Banana vs Cherries – 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 bananas to cherries, we picked the bananas.
Why?
Both are great! But…
In terms of macros, bananas have nearly 2x the fiber and a little under 2x the carbs, winning this category.
In the category of vitamins, bananas have more of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, and E, while cherries have more of vitamins A, C, and K, giving bananas an 8:3 victory here.
Looking at minerals, bananas have more magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, while cherries have more calcium, copper, and iron, giving bananas a 6:3 win in this round.
In other considerations, cherries have more polyphenols, especially sour cherries which also have some other beneficial phytochemical qualities (see the “learn more” link below) that appear to be unique to cherries, so they win a round finally.
Adding up the sections makes for a clear overall win for bananas, but by all means enjoy either or both, as diversity is good!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
Cherries’ Very Healthy Wealth Of Benefits!
Enjoy!
Don’t Forget…
Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!
Learn to Age Gracefully
Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:
-
5 Golden Rules To Improve Your Mobility (At Any Age)
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.
Implement these rules, and enjoy good mobility for life:
It’s about focus
Or mindfulness, if you prefer. Intentionality, perhaps, but then you have to actually carry out the intentions too (daydreaming will not suffice)!
So, five things to keep in mind (and act upon):
- Regress to progress: in other words, allow yourself to return to the basics when needed. Modifying an exercise, even to ostensibly “make it easier” is matching it to what your body needs right now. In a subjective sense, it’s not easier at all, if the effort required to do it is the same. Backing off helps you rebuild strength, correct compensations, and feel the right muscles working.
- Follow the three-part prehab process: every warm-up should include foam rolling, dynamic stretching, and activation. Foam rolling relaxes tight muscles, stretching mobilizes joints, and activation wakes up underactive muscles. This sequence builds flexibility, mobility, and stability so your body can perform optimally during training.
- Be intentional when you exercise: prioritize quality over load, e.g. focus on full range of motion rather than heavier weights or faster reps. Proper loading through the full range helps maintain and improve mobility which is, at the end of the day, what you’re doing this for. The numbers in your exercise log don’t matter—your body does. So, pay attention to what muscles you feel working—those are the ones benefitting.
- Perfect form doesn’t always mean perfect muscle recruitment: you can have textbook form but still use the wrong muscles! For example, compensations can hide behind good-looking movements, leading to pain and imbalance. Always check what you actually feel working, and correct recruitment through mobility and activation drills targeted to your weak links, as applicable.
- Use it or lose it: mobility, like strength, needs maintenance. Keep doing the prehab and activation work that made you feel better—don’t drop it once pain fades. Consistent small efforts protect against regression and help you stay strong, supple, and pain-free as you age.
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:
Mobility For Now & For Later: Train For The Marathon That Is Your Life!
Take care!
Share This Post
-
How Blood Pressure Works
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.
Did you know? If you took out all your blood vessels and laid them end-to-end, you’d die (and the resultant testament to your odd way of dying would be 95,000 km long)?
That’s a silly (albeit true) fact, and as it turns out, not only is moving your blood around those 95,000 km of blood vessels quite a feat, but also, keeping the pressure constant while doing so is a truly remarkable accomplishment:
Under pressure
Your circulatory system contains about 95,000 kilometers of blood vessels, circulating roughly four to five liters of blood repeatedly to transport oxygen, glucose, and amino acids throughout your body, amounting to over 7,500 liters moved daily.
Now imagine if you had to move 7,500 liters along 95,000 km using cars, but with the caveat that you’re driving under the conditions of the 1994 movie “Speed”, that is to say, if you at any point get stuck in traffic, you die.
So, blood pressure must always be within a certain “Goldilocks zone”, to keep things moving without either stalling (heart failure) or exploding (hemorrhage), bearing in mind that a plaque rupture can create blood clots that block circulation, causing a heart attack if blood flow to your heart stops, or a stroke if blood flow to your brain is interrupted.
- How blood pressure works: blood pressure is the force blood exerts against vessel walls, peaking during systole when your heart contracts, and dropping during diastole when your heart rests between beats.
- Normal blood pressure range: a healthy reading is typically below 120/80 mmHg, with systolic pressure between 90–120 mmHg and diastolic pressure between 60–80 mmHg.
- What raises blood pressure: thicker blood, increased blood volume from salt-related water retention, and stress hormones like epinephrine and norepinephrine can all increase pressure by making blood harder to move, or narrowing vessels.
Happily, despite constant pressure and (hopefully) billions of heartbeats over a lifetime, healthy arteries are elastic and have evolved to handle these demands effectively.
We just have to keep them that way!
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:
What Most People Don’t Know About Blood Pressure
Take care!
Share This Post
-
Rebalancing Dopamine (Without “Dopamine Fasting”)
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.
Rebalancing Dopamine (Without “Dopamine Fasting”)
Credit Steve Fisch This is Dr. Anna Lembke. She’s a professor of psychiatry at Stanford, and chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic—as well as running her own clinical practice, and serving on the board of an array of state and national addiction-focused organizations.
Today we’re going to look at her work on dopamine management…
Getting off the hedonic treadmill
For any unfamiliar with the term, the “hedonic treadmill” is what happens when we seek pleasure, enjoy the pleasure, the pleasure becomes normalized, and now we need to seek a stronger pleasure to get above our new baseline.
In other words, much like running on a reciprocal treadmill that just gets faster the faster we run.
What Dr. Lembke wants us to know here: pleasure invariably leads to pain
This is not because of some sort of extrinsic moral mandate, nor even in the Buddhist sense. Rather, it is biology.
Pleasure and pain are processed by the same part of the brain, and if we up one, the other will be upped accordingly, to try to keep a balance.
Consequently, if we recklessly seek “highs”, we’re going to hit “lows” soon enough. Whether that’s by drugs, sex, or just dopaminergic habits like social media overuse.
Dr. Lembke’s own poison of choice was trashy romance novels, by the way. But she soon found she needed more, and more, and the same level wasn’t “doing it” for her anymore.
So, should we just give up our pleasures, and do a “dopamine fast”?
Not so fast!
It depends on what they are. Dopamine fasting, per se, does not work. We wrote about this previously:
Short On Dopamine? Science Has The Answer
However, when it comes to our dopaminergic habits, a short period (say, a couple of weeks) of absence of that particular thing can help us re-find our balance, and also, find insight.
Lest that latter sound wishy-washy: this is about realizing how bad an overuse of some dopaminergic activity had become, the better to appreciate it responsibly, going forwards.
So in other words, if your poison is, as in Dr. Lembke’s case, trashy romance novels, you would abstain from them for a couple of weeks, while continuing to enjoy the other pleasures in life uninterrupted.
Substances that create a dependency are a special case
There’s often a popular differentiation between physical addictions (e.g. alcohol) and behavioral addictions (e.g. video games). And that’s fair; physiologically speaking, those may both involve dopamine responses, but are otherwise quite different.
However, there are some substances that are physical addictions that do not create a physical dependence (e.g. sugar), and there are substances that create a physical dependence without being addictive (e.g. many antidepressants)
See also: Addiction and physical dependence are not the same thing
In the case of anything that has created a physical dependence, Dr. Lembke does not recommend trying to go “cold turkey” on that without medical advice and supervision.
Going on the counterattack
Remember what we said about pleasure and pain being processed in the same part of the brain, and each rising to meet the other?
While this mean that seeking pleasure will bring us pain, the inverse is also true.
Don’t worry, she’s not advising us to take up masochism (unless that’s your thing!). But there are very safe healthy ways that we can tip the scales towards pain, ultimately leading to greater happiness.
Cold showers are an example she cites as particularly meritorious.
As a quick aside, we wrote about the other health benefits of these, too:
A Cold Shower A Day Keeps The Doctor Away?
Further reading
Want to know more? You might like her book:
Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence
Enjoy!
Share This Post
Related Posts
-
Beetroot vs Green Beans – 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 beetroot to green beans, we picked the beetroot.
Why?
Both have their merits!
In terms of macros, there’s really nothing between them and we’re calling this first category a tie.
In the category of vitamins, beetroot has more of vitamins B5, B6, B7, and B9, while green beans have more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, C, E, and K, winning.
Looking at minerals, beetroot has more copper, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, while green beans have more calcium, yielding a 5:1 win to beetroot here.
In other considerations, beetroot has more nitrates, more polyphenols, and a generous betalain content, especially betanin, for a compelling win in this round.
Adding up the sections makes for an overall win for beetroot, but by all means do enjoy either or both, as diversity is best!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
Beetroot For More Than Just Your Blood Pressure
Enjoy!
Don’t Forget…
Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!
Learn to Age Gracefully
Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:
-
Why Your Hair Isn’t Growing: 5 Mistakes
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.
Dr. Sam Ellis explains:
A time of growth
Our hair has a genetically-programmed maximum length, which is proportional to how long each follicle stays in the growth phase. This can be tweaked with hormonal treatments because in part, genes do what hormones tell them to—our genes have instructions for various different situations, and our hormones tell our body which set of instructions to express. For this reason, hormonal things like HRT and minoxidil can be tools in our toolbox.
However, even with such, other things can interfere with that. So, with that potential problem in mind, Dr. Ellis advises to avoid/fix these common mistakes:
- Not using multiple interventions: relying on just one treatment (like a supplement or minoxidil) isn’t enough—hair loss has many causes, so combining therapies such as red light, DHT blockers, microneedling, and topical/oral minoxidil is often critical for success.
- Neglecting scalp health: a flaky, oily, or inflamed scalp can hinder growth; using anti-dandruff shampoos like ketoconazole if necessary, and focusing shampoo directly on the scalp helps create a healthier environment for follicles. Notably, this one is affected by hormones too. So, if you’re a woman and experiencing dandruff, it might be worth having your estrogen and testosterone levels checked, as having too little of the former and/or too much of the latter can cause dandruff.
- Failing to protect existing hair: unprotected hair is prone to breakage from UV, heat, incorrect brushing, and chemical processing. Using heat-protectants and UV-protectants (even on baby hairs) and treating hair gently prevents it from snapping off before showing length.
- Having nutritional deficiencies: low intake of protein, iron, or vitamin D can stall growth—aiming for at least 80–120g of protein daily and supplementing iron or vitamin D when needed ensures the body has enough resources to support hair production.
- Not managing stress: unmanaged emotional or physical stress disrupts hair cycles—reducing stress through sleep, therapy, nutrition, or lifestyle changes is important since healthy hair can’t grow well if bodily resources are being taken away from it to deal with other problems.
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:
10 Minoxidil Hacks For The Best Hair Growth
Take care!
Don’t Forget…
Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!
Learn to Age Gracefully
Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:
-
A Supplement To Rival St. John’s Wort Against Depression
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.
Do You Feel The SAMe?
S-Adeonsyl-L-Methionone (SAMe) is a chemical found naturally in the body, and/but enjoyed widely as a supplement. The main reasons people take it are:
- Improve mood (antidepressant effect)
- Improve joints (reduce osteoarthritis symptoms)
- Improve liver (detoxifying effect)
Let’s see what the science says for each of those claims…
Does it improve mood?
It seems to perform comparably to St. John’s Wort (which is good; it performs comparably to Prozac).
Best of all, it does this with fewer contraindications (St. John’s Wort has so many contraindications).
Here’s how they stack up:
This looks very promising, though it’d be nice to see a larger body of research, to be sure.
Does it reduce osteoarthritis symptoms?
The good news: it performs comparably to ibuprofen, with fewer side effects!
The bad news: it also performs comparably to placebo!
Read into that what you will about ibuprofen’s usefulness vs OA symptoms.
Read all about it:
S-Adenosylmethionine for osteoarthritis of the knee or hip
If you were hoping for something for OA or similar symptoms, you might like our previous main features:
- Avoiding/Managing Osteoarthritis
- Managing Chronic Pain (Realistically!)
- The 7 Approaches To Pain Management
- (Science-Based) Alternative Pain Relief
Does it help against liver disease?
According to adverts for SAMe: absolutely!
According to science: we don’t know
The science for this is so weak that it’d be unworthy of mention if it weren’t for the fact that SAMe is so widely sold as good against hepatotoxicity.
To be clear: maybe it really is great! Science hasn’t yet disproved its usefulness either.
It is popularly assumed to be beneficial due to there being an association between lower levels of SAMe in the body (remember, it is also produced inside our bodies) and development of liver disease, especially cholestasis.
Here’s an example of what pretty much every study we found was like (inconclusive research based mostly on mice):
S-adenosylmethionine in liver health, injury, and cancer
For other options for liver health, consider:
Is it safe?
Safety trials have been done ranging from 3 months to 2 years, with no serious side effects coming to light. So, it appears quite safe.
That said, as with anything, there are contraindications, such as:
- if you have bipolar disorder, skip this unless directed by your health care provider, because it may worsen the symptoms of mania
- if you are on SSRIs or other serotonergic drugs, it may interact with those
- if you are immunocompromised, you might want to skip it can increase the risk of P. carinii growth in such cases
As always, do speak with your doctor/pharmacist for personalized advice.
Summary
SAMe’s evidence-based qualities seem to stack up as follows:
- Against depression: good
- Against osteoarthritis: weak
- Against liver disease: unknown
As for safety, it has been found quite safe for most people.
Where can I get it?
We don’t sell it, but here is an example product on Amazon, for your convenience
Enjoy!
Don’t Forget…
Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!
Learn to Age Gracefully
Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:
