Yet another food blog?
Yet another food blog?
Yet another blog?
Yes!
Another food blog?
Yes!
Recipes or Critic related?
No!
Then What?
We have been given a “PAUSE” by Nature to reexamine our perception on things and make simple things interesting. So, I tried to look for interesting facts about our day to day food items.
Curious? Try an example.
Our regular fruit Banana is supposedly the largest herb in the world. It’s never a Tree as it’s widely called, but a berry.
Now thinking of Strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries? They aren’t berries. They are indeed part of Rose family.
Confused and Intrigued?
If yes, keep reading…
Want to know what other surprises Banana has in store for you?
Botanists know it as ‘Musa sapientum’. Translates to “Fruit of the Wise Men” in Latin. Now aren’t you curious why wise men needed Banana? Check out what it can do.
Ever feel in a terrible mood? Banana can lighten you up. How? Its contents, namely Tryptophan and Vitamin B6 can cause our body to produce the happy chemical Serotonin. It also lowers the blood pressure due to its high potassium and low salt content. It acts as an ideal probiotic as well. Now you understand the feeling you get from eating a banana.
Not just the fruit but the peel of the banana has its uses too. The inside of the banana peels reduces itching, when applied onto any insect bites. It aids in the healing of warts and the removal of splinters. It can even act as a good silver polish. Not just that, it can polish your leather shoes too. So now think before you throw a peel.
Technically we humans share 50% of their DNA with bananas.
A great fruit indeed.
But we haven’t glorified it enough, right? I thought so too. Actually, we have.
International Banana Club and Museum, California has 17,000 banana-themed artifacts and holds a place in GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS as the “largest collection devoted to any fruit”.
Amazed?
Let’s move on to another fruit which comes in the Doctor Proverb. Yup you guessed it – Apple, which is also a member of Rose family. It sure looks like a sweet family to be in.
As a kid I used to be confused as which is scarier – eating an apple or visiting a doctor! Seems I am not the only one as the fear of eating apples has a name: Malusdomesticaphobia. Now that’s scary to pronounce too.
Not just that, Apple seeds contain a compound known as amygdalin, which can be lethal in high doses. Yikes!!!
But then, this is a fruit which has a history with us. How? Archeologists revealed a likeliness for humans towards apples since 6500 BC. Ain’t that a sweet history?
Been here that long, shouldn’t it be so familiar? Its sure is, that there is a separate science for apple growing – “Pomology” and people involved are called “Pomologists”. Now that’s a science division unheard of, else would have surely attracted applicants.
But then, why do we need a science division for it? What’s so complicated in this simple fruit? Actually, this simple fruit has the largest number of varieties – 7500 worldwide. USA alone grows 2500 of them. Wow!
Been here long, has a science division for it, did it get a symbol too? Yes. Apple blossom is the state flower of both Michigan and Arkansas. The financial capital of the world, New York has been nicknamed “The Big Apple”.
Now you are wondering what comes next, right?
Next, we move on to a favorite vegetable – Potato. Yup the one vegetable we’ll happily eat mashed, roasted, fried or stewed. Not just chew, it’s used to brew as well. Alcoholic beverages like Norwegian Aquavit, Irish Poteen and even a variety of Vodka comes from Potato. Tempting as always, Potato is!
Remember how Matt Damon survived in “The Martian” by growing Potato on Mars? It would sure be possible considering the fact that Potato was the first food that was ever grown in space aboard the space shuttle Columbia in 1995.
Back on earth, Potato can be a favorite food for environment friendly folks too. They’re easy to grow and don’t require enormous amounts of fertilizer and chemical additives to thrive.
The favorite food has a sad history too. One of the main causes of the Great Famine in Ireland between 1845 and 1852 was a potato disease known as potato blight. The scarcity of potatoes led to a high death toll of around 1 million people who were dependent on them as a main food source.
Technically, Potato has 80% just water and only the remaining 20% are solids. But don’t write it off just yet. Because much to anyone’s surprise, Potato has more vitamin C than oranges, more potassium than a banana, and even fiber-rich than apples. Even potato skins are a good source of potassium and iron. Aren’t that a healthy temptation?
But it still remains a veggie which is always argued against by most dieticians as the cause of weight gain. Ha, don’t be disheartened yet. Because in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition in 2014, researchers observed that when people followed healthy recipes, they lost weight even after eating five to seven servings of potatoes per week. So just find healthy recipes to continue your indulgence.
If you wonder about how to glorify this vegetable, UN declared 2008 as the “Year of the Potato”, affirming the necessity to focus attention on the role of potato as staple food in the diet of world population. They mentioned that it can play a major role in food security and eradicating poverty. That surely is a hope.
Impressive? Pretty much.
That’s just three simple food items. They sure made your dopamine levels increase. If you are wondering what’s dopamine, it’s your hormone for curiosity. A tip for chocolate lovers here – Dark Chocolate increases dopamine. So, eat chocolate and explore more.
Hope you had an interesting time here. On a goodbye note, do you know the hottest chilli in the world will kill you if you taste it? If you believe the Ghost Chilli still holds the record for it, give your dopamine some work and find about Carolina Reaper!!!
Will meet again with more dopamine shots!!!!
image source
- Sweetest & Hottest: Saranya