Science desk
< November 11	<< Oct \| November \| Dec >>	November 13 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Science Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

November 12

Can 2 people eat the same food but 1 gets diarrhea, the other does not?

I know I asked this question before, but this time want to expand on it. I've heard people who know people who travel from a modern city to a 3rd world country, they often get diarrhea due to not getting used to the food. But then, what about the other way around? How about 2 people travel to a new country together, can 1 get diarrhea and the other does not? Or, where they both get diarrhea, but 1 quickly gets immune to the food, the other does not? And let's take out consideration such as lactose intolerance, diabetes, food allergies, etc. Thanks. 67.165.185.178 (talk) 01:36, 12 November 2022 (UTC).[reply]

Gut microbiota. Abductive (reasoning) 04:43, 12 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Travelers' diarrhea. 136.56.52.157 (talk) 05:24, 12 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

To add to the earlier responses, yes, it is entirely possible. Different people may react differently in response to a new nutritional environment; this is in fact quite common. "Getting immune" is not the best way to name the relatively rapid adaptation to a new environment, which often does not involve the immune system. Rather, the gut microbiota, more commonly referred to as intestinal flora, needs to achieve a new balance. --Lambiam 07:11, 12 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Are mushroom considered fruit or vegetable?

Despite it being a fungus. Can it be considered a vegetable, nutrition-wise? Also, what other common fungi do we eat, besides mushrooms? Thanks. 67.165.185.178 (talk) 02:36, 12 November 2022 (UTC).[reply]

It doesn't meet the botanical definition of either "fruit" or "vegetable" (though some of them have fruiting bodies). It's a vegetable in a culinary sense, though, similar to the way tomatoes are not a fruit, and clams are fish, in a culinary sense. --Trovatore (talk) 02:40, 12 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

We eat yeast, and the blue guys in blue cheese. Abductive (reasoning) 04:44, 12 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Truffles are fungi. 136.56.52.157 (talk) 05:34, 12 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Do they all taste bad or just some of them? I expected truffle-flavored popcorn the fine wine or caviar of fungi to taste.. better than eating 7 grams of dry yeast to see if juice on an empty stomach can ferment. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 14:23, 12 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

They are all considered to taste very good (if stored and prepared correctly). If you have eaten actual truffles that tasted bad to you, then either they were not real truffles, or there was something wrong with them, or you are unusual in not liking a taste that most others do. The last is entirely possible, as genetic differences as well as lack of familiarity can greatly affect how tastes are perceived. I, for example, absolutely loathe licorice and aniseed, and somewhat dislike celery, though the majority (I am told) like them.

The taste of truffles is notoriously difficult to reproduce (which is why truffles themselves are so expensive). I doubt that "truffle-flavoured popcorn" would taste anything like real truffles. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 5.64.163.219 (talk) 17:00, 12 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

The bag looked old. Could be spoiling? Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 17:32, 12 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Vegetables and other plant sources of food are typically rich sources of vitamin C, which is absent in mushrooms (which are a rich source of B vitamins, though). When it comes to nutrition, strict fungitarians may need to resort to vitamin supplements to prevent scurvy. --Lambiam 06:55, 12 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Besides having very few calories; a diet of fungi would lead to starvation long before scurvy would be an issue. Alansplodge (talk) 14:04, 13 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Unless you eat 8 kg of mushrooms per day. --Lambiam 19:42, 13 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Quorn^™ is largely fungal- protien-based.

Which domesticated animal has the heaviest cranium relative to the rest of its skeleton?

Out of all fully domesticated animals, which species has the heaviest cranium (excluding the teeth and mandible) compared to the mass of the entire skeleton (including all mineralized tissues)? Quick Trundleteacher (Talk) (Inputs) 17:07, 12 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]