The Flavor Game - Sweet And Salty

 The drive was taking an awfully long time. Traffic, although not too congested, was heavy enough to slow things down. Mom was getting irritated by the look on her face. The speed of her thumb thumping the steering wheel was getting faster and more vigorous. My mind was wandering, thinking about this visit to the dentist. It was probably the first visit I could remember. I kept feeling the tooth that was troubling me with my tongue. It felt painful but it kept me occupied for the duration of the trip. We finally arrived, and I was beginning to have second thoughts about agreeing to the visit. What's going to happen? My mind was working overtime!

Sitting on the dentist's cold chair, a chill went down my spine as I viewed the dreaded-looking dental instruments neatly laid out on a tray. Suddenly, the dentist was sitting next to me with gloves and a mask. I felt like fainting. "Please open your mouth," he said. I could barely move. I then felt the cold steel probing my teeth. As he located the bad tooth, I felt a sharp, searing pain. "Doc, you've got to fix this," I said to myself. "It's got to come out," said the dentist. I just nodded and told myself to be brave. I was given an injection which was surprisingly not as painful as I had anticipated. A while later I heard the dentist say, "Done." My bad tooth was gone. I didn't feel anything. What an anti-climax!

We are born with a sweet tooth. It's nature's way of teaching us to seek out sweetness as sugars are necessary for the body as a source of energy. What our bodies are looking for is carbohydrates, and sugars are the simplest form of them.

Glucose, also called dextrose, is a simple sugar (monosaccharide), and the most common source of chemical energy that is directly used by our body cells. It is commonly found in fruits and honey and is the third sweetest sugar.

Fructose, or levulose, is the sweetest simple sugar. High fructose corn syrup is a common ingredient in processed foods used to sweeten things up. Our bodies use fructose more slowly than glucose and sucrose, causing a slower rise in blood sugar level, and making it a better choice for diabetics. A word of caution: fructose needs to be converted to glucose by the liver before it can be consumed, and excessive consumption can lead to obesity and also type II diabetes.

Sucrose is the scientific name for table sugar, those wonderful white crystals that we adore, and is the most common source of sweetness. It is made up of two simple sugars (disaccharide), glucose, and fructose, and has the second sweetest taste after fructose.

Lactose is a compound sugar made up of glucose and galactose and is the sugar found in milk. Most adults (75% of the world's population) are "lactose intolerant," causing most of us to have digestive problems after consuming too many dairy products. As we grow older, we lack the enzyme, lactase, to digest lactose, thus the cause of our problems.

Apart from being a very pleasurable experience, the taste of sweetness helps mask or balance bitterness and sourness from other ingredients. Sweetness enhances the perception of food aromas telling us that the food is a good source of energy and has always been strongly associated with love or "l'amour," (as the French call it). What would Valentine's Day be without the gorgeously sweet taste of chocolates!

Salt is regarded as nature's flavor enhancer. If you were stranded on a deserted island, and you only had one wish, you'd probably wish for salt. It works wonders for enhancing the taste of food and plays an important role in brining, curing, and food preservation. Back when refrigeration was not available, salt was used to preserve meat by drying and allowing it to be stored for an extended period.

Without salt, a person could die. Salt or sodium chloride is 40% sodium and 60% chlorine, and our body uses sodium to maintain fluid levels. It is also necessary for the health of the heart, liver, and kidneys, regulates blood fluids, and prevents low blood pressure. Too much salt though is detrimental to our health. It can lead to kidney disease, hypertension or high blood pressure, and stroke.

Saltiness is one of the five basic tastes. Counterintuitively, salt has a dramatic effect on sweet dishes. Sprinkle some salt on strawberries for a tastier treat. Instead of adding sugar to a bitter dish, try adding salt. It is more effective in balancing the bitter taste. A pinch of salt, such a wise choice.

Honey for Athletes

 "Honey was deliberately adulterated with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) at levels of 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% (w/w). Sugar composition as a fingerprint was determined by HPLC for all samples. The following compositional properties were determined for pure and adulterated honey: moisture, total soluble solids, nitrogen, apparent viscosity, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), ash, sodium, calcium, potassium, proline, refractive index and diastatic activity." - Quoted by scienceDirect Journal:

Jonathan Horton, a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic gymnastic team, faced a particular challenge during his training. He suffers from a problem with his blood sugars, which causes him to become shaky during workouts. His solution: honey. According to Horton, whenever he would feel weak and shaky from low blood sugar, he would take honey to boost his blood sugar. Kerry Walsh Jennings, a gold medalist in indoor and beach volleyball, swears by honey. Her diet includes almond butter and honey sandwiches. She eats them especially before competitions to give her energy.[courtesy: Coxhoney]

During the past 50 years, a significant volume of scientific research has consistently shown the critical role of glycogen for optimalathletic performance. Glycogen is how the body stores carbohydrates for energy at the muscular level.

Research indicates a correlation between training and competing with high muscle glycogen content and improved exertion capacity and overall performance.

Glycogen is the body's predominant source of energy during moderate- to high-intensity exertion

Results suggest that muscle glycogen availability can affect performance during both short-term and more prolonged high-intensity intermittent exercise1

(Courtesy: muscleround)

Richard Kreider, Professor and Department Head, Health and Kinesiology at Texas A&M University, conducted three studies that showed how honey can improve endurance exercise capacity.

All studies demonstrated that honey could be an alternative, improved option for endurance athletes and strength athletes, for improving athletic performance.

In "Honey and Sports nutrition: Report for the American Honey Board", 2001, Kreider highlights that it is important for athletes to maintain a consistent blood-sugar level throughout their exercise and competition. It is known that a high-glycemic index can cause spikes in blood sugar and energy. Honey has a moderate glycemic index (he measured it as 43 out of 100, where he placed white bread).

Juicing Oranges With Best Citrus Juicer

 Orange juice is a wonder drink full of nutrition and antioxidants. It has become the latest health fads with thousands of people drinking the juice every day.

The discovery of health benefits of orange is nothing new as for thousands of years the Chinese having been using it in their medicines. It offers several health advantages to those drink the juice of oranges daily. It is not at all surprising that orange juice has become a daily habit as those who consume experience increased energy levels and better immunity. Only recently has juicing taken off in a really big way. It has been touted as the cure from cancer to obesity.

Though we are not out to prove or disprove any of these claims we instantly know that juices pack nutrients, antioxidants, minerals and enzymes which are generally beneficial to our health. It doesn't hurt to drink juice.

While cold press machines are just another type of juicing machine that uses brute power of its motor to first crush and then press fruits and vegetables fed to it to extract liquid. Have you wondered why some machines are called cold press juicing machines? What does it mean?

Does it make any significant difference to your juicing? These are some questions that swirl in your mind as you decide to take the plunge in to the world of juicing.

There are literally hundreds of choices in juicing appliances and on top is the confusing terms like fast, centrifugal, masticating, slow, twin-gear, single-auger and cold press. If you desire a juicing machine of large capacity that can process loads of fresh fruits and vegetables in the shortest amount of time the fast centrifugal juicing machine is perfect for this type of requirement.

A fast juicing machine extracts maximum amount of juice from hard vegetables and fruits as well as citrus fruits. It looks good on the kitchen counter with its superb looks and sleek design.

The safety features and two-speed juicing are the other reasons for the popularity of the juicing machine. The large pulp bin helps in juicing for longer time without stopping. The juicing machine is also easy to operate with an unique reverse function which helps in easy cleaning and un-clogging of machine.

Powerful motor and 7-spiral auger design helps the Amzchef slow juicing machine to juice efficiently and effectively. It rotates at a very slow speed of 80 rpm so neither heat nor oxidation are major problems. Heating and oxidations destroy nutrients in the juice.

Pecorino Cheese

 The term Pecorino designates each of the six Italian cheeses (Romano, Toscano, Sardo, Filiano, Crotonese, and Siciliano) that are so designated as being produced entirely from sheep's milk. Note that the names correspond with Italian regions or provinces. Also note that American cheeses that are also called Pecorino derive from Cow's milk because the American dairy system and American tastes are built about cow milk.

As a member of the European Union, Italy acquired legal protection of the process for making the Pecorino cheeses. Pecorino Romano, for example, a cheese developed as a key component of the diet of Roman soldiers, is still hand salted as it ages, just as it was during the time of the Roman Empire. There are variants of these cheeses, mostly due to village traditions of adding some kind of nut, truffles, or honey to the cheese. Some additives cross boldly into the "What are you thinking?" category, such as the variant called Casu Marzu, in which larvae of a fly (the cheese fly) are embedded into the cheese to cause the cheese to ferment. Casu Marzu literally means "rotten cheese."

Americans are more familiar with Pecorino Romano. Usually it is labeled as grated Romano Cheese. One sprinkles it onto Italian dishes the same way that Parmesan Cheese is applied. Romano is saltier and sharper, and more so of both the longer that the cheese wheel is aged. Apparently, the Roman soldiers appreciated those qualities that aging produced.

I found three references to cheese or curds (curdled goat milk) in the Christian Bible. Butter is mentioned more often, but cheese does not appear to have been a mainstream food in the Hebrew or the Arab diets. As mentioned, the Romans made and provided cheese to their soldiers' food rations. Roman government and soldiers were common in Judaea during the time of Jesus' ministry. So, the Hebrews knew of it as a provision that came with and supported their conqueror. However, a verse in the Old Testament of the Bible reveals a different conclusion about cheese.

Web search 1 Samuel 17:8. The Book of Samuel was authored by Samuel, the Hebrew Prophet who lived between 1070 and 1012 BC (the number of years before the birth of Jesus, the Christ). Samuel's time was during the first dynasty of Hebrew Kings (Saul) and more than 500 years before the Romans had an empire. The Hebrew people had occupied the land of Canaan that God had promised to them, settling the land to keep and herd livestock, mostly goats, and to farm. Perhaps cheese, a goat's milk byproduct, was accepted and used by them.