Foods you avoid BUT SHOULDN'T. Part 43: FERMENTED FISH
WHY WE AVOID IT: There’s a fine line between fermented fish and rotting fish: one is gaggingly putrid, and the other is retchingly foul. In Sweden, surströmming -- fermented herring -- is fermented in barrels for a few months, then put into cans for another year. Some airlines ban surströmming cans because they consider…
Foods you avoid BUT SHOULDN'T. Part 42: COD LIVER OIL
WHY WE AVOID IT: A spoonful of this stuff results in the classic comical face of disgust. It stinks of fish, gives you bad breath, causes upset stomachs and might make you gag and vomit. No one wants medicine that’s worse than the cure. Besides, there’s so much vitamin A in cod-liver oil that there’s a concern of potential…
FOODS with TRANS FATS
Canada 🇨🇦 FINALLY bans artificial trans-fats! This comes almost 15 YEARS after the ban was proposed. "Partially hydrogenated oils" will now be added to the list of "Contaminants and Other Adulterating Substances". ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Artificial trans fats are created by pumping hydrogen molecules into liquid vegetable oil…
Foods you avoid BUT SHOULDN'T. Part 41: TRIPE
WHY WE AVOID IT: Tripe is the stomach lining of sheep🐑, goats🐐, pig🐖 or deer🦌. In the case of beef🐂, it’s the first three portions of the cow’s stomach. The thought of eating another being’s stomach is enough to turn your stomach. WHY WE SHOULD EAT IT: Like other organ meats, tripe is…
Foods you avoid BUT SHOULDN'T. Part 40: BEETS
WHY WE AVOID IT: It’s an acquired taste. Some think they taste like dirt and get annoyed that they turn all the other food on their plate red. President Barack Obama admitted that he always avoided eating them, which explains why Lady Michelle excluded them from the White House vegetable garden. Most children grimace at…
Foods you avoid BUT SHOULDN'T. Part 39: COCONUT OIL
WHY WE AVOID IT: Coconut is one of the rare plant sources of saturated fat. Primarily found in animals, saturated fats were found to increase bad LDL cholesterol, the leading risk factor for heart disease. If you believed the doctors who told you to stay away from red meat and butter, then you probably stayed away from…
Foods you avoid BUT SHOULDN'T. Part 38: RAW CATFISH NUGGETS
WHY WE AVOID IT: Catfish are ugly bottom-feeders that suck on pond muck. Many people consider them a “junk” fish. Many avid fishermen will admit that the best thing to do when you realize you’ve got a catfish on the line is to just cut the line. Besides, nuggets are the leftover flesh chunks after the beautiful filets have…
Foods you avoid BUT SHOULDN'T. Part 37: CHOCOLATE
WHY WE AVOID IT: The elixir of the Mayans has had its fair share of controversies since science started looking at it. Accused of causing acne outbreaks, migraines, heartburn, insomnia, obesity and high cholesterol, chocolate is the love affair we are ashamed to indulge in. WHY WE SHOULD EAT IT: The modern chocolate bar…
Foods you avoid BUT SHOULDN'T. Part 35: CARROTS
WHY WE AVOID IT: When the glycemic index (GI) made waves among scientists and health enthusiasts, carrots got a bad rap. The GI gives a measure of how quickly blood sugar and insulin levels rise after eating a certain type of food compared to glucose or white bread. High GI foods are associated with increased risk of…
Foods you avoid BUT SHOULDN'T. PART 29: ARAME
WHY WE AVOID IT: Those long brown strands of seaweed on your mixed Japanese salad are often pushed to the edge of your plate because they smell like the ocean floor. A species of kelp, arame can readily absorb minerals from the water, so can become toxic with heavy metals such as arsenic, lead and cadmium if they’re harvested…
Foods you avoid BUT SHOULDN'T. PART 28: CORN SMUT
WHY WE AVOID IT: You know that anything called “smut” has to be gross. True to form, corn smut is a fungal infection that causes disease on corn and looks like a slimy, black, gooey brain. It doesn’t matter how good it tastes -- it looks horrible. WHY WE SHOULD EAT IT: The smut is a delicacy in Mexico. Known as huitlacoche…