Ridden with inaccuracies, half truths, and plain old news.
Posts tagged Food
In Defence of Coffee
Nov 9th
Not that long ago it seemed like Coffee was considered a Bad Thing. We were encouraged to give up caffeine and drink unfeasible amounts of water in order to have more energy and clearer skin. Now it seems like there are quite a few health benefits to wake up juice and it could be considered a vital part of a balanced diet.
According to Wikipedia coffee can reduce the risk of:
Alzheimer’s and Dementia
gallstones
Parkinson’s disease
Gout
Cirrhosis of the liver
It has also been shown to increase short term recall and IQ (presumably this means it can increase your performance during an IQ test, rather than actually make you cleverer). It has also been proven that Coffee does not have a dehydrating effect: ‘current evidence suggests that caffeinated beverages contribute to the body’s daily fluid requirements no differently than pure water does.’
A recent study has found that consuming 400mg of Caffeine a day (about 2 and a half cups) could lower your risk of suffering a heart attack. Dr Carrie Ruxton who undertook the study even suggested that children be given Coffee and Tea as it “could be better for them than juice”. Personally I wouldn’t want to have to deal with a child experiencing a caffeine buzz but I can imagine it would be better for them than Ribena which if I remember rightly is about 95% sugar.
Oktoberfest 2009 kicks off in Munich
Sep 22nd
The Germans clearly know how to have a good time. They might not be known for their sense of humor but they certainly seem to like their beer. Oktoberfest 2009 has officially begun after the Mayor of Munich declared ‘Ozapft is’ (the beer is tapped). The event is due to recieve 6 million visitors this year making it the biggest beer festival ever.
Girls at Oktoberfest 2009
The first Oktoberfest took place on October 18, 1810 as a celebration of the marrage of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese Charlotte Luise of Saxony-Hildburghausen (with a name that long the vows must have taken a while).
During the 16 day fesitval visitors will be able to sample heroic amount of beer and sausages often served by the legendary Oktoberfest girls. During the 2007 festival 6,940,600 litres of beer was consumed along with 909,765 ½ litres of Lemonade.
This year there are at least 15 iPhone applications to help you on your way including a drink ordering dictionary and a Blood-Alcohol-Calculator. I wonder if there is an app to help you retreave your iPhone from the portaloos?
More photos from Oktoberfest 2009 after the jump…
Is This The Best Use Of A scanner Ever?
Mar 18th
If, like me, you have an old scanner laying around somewhere you might be about to find a new use for it. Back in the day everyone had a scanner but now they don’t seem quite so useful. If you use a digital camera and don’t work from home, what use are they? Sure you can scan your face but that is only fun for the first 100 times.
First there was ‘Face Your Pockets‘ a site where people scanned and sent in the contents of their pockets surrounding their faces. It’s a lot more interesting than it sounds. Now there is a site call Scanwiches which combines scanning with sandwiches, a winning combination. The scans are actually really well done resulting in nice hi-res images that wouldn’t look completely out of place on a gallery wall. Click on the image below to visit the site.
Is There Any Benefit To Drinking Water?
Feb 25th
It’s a well know fact that we should try to drink eight glasses of water a day. Like a lot of well know facts it isn’t correct.
If we actually drank what was recomended we might well have to spend half of the day on the toilet. We would spend the other half of the day completely confused. As well as 8 glasses of water we have been told that a glass of wine a day is good for us. We have also been warned about the dangers of one glass of wine a day.
We are told that too much cafine is bad for us yet Drinking two cups of coffee a day cuts stroke risk by 20%. What is too much coffee? Three cups? Five cups? When my eye starts twitching and I am unable to focus on one thing for more than one minute have I had too much or not enough coffee?
The eight glasses of water a day myth was busted by Snopes years ago but how important is water? An Independant article from last year says:
The review of research by Dan Negoianu and Stanley Goldfarb, from the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, found not a single study included the recommendation to drink eight 8oz glasses of water a day.
Although one small study suggested that drinking water could result in fewer headaches, the results were not statistically significant.
The benefits of drinking a pint of water before bed after a night’s drinking to ward off a hangover are, separately, well established.
No studies showed any benefit to skin tone as a result of increased water intake. Dehydration can make skin less plump, but there was no solid evidence to back up the claim water helps people maintain a youthful appearance.
The authors also found no evidence that drinking lots of water benefits the body’s organs.
It’s worth pointing out that 8 cups of black coffee a day (which i’m farely certain is an unhealthy amount) would contain the same amount of liquid as 8 cups of water. Beer and Wine are also hydrating even if the alcohol content can have a slight dehydrating effect.
The English drink Tea in vast quantities, infact i’m sure some of the elder members of my family drink nothing but. Perhaps the best plan is just to drink everything in moderation although if we were meant to drink Beer in moderation it wouldn’t be served by the pint would it?
Bacon flavoured chocolate bar is a big hit.
Nov 24th
Whilst most of us like our chocolate plain or with nuts and fruit over the years it has been combined with a variety of ingredients. The Aztecs used to add chilli to enhance theirs and mint, orange and a range of liquors are also popular additions. Now the king of all foods, the vegetarian converting delight, bacon is available combined with chocolate.
Mo’s Bacon Bar which contains chunks of applewood smoked bacon combined with smoked salt and milk chocolate is proving to be very popular. The bar which costs £5.99 per 3oz at Selfridges sold out within 48 hours.
“There has been a real revolution in luxury chocolate, as there was with wine a few years ago. People are much more knowledgeable about it and there is a growing demand for these high quality, exotic products instead of a box of Milk Tray.”
Ewan Venters, food director of Selfridges.
The bar is available to buy online from Vosges Chocolate.
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