/oss/taxonomy/term/352/all en /oss/article/health-nutrition-you-asked/what-guarana <p>The Amazon is a dangerous place, with jaguars, anacondas and piranhas in constant search for their next meal, but you would not have anything to fear from guarana. It isn’t a predator, it’s a woody vine that climbs through the trees, growing up to 30 feet long. It produces bright red berries that split open when ripe, revealing a shiny black seed partially embedded in a thin white pulp. From a distance, the split berries look disturbingly like eyes staring down from the leafy canopy. The name “guarana” reflects this connection, deriving from the native words “guara” for “human,” and “na” fo</p> Thu, 30 Sep 2021 18:00:48 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8883 at /oss /oss/article/health/my-dog-ate-chocolate-and-he-was-fine-so-whats-big-deal <p>If you ask a dog owner what dogs cannot eat, they’ll list some foods like onions, garlic, rhubarb, grapes and chocolate. (As an aside, if they say grains, <a href="/oss/article/health-nutrition/feeding-dogs-theyre-human-raw-grain-free-and-vegan-diets-dogs">don’t listen to them</a>.) Dogs' inability to safely consume chocolate is common knowledge, but thanks to their proclivity for eating anything they can get their mouths on, many dogs are nonetheless treated for ingesting chocolate every year.</p> Thu, 22 Aug 2019 15:48:08 +0000 Ada McVean B.Sc. 7878 at /oss /oss/article/you-asked/should-we-be-worried-about-theobromine-chocolate <p>Only if you are a dog. Theobromine was first isolated from cacao beans back in 1841, which explains the name. Cacao beans grow on a tree named Theobroma cacao in 1753 by the Swedish naturalist Linnaeus who derived the term from the Greek "Theo" meaning God and "brosi" for food. Linnaeus obviously thought the tree produced the “food of the gods” and many would agree given that cacao beans are of course the source of chocolate. The cacao tree originated in South America and its product was one of the first novelties Christopher Columbus and his crew encountered in the New World.</p> Fri, 05 Aug 2011 17:20:51 +0000 Joe Schwarcz 1576 at /oss