Tag Archives: bacteria

Fight Cavities with Red Wine? New Research Says It’s Possible

Just in case you were looking for another reason to enjoy a glass of red wine with dinner, researchers have found a pretty good one. While red wine is known to stain your teeth, it can also help prevent you from developing cavities in them.

wine and grapes

It’s been known for a while that red wine is beneficial for heart health. Drinking a glass once in a while can lower your risk of heart disease and could also possibly raise your HDL or “good cholesterol.”

Now researchers have found red wine, and grape seed extract, could prevent cavities. It had been previously suggested that polyphenols, grape seed extract, and wine may slow the bacterial growth that can cause cavities, but the theory hadn’t been tested until recently.

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Posted on June 2, 2023 by Elizabeth

Ag-Gag Bills Will Keep Food Preparation Methods Secret

Pink slime has been making headlines a lot lately. As most consumers are learning the truth about the food they’re putting in their mouths, the government is apparently getting nervous.

If you haven’t read the truth about this product called pink slime that is making up the majority of the meat served in this country, you should really inform yourself.

Microbiologist Carl Custer gives an excellent definition of pink slime. Custer explains how the substance is primarily connective tissue and gristle, the texture is simply manipulated mechanically and the flavor altered chemically to fool you into thinking it’s meat.

“It’s not meat. We call it Soylent Pink,” Custer said, who has worked with the Food Safety Inspection Service for 35 years.

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Posted on March 12, 2024 by Lacy

Kombucha Tea Touts Health Benefits but Experts Aren’t Convinced

In 2024, kombucha tea made headlines for its anecdotal health benefits and alleged medicinal purposes. Kombucha is a fermented tea beverage made with sugar, bacteria and yeast. Kombucha is sold in many specialty grocery and health food stores, but some fans make their own at home by adding a colony of yeast and bacteria to a sugar and tea combination and allowing the mix to ferment.

Kombucha tea has a number of noted health benefits including vitamin B and a variety of minerals that stimulate the immune system, help prevent cancer and improve digestion and liver function. Just as these helpful effects have been noted, medical experts also report that kombucha can cause adverse effects, such as stomach upset and infections in tea drinkers.

To make kombucha, brewers use a “starter” or a bit of already fermented tea to add to a tea and sugar mixture and let it sit unrefrigerated in a large container or basin for 7-14 days, during which bacteria and yeast grow atop the surface.

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Posted on November 27, 2023 by Maris

Fermented Foods: Essential Digestive Aids

By Delia Quigley for Care2.com

Humans have been fermenting foods to aid in digestion for as far back as we can trace. Primarily they were fermented to improve holding and storing properties of foods. The milk from camels was fermented naturally to produce some of the first yogurts. Stored in goat bags and dropped over the back of camels in the hot deserts of North Africa with temperatures reaching 40C (110F) It was the ideal environment for lactic acid-producing bacteria to go to work. Pickles date back to ancient Egypt and vinegar was used by the ancient Greeks and Romans as a digestive aid, and to promote a healthy liver and gallbladder.

Every culture in the world has some form of fermented foods they eat with meals to aid in digestion. It isn’t necessary to eat very much, just enough to provide the proper enzymes to help break down food and make the nutrients available for absorption in the small intestine. Common in Indian, Korean, Chinese, and Japanese cuisine are sweet, sour and salty pickles; while in North and Central Europe you will find sauerkraut and, again, pickles; the Mediterranean countries serve a small glass of red wine, cider or beer with meals to provide digestive enzymes.

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Posted on October 10, 2023 by GuestBlogger

The Four Rules of Food Safety

Food safety isn’t a very glamorous topic; however, amid the more recent food recalls, being food safe is incredibly important.

For most individuals, food safety means washing your hands – a lot! Yet there is much more to food safety than simple hand washing procedures. As the holidays rapidly approach, getting food safe can be a critical component in keeping your loved ones healthy and happy. Don’t let them be one of the hundreds of thousands of people who get sent to the hospital each year due to food poisoning.

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Posted on October 8, 2023 by Kati