Well, I was recently admitted into the coveted cult of Cracked writers, and I will dump all of my ideas for articles here. Anyone can also post their ideas here, and some criticisms would also be quite welcome. I recently changed the title of this article from "X Popular Foods (That Are Byproducts of Healthier Foods)" to what you see now.
X Ways We Make Healthy Foods Unhealthy
X. Cashews
Popular in trail mix, snack foods, and even by itself, this heavenly nut is both tasty and not nearly as unhealthy as some of the other items on this list. What you probably didn't know, though, is that cashews don't grow on trees or bushes directly like other nuts do. The cashew is actually an ugly brown appendage on the end of a vibrantly colored fruit. We're not going to get terribly in depth about the fruit, but it's important to know that the flesh of this fruit is extraordinarily healthy, and can be used for food as well as medicine. Meanwhile, not only are we indulging ourselves on a by-product, but we're also adding salt and sometimes flavored powder to the borderline-healthy nuts. (
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/cashew_apple.html)
X. Coffee
The coffee beans that are ground up to make the famous drink are really just the pits of coffee berries, or cherries. The flesh of these coffee cherries is also juiced for beverages. Unlike the beverages made with the beans, the juice of the cherries is actually highly beneficial to one's health, containing unusually high concentrations of antioxidants. I even helps to alleviate stress (which you probably developed from drinking too much coffee). If you plan on not being addicted to caffeine, but can't give up coffee-based beverages, there are companies that produce coffee cherry juice, and will not hesitate to brag to you about how healthy their products are. (
http://www.naturalhealthmag.com/healthy_eating/125)
X. Chicken Nuggets
This "food" is probably the grossest thing eaten so readily by so many people. If you've never really given much thought into your chicken nuggets, let me ask you this: has any chicken you've eaten in your life been that spongy and soft? If you said yes, please find a new place to buy chicken. If you said no, well, that's because you've never eaten the parts of the chicken that the nuggets are made of--at least not knowingly. The parts of a chicken that are not used for what you normally eat (the breasts, legs, and all the other prime meat) are removed from its body. What's left of the carcass is a pile of bones, some organs, and the skin, along with the less desirable cuts of meat and who knows what else. Then they shred the whole damn thing in a blender until it's a paste. At some point, someone must have said, "This is not gross enough," and decided that the next logical step was to intentionally add more chicken skin to the mixture (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKSoiDtdi9s). Those in the business of making chicken nuggets are often charged with the task of sifting out the remnants of bones that managed to make it through the process. You're welcome.
X. Peanut Oil
Hopefully, you don't drink this stuff straight, but you've likely had it at some point. It's used in frying lots of your favorite Chinese foods along with American recipes (
http://www.ifood.tv/network/peanut_oil/recipes) and is frequently used in deep fryers due to its high boiling point (this helps if you don't want oil spattering employees). Peanuts are relatively healthy, providing a solid amount of protein and a few minerals (
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=101). What could possibly go wrong with their oil? Well, for every 100g of peanut oil you consume, you're also taking in... 100 grams of fat? What? It's composed solely of fat! That's more than god damned butter (which still has a staggering 81g (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanut_oil))! I mean, I understand that's the whole point of oil but this is hard to swallow. On the bright side, your diesel engine will run just fine on it, unlike your poor heart.
X. Citrus
If you're not allergic to citrus fruits, you almost certainly enjoy them. From the bitter grapefruit to the delicious orange, there's a citrus fruit for just about any taste or dish. On top of that, they're loaded with Vitamin C and other good stuff. Unfortunately, most of that good stuff is located in the pulp. That's the white, tough fiber that you probably peel off of your citrus slices. When you do that, you're missing out on good phytonutrients. While sounding like a futuristic, complicated concept, it really just means nutrients that are found in plants. These things are ridiculously good for you. They boost your immune system, unclog your arteries (good news if you still eat chicken nuggets), improve your recovery time from injuries and other cell damage, and even ward off cancer. Forget the fruit, just go straight for the pulp at this point. (
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/t044200.asp)
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