Chia Seeds vs Pumpkin Seeds – 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 chia seeds to pumpkin seeds, we picked the chia.

Why?

Both are great! But chia is best.

Note: we’re going to abbreviate them both to “chia” and “pumpkin”, respectively, but we’ll still be referring to the seeds throughout.

In terms of macros, pumpkin has a little more protein and notably higher carbs, whereas chia has nearly 2x the fiber, as well as more fat, and/but they are famously healthy fats. We’ll call this category a subjective win for chia, though you might disagree if you want to prioritize an extra 2g of protein per 100g (for pumpkin) over an extra 16g of fiber per 100g (for chia). Chia is also vastly preferable for omega-3.

When it comes to vitamins, pumpkin is marginally higher in vitamin A, while chia is a lot higher in vitamins B1, B2, B3, B9, C, and E. An easy win for chia.

In the category of minerals, for which pumpkin seeds are so famously a good source, chia has a lot more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, and selenium. On the other hand, pumpkin has more potassium and zinc. Still, that’s a 7:2 win for chia.

Adding up the categories makes for a very compelling win for the humble chia seed.

Want to learn more?

You might like to read:

If You’re Not Taking Chia, You’re Missing Out: The Tiniest Seeds With The Most Value

Take care!

Don’t Forget…

Did you arrive here from our newsletter? Don’t forget to return to the email to continue learning!

Recommended

  • Broccoli vs Asparagus – Which is Healthier?
  • Improving Women’s Health Across the Lifespan – by Dr. Michelle Tollefson et al.
    “60 medical experts, 90% women, deliver essential lifestyle advice for female health in ‘Improving Women’s Health Across The Lifespan’—a must-read for any woman.”

Learn to Age Gracefully

Join the 98k+ American women taking control of their health & aging with our 100% free (and fun!) daily emails:

  • HRT Side Effects & Troubleshooting

    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.

    This is Dr. Heather Hirsch. She’s a board-certified internist, and her clinical expertise focuses on women’s health, particularly in midlife and menopause, and its intersection with chronic diseases (ranging from things associated with sexual health, to things like osteoporosis and heart disease).

    So, what does she want us to know?

    HRT can be life-changingly positive, but it can be a shaky start

    Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), and in this context she’s talking specifically about the most common kind, Menopausal Hormone Therapy (MHT), involves taking hormones that our body isn’t producing enough of.

    If these are “bioidentical hormones” as used in most of the industrialized world and increasingly also in N. America, then this is by definition a supplement rather than a drug, for what it’s worth, whereas some non-bioidentical hormones (or hormone analogs, which by definition function similarly to hormones but aren’t the same thing) can function more like drugs.

    We wrote a little about his previously:

    Hormone Replacement Therapy: A Tale Of Two Approaches

    For most people most of the time, bioidentical hormones are very much the best way to go, as they are not only more effective, but also have fewer side effects.

    That said, even bioidentical hormones can have some undesired effects, so, how to deal with those?

    Don’t worry; bleed happy

    A reprise of (usually quite light) menstrual bleeding is the most common side effect of menopausal HRT.

    This happens because estrogen affects* the uterus, leading to a build-up and shedding of the uterine lining.

    *if you do not have a uterus, estrogen can effect uterine tissue. That’s not a typo—here we mean the verb “effect”, as in “cause to be”. It will not grow a new uterus, but it can cause some clumps of uterine tissue to appear; this means that it becomes possible to get endometriosis without having a uterus. This information should not be too shocking, as endometriosis is a matter of uterine tissue growing inconveniently, often in places where it shouldn’t, and sometimes quite far from the uterus (if present, or its usual location, if absent). However, the risk of this happening is far lower than if you actually have a uterus:

    What you need to know about endometriosis

    Back to “you have a uterus and it’s making you wish you didn’t”:

    This bleeding should, however, be light. It’ll probably be oriented around a 28-day cycle even if you are taking your hormones at the same dose every day of the month, and the bleeding will probably taper off after about 6 months of this.

    If the bleeding is heavier, all the time, or persists longer than 6 months, then speak to your gynecologist about it. Any of those three; it doesn’t have to be all three!

    Bleeding outside of one’s normal cycle can be caused by anything from fibroids to cancer; statistically speaking it’s probably nothing too dire,but when your safety is in question, don’t bet on “probably”, and do get it checked out:

    When A Period Is Very Late (i.e., Post-Menopause)

    Dr. Hirsch recommends, as possible remedies to try (preferably under your gynecologist’s supervision):

    • lowering your estrogen dose
    • increasing your progesterone dose
    • taking progesterone continuously instead of cyclically

    And if you’re not taking progesterone, here’s why you might want to consider taking this important hormone that works with estrogen to do good things, and against estrogen to rein in some of estrogen’s less convenient things:

    Progesterone Menopausal HRT: When, Why, And How To Benefit

    (the above link contains, as well as textual information, an explanatory video from Dr. Hirsch herself)

    Get the best of the breast

    Calm your tits. Soothe your boobs. Destress your breasts. Hakuna your tatas. Undo the calamity beleaguering your mammaries.

    Ok, more seriously…

    Breast tenderness is another very common symptom when starting to take estrogen. It can worry a lot of people (à la “aagh, what is this and is it cancer!?”), but is usually nothing to worry about. But just to be sure, do also check out:

    Keeping Abreast Of Your Cancer Risk: How To Triple Your Breast Cancer Survival Chances

    Estrogen can cause feelings of breast fullness, soreness, nipple irritation, and sometimes lactation, but this later will be minimal—we’re talking a drop or two now and again, not anything that would feed a baby.

    Basically, it happens when your body hasn’t been so accustomed to normal estrogen levels in a while, and suddenly wakes up with a jolt, saying to itself “Wait what are we doing puberty again now? I thought we did menopause? Are we pregnant? What’s going on? Ok, checking all systems!” and then may calm down not too long afterwards when it notes that everything is more or less as it should be already.

    If this persists or is more than a minor inconvenience though, Dr. Hirsch recommends looking at the likely remedies of:

    • Adjust estrogen (usually the cause)
    • Adjust progesterone (less common)
    • If it’s progesterone, changing the route of administration can ameliorate things

    What if it’s not working? Is it just me?

    Dr. Hirsch advises the most common reasons are simply:

    • wrong formulation (e.g. animal-derived estrogen or hormone analog, instead of bioidentical)
    • wrong dose (e.g. too low)
    • wrong route of administration (e.g. oral vs transdermal; usually transdermal estradiol is most effective but many people do fine on oral; progesterone meanwhile is usually best as a pessary/suppository, but many people do fine on oral)

    Writer’s example: in 2022 there was an estrogen shortage in my country, and while I had been on transdermal estradiol hemihydrate gel, I had to go onto oral estradiol valerate tablets for a few months, because that’s what was available. And the tablets simply did not work for me at all. I felt terrible and I have a good enough intuitive sense of my hormones to know when “something wrong is not right”, and a good enough knowledge of the pharmacology & physiology to know what’s probably happening (or not happening). And sure enough, when I got my blood test results, it was as though I’d been taking nothing. It was such a relief to get back on the gel once it became available again!

    So, if something doesn’t seem to be working for you, speak up and get it fixed if at all possible.

    See also: What You Should Have Been Told About Menopause Beforehand

    Want to know more from Dr. Hirsch?

    You might like this book of hers, which we haven’t reviewed yet, but present here for your interest:

    Unlock Your Menopause Type: A Personalized Guide to Managing Your Menopausal Symptoms and Enhancing Your Health – by Dr. Heather Hirsch

    Enjoy!

    Share This Post

  • Support For Long COVID & Chronic Fatigue

    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.

    Long COVID and Chronic Fatigue

    Getting COVID-19 can be very physically draining, so it’s no surprise that getting Long COVID can (and usually does) result in chronic fatigue.

    But, what does this mean and what can we do about it?

    What makes Long COVID “long”

    Long COVID is generally defined as COVID-19 whose symptoms last longer than 28 days, but in reality the symptoms not only tend to last for much longer than that, but also, they can be quite distinct.

    Here’s a large (3,762 participants) study of Long COVID, which looked at 203 symptoms:

    Characterizing long COVID in an international cohort: 7 months of symptoms and their impact

    Three symptoms stood at out as most prevalent:

    1. Chronic fatigue (CFS)
    2. Cognitive dysfunction
    3. Post-exertional malaise (PEM)

    The latter means “the symptoms get worse following physical or mental exertion”.

    CFS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, is also called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).

    What can be done about it?

    The main “thing that people do about it” is to reduce their workload to what they can do, but this is not viable for everyone. Note that work doesn’t just mean “one’s profession”, but anything that requires physical or mental energy, including:

    • Childcare
    • Housework
    • Errand-running
    • Personal hygiene/maintenance

    For many, this means having to get someone else to do the things—either with support of family and friends, or by hiring help. For many who don’t have those safety nets available, this means things simply not getting done.

    That seems bleak; isn’t there anything more we can do?

    Doctors’ recommendations are chiefly “wait it out and hope for the best”, which is not encouraging. Some people do recover from Long COVID; for others, it so far appears it might be lifelong. We just don’t know yet.

    Doctors also recommend to journal, not for the usual mental health benefits, but because that is data collection. Patients who journal about their symptoms and then discuss those symptoms with their doctors, are contributing to the “big picture” of what Long COVID and its associated ME/CFS look like.

    You may notice that that’s not so much saying what doctors can do for you, so much as what you can do for doctors (and in the big picture, eventually help them help people, which might include you).

    So, is there any support for individuals with Long COVID ME/CFS?

    Medically, no. Not that we could find.

    However! Socially, there are grassroots support networks, that may be able to offer direct assistance, or at least point individuals to useful local resources.

    Grassroots initiatives include Long COVID SOS and the Patient-Led Research Collaborative.

    The patient-led organization Body Politic also used to have such a group, until it shut down due to lack of funding, but they do still have a good resource list:

    Click here to check out the Body Politic resource list (it has eight more specific resources)

    Stay strong!

    Share This Post

  • Wanna read more?

    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.

    You’ve Got Questions? We’ve Got Answers!

    Q: Tips for reading more and managing time for it?

    A: We talked about this a little bit in yesterday’s edition, so you may have seen that, but aside from that:

    • If you don’t already have one, consider getting a Kindle or similar e-reader. They’re very convenient, and also very light and ergonomicno more wrist strain as can occur with physical books. No more eye-strain, either!
    • Consider making reading a specific part of your daily routine. A chapter before bed can be a nice wind-down, for instance! What’s important is it’s a part of your day that’ll always, or at least almost always, allow you to do a little reading.
    • If you drive, walk, run, or similar each day, a lot of people find that’s a great time to listen to an audiobook. Please be safe, though!
    • If your lifestyle permits such, a “reading retreat” can be a wonderful vacation! Even if you only “retreat” to your bedroom, the point is that it’s a weekend (or more!) that you block off from all other commitments, and curl up with the book(s) of your choice.

    Share This Post

Related Posts

  • Broccoli vs Asparagus – Which is Healthier?
  • Apples vs Dates – 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 apples to dates, we picked the dates.

    Why?

    Both have their strengths, but ultimatley, it wasn’t close:

    In terms of macros, dates have more fiber and carbs, for an approximately equal glycemic index. Thus, we say dates win this category as the more nutritionally dense option.

    In the category of vitamins, apples have more of vitamins A, C, and E, while dates have more of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, K, and choline. A clear win for dates.

    When it comes to minerals, it’s even more one-sided: apples are not richer in any minerals, while dates have a lot more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc. An overwhelming win for dates.

    Of course, enjoy either or both (diversity is good), but if you want the most nutrients per bite, it’s dates.

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    From Apples to Bees, and High-Fructose Cs: Which Sugars Are Healthier, And Which Are Just The Same?

    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:

  • Almonds vs Cashews – 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 almonds to cashews, we picked the almonds.

    Why?

    Both are great! But here’s why we picked the almonds:

    In terms of macros, almonds have a little more protein and more than 4x the fiber. Given how critical fiber is to good health, and how most people in industrialized countries in general (and N. America in particular) aren’t getting enough, we consider this a major win for almonds.

    Things are closer to even for vitamins, but almonds have a slight edge. Almonds are higher in vitamins A, B2, B3, B9, and especially 27x higher in vitamin E, while cashews are higher in vitamins B1, B5, B6, C & K. So, a moderate win for almonds.

    In the category of minerals, cashews do a bit better on average. Cashews have moderately more copper, iron, phosphorus, selenium, and zinc, while almonds boast 6x more calcium, and slightly more manganese and potassium. We say this one’s a slight win for cashews.

    Adding the categories up, however, makes it clear that almonds win the day.

    However, of course, enjoy both! Diversity is healthy. Just, if you’re going to choose between them, we recommend almonds.

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    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:

  • How to Prepare for Your First Therapy Session

    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.

    Everyone (who ever has therapy, anyway) has a first therapy session. So, how to make best use of that, and get things going most effectively? Dr. Tori Olds has advice:

    Things to prepare

    Questions that you should consider, and prepare answers to beforehand, include:

    • Why are you here? Not in any deep philosophical sense, but, what brought you to therapy?
    • What would you like to focus on? Chances are, you are paying a hefty hourly rate—so having considered this will allow you to get your money’s worth.
    • How will you know when you’ve met your goal? Note that this is really two questions in one, because first you need to identify your goal, and then you need to expand on it. If you woke up tomorrow and all your psychological problems were solved, how would you know? What would be different? What does it look like?

    If you have a little time between now and your first session, journaling can help a lot.

    Remember also that a first therapy session can also be like a mutual interview, to decide whether it’s a good match. Not every therapist is good at their job, and not every therapist will be good for you specifically. Sometimes, a therapist may be a mismatch through no fault of their own. Considering what those reasons might be can also be a good thing to think about in advance, to help find the best therapist for you in fewer tries!

    For most on these ideas, enjoy:

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

    Want to learn more?

    You might also like to read:

    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: