9 Nasty Truths About Your Favorite Foods
Famous Death Row Last Meals
Adding to the list of foods that taste great to some folks and terrible to others (cilantro, how you doin'?), here come innocent looking pine nuts.
"Pine mouth" is spreading from the U.S. to Britain and it's driving some eaters crazy, including a reporter from Britain's Daily Mail who downed a handful of the nuts. "Though I regained my taste after eight days, the only thing I could drink during that time was water," he says. "Drinking wine was like swallowing liquid metal. [emphasis ours]" Yeouch.
We've definitely sampled some pine nuts gone to the dark side, but this sounds out of control. Let's use Slashfood Science: Take the poll and learn more after the jump.
| Yes | |
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| No |
Weird Household Uses for Food
Peanut Butter
We were so inspired by the peanut butter carpet cleaning tip* and the bonanza of baking soda uses, that we went digging through our kitchens to seek out other tasty multi-taskers. Read on to find out how milk and vinegar nix stains, butter can save your precious baubles, and corn starch gets you and your kids out of knotty problems.
* The Peanut Butter Tip: To get gum out of a carpet, scrape up what you can, using an ice cub to stiffen it if necessary. Then rub a small glob of peanut butter into the fibers, and wipe up the whole mess with a cloth. To get rid of any left-behind PB, just dab it up with a mixture of 1 tsp of dishwashing liquid in 1 cup of lukewarm water. (Thanks to DIY Life for the tip!)
Got a tip on a multi-tasking food? Share it in the blog.
Rachel Been
Milk
Oh no! You forgot to put the cap on your pen and now there is ink seeping into your shirt. No worries -- just grab some milk and soak the area. Depending on the type of ink, this process can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 24 hours. Patience is a virtue.
Got a tip on a multi-tasking food? Share it in the blog.
Pepper
Everyone knows Clorox's catchy ditty about keeping clothes bright, but all you need is pepper. Add a teaspoon of pepper to the wash before you add in your clothes and it will keep the colors from fading.
Got a tip on a multi-tasking food? Share it in the blog.
Sugar
At your next BBQ don't spend money on anti-pest candles that never work. Simmer 2 cups of milk, a 1/4 pound of sugar and 2 oz. of ground black pepper for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour the mixture into bowls and put them where the flies will be attracted to them and then drown. You can also place around the house. No more buzzzzzing at the windows.
Got a tip on a multi-tasking food? Share it in the blog.
Sugar
At your next BBQ don't spend money on anti-pest candles that never work. Simmer 2 cups of milk, a 1/4 pound of sugar and 2 oz. of ground black pepper for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour the mixture into bowls and put them where the flies will be attracted to them and then drown. You can also place around the house. No more buzzzzzing at the windows.
Got a tip on a multi-tasking food? Share it in the blog.
Soda
Next time your drain is clogged and you don't have time to run to the store for some Drain-O just look in your fridge! A 2-liter bottle of soda will do the trick. Just pour it down to clobber the clog.
Got a tip on a multi-tasking food? Share it in the blog.
Shortening
For a natural solution to diaper rash, try coating the area with a thin layer of shortening. It will act as a moisturizer.
Got a tip on a multi-tasking food? Share it in the blog.
Salt
Grease stains can be a huge pain when it comes to doing laundry. Before you wash, work a generous amount of table salt into the stain and then launder as usual.
Got a tip on a multi-tasking food? Share it in the blog.
Potatoes
Too much to drink last night and now you have puffy eyes? Apply a thin slice of cold potato to your eyes and leave on for five minutes. Then splash with cool water, put on your makeup (or just some moisturizer -- this means you, too, guys!) and head to work!
Got a tip on a multi-tasking food? Share it in the blog.
Oranges
Don't you hate it when you have to start a fire and little bits of newspaper are flying everywhere? Next time, air-dry orange peels, which contain flammable oils that burn longer, and use those instead of the paper. The delicious smell is a bonus.
Got a tip on a multi-tasking food? Share it in the blog.
Some have reported their taste buds to be off for up to two weeks.
Scientists believe there may be "a chemical constituent in the nuts that causes the taste; possibly the nuts have gone rancid," but can't pinpoint much beyond that. As one expert states, "just as caffeine increases some people's heart rate more than others, some people may be susceptible to these oils, and some not." Thanks, guys.
[Via the Daily Mail]
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5-19-2009 @11:54PM Howard said... Buy red pepper from the health food store. The bottle will say cool red pepper on it and it is not hot, and will not burn your mouth or stomach.It will make the taste buds work again.
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5-19-2009 @11:57PM Howard said... Get red pepper at the health food store. The bottle will say cool red pepper on the bottle.
It will not burn your mouth or your stomach
but it will get your taste back if taken for
a while. Take them until it works.
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5-20-2009 @12:11AM Megan said... I've never experienced that after eating pinenuts. Fresh mango, however, tastes metallic to me. Don't know why, though : P
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5-20-2009 @12:43AM myrna foster said... I have eaten Nevada pine nuts for over 50 years with no adverse reaction. They are delicious. Pine nuts from China,ICK! What did you expect?
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5-20-2009 @1:02AM Carol said... I have eaten pine nuts many times before-but never again. I used to LOVE them! I have been purchasing the large bags from Sam's Club. The last one promptly went into the trash as soon as I discovered the cause of the taste disturbance. I contacted the distributor but never received a reply. I wouldn't wish this on anyone-not even the squirrels in my back yard! I just hope they don't ruin the water supply when they rot in the landfill!
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5-20-2009 @1:13AM N. H. Peters said... Isn't it odd how some things "overload" taste buds and overpower the taste of food.....for me it's plain old yellow mustard and the herb rosemary. I can't stand either one.
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5-20-2009 @1:18AM Capt. Drybones said... Man...I was born and raised in Santa Fe, NM and I gotta second Holly on this. Not only are they fun to gather, they are delicious. I've eaten those by the mouthful since I could chew, and I never had any problems... There's no better nut than a red-chile roasted Pinon pine nut. Right now, I'm at school in Chicago...and I'd take a bag over any silly Klondike bar. ...although, I gotta admit...a rotten pinon nut is one of the worst tastes out there ;-b.
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5-20-2009 @3:46AM plajak said... I have lost most of my taste and smell.. It was discovered thru a sinus x-ray, that I have a frontal sinus tumor...I had numerous sinus infections..
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5-20-2009 @5:04AM Chef Alfred Schrader said... Burnt electronics aftertaste is caused by PCBs not a tree nut.I would suggest get a pathogen blood test. Al
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5-20-2009 @5:39AM Kerry Slattery said... De-lice your child with Mayo! Instead of using toxic and expensive Anti-Lice Meds. just slather the victims hair with a thick layer of Mayo! Wrap
head with some plastic wrap if you like, let it sit
for 30 mins-1 hr. Then simply shampoo the hair and
the dead lice/nits will slide off. Hair will be nicely conditioned by Mayo treatment too! Can be
repeated later - be sure to wash all clothes/bedding/hair brush, etc.
in hot water/use dryer to kill any nits! It works every time and it's fast and cheap!
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5-20-2009 @7:25PM Firtch said... In Seattle, it's impossible to NOT get Pine Nuts from China. Every bag and source I see is from China. Even ones marked "pignoles" in Italian!
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5-20-2009 @10:33PM Jay said... Virgin pine nut oil has been used for years to deaden the desire to eat. It is a WONDERFUL Chinese method to ward off hunger pangs when there is no food in the house. Google virgin nut oil and you will find the site where you can buy some. It has helped me to lose 55 pounds so far. Good Luck!
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5-21-2009 @3:29AM donna said... i ate pine nuts they tastse good, but my mom & now ex ate then and got high on them . lol
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5-21-2009 @9:55PM Charlie said... have your Dr prescribe a drug called Topamax 200mg if you have migraines that the side effects cause almost the same taste bud symptoms. Carbonated drinks taste like sweet battery acid whether diet or regular!
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7-02-2009 @2:31PM NorCal Yankee said... THANK YOU! I kept googling this phenomenon and found this. I was starting to freak out about flouride toxicity. Thank God it's only the damn pine nuts. They're going in the trash when I get home.
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7-02-2009 @2:30PM NorCal Yankee said... FYI...my pine nuts were purchased at Trader Joe's.
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7-20-2009 @2:42AM redsonya59 said... Yes, indeed, I was a Pine Nut addict until this last week. My Trader Joe's Pine Nuts (sourced from either Russia, Viet Nam, or Korea, it says on the package) done me wrong fer sher...the other night, I made some pasta with yummy Yellowfin Tuna (packed in Olive Oil, of course) in Tuscan White Bean soup...and liberally sprinkled on the Pine Nuts. Then everything started tasting soapy....everything! UGH! It was strange. But now I know the cause. I may have to move back to NE California to get closer to those Pinon Pine trees (my Native American friends would harvest the nuts--but ya gotta shuck 'em, dang it)
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