Feta or Parmesan – Which is Healthier?

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Our Verdict

When comparing feta to parmesan, we picked the parmesan.

Why?

It’s close! Looking at the macros, parmesan has more protein and slightly less fat. Of the fat content, parmesan also has slightly less saturated fat, but neither of them are doing great in this category. Still, a relative win for parmesan.

In the category of vitamins, feta is a veritable vitamin-B-fest with more of vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, and B9. On the other hand, parmesan has more of vitamins A, B12, and choline. By strength of numbers, this is a win for feta.

Minerals tell a different story; parmesan has a lot more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc. Meanwhile, feta is not higher in any minerals. A clear win for parmesan.

Both cheeses offer gut-healthy benefits (if consumed regularly in small portions), while neither are great for the heart.

On balance, we say parmesan wins the day.

Want to learn more?

You might like to read:

Feta Cheese vs Mozzarella – Which is Healthier?

Take care!

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  • What are heart rate zones, and how can you incorporate them into your exercise routine?

    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.

    If you spend a lot of time exploring fitness content online, you might have come across the concept of heart rate zones. Heart rate zone training has become more popular in recent years partly because of the boom in wearable technology which, among other functions, allows people to easily track their heart rates.

    Heart rate zones reflect different levels of intensity during aerobic exercise. They’re most often based on a percentage of your maximum heart rate, which is the highest number of beats your heart can achieve per minute.

    But what are the different heart rate zones, and how can you use these zones to optimise your workout?

    The three-zone model

    While there are several models used to describe heart rate zones, the most common model in the scientific literature is the three-zone model, where the zones may be categorised as follows:

    • zone 1: 55%–82% of maximum heart rate
    • zone 2: 82%–87% of maximum heart rate
    • zone 3: 87%–97% of maximum heart rate.

    If you’re not sure what your maximum heart rate is, it can be calculated using this equation: 208 – (0.7 × age in years). For example, I’m 32 years old. 208 – (0.7 x 32) = 185.6, so my predicted maximum heart rate is around 186 beats per minute.

    There are also other models used to describe heart rate zones, such as the five-zone model (as its name implies, this one has five distinct zones). These models largely describe the same thing and can mostly be used interchangeably.

    What do the different zones involve?

    The three zones are based around a person’s lactate threshold, which describes the point at which exercise intensity moves from being predominantly aerobic, to predominantly anaerobic.

    Aerobic exercise uses oxygen to help our muscles keep going, ensuring we can continue for a long time without fatiguing. Anaerobic exercise, however, uses stored energy to fuel exercise. Anaerobic exercise also accrues metabolic byproducts (such as lactate) that increase fatigue, meaning we can only produce energy anaerobically for a short time.

    On average your lactate threshold tends to sit around 85% of your maximum heart rate, although this varies from person to person, and can be higher in athletes.

    A woman with an activity tracker on her wrist looking at a smartphone.
    Wearable technology has taken off in recent years. Ketut Subiyanto/Pexels

    In the three-zone model, each zone loosely describes one of three types of training.

    Zone 1 represents high-volume, low-intensity exercise, usually performed for long periods and at an easy pace, well below lactate threshold. Examples include jogging or cycling at a gentle pace.

    Zone 2 is threshold training, also known as tempo training, a moderate intensity training method performed for moderate durations, at (or around) lactate threshold. This could be running, rowing or cycling at a speed where it’s difficult to speak full sentences.

    Zone 3 mostly describes methods of high-intensity interval training, which are performed for shorter durations and at intensities above lactate threshold. For example, any circuit style workout that has you exercising hard for 30 seconds then resting for 30 seconds would be zone 3.

    Striking a balance

    To maximise endurance performance, you need to strike a balance between doing enough training to elicit positive changes, while avoiding over-training, injury and burnout.

    While zone 3 is thought to produce the largest improvements in maximal oxygen uptake – one of the best predictors of endurance performance and overall health – it’s also the most tiring. This means you can only perform so much of it before it becomes too much.

    Training in different heart rate zones improves slightly different physiological qualities, and so by spending time in each zone, you ensure a variety of benefits for performance and health.

    So how much time should you spend in each zone?

    Most elite endurance athletes, including runners, rowers, and even cross-country skiers, tend to spend most of their training (around 80%) in zone 1, with the rest split between zones 2 and 3.

    Because elite endurance athletes train a lot, most of it needs to be in zone 1, otherwise they risk injury and burnout. For example, some runners accumulate more than 250 kilometres per week, which would be impossible to recover from if it was all performed in zone 2 or 3.

    Of course, most people are not professional athletes. The World Health Organization recommends adults aim for 150–300 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week, or 75–150 minutes of vigorous exercise per week.

    If you look at this in the context of heart rate zones, you could consider zone 1 training as moderate intensity, and zones 2 and 3 as vigorous. Then, you can use heart rate zones to make sure you’re exercising to meet these guidelines.

    What if I don’t have a heart rate monitor?

    If you don’t have access to a heart rate tracker, that doesn’t mean you can’t use heart rate zones to guide your training.

    The three heart rate zones discussed in this article can also be prescribed based on feel using a simple 10-point scale, where 0 indicates no effort, and 10 indicates the maximum amount of effort you can produce.

    With this system, zone 1 aligns with a 4 or less out of 10, zone 2 with 4.5 to 6.5 out of 10, and zone 3 as a 7 or higher out of 10.

    Heart rate zones are not a perfect measure of exercise intensity, but can be a useful tool. And if you don’t want to worry about heart rate zones at all, that’s also fine. The most important thing is to simply get moving.

    Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, University of South Australia

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

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  • Passion Fruit vs Blueberries – 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 passion fruit to blueberries, we picked the passion fruit.

    Why?

    It wasn’t close!

    In terms of macros, the passion fruit has 3x the protein, 1.5x the carbs, and more than 4x the fiber. An easy win for passion fruit!

    In the category of vitamins, passion fruit has more of vitamins A, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, C, and choline, while blueberries have more of vitamins B1, E, and K. So, blueberries are not without their merits, but all in all, another win for passion fruit here.

    When it comes to minerals, passion fruit has more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium, while blueberries have slightly more zinc.

    Looking at polyphenols, this is one category where blueberry wins, and by a fair margin. We think that’s a great reason to enjoy blueberries, but not enough to reverse the win for passion fruit based on all the other categories!

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    What’s Your Plant Diversity Score?

    Enjoy!

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  • Berberine For Metabolic Health

    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.

    Is Berberine Nature’s Ozempic/Wegovy?

    Berberine is a compound found in many plants. Of which, some of them are variations of the barberry, hence the name.

    It’s been popular this past couple of years, mostly for weight loss. In and of itself, something being good for weight loss doesn’t mean it’s good for the health (just ask diarrhoea, or cancer).

    Happily, berberine’s mechanisms of action appear to be good for metabolic health, including:

    • Reduced fasting blood sugar levels
    • Improved insulin sensitivity
    • Reduced LDL and triglycerides
    • Increased HDL levels

    So, what does the science say?

    It’s (mostly!) not nature’s Wegovy/Ozempic

    It’s had that title in a number of sensationalist headlines (and a current TikTok trend, apparently), but while both berberine and the popular weight-loss drugs Wegovy/Ozempic act in part on insulin metabolism, they mostly do so by completely different mechanisms.

    Wegovy and Ozempic are GLP-1 agonists, which mean they augment the action of glucagon-like-peptide 1, which increases insulin release, decreases glucagon release, and promotes a more lasting feeling of fullness.

    Berberine works mostly by other means, not all of which are understood. But, we know that it activates AMP-activated protein kinase, and on the flipside, inhibits proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9.

    In less arcane words: it boosts some enzymes and inhibits others.

    Each of these boosts/inhibitions has a positive effect on metabolic health.

    However, it does also have a slight GLP-1 agonist effect too! Bacteria in the gut can decompose and metabolize berberine into dihydroberberine, thus preventing the absorption of disaccharides in the intestinal tract, and increasing GLP-1 levels.

    See: Effects of Berberine on the Gastrointestinal Microbiota

    Does it work for weight loss?

    Yes, simply put. And if we’re going to put it head-to-head with Wegovy/Ozempic, it works about half as well. Which sounds like a criticism, but for a substance that’s a lot safer (and cheaper, and easier—if we like capsules over injections) and has fewer side effects.

    ❝But more interestingly, the treatment significantly reduced blood lipid levels (23% decrease of triglyceride and 12.2% decrease of cholesterol levels) in human subjects.

    However, there was interestingly, an increase in calcitriol levels seen in all human subjects following berberine treatment (mean 59.5% increase)

    Collectively, this study demonstrates that berberine is a potent lipid-lowering compound with a moderate weight loss effect, and may have a possible potential role in osteoporosis treatment/prevention.❞

    (click through to read in full)

    Is it safe?

    It appears to be, with one special caveat: remember that paper about the effects of berberine on the gastrointestinal microbiota? It also has some antimicrobial effects, so you could do harm there if not careful. It’s recommended to give it a break every couple of months, to be sure of allowing your gut microbiota to not get too depleted.

    Also, as with anything you might take that’s new, always consult your doctor/pharmacist in case of contraindications based on medications you are taking.

    Where can I get it?

    As ever, we don’t sell it, but here’s an example product on Amazon, for your convenience.

    Enjoy!

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Related Posts

  • Avocado vs Olives – Which is Healthier?
  • Radishes vs Carrots – 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 radishes to carrots, we picked the carrots.

    Why?

    In terms of macros, carrots have more fiber and carbs; the two root vegetables both have comparable (low) glycemic indices, so we’re saying that the one with more fiber wins, and that’s carrots.

    In the category of vitamins, radishes have more of vitamins B9 and C, while carrots have more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, E, K, and choline. An easy win for carrots.

    When it comes to minerals, radishes have more selenium, while carrots have more calcium, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, and potassium. Another clear win for carrots.

    In terms of polyphenols, radishes do have some, but carrots have more, and thus win this category too.

    All in all, enjoy either or both, but carrots deliver the most nutrients by far!

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    What Do The Different Kinds Of Fiber Do? 30 Foods That Rank Highest

    Enjoy!

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  • The Healing of America – by Thomas Reid

    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.

    First let’s be clear: this is about the US healthcare system, and thus will be mostly relevant for US Americans. Still, many outside of the US may have an interest, and in fact the book does talk about the healthcare systems of many other countries (hence the subtitle mentioning “a global quest”), outlining how each works, and what the journey was that got them there.

    The author, a veteran journalist with a 60+ year-long career, notes that affordable healthcare is a social problem so complex, that only 33 out of 32 of the world’s richest countries have managed to do it. That’s a little glib and can be quibbled in the minutiae, but when it comes down to it, insulin in the US still costs 50x what it does in most places, and in pretty much all aspects of healthcare, US Americans are being fleeced at every turn.

    He examines why this happens, and what currently prevents the US from lowering healthcare costs. He finds the culprits to be the profitmongers along the way (insurance companies in cahoots with drug companies in cahoots with hospitals, etc), as well as a pervasive belief that since healthcare is so expensive, how could the richest country on Earth possibly pay for it? Many Americans will believe that the answer is that other countries have inferior care, but this tends to stem from a mistaken belief that medical treatment actually costs what Americans are billed for it. The fact is: the same quality of care can be provided for a lot less, as many countries demonstrate.

    The book doesn’t argue for any one particular solution; it doesn’t have to be entirely state-funded like the UK, or consumer-funded but seriously low price caps like in Japan; there are many other models to choose from. The argument that is made is that if so many other countries can have medical bankruptcy being a thing unheard-of instead of the leading cause of bankruptcy, then so can the US, and here’s a wide menu of methods to choose from.

    Bottom line: if you’re a US American and you’d like to think you could get the same quality of care without lining numerous corporate pockets along the way with your hard-earned cash, then this book will open your eyes to what is possible.

    Click here to check out The Healing Of America, and learn how you could get the same, for less!

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  • What Harm Can One Sleepless Night Do?

    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.

    We’ll not bury the lede: a study found that just one night of 24-hour sleep deprivation can alter immune cell profiles in young, lean, healthy people to resemble those of people with obesity and chronic inflammation.

    Chronic inflammation, in turn, causes very many other chronic diseases, and worsens most of the ones it doesn’t outright cause.

    The reason this happens is because in principle, inflammation is supposed to be good for us—it’s our body’s defenses coming to the rescue. However, if we imagine our immune cells as firefighters, then compare:

    • A team of firefighters who are in great shape and ready to deploy at a moment’s notice, are mostly allowed to rest, sometimes get training, and get called out to a fire from time time, just enough to keep them on their toes. Today, something in your house caught fire, and they showed up in 5 minutes and put it out safely.
    • A team of firefighters who have been pulling 24-hour shifts every day for the past 20 years, getting called out constantly for lost cats, burned toast, wrong numbers, the neighbor’s music, a broken fridge, and even the occasional fire. Today, your printer got jammed so they broke down your door and also your windows just for good measure, and blasted your general desk area with a fire hose, which did not resolve the problem but now your computer itself is broken.

    Which team would you rather have?

    The former team is a healthy immune system; the latter is the immune system of someone with chronic inflammation.

    But if it’s one night, it’s not chronic, right?

    Contingently true. However, the problem is that because the immune profile was made to be like the bad team we described (imagine that chaos in your house, now remember that for this metaphor, it’s your body that that’s happening to), the immediate strong negative health impact will already have knock-on effects, which in turn make it more likely that you’ll struggle to get your sleep back on track quickly.

    For example, the next night you may oversleep “to compensate”, but then the following day your sleep schedule is now slid back considerably; one thing leads to another, and a month later you’re thinking “I really must sort my sleep out”.

    See also: How Regularity Of Sleep Can Be Even More Important Than Duration ← A recent, large (n=72,269) 8-year prospective* observational study of adults aged 40-79 found a strong association between irregular sleep and major cardiovascular events, to such an extent that it was worse than undersleeping.

    *this means they started the study at a given point, and measured what happened for the next eight years—as opposed to a retrospective study, which would look at what had happened during the previous 8 years.

    What about sleep fragmentation?

    In other words: getting sleep, but heavily disrupted sleep.

    The answer is: basically the same deal as with missed sleep.

    Specifically, elevated proinflammatory cytokines (in this context, that’s bad) and an increase in nonclassical monocytes—as are typically seen in people with obesity and chronic inflammation.

    Remember: these were young, lean, healthy participants going into the study, who signed up for a controlled sleep deprivation experiment.

    This is important, because the unhealthy inflammatory profile means that people with such are a lot more likely to develop diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and many more things besides. And, famously, most people in the industrialized world are not sleeping that well.

    Even amongst 10almonds readers, a health-conscious demographic by nature, 62% of 10almonds readers do not regularly get the prescribed 7–9 hours sleep (i.e. they get under 7 hours).

    You can see the data on this one, here: Why You Probably Need More Sleep ← yes, including if you are in the older age range; we bust that myth in the article too!*

    *Unless you have a (rare!) mutated ADRB1 gene, which reduces that. But we also cover that in the article, and how to know whether you have it.

    With regard to “most people in the industrialized world are not sleeping that well”, this means that most people in the industrialized world are subject to an unseen epidemic of sleep-deprivation-induced inflammation that is creating vulnerability to many other diseases. In short, the lifestyle of the industrialized world (especially: having to work certain hours) is making most of the working population sick.

    Dr. Fatema Al-Rashed, lead researcher, concluded:

    ❝In the long term, we aim for this research to drive policies and strategies that recognize the critical role of sleep in public health.

    We envision workplace reforms and educational campaigns promoting better sleep practices, particularly for populations at risk of sleep disruption due to technological and occupational demands.

    Ultimately, this could help mitigate the burden of inflammatory diseases like obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases.❞

    You can read the paper in full here: Impact of sleep deprivation on monocyte subclasses and function

    What can we do about it?

    With regard to sleep, we’ve written so much about this, but here are three key articles that contain a lot of valuable information:

    …and with regard to inflammation, a good concise overview of how to dial it down is:

    How To Prevent Or Reduce Inflammation

    Take care!

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