Food, can it hurt you?Food is a substance that can eaten or drunk, with or without pleasure, to sustain the body without harm.The ingredients are subclassified as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and proteins have amino acids. In todays world the production and harvesting, mostly, is commercially done, yet some still grow and harvest a small portion themself. The yield for plant and animal production is greatly increased by using herbicides and pesticides and fertilizers and additives. These additional chemicals are also deemed pollutants to the environment and to the food. To many these additives are a bane and such will seek to buy organically grown products. This greatly increases the cost. Technically the world can grow and distribute enough to supply everyone, but drought and floods, hail, and other catastrophies, can present as famine and hunger in a given region. Modern transportation capability is great. Refrigeration during shipment, and the speed, makes it practical to exchange products between the northern and southern hemispheres. This adds greatly to the product choices in stores today. Foods must still be stored. Apart from refrigeration, the shelf life, without spoilage, is extended by dehydration, by excluding oxygen with vacuum or carbon dioxide, and by additives, and by sterilization as in canning. Having indicated that oxygen removal is a method of food preservation, it is also relavent to note the exception. The Clostridia bacteria live in soil, are spore bearing, and which are obligate anaerobes. The spore exists on fruit, on vegetables, and on meat. The Clostridium spore withstands the home canning temperature of 100 degree Centigrade, and sealing the container to exclude oxygen is made to order for the spore to rejuvinate. In rare cases botulin is produced in home canned fruit, vegetables, and meat.It can occur in sausage, ham, and fish. There are many strains of Clostridia and a number of antigenically distinct botulins, and all the botulins can be considered as having potential to be fatal. Spoilage may be heralded by a bulging lid, and an off taste, or odor, or texture, of the canned food. In such case the food must be destroyed. If no distinct change is noticable to an older canned product you may add to your security by boiling the product for ten minutes, as botulin is heat labile and detoxifies thereby. Botulism has an onset of fatigue and weakness, and of headache and dizziness. The time from exposure till onset is reduced by increase of dose and varies from within hours to days. Any sympytomatic suspicion of exposure merits medical attention for consideration of administration antibotulin. Botulin interferes with acetylcholine production or use. In recent times it has gained favor with dermatologists to control sweating and to reduce wrinkles. (Clostridium tetani toxin contracts muscle, botulin relaxes muscle - either one can kill) The ubiquitous Staphilococci exist as widely distributed in nature and in the nares and on the skin of people. The pimple and the boil (furuncle) are the expression of a pathogenic stapholococcus. There are a number of commensal strains too, but there are strains of staphilococci carried that under right conditions of moisture, temperature and time produce an enterotoxin. Hence, when an enterotoxin producing strain gets transferred from a person to warm cooked meat, to custards and milk products, to gravies, and left unrefrigerated long enough, a staphylococcal enterotoxixin food poisoning might occur. Incubation may be as short as half an hour. It presents with severe nausea and vomiting and simultaneous diarrhea and prostration. With fluid replacement and rest, spontaneous recovery is usual for those in their prime.
Foods are grown in soil. Without being
pedantically thorough let's note the
the obvious. The quantity and quality of
plant growth, fruits and vegetables included,
are much influenced by soil and weather.
Apart from growers reacting to weather, it
is noteworthy that crop rotation is deemed
a good practice. It is understood that each
plant species draws uniquely from soil elements.
Crop rotation thus may reduce soil depletion
and the secondary low nutritional content
of the element of low content in that area.
If you only want to think green then will
you primarily eat local produce. But, if
if you feel less than par and you wish to
explore the market for a uniquely suited for
you elixir, then you may want to take a
look at a site with a super-food claim for
the goji.
Have you a curiosity about how unique victuals and other approaches may help you to feel good? Assuage your curiosity
and check a site about
unique diet and alternate health
and one on
moringa.
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