Orange vs Starfruit – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing orange to starfruit, we picked the orange.
Why?
In terms of macros, there’s little between them; oranges are slightly higher in carbs for the same fiber and protein, but if you’re eating whole fruit, it really doesn’t make a difference. So, we call this round a tie.
In the category of vitamins, oranges have rather more of vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B9, C, and E, while starfruit has slightly more of vitamins B3 and B5, yielding a 7:2 win to oranges here.
Looking at minerals, oranges have more calcium, iron, phosphorus, and potassium, while starfruit has more copper, manganese, selenium, and zinc, for a 4:4 tie this time.
Adding up the sections makes for a modest overall win for oranges, but by all means enjoy either or both, as diversity is best!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
From Apples to Bees, and High-Fructose Cs: Which Sugars Are Healthier, And Which Are Just The Same? ← before you reach for the orange juice, though
Enjoy!
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Acorns vs Chestnuts – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing acorns to chestnuts, we picked the acorns.
Why?
In terms of macros, chestnuts are mostly water, so it’s not surprising that acorns have a lot more carbs, fat, protein, and fiber. Thus, unless you have personal reasons for any of those to be a problem, acorns are the better choice, offering a lot more nutritional value.
In the category of vitamins, acorns lead with a lot more of vitamins A, B2, B3, B5, B6, and B9, while chestnuts have more of vitamins B1 and C. However, that vitamin C is useless to us, because it is destroyed in the cooking process (by boiling or roasting), and both of these nuts can be harmful if consumed raw, so that cooking does need to be done. That leaves acorns with a 6:1 lead.
When it comes to minerals, things are more even; acorns have more copper, magnesium, manganese, and zinc, while chestnuts have more calcium, iron, phosphorus, and potassium. Thus, a 4:4 tie (and yes, the margins of difference are approximately equal too).
We mentioned “both of these nuts can be harmful if consumed raw”, so a note on that: it’s because, while both contain an assortment of beneficial phytochemicals, they also both contain tannins that, if consumed raw, chelate with iron, essentially taking it out of our diet and potentially creating an iron deficiency. Cooking tannins stops this from being an issue, and the same cooking process renders the tannins actively beneficial to the health, for their antioxidant powers.
You may have heard that acorns are poisonous; that’s not strictly speaking true, except insofar as anything could be deemed poisonous in excess (including such things as water, and oxygen). Rather, it’s simply the above-described matter of the uncooked tannins and iron chelation. Even then, you’re unlikely to suffer ill effects unless you consume them raw in a fair quantity. While acorns have fallen from popular favor sufficient that one doesn’t see them in supermarkets, the fact is they’ve been enjoyed as an important traditional part of the diet by various indigenous peoples of N. America for centuries*, and provided they are cooked first, they are a good healthy food for most people.
*(going so far as to cultivate natural oak savannah areas, by burning out young oaks to leave the old ones to flourish without competition, to maximize acorn production, and then store dried acorns in bulk sufficient to cover the next year or so in case of a bad harvest later—so these was not just an incidental food, but very important “our life may depend on this” food. Much like grain in many places—and yes, acorns can be ground into flour and used to make bread etc too)
Do note: they are both still tree nuts though, so if you have a tree nut allergy, these ones aren’t for you.
Otherwise, enjoy both; just cook them first!
Want to learn more?
You might like to read:
Why You Should Diversify Your Nuts
Take care!
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Eat to Beat Depression and Anxiety – by Dr. Drew Ramsey
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.
Most of us could use a little mood boost sometimes, and some of us could definitely stand to have our baseline neurochemistry elevated a bit. We’ve probably Googled “foods to increase dopamine”, and similar phrases. So, why is this a book, and not just an article saying to eat cashews and dark chocolate?
Dr. Drew Ramsey takes a holistic approach to health. By this we mean that to have good health, the whole body and mind must be kept healthy. Let a part slip, and the others will soon follow. Improve a part, and the others will soon follow, too.
Of course, there is only so much that diet can do. Jut as no diet will replace a Type 1 Diabetic’s pancreas with a working one, no diet will treat the causes of some kinds of depression and anxiety.
For this reason, Dr. Ramsey, himself a psychiatrist (and a farmer!) recommends a combination of talking therapy and diet, with medications as a “third leg” to be included when necessary. The goal, for him, is to reduce dependence on medications, while still recognizing when they can be useful or even necessary.
As for the practical, actionable advices in the book, he does (unsurprisingly) recommend a Mediterranean diet. Heavy on the greens and beans, plenty of colorful fruit and veg, small amounts of fish and seafood, even smaller amounts of grass-fed beef and fermented dairy. He also discusses a bunch of “superfoods” he particularly recommends.
Nor does he just hand-wave the process; he talks about the science of how and why each of these things helps.
And in practical terms, he even devotes some time to helping the reader get our kitchen set up, if we’re not already ready-to-go in that department. He also caters to any “can’t cook / won’t cook” readers and how to work around that too.
Bottom line: if you’d like to get rewiring your brain (leveraging neuroplasticity is a key component of the book), this will get you on track. A particular strength is how the author “thinks of everything” in terms of common problems that people (especially: depressed and anxious people!) might have in implementing his advices.
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Collard Greens vs Red Lettuce – Which is Healthier?
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Our Verdict
When comparing collard greens to red lettuce, we picked the collard greens.
Why?
In terms of macros, collard greens have nearly 4x the fiber, as well as slightly more protein and carbs, winning this round.
In the category of vitamins, collard greens have more of vitamins A, B2, B3, B6, B7, B9, and C, while red lettuce has slightly more of vitamins B1 and B5. An easy win for collard greens.
Looking at minerals, collard greens have more calcium, copper, magnesium, manganese, potassium, and zinc, while red lettuce has a tiny bit more iron. Another clear win for collard greens.
When it comes to other considerations, red lettuce does have more polyphenols (most notably a wide range of flavonoids including multiple anthocyanins, luteolin, and 6 different kinds of quercetin), so red lettuce scores a point finally here.
Adding up the sections makes for an overall win for collard greens, but by all means enjoy either or both; diversity is good!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
What Matters Most For Your Heart? Eat More (Of This) For Lower Blood Pressure
Enjoy!
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Apple vs Kiwi Fruit – 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 kiwi fruit, we picked the kiwi.
Why?
It wasn’t close!
In terms of macros, kiwi has more fiber and protein, scoring an easy first-round victory.
In the category of vitamins, apples are not higher in any vitamins, while kiwi is higher in vitamins A, B1, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, C, E, and (appropriately enough) especially K, sweeping this round easily.
Looking at minerals, apples are not higher in any minerals, while kiwi has more calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, and zinc, for another total win here.
In other considerations, kiwi also has some anticancer properties that apples can’t boast, so that’s another point in kiwi’s favor.
Adding up the sections makes for an overwhelmingly clear overall win for kiwi fruit, but by all means enjoy either or both, as diversity is best!
Want to learn more?
You might like:
Top 8 Fruits That Prevent & Kill Cancer ← kiwi is top of the list!
Enjoy!
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Good Energy – by Dr. Casey Means
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For a book with a title like “Good Energy” and chapters such as “Bad Energy Is the Root of Disease”, this is actually a very science-based book (and there are a flock of well-known doctors saying so in the “praise for” section, too).
The premise is simple: most of our health is a matter of what our metabolism is (or isn’t) doing, and it’s not just a case of “doing more” or “doing less”. Indeed, a lot of “our” energy is expended doing bad things (such as chronic inflammation, to give an obvious example).
Dr. Means outlines about a dozen things many people do wrong, and about a dozen things we can do right, to get our body’s energy system working for us, rather than against us.
The style here is pop-science throughout, and in the category of criticism, the bibliography is offloaded to her website (we prefer to have things in our hands). However, the information here is good, clearly-presented, and usefully actionable.
Bottom line: if you ever find yourself feeling run-down and like your body is using your resources against you rather than for you, this is the book to get you out of that slump!
Click here to check out Good Energy, and get your metabolism working for you!
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Latest Alzheimer’s Prevention Research Updates
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Questions and Answers at 10almonds
Have a question or a request? You can always hit “reply” to any of our emails, or use the feedback widget at the bottom!
This newsletter has been growing a lot lately, and so have the questions/requests, and we love that! In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!
As ever: if the question/request can be answered briefly, we’ll do it here in our Q&A Thursday edition. If not, we’ll make a main feature of it shortly afterwards!
So, no question/request too big or small
I am now in the “aging” population. A great concern for me is Alzheimers. My father had it and I am so worried. What is the latest research on prevention?
One good thing to note is that while Alzheimer’s has a genetic component, it doesn’t appear to be hereditary per se. Still, good to be on top of these things, and it’s never too early to start with preventive measures!
You might like a main feature we did on this recently:
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