Monthly Archives: October 2018

Does Caffeine Stunt Our Growth?

All our lives we have been told that coffee stunts our growth, but does it actually? According to an article from Harvard Medical School, there is no scientifically valid evidence to suggest that coffee can stunt a persons growth. Some people believe that coffee can cause osteoporosis which can be associated with a loss of height but coffee does not cause osteoporosis. There are studies that suggests a link between people who drink coded and a lack of calcium and vitamin D. The lack 0f calcium and vitamin D can in fact lead to osteoporosis but this is not because of coffee. The article mentions that most people tend to start drinking caffeine after most of their growing is done and one or two sips as a kid isn’t going to stop that growing process. A recent study tracked 81 teenagers for 6 years and found no difference in bone density between the teens who consumed a lot of coffee and those who barely had any. Although there are some more minor health issues in regards to coffee consumption there are really no major issues. In fact nutritionists are more worried about the other ingredients added in to coffee. To conclude, the old wives tale that coffee stunts is completely false. Coffee can lead to other health problems such as making us hyper and increasing our heart rate but it does not stop us from growing. If you want to blame your lack of height on something, blame it on your parents because being short is due to your genes, not because of your coffee consumption.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/can-coffee-really-stunt-your-growth

https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/coffee-stunt-growth1.htm

What Darwin Never Knew

How did the discovery of DNA prove Darwins theory of evolution was correct and how does it change the way we view evolution today and into the future?

Darwins theory was that the species have changed but they all evolved from one common ancestor millions of years ago. With the discovery of DNA scienctists have been able to study and compare the DNA of humans to other animals. This discovery proves that Darwins theory is correct because scientists were able to find out how changes in DNA were made for each organism to adapt to its environment. Darwins theory and the discovery of DNA made people question their beliefs as most people had believed that it was God who put all living beings on earth when in actuality it was DNA and evolution that made everything as it is today. No one would have ever believed that ancient fish evolved to become the ancestor of all for limbed animals without the disease of DNA. The similarities between monkeys/chimpanzees and such was just merely a coincidence to the minds of people in the past but thanks to Darwin and his theory that humans evolved from monkeys scientists were able to prove that it was in fact true. In fact humans share 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees which means there’s only a difference of 1% in our DNA. This raises the question of what exactly differentiates us from monkeys. The discovery of DNA has opened up all types of possibilities to furthering our knowledge of evolution and without Darwins theory we may have never known all of this.

Foods 12 – September Lab Reflection

I chose to reflect on the Moms Apple Pie Jam because I found it the most interesting lab we did this month. I enjoyed this lab a lot more than I thought I was going to. I personally don’t like apple jam very much and I also don’t like super sweet thing very much. Seeing how much sugar went into the jam I was immediately worried about if I would like the jam much if at all. I was pleasantly suprised by the jam and I think it went really well on top of the crossiants we made. The end product wasn’t overly sweet and I think it looked as if it was professionally done. I think my group worked pretty well together. We were able to get the apples cut to the correct size extremely fast and were able to start making our jam way before the other groups. I think my group was really good at time management and splitting up the jobs to help us work together better. The only problem we really had was when were were trying to put the jam into the jars we ended up spilling quite a bit on the jam on to the sides of the jar and I was worried that we didnt clean it enough for the sealing to work. If I were to do this lab again I think I would be intrested in trying to make the jam with less sugar to see if it would still taste as good. I would also try making the jam with a different fruit. I’m not completely sure what fruit I would choose to make the jam with but I think it would be an interesting task.

Fear

I felt fear at the Parthenon in Athens, Greece when I went there this past summer. Not because I’m scared of the spirits that could be lurking there but because I’m intimidated by it. It was completed in 432 BC which is incredible that it is still standing here today but that is exactly what scares me. All around Greece you can find historical sights and artifacts from over 2000 years back. This scares me because I don’t think that our generation will ever have anything still standing 2000+ years from now that will show who we were. When I went to Greece I didn’t suddenly know everyone who lived there in the past but I was able to see how incredible their people were and I fear that we won’t make an impact like that in our world. The Greeks have managed to make such a lasting impression in our society and I fear that all that will be remembered from our time will be the bad things that are happening currently in North America. I fear that we will never be able to make an impression on this earth and our whole society will be forgotten.

Foods Waste

Personally I try my best to not create any food waste or waste in general. When I am cooking I use as much of the food product as I can. I always save my food for leftovers and my family never has too much food in our fridge. Usually when I go out to eat I order food not knowing how big the portion is and when I receive it I am unpleasantly suprised when I see how much food I received. I find that because I’m so picky I tend to pick out the foods that I dont like in a dish and throw them out even though someone else would happily eat them. I also tend to give myself more food than I can finish which usually ends in everything I don’t end up eating being thrown in the compost bin. A way to cut down waste in my house is to give myself smaller portions of food when I am getting myself food and just grab more if I’m still hungry. I can also share dishes with friends or family if I go out to eat and order more than I am able to finish all by myself.