Vestres' Boon

Fat: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly By  Simon Evans Fat is bad for you. That's what we were told for a long time. More recently, we're told that some fat is good for you, like olive oil and fish oil. Then there are the downright evil fats, like Trans fats. Unless you're someone who spends a lot of time figuring out all this advice, it can be more than a little confusing. Now it turns out that the type of fat we eat may contribute to the risk of depression as well. But before getting into that, let's try to simplify how fats are different. We can really lump fats into 4 main categories: First, we have saturated fats. This is the kind you get from butter, heavy cream, and animal fat; like that tasty marbled fat running through your prime rib. Too much saturated fat is linked with heart disease and can play a role in clogging up your arteries. We can't avoid saturated fat completely (and probably shouldn't), but we can be careful about not sucking down too much of ...

By Kathi Jo Robinson Due to the magic and wonder of food dyes in the manufacturing and processing divisions of the food industry, the general consumer is led through a myriad of intense colors and textures with every trip to the grocery store. Unknown to that consumer though, many seemingly common staples we purchase repetitively are "dressed up" to awaken the senses of the buying public. Some examples of this, oranges are not necessarily orange in color when they are picked ripe right of the tree. Many times food dyes are added to get that beautiful orange sheen. A ripe orange is actually often shades of gray or splotchy orange in color. Tomatoes, when picked, can be a cross between shades of green to different levels of pink. That bright juicy red color though is often washed on with food dyes. Red cherries when processed always turn gray but the buying public always visualizes a cherry as red. Enter more food dyes. Dyes for cosmetic purposes o...