UV immediately after application, and the recommendation to apply them 20–30 minutes before sun exposure mainly exists so the product can dry and thus not get accidentally wiped off.
    • “You should avoid layering products under chemical sunscreen”: there’s no special requirement to use fewer products under chemical sunscreen compared with mineral sunscreen.
    • “Ingredient percentages tell you how effective a product is”: the listed percentage of an ingredient (such as 2% niacinamide) doesn’t guarantee performance because stability, formulation, packaging, and delivery systems determine how much actually reaches your skin.
    • “Peeling gels remove large amounts of dead skin”: the solid mass formed when rubbing peeling gels are in large part the product itself reacting with oils on your skin rather than quite that much skin being removed.
    • “Hyaluronic acid can hold 1,000 times its weight in water”: there’s no reliable evidence supporting this claim, and experimental analysis suggests hyaluronic acid binds roughly 40–85% of its weight in water instead.
    • “Hyaluronic acid dries out your skin if you don’t use a moisturizer on top”: humectants like hyaluronic acid don’t pull water out of your skin, because hydrogen bonds only work at extremely short distances.
    • “Hyaluronic acid must be applied to damp skin to work properly”: serums and moisturizers already contain large amounts of water, so applying them to damp skin doesn’t significantly change hydration results.

    For more on each of these, plus a short discussion of the cognitive biases involved, enjoy:

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

    Want to learn more?

    You might also like:

    Skincare “Scams” That Are Actually Very Recommendable

    Take care!

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  • The Food Additive You Do Want

    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.

    The 10almonds Team

    Q: When Is A Fiber Not A Fiber?

    A: when it’s a resistant starch. What’s it resistant to? Digestion. So, it functions as though a fiber, and by some systems, may get classified as such.

    It’s a little like how sucralose is technically a sugar, but the body processes it like a fiber (but beware, because the sweetness of this disaccharide alone can trigger an insulin response anyway—dose dependent)

    There may be other problems too:

    But today’s not about sucralose, it’s about…

    Guar gum’s surprising dietary role

    You may have noticed “guar gum” on the list of ingredients of all kinds of things from baked goods to dairy products to condiments to confectionary and more.

    It’s also used in cosmetics and explosives, but let’s not focus on that.

    It’s used in food products as…

    • a bulking agent
    • a thickener
    • a stabilizer

    Our attention was caught by a new study, that found:

    Resistant starch intake facilitates weight loss in humans by reshaping the gut microbiota

    Often people think of “fiber helps weight loss” as “well yes, if you are bulking out your food with sawdust, you will eat less”, but it’s not that.

    There’s an actual physiological process going on here!

    We can’t digest it, but our gut microbiota can and will ferment it. See also:

    Fiber against pounds: Resistant starch found to support weight loss

    Beyond weight loss

    Not everyone wants to lose weight, and even where weight loss is a goal, it’s usually not the only goal. As it turns out, adding guar gum into our diet does more things too:

    Resistant starch supplement found to reduce liver triglycerides in people with fatty liver disease

    (specifically, this was about NAFLD, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease)

    Digging a little, it seems the benefits don’t stop there either:

    Diet high in guar gum fiber limits inflammation and delays multiple sclerosis symptoms

    (this one was a rodent study, but still, it’s promising and it’s consistent with what one would expect based on what else we know about its function in diet)

    Should we just eat foods with guar gum in as an additive?

    That depends on what they are, but watch out for the other additives if you do!

    You can just buy guar gum by itself, by the way (here’s an example product on Amazon).

    It’s doubtlessly no fun to take as a supplement (we haven’t tried this one), but it can be baked into bread, if baking’s your thing, or just used as a thickener in recipes where ordinarily you might use cornstarch or something else.

    Can I get similar benefits from other foods?

    The relevant quality is also present in resistant starches in general, so you might want to check out these foods, for example:

    9 Foods That Are High in Resistant Starch

    You can also check out ways to increase your fiber intake in general:

    Level-Up Your Fiber Intake! (Without Difficulty Or Discomfort)

    Enjoy!

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