Vinegar has been around for thousands of years.  The word vinegar is said to originate from the Latin words meaning “sour wine”, while other sources indicate it refers to the French phrase “vin aigre”, also meaning sour wine.  Whatever the original source of the word vinegar may be, the history of vinegar is claimed to have started around 5 000 B.C. when the Babylonians used date palm fruit to make vinegar, using it as a food source and as a preserving agent.  Traces of vinegar have been found in the residue in ancient Egyptian urns traced to 3 000 B.C.   Socrates, viewed as the father of modern medicine and living in ancient Greece around 400 B.C., prescribed apple cider vinegar

Salt is essential for various biochemical processes in the human body.  Salt is also one of the five basic taste sensations, with its taste detected by sodium taste bud cells on the tongue. Apart from white table salt, there are a variety of different types of salt available worldwide.  One of these, pink Himalayan salt, has lately become popular amongst health-conscious people for its claimed health benefits, and it is viewed as nutritionally superior to white table salt.  In addition, believers in energetic healing say that the crystalline structure of Himalayan salt stores vibrational energy, which can promote health when transferred to human cells. Some people describe Himalayan salt as one of the purest salts available, containing a wide variety

Fat is one of the three major macronutrients that make up the bulk of the nutrition in our food, along with carbohydrates and protein.  Micronutrients – individual vitamins and minerals – are needed in much smaller amounts. Fat is an essential part of our diet.  Our bodies need fat as an additional source of energy when carbohydrates are not available.  Fat has double the amount of calories that is found in carbohydrates or protein and is a concentrated source of energy.  Fat also helps with the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamins A, D, E and K.   Fat cells help to keep us warm by insulating the body and sustaining a normal core body temperature.  Fat is

That brief surge of energy that swells in us after eating a large sugary treat, commonly known as a sugar rush, is due to a temporary rise in blood sugar.  Blood sugar spikes occur when your blood sugar first rises and then falls sharply after you have eaten and are linked to certain types of food. What is blood sugar? The widely used term “blood sugar” is a misnomer, as it refers to glucose.  During digestion the body breaks down carbohydrates into a simple sugar called glucose, which then enters the bloodstream.  Apart from glucose, other sugars are also present in the blood.  Food contains several types of sugar, such as fructose from fruit and lactose from milk.  Contrary to

What’s in a name?  Well, in the case of the eggplant, it depends on where in the world you are.   In British English as well as in German, Dutch, and French it is known as aubergine, while it is known as brinjal in South Asia and South Africa, and referred to as eggplant in the USA, Australia, and New Zealand. The most common variety looks like a large, pear-shaped egg, which is where the name “eggplant” comes from.  It belongs to the nightshade plant family, along with tomatoes, potatoes, and bell peppers.  Although eggplants are grouped with vegetables, they are technically fruit.  The eggplant is a perennial plant that can live for three or more growing seasons in a tropical

As sugar is added to lots of foods and beverages, many people probably eat and drink more sugar than they may realise.  Reducing sugar intake is a healthy idea, although it is quite a challenge to reduce the intake of sugar, as it acts like a drug in the brain.  Less intense than cocaine and heroin, but nonetheless addictive for some people, sugar activates the very same region in the brain that makes you experience a high and feelings of pleasure.  Like using hard drugs, bingeing on sugar blunts the “pleasure” response over time, making you want the sugar fix more frequently and in higher doses to experience the same feelings of pleasure.  What is sugar and what does it