By Joan McDaniel June 10, 2012
Are all bell peppers the same?
As another food source rich in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients, bell peppers provide us with important anti-cancer benefits. Exposure to free-radical damage and chronic excessive inflammation and chronic unwanted oxidative stress can increase the risk of cancer, and other diseases. Antioxidant intake can offset and fight this damage. So as your mother said “Eat your Vegetables – they are good for you!!
Green peppers are not always green?
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From a scientific standpoint, bell peppers all come from the same genus and species of plant. They come from a single seed source. Their scientific name is Capsicum annuum. This scientific name, however, is used to refer not only to bell peppers, but also to wax peppers, cayenne peppers, chili peppers, and jalapeno peppers.
Most of the differences in bell pepper color stem from time of harvest and degree of ripening. These delicious vegetables actually come in a wide variety of colors, including yellow, orange, red, purple, brown and black. Green peppers are bell peppers that have been harvested before being allowed to fully ripen. While green bell peppers usually turn yellow-orange and then red this is not always the case.
Red, orange, and yellow bell peppers are always more ripe than green ones and therefore require more time in the ground before they can be harvested; that’s why they are more expensive. Bottom line: all of the bell peppers originate from the same species of plant, and they achieve their different colors naturally, not by any artificial means.
It’s interesting to note that in addition to their unique colors, each differently hued bell pepper has a unique array of nutritional benefits. Green peppers feature an abundance of chlorophyll. Yellow peppers have more of the lutein and zeaxanthin carotenoids. Orange peppers have more alpha-, beta-, and gamma-carotene. Red peppers have more lycopene and astaxanthin, two other important carotenoids.
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Bell peppers belong to the nightshade (Solanaceae) family of plants, along with chili pepper, cayenne pepper, eggplant, tomatoes and potatoes (except sweet potatoes and yams). Their scientific name is Capsicum annuum. This scientific name, however, is used to refer not only to bell peppers, but also to wax peppers, cayenne peppers, chili peppers, and jalapeno peppers.
Paprika is a dried powdered form of bell pepper, and even though we are used to seeing red paprika in the spice section of the grocery, a paprika can be made from any color of bell pepper and it will end up being that same color once dried and ground into powder.
For more information on this topic, please see:
http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=50
How Are Baby Carrots Made?
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Carrots don’t grow straight, Carrots are not very pretty in fact, they not perfectly shaped at all. An industrious Farmer creatively came up with baby carrots. Now carrots are a perfect looking food.
Baby carrots are actually cuttings of fully grown carrots that have been cut and peeled to make that ever-so-popular baby-cut style. The idea of baby carrots came about when a California farmer named Mike Yurosek was tired of throwing away slightly rotted, deformed, or imperfect carrots that didn’t catch the public’s eye. It seems that if a carrot showed any signs of being knobby, twisted, or broken, it isn’t worth eating. In fact, some farmers like Yurosek would have to throw 400 tons of carrots down the cull shoot each day because they wouldn’t sell. Now that’s smart thinking as far as I’m concerned.
Carrots are good for the eyes.Image may be NSFW.
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Source:
http://naturalsociety.com/how-are-baby-carrots-made/
Are all Olives the Same?
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The color of the olive corresponds to the ripeness of the fruit when picked. That’s it. Green olives are picked before ripening, and black olives are picked while ripe. And because raw olives are mostly inedible, both varieties normally undergo some form of curing process, either by being packed in salt, brined, pickled, or soaked in oil (or even just water) before being eaten. Generally, green olives are denser, firmer, and more bitter than black olives. The taste and texture of any olive, however, ultimately depend on the method and duration of curation.
Read more: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/olives-difference-green-black/#ixzz20BHeXqso
Olives any color are categorized as a fat and according to Dr. Mercola; “As I and other nutritional experts have warned, most people actually need upwards of 50-70 percent healthful fats in their diet for optimal health! My personal diet is about 60-70 percent healthy fat, and both Paul Jaminet, PhD., author of Perfect Health Diet, and Dr. Ron Rosedale, M.D., an expert on treating diabetes through diet, agree that the ideal diet includes somewhere between 50-70 percent fat.”
In my words, that means you can eat a whole lot of fat. Check the ingredients and look for partially hydrogenated oil. If the product lists this ingredient, it contains trans fat. Pure raw olives like pure raw avocados Image may be NSFW.
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HAVE NOT BE ALTERED by man therefore, EAT AS MUCH AS YOU WANT! They are rich in Omega-3 fat.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/05/31/coconut-oil-for-healthy-heart.aspx
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