Did You Know?

In the spirit of nutrition class, I am going to post some random nutrition that you might find interesting. These all come from my textbook.
1. Females in general have more taste buds than males.
2. Most native Americans, Chinese, and Southeast Asians are thought to be lactose intolerant.
3. Pasta is actually a Chinese food dating from the first century. Marco Polo imported them into Italy in the 1300s.
4. Not sure what this has to do with nutrition but companion comes from the latin word companio which means one who shares bread.
5. Honey and Karo Syrup are dangerous for babies because they contain spores of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, they should never be fred to infants younger than one year of age. Infants do not produce as much stomach acid as older children and adults, so these spores can germinate in an infant's GI tract and cause botulism, a deadly foodborne illness.
6. Aspartame has methanol in it. YUM!
7. Make sure you carry beano with you if you plan on eating Jerusalem artichoke...it's worse than beans. ;)
8. Salt can do more than just make your food taste salty. Salt also supresses the bitter flavors in foods. When combined with chocolate in a chocolate-covered pretzel, for example, the salt bocks some of the bitter flavor, making the chocolate taste sweeter.
9. Only about one-third of our population are believed to have experienced a brain freeze.
10. Some African groups used to eat clay because of believed nutritional content. When analyzed, clay was found to be high in calcium, magnesium, potassium, copper, zinc and iron. However, when it goes through the GI tract, clay soil reduces the absorption of iron copper, and zinc.
11. Pica is often associated with pregnancy but not always. It is the natural craving for nonfood items such as dirt clay or laundry starch.
12.Puffer fish is a delicacy in Japan because it is dangerous to eat because of the poison. The risk is part of the adventure of eating it. When prepared properly, it is supposed to give eaters no more than a slight numbing feeling, but it can be life threatening.
13. A 6-oz can of tuna usually only holds 3.75 to 4 ounces of tuna because of the water in the tuna.
14. White on your nails does not necessarily mean a vitamin deficiency. Sometimes it may only be a slight injury to your nail that gave you the white spot.

Well that's all I have for now. Maybe I will find more interesting things as I continue through the semester.