They’re both popular standbys for dieters, but which is the better healthy snack to munch on: carrots or celery?

Well, it depends on what you’re trying to achieve, quite simply.

In terms of picking the vegetable that’s lowest in calories, sugars and carbs, celery is the better choice.

One cup of celery only has 16 calories, 3 grams of carbs, and 2 grams of sugar, compared to the 52 calories, 12 grams of carbs, and 6 grams of sugar you’ll find in an equal serving of carrots.  Both have comparable amounts of protein, and no grams of fat.

As an added bonus, celery contains a compound called apigenin, which scientists believe may delay or stop the growth of tumors in the breast.

However, if you want to make sure you’re getting enough of certain other nutrients in your diet, reach for the carrots.

Carrots contain 428 percent of your vitamin A needs (compared to a measly 9 percent in celery).  They also have double the vitamin C and iron levels of celery.

And if that weren’t enough, carrots are also a great source of beta-carotene, which makes your skin look great.

Either way, both these vegetables are obviously good for you.  Just be careful (and sparing) with any dressings or toppings.

As a doctor, I receive questions every day both in my practice and email inbox. Sometimes, the questions take me by surprise. Take today’s question, for example.

A man just emailed me wanting to know if he could eat his way to attractiveness. I wish I had thought of that before I settled down with my wife, especially with all the food I eat! But his question did peak my curiosity. So, here is his question and my answer.

Are there foods out there that will make a man more attractive to women? If so, what are they? Thanks! – Joshua

I could give the usual lecture on diet and exercise (we all know most women appreciate a good physique) but I decided to look at a different kind of science in approaching this question.

I’m talking about pheromones, which are chemicals that a person emits that influence the behavior or psychology of other people.

While this sounds like “fad” medicine, there is some scientific support that certain foods can influence females in mysterious ways.

One such food is celery, which naturally contains a male steroid hormone called androstenene. While widely regarded as “rabbit food”, eating celery supposedly causes your sweat glands to release the pheromone androstenal, which is used in body sprays as an aphrodisiac.

Celery is also a good source of vitamin C, potassium, folic acid, fiber, calcium and vitamin B6, so it’s definitely a good staple to have in your diet, whether it works on the ladies or not.

Also, try truffles. It isn’t the cheapest food out there, but according to researchers, truffles contain androstenone and the pheromone androstenol, just like celery.

Besides pheromones, truffles also contain high amounts of protein as well as calcium, potassium and magnesium.

Finally, add parsnips to your diet for both the pheromones and the boost of boron, which helps your body metabolize estrogen and enhances blood levels of testosterone.

Parsnips are fat-free and a good source of vitamin c, folic acid and fiber.

If you’re interested in more solid science, studies have shown that foods that contain vitamin C or zinc, such as oysters, are great for your skin and have noticeable anti-aging properties, while foods with high amounts of biotin, such as swiss chard, are good for healthy hair.

However, despite the fact that these foods may help, please remember women like respect, appreciation, good moral values and a kind and healthy heart. So don’t eat too much.

Heart transplant patients appear to have an increased risk of serious skin cancers, including cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma, according to a new study.

Scientists say this may be because when people receive heart transplants, they require immune medications to keep the body from rejecting the transplant.  The changes to the immune system as a result of the medication may also make them more susceptible to developing cancers.

Northwestern University researchers studied 10 years of data on more than 6000 heart transplant patients at 32 U.S. transplant centers.  They found that heart transplant patients were significantly more likely to get skin cancers than other patients.

The risk increased post-transplant from 4- to 30-fold.

“Improved patient education and appropriately increased screening and detection of skin cancers in heart transplant patients may potentially reduce their risk of serious morbidity and mortality,” advised lead researcher Murad Alam, MD, MSCI, of Northwestern University.

The study was published in the American Journal of Transplantation.

You may have seen the recent reports about people’s ears turning black because of an adverse skin reaction to cocaine.

The cocaine in question has been cut with a livestock deworming medication, levamisole, which is banned for human consumption.

Nevertheless, drug dealers sometimes use levamisole to cut cocaine because it’s similar to the street drug in the way that it increases levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine to the brain’s euphoric centers.

Now, authorities are saying they are seeing more and more cases of people’s ears, cheeks and mouths turn blotchy and black after cocaine use.

My question is, why is it that these idiots keep using cocaine and all these other drugs to get high? What is the matter with our society?

Even after all the health advisories and warnings, to this day, millions of people in the U.S. are still using cocaine. Even worse, in some cases, they’re mixing it with other drugs.

It’s no secret that cocaine is an extremely dangerous drug, and you could end up paying a high price for such a short high. I’m not just talking about money here either.

Drugs like cocaine can do severe damage to the body. For example, it can cause vasoconstriction, which minimizes blood flow to the body’s extremities, such as the ear lobes, the nose, the fingertips – and yes, the penis.

Also, cocaine tends to have significant effects on the cardiovascular system, including the heart. That’s why it’s possible to have a spontaneous heart attack when mixing cocaine with other drugs.

In my opinion, L.A. Sheriff’s Capt. Mike Parker made the best case against using cocaine when he said, “If not because of the violence in this country and beyond, how about for no other reason so you don’t have your extremities turn purple and fall off.”

You would never think so looking at it, but the skin is an organ just like the heart or the liver. In fact, it happens to be the largest organ in the body.

The skin, as the border between the self and the outside world, is also the organ that defines us. It protects our internal organs from environmental threats. And for many people, the skin’s appearance, the presence or lack of wrinkles, for instance, is what defines aging, more so than the condition of their vital internal organs. Our skin is very important to us, but skin health is not something to which we give much (or any) thought.

The Skinny on Skin

Number of days it takes for the skin to renew itself: 28

Thickness of human skin in inches: 0.06 to 0.16

Average weight of adult male skin in pounds: 7

Surface area of adult male skin in square feet: 22

Millions of skin cells in average adult: 300

Number of hairs on a square half inch of skin: 10

Number of sweat glands in a square half inch of skin: 100

Number of feet of blood vessels in a square half inch of skin: 3.2

Number of days it takes for the skin to replace itself: 52 to 75

As that part of our body that is the most exposed to the environment, the skin’s greatest threat is the sun’s rays, and overexposure to these rays appears to be the most important factor in the development of skin cancer, which is on the rise worldwide. One out of every five Americans will develop skin cancer, and nearly 10,000 will die from it each year. Skin cancer was long considered a problem only for people over 50, but in the last couple of decades, the rate of skin cancer for people in their forties and younger has multiplied explosively. You need to think about your skin before it’s too late.

Sunny Myths

Sunscreen protects you against all ultraviolet rays from the sun.

FALSE. It protects you from the sun’s UVB rays, but no sunscreen product screens out all UVA rays, which are the cause of melanomas. So just because you put on sunscreen, you are not 100 percent protected.

You don’t need to reapply sunscreen when you come out of the water if you use waterproof sunscreen lotions.

FALSE. There’s no such a thing as a waterproof sunscreen. If you go into the water, you have to reapply these creams immediately because they get washed off.

Suntans are a sign of healthy skin.

FALSE. A tan is a sign of skin damage. The tanning occurs when the skin produces additional pigment (coloring) to protect itself against burns from the sun’s ultraviolet rays.

The sun produces two types of ultraviolet radiation. The ultraviolet A (UVA) rays, which penetrate deeper into the skin, are more responsible for melanoma, the most deadly type of skin cancer. The ultraviolet B (UVB) rays are responsible for sunburns and cause nonmelanomas, the squamous and basal cell skin cancers. Though melanomas account for only 4 percent of skin cancers, they are responsible for nearly 75 percent of all skin cancer deaths. Melanomas usually begin as flat, quarter-inch-sized, mottled, light brown to black blemishes with irregular borders. These blemishes can then turn red, blue, or white; crust on the surface; or bleed. Most frequently seen on the upper back, torso, lower legs, head, and neck, they can occur anywhere on the body.

Anyone can get skin cancer, but you are at increased risk if you

–have a family history of skin cancer

–have many moles or large moles

–have naturally blond or red hair

–have blue or green eyes

–have had five or more sunburns

–have been overexposed to the sun early in life

–are Caucasian with fair skin

While skin cancer is the most common type of cancer, and kills more young women than any other type of cancer, it is also the most preventable.

The best defense against skin cancer is sun protection. Because the sun’s ultraviolet rays can damage the cellular structure of the skin, the use of sun protection is important beginning at a young age and continuing throughout life. Whenever you are out in the sun, it’s a good idea to use a sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or higher. Apply it 15 to 30 minutes before going outdoors, and reapply it every two hours. If you can’t avoid being out and about in the hours of peak sunlight—ten a.m. until four p.m.—seek the shade whenever possible and wear a hat, visor, sunglasses, and other protective clothing during prolonged periods of sun exposure.

Since skin cancer has a 95 percent cure rate when detected early, by your late thirties you should have a skin physical every two years. This is particularly important if you are at greater risk for skin cancer. At a skin physical, a dermatologist will go over your entire body looking for atypical birthmarks, blemishes, and moles. This exam could save your life.

Skin cancers aside, chronic sun exposure also creates skin stains and premature wrinkling. Smoking, too, is bad for the skin. On the other hand, the aging of the skin can be slowed by a good diet. Certain foods, like salmon and the omega oils found in salmon, have been found to be extremely beneficial for skin health. On the other hand, while skin creams may reduce dryness, or improve excessive oiliness, they will not alter the overall health of the skin. Creams merely affect the superficial layer of the skin. Good skin health comes from within.

Sufferers of Morgellons disease complain of crawling and biting and stinging.  They describe parasites that lurk underneath their skin, leaving alien fibers in their wake.  Often, physical symptoms appear, such as rashes or lesions.

And now, science is telling them their disease is all in their minds, the Los Angeles Times reported.

After a comprehensive study of 108 Morgellons patients, the Mayo Clinic has concluded that the disease is a mental, rather than physical disorder.  The technical term is ‘delusional parasitosis.’

The researchers scanned skin samples from the patients, and only one proved to have an actual infestation – of pubic lice.

The symptoms of the rest of the patients, researchers speculated, either arose from mundane skin conditions that gave rise to delusions of infestation, or were the result of the patients scratching or picking at their skin.

As for the strange fibers?  Examination under microscope revealed those to be either skin flakes, scabs, hair, lint, textile fiber or everyday debris.

The Mayo Clinic study is the first to disprove the existence of a potentially new disease outbreak.

“We recognize it has taken time, and people and their families are suffering, but at same time, it’s important to release these findings appropriately and to ensure their scientific integrity,” said CDC spokeswoman Lola Russell.

While the revelation is likely bittersweet for the patients who have self-diagnosed themselves as Morgellons, researchers warn doctors and dermatologists not to dismiss any patient who describes similar symptoms because the person may suffer from an actual infestation, such as lice or bedbugs.

The study was published in the Archives of Dermatology.

Click here to read more from the Los Angeles Times.