An apology and some more random facts.

I'm a bad granddaughter: My grandparents' anniversary was on Monday and I forgot to wish them congratulations. So sorry! xoxo

I have some random interesting facts to share:

- Spices were originally added to foods to preserve them because most herbs/spices are anti-microbial (meaning anti-fungal, anti-viral, and anti-bacteria) and thus protect food from spoilage.

- Most spices lose their aromatic properties and their health-benefiting properties within a year of being stored on a shelf or in a spice rack. If you have spices on that are over a year old, they may be 'dead'. If you cook with them, you may still get some flavor, but it won't be as intense or as healthy as the flavor you'd get from some fresher dried herbs.

- Many of the healthy properties in green tea are best extracted in alcohol... in order to fully enjoy the healthy properties of green tea, it should be served with alcohol. So, why don't bars serve green tea martinis?!

- Oatmeal and okra get all gooey and slimy when cooked. The gooey-ness is from their released mucilage. Mucilage is a carbohydrate with bulk laxative properties, meaning it'll help with bowel movements.

- Chinese Food Syndrome: when people get sick from eating too much Chinese food. These people don't actually get sick from all Chinese food per say, they get sick from all of the glutamate they are eating (Americanized Chinese food is very high in MSG (monosodiumglutamate)).

- The initial symptoms of Alzheimer's are very similar to the symptoms associated with a vitamin K deficiency. As one of my profs suggested: if you think someone has Alzheimer's, feed them bananas first just to make sure that it isn't an easily curable vitamin K deficiency!

- When the body is going through a detox, it tends to 'gain weight'. The weight gain is not from fat accumulation, but is from the retention of water. Excess water is retained in order to dilute and flush-out all of the toxins that are being released during the detox period.

- Often people are depressed because they have low serotonin levels. Serotonin is made from the amino acid Tryptophan. Instead of assuming depression, eat some Tryptophan-rich foods for a bit and see how the mood changes. Many of my favorite foods are high in this amino acid: oats, chocolate, soy, dates, and sesame, sunflower, and pumpkin seeds. Other foods include egg whites, salmon, cottage cheese, and yogurt.

- Plants are complex organisms. There are 7 parts to a plant that can be harvested and used in botanical medicine: the leaves (folium), the flowers (flores), the fruit (fructus), the herb (herba), the root (radix), the rhizome (rhizoma), and the bark (cortex).