The Sunshine Vitamin




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What makes fizzy drinks taste fizzy?

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  What makes fizzy drinks taste fizzy? When carbon dioxide gas and water react, they produce a weak acid, called carbonic acid. Carbonic acid is what is in your soda or any drink with bubbles. Carbonic acid stimulates the same taste receptors as the ones that are triggered by cinnamon and mustard and it is what gives rise to that prickly sensation in your mouth. If you have ever heard your dentist mention to you that it is the soda that you drink that is ruining the enamel on your teeth, take comfort in the fact that it is not carbonic acid that is the culprit. Hint: It is Red Bull that is the worst offender. Carbonic acid has a pH of 4.2, giving carbonated water a pH of 4.5. This is slightly acidic, but certainly not as acidic as Red Bull, which is 3.3. Where can you find carbonic acid? The first place you can find it, is in you! Carbon dioxide is present in the blood and combines with water to form carbonic acid, which is exhaled as a gas by the lungs. The rate of your resp...
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Is Triclosan Really THAT bad?

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  Is Triclosan Really THAT Bad? Controversies surrounding household chemical, Triclosan, poses many questions for consumers. The first thought that may be coming to your mind right now is: "what even is Triclosan?" Triclosan is a commonly used household product that is used as an antibacterial agent in various hand soaps, disinfectants, body washes, toothpastes, mouth rinses, and in fabrics to prevent the growth of microbes. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, the use of this chemical has grown drastically over the past year.  Triclosan, in its purest form, is a white crystalline powder that is used universally. What does this mean for you and what are the risks? The primary risk that has actually been able to be proved through studies is the disruption of natural bacteria in ecosystems due to the presence of Triclosan in waste water. For us, this means that various living organisms can be killed off that are required in order for our ecosystems to function, provide us with...
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About DDAC - How Safe Is It Really?

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Image: ( Uniqueton, 2020)                Didecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride (DDAC) is a chemical commonly used in everyday products. It has the ability to kill germs because it causes the cell to break apart, release its innards, and then die (Anderson et al, 2016). DDAC is often used in products as a preservative to maintain the quality of the product or for cleaning purposes (Anderson et al, 2016). For example, it is found in hand sanitizers, lotions, makeup, pesticides, and cleaning products (Melin et al, n.d.; Anderson et al, 2016). Most things that are labeled as “antibacterial” or “antimicrobial” can contain DDAC ( Selikoff Center for Occupational Health [SCOH], n.d.). With the current COVID-19 pandemic, its use as a disinfectant is an important part of fighting the virus by lowering its potential to spread disease. Without a doubt, you could have easily been exposed to DDAC from the hand sanitizer given at the entrances of markets or ...
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