While some wellness experts will admit, reluctantly, that sugar does not cause diabetes (all by itself) they will positively jump all over soft drinks, telling you, among all the other evil attributes of soda, that it will give you diabetes. In fact, you may even hear the sugar-free diet soda will give you diabetes. Why […]
Food Science
Will a Tryptophan Supplement Help Me Sleep?
This is part two of a two-part series on tryptophan and sleep. The first covered sleepiness from Thanksgiving turkey or warm milk. This last part will cover tryptophan supplements, including safety issues. Although reports from studies into the effect of tryptophan vary widely as to its effects on mood, memory, and sleep, it does seem […]
Tryptophan: Does Thanksgiving Turkey or Warm Milk Make You Sleepy?
I just came across of dubious food fact about bananas. The tryptophan in bananas has sleep-inducing properties. Therefore, if you eat a banana before going to bed it will help you sleep. Anyone who has suffered bouts of insomnia will not have to be told that this is highly unlikely, but what about turkey? Everyone […]
Do Ripe Bananas Contain Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) Making them an Anti-Cancer Food?
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 […]
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, […]