Fun Nutrition Facts

Nutrition is one of the most important issues in life, but for most people it is also one of the most dull and confusing. All that talk of calories, proteins, antioxidants, and vitamins just tends to make most people’s eyes glaze over in disinterest. Even people who are in the process of dieting to lose weight often find nutrition facts to be something of less interest than the overall number of calories that they consume – a fact that leads so many people to fail in their efforts to lose weight. Nutrition facts need not be the unwanted guest at the party, however. To prove it, here are some fun nutrition facts that you may not have heard.

Four quick Facts: the colors we eat

One example of these nutrition facts is that red is apparently an important color in our diets – since research indicates that naturally red foods seem to contain high levels of antioxidants. These include strawberries, tomatoes, and even red wine! You need these antioxidants to maintain healthy cells and prevent disease. Another of these fun facts concerns the color orange. Just take a look at carrots, which were first cultivated for their medicinal uses and have in recent times been proven to not only improve the health of your eye tissues but your night vision as well. Orange is also the color of pumpkins, which are a rich source of antioxidants, fiber, and vitamin A.

Color also plays a role in the fast food that we eat. Studies have revealed that warm colors like red, orange, and yellow seem to cause us to be hungrier. Can you think of any restaurants that use those colors in their logos and building designs?

Four more facts about food

Of course, nutrition facts aren’t all about color relationships. Some are about things you wouldn’t expect to hear. Take, for example, broccoli and apples. Did you know that it takes more than 200 apples to equal the amount of vitamin C present in a third of a pound of broccoli? How about nutrition facts like the average human being annually consumes a weight of food equal to the weight of a full grown grizzly bear – nearly 1500 pounds! Are you aware that the stomach requires 3 hours of work to digest every meal?

Then, of course, there are nutrition facts that defy myths – like the fact that frozen vegetables can actually be healthier for you than so-called fresh produce, since vegetables lose their nutrients as they wait to be eaten and freezing your vegetables stops that process.

Two for the road

If you’re dieting, consider using applesauce in baked products to reduce your caloric intake. It’s an excellent replacement for butter. Another of these nutrition facts that we should all know has to do with food allergies. The most common of these allergens are also some of the most commonly eaten foods: eggs, milk, peanuts, wheat, fish, and various nuts from trees. Now those are some nutrition facts that can liven up any conversation about food!