Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2022 May 31

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May 31

While eating heavy food and light food it is better to start with the easier one firstly,

Maimonides said that if one eats heavy food and light food it is better and easier for our body to start with the easier one firstly, for example, meat and eggs, the eggs should be eaten first. Is his idea supported by updated science? --ThePupil (talk) 05:16, 31 May 2022 (UTC)

I don't know about updated science, but common sense suggests that if you consume the "heavy" food first, you might not be able to finish the "light" food. Also, If you consume the light food first, your gastrointestinal system might already begin digesting before beginning the heavy stuff (assuming you're not a fast eater). -- 2603:6081:1C00:1187:7C90:56FA:1615:6FF8 (talk) 06:07, 31 May 2022 (UTC) ... (courtesy link: Maimonides)

As this source explains succinctly, "There is no correct order in which food should be consumed. When foods are eaten during the same meal, they are all mixed together in the stomach." Another source: "The theory [behind 'sequential eating'] is that some combinations of food can overburden the stomach and cannot be absorbed from the intestinal tract. The assumption is that your gastrointestinal tract cannot digest more than one type of food at a time, because the enzymes cancel each other out in the presence of other foods. ... The practice of food combining or sequential eating is not backed by any scientific knowledge of physiology and nutrition." As an aside, if "light" means "easy to digest", boiled chicken meat may be lighter than a fried egg.  --Lambiam 06:15, 31 May 2022 (UTC)

@Lambiam Thank you!--ThePupil (talk) 09:55, 31 May 2022 (UTC)

Fiber, starch, and liquid usually go down and are digested more quickly. If you can space out different foods in some kind of order, my guess is they might be digested and absorped more optimally. If you were to ingest something fatty first or mix it in among "easier" foods, the entire process might be bogged down, just as a parade would move at the pace of the slowest marcher. Try looking up digestion times for different types of food and see if any rigorous studies related to your question are available. GeorgiaDC (talk) 13:32, 31 May 2022 (UTC)

It is true that liquids go down quickly. Solid food mostly stays for a considerable time in the stomach, like several hours, during which time it is broken down by gastric acid and getting all mixed, before moving on in little bits at a time to the duodenum. It may make a difference if you swap the contents of your breakfast and dinner, but swapping the courses of a single meal does not really have an impact. Fatty food makes one feel more quickly sated, but in a healthy individual it passes down at the same rate as other foodstuffs.  --Lambiam 20:43, 31 May 2022 (UTC)

Somewhat relatedly: amongst aficianados of Real ale, frequently observed rules of thumb when sampling a range of beers are to proceed from the weakest to the strongest in alcohol content, and to proceed from the lightest in colour to the darkest, which somewhat correlates with their strengths of taste. (Obviously there can be conflicts between the two.)

These are intended to maximise one's appreciation and minimise the rate at one gets drunk: the taste (plus 'nose', 'mouthfeel' and 'finish') of a stronger flavoured beer drunk first may mask that of a more delicate one drunk subsequently, and increasing levels of inebriation dull the senses (and brain) somewhat. Such anyway is the reasoning.

(Slightly) more relevently, another piece of beer-drinking received wisdom is that eating a carbohydrate-based meal, ideally involving some grease, before beginning to drink will "line the stomach" and slow the absorbtion of alcohol into the system.

I'm unaware of any published scientific studies of these phenomena, though there may be some – brewing science is highly advanced, and studied at universities. I shall nevertheless be employing these stratagems later today at my local laboratory brewpub. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.209.235.54 (talk) 15:43, 31 May 2022 (UTC)

Received wisdom is not always wisdom. Alcohol is not digested, but enters the bloodstream as is, as pure ethanol. This happens almost instantaneously; it already begins when taking a sip, even before it is swallowed, through the mucous membrane lining one's mouth. It continues in the stomach, but like other liquids the booze is let on without delay into the small intestine, mostly within minutes, and the alcohol continues to leak into the bloodstream till all is gone from the digestive tract. Maybe lining your stomach with concrete or bitumen will delay this, but a plate of spaghetti carbonara won't. Whether you drink or not, not having eaten may make you feel a bit woozy, and being drunk can accentuate that.  --Lambiam 21:00, 31 May 2022 (UTC)

There's nothing new about good booze dulling the senses and taste: "Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now". Martin of Sheffield (talk) 16:23, 31 May 2022 (UTC)

I find that quote confusing. How would you say it in modern English? --←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:41, 31 May 2022 (UTC)

Well technically it is in modern English; however I suppose that you mean in 21st century vernacular. Try: "everyone at the start of a party serves the best wine, and when people are a bit tipsy then serves the cheap plonk: but you have kept the best wine back until the end". Leaving aside the whole water-into-wine business, the first phrase is key here; get the guests drunk and they'll drink anything, however bad it is. Martin of Sheffield (talk) 21:53, 31 May 2022 (UTC)

I see. Thank you! --←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:57, 31 May 2022 (UTC)

The quote is from the King James Version of the Bible (John 2:10) describing the reaction to Jesus turning water into wine. The New International Version phrases it as “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” Iapetus (talk) 09:30, 1 June 2022 (UTC)

The person who said this wasn't technically reacting to the miracle as it says the water lifting guys knew but not most of the party. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 07:01, 3 June 2022 (UTC)

References

Why do Blattellae germanicae not run from you straight?

Is it an unavoidable side effect of powerful leg push vectors not aligned with the center of mass of the main part of the roach or could it run straighter and just as fast if it wanted to? And does the very mild zig-zagging make them any more likely to survive animals trying to eat them and/or humans trying to kill them? Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 21:17, 31 May 2022 (UTC)

Googling 'cockroach locomotion' reveals that the general subject has been studied. Sometimes in great detail: [1] As for the specifics of zig-zagging, it is probably worth considering that cockroaches originally evolved in an environment unlikely to be as smooth and flat as the typical human habitat floor, and adaptive pressure would possibly have been more oriented towards dealing with obstacles. They may not have have much opportunity to run in straight lines. AndyTheGrump (talk) 21:43, 31 May 2022 (UTC)

If this much larger species can turn like a centrifuge from running uphill to running the opposite direction but upside-down, at 50 body lengths per second then I think blattellas can handle natural obstacles. It actually runs off the ramp only holding onto the tip of the artificial surface with the tip of 2 stretched hindlegs! Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 23:57, 31 May 2022 (UTC)