Barley Malt Flour vs chickpea flour – Which is Healthier?

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Our Verdict

When comparing barley malt flour to chickpea flour, we picked the chickpea.

Why?

First, some notes:

About chickpea flour: this is also called besan flour, gram flour, and garbanzo bean flour; they are all literally the same thing by different names, and are all flour made from ground chickpeas.

About barley malt flour: barley is a true grain, and does contain gluten. We’re not going to factor that into today’s decision, but if you are avoiding gluten, avoid barley. As for “malt”; malting grains means putting them in an environment (with appropriate temperature and humidity) that they can begin germination, and then drying them with hot air to stop the germination process from continuing, so that we still have grains to make flour out of, and not little green sprouting plants. It improves the nutritional qualities and, subjectively, the flavor.

To avoid repetition, we’re just going to write “barley” instead of “barley malt” now, but it’s still malted.

Now, let’s begin:

Looking at the macros first, chickpea flour has 2x the protein and also more fiber, while barley flour has more carbs. An easy win for chickpea flour.

In the category of vitamins, chickpea flour has more of vitamins A, B1, B5, B9, E, and K, while barley flour has more of vitamins B2, B3, B6, and C. A modest 6:4 victory for chickpea flour.

When it comes to minerals, things are much more one-sided; chickpea flour has more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc, while barley flour has more selenium. An overwhelming win for chickpea flour.

Adding up these three wins for chickpea flour makes for a convincing story in favor of using that where reasonably possible as a flour! It has a slight nutty taste, so you might not want to use it in everything, but it is good for a lot of things.

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  • What are compound exercises and why are they good for you?

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    So you’ve got yourself a gym membership or bought a set of home weights. Now what? With the sheer amount of confusing exercise advice out there, it can be hard to decide what to include in a weights routine.

    It can help to know there are broadly two types of movements in resistance training (lifting weights): compound exercises and isolation exercises.

    So what’s the difference? And what’s all this got to do with strength, speed and healthy ageing?

    What’s the difference?

    Compound exercises involve multiple joints and muscle groups working together.

    In a push up, for example, your shoulder and elbow joints are moving together. This targets the muscles in the chest, shoulder and triceps.

    When you do a squat, you’re using your thigh and butt muscles, your back, and even the muscles in your core.

    It can help to think about compound movements by grouping them by primary movement patterns.

    For example, some lower body compound exercises follow a “squat pattern”. Examples include bodyweight squats, weighted squats, lunges and split squats.

    A woman does a Bulgarian split squat.
    A Bulgarian split squat is a type of compound movement exercise. Evelin Montero/Shutterstock

    We also have “hinge patterns”, where you hinge from a point on your body (such as the hips). Examples include deadlifts, hip thrusts and kettle bell swings.

    Upper body compounded exercises can be grouped into “push patterns” (such as vertical barbell lifts) or “pull patterns” (such as weighted rows, chin ups or lat pull downs, which is where you use a pulley system machine to lift weights by pulling a bar downwards).

    In contrast, isolation exercises are movements that occur at a single joint.

    For instance, bicep curls only require movement at the elbow joint and work your bicep muscles. Tricep extensions and lateral raises are other examples of isolation exercises.

    A woman sets up to lift a heavy weight while her trainer observes.
    Many compound exercises mimic movements we do every day. Photo by Ketut Subiyanto/Pexels

    Compound exercises can make daily life easier

    Many compound exercises mimic movements we do every day.

    Hinge patterns mimic picking something off the floor. A vertical press mimics putting a heavy box on a high shelf. A squat mimics standing up from the couch or getting on and off the toilet.

    That might sound ridiculous to a young, fit person (“why would I need to practise getting on and off a toilet?”).

    Unfortunately, we lose strength and muscle mass as we age. Men lose about 5% of their muscle mass per decade, while for women the figure is about 4% per decade.

    When this decline begins can vary widely. However, approximately 30% of an adult’s peak muscle mass is lost by the time they are 80.

    The good news is resistance training can counteract these age-related changes in muscle size and strength.

    So building strength through compound exercise movements may help make daily life feel a bit easier. In fact, our ability to perform compound movements are a good indicator how well we can function as we age.

    A woman gets a box down from a shelf.
    Want to be able to get stuff down from high shelves when you’re older? Practising compound exercises like a vertical press could help. Galina_Lya/Shutterstock

    What about strength and athletic ability?

    Compound exercises use multiple joints, so you can generally lift heavier weights than you could with isolation exercises. Lifting a heavier weight means you can build muscle strength more efficiently.

    One study divided a group of 36 people into two. Three times a week, one group performed isolation exercises, while the other group did compound exercises.

    After eight weeks, both groups had lost fat. But the compound exercises group saw much better results on measures of cardiovascular fitness, bench press strength, knee extension strength, and squat strength.

    If you play a sport, compound movements can also help boost athletic ability.

    Squat patterns require your hip, knee, and ankle to extend at the same time (also known as triple extension).

    Our bodies use this triple extension trick when we run, sprint, jump or change direction quickly. In fact, research has found squat strength is strongly linked to being able to sprint faster and jump higher.

    Isolation exercises are still good

    What if you’re unable to do compound movements, or you just don’t want to?

    Don’t worry, you’ll still build strength and muscle with isolation exercises.

    Isolation exercises are also typically easier to learn as there is no skill required. They are an easy and low risk way to add extra exercise at the end of the workout, where you might otherwise be too tired to do more compound exercises safely and with correct form.

    In fact, both isolation and compound exercises seem to be equally effective in helping us lose body fat and increase fat-free muscle mass when total intensity and volume of exercises are otherwise equal.

    Some people also do isolation exercises when they want to build up a particular muscle group for a certain sport or for a bodybuilding competition, for example.

    An older man does bicep curls in the gym
    Isolation exercises have their role to play. Photo by Kampus Production/Pexels

    I just want a time efficient workout

    Considering the above factors, you could consider prioritising compound exercises if you’re:

    • time poor
    • keen to lift heavier weights
    • looking for an efficient way to train many muscles in the one workout
    • interested in healthy ageing.

    That said, most well designed workout programs will include both compound and isolation movements.

    Correction: This article has been amended to reflect the fact a weighted row is a pull pattern, not a push pattern.

    Mandy Hagstrom, Senior Lecturer, Exercise Physiology. School of Health Sciences, UNSW Sydney and Anurag Pandit, PhD Candidate in Exercise Physiology, UNSW Sydney

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

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  • Radiant Rebellion – by Karen Walrond

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    In health terms, we are often about fighting aging here. But to be more specific, what we’re fighting in those cases is not truly aging itself, so much as age-related decline.

    Karen Walrond makes a case that we’ve made from the very start of 10almonds (but she wrote a whole book about it), that there’s merit in looking at what we can and can’t control about aging, doing what we reasonably can, and embracing what we can’t.

    And yes, embracing, not merely accepting. This is not a downer of a book; it’s a call to revolution. It asks us to be proud of our grey hairs, to see our smile-lines around our eyes as the sign of a lived-in body, and even to embrace some of the unavoidable “actual decline” things as part of the journey of life. Maybe we’re not as strong as we used to be and now need a grippety-doodah to open jars; not everyone gets to live long enough to experience that! How lucky we are.

    Perhaps most importantly, she bids us be the change we want to see in the world, and inspire others with our choices and actions, and shake off ageist biases for good.

    Bottom line: if you want to foster a better attitude to aging not only for yourself, but also those around you, then this is a top-tier book for that.

    Click here to check out Radiant Rebellion, and reclaim aging!

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  • Chickpeas vs Mung 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 chickpeas to mung beans, we picked the chickpeas.

    Why?

    Both are great! But there’s a clear winner here:

    In terms of macros, chickpeas have more protein, carbs, and fiber, as well as the lower glycemic index. The difference is very small, but it’s a nominal win for chickpeas.

    When it comes to vitamins, chickpeas have more of vitamins A, B2, B6, B9, C, E, K, and choline, while mung beans have more of vitamins B1, B3, and B5. Again the differences aren’t huge, but by strength of numbers they’re in chickpeas’ favor, so it’s another win for chickpeas here.

    In the category of minerals, chickpeas have more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, while mung beans are not higher in any mineral. An easy win for chickpeas on this one.

    Adding up the sections makes for a clear overall win for chickpeas, but by all means enjoy either or both; diversity is good!

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    Plant vs Animal Protein: Head to Head

    Enjoy!

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  • Blueberries vs Banana – 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 blueberries to banana, we picked the banana.

    Why?

    Surprise, that which is more expensive is not always commensurately more healthy! A lot of the price difference between bananas and blueberries comes down to:

    • ease of transport (unripe bananas can be transported quite easily without too much risk of bruising; unripe blueberries can’t even be usefully picked)
    • shelf-life (unripe bananas will take their time to ripen; the already-ripe blueberries will often go bad very quickly)

    For this reason, frozen blueberries are a great option for budget-friendly berries. But, onto the comparisons:

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    When it comes to vitamins, blueberries have more of vitamins B1, C, E, and K, while bananas have more of vitamins A, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, and choline. Another win for bananas, though of course we could quibble which vitamins are most likely to be not found in sufficient abundance in the rest of one’s diet, but as it is, we just compared the nutrients head-to-head without trying to guess the rest of someone’s diet.

    In the category of minerals, blueberries have more calcium and manganese, while bananas have more copper, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium. Another win for bananas.

    As for polyphenols, this is where blueberries shine, with a lot more than bananas (difficult to calculate exactly due to variations, but, in the order of hundreds of times more). A win for blueberries this time.

    Adding up the section gives us an overall win for bananas, but by all means enjoy either or both; perhaps even together!

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    Enjoy!

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  • See what other 10almonds subscribers are asking!

    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!

    Q: I would be interested in learning more about collagen and especially collagen supplements/powders and of course if needed, what is the best collagen product to take. What is collagen? Why do we need to supplement the collagen in our body? Thank you PS love the information I am receiving in the news letters. Keep it up

    We’re glad you’re enjoying them! Your request prompted us to do our recent Research Review Monday main feature on collagen supplementation—we hope it helped, and if you’ve any more specific (or other) question, go ahead and let us know! We love questions and requests

    Q: Great article about the health risks of salt to organs other than the heart! Is pink Himalayan sea salt, the pink kind, healthier?

    Thank you! And, no, sorry. Any salt that is sodium chloride has the exact same effect because it’s chemically the same substance, even if impurities (however pretty) make it look different.

    If you want a lower-sodium salt, we recommend the kind that says “low sodium” or “reduced sodium” or similar. Check the ingredients, it’ll probably be sodium chloride cut with potassium chloride. Potassium chloride is not only not a source of sodium, but also, it’s a source of potassium, which (unlike sodium) most of us could stand to get a little more of.

    For your convenience: here’s an example on Amazon!

    Bonus: you can get a reduced sodium version of pink Himalayan salt too!

    Q: Can you let us know about more studies that have been done on statins? Are they really worth taking?

    That is a great question! We imagine it might have been our recent book recommendation that prompted it? It’s quite a broad question though, so we’ll do that as a main feature in the near future!

    Q: Is MSG healthier than salt in terms of sodium content or is it the same or worse?

    Great question, and for that matter, MSG itself is a great topic for another day. But your actual question, we can readily answer here and now:

    • Firstly, by “salt” we’re assuming from context that you mean sodium chloride.
    • Both salt and MSG do contain sodium. However…
    • MSG contains only about a third of the sodium that salt does, gram-for-gram.
    • It’s still wise to be mindful of it, though. Same with sodium in other ingredients!
    • Baking soda contains about twice as much sodium, gram for gram, as MSG.

    Wondering why this happens?

    Salt (sodium chloride, NaCl) is equal parts sodium and chlorine, by atom count, but sodium’s atomic mass is lower than chlorine’s, so 100g of salt contains only 39.34g of sodium.

    Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO₃) is one part sodium for one part hydrogen, one part carbon, and three parts oxygen. Taking each of their diverse atomic masses into account, we see that 100g of baking soda contains 27.4g sodium.

    MSG (monosodium glutamate, C₅H₈NO₄Na) is only one part sodium for 5 parts carbon, 8 parts hydrogen, 1 part nitrogen, and 4 parts oxygen… And all those other atoms put together weigh a lot (comparatively), so 100g of MSG contains only 12.28g sodium.

    Q: Thanks for the info about dairy. As a vegan, I look forward to a future comment about milk alternatives

    Thanks for bringing it up! What we research and write about is heavily driven by subscriber feedback, so notes like this really help us know there’s an audience for a given topic!

    We’ll do a main feature on it, to do it justice. Watch out for Research Review Monday!

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  • Workout Advice For Busy People

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    Hampton at Hybrid Calisthenics always has very sound advice in his uplifting videos, and this one’s no exception:

    Key tips for optimizing workouts without burning out

    “We all have the same 24 hours” is a folly when in fact, some of us have more responsibilities and/or other impediments to getting things done (e.g. disabilities).

    A quick word on disabilities first: sometimes people are quick to point out Paralympian athletes, and “if they can do it, so can you!” and forget that these people are in the top percentile of the top percentile of the top percentile of human performance. If you wouldn’t disparagingly say “if Simone Biles/Hussein Bolt/Michael Phelps can do it, so can you”, then don’t for Paralympians either 😉

    Now, as for Hampton’s advice, he recommends:

    Enjoy short, intense workouts:

    • You can get effective results in under 30 minutes (or even just a few minutes per day) with compound exercises (e.g., squats, pull-ups).
    • Focus on full-body movements also saves time!
    • Push closer to failure when possible to maximize efficiency. It’s the last rep where most of the strength gains are made! Same deal with cardiovascular fitness, too. Nevertheless, do take safety into account in both cases, of course.

    Time your rest periods:

    • Resting for 2–3 minutes between sets ensures optimal recovery.
    • Avoid getting distracted during rest by setting a timer to stay focused.
    • 10almonds tip: use this time to practice a mindfulness meditation. That will greatly reduce the chance of you becoming distracted.

    Remember holistic fitness:

    • Fitness isn’t just about exercise; diet, sleep, and stress management are equally important for your fitness as much as for the rest of your health.
    • Better sleep and reduced stress will help you exercise more consistently and avoid junk food.

    Address burnout:

    • If feeling too exhausted to apply these tips, focus on getting better rest and reducing stress first.
    • Taking a short break to reset can help in the long run.

    For more on all of this, enjoy:

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

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    Take care!

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