Questions tagged [diet]
The amount and variety of food consumed by an organism, usually for nutrition.
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evolution of a preference for cooked meat
When I got a meat thermometer a few years ago, I was startled at how low optimal cooking temperatures are for beef, less that 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Also, as a kid, I remember reading that the desert ...
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What do Wild Silverfish Eat?
Silverfish are famous for eating wallpaper paste.
The paste is made of starch mixed with water. Wikipedia says silverfish love starch
They consume matter that contains polysaccharides, such as ...
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Do cheetahs compete with lions?
Do cheetahs compete with lions for the same prey?
A quick Google search says the answer is no:
Lions hunt big animals such as buffalo, giraffe, wildebeest, and zebra. What prey do cheetahs hunt? ...
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Why does biomagnification of mercury occur more in large fish?
I love tuna so this question has been bugging me senselessly.
I am aware that larger fish tend to have more mercury concentration in their flesh than their prey, however, I don't understand how this ...
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Does baking soda interfere with digestion when cooked into food?
Baking soda is useful for tenderizing meats and leavening baked goods. In the case of meats, it allegedly breaks down proteins/amino acids.
However, does this usage pose a risk to digestion? Could the ...
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If excess sodium is bad for humans, why don't our bodies just remove it?
This is one of those questions where I realized two everyday facts don't connect for me. Excessive sodium in the diet is supposed to be bad for us. But surely our bodies have mechanisms for getting ...
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Is there any correlation between animal diet and blood pH?
The alkaline diet claim that as we humans have a slightly basic pH we shouldn't eat acidic food like meat (I think they claim that meat ashes are acid).
I was wondering that if carnivores animals ...
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Does the harvesting time of broccoli sprouts change their glucoraphanin content and sulforaphane formation capacity?
Does anybody know if the harvesting time affects glucoraphanin content and sulforaphane formation of broccoli sprouts? Do they also get affected by light exposure or lack of it?
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A balanced diet with the minimum carbon footprint [closed]
Many studies shows that 1 kg of non-vegetarian food as 3-4 times more carbon footprint than 1 kg of vegetarian food. I think that does not represent the complete picture food from animal sources are ...
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Can humans eat a greater variety of things than other omnivores?
One thing that I've always noted is that humans seem able to eat just about anything that isn't toxic (and many things that are). Even when compared to other omnivores, I have the impression that ...
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How do Apes get their Omega 3s in the wild given so few plant sources? Are they able to convert it to DHA?
Given so few plant sources(around 6-7) of ALA, how do Apes get ALA in the wild?
Are they able to convert it into DHA in satisfactory amounts?
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What do oxpeckers eat from thick-skinned hippopotamuses and rhinoceroses?
Noted for their thick skin are both rhinoceroses (1.5 to 5 cm) and hippopotamuses (6 cm). They are further noted for their symbiotic relationship with bird called an oxpecker:
Both the English and ...
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Can it always be determined if an animal is a carnivore, omnivore, or herbivore by its teeth or are there exceptions?
Take the panda, for instance, it has canines but it's an herbivore. However, are there are other aspects of its teeth where one could still tell that it's an herbivore? Do the teeth always relay the ...
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Is it safe to feed the squirrels?
I hope this question fits here, I haven't found another community where it would fit.
Two years ago I was in a hotel in Sri Lanka (south-western coast) and in the hotel gardens there were a lot of ...
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How do bullfrogs eat?
I have a very small pond in my backyard and a bullfrog lives in it. I see him all the time, but I never see him eat anything. He either sits in the water with his head just above the water or he sits ...
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Why do wild animals not eat in captivity?
I have rescued possums before but this is the first full grown opossum I took in. She was skinny unlike the one I have now for 3 years and healthy. I would not normally take in a grown animal like ...
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Can the human body survive in a zero sugar diet strictly through gluconeogenesis?
I read an article a while back about athletes (I believe cyclists) being exposed to a 0 sugar diet and their blood sugar levels stayed relatively constant, which prompted the question whether people ...
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When consuming carbohydrates and fats together, why are the fats caloric?
If I understand things, and I most likely don't: mammals primarily use carbohydrates to produce metabolic energy when there are sufficient carbohydrates to do so. The use of fats for fuel requires ...
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Is a species lifespan affected by meat consumption?
I read a review-like article about the hypothesis of Caleb E. Finch in a science magazine. The article of interest engages with the idea of Finch
"[arguing] that immune functions and nutrition ...
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Does eating beans of a mother cause flatulence on babies?
Is it true that if you eat beans it could cause flatulence on babies (when breastfeeding them)?
I can't find any research or scientific facts about that topic.
I thought the body of the mother would ...
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What makes red meat less healthy than seafood, after millennia of evolving to eat meat? [closed]
We are told that red meat is carcinogen; fish and white meat are not. What make us not "compatible" to red meat after thousands of years of evolution and meat eating, and yet seafood is opposite ?
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Glycogen replenishment after exercise
In the body, the liver holds between 90-110 grams of glycogen in storage, while skeletal muscle storage makes up another 400 grams.
If a person exercises and depletes both stores, when a carbohydrate ...
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What happens to lipoprotein lipase after a sugar only diet?
Insulin increases the activity of lipoprotein lipase thay allows cells to take in lipids from chylomicrons in the blood.
If a person takes a sugar only meal like drinking coke, insulin is released. ...
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How harmful is aluminium?
I have been taught in school that aluminium is harmful for brain.
Thus sour meals should not be cooked in aluminium pots and it is unhealthy to add lemon juice to tea while there is teabag in the cup, ...
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Why do people eat meat?
My main question is why do people eat meat?
Can we not survive without meat?
I recently became a vegetarian and I have not yet felt any impact on my health. Can any one explain this phenomenon from ...
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Do birds change their diet before migration?
Migration takes up a lot of energy, so I am wondering if birds (in my case mallards) change their diet / food preferences in the weeks before migrating. Do they select for more energetic foods to fuel ...
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Is there enough vitamin B12 in lakes, rivers and ponds, for humans not to need to take supplements?
Vegans will often say that having an animal-free diet is best for our health and is actually the diet that humans should be eating to function optimally. To which meat eaters will raise the issue of ...
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Has a walrus ever been filmed catching a seal under water?
Walruses have been long thought to be grazing feeders, scooping up clams from the sea floor. However, when walruses bodies have been examined by scientists, frequently the remains of seals are found ...
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Protein diet composition
I have read that non veg food are better for proteins while veg food is deficient in either one or other protein. If it is so are herbivores protein deficient always in case of animals as well as ...
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Can a lion be fed cat food? [closed]
Is there a correlation between eating raw meat and aggressiveness in felines and canines?
Growing up, I was always told to cook the meat I gave to my dogs and cats so as not to give them the "taste ...
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What is the brain's preferred energy source? Glucose or ketones?
As with all cells in our body, I know that the brain can get fed from both glucose and ketones, so my question is, given both of them, which one would the brain prefer to utilize first?
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Does genetic morbid obesity exist?
With the acceptance of being a little overweight
I hear of people saying they were born morbidly obese and it was genetically passed on. I'm aware being so obese leads to countless health issues, yet ...
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Essential fatty acids function [closed]
Why are essential fatty acids so essential? I know that if taken less then it would cause diseases, but what metabolic role do they play? Are their importance is just because of their structural role?
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Are Pond Algae Edible for Humans?
I've been farming freshwater fishes. After some time, i found some green algae grows there. When the algae dried, it looks like nori (which commonly used for sushi wrapping).
So, i wonder if those ...
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Can the dietary fibres as chemical compounds be regarded as polymers? [closed]
At the level of molecular structure, can the dietary fibres be regarded as polymers?
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What makes humans omnivores, and not herbivores?
Some vegans claim that humans are herbivores, not omnivores, and that we are not physiologically designed to eat meat (see here: http://www.peta.org/living/food/natural-human-diet/).
"According to ...
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How do antibiotics combined with a non-Western diet affect weight loss?
Wikipedia describes a Western diet as:
... higher intakes of red and processed meat, butter, high-fat dairy products, eggs, refined grains, white potatoes, french fries, and high-sugar drinks.
In ...
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Co-dependency between carbohydrates, fats and protein in the mammalian diet?
Following up from the question Are carbohydrates an essential component of human diet? I am interested in knowing more specifically how carbohydrates, fats and proteins are linked in the mammalian ...
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Amino Acid requirement + intake in relation to diet + meat type [closed]
I was arguing with a friend:
I said: The Yulin festivals cannot be condemned by western culture, as we also kill animals in equally cruel ways.
She said: It isn't just that the killing is cruel, ...
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Why do blue jays eat my cat food?
We buy some run of the mill big-box store cat food. Over the last several weeks, I've observed a blue jay landing on the cat food dish, taking a piece or two, and flying off with it. I assumed it was ...
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Is Einstein's mass energy equivalence ($E=mc^2$) relevant to biological systems?
I'm more than 100% sure that the kilograms I eat don't get directly converted to feces and urine.
I'm sure some of it goes to regenerating tissue that is constantly being disposed as well, and maybe ...
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Omnivore vs Carnivore territory size
Edit: Large carnivores require lots of territory. What about bears? They're omnivores. How much does that count?
Is there anywhere I could find weight/territory ratios for mammals, depending on diet? ...
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How does an excessive amount of beta carotene affect skin colour?
How much is the daily need of beta carotene and how many carrots have to be eaten in order for one's skin to turn "orange".
I found 2-4 mg/ day as basic need, 30 mg daily over three weeks turns white ...
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Creation of healthy genetically modified crops [closed]
GM crops are huge at the moment, and the noticeable 'counter movement' is for people to continue to purchase organic foods (please note I am specifically talking of GM crops and not meats, etc).
The ...
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Does variation in human gut length vary predictably with diet of ancestors?
Background: Numerous online searches, textbooks and other sources seem to pin the average length of the human gut from mouth to anus (oroanal) between about 5-10m in length. To pick a reputable ...
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50:50 sugar/fat mixture
A couple of years ago I saw a BBC Horizon television documentary about sugar and fat. One section mentioned three experiments in which rats were given their ordinary rat food plus and unlimited supply ...
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Is "aggregate percentage" still a valid term in ecology?
Martin et al. 1946 define "aggregate percentage" as a metric that describes the mean percentage contribution of a group to the total mass/abundance of all samples. The metric is useful in datasets ...
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Are carbohydrates an essential component of human diet?
Are people able to satisfy all the needs of a healthy diet without consuming carbohydrates?
My question includes the assumption that a person has no health condition that would prevent them from ...
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Bodyweight loss vs calorie shortfall
I have read that 1g of pure fat has 9 Calories.
If I dieted successfully in a way that did not cause me to loose muscle, and I had a cumulative calorie shortfall of 90,000 calories. Would that ...
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What could make a person get ill from not eating often enough? [closed]
Say a person needs to eat every 3 hours, or s\he gets physically ill with fatigue and cold sweating, and this is the case every day.
What could cause this?
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