Good and Bad Food Combos

When making decisions on food pairings, people generally do what tastes best. Sometimes this is OK, sometimes it is not.

It all depends on how the foods will chemically react to one another inside of your body. And as always, science constantly has its two-cents to put into the equation. Here are some of the latest food pairing “do’s” and “don’ts”:

DO’S:

Steak and Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts and other cruciferous veggies, such as broccoli and cauliflower, contain certain compounds that can help rid the body of carcinogens. Namely, the carcinogens formed on the meat through the grilling process. Of course, it’s always better practice to cook meat slowly until it’s done, but the grill probably isn’t going anywhere for a while, and a little burnt taste is often preferred.

Avocado and Tomato

Antioxidants get a lot of press these days. And for good reason. Tomatoes are known to contain large amounts of lycopene, an antioxidant that can help protect against prostate cancer, other forms of cancer, and other serious diseases. Hence, tomatoes are known as a “super food.” But mix tomatoes with avocado and what do you get? A super food on steroids. The fat in the avocado allows your body to absorb seven times more lycopene.

Spinach and Oranges

Spinach, as Popeye would have you believe, is good for you as it’s high in iron. However, to get the most out of your spinach, you need vitamin C. That’s where the orange comes into play. The vitamin C converts the iron in spinach, and other veggies like broccoli, into a form that is more easily absorbed by the body.

DON’TS:

Alcohol and Energy Drinks

It seems to be the trend these days, but as more information is coming out, the general consensus of the medical community is that mixing alcohol and energy drinks can be quite dangerous. This is because the stimulants found in energy drinks (caffeine, etc.) and the fact that alcohol is a depressant, confuses the nervous system. This can cause heart palpitations, breathing problems, and in severe cases, heart attack and/or stroke. It is generally advisable to give a couple hours time in between the consumption of such beverages.

Alcohol and Diet Soda

The lack of sugar in the diet soda makes your body process the concoction at a faster rate. In turn, this can cause you to become drunk faster. This is because the calories found in a sweet mixed drink slow the emptying of the stomach, which causes your small intestine to absorb the alcohol at a slower rate. Take those calories away though and you may find yourself stumbling around a bit quicker than you had anticipated.

Coffee and Breakfast Cereal

In this instance, antioxidants are the culprit. Polyphenois, an antioxidant found in coffee, black tea, and some herbal teas, can actually hamper your body’s ability to effectively absorb the iron found in most breakfast cereals. The solution? Have your cup of joy before or after the cereal.

Sweet Science

Government scientists, with financial backing from Mars, Inc., are taking the first steps in a five-year journey to map the genome of perhaps the most-loved plant on the planet: the cocoa bean.

The project is a peculiar one, especially in light of the scientific community’s usual emphasis on mapping the human genome and other biological entities that seem…well…more important than the cocoa bean.

The end- goal of the project is to more effectively combat crop diseases in the cocoa.

Though virtually no cocoa is harvested in the U.S., crop diseases account for an annual $700 million in global losses for cocoa farmers. Domestic farmers who grow things like almonds and raisins depend a great deal on chocolate, so the belief is that the project should eventually yield positive results for many different types of farmers in many different countries.

Another welcomed result of the project may also be that producers will be able to make better tasting chocolate products, an idea that most anyone could get excited about.

The scientists’ first step is to catalog the entirety of the more than 400 million parts of the cocoa genome. Next, they will be able to concentrate on the parts of the double-helix that are of particular interest and importance to farmers and candy producers alike.

Although Mars Inc., the makers of M&M’s and Snickers candies, are footing the bill for the research, the results will be made public, even to the company’s competitors.

"For us, the fact that Hershey has similar information that every other chocolate company in the world has, that's fine," said Howard-Yana Shapiro, Mars' global director of plant science.

The belief is that there will be too much information for any one company to catalog and effectively analyze anyway.

Shapiro said he did not expect improvements in yields from research would lead to larger overall cocoa crops, but did say that higher yields would allow farmers to devote some of their land to other lucrative crops that could make them more money. This coupled with the potential for better tasting chocolate products could make for a sweet future for chocolate lovers the world over.