Fun Facts

In the early 1800s, ketchup was sold as medicine.

The ancient Aztecs used cacao beans as currency. In fact, the beans were so valuable, some even made counterfeit cacao beans.

July, also known as National Blueberry Month, is the peak harvest for North American blueberries.

It’s possible to dissolve pearls in vinegar.

If placed in water, lemons float and limes sink.

More than 7,000 varieties of apples are grown around the world.

Pineapples are an excellent source of vitamin C and manganese, and a good source of dietary fiber, thiamin, vitamin B6, and copper.

Every time you lick a stamp, you consume about 1/10th of a calorie.

Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are sometimes referred to as "vitamin F." Specifically, vitamin F is composed of linoleic and alpha-linolenic acids.

Although the use of sunscreen can reduce the body’s production of vitamin D, most people’s normal usage of sunscreen does not result in vitamin D insufficiency.

The first food to be deliberately microwaved was popcorn. The second was an egg, which exploded.

Natto, a fermented soy dish popular in Japan, offers one of the highest food sources of vitamin K2. It’s also high in protein and low in calories, but its taste and appearance may be off-putting to some.

Walnuts are one of the best nut sources of omega-3s, especially alpha-linolenic acid. They are also good sources of manganese and copper.

A healthy adult human body contains about 3.5 pounds of probiotics. That’s more weight than the typical human brain, and almost as much weight as the typical human liver.

La Tomatina is a festival held in Spain each year during which participants throw more than 100,000 tomatoes at each other for about an hour.

Though the term “dietary fiber” didn’t come into use until the 1950s, Hippocrates appears to have been the first person to reference fiber in medical literature.

Soy crayons have been created to replace petroleum-wax crayons.

One bushel of corn will sweeten more than 400 cans of pop.

Kiwis were originally called Chinese gooseberries. But when U.S. importers began to bring the fruit to the U.S. in the 1950s, they changed the name to avoid high import tariffs and connotations with communist China.

How do Republicans’ and Democrats’ views on GMOs differ? Both Republicans (39%) and Democrats (40%) feel that GMOs are worse for health, but more Democrats (60%) than Republicans (50%) believe organic foods are healthier, according to an December NPR article.

According to legend, St. John’s wort got its name because the plant blooms around June 24-the same day as the feast of St. John the Baptist in some Christian traditions.

Small amounts of caffeine can be found in the leaves and flowers of several citrus plants, including grapefruit, lemon, and orange, but not in the fruits.

As a result of rising corn prices, some farmers now supplement cattle feed with candy, such as Skittles, as a way to provide a cheaper source of carbohydrates for the cows.

Spelt, a staple grain in Ancient Rome and medieval Europe, is especially rich in manganese, phosphorus, and niacin.

Before European contact with the Americas, tomatoes were not used in Italian food, peanuts were not used in Thai food, and chili peppers were not used in Indian food.

Lemongrass can be used to both repel mosquitos and attract honey bees. It is also a solid dietary source of iron, magnesium, and zinc.

Raw cashews contain urushiol, an allergenic chemical also found in poison ivy that causes a skin rash. Almost all cashews sold today have already been shelled and cooked to remove the urushiol.

It takes about 400 cocoa beans to make one pound of chocolate, although some types of chocolate require even more than that.