100+ Food Facts & Fun Nutrition Insights on Food Waste & More

1. The sensation of eating the food: what it tastes like, what it smells like and how it feels in your mouth.
2. The blend of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates that it contains: junk food companies are looking for a perfect combination, that excites your brain and gets you coming back for more.

1. Use smaller plates. Bigger plates mean bigger portions.
2. Use tall, slender glasses instead of short, fat ones to drink less alcohol or soda.
3. Use plates that have a high contrast color with your food.
4. Display healthy foods in a prominent place.
5. Wrap unhealthy foods in tin foil and healthy foods in plastic wrap.
6. Keep healthy foods in larger packages and containers, and unhealthy foods in smaller ones.

At the store, only go for the “outer ring” , where the healthy food usually lives: fruits, vegetables, lean meats, eggs, etc. These are items that grew or lived outdoors. That’s what you should eat.

The aisles are where all of the boxed and processed stuff is placed.

• Salivary response: the more a food causes you to salivate, the more it will cover your taste buds.
• Rapid food meltdown: this tells your brain that you’re not full, even though you’re eating a lot of calories.
• Calorie density. junk foods are designed to convince your brain that it is getting nutrition, but to not fill you up.
• Memories of past eating experiences: When you eat something tasty, your brain registers that feeling and will bring it up in the future.

Most people think that building better habits or changing your actions is all about willpower or motivation. But your environment has an incredible ability to shape your behavior.

Nowhere is this more true than with food.

The need for food preservation has historically led the Ancient humans to develop techniques to process food.

From learning to control fire to grinding grains, our ancestors have been able to process food in a variety of ways.

Shortages of key ingredients during war-time and the rising need to work for the middle class led to households adopting processed food as an alternative to slow-cooked, authentic home food.

Powdered milk/custard, cereals, pre-made sauces, and biscuits started dominating the dining table due to time shortage and convenience.

Should humanity face a nuclear apocalypse of worldwide war, we need to understand which foods might be safe for survivors to eat, and how long the foods will last.

To understand this, we need to ask what makes food spoil.

Most foods spoil because of the growth of microbes. Preserving food is an attempt to limit microbial growth. Food can be preserved by drying, salting, chilling, or storing in air-tight containers.

• Drying is the most effective because microbial growth is inhibited.
• Salting is effective because it removes moisture, creating an environment where microbes cannot survive.
• Sugar coating can prevent bacterial cells from functioning correctly.
• Storing in air-tight containers is less effective because there are probably a lot of microbes on the food before you put it in the container. Some microbes are anaerobic, meaning they don't need oxygen.

Preservatives are used in foods to extend their shelf lives. One of McDonald's Big Mac in Iceland is an example of a long-lasting processed food. It has been on display since 2009, in a glass box. Preservatives that has been discontinued by McDonald's are:

• calcium propionate that prevents mold growth on bread.
• sorbic acid that also inhibits mold from cheese
• sodium benzoate, which inhibits the growth of bacteria in the Big Mac special sauce.

• Twinkies will last no longer than similar treats. One Twinkie has been kept in a time capsule for up to 44 years.
• Honey is almost impossible to spoil because it is high in sugar and low in water. Some honey samples are 3,000 years old.
• Very fat-rich foods like butter and cheese, tallow or oils can last for a long time. Bog butter, a highly fermented butter, is up to 4,000 years old.
• The world's oldest champagnes, 200-year-old bottles of Clicquot, was perfectly palatable.
• Ancient frozen flesh may look perfectly edible but quickly becomes putrid after defrosting.
• Fish is even worse at surviving the freezing process. Meat tends to have all kinds of microorganisms, which makes it unsuitable for long periods of storage.

• Unless a nuclear or chemical incident has contaminated the food, all foods that are not in the fresh aisle can be eaten with confidence. That is tinned or dried foods and even frozen foods. Vacuum packed would also be useful.
• Slow-dried food could still harbor microbes. Spray-dried or freeze-dried foods, like instant coffee grounds and fine powders, will last longer.
• Food designed for space travel could be right. Space food is dehydrated and vacuum-sealed.
• General-purpose army rations are good for three years at 80F (27C).
• Other food replacements to consider are Huel. Huel is a company that offers a complete diet in powder form, uses freeze-drying and milling to create powders with no moisture in them.

Philosophy of food is found on the idea that food is a mirror.

Eating reflects the making of a self - the many decisions and circumstances that lead us to eat the way we do. Philosophy of food mirrors on the ethical, political, social, artistic, identity-defining aspects of food. It makes us think and reflect on our diets and eating habits.

Food is a relation to organism and circumstance.

• Food is bound to vary from moment to moment. Coffee and pasty are a fine breakfast or afternoon snack. Yet, most of us won't enjoy it for dinner.
• Circumstances are bound to involve contradictory principles. You may buy only organic food, but on vacation, you crave burgers and fries.

Therefore, any given food relation is the mirror of an eater, and it represents the eater's needs, habits, convictions, deliberations, and compromises.

Ethical convictions can shape our diets.* Would you eat a cat or a horse? Why or why not?* Your reasons are likely rooted in ethical principles, such as feeling outraged that someone can do such a thing.

Vegetarians conform to a particular diet to prevent unjustified violence being done to animals.

Food as art has spurred heated debates. Some argue that food is a minor art at best for three reasons:

• Foods are short-lived in comparison to, for instance, long-lasting art carved out of marble.
• Food is intrinsically linked to a practical purpose - nourishment.
• Food depends on its material constitution that is different from music, painting, or sculpture.

At best, cooks can be very good artisans and can be paired with fancy hairdressers or skilled gardeners.

Americans highly esteem the role of food experts while the French and Italians do not. It's possibly because of different ways to regard the evaluation of a food.

Is there a truth when it comes to judgments about food? On the one hand, my tasting experience is different from yours and completely subjective. On the other, an expert can challenge a reviewer's opinions about a wine or a restaurant.

Most foods at the supermarket carry on their labels "nutritional facts." We use it to guide how we eat.

But what do those numbers have to do with what we put in our stomachs? We don't really know the rules regarding metabolism or understand the implications of the funding of studies on nutritional facts.

Some concerns for political philosophy include:

• The challenges that food consumption poses to the environment. For example, factory farming produces more pollution than airfare travel.
• Food trades, such as coffee, tea, and chocolate, raise issues of fairness and equity in the global market.
• Food production, distribution, and retail is an opportunity to talk about the condition of workers across the globe.

A refusal to consider eating habits in a meaningful manner is similar to a lack of self-understanding or authenticity.

Since self-understanding and authenticity are some of the chief aims of philosophical inquiry, food is a key to philosophical insight. The philosophy of food is then the pursuit of an authentic diet.

The term "junk" refers to something that we wouldn't want or garbage. The point as to why junk food is called as such is because these junk foods are processed foods that offer little to no nutritional value.

The four reasons why people choose junk food over healthy foods are because of its:

• Availability
• Convenience
• Cost
• Flavor.

We see junk food in every store and fast food places in almost every corner of the city. Regardless of the individual item, both junk food and fast food products are generally easy to grab and bring with you.

The ease of storage and the rapid production of junk foods are major reasons why so many people eat junk food. The combination of availability and convenience is dangerous.

Both junk food and fast food are much cheaper than healthy foods. In fact, it costs three times as much to have and maintain a healthful diet compared to a junk-filled diet.

It's not unreasonable why people would then choose to eat junk instead of healthy food because the cost is a massic component that most of us cannot afford to overlook.

We cannot deny the fact that junk food is tasty. However, they are high in sodium and sugar, and that's really not good for you.

Junk food can cause digestive problems, skin and weight problems. In excess, it may cause obesity and other related diseases. If junk food is consumed only on occasion in an otherwise healthy diet, it's not likely to have much negative impact on your health.

1. Eat a variety of foods
2. Base your diet on plenty of foods rich in carbohydrates
3. Replace saturated with unsaturated fat
4. Enjoy plenty of fruits and vegetables
5. Reduce salt and sugar intake
6. Eat regularly, control the portion size
7. Drink plenty of fluids
8. Maintain a healthy body weight
9. Get on the move, make it a habit!
10. Start now! And keep changing gradually.

For good health, we need more than 40 different nutrients, and no single food can supply them all. It is not about a single meal, it is about a balanced food choice over time that will make a difference!

• A high-fat lunch could be followed by a low-fat dinner.
• After a large meat portion at dinner, perhaps fish should be the next day’s choice?

Fats are important for good health and proper functioning of the body. Different kinds of fats have different health effects, and some of these tips could help us keep the balance right:

• We should limit the consumption of total and saturated fats, completely avoid trans fats; reading the labels helps to identify the sources.
• Eating fish 2-3 times a week, with at least one serving of oily fish, will contribute to our right intake of unsaturated fats.
• When cooking, we should boil, steam or bake, rather than frying, remove the fatty part of meat, use vegetable oils.

Fruits and vegetables are among the most important foods for giving us enough vitamins, minerals and fibre. We should try to eat at least 5 servings a day.

For example, a glass of fresh fruit juice at breakfast, perhaps an apple and a piece of watermelon as snacks, and a good portion of different vegetables at each meal.

A high salt intake can result in high blood pressure, and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. There are different ways to reduce salt in the diet:

• When shopping, choose products with lower sodium content.
• When eating, it helps not to have salt at the table, or at least not to add salt before tasting.

Sugar provides sweetness and an attractive taste, but sugary foods and drinks are rich in energy, and are best enjoyed in moderation, as an occasional treat. Use fruits instead, even to sweeten our foods and drinks.

Eating a variety of foods, regularly, and in the right amounts is the best formula for a healthy diet.

Paying attention to portion size will help us not to consume too much calories, and will allow us to eat all the foods we enjoy, without having to eliminate any.

• Cooking the right amount makes it easier to not overeat.
• Some reasonable serving sizes are: 100 g of meat; one medium piece of fruit; half a cup of raw pasta.
• Using smaller plates helps with smaller servings.
• Packaged foods, with calorie values on the pack, could aid portion control.
• If eating out, share a portion with a friend.

Try to set up your desk in an area that’s not near the kitchen. You might be tempted to wander over and check the fridge if it’s constantly in your line of vision.

Decide that the only time you’ll be in your kitchen during the workday is when you’re getting ready to have a planned snack or meal. If this is hard to follow, hang a sign on your fridge and pantry to remind you that the kitchen is closed until the next scheduled meal or snack.

Just as you schedule and plan out the rest of your day (get up, workout, shower), establish when throughout the day you’re going to eat. If you know you like to eat lunch around noon, plan for that.

And if you like to have a snack in the late afternoon, plan for that as well. Treat food like you would in the office. You can’t be grazing all day long when you’re there – so act the same way at home.

Once you hit the ground running, err, working, it can be hard to take a break to actually eat. But it’s important to know your hunger signs and realize that not eating can affect your alertness and productivity.

Plus, eating throughout the day can save you from being a big hangry mess once 5 o’clock rolls around. If needed, set an alarm on your phone to remind you to get up and eat something.

There’s something freeing about being able to whip up whatever you want to eat for lunch (and not having to stand in line for the work microwave is a huge bonus).

But for some people, the freedom is too much, especially when it comes to weekday lunches. If you can, try to meal prep your lunches ahead of time, just like you would on days you physically go to work.

Balanced, nutritious food makes us more productive. It keeps us fuller longer and helps us focus. Understand that what you eat will impact your mood and energy level.

Think about this the next time you’re feeling hungry and just want to grab a handful of chocolate from the pantry. Focus on protein, fiber, healthy fats, fruits and veggies.

Dehydration can lead to headaches and fatigue, which are both not good for your productivity.

Just as you’d fill up a water bottle at the office to keep at your desk, keep water next to your work station at home too. If you have water readily available, chances are you’re more likely to drink it, helping you reach your goal of at least 64 ounces per day.

Never eat out of the bag or original container, as it’s much harder to control portions that way. Check the serving size on the container if you need extra guidance.

For meals, try the healthy plate method: Fill half a 9-inch plate with non-starchy vegetables, one-fourth the plate with a lean protein (poultry, seafood, beans, eggs, tofu, cottage cheese or Greek yogurt) and one-fourth the plate with a high fiber carbohydrate (fruit, whole grains or starchy vegetables).