More about Lettuce And Fruit, Plus Two Amusing Food News Stories

There's good news about lettuce, fruit, frozen foods, and more.  Let's get right to it.

LETTUCE:  EAT IT AND FEEL SAFE

The FDA has announced that the seemingly endless and disastrous Romaine lettuce outbreak seems to be over.  After 172 illnesses and one death, Romaine lettuce contaminated with E. coli is no longer being produced and distributed. Therefore, concludes the FDA, it's not likely  to be available in stores or sold in restaurants.  In other words, you couldn't find any even if you wanted to, and I can't imagine that you would--unless you've been saving it in your fridge, a very bad idea indeed.

Now don't let those outbreaks scare you away from consuming lettuce, especially if you're a senior. The University of  Berkeley Wellness Letter has reported, in its  June 2018 issue, on a recent study published in the journal Neurology. Researchers analyzed 960 people (ages 58-99) and found that "those who  ate the most leafy greens has significantly slower cognitive decline over a five-year period than those who rarely or never consumed them."  Leafy greens, which contain folate, vitamins K and E and carotenoids, include lettuce, spinach,  kale, and collards.

FRUIT: HOW MUCH  SHOULD YOU EAT?  IS FRESH BETTER THAN FROZEN?

Adults should eat 1.5 -2 cups of fruits and 2 - 2.5 cups of veggies every day, according to federal  guidelines. Few people eat that much. Furthermore, most of us underestimate the nutritional value of  fruit compared to vegetables.  "You actually get higher quantities of some nutrients per fruit than in the same amount of vegetables," says Consumer Reports on Health.  Here are some reasons why (the  article says) you should eat more fruit than you probably do now:

Ÿ Fruit will fill you up but not out.  The sugars in it are released into the bloodstream more slowly than from, say, candy because the fiber in fruit slows down the rate of sugar absorption, "preventing spikes and crashes."

Ÿ Fruit provides many benefits including "better heart and brain health and a reduced risk of cancer" to those that eat a lot of it.  Here's a tip: eat the whole fruit, including the skin.  The skin and the area just below it is where  plants store the antioxidants they need to protect themselves from pests. Here's a good example of the benefits of fruit: A Harvard study concluded that people who ate one or more servings of blueberries or 2 or more servings of strawberries a week "delayed cognitive aging by 2.5 years compared with those who ate the fewest berries."

Furthermore, Google is loaded with articles telling consumers that frozen fruits and veggies are (in most cases) just as nutritious as fresh produce. Why?   Unlike fresh produce, which may often travel long distances before reaching the retail store, frozen or canned produce is usually processed and packaged in a facility very close to where it grew, so there's little time for the food to deteriorate. On the other hand  fresh produce, especially if it's out of season in your area, may have taken a long journey to reach you. Of course, frozen or canned food doesn't have the same taste or texture as fresh, but, in terms of health benefits, there's little difference, and sometimes the frozen or canned product is actually more nutritious. 

Now we switch gears away from nutrition to two recent news stories I consider odd but interesting. They'll give you some conversational tidbits to enjoy.

EDIBLE TECHNOLOGY: FOR FUN WITH FOOD

I'm not talking about technology being used, in some way, to prepare food.  Now your food can, itself, be a high-tech (or low-tech) product . Wired magazine quotes Swedish designer Erika Marthins, who says this: "People often see technology as something alien.  But if you're eating it, maybe that can help you understand it."

Therefore, combining her ideas with those of scientists and engineers, she's come up with "tech to add motion, sound, and visuals to food."  Her augmented lollipop has a secret message which can be read after licking the surface. Her robot gummies turn and twist on the diner's plate.  With roboticist Jn Shintake,  Erika Marthins has created soft (gelatin) robots that  may someday be used to deliver medicine. 

 HOW COUPLES ARE AFFECTED BY DINING TOGETHER

Do romantic partners become more similar in various ways the longer they live together? Many studies confirm this. But now a recent one reported in Appetite and discussed in the Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter, found that, whether there has been a wedding or not, couples who have lived together for a long time begin to smell alike. We're not talking about the scent of  their bodies; rather, it's their sense of scent, how pleasant foods smell to them. Furthermore, this study showed hat the sense of  taste was also similar for long-time couples. 

This research involved 100 heterosexual couples who had been together for 3 months to 45 years. Those whose taste and scent preferences were the most similar did not necessarily report having  the greatest satisfaction with their romantic relationships.  The researchers suggested  two possible reasons: 1) Shared meals may lead to the development of shared responses to food.; or   2) People may tend to form relationships with those who have similar taste and smell preferences.

When I thought about it, the conclusions of this study made sense to me.  I wouldn't have chosen to continue dating someone who wanted to go to a seafood restaurant and wrestle with a whole lobster every evening. To me,  that was work; once (or twice) in a lifetime was enough.  Also, I, a great lover of steaks, can't imagine myself married to a vegetarian. However,  I know many odd couples  when it comes to food choices. I can understand that friends and lovers can motivate change.  My vegetarian friends have occasionally encouraged me to eat a vegetarian meal, and I've actually enjoyed it, especially if it's Indian cuisine.  I'm much more likely to go vegetarian than they are to join me at a steak house.   Do I seem to have strayed from the topic of the study? Not really.  What smells good to you is, I believe, closely related to what you want to eat.  But I don't think I'd want to eat anything that wiggled or sang a song while sitting on my plate. 

Source(s):

FDA.gov, "FDA Ends Investigation of E. coli 0157:H7: Outbreak Likely Linked to Leafy Greens"  5/9/18

https://www.fda.gov/Food/RecallsOutbreaksEmergencies/Outbreaks/ucm593896.htm 

Consumer Reports on Health,  "Healthy Reasons to Eat More Fruit," June 2018.

University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter, "Wellness Made Easy," (See "Leafy green vegetables...:") June 2018.

Wired  "Edible Devices: Fusing Food and Tech" May 2018.

Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter, "Long-Term Couples' Sense of Smell and Taste..."

February 2018.