Curious About Vegetables

PODCAST 241: CURIOUS ABOUT VEGETABLES

RELEASE DATE: SUNDAY, MAY 14TH, 2023

D:  HELLO, AND WELCOME BACK TO THE CURIOUS KID PODCAST.  WE GOT CURIOUS ABOUT FRUIT ALL THE WAY BACK IN EPISODE 68.  IN THAT EPISODE, WE DISCUSSED THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FRUITS AND VEGETABLES.  WE LEARNED LOTS OF SUPER INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT YUMMY FRUIT, AND THIS WEEK, 173 WEEKS LATER, I THINK IT’S JUST ABOUT TIME TO LEARN SOME AMAZING THINGS ABOUT VEGETABLES TOO.

O:  MAILBAG!

D:  MAILBAG!

“HEY THERE, MY NAME IS ROMAN.  I’M FROM GRAND PRAIRIE, ALBERTA, CANADA.  CAN YOU DO AN EPISODE ON LOUDNESS, OR OVENS, OR VENOM, OR VEGETABLES PLEASE?  ALSO, I LOVE CURIOUS KID PODCAST.”

O:  THOSE ARE SOME GREAT TOPIC SUGGESTIONS, ROMAN.  WE CAN’T WAIT TO LEARN ALL ABOUT VEGETABLES FOR YOU THIS WEEK.  

D: I THINK WE ARE GOING TO LEARN A LOT OF THINGS THAT MAY SURPRISE SOME OF OUR LISTENERS THIS WEEK.  ONE OF THOSE SURPRISES IS IN OUR QUESTION OF THE WEEK.

O:  THERE IS A VEGETABLE THAT LOTS OF PEOPLE THINK THAT RABBITS EAT, EVEN THOUGH RABBITS DON’T REALLY EAT THAT VEGETABLE IN THE WILD.  BELIEVE IT OR NOT, THE REASON LOTS OF PEOPLE THINK THAT RABBITS EAT THE VEGETABLE IS FROM A CARTOON BUNNY NAMED BUGS BUNNY.  THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK IS, WHAT VEGETABLE DOES BUGS BUNNY LIKE EATING THAT BUNNIES DON’T REALLY EAT IN THE WILD?

D:  WHILE YOU’RE THINKING OF THE ANSWER, LET’S KICK THINGS OFF BY LEARNING WHAT VEGETABLES ARE.  

O:  VEGETABLES ARE THE LEAVES, STEMS, ROOTS, OR PART OF A PLANT THAT PEOPLE CAN EAT.  

D:  THE PLANTS THAT VEGETABLES COME FROM ARE CALLED HERBACEOUS PLANTS.  THE STEMS OF A HERBACEOUS PLANT ARE OFTEN SOFTER THAN THE STEMS OF BUSHES OR TREES.

O:  VEGETABLES CAN GROW ABOVE OR UNDER GROUND.  THE VEGETABLES THAT COME FROM LEAVES OF PLANTS GROW ABOVEGROUND.  EXAMPLES INCLUDE CABBAGE, LETTUCE, AND SPINACH.

D:  VEGETABLES THAT COME FROM THE STEMS OF PLANTS INCLUDE ASPARAGUS AND CELERY, AND VEGETABLES THAT COME FROM THE FLOWERS OF PLANTS INCLUDE BROCCOLI AND CAULIFLOWER.

O:  VEGETABLES THAT GROW UNDERGROUND INCLUDE ROOT VEGETABLES.  ROOT VEGETABLES INCLUDE CARROTS AND RADISHES.

D:  VEGETABLES LIKE POTATOES COME FROM UNDERGROUND STEMS OF PLANTS, CALLED TUBERS.

O:  AND VEGETABLES LIKE GARLIC AND ONIONS COME FROM THE BULBS OF PLANTS.  

D:  ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE LEARNED IN THE EPISODE CURIOUS ABOUT FRUIT IS THAT THERE ARE LOTS OF FOODS THAT PEOPLE CONSIDER TO BE VEGETABLES THAT ARE ACTUALLY FRUITS.  EXAMPLES INCLUDE CUCUMBERS, EGGPLANT, AND TOMATOES.  ALL OF THOSE ARE REALLY FRUIT BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN SEEDS, WHILE TRUE VEGETABLES DO NOT CONTAIN SEEDS.  

O:  EVEN THOUGH FOODS LIKE CUCUMBERS, EGGPLANT, AND TOMATOES ARE REALLY FRUIT, MANY PEOPLE STILL CLASSIFY THEM AS VEGETABLES BECAUSE OF THE WAY THEY ARE PREPARED TO EAT.  

D:  IN OTHER WORDS, THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO CLASSIFY FRUITS AND VEGETABLES.  ONE IS THE BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION.  THAT MEANS THAT WE ARE CLASSIFYING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES BASED ON HOW THEY GROW.  WHEN IT COMES TO THE TOMATO FOR EXAMPLE, IT IS A FRUIT BOTANICALLY, BECAUSE IT CONTAINS SEEDS LIKE A FRUIT.  

O:  THE OTHER WAY TO CLASSIFY FRUITS AND VEGETABLES IS THE CULINARY CLASSIFICATION.  WHEN COOKING USING TOMATOES, THEY ARE PREPARED IN A SIMILAR FASHION TO OTHER VEGETABLES, SO THAT WOULD MAKE THEM A CULINARY VEGETABLE.  I MEAN, WOULD YOU WANT TO SEE TOMATO IN YOUR FRUIT SALAD MIXED IN WITH OTHER FRUIT?  I DON’T THINK SO.  

D:  AND THEN YOU HAVE THE STRANGE CASE OF OKLAHOMA’S STATE VEGETABLE.  WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT IF I TOLD YOU THAT OKLAHOMA’S STATE VEGETABLE IS THE WATERMELON, A FOOD THAT IS CONSIDERED BY ALMOST EVERYONE TO BE A FRUIT?  WELL, BACK IN 2007, A BILL WAS INTRODUCED TO MAKE WATERMELON THE OFFICIAL STATE VEGETABLE OF OKLAHOMA.  THE BILL WAS SPONSORED BY BOTH STATE SENATORS.  BOTH SENATORS LOVED WATERMELON.  IN FACT, ONE OF THEM, BY THE NAME OF DON BARRINGTON, ACTUALLY WON A COMPETITION BACK IN 1994 FOR SPITTING A WATERMELON SEED FURTHER THAN ANYONE ELSE.  WHEN THEY WANTED TO RECOGNIZE THE SUPER YUMMY WATERMELON, THEY RAN INTO A PROBLEM.  THE PROBLEM WAS THAT OKLAHOMA ALREADY HAD A STATE FRUIT, THE STRAWBERRY.  THAT’S WHEN BARRINGTON CLAIMED THAT THE WATERMELON IS A CLOSE RELATIVE OF THE CUCUMBER, PUMPKIN, AND SQUASH, WHICH ARE FOODS THAT ARE BOTANICALLY FRUITS, EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE CONSIDERED TO BE VEGETABLES BY MANY DUE TO THE WAY THAT THEY ARE PREPARED.  THE BILL PASSED BY A VOTE OF 78 TO 19, SO THE WATERMELON HAS BEEN THE OFFICIAL STATE VEGETABLE OF OKLAHOMA EVER SINCE.  

O:  ALRIGHT, BEFORE WE ANSWER THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK, IT’S TIME FOR US TO GIVE YOU SOME SUPER TASTY VEGETABLE FACTS TO MUNCH ON.  

D:  IT’S USUALLY NOT A GOOD IDEA TO PEEL YOUR VEGETABLES, LIKE CUCUMBERS AND POTATOES BEFORE YOU EAT THEM, BECAUSE A LOT OF THE NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF VEGETABLES CAN BE FOUND IN THEIR PEELS.  

O:  BABY CARROTS ARE NOT JUST TINY CARROTS, LIKE THE NAME SUGGESTS.  BABY CARROTS WERE LARGER CARROTS THAT WERE CUT INTO SMALLER PIECES TO REMOVE A PORTION OF THE CARROT THAT DOESN’T LOOK JUST RIGHT.

D:  SWEET POTATOES AREN’T SWEET WHEN THEY ARE RAW.  THERE IS AN ENZYME INSIDE THEM CALLED BETA-AMYLASE.  THAT ENZYME CHANGES STARCH INTO SUGAR.  WHEN SWEET POTATOES ARE COOKED, THE STARCH IN THE POTATOES CHANGES TO SUGAR, WHICH IS WHAT GIVES THE SWEET POTATO ITS SWEET TASTE AFTER IT IS COOKED.  

O:  THE PHRASE “COOL AS A CUCUMBER” CAN BE USED TO DESCRIBE SOMEONE THAT IS CALM, EVEN WHEN THAT PERSON IS IN A SITUATION THAT MIGHT MAKE OTHER PEOPLE A BIT HEATED, OR UPSET.  IT TURNS OUT THAT CUCUMBERS REALLY ARE COOL VEGETABLES.  IN OTHER WORDS, THE TEMPERATURE INSIDE OF A CUCUMBER CAN BE UP TO 20 DEGREES LOWER THAN THE TEMPERATURE OF THE SURROUNDING AIR.    

D:  NOW FOR A TRULY IMPORTANT FACT.  THERE IS A RHYME THAT I HEARD AS A KID, AND MAYBE SOME OF YOU HAVE HEARD IT TOO.  IT STARTS WITH “BEANS, BEANS, THEY’RE GOOD FOR YOUR HEART…”

O:  “THE MORE YOU EAT THE MORE YOU FART!”.  IS THAT TRUE, THOUGH?  DO BEANS REALLY MAKE YOU FART?

D:  THEY ACTUALLY DO, AND HERE’S WHY.  BEANS HAVE TWO SUGARS, CALLED RAFFINOSE AND STACHYOSE, THAT OUR INTESTINES AND STOMACH HAVE TROUBLE BREAKING DOWN.  INSTEAD, THERE IS BACTERIA IN OUR INTESTINES THAT TURN THE SUGARS INTO A FEW DIFFERENT GASSES, INCLUDING CARBON DIOXIDE, HYDROGEN, NITROGEN, AND THE GAS THAT RESULTS IN FARTING, CALLED METHANE.

O:  THERE IS AN OVER THE COUNTER MEDICATION, CALLED BEANO, THAT HELPS PREVENT FARTING WHEN EATING BEANS.

D:  THE ACTIVE INGREDIENT IN BEANO IS ACTUALLY AN ENZYME CALLED ALPHA-GALACTOSIDASE.  THAT’S AN ENZYME THAT HELPS BREAK DOWN THE SUGAR IN BEANS FOR YOU, SO THAT THOSE SUGARS DON’T TURN INTO GASSES IN YOUR BODY, HELPING TO MAKE YOU LESS GASSY.  OKAY OLIVIA, LET’S ANSWER THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK.  BUGS BUNNY, A CARTOON RABBIT, LOVES EATING A CERTAIN VEGETABLE THAT RABBITS DON’T USUALLY EAT.  IT’S MOSTLY BECAUSE OF BUGS BUNNY THAT PEOPLE SEEM TO THINK THAT RABBITS ENJOY EATING THE VEGETABLE.  WHICH VEGETABLE IS IT?

O:  BUGS BUNNY LOVES EATING CARROTS, EVEN THOUGH BUNNIES DON’T REALLY ENJOY EATING CARROTS IN THE WILD.  IT TURNS OUT THAT CARROTS AREN’T THAT HEALTHY FOR RABBITS, AND SHOULD BE GIVEN VERY SPARINGLY AS A TREAT.  RABBITS SHOULD STICK MOSTLY TO LEAFY GREENS, LIKE SPINACH, KALE, AND LETTUCE, FOR MOST OF THEIR NUTRITIONAL NEEDS.  

D:  AND, WHILE DOING RESEARCH FOR THIS EPISODE, WE CAME ACROSS ANOTHER CARTOON THAT GAVE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE THE WRONG IDEA ABOUT A CERTAIN VEGETABLE, SPINACH.

O:  POPEYE IS A CARTOON CHARACTER THAT EATS SPINACH TO MAKE HIM SUPER STRONG.  

D:  WHEN THE POPEYE CARTOONS WERE AT THE PEAK OF THEIR POPULARITY, THE SALE OF SPINACH WENT UP, AS PEOPLE STARTED EATING SPINACH THINKING THAT THEIR MUSCLES WOULD GROW BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS JUST BY EATING SOME SPINACH, LIKE WHAT HAPPENS TO POPEYE IN THE CARTOONS.  WELL, CHECK THIS OUT - THE WHOLE THING WITH POPEYE AND SPINACH CAME FROM A MISTAKE.  BACK IN THE YEAR 1870, A GERMAN CHEMIST BY THE NAME OF ERICH VON WOLF, STATED THAT 100 GRAMS OF SPINACH CONTAINED 35 MILLIGRAMS OF IRON.  THAT WOULD BE WAY, WAY, WAY MORE THAN ANY OTHER VEGETABLE OUT THERE.  IRON CAN HELP YOU BUILD BIG MUSCLES, BECAUSE IT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR CARRYING OXYGEN TO YOUR MUSCLES, SO NATURALLY, PEOPLE STARTED TO BELIEVE THAT EATING LOADS OF SPINACH WILL DO MIRACLES FOR MUSCLE GROWTH.  HERE’S THE PROBLEM - ERICH VON WOLF MADE A BIG MISTAKE WHEN HE REPORTED THE AMOUNT OF IRON IN SPINACH.  HIS MISTAKE IS THAT HE FORGOT A DECIMAL POINT.  IN OTHER WORDS, 100 GRAMS OF SPINACH DOESN’T HAVE 35 MILLIGRAMS OF IRON, BUT IT HAS JUST 3.5 MILLIGRAMS OF IRON.  THAT’S NOT BAD, BUT IT’S COMPARABLE TO LOTS OF OTHER VEGETABLES.  WELL, THAT’S A WRAP FOR THIS WEEK’S EPISODE.

O:  241 - VEGETABLES

D:  GREAT JOB OLIVIA, AND GREAT JOB ROMAN, FOR THE EPISODE TOPIC THAT LET US ALL JUST VEG OUT FOR A FEW MINUTES.  BEFORE WE GO, WE HAVE SOME AWESOME LISTENERS TO THANK.

O:  THANK YOU PAGE S., REBECCA M., AND RACHEL A. FOR SUPPORTING THE PODCAST ON PATREON.  

D:  A BIG THANKS TO PAGE, REBECCA, AND RACHEL FOR THE SUPPORT.  

O:  WE ALSO WANT TO THANK ADAM FOR THE 5 STAR REVIEW.

D:  IT SAYS “I LOVE THE NINJA EPISODE.  THE NINJA EPISODE WAS SO COOL.  I DIDN’T KNOW NINJAS WERE SPIES.  I LOVE THE PODCAST.”

O:  WELL, WE LOVE YOU, ADAM.  THANKS SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO WRITE A REVIEW FOR US.  

D:  JOIN US NEXT WEEK WHEN WE WILL GET CURIOUS ABOUT FEVERS FOR LISTENERS IN ONTARIO, CANADA AND PENNSYLVANIA.  AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING AND GETTING CURIOUS WITH US.