"M" - Mouth

Now, I know what you're wondering - what in the world can be said about your mouth? Haven't we talked about it all - stuffing feet into it, stuffing chips into it, swilling liquor into it...what more can there be?

Something that will knock your socks off.

I was driving to Cocoa Beach last weekend for a board of directors meeting, and as I drove I was listening to National Public Radio. I'd flipped on the radio in the middle of an interview with Mary Roach.

In case you aren't familiar with her work, she's a science writer who penned a great book called "Stiffs" about what happens to people after they die. Fascinating, well-written, and even a bit comedic in spots (if I remember right).

She has a new book out called "Gulp." It's about what happens to food, from beginning to end, so to speak. But in the interview plugging the new book, I learned something amazing.

We have two sets of nostrils.

Yup. One external, one internal. The second set lets you taste your food more than once. Apparently if you're eating, and your mouth is closed (hopefully!), and you breathe out through your nose, you'll be able to  smell all the original goodness of what you're eating.

In the name of scientific inquiry, I had to try it. It worked. Very well.

And it made me giggle.

Try it. It's kinda neat. Who knew?

"L" - Luscious

One of the guys I work with, Peter, made a comment before my first math class walked in today. Someone commented on his beard, and they called it "luscious."

Wow, there's a great word. It has its own mouth-feel, like forbidden, decadent food that's high in fat, calories, and satisfaction.

I imagine Rubens though of his models this way - an abundance, a plethora of attractive, enticing flesh that he shared with the rest of the world.

Guys can be luscious too...as evidenced by the popularity of male models with oiled-up bodies.

"Luscious" appears in our lives in lots of different ways, and we get to indulge our senses in all of them.

Lucky us! (Oh, look, another "L" word!)

"H" - Hospital (Food Hospital)

I discovered a BBC show several weeks ago. It's called "The Food Hospital" and it's all about treating diseases with food.

Now, Hippocrates said "Let food be your medicine and let medicine be your food." Good words to live by. Oops, sorry...no pun intended.

Until I started having seizures, I wanted to be a surgeon. In the process I found out that in most medical schools, nutrition classes aren't even offered. And if they are offered, they aren't mandatory. That, coupled with a mother who became severely diabetic, drove me to learning about food. And about our relationship with food and the corporate food machine. Lots of people are happy with the status quo.

But our perspectives have to change a little bit, I think. Everything we put in our body becomes part of us. It,  literally, outwardly defines who we are. What other people see. Perhaps how the judge us - both good and bad.

Health insurance expenses are such that the most cost effective thing we can do to maintain our health is to eat healthy and exercise.

Most people have no idea of the power of food in the body. The Food Hospital has episodes on YouTube.
Check it out. I'm sure you'll find it fascinating.