A new study reported in the online Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences offers new thoughts that cooking food made it possible for early humans to develop larger brains. The cooked food was easier to digest and made it possible for more nutrients to be available to brain cells.
Scientists have long believed there is a trade off between body size and brain cells since the brain needs about 20% of the body's total resting metabolic energy (although it's only about 2% of the body's weight.) So there just wasn't enough time in a day to gather and take in enough raw nutrients for early humans.
Hmm...food for thought when you're sitting and watching the Super Bowl game with all the cooked and snack food at your fingertips. Will bigger brains win out?
It seems like every time you turn around there are new online media sites popping up. When my daughter told me about Pinterest, I was less than enthusiastic. However, I've changed my tune. Pinterest is an easy place to save cool images and links that you run across while looking for something else. So, I created boards to save everything from Science & Nature to Robots to Steampunk to Architecture and more. For someone who is pretty visual, it works a lot better than a ton of computer bookmarks. Check it out! http://pinterest.com/sciwhisperer/
Did you know that there are over 10,000 different types of mushrooms? The good, bad, and the definitely ugly! Although I didn't appreciate mushrooms when I was young and thought they tasted "like dirt," I cook with them all the time now. In fact, I've discovered that various species of these fleshy and edible fungi add different flavors to food. Some common species found at the grocery store, include white button, cremini, bella, portobello, oyster, enokitake, and shitake. For more on these healthy quirks of the food chain, check out - http://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/edible-mushrooms.html
Wild mushrooms like porcini and chanterelle are also edible, but you should NEVER pick mushrooms in the wild and eat them unless you are a mushroom expert (known as a mycologist) or with an expert. Poisonous mushrooms like death cap, destroying angel, and Jack O' Lantern have very toxic personalities.
Promising health benefits being investigated include cardiovascular, anticancer, antiviral, antibacterial, antiparasitic, anti-inflammatory and antidiabetic properties. Wow! So be adventurous, try oyster mushrooms in a stir-fry or chowder and let me know what you think. Recipes here. Or send your favorite mushroom recipes!
