Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
stephanie greene rMzg35fH6K0 unsplash?width=719&height=464&fit=crop&auto=webp
stephanie greene rMzg35fH6K0 unsplash?width=398&height=256&fit=crop&auto=webp
/ Unsplash

20 Interesting Food Facts

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Mercer chapter.

Everyone loves food and that’s no secret, but I’m sure there are some facts about the foods that you eat that you never knew about.  So here I am to share with you 20 interesting things about food!

1: A 20oz bottle of Coca-Cola has more sugar than a large Cinnabon.  Coke has 65g of sugar.

2: Ginger can help reduce exercise-induced muscle pain by up to 25%

3: Dried fruit has a massive nutrient loss compared to its fresh form.  It loses 30-80% of the natural vitamin and antioxidant contents

4: Strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries are actually not berries at all, but bananas, tomatoes, pumpkins, watermelon, and avocado are.  They are not considered berries because the way they grow

5: The red food-coloring carmine, used in skittles and other candies, is made from boiled cochineal bugs, a type of beetle.

6: If improperly prepared, fugu, or puffer fish, can kill you since it contains a toxin 1,200 times deadlier than cyanide.

7: Ranch dressing contains titanium dioxide, which is used to make it appear whiter. The same ingredient is used in sunscreen and paint for the same effect.

8: To make jelly beans shiny, shellac is used, which is made from Kerria lacca insect excretions.

9: When taken in large doses, nutmeg works as a hallucinogen.

10: Eating bananas can help fight depression because they have high levels of tryptophan.

11: Honey is made from nectar and bee vomit.

12: The twists in pretzels are meant to look like arms crossed in prayer.

13: There’s an enzyme in pineapple called bromelain that helps to break down proteins and can also ruin your tastebuds.

14: Apples float in water because 25% of their volume is made of air.

15: The reason why peppers taste hot is because of a chemical compound called capsaicin, which bonds to your sensory nerves and tricks them into thinking your mouth is actually being burned.

16: One of the most hydrating foods to eat is the cucumber, which is 96% water.

17: The common bread ingredient L-cysteine is derived from human hair.

18: Microwave popcorn gives off a toxic, lung-damaging gas when cooked.  This chemical is known as diacetyl.

19: Rosemary oils can be used as a natural meat preservative. It works better than chemical additives.

20: Cherries ease inflammation and gout; and they may even help prevent arthritis.

 

Facts and Photos:

http://foodmatters.tv/articles-1/25-powerful-reasons-to-eat-bananas

http://www.buzzfeed.com/justinabarca/food-facts-that-will-blow-your-mind#30zaqjj

http://www.naturalnews.com/specialreports/25-amazing-facts-about-food.pdf

http://dealspl.us/pages_pic/large/2012/04/1334090412.5694.jpg

http://projectmecentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Untitled-2.jpg