While small farms managed to keep going by using private water supplies some of the alfalfa farmers have been hard-hit Greenberg said.
Alfalfa requires a plentiful steady supply of water and is one of the most prevalent cash crops in Colorado she said.
If you have an alfalfa crop it's ideal to get three cuttings a year
For instance slightly water-stressed plants redirect their sugar formation into seeds and fruits at the expense of leaves and branches
Images of Drought And cities could rely on massive glass towers to grow their food. Those futuristic buildings would lose no water to evaporation would recycle nutrients from fertilizer
and crops and could rely in part on treated wastewater from a city Davies said.
Ideally water-rich areas such as Argentina should export items that require lots of water to produce (such as beef)
Beef which requires roughly 4000 gallons (15000 liters) of water for every 2. 2 lbs.
Some regions such as the Middle east could wind up importing most of their food based on this metric he said.
Superfoods are foods mostly plant-based but also some fish and dairy thought to be nutritionally dense and thus good for one's health.
Superfoods are healthful for the most part aside from possible contamination added sugars or over-consumption of them.
Another problem with the term is that some so-called superfoods fall in and out of favor with dieticians such as coffee or eggs.
A generic list of superfoods At a very basic level superfoods are said to be rich in particular nutrients.
because it contains a wider range of nutrients compared to some other fruits. Beans and whole grains are standard additions to the superfood lists Beans are a source of low-fat protein.
5 Risks of Raw Vegan Diet Kale lives up to the hype of a superfood. But so do most dark leafy greens:
Swiss chard collards mustards (including radish greens) spinach (and others in the amaranth family) and cabbages. Add broccoli to that.
Both kinds of food are generally excellent sources of fiber Vitamin a and much more. They are also naturally sweet
and don't require the butter cream or salt typically added to potatoes. Salmon sardines mackerel and certain other fatty fish are rich in omega-3 fatty acids thought to lower the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Most doctors say the benefits of eating fish far outweigh the risk of harming your health from the mercury these fish contain.
If you worry eat lower down on the food chain such as sardines smelt and anchovy. The exotic fruit of the year will surely be on any superfood list too.
They might be rich in one particular nutrient; pomegranate has ellagitannins which have anticancer properties. But so do red raspberries.
One could just as easily include green tea coffee dark chocolate yogurt and olives to the superfood list for a variety of reasons mentioned above.
And several of these studies actually warn of dangers of superfoods such as arsenic and pesticide residue in imported foods.
while the food itself might be healthful the processing might not be. For example green tea has several antioxidants.
But green tea sold in the United states is generally cut with inferior teas and brewed with copious amounts of sugar.
The Japanese and Chinese generally do not drink green tea with sugar. Many kinds of super-juices acai berry noni fruit pomegranate can be added high in sugar.
Similarly many whole grains are processed in a way to be more palatable and less healthful. According to research by David Ludwig at Harvard university instant whole-grain oats is as unhealthy as overly processed white bread in that it quickly spikes the sugar levels in the bloodstream once consumed
and promotes insulin-resistance obesity and diabetes. A second criticism is that because the term superfood is not scientific it can mean very little and prompt some consumers to eat one kind of food over another.
Is broccoli really that superior to asparagus? Research has shown that the ideal diet is one that is largely plant-based with a wide wide wide variety of fruits vegetables whole grains and healthful animal products.
Superfoods might be a good entry into healthy eating and understanding their nutritional value is enlightening
but other whole foods can be just as healthy s
#What Bees Don't Know Can Help Them: Measuring Insect Indecision (Op-Ed) This article was published originally atâ The Conversation.
 The publication contributed the article to Livescience'sâ Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.
Everyone knows what it s like to be uncertain at least humans do. But are nonhuman animals ever uncertain?
When we feel uncertainty instead of risking the consequences of a bad or wrong decision we seek more information or choose to opt out of the decision.
whether an insect with a brain the size of a sesame seed could actually monitor uncertainty?
First we built a test apparatus with two chambers that bees could fly into and drink from one of two targets.
If the bees landed on the target located above a black bar they would find sucrose a rewarding sugary solution.
But if they landed on the target below a black bar they would find a distasteful bitter solution.
which target was situated above the black bar. But we then made things a bit harder for the bees.
We varied the difficulty of the tests by placing the targets closer to the black bar.
Bees opted out more often on trials where the targets were closer to the black bars.
A little-known native of the eastern United states paw paw fruit has yellow-green skin and soft orange flesh with a creamy custard-like consistency and a delicious sweet flavor.
10 Things You Didn't Know About Food These qualities have earned it the nickname custard apple
George washington reportedly enjoyed them for dessert and Thomas Jefferson was known to have grown paw paws at Monticello.
and streams is a convenient snack for kayakers and a staple in the autumn diets of many country dwellers.
Paw paw ice cream anyone? How about paw paw-nut bread? But despite this fruit's popularity with locals and its rich nutritional value (it's high in protein antioxidants vitamins A
and C and several essential minerals) the pawpaw has managed to stay out of most grocery stores and off the radar of big agriculture.
The odd beanlike shape and mottled skin of the pawpaw make it a hard sell to consumers who don't know the custardy sweetness that lies beneath the fruit's exterior.
while beautiful is said to smell like rotting meat which might further explain its delayed cultivation.
when a person consumes the meat of an anthrax-infected animal. This is the rarest form of anthrax in the United states
For generations cultures in tropical regions have used it for food cosmetics or building materials. Today coconut oil is sold also as a nutritional supplement that has an impressive range of touted uses from getting rid of lice to treating diabetes.
Scholars theorize the plant spread on ocean currents to India and East Africa. The Polynesians introduced various forms of the coconut to the Pacific Islands as they settled there 4500 years ago.
Coconut palms may live as long as 100 years and grow to nearly 100 feet tall. At least 12 crops can come out of a coconut plant depending on its state of maturation.
Nectar from unopened flowers can be used to create a syrup which can be processed further into a sugar or fermented into an alcoholic drink.
The nut technically called a drupe holds coconut water when the coconut is unripe but the water is absorbed as the fruit ripens from green to brown with a husk.
Coconut water has a considerable amount of nutrients including potassium sodium magnesium and calcium especially when compared with other juices.
The coconut meat can be eaten or processed into oil and used in soaps shampoos toothpaste in lubricants paints plastics
or even burned in lamps. A 2011 review in the International Journal of Toxicology found coconut oil is reported as an ingredient in at least 626 cosmetics.
Cosmetics often tout coconut oil as a moisturizer. As a supplement people use it topically to treat psoriasis
and lice or consume it for liver protection and to treat diarrhea diabetes high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
 Does coconut oil work? Coconut oil has been used for a variety of indications; however scientific evidence supporting its use for any condition is currently lacking said Catherine Ulbricht senior pharmacist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston
and cofounder of Natural Standard Research Collaboration which reviews evidence on herbs and supplements. Very few high-quality studies have been done on coconut oil as a supplement.
One 2009 study of 40 women compared the weight-loss effects of a coconut oil supplement with those of a soybean oil supplement over 12 weeks.
The U s. Food and Drug Administration determined coconut oil to be safe in 1975 as it was used then in paper
and cotton packaging material for food at levels now current or as it might reasonably be expected to be used for such purposes in the future.
and Ulbricht urged caution for people taking it as a supplement alongside drugs herbs or other supplements that lower blood pressure.
People have used long the dried gambooge rinds for chutneys or curries and sometimes as an aid for stomach problems.
which has some potentially attractive qualities Some studies have shown that HCA stops an enzyme that turns sugar into fat said Catherine Ulbricht senior pharmacist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston
and cofounder of Natural Standard Research Collaboration which reviews evidence on herbs and supplements. A fruit extract that could interfere with the body's production of fat?
#What Is Gluten? Gluten refers to the proteins found in wheat endosperm (a type of tissue produced in seeds that's ground to make flour.
Gluten both nourishes plant embryos during germination and later affects the elasticity of dough which in turn affects the chewiness of baked wheat products.
Gluten is composed actually of two different proteins: gliadin (a prolamin protein) and glutenin (a glutelin protein.
Though true gluten is defined sometimes as being specific to wheat gluten is said often to be part of other cereal grains including rye barley
and various crossbreeds because these grains also contain protein composites made from prolamins and glutelins.
Why is gluten bad? Gluten isn't necessarily bad but some people are gluten-intolerant meaning their bodies produce an abnormal immune response
when it breaks down gluten from wheat and related grains during digestion. The most well-known form of gluten intolerance is celiac disease
which affects one in every 141 people in the United states according to the National institutes of health. When someone with celiac disease consumes gluten it triggers an immune response that damages their intestines preventing them from absorbing vital nutrients.
 Wheat allergy is a rare type of gluten intolerance it's a classic food allergy marked by skin respiratory or gastrointestinal reactions to wheat allergens.
Recently scientists have become aware of another potential form of intolerance called nonceliac gluten sensitivity.
After consuming gluten patients with gluten sensitivity may experience many celiac disease symptoms such as diarrhea fatigue
and joint pain but don't appear to have damaged intestines. In cases of gluten intolerance doctors typically recommend a gluten-free diet.
Patients must avoid eating any foods and ingredients that contains gluten including bread beer french fries pasta salad dressing soy sauce
and even some soups (unless otherwise marked as gluten-free). In recent years many people without gluten intolerance have taken up gluten-free diets.
Experts worry however that going on these diets without explicitly needing to could be detrimental to a person's health as gluten-free foods are often nutrient-deficient.
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#What is Hay fever? Simply put it's a misnomer. Doctors and researchers who specialize in allergies prefer the term allergic rhinitis
because hay is not the culprit and most allergies don't involve any fever. About 40 million Americans suffer from the condition whatever it's called.
Symptoms include stuffy and runny nose watery and itchy eyes sneezing wheezing and cough. There are dozens of substances that potentially can cause trouble in those of us who are susceptible to allergies
but trees are usually the first on the scene during spring allergy season says Jay M. Portnoy M d. president of the American College of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) and chief section of allergy
asthma & immunology at Children's Mercy Hospitals & Clinics in Kansas city Mo. Rain can provide some initial relief by reducing tree pollen counts
but it also can spur the growth of grass and weeds later in the spring and in early summer producing more pollen.
In many parts of the country this spring saw a perfect storm of allergy conditions.
You drink it in your tea and spread it on your bread but what is honey really?
A thick golden liquid produced by industrious bees honey is made using the nectar of flowering plants
and is saved inside the beehive for eating during times of scarcity. But how do bees make honey?
Nectar a  sugary liquid is extracted from flowers using a bee's long tube-shaped tongue
and stored in its extra stomach or crop. While sloshing around in the crop the nectar mixes with enzymes that transform its chemical composition
and ph making it more suitable for long-term storage. When a honeybee returns to the hive it passes the nectar to another bee by regurgitating the liquid into the other bee's mouth.
This regurgitation process is repeated until the partially digested nectar is deposited finally into a honeycomb. Once in the comb nectar is still a viscous liquid nothing like the thick honey you use at the breakfast table.
To get all that extra water out of their honey bees set to work fanning the honeycomb with their wings in an effort to speed up the process of evaporation.
When most of the water has evaporated from the honeycomb the bee seals the comb with a secretion of liquid from its abdomen which eventually hardens into beeswax.
Away from air and water honey can be stored indefinitely providing bees with the perfect food source for cold winter months.
But bees aren't the only ones with a sweet tooth. Humans bears badgers and other animals have long been raiding the winter stores of their winged friends to harvest honey.
In fact until sugar became widely available in the sixteenth century honey was the world's principal sweetener with ancient Greece and Sicily among the best-known historical centers of honey production.
Relatively new to the American palate hummus has exploded in popularity in the United states. The Middle Eastern dip
or spread consists of cooked mashed chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans) blended with olive oil lemon juice salt garlic
and tahini (a paste made from sesame seeds). Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
The Israeli hummus company Sabra now partnering with tortilla-chip brand Tostitos has marketed the snack to American consumers by developing America-centric flavors like Buffalo Style and convincing some Virginia tobacco
The proteins in chickpeas and sesame seeds complement each other providing more complete protein nutrition much like rice and beans.
Traditionally diners pair hummus with pita using this flatbread to scoop up the dip. Chopped tomatoes pine nuts pickles and other garnishes often enliven the dish
which is popular throughout the Mediterranean region including the Middle east and North africa. Israelis have adopted hummus as an unofficial national food with gourmet hummus restaurants drawing long lines.
This has prompted some backlash from other Middle Eastern countries who claim to have originated the cuisine.
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#What Is Jell-o? Sold since 1897 Jell-o has occupied a familiar place on American dinner tables for decades.
But what is made Jell-o of? Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
 Jell-o is actually a brand name currently owned by Kraft Foods and is used to market a range of desserts and snacks.
But most people use the term to refer to the gelatin-based desserts that are sold also under the Jell-o name.
Those consist of gelatin in addition to colorings sweeteners and other flavorings such as strawberry orange and lime. Gelatin itself is a collection of long stringy animal-based proteins called collagen
which bond together in three-stranded helical structures similar to the two-stranded helices of DNA.
Urban legends claim that gelatin comes from horse or cow hooves though that's not exactly true.
The collagen in gelatin does come from boiling the bones and hides of animals processed for their meat (usually cows and pigs).
But hooves consist of a different protein keratin which can't produce gelatin. To make Jell-o you need to heat the gelatin in water.
Heating breaks the bonds holding the collagen together. Next the heated water-gelatin solution must be cooled allowing the collagen strands to rebond in a network
but now with water trapped inside. The collagen network gives Jell-o its semisolid properties while the trapped water keeps it jiggly.
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#What Is Kale? Kale is a leafy green vegetable (Brassica oleracea) sometimes called borecole. It's related to cabbage broccoli collard greens and Brussels sprouts.
Varieties of kale are grown all around the world in a number of different climates and the plant is able to grow well into the cooler winter months.
Additionally the leaves of the kale plant freeze well and some sources claim the leaves taste sweeter
if harvested after a frost. Kale has received a lot of attention in recent years for its powerhouse nutritional benefits making kale (along with blueberries spinach beans and certain other vegetables) one of the so-called superfoods.
and filled with important nutrients that supplemented meals limited by wartime rationing. When the war was over
Some favorite ways to serve kale include adding it to soups egg dishes casseroles salads even as a pizza topping.
and tossed with walnuts and balsamic vinegar or tossed with pasta pine nuts and olive oil. Kale chips available in some stores can be made by cutting the leaves into bite-size pieces drizzling it  with olive oil
and salt then baking for 10 minutes in an oven. Follow Marc Lallanilla on Twitter and Google+.
+Follow us@livescience Facebook & Google+.+Original article on Livescience v
#What Is Melatonin? Melatonin is produced a hormone naturally by the pineal gland in response to darkness.
Supplement makers now market melatonin in pill liquid chewable or lozenge form. Melatonin supplements are sold doses that can range from 1 to10 milligrams.
when applied to the skin as a cream before sun exposure. Melatonin may also be effective for jet lag especially in preventing daytime sleepiness
One study of cells in a test tube found melatonin reduced the growth of slowly-metastatic breast cancer cells meaning cancer cells that slowly start to spread to other types of tissue.
Melatonin may also produce this side effect if taken with herbs that slow blood clotting such as angelica clove danshen garlic ginger ginkgo Panax ginseng red clover and willow.
Similarly melatonin will enhance herbs with sedative effects such as calamus California poppy catnip hops Jamaican dogwood kava St john's wort skullcap valerian and yerba mansa.
#What Is Molasses? Thousands of fish have been reported dead in the waters around Honolulu after a massive spill of molasses.
On Monday (Sept. 9) a pipeline from a molasses tank near Honolulu Harbor was loading the heavy sweet liquid onto a ship when a leak in the pipeline dumped hundreds of thousands of gallons of the sticky
substance into the ocean. It's sunk to the bottom of the harbor Jeff Hull a spokesman for Matson Inc. the company responsible for the leak told the Los angeles times. Unlike oil which can be cleaned from the surface molasses sinks.
Molasses is a dark viscous liquid that's generally made from sugarcane. Grapes sugar beets sorghum or other plants can also be used to make a molasses-like substance.
The production of molasses is a labor-intensive process requiring several steps including cutting the sugarcane plants boiling straining skimming
and reboiling. Top 10 Bad Foods That Are Good for you If the molasses undergoes a third boiling step the result is blackstrap molasses a dark bittersweet syrup that is produced after the sucrose in molasses has crystallized.
Blackstrap has the lowest sugar content of any molasses and is noted for containing a higher nutritional content particularly manganese calcium iron potassium magnesium copper and Vitamin b6 than any other refined sugar.
Molasses has a wide variety of uses: It's a common ingredient in cooking especially in cakes cookies and other desserts.
Molasses is used also in the production of ethyl alcohol and as an additive in livestock feed.
Sweet though it may be molasses also has checkered a somewhat past: As a key ingredient in the distillation of rum molasses (and the cultivation of sugarcane) played a crucial part in the slave trade that brought an estimated 12 million Africans to The americas to work as slave laborers many in the tropics
where sugarcane is grown. In 1919 a tank holding 2. 5 million gallons of molasses in Boston's North End suddenly burst flooding the neighborhood with an estimated 2. 3 million gallons (8. 7 million liters
) of thick goo that raced through the streets at about 35 mph (56 km h). ) The Boston Molasses Disaster claimed 21 lives injured more than 100 people and stained Boston Harbor brown for months.
Officials in Hawaii say there's no easy way to clean up the molasses in Honolulu Harbor
and area residents are being warned to stay out of the water because sharks and eels were coming into the harbor to feed on the dead fish.
It's sugar in the water Janice Okubo a spokeswoman for the Hawaii State department of Health told the Times.
If you know a scientific way to remove it from the water let us know.
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#What Is Raspberry Ketone? A raspberry contains 200 molecules that contribute to its distinct raspberry flavor.
One of those raspberry ketone was singled out by food manufacturers decades ago for its potent smell.
Berry flavored candy soaps and candles made today likely use raspberry ketone. Recently the raspberry ketone garnered public attention again but this time as a purported weight loss aid.
They have essential nutrients including beta-carotene and vitamins A e and C. Only trace amounts of raspberry ketone are found in the fruit
so berry-flavored foods typically use raspberry ketone produced in a lab Around 2010 scientists noticed that raspberry ketone had a similar molecular structure to capsaicin
and cofounder of Natural Standard Research Collaboration which reviews evidence on herbs and supplements. Only a handful of preliminary studies have been done to look at raspberry ketone as a weight loss aid
A 2005 study on mice fed a high-fat diet found raspberry ketone prevented weight gain in the liver
Research in mice and on cells growing in lab dishes often inspires more research. But for results that can be trusted doctors look for many human trials of a chemical with many participants.
The U s. Food and Drug Administration first categorized raspberry ketones as a Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) food additive in the 1960s.
and eggs hatching to substitute for a more technical explanation of sexual intercourse. It is a way of deflecting the inevitable question that every parent dreads:
The connection between human sexuality and eggs and pollination is vague which can cause some confusion among curious children.
Though there are some variations the story typically involves bees pollinating flowers symbolizing male fertilization and the birds laying eggs
In her explanation of reproduction to her young daughters she used images of blue eggs in the robin's nest wind blowing pollen dust from one plant to the other
#What Is the Paleo Diet? The Paleo Diet also known as the Stone age Caveman or Ancient Diet is a modern attempt to replicate the diet of humans of the Paleolithic age.
These ancient hunter-gatherers lived before the advent of agriculture and subsisted on lean proteins (like fish venison and poultry) eggs fruits vegetables nuts and roots.
The diet was popularized by S. Boyd Eaton M d. a professor of anthropology at Emory University who believed that such a diet is
what the human body both then and now was built to Eat in his 1988 book The Paleolithic Prescription Eaton
and his co-authors argued that humans are suited ill to modern diets because the large part of a human's genetic makeup was established thousands of years ago in pre-agricultural societies.
Eaton and other advocates of the Paleo diet believe that many modern diseases are a result of today's eating habits.
And considering some of the foods that modern humans eat this theory makes some sense.
Notably absent on the Paleo plate are many of the ingredients found in unhealthy foods such as refined sugar salt and processed oils.
In the short term Paleo-style diets have been found to provide health benefits including lower blood sugar levels in those with hypertension and type 2 diabetes.
Researchers have linked also these diets to weight loss and lower concentrations of triglycerides in the body.
and World Report survey of 29 popular diets find the Paleo diet wanting. Critics argue that studies indicating the benefits of such a diet are shortsighted
and that other diets such as the DASH diet and the Omniheart diet may be healthier alternatives for those looking to lose weight
and improve overall health. Marlene Zuk a professor of ecology and evolution at the University of Minnesota and author of the book Paleofantasy:
What Evolution Really Tells Us About Sex Diet and How We Live also find fault with the belief that humans can reconstruct ancient diets.
Zuk also argues that humans have not stopped evolving since the Paleolithic age and that their diets needn't stop evolving either.
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