More Fun Food Facts – 5/8/25

It’s time for another round of fun food facts. I always learn something new when I do deep dives into the foods we eat. I love learning all these new little fun and trivial facts. I hope you enjoy them too. 🙂

Dark Chocolate

One of the world’s favorite foods is chocolate. But dark chocolate is more than just a sweet treat to eat. Many claim it also has healing qualities too. Supposedly dark chocolate can help lower blood pressure and reduce inflammation, as well as lowering our heart rates, and our chances of getting both cancer and diabetes. These are still just theoretical and unproven, but I say eat more dark chocolate, just in case. It can’t hurt, right?!

Dark chocolate that is more than 70% cacao is also a pick-me-up, containing more caffeine than coffee.

Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and Almonds

There are a lot of different plant based protein options, and both almonds and chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, contain almost as much protein as steak, or at least according to some studies. I love nuts of all kinds, and I love my beans and chickpeas too, but I REALLY love a good steak. For me, there is nothing that will ever replace a good steak, but it is nice to know that we have other high-protein options as well. I say, everything in moderation though. Eating a healthy, well-blended diet, and getting our nutrients from many different food sources is always the best choice.

Brussels Sprouts

You either love them or you hate them. I didn’t grow up eating Brussels sprouts, but I sure love them now. In fact, I have some in my fridge right now, just waiting to be deliciously cooked and prepared. Brussels sprouts get a bad rap, and they are thought of as the world’s most hated vegetable, but they are also some of the healthiest vegetables too. They are packed full of vitamins and minerals, have virtually no calories, no fat, no cholesterol, and they fill you up. Better yet, they also have an anti-oxidant that has shown to be anti-inflammatory and could fight cancer.

Figs

Figs have been around since the beginning of time. Archeologists have found fossilized figs dating back to around 9000 BCE.

Figs are known as a fruit, but in reality, they are part of the syconium family, meaning that a portion of their stem expands into a sac containing a flower that grows internally.

Are figs vegan? Not necessarily. As part of the pollination process, female wasps crawl inside of a fig to lay her eggs and, unfortunately, she dies during the process. By the time we eat the sweet fruits though, there are no traces of wasps left as they have been digested by the fig. This mainly occurs in figs that are grown in the wild though. Cultivated figs that we purchase at the stores have never felt the “pleasure” of a burrowing wasp inside.

Sandwiches

Today, we all eat sandwiches. A sandwich is basically anything you want “sandwiched” in between two slices of bread. There are infinite possibilities, and this favorite menu item is enjoyed in many forms all over the world.

Today, we take sandwiches for granted, but how did they come about? Legend has it that this lunch time classic is said to have been invented by the Earl of Sandwich. The unconfirmed story claims that the Earl, John Montagu was on a 24-hour gambling streak and did not want to leave his table. He wanted to eat without having to put his cards down. He had his staff prepare his food in between two slices of bread and brought to him so he could eat his food without stopping his gambling. … thus the sandwich was born.

Sandwiches have even made it into space. One was “smuggled” in by Astronaut John Young. He smuggled a corned beef sandwich onto his spacecraft for a six-hour mission. The sandwich didn’t go too well in zero gravity conditions and could have actually had grave consequences. Floating crumbs or debris could have caused serious damage to the shuttle, but luckily they returned unharmed. NASA has since taken steps to ensure no sandwich goes into space again.

These wild and crazy ideas may just come up as a trivial pursuit question, and now you know the answers. Have fun with them. Have a great day, learn something new everyday, and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

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