Unusual Oreos

The first ice cream cup was found in Egypt in a tomb in 2700BC.

It was a kind of mould made from two silver cups, one of which contained snow or crushed ice, and the other cooked fruit.

• Ancient Rome had special wells to store ice and snow. The ruins of Pompeii left traces to make us think that some shops specialised in selling crushed ice sweetened with honey.
• In China and Japan, ice was gathered to preserve food. During the Tang Dynasty, a drink was recorded, consisting of milk cooked with flour and camphor, ten placed in iron containers, and buried in snow.
• Before the Incas conquered the Caranquis, large blocks of ice were brought down from the top of the volcano. A large cauldron was filled with ice, snow, and fruit juice (and sometimes milk), and mixed until the juices and ice froze together.

We associate comfort food with positive memories.

Think about all the happy and comforting memories you have involving food. Maybe your family used to celebrate occasions with a trip to the ice cream shop, or maybe your mom or dad used to soften the blow of a bad day with macaroni and cheese. When you’re feeling rejected or anxious today, eating one of those foods is an instant connection to that soothing time.

• Cacao (or Cocoa) beans are the seeds that grow in the cacao tree, which are plucked, roasted and separated.
• The 'nibs' from the beans (part solids and part butter) are ground and made into a paste, which is then again grounded with sugar and some other ingredients.
• The industrial chocolates include several ingredients like vegetable oils, corn syrup, and artificial vanilla.

Authentic chocolate makers are like fine chefs and are obsessed about the texture, character and ethical origins of their beans.

Mainstream industrial chocolate makers buy all the beans, good or bad, in bulk, as they are mixing it with so many other ingredients and flavors, that the consumer won't get to know the difference of the beans.

Coffee is, for most of us, a synonym for starting our day, getting the energy in order to work hard, being able to think, to dream. 

Coffee is so much more than just a hot or warm drink. Coffee is for the adults who do their best to be efficient at work, but also a drink that runs in the family and connects individuals.

Throughout your life, you tried, at some point or another, coffee. And you came, undoubtedly, to the conclusion that coffee is miraculous. 

And it is indeed: coffee enables you to start over again and to carry on, no matter how old or tired you are. After all, this is coffee we are talking about.

• Roasting reduces the number of chlorogenic acids, but other antioxidant compounds are formed.
• Instant coffee may not have the same health benefits.
• The oil in boiled coffee has cafestol and kahweol, compounds known to raise LDL, the bad cholesterol, and slightly lower HDL, the good cholesterol. However, the clinical significance of such small increases in cholesterol may be questionable.

• A typical 12-ounce serving of drip coffee has 200 milligrams of caffeine.
• Instant coffee has 140 milligrams of caffeine.
• Espresso has the highest concentration of caffeine, 70 milligrams per one-ounce shot, but is consumed in smaller quantities.
• Brewed decaf has caffeine too - about 8 milligrams.
• Some people have a genetic variant that slows their metabolism for caffeine and keeps them awake deep into the night.

We consume ultra-processed foods every day without even realizing it.

• The morning cereal and flavored yogurt.
• The savory snacks and sweet baked goods.
• The vegan hotdog and the chicken nuggets available on the street.
• The doughnut or the premium protein bar we buy as a snack.
• The carton-packed almond milk put in our coffee or the diet coke we have.

Most cooked foods can be termed as 'processed foods', but ultra-processed foods are in a different domain, with few people having the clarity to differentiate.

A cooked carrot is processed food, but a bag of industrially-produced, carrot-flavored veggie puffs are ultra-processed and are still aimed at toddlers as a portion of natural food. Other examples include frozen peas or pasteurized milk.

As we are more inclined to do things we enjoy, it is better to find some fun in what we resolve to do.

If the task is unpleasant by nature, try to cover it with your favorite music or a reward after completion.

It’s when people overestimate the healthiness of a food item because of unwarranted correlations. Research indicates that this effect causes people to consume larger portions and may even be a cause of obesity. 

A study comparing the two restaurants found that those who ate at Subway underestimated the calories in their meals more than those who ate at McDonald's.

Because Subway sandwiches are considered healthier, people are more likely to add a cookie and a soda. While people who eat at McDonald's are not under the health-halo so they’re less likely to order sides with a Big Mac.

• Get a good night's sleep or take a power nap after learning something new, to help retain and retrieve memories better. Sleep deprivation and acquisition of too much information will not help you save those memories.
• Get moving, to improve the flow of oxygen-rich blood in your brain and to trigger neuron growth and new connections in the brain - critical for memory.
• Improve your diet. Fats from food can build up the brain, resulting to poor blood flow.

Any system or device designed to aid memory:

• patterns of letters or words (common mnemonics)
• ideas (memory palace)
• associations (chunking)