Thinking Tuesday- Nutrition Knowledge

So I'm thinking of starting a new thing...it's called "Thinking Tuesday".  I've got some things for you to think about today.  Maybe I won't have them every Tuesday, but today I do!

I have been in my Principles of Nutrition class for a whopping 2 days! (psst- got an A in BioChem)  In that time I have learned several pieces of random info that I thought was interesting and worth sharing.  Our professor, Dr. Betty, is very intelligent and well-credentialed.  She helped design food for astronauts, specifically the butterscotch sundae that was eaten on the moon.

Sometimes I think that if we thought more about what we were eating and why, then we would eat better.

Here's is your first edition of Thinking Tuesday's "Food for Thought":

• The stomach of a 6-month-old infant is the same size as an adult's stomach.
• Eating fresh pineapple, papaya, or kiwi prior to a meal will help breakdown the protein you eat.
• The word health comes from the root words "holy" and "whole".
• Tartrazine is a yellow food coloring used in cheesy chips and boxed macaroni and cheese.  It is a derivative of coal tar and has been linked to increased hyperactivity in children.
• Dimethylpolysiloxane.  It's an anti-foaming agent added to fast food chicken nuggets to keep help the different ground up chicken parts stick together.

• Asparagus is the #1 veggie you should be eating! It has iron, sulfur, and folate.
• Ground beef used in fast food restaurants has been treated with ammonia. This is gross and it denatures the protein in the meat.  Meaning you don't get the benefit of the protein from what you just ate. 
• At any time you have 3-4 pounds of bacteria (good and bad) living in your gut.
• 70% of your immune system resides in your small intestine.
• We should all take probiotics.

And finally:

• You have as many neurons surrounding your intestines as you do in your brain.  So that raises the question....which one is your "first brain"?  Which one controls the other?

Think about it.  

Did you enjoy Thinking Tuesday?

Love and deep thoughts, 

Carissa & Kyle