I don’t remember why I had this book in my ever growing pile, but I am so glad that I finally picked it up. I was on a teen novel binge, my guilty pleasure when it comes to books, and I decided that I needed to supplement my reading with some educational texts. Everything I have read so far has left me extremely intrigued, and wondering what interesting piece of information am I going to read next?
Chapter 1 discusses how taste has more to do with smell than actually tasting the food we eat. I learned what a sensory panelist is, how much training it takes to be one, and I think I found a backup career path if I ever decide I need a change.
Chapter 2 helped me realize that it’s not my fault that my cat isn’t eating her food. It’s not that I keep choosing brands or flavors that she doesn’t like, it’s that I’m treating her diet like my own, and that’s not how cats work. Also, animals are better at eating foods that are good for them, they seem to understand what nutrients they need and where to get them from. The most nutrient parts of an animal are found in the liver, stomach and intestines, and this segues neatly into the next chapter.
Chapter 3 talks about why we humans eat certain parts of the animal and throw out other parts. In the US especially, there are not a lot of people who are willing to eat the parts of the animal that are best for you in terms of gaining nutrients. The nutrient rich liver, stomach and intestines are often thrown away or shipped to other countries, where there are people willing to consume them. It seems that you need to grow up eating the heart and lungs of an animal to consider eating them normal rather than gross. Trying these foods as an adult is pretty unlikely, as you have learned that they are the garbage parts. But the challenge is how do we introduce these foods to young children, when the adults responsible for feeding them either don’t know how to prepare these parts or are unwilling to cook them and eat them?
Chapter 4 made me have to hold off on eating my lunch for a few minutes, I would not recommend reading this chapter right before you are about to sit down for a meal. The entire chapter is about chewing food and food leaving the body and I don’t really want to go into it.
Chapter 5 is not as off putting as chapter 4, but close. I learned about the toxic relationship between the scientist William Beaumont and the working class man Alexis St Martin, which was just as disturbing as the experiments Beaumont performed on St Martin. I also do not recommend reading this chapter right before you are planning on eating something.
Chapter 6, so far, has been the most captivating chapter. I learned more about saliva than I think I will ever need to know in my professional life, and personal life, as I am sure no one will be interested in discussing saliva with me. I feel like I am one of the few people who has read this chapter who was considering learning more about what goes on with the fluid we produce in our mouths. This speaks for the authors ability to write, I must say, because I believe there was a mention in this chapter about the scientists studying saliva not being able to find anyone to discuss their area of study with (due to most people being repulsed by the subject), and also not being taken seriously when discussing saliva.
Nonfiction and Nonsense 