Nutrition (Fun) Facts

1. "Nutrition" comes from the Latin word "nutritio", meaning "to nourish". "Doctor"
comes from the Latin verb docēre = "to teach".

2. Adding citrus juice to green tea stabilizes its catechin content, boosting the level of antioxidants.

3.  A small Coke can (12 oz - 355 ml) has a total of 39 grams of sugar.

4. Drying fruit causes massive nutrient loss, depleting 30-80% of its antioxidant and vitamin content.

5. Neither strawberries, raspberries or blackberries are actually berries. They are known as false berries or epigynous berries (botanically, these are berries which develop from an inferior ovary). Examples of true berries: bananas, avocado, Coffee berries, cranberries, tomatoes, watermelon, pumpkin, grape, Goji berries. 

6. Adding herbs to your meats can break up potentially cancer-causing compounds (called HCAs = heterocyclic amines) which form when meat is cooked. For example, Rosemary helps reduce the toxins in grilled meat by up to 85-90%.

7. U.S. pilots have been advised since 1992 NOT to drink aspartame containing soft drinks due to risk of seizures.

8. Lemon juice can be a very good deodorant alternative as the citric acid can kill odor-causing bacteria.

9. Some of the most alkaline foods are: lemons, watermelon, cucumber, spinach, kale, broccoli, avocado, celery, bell pepper.

10. Avocado (or "alligator pear"), considered by many a vegetable is actually a fruit - botanically a large berry that contains a single seed.

11. Most vegetables are healthier when eaten raw. But some are better when cooked like: tomatoes, asparagus, mushrooms, spinach.

12. You can drink too much water. “Hyponatremia” is when a person consumes too much water, usually during endurance sports, which causes their sodium levels to be very low and can even result in death.

13. One gram of alcohol equals about 7 calories. Fat: 1 gram = 9 calories. Protein: 1 gram = 4 calories. Carbohydrates: 1 gram = 4 calories.

14. Egg whites contain all 9 essential amino acids, making them a great source of protein. Protein is composed of amino acids, which fall into two categories: essential and nonessential. The body can make 10 amino acids itself, and these are called nonessential amino acids. Nine amino acids cannot be made by the body and must be obtained through diet. These are called essential amino acids. Soybean, hemp, quinoa and kale are among the few plant-derived foods that contain all nine essential amino acids.

15. Bell peppers, parsley and broccoli have a higher content of vitamin C than the well known oranges and lemons.

16. Besides Omega 3, 6 and 9 there's also Omega 7 (a class of mono-unsaturated fatty acids found in macadamia nut oil and sea buckthorn oil) and Omega 5 (poly-unsaturated).

17. Corn is not a vegetable. It’s actually a grain (a very high density carbohydrate).



18. Being desperate to eat nothing but healthy... is a disease itself called Orthorexia, an eating disorder or mental disorder characterized by an extreme or excessive preoccupation with avoiding foods perceived to be unhealthy.