Watching Cooking Shows Could Make You Fat

While it’s pretty much understood that cooking at home saves you money and can save you from the gigantic portions, high calorie counts and the expense of eating out, don’t be so quick to tune in to your favorite cooking show for inspiration. New research suggests that cooking shows could make you fat. A team of researchers from Cornell University discovered that there are two kinds of people: “viewers," who merely watch cooking shows, and “doers,” who actually prepare the recipes they see on cooking shows. The study found that doers have a higher BMI (body mass index) than viewers, and on average weigh 11 pounds more than their non-cooking counterparts. That’s because recipes used on cooking shows are typically loaded with butter, fat and calories. By comparison, recipes in cook books are likely to have ingredients that won't pack on the pounds. It’s still okay to cook at home, as long as you’re mindful of what you cook and substitute for high-fat ingredients when you can. Does that mean cooking bacon on the barrel of a gun is out? While you can actually do that, a good guide for how often to have it is found in the phrase “once in a blue moon.”

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How to Tell If Your Pillow Is Dead

Getting a restful night’s sleep depends on several factors — and the pillow itself is a biggie. Pillows provide support for the alignment of your spine, and they're a necessary factor in your sleep comfort. The thickness and firmness of the pillow needed or preferred will vary from person to person, but any pillow can be detrimental to your sleep once it has run its course. The Sleep Foundation experts suggest replacing polyester pillows every year, feather pillows every two years, and latex pillows every three years. It’s important to remember that — similar to sheets and covers — pillows need to be cleaned regularly to avoid the buildup of dirt and dust. When you sleep, your pillow is absorbing things like sweat, hair, and skin cells, which can attract dust mites and worsen symptoms for people with allergies. You don’t want to know what’s living in your pillow, but since you’re reading……..a mixture of bugs, dead skin, and house dust mites and their feces. Studies show that pillows that aren't washed at least twice a year can hold 17,422 times more bacteria than an average toilet seat. Sleep tight!

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What Those Colored Circles on Food Packages Actually Mean

You can tell a lot from the design and color of food packaging. For example, the color of a packet of M&Ms will tell you whether they’re peanut, regular, crispy, or caramel. There’s something else printed on the back of most food packaging: several brightly-colored circles or squares that look like some sort of secret language. However, these shapes aren’t an indication of flavors, vitamins, or minerals. They’re really not there for the consumer, but rather for the printing engineers. Those colored shapes are called “process control patches” and they allow printers to use the circles to check that the printing ink is the correct color. They compare the color to boxes printed around the world to ensure consistent brand colors. That means you can reach for a yellow packet of M&Ms in Shanghai, Sarajevo, or Sydney and know you’ll be getting peanuts.

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Say Hello to Wundereggs: The First Plant-Based Boiled Eggs

While the niche market of plant-based eggs already has scrambled egg applications covered via an assortment of brands, Crafty Counter will soon be entering the space with Wundereggs, a product that's billed as the first plant-based ready-to-eat hard-boiled eggs. Wundereggs are gluten free, soy free, grain free and dairy free. The eggs are treated with high pressure processing, which gives them a shelf life of 90-120 days. As for what they’re made of, the egg whites contain nuts and agar, while the yolk contains nuts, turmeric, and black salt. Saturated fat levels in the cholesterol-free Wundereggs are around the same as regular eggs, but contain slightly more calories and less protein than chicken eggs. Crafty Counter is, however, looking at how to increase protein levels without compromising taste or texture. Sold in packages of two, the introductory price will be around $5 when the company launches later this year.

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