Eating These 5 Vegetables Causes Weird Physical Reactions

As children, our moms emphasized the importance of eating vegetables. They are great for our health. We don’t deny that fact, but some of them have very strange side effects and maybe we should avoid eating too much of them. The following five vegetables hold the fascinating power to change how your urine looks and smells and they can also tint your skin.

Image Source: www.kuhar.ba/

1. Carrots
Carrots are among other vegetables that contain carotenoids. They form an important part of our diet because they prevent our skins from getting burned by the sun and contribute to the natural tone of our skin. 

Image Source: www.healthandbloom.com/

If taken in excess however, they turn your skin orangey and make you look like you have a fake tan or one that went horribly wrong. This condition is called carotenemia. It occurs mostly in young children who eat mashed up orange veggies a lot and people who eat carrots, squashes and oranges in huge amounts. The skin tends to go back to normal even after we eat carotene-rich foods in small quantities but in very rare cases, the liver will lack the correct enzyme to turn the carotene to Vitamin A. In such a case, the skin remains orange for long and the immune system weakens.(source)

2. Beets

Image Source: www.vegacommunity.com/

Beetroots are not a popular vegetable but if you eat them in excess, your urine turns red. This condition is known as beeturia and is brought about by a pigment known as betalain. When betalain becomes too much in your system, your body gets rid of it through your pee. Luckily, this only happens to about 10 to 14 percent of humans after eating beetroot. But just in case your urine has taken that color and you haven’t eaten any beetroot, see a doctor for check-up.(1,2)

3. Tomatoes

Image Source: www.pixabay.com

Tomatoes turn the skin into a lovely orange shade. This is due to a pigment known as lycopene. For this to happen though, you have to be really taking lots of it. Like 4 pints of tomato juice per day for a long time. If you consume tomatoes in large quantities, chances are that you will overdose on Vitamin C. The body processes a maximum of 2,000 mg per day (the healthy recommended amount should be 80mg). Binging on tomatoes or foods that have Vitamin C like peppers and oranges, could also cause nausea.(source)

4. Asparagus

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Asparagus are the weirdest because they change how your pee smells. Yes, really. Just 15 minutes after you eat them, your pee will smell uniquely pungent. This is due to a compound known as methanethiol. During the process of processing asparagus, our bodies release stinky sulfurous amino acids. When you are peeing, these airborne chemicals waft into your nose.

I know you're wondering why you've never noticed the smell. Well, it’s not that your body is not breaking down the methanethiol, no. It’s just that you do not have the proper genes needed to detect the smell. Those that can smell the asparagus-perfumed pee are only 25 to 50 percent of the population. How special!(source)

5. Butternut squash

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Cutting raw butternut squash could lead to Cucurbita moschata dermatitis. The scientific name for butternut squash is Cucurbita moschata. Cucurbita moschata dermatitis on the other hand, is the side effect caused on some people, after they cut up butternut squash. The skin on their hands dries and becomes rough and tight. It then cracks and peels off later on. 

This is caused by the sap. To some people, it acts as a skin irritant which causes dermatitis. Daisies, corn squash and spurge have similar skin damaging chemicals. When cutting these veggies, have some gloves on and if affected apply some cortisone cream.(1,2)

Yeah, eating healthy could also be dangerous!

The Truth Behind High Fructose Corn Syrup According To Science.

There has been a lot of debate by current media on whether High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is beneficial or harmful to our health. They however are missing the point since the average American has increased HFCS consumption (taken mostly from processed foods and sweetened drinks), from zero to around 60 pounds per person yearly. Within this period of time, obesity rates have tripled while diabetes incidences have increased to more than sevenfold. HFCS may not be the only cause, but we can’t ignore it.

Image Source: www.theatlantic.com

Numerous advertising campaigns have been done by the Corns Refiners Association while they attempt earnestly to dispel the idea that HFCS is harmful. Through opinions by “medical and nutritional experts” they claim that it’s no different from cane sugar. It’s a “natural” product and that if used moderately; it’s a healthy part of our diet. The only problem is that it’s a major cause of obesity, heart disease, dementia, cancer, tooth decay, liver failure and more.

So, what does science say about HFCS?

1. Sugar in whatever form does cause obesity and diseases when consumed in pharmacological doses. 
Corn syrup and HFCS are harmful if consumed by a person in pharmacologic doses of 140 pounds per year. You find 17 teaspoonfuls of sugar in 20 ounces HFCS sweetened sports drink, soda or tea and an average teenager will take two drinks in a day. Our ancestors were much healthier since they took on average 20 teaspoons of sugar per year and yes, according to the corn industry, sugar is sugar and quantity matters but some differences do exist.

2. Cane Sugar and HFCS are not biochemically identical and the body processes both in different ways.
HFCS is not a naturally occurring product but an industrial food product. A chemical enzymatic process extracts it from corn stalks and this results in the chemically and biologically compound that is HFCS. Regular cane sugar (sucrose) has two sugar molecules that are bound together- fructose and glucose in equal measure. Enzymes in the digestive tract break down sucrose into fructose and glucose, which the body then absorbs. HFCS also has glucose and fructose but in a 55-45 ratio and in an unbound form. 

Since no bond exists between these two, digestion is not required and they absorb rapidly into the blood stream. Fructose will go to the liver and this will trigger lipogenesis (production of fats like cholesterol and triglycerides), a major liver damage cause. It leads to a condition known as “fatty liver”. When glucose is absorbed rapidly, it triggers a big spike in insulin- a major fat storage hormone. These two features of HFCS eventually lead to heightened metabolic disturbances that increase appetite, lead to weight gain, heart diseases, diabetes, dementia, cancer and more. 

Free fructose in high doses literary punches holes in the intestinal lining and allows nasty byproducts of toxic gut bacteria and proteins from partially digested foods to enter the blood stream. This triggers inflammation that is the root of diabetes, obesity, dementia heart disease, cancer, and accelerated aging. When fructose occurs naturally, for example in fruits, the same biological effects are not seen. The bottom line is; cane sugar and “corn sugar” (industry produced) are not physiologically or biochemically the same.

3. HFCS has contaminants like mercury not measured or regulated by the FDA.
A study conducted by an FDA researcher showed that HFCS contains toxic levels of mercury due to chlor-alkali products that are used during manufacture. When you run HFCS through a chromatograph or chemical analyzer, strange chemical peaks can be seen that are neither fructose nor glucose. The purity of the processed sugar is questionable since the exact effects, nature or toxicity of these compounds isn't known.

4. Independent medical and nutritional experts don’t support use of HFCS despite assertions by the corn industry that they do.
www.cornsugar.com and www.sweetsurprise.com reinforce their position that corn sugar and cane sugar are similar by quoting (or misquoting) experts. Barry M. Popkin, Ph.D., Professor, in the Department of Nutrition at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, has published on dangers caused by taking sugar-sweetened tea and how it contributes to the obesity epidemic. He reviewed HFCS in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and explained how free fructose contributes to obesity.

“The digestion, absorption, and metabolism of fructose differ from those of glucose. Hepatic metabolism of fructose favors de novo lipogenesis (production of fat in the liver). In addition, unlike glucose, fructose does not stimulate insulin secretion or enhance leptin production. Because insulin and leptin act as key afferent signals in the regulation of food intake and body weight (to control appetite), this suggests that dietary fructose may contribute to increased energy intake and weight gain. Furthermore, calorically sweetened beverages may enhance caloric over-consumption. … the increase in consumption of HFCS has a temporal relation to the epidemic of obesity, and the overconsumption of HFCS in calorically sweetened beverages may play a role in the epidemic of obesity.”

The corn industry put this out of context saying “All sugar you eat is the same.”
If you ask most of these experts why they support the corn industry, they will state that their comments were taken out of context. It’s just not right to misrepresent scientists who have fought against obesity and HFCS sweetened beverages.

5. HFCS products are of poor quality, nutritionally depleted and full of artificial ingredients and empty calories.
If the label of a product you are buying states “high fructose corn syrup” be sure that it’s not a whole, real or fresh food that is full of fiber, minerals, vitamins, antioxidants and phytonutrients. Though we should overall reduce our sugar intake, we should still stay away from HFCS products. 

Debate may range on the physiology and biochemistry of corn sugar versus cane sugar but the real issues here are only two:
1. Our consumption of fructose has increased from 140 pounds per year as compared to 20 teaspoons from ten thousand years ago.
2. HFCS is mostly found in poor quality foods that have a nutritional vacuum and filled with different sorts of disease promoting compounds, salt, fats, mercury and chemicals.

What do you think? Is there a relationship between the large intakes of HFCS in our diets to the obesity epidemic? Does the science presented above convince you on the general effects of HFCS?
[Source: www.drhyman.com/ , www.dummies.com]

Fast Food Strawberry Milkshake Requires 59 Ingredients But Surprisingly None Is Strawberry!

The flavor industry’s role has become so influential in terms of food production. Children for example, prefer artificial flavors rather than the real thing. Marketing to children has become so important such that flavorists have increased their efforts in finding out what children like. “Taste tests” are being done constantly by flavor companies for kid’s focus groups where they pilot their new products.  

Image Source: www.thekitchn.com

Complicated and unpredictable flavors are found in fresh vegetables and fruits and when flavorists create additives for adults, they imitate nature as closely as possible. They do the opposite for kids food where sweetness is increased and bitterness gotten rid of. In fact, children flavors are twice as sweet as those meant for adults.

"Children's expectation of a strawberry is completely different," one flavorist says. "They want something that is strong and that has something like bubblegum notes."

To make strawberry milkshake at home, you need : cream, ice, sugar, strawberry and a touch of vanilla. A fast food milkshake on the other hand contains: sugar, milkfat and nonfat milk, sweet whey, guar gum, high-fructose corn syrup, diglycerides and monoglycerides, sodium phosphate, cellulose gum, carrageenan, E129, citric acid and artificial strawberry flavor. 

The artificial strawberry flavor happens to contain all these chemicals: 

amyl butyrate, amyl acetate, amyl valerate, anisyl formate, anethol, benzyl isobutyrate,  benzyl acetate, cinnamyl valerate,  cinnamyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cognac essential oil, dipropyl ketone, diacetyl, ethyl butyrate, ethyl heptanoate,  ethyl cinnamate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl lactate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl valerate, ethyl propionate, heliotropin, ionone, hydroxyphrenyl- 2-butanone (10% solution in alcohol), isobutyl butyrate, isobutyl anthranilate, maltol, 4-methylacetophenone, lemon essential oil, methyl anthranilate, methyl cinnamate, methyl benzoate, methyl heptine carbonate, methyl salicylate, methyl naphthyl ketone, mint essential oil, nerolin, neroli essential oil,  neryl isobutyrate, phenethyl alcohol, orris butter,  undecalactone, rum ether,  vanillin, rose and solvent.

So, the next time you order a strawberry milkshake, all you will be getting is a gloopy mixture of numerous additives that offer artificial strawberry flavor. Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation says that none of these ingredients used in fast foods bears a resemblance to the homemade version, that’s healthy. 

The sweet taste you get comes from sweet whey, sugar and high-fructose corn syrup. This shocking discovery was made by Eric on his new book Chew On This. The book tackles how fast food restaurants target children through advertising of their products. The book also reveals what an average strawberry milkshake is made of. 

In 1975, a typical American drank only 120 litres of soft drinks. This number has doubled to 240 litres today. That is about over 500 340 ml cans per person. Toddlers too have not been left out. About 20% of children between the age of one and two take soft drinks in America daily.
[Source: www.mirror.co.uk]

8 Vegetables You Only Need To Buy Once, Then Regrow Forever

It’s easier to go to the grocery but growing these vegetables from kitchen scraps would be totally badass! It does require some time though but the benefits riding on the project are many. It will save you money and you need no farm; you can do it indoors. All you need to do is use fresh scraps. Do not use stuff that has been composting for weeks. When regrowing the plants, make sure you provide them with enough light and water.

1. Scallions

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Regrow them using their discarded roots. Leave an inch of the scallion attached to the root then put them in a glass of water. Place the glass of water in a room that’s well-lit.

2. Garlic

Image Source: www.endoriot.com

Garlic sprouts can be grown from the garlic clove and have a mild flavor from that of garlic. The sprouts can be added to pasta, salads and other dishes. When they begin to sprout, have them placed in a glass that has little water.

3. Bok Choy

Image Source: www.imgur.com

In a well lit area, place the Bok Choy’s root ends in water. Give them 1-2 weeks then transplant them to a pot that has soil. It will grow a new full head.

4. Carrots

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Carrot greens can be regrown from carrot tops. Have the carrot tops put in a dish that has little water. Place the dish in a room that is well-lit or on a window sill. Carrot greens are a bit bitter but when chopped up together with garlic and sweetened with vinegar, they can be used in salads. 

5. Basil

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Basil cuttings can be used to grow new basil. Put basil clippings that have stems of 3-4 inches in a glass of water. Place them in direct sunlight and when the roots get to 2 inches long, transfer them to pots. With time, they will grow into full basil plants. Be sure to change the water constantly though, so they don’t get slimy.

6. Celery

Image Source: www.imgur.com

You can use the leftover celery bottom for this.  Cut the base off and place it in a shallow bowl or saucer in the sun. The leaves will thicken and grow with time in the middle of the base. Transfer it to soil after 3 days.

7. Romaine Lettuce

Image Source: www.healthybodynow.net

Romaine lettuce can be grown from the bottom of a lettuce head. Put stumps of the romaine lettuce in a ½ inch water. Make sure the water level is at ½ inch. Few days after, transplant the romaine lettuce into soil once new leaves and roots appear. The leaves can grow up to twice the size. Cabbages can also be regrown in the same way.

8. Cilantro

Image Source: www.imgur.com

If you place the stems of cilantro in a glass of water, they will grow. Transplant them when the roots become long enough, to a pot that has soil. Place them in a room with ample lighting. The plants will be fully grown in a few months.
Share these tips with friends and family!

You May Never Drink Coke Again After Watching This Experiment

Within recent years, people have been pointing out the health concerns of taking soda, especially cola. Of great concern is how the drink wrecks the body and the high amounts taken by Americans today. The acid in coke is too much that it can be used for other purposes. This makes one question whether it?s safe for consumption. People use the drink to degrease engines, dissolve rust, clean toilets and remove paint.

This particular experiment done with the acid-ridden drink will shock you. It was done to find out what would happen if the coke is mixed with something that has the opposite of its acidic properties. Milk had this properties and therefore was the perfect choice. Using this step by step guide, they got a shocking reaction.

1. You will need coke and milk only for this experiment.

2. Pour a small amount of the milk into coke.

3. Allow the mixture to sit for 6 hours

4. The results after are shocking

5. Floating at the top of the bottle is an odd looking muck!

6. The bottom however is worse because the contents look like they are from a garbage disposal!

The experiment provides proof that this drink is not safe for human consumption. If this is the type of reaction gotten when it?s mixed with milk, what about inside our bodies where we can?t see the results visually?

This video is a demonstration of the experiment and the results gotten.

[source: www.truthseekerdaily.com]

8 Beers You Should Not Be Drinking

We chose what to eat very carefully but we rarely give the same attention to what we drink in terms of our health. By law, foods and nonalcoholic drinks should have their ingredients listed and the FDA monitors this. Beer however, belongs in neither category and the alcohol industry has been lobbying for years against labeling ingredients on the beers. Some do it to hide recipes while others do it to hide the harmful ingredients used. 

Some of the harmful ingredients found in beer include:

• High Fructose Corn Syrup
• GMO Corn Syrup 
• Propylene Glycol
• GMO Corn 
• GMO Sugars 
• Fish Bladder 
• Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
• Caramel Coloring 
• Natural Flavors 
• Insect-Based Dyes
• BPA 
• Carrageenan
• And lots more!

The following are beers you should avoid drinking:

1. Newcastle Brown Ale

Image source:  www.organics.com

It contains caramel coloring. Ammonia is categorized as a carcinogen and is used to make class 3 and four caramel coloring. Alcohol is a carcinogen itself and when drank in moderation, it may decrease cancer developing chances. However, when carcinogens are added they have an opposite effect. They increase cancer development chances.

2. Miller Lite

Image source: www.organics.org

Miller Lite contains corn syrup and GMO corn.

3. Corona Extra

Image source: www.organics.org

It contains Propylene Glycol and GMO Corn Syrup. Although surrounded by controversy, Propylene Glycol is said to cause potential harm to people’s health.

4. Budweiser

Image source: www.organics.org

It comprises of GMO corn. In the year 2007, Greenpeace found that experimental GMO rice was being used in Anheuser-Busch beer (Budweiser).

5. Pabst Blue Ribbon

Image source: www.organics.org

This beer comprises GMO corn syrup and GMO corn.

6. Michelob Ultra

Image source: www.organics.org

It’s not so popular but it contains GMO dextrose (genetically modified sweetener).

7. Red Stripe

source: www.villagegreennetwork.com

Contains GMO corn.

8. Coors Light

Image source: www.organics.org

Popular among college students because it’s cheap. It however contains GMO corn syrup.

Alternative healthy beers to drink are organic beers. You can also trust beer imported from Europe since GMOs are banned. American microbrews are also another option but one cannot be so sure since most larger beer making corporations have bought the microbrew beers.

Unpasteurized & Unfiltered Organic GMO-free Beers

• Wolaver’s – all beers
• Bison – all beers
• Fish Brewery Company – Fish Tale Ales
• Pinkus – all beers
• Lakefront Brewery – Organic ESB
• Lamar Street – Whole Foods label (Goose Island brewed)
• Brooklyn – (organic if ingredients are available)
• Wychwood – Scarecrow Ale
• Samuel Smiths – Samuel Smiths Organic Ale
• Dogfish Head (organic if ingredients available)

Unpasteurized & Unfiltered Non-Organic GMO-free Beers

• Duck Rabbit – Amber Ale, Brown Ale, Milk Stout, Porter 
• Sierra Nevada – all choices
• Shipyard – Summer Brew
• Dogfish Head- Shelter Pale Ale, Chicory Stout, 60 Minute IPA, 
• Bridgeport – IPA (Bottle conditioned)
• North Coast – Blue Star
• Ayinger – all choices
• Victory Brewery – Whirlwind 
• Royal Oak – Pale Ale
• Weihenstephaner – Hefe Weissbier
• Fraziskaner – Dunkel Weisse and Hefeweisse
• Hoegaarden – Belgian Wit
• Maisel’s – Weisse

Other Healthy Beer Choices to drink

• Duchy Original Ale Organic 
• Heineken
• Amstel Light
• Steamwhistle
• Mill Street Brewery
• Nelson Organic Ale
• Fuller’s Organic
• Natureland Organic 

[Source: www.foodbabe.com,www.atsdr.cdc.gov,www.greenpeace.org]

Share with friends and keep them informed! 

This Video Will Change How You Feel About The McDonalds French Fries- You May Never Eat Them Again!

The video shows why McDonald Fries are addictive just like drugs and extremely harmful.

Michael Pollan, an Author, journalist food activist and journalism professor at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism did this research. His research focuses on the industrial food chain.

He emphasizes on the importance of cooking to improve family health and build communities. Cooking is simple and an important step that can help fix the broken food system we are experiencing now. It could also hopefully or most importantly break the growing dependence we have on corporations.

Image source: www.chatteringkitchen.com

According to this video, he shows us how McDonald’s insists on the Russet Burbank potatoes for its fries. This type of potato is found in America and is unusually long but difficult to grow. The potatoes they purchase should have no blemishes and this is difficult for the farmers since potatoes commonly suffer from Net Necrosis, a disease that causes unwanted lines and spots on the potatoes.

Farmers therefore use methamidophos (Monitor), a pesticide “that is so toxic that the farmers who grow these potatoes in Idaho won't venture outside and into their fields for five days after they spray.”

When the potatoes are ready for harvest, McDonald’s put them in giant atmospheric controlled sheds that are the size of football stadiums. This is because the potatoes are not edible for about six weeks. “They have to off gas all the chemicals in them.”

After watching this video, you may never eat at McDonalds again and it may not be a bad thing.

Studies have shown how pesticides, GMOs and other factors surrounding us daily are harmful to our health. Cancer rates are also on the rise due to the same factors. We have to make better choices with our lives and making connections from what is presented to us is a huge step towards this.

May be it’s time we questioned why fast foods are so addictive and extremely harmful just like drugs.

The Largest Meal In The World : A Whole Camel, Stuffed With A Whole Lamb, Stuffed With Chickens, Stuffed With Fish, Stuffed With Eggs.

Here’s another one for the books, folks. The extent of the human imagination, and appetite, truly is limitless. Don’t ever believe that you’ve seen it all. The largest known dish on any menu has been recorded in the Guinness Book of Records as stuffed whole camel. Yes, that is correct. A whole camel stuffed. It doesn’t end there, either. It’s not simply stuffed the way something small time, like a turkey, would be stuffed. This camel is stuffed with two sheep, or lambs, which, in turn, are stuff with around 20 chickens which are stuffed with fish. Can a proper explanation really be given?

Image Source: www.odditycentral.com

Image Source: www.odditycentral.com

The meal, whose original name is unknown, originates in the Middle East as a traditional Bedouin dish. It has since been dubbed with the title of “camel Turducken” and is sometimes used as the dish of choice for weddings and special parties in places like Saudi Arabia. For people who are unfamiliar with the original term, Turducken is a turkey, stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a chicken. This is a buckle popper for most Americans, but would probably be considered an appetizer for this crowd. Naturally, this collation of a Chinese Box in meal form is not something that can simply be whipped up in an instant. This mass of meat has to be boiled and then roasted over burning charcoal until the camel meat is crisp and succulent. Where is the meat boiled? Do we really want to know what is large enough to boil a stuffed camel? The whole process, surprisingly, only takes 24 hours. A week wouldn’t have been completely unimaginable. When the ensemble is complete the camel is served on a silver platter, of course, and the guests are left to inhale the meat using whatever utensil they feel is necessary, until nothing is left but bones and New Year’s resolutions.

Image Source: www.odditycentral.com

Image Source: www.odditycentral.com

According to Snopes, a myth-busting website, the recipe to make camel Turducken is actually in a cook book called International Cuisine and is listed as a Saudi-Arabian dish. So, if you ever want to impress a group of 80 to 100 guests, this book will give you all of the necessary ingredients and cooking instructions to help you fulfill this desire. The same site also gives reference to Richard Sterling’s book entitled The Fearless Diner in which he describes his meeting with Sven Krause, executive chef at a high- class Bangkok restaurant, who tells, in detail, of actually cooking and serving this meal while working in Saudi Arabia.
[source:  Food Beast via Neatorama]