Macadamia Nuts vs Brazil Nuts – Which is Healthier?

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Our Verdict

When comparing macadamia nuts to Brazil nuts, we picked the Brazil nuts.

Why?

They’re a lot more nutrient dense! But watch out…

First, to do due diligence in terms of macros: Brazil nuts have twice as much protein and less fat, as well as being a little higher in fiber and slightly lower in carbs.

In terms of vitamins, Brazil nuts are about 10x higher in vitamin E, while macadamias are somewhat higher in several B-vitamins.

The category of minerals is where it gets interesting. Macadamia nuts are a little higher in iron and considerably higher in Manganese. But… Brazil nuts are a lot higher in calcium, copper, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc.

About that selenium… Specifically, it’s more than 5,000x higher, and a cup of Brazil nuts would give nearly 10,000x the recommended daily amount of selenium. Now, selenium is an essential mineral (needed for thyroid hormone production, for example), and at the RDA it’s good for good health. Your hair will be luscious and shiny. However, go much above that, and selenium toxicity becomes a thing, you may get sick, and it can cause your (luscious and shiny) hair to fall out. For this reason, it’s recommended to eat no more than 3–4 Brazil nuts per day.

In short… Brazil nuts are much more nutrient dense in general, and thus come out on top here. But, they’re so nutrient dense in the case of selenium, that careful moderation is advised.

Want to learn more?

You might like to read:

Why You Should Diversify Your Nuts

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  • Carrots vs Parsnips – Which is Healthier?

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    Our Verdict

    When comparing carrots to parsnips, we picked the parsnips.

    Why?

    There are arguments for both! But we say parsnips win on overall nutritional density.

    In terms of macros, parsnips vary quite a lot from region to another, but broadly speaking, parsnips have more carbs and fiber, and/but the ratios are such that carrots have the lower glycemic index. We’ll call this one a win for carrots.

    When it comes to vitamins, carrots have more of vitamins A, B2, B3, B6, and choline, while parsnips have more of vitamins B1, B5, B9, C, E, and K. A small win for parsnips here.

    In the category of minerals, carrots are not higher in any minerals, while parsnips are higher in calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc. An overwhelming win for parsnips.

    While the overall vitamin and mineral content puts parsnips ahead, it’s still worth noting that carrots have highly bioavailable megadoses of vitamin A.

    Another thing to note is that the glycemic index recorded for both is when peeled and boiled, whereas both of these root vegetables can be enjoyed raw if you wish, which has a much lower GI.

    In short, enjoy either or both, but parsnips are the more nutritionally dense overall.

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    Glycemic Index vs Glycemic Load vs Insulin Index

    Take care!

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  • Will there soon be a cure for HIV?

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    Human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, is a chronic health condition that can be fatal without treatment. People with HIV can live healthy lives by taking antiretroviral therapy (ART), but this medication must be taken daily in order to work, and treatment can be costly. Fortunately, researchers believe a cure is possible.

     In July, a seventh person was reportedly cured of HIV following a 2015 stem cell transplant for acute myeloid leukemia. The patient stopped taking ART in 2018 and has remained in remission from HIV.

    Read on to learn more about HIV, the promise of stem cell transplants, and what other potential cures are on the horizon.

    What is HIV?

    HIV infects and destroys the immune system’s cells, making people more susceptible to infections. If left untreated, HIV will severely impair the immune system and progress to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). People living with untreated AIDS typically die within three years.

    People with HIV can take ART to help their immune systems recover and to reduce their viral load to an undetectable level, which slows the progression of the disease and prevents them passing the virus to others.

    How can stem cell transplants cure HIV?

    Several people have been cured of HIV after receiving stem cell transplants to treat leukemia or lymphoma. Stem cells are produced by the spongy tissue located in the center of some bones, and they can turn into new blood cells.

    A mutation on the CCR5 gene prevents HIV from infecting new cells and creates resistance to the virus, which is why some HIV-positive people have received stem cells from donors carrying this mutation. (One person was reportedly cured of HIV after receiving stem cells without the CCR5 mutation, but further research is needed to understand how this occurred.)

    Despite this promising news, experts warn that stem cell transplants can be fatal, so it’s unlikely this treatment will be available to treat people with HIV unless a stem cell transplant is needed to treat cancer. People with HIV are at an increased risk for blood cancers, such as Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which stem cell transplants can treat.

    Additionally, finding compatible donors with the CCR5 mutation who share genetic heritage with patients of color can be challenging, as donors with the mutation are typically white.

    What are other potential cures for HIV?

    In some rare cases, people who started ART shortly after infection and later stopped treatment have maintained undetectable levels of HIV in their bodies. There have also been some people whose bodies have been able to maintain low viral loads without any ART at all.

    Researchers are studying these cases in their search for a cure.

    Other treatment options researchers are exploring include:

    • Gene therapy: In addition to stem cell transplants, gene therapy for HIV involves removing genes from HIV particles in patients’ bodies to prevent the virus from infecting other cells.
    • Immunotherapy: This treatment is typically used in cancer patients to teach their immune systems how to fight off cancer. Research has shown that giving some HIV patients antibodies that target the virus helps them reach undetectable levels of HIV without ART.
    • mRNA technology: mRNA, a type of genetic material that helps produce proteins, has been used in vaccines to teach cells how to fight off viruses. Researchers are seeking a way to send mRNA to immune system cells that contain HIV.

    When will there be a cure for HIV?

    The United Nations and several countries have pledged to end HIV and AIDS by 2030, and a 2023 UNAIDS report affirmed that reaching this goal is possible. However, strategies to meet this goal include HIV prevention and improving access to existing treatment alongside the search for a cure, so we still don’t know when a cure might be available.

    How can I find out if I have HIV?

    You can get tested for HIV from your primary care provider or at your local health center. You can also purchase an at-home HIV test from a drugstore or online. If your at-home test result is positive, follow up with your health care provider to confirm the diagnosis and get treatment.

    For more information, talk to your health care provider.

    This article first appeared on Public Good News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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  • 4 things ancient Greeks and Romans got right about mental health

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    According to the World Health Organization, about 280 million people worldwide have depression and about one billion have a mental health problem of any kind.

    People living in the ancient world also had mental health problems. So, how did they deal with them?

    As we’ll see, some of their insights about mental health are still relevant today, even though we might question some of their methods.

    Jr Morty/Shutterstock

    1. Our mental state is important

    Mental health problems such as depression were familiar to people in the ancient world. Homer, the poet famous for the Iliad and Odyssey who lived around the eighth century BC, apparently died after wasting away from depression.

    Already in the late fifth century BC, ancient Greek doctors recognised that our health partly depends on the state of our thoughts.

    In the Epidemics, a medical text written in around 400BC, an anonymous doctor wrote that our habits about our thinking (as well as our lifestyle, clothing and housing, physical activity and sex) are the main determinants of our health.

    Bronze statue of Homer on Greek island of IOS
    Homer, the ancient Greek poet, had depression. Thirasia/Shutterstock

    2. Mental health problems can make us ill

    Also writing in the Epidemics, an anonymous doctor described one of his patients, Parmeniscus, whose mental state became so bad he grew delirious, and eventually could not speak. He stayed in bed for 14 days before he was cured. We’re not told how.

    Later, the famous doctor Galen of Pergamum (129-216AD) observed that people often become sick because of a bad mental state:

    It may be that under certain circumstances ‘thinking’ is one of the causes that bring about health or disease because people who get angry about everything and become confused, distressed and frightened for the slightest reason often fall ill for this reason and have a hard time getting over these illnesses.

    Galen also described some of his patients who suffered with their mental health, including some who became seriously ill and died. One man had lost money:

    He developed a fever that stayed with him for a long time. In his sleep he scolded himself for his loss, regretted it and was agitated until he woke up. While he was awake he continued to waste away from grief. He then became delirious and developed brain fever. He finally fell into a delirium that was obvious from what he said, and he remained in this state until he died.

    3. Mental illness can be prevented and treated

    In the ancient world, people had many different ways to prevent or treat mental illness.

    The philosopher Aristippus, who lived in the fifth century BC, used to advise people to focus on the present to avoid mental disturbance:

    concentrate one’s mind on the day, and indeed on that part of the day in which one is acting or thinking. Only the present belongs to us, not the past nor what is anticipated. The former has ceased to exist, and it is uncertain if the latter will exist.

    The philosopher Clinias, who lived in the fourth century BC, said that whenever he realised he was becoming angry, he would go and play music on his lyre to calm himself.

    Doctors had their own approaches to dealing with mental health problems. Many recommended patients change their lifestyles to adjust their mental states. They advised people to take up a new regime of exercise, adopt a different diet, go travelling by sea, listen to the lectures of philosophers, play games (such as draughts/checkers), and do mental exercises equivalent to the modern crossword or sudoku.

    Galen, the physician
    Galen, a famous doctor, believed mental problems were caused by some idea that had taken hold of the mind. Pierre Roche Vigneron/Wikimedia

    For instance, the physician Caelius Aurelianus (fifth century AD) thought patients suffering from insanity could benefit from a varied diet including fruit and mild wine.

    Doctors also advised people to take plant-based medications. For example, the herb hellebore was given to people suffering from paranoia. However, ancient doctors recognised that hellebore could be dangerous as it sometimes induced toxic spasms, killing patients.

    Other doctors, such as Galen, had a slightly different view. He believed mental problems were caused by some idea that had taken hold of the mind. He believed mental problems could be cured if this idea was removed from the mind and wrote:

    a person whose illness is caused by thinking is only cured by taking care of the false idea that has taken over his mind, not by foods, drinks, [clothing, housing], baths, walking and other such (measures).

    Galen thought it was best to deflect his patients’ thoughts away from these false ideas by putting new ideas and emotions in their minds:

    I put fear of losing money, political intrigue, drinking poison or other such things in the hearts of others to deflect their thoughts to these things […] In others one should arouse indignation about an injustice, love of rivalry, and the desire to beat others depending on each person’s interest.

    4. Addressing mental health needs effort

    Generally speaking, the ancients believed keeping our mental state healthy required effort. If we were anxious or angry or despondent, then we needed to do something that brought us the opposite of those emotions.

    De Morbis acutis et Chronicis by Caelius Aurelianus
    Watch some comedy, said physician Caelius Aurelianus. VCU Tompkins-McCaw Library/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

    This can be achieved, they thought, by doing some activity that directly countered the emotions we are experiencing.

    For example, Caelius Aurelianus said people suffering from depression should do activities that caused them to laugh and be happy, such as going to see a comedy at the theatre.

    However, the ancients did not believe any single activity was enough to make our mental state become healthy. The important thing was to make a wholesale change to one’s way of living and thinking.

    When it comes to experiencing mental health problems, we clearly have a lot in common with our ancient ancestors. Much of what they said seems as relevant now as it did 2,000 years ago, even if we use different methods and medicines today.


    If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

    Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, researching Greco-Roman antiquity, The University of Melbourne

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

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  • Rose Hips vs Blueberries – Which is Healthier?
  • Shoe Wear Patterns: What They Mean, Why It Matters, & How To Fix It

    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 look under your shoes, do you notice how the tread is worn more in some places than others? Specific patterns of shoe wear correspond to how our body applies force, weight, and rotational movement. This reveals how we move, and uneven wear can indicate problematic movement dynamics.

    The clues in your shoes

    Common shoe wear patterns include:

    • Diagonal wear on the outside of the heel: caused by foot angle, leg position, and instability, leading to joint stress.
    • Rotational wear at specific points: due to internal or external rotation, often originating from the hip, pelvis, or torso.
    • Wear above the big toe: caused by excessive toe lifting, often associated with a “lighter” or kicking leg.

    Fixing movement issues to prevent wear involves correcting posture, improving balance, and adjusting how the legs land during walking/running.

    Key fixes include:

    • Aligning the center of gravity properly to prevent leg overcompensation.
    • Ensuring feet land under the hips and not far in front.
    • Stabilizing the torso to avoid unnecessary rotation.
    • Engaging the glutes effectively to reduce hip flexor dominance and improve leg mechanics.
    • Maintaining even weight distribution on both legs to prevent excessive lifting or twisting.

    Posture and walking mechanics are vital to reducing uneven wear, but meaningful, lasting change takes time and focused effort, to build new habits.

    For more on all this plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:

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    Want to learn more?

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  • Uric Acid’s Extensive Health Impact (And How To Lower It)

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    Uric Acid’s Extensive Health Impact (And How To Lower It)

    This is Dr. David Perlmutter. He’s a medical doctor, and a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition. He’s a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, and has been widely published in many other peer-reviewed journals.

    What does he want us to know?

    He wants us to know about the health risks of uric acid (not something popularly talked about so much!), and how to reduce it.

    First: what is it? Uric acid is a substance we make in our own body. However, unlike most substances we make in our body, we have negligible use for it—it’s largely a waste product, usually excreted in urine.

    However, if we get too much, it can build up (and crystallize), becoming such things as kidney stones, or causing painful inflammation if it shows up in the joints, as in gout.

    More seriously (unpleasant as kidney stones and gout may be), this inflammation can have a knock-on effect triggering (or worsening) other inflammatory conditions, ranging from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, to arthritis, to dementia, and even heart problems. See for example:

    How can we reduce our uric acid levels?

    Uric acid is produced when we metabolize purine nucleotides, which are found in many kinds of food. We can therefore reduce our uric acid levels by reducing our purine intake, as well as things that mess up our liver’s ability to detoxify things. Offsetting the values for confounding variables (such as fiber content, or phytochemicals that mitigate the harm), the worst offenders include…

    Liver-debilitating things:

    • Alcohol (especially beer)
    • High-fructose corn syrup (and other fructose-containing things that aren’t actual fruit)
    • Other refined sugars
    • Wheat / white flour products (this is why beer is worse than wine, for example; it’s a double-vector hit)

    Purine-rich things:

    • Red meats and game
    • Organ meats
    • Oily fish, and seafood (great for some things; not great for this)

    Some beans and legumes are also high in purines, but much like real fruit has a neutral or positive effect on blood sugar health despite its fructose content, the beans and legumes that are high in purines, also contain phytochemicals that help lower uric acid levels, so have a beneficial effect.

    Eggs (consumed in moderation) and tart cherries have a uric-acid lowering effect.

    Water is important for all aspects of health, and doubly important for this.

    Hydrate well!

    Lifestyle matters beyond diet

    The main key here is metabolic health, so Dr. Perlmutter advises the uncontroversial lifestyle choices of moderate exercise and good sleep, as well as (more critically) intermittent fasting. We wrote previously on other things that can benefit liver health:

    How To Unfatty A Fatty Liver

    …in this case, that means the liver gets a break to recuperate (something it’s very good at, but does need to get a chance to do), which means that while you’re not giving it something new to do, it can quickly catch up on any backlog, and then tackle any new things fresh, next time you start eating.

    Want to know more about this from Dr. Perlmutter?

    You might like his article:

    An Integrated Plan for Lowering Uric Acid ← more than we had room for here; he also talks about extra things to include in your diet/supplementation regime for beneficial effects!

    And/or his book:

    Drop Acid: The Surprising New Science of Uric Acid―The Key to Losing Weight, Controlling Blood Sugar, and Achieving Extraordinary Health

    …on which much of today’s main feature was based.

    Take care!

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  • Sprout Your Seeds, Grains, Beans, Etc

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    Good Things Come In Small Packages

    “Sprouting” grains and seeds—that is, allowing them to germinate and begin to grow—enhances their nutritional qualities, boosting their available vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and even antioxidants.

    You may be thinking: surely whatever nutrients are in there, are in there already; how can it be increased?

    Well, the grand sweeping miracle of life itself is beyond the scope of what we have room to cover today, but in few words: there are processes that allow plants to transform stuff into other stuff, and that is part of what is happening.

    Additionally, in the cases of some nutrients, they were there already, but the sprouting process allows them to become more available to us. Think about the later example of how it’s easier to eat and digest a ripe fruit than an unripe one, and now scale that back to a seed and a sprouted seed.

    A third way that sprouting benefits us is by reducing“antinutrients”, such as phytic acid.

    Let’s drop a few examples of the “what”, before we press on to the “how”:

    Sounds great! How do we do it?

    First, take the seeds, grains, nuts, beans, etc that you’re going to sprout. Fine examples to try for a first sprouting session include:

    • Grains: buckwheat, brown rice, quinoa
    • Legumes: soy beans, black beans, kidney beans
    • Greens: broccoli, mustard greens, radish
    • Nuts/seeds: almonds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds

    Note: whatever you use should be as unprocessed as possible to start with:

    • On the one hand, you’d be surprised how often “life finds a way” when it comes to sprouting ridiculous choices
    • On the other hand, it’s usually easier if you’re not trying to sprout blanched almonds, split lentils, rolled oats, or toasted hulled buckwheat.

    Second, you will need clean water, a jar with a lid, muslin cloth or similar, and a rubber band.

    Next, take an amount of the plants you’ll be sprouting. Let’s say beans of some kind. Try it with ¼ cup to start with; you can do bigger batches once you’re more confident of your setup and the process.

    Rinse and soak them for at least 24 hours. Take care to add more water than it looks like you’ll need, because those beans are thirsty, and sprouting is thirsty work.

    Drain, rinse, and put them in a clean glass jar, covering with just the muslin cloth in place of the lid, held in place by the rubber band. No extra water in it this time, and you’re going to be storing the jar upside down (with ventilation underneath, so for example on some sort of wire rack is ideal) in a dark moderately warm place (e.g. 80℉ / 25℃ is often ideal, but it doesn’t have to be exact, you have wiggle-room, and some things will enjoy a few degrees cooler or warmer than that)

    Each day, rinse and replace until you see that they are sprouting. When they’re sprouting, they’re ready to eat!

    Unless you want to grow a whole plant, in which case, go for it (we recommend looking for a gardening guide in that case).

    But watch out!

    That 80℉ / 25℃ temperature at which our sprouting seeds, beans, grains etc thrive? There are other things that thrive at that temperature too! Things like:

    • E. coli
    • Salmonella
    • Listeria

    …amongst others.

    So, some things to keep you safe:

    1. If it looks or smells bad, throw it out
    2. If in doubt, throw it out
    3. Even if it looks perfect, blanch it (by boiling it in water for 30 seconds, before rinsing it in cold water to take it back to a colder temperature) before eating it or refrigerating it for later.
    4. When you come back to get it from the fridge, see once again points 1 and 2 above.
    5. Ideally you should enjoy sprouted things within 5 days.

    Want to know more about sprouting?

    You’ll love this book that we reviewed recently:

    The Sprout Book – by Doug Evans

    Enjoy!

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