You may have seen a post floating around Facebook and other social media platforms (also Instagram) asserting the benefits of a fully ripe banana with dark patches on the skin. According to this message, it only takes one ripe banana a day to fight cancer! The message goes something like this: “According to the latest […]
Food Science
Does Sugar Cause Your Kids to be Hyperactive?
Dad is enjoying a night out with the kids. Dad, Billy, and Joey scarf down some hamburgers and french fries, enjoy a kick-butt action movie (don’t tell mom) and, for the piece de resistance, they stop off at the ice cream parlor for some loaded hot fudge sundaes. Dad doesn’t know it, but he’s in […]
What Are Amino Acids?
Many people are confused about the difference between amino acids and proteins, especially in how these relate to nutrition and out biological processes. One of the first things to know is that the foods we eat contain proteins but these proteins are not themselves directly turned into other proteins. With a very few minor exceptions, […]
What is Lactose Intolerance?
What is Lactose? Lactose is the carbohydrate sugar naturally found in milk and milk products. Lactase is the enzyme needed to break down this sugar in the digestive tract. Lactase is secreted by the cells lining the small intestine. The enzyme breaks down lactose into two simpler forms of sugar called glucose and galactose, which […]
What Does it Mean to Denature a Protein?
What’s the Big Deal About Protein Denaturing? Raw foodies make a lot of noise about proteins being denatured by cooking and so losing their natural goodness. These ideas provide fodder for advertisers wishing to set their products apart in a busy marketplace. For example, whey protein supplements for athletes and bodybuilders represent a multi-billion dollar […]
Does Imitation Vanilla Contain Petroleum or Paper Mill Waste?
It is claimed that imitation vanilla flavor contains petroleum, wood pulp from paper mill waste, or even cow poop. If there is one good reason not to use imitation vanilla flavoring, it is because it is an imitation, a pale ghost of the real thing. But are there other, more serious reasons not to use artificial […]