Random interesting facts and a recipe.

- In pathology, signs are objective and symptoms are subjective. Examples: a doctor can measure your blood pressure (a sign) and you can tell him or her about your headache (a symptom).

- Fiber is good for the good bacteria in your gut. Heard of probiotics? They are bacteria that are beneficial to your digestive tract. Heard of prebiotics? They are food sources for probiotics. Examples of probiotics: bananas, leeks, oats, whole grains, apples, green peas, flax seeds...

- When you are in the bathtub, despite getting all wrinkly, you have actually absorbed water. The tub water is hypotonic and causes your body to swell. If you add epsom salts, however, the opposite will occur and your body will actually lose some water as you bathe.

- The best way to fight a cat allergy? Get a cat! Your immune system will learn to recognize the cat allergen as a normal molecule and not as a threat (this is the same affect as getting allergy injections).

- Once you have become infected with the "chicken pox" virus, you will have it for life. This virus hides in your cells, so your body can never fully rid itself of this pathogen.

- You have cancer, right now. The adaptive immune system is always busy killing off cancerous cells. The evidence for this comes from people infected with HIV. The adaptive immune system is destroyed in patients with HIV and without it these patients have been shown to have ridiculously high amounts of cancerous cells.

- Some people can be allergic to a raw food, but when that food is cooked, they can eat it with no problems. This is because some antigens (a marker on foreign material that is recognized by your antibodies) contain continuous and constant stretches of amino acids. Upon heating, the protein structure of the antigen is denatured (i.e. broken down) and the ordering of the amino acids is scrambled. Without the continuous stretch of amino acids, the antigen is no longer recognized by your body and you won't experience an immune response to the food.

And before I go... a little recipe.

This is my cream-less cream sauce. It is awesome over steamed veggies, tossed with pasta for an alfredo style sauce, drizzled as a salad dressing, or as a dipping sauce (especially for falafels). I love it because it is creamy and tangy.

4 Tablespoons tahini
2-4 Tablespoons water (depending how thick you want the sauce)
1 Tablespoon white miso (or tamari, or soy sauce)
2 Teaspoons sweetener (honey, agave, maple syrup, brown sugar)
2 Teaspoons lemon juice or yellow mustard
A Pinch (or to taste) of dried garlic, ginger, cumin and tumeric (for color, optional)

Blend (or stir very well) all ingredients. Refrigerate when not using. Serves 2. Enjoy.