Mango vs Papaya – 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 mango to papaya, we picked the mango.

Why?

Both are great! But there are some things to set them apart:

In terms of macros, this one’s not so big of a difference. They are equal in fiber, while mango has more protein and slightly more carbs. They are both low glycemic index, so we’ll call this one a tie, or the slenderest nominal win for papaya.

When it comes to vitamins, mango has more of vitamins A, B1, B3, B5, B7, B9, E, K, and choline, while papaya has more vitamin C. However, a cup of mango already gives the RDA of vitamin C, so at this point, it’s not even really much of a bonus that papaya has more. In any case, a clear and overwhelming win in the vitamins category for mango.

As for minerals, this one’s closer; mango has more copper, manganese, phosphorus, and zinc, while papaya has more calcium, iron, and magnesium. Still, a 4:3 win for mango.

Adding these up makes for a clear win for mango. However, one extra thing to bear in mind about both:

Both of these fruits interact with warfarin and many other anticoagulants. So if you’re taking those, you might want to skip these, or at least consult with your doctor/pharmacist for input on your personal situation.

Aside from that; enjoy both; diversity is good! But mango is the more nutritionally dense, and thus the winner here.

Want to learn more?

You might like to read:

5 Ways To Make Your Smoothie Blood Sugar Friendly (Avoid the Spike!)

Take care!

Don’t Forget…

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

Recommended

  • Kiwi vs Grapefruit – Which is Healthier?
  • Food Fix – by Dr. Mark Hyman
    Dr. Mark Hyman argues that there is a small space for animal products on a healthy, ecologically sound plate. This book explores how we can have healthy, sustainable, and cheap food choices.

Learn to Age Gracefully

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

  • Safe Effective Sleep Aids For Seniors

    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.

    Safe Efective Sleep Aids For Seniors

    Choosing a safe, effective sleep aid can be difficult, especially as we get older. Take for example this research review, which practically says, when it comes to drugs, “Nope nope nope nope nope, definitely not, we don’t know, wow no, useful in one (1) circumstance only, definitely not, fine if you must”:

    Review of Safety and Efficacy of Sleep Medicines in Older Adults

    Let’s break it down…

    What’s not so great

    Tranquilizers aren’t very healthy ways to get to sleep, and are generally only well-used as a last resort. The most common of these are benzodiazepines, which is the general family of drugs with names usually ending in –azepam and –azolam.

    Their downsides are many, but perhaps their biggest is their tendency to induce tolerance, dependence, and addiction.

    Non-benzo hypnotics aren’t fabulous either. Z-drugs such as zolpidem tartrate (popularly known by the brand name Ambien, amongst others), comes with warnings that it shouldn’t be prescribed if you have sleep apnea (i.e., one of the most common causes of insomnia), and should be used only with caution in patients who have depression or are elderly, as it may cause protracted daytime sedation and/or ataxia.

    See also: Benzodiazepine and z-drug withdrawal

    (and here’s a user-friendly US-based resource for benzodiazepine addiction specifically)

    Antihistamines are commonly sold as over-the-counter sleep aids, because they can cause drowsiness, but a) they often don’t b) they may reduce your immune response that you may actually need for something. They’re still a lot safer than tranquilizers, though.

    What about cannabis products?

    We wrote about some of the myths and realities of cannabis use yesterday, but it does have some medical uses beyond pain relief, and use as a sleep aid is one of them—but there’s another caveat.

    How it works: CBD, and especially THC, reduces REM sleep, causing you to spend longer in deep sleep. Deep sleep is more restorative and restful. And, if part of your sleep problem was nightmares, they can only occur during REM sleep, so you’ll be skipping those, too. However, REM sleep is also necessary for good brain health, and missing too much of it will result in cognitive impairment.

    Opting for a CBD product that doesn’t contain THC may improve sleep with less (in fact, no known) risk of long-term impairment.

    See: Cannabis, Cannabinoids, and Sleep: a Review of the Literature

    Melatonin: a powerful helper with a good safety profile

    We did a main feature on this recently, so we won’t take up too much space here, but suffice it to say: melatonin is our body’s own natural sleep hormone, and our body is good at scrubbing it when we see white/blue light (so, look at such if you feel groggy upon awakening, and it should clear up quickly), so that and its very short elimination half-life again make it quite safe.

    Unlike tranquilizers, we don’t develop a tolerance to it, let alone dependence or addiction, and unlike cannabis, it doesn’t produce long-term adverse effects (after all, our brains are supposed to have melatonin in them every night). You can read our previous main feature (including a link to get melatonin, if you want) here:

    Melatonin: A Safe Natural Sleep Supplement

    Herbal options: which really work?

    Valerian? Probably not, but it seems safe to try. Data on this is very inconsistent, and many studies supporting it had poor methodology. Shinjyo et al. also hypothesized that the inconsistency may be due to the highly variable quality of the supplements, and lack of regulation, as they are provided “based on traditional use only”.

    See: Valerian Root in Treating Sleep Problems and Associated Disorders-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

    Chamomile? Given the fame of chamomile tea as a soothing, relaxing bedtime drink, there’s surprisingly little research out there for this specifically (as opposed to other medicinal features of chamomile, of which there are plenty).

    But here’s one study that found it helped significantly:

    The effects of chamomile extract on sleep quality among elderly people: A clinical trial

    Unlike valerian, which is often sold as tablets, chamomile is most often sold as a herbal preparation for making chamomile tea, so the quality is probably quite consistent. You can also easily grow your own in most places!

    Technological interventions

    We may not have sci-fi style regeneration alcoves just yet, but white noise machines, or better yet, pink noise machines, help:

    White Noise Is Good; Pink Noise Is Better

    Note: the noise machine can be a literal physical device purchased to do that (most often sold as for babies, but babies aren’t the only ones who need to sleep!), but it can also just be your phone playing an appropriate audio file (there are apps available) or YouTube video.

    We reviewed some sleep apps; you might like those too:

    The Head-To-Head Of Google and Apple’s Top Apps For Getting Your Head Down

    Enjoy, and rest well!

    Share This Post

  • ‘Tis To Season To Be SAD-Savvy

    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.

    Seasonal Affective Disorder & SAD Lamps

    For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s that time of the year; especially after the clocks recently went back and the nights themselves are getting longer. So, what to do in the season of 3pm darkness?

    First: the problem

    The problem is twofold:

    1. Our circadian rhythm gets confused
    2. We don’t make enough serotonin

    The latter is because serotonin production is largely regulated by sunlight.

    People tend to focus on item 2, but item 1 is important too—both as problem, and as means of remedy.

    Circadian rhythm is about more than just light

    We did a main feature on this a little while back, talking about:

    • What light/dark does for us, and how it’s important, but not completely necessary
    • How our body knows what time it is even in perpetual darkness
    • The many peaks and troughs of many physiological functions over the course of a day/night
    • What that means for us in terms of such things as diet and exercise
    • Practical take-aways from the above

    Read: The Circadian Rhythm: Far More Than Most People Know

    With that in mind, the same methodology can be applied as part of treating Seasonal Affective Disorder.

    Serotonin is also about more than just light

    Our brain is a) an unbelievably powerful organ, and the greatest of any animal on the planet b) a wobbly wet mass that gets easily confused.

    In the case of serotonin, we can have problems:

    • knowing when to synthesize it or not
    • synthesizing it
    • using it
    • knowing when to scrub it or not
    • scrubbing it
    • etc

    Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are a class of antidepressants that, as the name suggests, inhibit the re-uptake (scrubbing) of serotonin. So, they won’t add more serotonin to your brain, but they’ll cause your brain to get more mileage out of the serotonin that’s there, using it for longer.

    So, whether or not they help will depend on you and your brain:

    Read: Antidepressants: Personalization Is Key!

    How useful are artificial sunlight lamps?

    Artificial sunlight lamps (also called SAD lamps), or blue light lamps, are used in an effort to “replace” daylight.

    Does it work? According to the science, generally yes, though everyone would like more and better studies:

    Interestingly, it does still work in cases of visual impairment and blindness:

    How much artificial sunlight is needed?

    According to Wirz-Justice and Terman (2022), the best parameters are:

    • 10,000 lux
    • full spectrum (white light)
    • 30–60 minutes exposure
    • in the morning

    Source: Light Therapy: Why, What, for Whom, How, and When (And a Postscript about Darkness)

    That one’s a fascinating read, by the way, if you have time.

    Can you recommend one?

    For your convenience, here’s an example product on Amazon that meets the above specifications, and is also very similar to the one this writer has

    Enjoy!

    Share This Post

  • Gut – by Dr. Giulia Enders

    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.

    On account of being an organ (or rather, a system of organs) whose functions are almost entirely autonomic, most of us don’t think about our gut much. We usually know there’s acid in the stomach, and we usually know there are “good and bad” gut bacteria. But what of the rest of what goes on?

    For anyone who has a hazy half-remembered knowledge from school, this will serve as not only a reminder, but a distinct upgrade in knowledge.

    Dr. Giuliua Enders talks us through not just the processes of what goes on, but, as a medical doctor, also many instances of what can go wrong, for example:

    • Why do some people’s bodies mistake nuts for a deadly threat (and consequently, accidentally elevate them to the status of actually becoming a deadly threat)?
    • Why are some people lactose-intolerant, and why do food intolerances often pop up later with age?
    • Why do constipation and diarrhoea happen?
    • Why is it that stress can cause stomach ulcers?

    The style of writing is light and easy-reading, and the illustrations are clear too. This is a very accessible book that doesn’t assume prior knowledge, and also doesn’t skimp on the scientific explanations—there’s no dumbing down here.

    Bottom line: knowing what goes on in our gut as akin to knowing what goes on under the hood of a car. A lot of the time we don’t need to know, but knowing can make a big difference from time to time, and that’s when you’ll wish you’d learned!

    Click here to check out Gut and be prepared!

    Share This Post

Related Posts

  • Kiwi vs Grapefruit – Which is Healthier?
  • Goji Berries: Which Benefits Do They Really Have?

    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.

    Are Goji Berries Really A Superfood?

    Goji berries are popularly considered a superfood, and sold for everything from anti-aging effects, to exciting benefits* that would get this email directed to your spam folder if we described them.

    *We searched so you don’t have to: there doesn’t seem to be much research to back [that claim that we can’t mention], but we did find one paper on its “invigorating” benefits for elderly male rats. We prefer to stick to human studies where we can!

    So how does the science stack up for the more mainstream claims?

    Antioxidant effects

    First and most obvious for this fruit that’s full of helpful polysaccharides, carotenoids, phenolic acids, and flavonoids, yes, they really do have strong antioxidant properties:

    Goji Berries as a Potential Natural Antioxidant Medicine: An Insight into Their Molecular Mechanisms of Action

    Immune benefits

    Things that are antioxidant are generally also anti-inflammatory, and often have knock-on benefits for the immune system. That appears to be the case here.

    For example, in this small-but-statistically-significant study (n=60) in healthy adults (aged 55–72 years)

    ❝The GoChi group showed a statistically significant increase in the number of lymphocytes and levels of interleukin-2 and immunoglobulin G compared to pre-intervention and the placebo group, whereas the number of CD4, CD8, and natural killer cells or levels of interleukin-4 and immunoglobulin A were not significantly altered. The placebo group showed no significant changes in any immune measures.

    Whereas the GoChi group showed a significant increase in general feelings of well-being, such as fatigue and sleep, and showed a tendency for increased short-term memory and focus between pre- and post-intervention, the placebo group showed no significant positive changes in these measures.❞

    “GoChi” here is a brand name for goji berries, and it’s not clear from the abstract whether the company funded the study:

    Source: Immunomodulatory effects of a standardized Lycium barbarum fruit juice in Chinese older healthy human subjects

    Here’s another study, this time n=150, and ages 65–70 years old. This time it’s with a different brand (“Lacto-Wolfberry”, a milk-with-goji supplement drink) and it’s also unclear whether the company funded the study. However, taking the data at face value:

    ❝In conclusion, long-term dietary supplementation with Lacto-Wolfberry in elderly subjects enhances their capacity to respond to antigenic challenge without overaffecting their immune system, supporting a contribution to reinforcing immune defense in this population. ❞

    In other words: it allowed those who took it to get measurably more benefit from the flu vaccinations that they received, without any ill effects.

    Source: Immunomodulatory effects of dietary supplementation with a milk-based wolfberry formulation in healthy elderly: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

    Anticancer potential

    This one’s less contentious (the immune benefits seemed very credible; we’d just like to see more transparent research to say for sure), so in the more clearly-evidenced case against cancer we’ll just drop a few quick studies, clipped for brevity:

    You get the idea: it helps!

    Bonus benefit for the eyes

    Goji berries also help against age-related macular degeneration. The research for this is in large part secondary, i.e. goji berries contain things x, y, and z, and then separate studies say that those things help against age-related macular degeneration.

    We did find some goji-specific studies though! One of them was for our old friends the “Lacto-Wolfberry” people and again, wasn’t very transparent, so we’ll not take up extra time/space with that one here.

    Instead, here’s a much clearer, transparent, and well-referenced study with no conflicts of interest, that found:

    ❝Overall, daily supplementation with Goji berry for 90d improves MPOD by increasing serum Z levels rather than serum L levels in early AMD patients. Goji berry may be an effective therapeutic intervention for preventing the progression of early AMD.❞

    • MPOD = Macular Pigment Optical Density, a standard diagnostic tool for age-related macular degeneration
    • AMD = Age-related Macular Degeneration

    Source: Macular pigment and serum zeaxanthin levels with Goji berry supplement in early age-related macular degeneration

    (that whole paper is very compelling reading, if you have time)

    If you want a quicker read, we offer:

    How To Avoid Age-Related Macular Degeneration

    and also…

    Brain Food? The Eyes Have It!

    Where to get goji berries?

    You can probably find them at your local health food store, if not the supermarket. However, if you’d like to buy them online, here’s 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:

  • Tomatoes 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 tomatoes to carrots, we picked the carrots.

    Why?

    Both known for being vitamin-A heavyweights, there is nevertheless a clear winner:

    In terms of macros, carrots have a little over 2x the carbs, and/but also a little over 2x the fiber, so we consider category this a win for carrots.

    In the category of vitamins, tomatoes have more vitamin C, while carrots have more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, E, K, and choline. And about that vitamin A specifically: carrots have over 20x the vitamin A of tomatoes. An easy win for carrots here!

    When it comes to minerals, tomatoes have a little more copper, while carrots have more calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc. Another clear win for carrots.

    Looking at polyphenols, carrots are good but tomatoes have more, including a good healthy dose of quercetin; they also have more lycopene, not technically a polyphenol by virtue of its chemical structure (it’s a carotenoid), but a powerful phytochemical nonetheless (and much more prevalent in sun-dried tomatoes, in any case, which is not what we were looking at today—perhaps another day we’ll do sun-dried tomatoes and carrots head-to-head!).

    Still, a) carrots are not short of carotenoids either (including lycopene), and b) we don’t think the moderate win on polyphenols is enough to outdo carrots having won all the other categories.

    All in all, carrots win the day, but of course, do enjoy either or both; diversity is good!

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    Lycopene’s Benefits For The Gut, Heart, Brain, & More

    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:

  • Apple vs Pineapple – 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 apple to pineapple, we picked the pineapple.

    Why?

    An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but pineapples are heavier and armored and spiky and generally much more intimidating.

    More seriously, apples are great but we say pineapples have the better nutritional and phytochemical properties overall:

    In terms of macros, actually apples win this first round, albeit marginally; the two fruits are equal on carbs, while apple has a little more fiber and pineapple has a (very) little more protein. This makes the fiber content the deciding factor, so apples do win this one, even if by just 1g/100g difference.

    When it comes to vitamins, however, apples have more of vitamins E and K, while pineapple has more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, C, and choline. The margins of difference are equally generous on both sides, so this is a clear and overwhelming win for pineapple (including 10x more vitamin C than apples, which are themselves considered a good source of vitamin C)

    In the category of minerals, apples have slightly more phosphorus, and pineapple has a lot more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, selenium, and zinc. Another easy win for pineapple.

    Pineapples are not only also higher in polyphenols, but also contain bromelain, a powerful anti-inflammatory group of enzymes that are unique to pineapple—you can read about it in the link below!

    Meanwhile, pineapple wins the day in our head-to-head here, but as ever when it comes to a plurality of healthy things, do enjoy either or both! Diversity is good.

    Want to learn more?

    You might like to read:

    Bromelain vs Inflammation & Much More

    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: