Radioactive bananas

What I talk about when I talk about radioactive foods, green tea's effect on multivitamins and where to taste cell-cultivated chicken.

Highway 20 runs east-west through the middle of Idaho like a belt. It’s a deserted stretch with little to see. In late July, it was hard not to feel parched. But about 18 miles southeast of Arco, a small town in Idaho, you’ll find EBR-1 or Experimental Breeder Reactor I. Surrounded by volcanic rocks, the decommissioned reactor is now a museum. In front is a sign announcing its a historical landmark. We stopped.

There’s not a tree in sight at EBR-1 in Idaho.

In 1951, the cement fortress was the first to create atomic energy. It also proved that it could create (or breed) more fuel than it needed. (A physics principle put forth by Enrico Fermi.) Instead of text on walls, they used chalkboards. I perked up at one that read: “Radiation occurs throughout the universe. Everyone is exposed to natural, low-level background radiation from many sources: cosmic rays from space, rocks and soils, radon gas, even some foods.”

Even some foods? I did a quick search and found out that bananas and Brazil nuts have naturally occurring radionuclides (small unstable atoms). Bananas––numero uno at supermarkets––are high in potassium, and a small fraction of all potassium is radioactive. (News to me.) Brazil nuts contain potassium as well as a minor amount of radium. (Not a good thing in large amounts.) Per the EPA, one must OD on either before, as Britney Spears sings in my most favorite song, “you’re toxic.”

Radiation in food. Huh?

A few more tangents before I pull this Cat’s Cradle together. 

I read an email from Tufts School of Nutrition Science on whether tea might inhibit the absorption of elements in a multivitamin. (Do vitamins and supplements even work? Another question.) The Tufts director of antioxidant research said: “The extensive history of daily, long-term intake of tea indicates a high level of safety.” (Got that? Tea safe.) The only areas of concern, he said, were levels of iron and folate.

Only one study reviewed green tea’s behavior in the body. While it did lower folate levels, it used a green tea extract and it was only in seven people. There were more studies into tea’s relationship with iron, and “there was a measurable inhibition of iron bio-availability,” but it presented “no threat to healthy adults.” On the flip side, some folks (especially older men) may want this effect—studies suggest increased iron status is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Atomic energy was used to light these bulbs in 1951.

Is it possible that my daily green tea is blocking something else that I’m doing that may be beneficial? Possible. Am I going to tear my hair out about it? Nope.

Another: Cult Cracker, a delicious cracker made in Berkeley from seeds and cassava flour, was recently hit with a Prop 65 lawsuit claiming their crackers had a high level of lead. (The lead comes from cassava.) Lead is in soil, air and water and it naturally is pulled into plants. That doesn’t mean we’re going to eat enough to poison ourselves. These lawsuits are to make money, not to guarantee our safety.

Many of you probably read that Consumer Reports article saying that high levels of lead and cadmium were found in dark chocolate. (I sent a newsletter on it, too.) One complaint was that they used California’s toxicity levels (aka Prop 65), which is lower than the FDA’s acceptable level.

If we use the green tea argument above regarding “extensive history of daily, long term intake” then 1 or 2 squares of dark chocolate a day are just fine. Leafy greens have lead in them—especially greens grown in our backyards. Flax seeds have lead in them, too.

Other big knobby stuff at EBR-1 in Idaho.

Do the health benefits of eating these foods—bananas, Brazil nuts, leafy greens, flax seeds, chocolate—outweigh their risk? I’m going to offer an unscientifically resounding yes. Variety is the spice of life. Eat differently, change things up, stay diverse. There’s no one size fits all. Nutrition science is fascinating and impossible to nail down into one firm set of guidelines. At least not yet.

Final note: I never buy bananas. I eat Brazil nuts for their selenium. Fermi served under Oppenheimer. Have you seen the movie? Write in and let me know what you think.

Next weeks paid newsletter will be a deep dive into non-alcoholic wine and beer; plus a review of a book called, “Ultra-Processed People.” Consider supporting my work and becoming a paid subscriber. Even better→ get your company to pay for it.

Other tidbits:

1. Reservations are open at Bar Crenn to taste Upside Foods cell-cultivated chicken. Tickets are $150 a person and are available on the first weekend of each month; 16 seatings a month. The chicken dish, which I can’t find on Instagram taken by anyone off the street, is fried in tempura batter and served with a dollop of burnt chili aioli.

2. If you live in DC, you can buy seats at China Chilcano for the Eat Just version of cell-cultivated chicken. The tasting menu is $70 per person and is just as limited—eight guests per week can sample a 3.5-ounce serving, which is not 100% chicken but is formulated with some plant-based ingredients. Josh Tetrick, Eat Just’s CEO, says this is to make a better product for diners. Vox called it “soft,” which matches my impression. (IMHO: soft is much better than tough.)

3. Cookies recalled because they may contain rocks? I don’t shop at Trader Joe’s because they aren’t transparent about their third party products, they don’t talk to reporters and because the company relies heavily on single-use plastic packaging. Now I can add rocks to my list. Rocks!

Where you can find me:

1. I wrote about corn for Consumer Reports. A bit outside my sphere, but it’s ubiquitous in our diet to the point it’s overlooked: according to Iowa Corn, a marketing arm for growers, a typical grocery store contains around 4,000 products using corn as an ingredient. I dug into the health benefits of the other corn, the “whole food plant-based” corn that’s fresh, canned, or frozen. 

2. Continuing the corn theme, this NYTimes recipe for street corn pudding sounds amazing. It calls for cornbread mix, creamed corn and canned corn. Please make it and invite me over. 

3. Corn goes viral on TikTok. Check out this sweet corn mochi cake from @saltnpepperhere.

4. Cher and Snoop Dogg love ice cream so much they’ve both launched their names onto pints. If you live in Los Angeles you can track down Cher’s ice cream truck at cherlato.com or on social media @cherlato_gelato. Snoop Dogg’s ice cream, Dr. Bombay Ice Cream, just launched at 3,500 Walmart stores.