Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 174
Just when you thought your brain could unwind on a Friday, you realise that it would rather be challenged with some good old fashioned medical trivia FFFF, introducing the Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 174
Question 1
How many calories are consumed when licking a stamp?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
1/10th of a Calorie.
A regular stamp has 5.9 calories but commemorative stamps hold a whopping 14.5 calories from the dextrin which forms part of the adhesive gum. Either way a lick will only get you 1/10th of a calorie which is slightly disappointing when you burn 6 calories in the process.
Question 2
You are trekking in rural India and fall, sustaining a wound to your lower leg. What spice has been found to accelerate the process of wound healing?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
Turmeric
It contains Curcumin which is an antioxidant. Many rural tribes still make a Turmeric paste to assist wound healing.
Question 3
Which medical professional invented cotton candy (candy floss, tooth floss, sugar clouds) as we know it?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
William Morrison (a dentist)
There are several claims as to the origin of cotton candy but William Morrison and a confectioner John C. Wharton introduced “fairy floss” to wide audiences after perfecting the manufacturing process.
It has been reported that children would receive some fairy floss after being cooperative during dental procedures. Seems like one good way to drum up future business.
Question 4
What fruit was nicknamed the “poison apple” and what was the reason?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
Tomatoes.
In the late 1700s only aristocrats could consume tomatoes but they did so on pewter plates. When the acidity of the tomatoes reacted with the lead tableware the recipients would become sick from lead poisoning.
It took until 1880 when the invention of pizza in Naples brought tomatoes into widespread popularity.
Question 5
What table condiment was sold in 1835 as a medicine?
Reveal the funtabulous answer
Ketchup.
Originally Ketchup contained berries, grapes and mushrooms due to the fear of tomatoes mentioned above.
Archibald Miles produced “Dr Miles’ Compound Extract of Tomato. Some sources say this was a pill and others a ketchup.
It was thought that the tomato extract could cure digestive ailments. Miles was not a doctor and the authorities later dismissed his “medicine” as a hoax.
FFFF
Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five
Dr Neil Long BMBS FACEM FRCEM FRCPC. Emergency Physician at Kelowna hospital, British Columbia. Loves the misery of alpine climbing and working in austere environments (namely tertiary trauma centres). Supporter of FOAMed, lifelong education and trying to find that elusive peak performance.