Are pickles a vegetable, or a fruit?

Image is from sportsgeezer.com

I was eating some pickle spears in the cafeteria when all of the sudden I came upon a odd question. Are pickles good for you? If so, are they considered to be a vegetable or a fruit? I never realized until now how controversial of a subject this could be. As we all know, the pickle is another form of a cucumber. Often times cucumbers and tomatoes are associated with vegetables, especially when it comes to salad. With this being said, I looked up articles that talk about what exactly a cucumber is. According to an article I found, scientifically speaking cucumbers are a fruit. The reason why so many people consider it to be a vegetable is because in the culinary world it is in fact a vegetable. It has seeds with tissue around it, but it is always thrown in with the vegetable group. No matter what it is, cucumbers are a light snack with very few calories and so are pickles if they are not infatuated with salt or sugar. I suppose that it is a matter of personal opinion as to whether or not the cucumber is a fruit or a vegetable. You can learn more about this at http://www.buzzle.com/articles/is-cucumber-a-fruit-or-vegetable.html

What if you do not like thanksgiving dinner?

image from internetmonk.com

So, many people are shocked whenever I tell them that I do not like thanksgiving dinner. The thought of it just makes my stomach turn and although I appreciate the break, I am not really looking forward to the meal. Last year I became terribly sick around thanksgiving and since then I really do not like the food associated with this holiday. So what shall I do? I guess I could convince them to make green bean casserole, and eat a lot of rolls. I suppose that is what I get for having a picky stomach. . Another option is  to make my own creations to work around my sensitive stomach. Last year I was harrassed for putting tartar sauce and turkey on a roll. I thought it was a nice alternative to our annual meal. It is important to switch it up a bit so that one does not get tired of having the same thing every year. I am still looking forward to my visit and I will have to adjust my eating in order to make the most of my thanksgiving.

What the heck is an acai berry?

picture from: acaiberryhealthdrink.com

As I was chatting with my mother, the topic of the acai berry came up. I love fruit, and hearing of another type that could potentially help you loose weight was exciting to hear. This just sounded to good to be true, so I did some research on WebMD. I was crushed to hear that there are not too many experiments to back up the theory that acai berries help you lose weight. Now the question is why would someone promote this super berry if it's not all that it's cracked up to be? This to me is just another example of fraud. It is hard know who to believe these days when it comes to weight loss. Have no fear, this acai berry is good for you because it has more antioxidants that any other berry known to mankind. There are many studies that have yet to be done on the acai. I am anxious to see all the benefits of the acai berries, and hopefully they will become a little more affordable over time. I just wish that people would get their facts straight before promoting something.

http://www.webmd.com/.../acai-berries-and-acai-berry-juice-what-are-the-health-%20benefits

My enzymes ran away!

Picture from: doctorramani.com

Over this past year I have recently developed a slightly lactose intolerant digestive system. I have always wondered why in the world this happened so late in my life. After doing some quick research, I have found a possible answer. I noticed that I did not drink as much milk as my body had previously been used to. Growing up, my mother made me drink about 2 or so glasses of milk a day. Then as I got older, I began replacing milk with water or juice more often. Apparently, according the peer reviewed Journal of Young Investigators, this sudden lactose intolerance may have do with my lack of dairy for a certain period of time in my life. My body just assumed it did not need that lactose enzyme, and went through what is commonly called a natural enzyme deficiency. Now I am usually fine if I take a lactase pill every so often, and stay away from ice cream, milk, and limit myself to cheese. I still have some milk with cereal, and ice cream about once a month. I know this sounds ridiculous, but I have quite the touchy stomach. Along with that, milk has an unholy and unnecessary amount of fat in it that I could live without. There are many other ways of getting the proper amount of calcium in a diet. Referring back to the article mentioned earlier, they say that calcium can be obtained from grains and leafy vegetables. This is clearly a healthier alternative, but a glass of milk every once in a while will not kill you! Hopefully all that milk my mother made me drink when I was little will last me a life time and prevent me from getting Osteoperosis. Check out this article to see where I learned all of this from: http://www.jyi.org/volumes/volume6/issue3/features/lee_and_wei.html