Author: gracebrowning

Chocolate – Good or bad?

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Chocolate – Good or bad?

We all know about the treat that is called chocolate. While some people think, “Yes! This is the simplest treat ever that no one could ever ruin!” others think, “Ewww. This is not good. Why would people ever eat this!?” So today we are finally deciding whether or not chocolate is delicious or nasty.

Let’s start with the good things. First, chocolate can improve your blood flow and lower your blood pressure, however, you can only get those benefits if you eat dark chocolate or dark cocoa powder which is the least liked chocolate. Second, dark chocolate is good for your brain! Studies show chocolate increases brain blood flow, oxygen levels, and nerve function. So basically if you eat some chocolate occasionally, your brain health will improve little by little! Lastly, chocolate can improve people’s mental health, like emotions. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter responsible for mood regulation and cognitive function, so it’s no surprise that chocolate can immediately boost your mood on a bad day! Research has shown that those who eat dark chocolate have significantly decreased chances of developing depression.

Now that we have covered the good side of chocolate, let’s travel to the darker side. There are many bad things about chocolate. People just don’t really bring them up because it is sort of uncommon to not like chocolate since so many of the things that we do involve chocolate, such as Valentine’s day, Halloween, and even just national chocolate day. But never the less, we are going to exploit the negatives of chocolate. First, chocolate has high fat and sugar content. Its consumption has even been associated with acne, obesity, coronary artery disease, and diabetes.

Next, chocolate can have bacteria on it. Kristen Numez said, “25% of chocolate samples had bacterial contamination when examined during a study, featured in a 2015 article, in the journal ‘Food Control’. Interestingly, the cocoa beans showed little contamination, so the contamination occurred during processing. Enterobacteriaceae on the workers’ hands revealed the source.” So when you eat chocolate, you don’t really know what you’re consuming. And Finally, chocolate has a lot of undeclared allergens in it. Food allergies affect millions of people. Undeclared allergens often trigger product recalls. An April 2017 paper in the Journal of Food Protection showed that many chocolate bars contain undeclared allergens like milk and nuts. These foods can cause severe reactions in some people. So overall, Chocolate can be unhealthy because of its high fat and sugar, it can be dirty with bacteria from all over and it can have undeclared food allergens and make people sick.

So, in this article we have listed the good and the bad things about chocolate. We haven’t really decided if chocolate really is good or bad, so it is up to you and your personal opinion.

The thing about peaches

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The thing about peaches

We all must know about the delicious, juicy fruit called peaches. If you don’t than where have you been?! This article is all about peaches and what we all sacrifice to eat and enjoy them.

Teeth + Peaches

To start us off, we will start by talking about peaches and teeth. Have you ever eaten a peach and then afterwards realized that you have a little piece of it stuck in between your teeth? You think, “Oh it’s no big deal I’ll just go brush my teeth and it will come right out.” BUT NO! You brush and it’s still there. So you start to floss but the piece is so small and so stuck in there that the floss can get all around i but it can’t get the one piece of peach!! Then you move to your last resort… your fingers. You try and pull it out but your fingers are just not small enough. Then you go to sleep and it magically comes out in your sleep. Uhg. That is the biggest and main problem with peaches!

In Season

Next, you have to wait so long for peaches to come into season. You can buy them early but who wants to eat a hard peach? No one! So you have to wait and watch as the days pass and the peach is sitting on the counter just slowly ripening for you to eat it. You wait for sooooo long and then finally the day comes when it just might be ripe enough. You go up to it and gently touch it to see how soft it is and it is perfect! After waiting for 1 week you finally get to enjoy it. Then Winter comes and you spend all of your time thinking about those juicy peaches. Then Spring passes by and you still think everyday about peaches. *Sigh. Then mid-July comes (that’s when they are in season) and you rush out to the store and buy the only bag of peaches left. You do that all season until end of September comes around. (That’s when they go out of season) Now you must wait another long year until they come back.

Bugs

Finally, peaches are so good that they attract a long list of bugs to them along with humans. Some of the most common bugs that also like peaches are plum curculio, Oriental fruit moth, peach tree borer, lesser peach tree borer, shot hole borer, cat facing insects, scale, Japanese beetle, and the green June beetle. So when you eat peaches you never know what bugs may have touched the outside of that peach. This is why you should take extra caution when washing any fruit. You also never know what bugs may be inside of the peach that you are about to eat or have already eaten. Some of these bugs are so small that it is hard to see them but some of them are big and easily avoidable. So overall, make sure to take caution when washing your peaches (or any fruit for that matter) so that you don”t get sick or anything like that.

So these are the things about peaches. They have their pro’s and con’s. I personally don’t love peaches that much. I like them 40% of the time but I hate them the other 60% of the time.  So let’s all go out and enjoy or not enjoy those peaches!

Cats – what you didn’t know

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Cats – what you didn’t know
We all know about the fantastic animals called cats. Well, there are many things that you didn’t know about these fantastic creatures. Come join me as we talk about this unknown creature. So to begin I want to talk about how cats and dogs are alike. First, cats and dogs both can be trained. Cats aren’t lazy animals doing whatever they want. My cat Willy knows a few tricks himself. I have taught him how to sit, shake with both paws, balance on his hind legs, spin in a circle, fist bump, and talk. A second way cats and dogs are alike would be that they can both be service animals. Dogs and cats can learn to help people with disabilities, mental illness, and extreme anxiety. Cats and dogs are capable of learning to be service animals. Third, cats and dogs share hunting instincts for their survival. In the wild, cats and dogs would hunt and scavenge to find food. Both cats and dogs have a strong prey instinct without ever needing to learn how to hunt.
 
Now I would like to mention the ways that cats and dogs are different. To start, cats and dogs both enjoy eating. But, cats need to ingest smaller and more frequent meals than dogs. It’s important to understand your pet’s nutritional needs. Next, dogs and cats have very different physical traits from one another. For example, dogs and cats both have claws but cats can pull in their claws and hide them. Dog’s claws stay out and can not go in. And finally, their life spans are different. Dogs usually live between 12 and 18 years. Cats usually live between 12 and 25 years. So cats can outlive dogs by a few good years. But remember, even though cats and dogs are different that doesn’t make either one of them better.
 
Did you know that cats actually have many hidden talents? We are about to go over some of those in this section. One of the many talents cats have is that they can calm their own anxiety! Even humans have a difficult time doing this. Cats like to lick their coats when they feel nervous, afraid, or anxious. Their tongues are very coarse and covered with papillae. These are tiny projections on the tongue’s surface that point backward. They’re made of the same stuff human fingernails have, called keratin. This substance is very tough and abrasive. That’s why their tongues feel like sandpaper, and why they can use them to comb their fur. Whenever they need to calm themselves they use their tongues. Another cool talent that cats have would be that cats purring sounds can help get rid of migraines. When the cat begins to purr, the steady rhythm of the purring helps to get rid of the pain and the headache. Stroking their fur helps to relax both the migraine sufferer and the cat. Sometimes cats know when their owners are not feeling well and will curl up beside them, or even right on top of them. Having a rest together relieves stress and can lower blood pressure. When a cat purrs, the migraine may disappear without the need for medication. A nice cat may very provide the solution to a problem bothering many for years.
 
We have finally reached the end of this great blog. Now that you know about what cats can do to help humans, other animals, and themselves, you won’t assume that cats are the worst. Cats need a chance just like anyone or anything else. Thanks for reading this article! I hope you now know more about our amazing furry friends. 
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