Japan Invents 'Electric' Chopsticks That Make Food Seem More Salty (theguardian.com) 48
Diners in Japan could soon be able to savour the umami of a bowl of ramen or miso soup without having to worry about their salt intake. From a report: In what they claim is a world first, researchers have developed chopsticks that artificially create the taste of salt, as part of efforts to reduce sodium levels in some of the country's most popular dishes. The chopsticks work by using electrical stimulation and a mini-computer worn on the eater's wristband. The device transmits sodium ions from food, through the chopsticks, to the mouth where they create a sense of saltiness, according to Homei Miyashita, a professor at Meiji University in Tokyo, whose laboratory collaborated with the food and drink manufacturer Kirin to develop the device. The team said they would refine the prototype and hoped to make the chopsticks available to consumers next year. The utensils could find a receptive audience in Japan, where the traditional diet tends to be high in salt due to the use of ingredients such as miso and soy sauce.
Electro-Shock therapy! (Score:3)
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Burying the lede (Score:4, Informative)
Just gonna drop this at the end of the article like it's no big deal.
Miyashita’s lab is exploring other ways in which technology can be used to engage the senses – it has also invented a lickable TV screen that imitates the flavours of various foods.
Re: Burying the lede (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Burying the lede (Score:4, Funny)
The snozzberries taste like snozzberries!
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Maybe so, but I'm gonna just wait until it can beam me a chocolate bar.
Zuckerberg should buy them out (Score:2)
Just gonna drop this at the end of the article like it's no big deal.
Miyashita’s lab is exploring other ways in which technology can be used to engage the senses – it has also invented a lickable TV screen that imitates the flavours of various foods.
Or sponsor plans for any further development of the technology. The tech that would allow users to taste fake fries and ice cream would be the killer, or should I say, sleeper app for Meta AR.
Mini-computer (Score:3)
"a mini-computer worn on the eater's wristband"... This gave me a mental image of someone shackled to something like a PDP/11 ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] ).
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I'd love a PDP/11 on my wrist, especially if it came with the full bank of front switches and lights, and had the mod color schemes of the early Unibus models (e.g. scarlet and violet). The late 70s QBus models were all boring beige boxes.
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Came to make a similar comment. I'll see your PDP/11 and raise you a DG Nova.
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I have the impression that "mini computers"/"microcomputers" were a IBM marketing to try to convince people they do the "real computers".
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so how bad is hypertension in Japan, compared to the US?
Similar to slightly higher in Japan depending on the study you read.
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so how bad is hypertension in Japan, compared to the US?
Similar to slightly higher in Japan depending on the study you read.
Which studies should I read to lower my blood pressure?
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Which studies should I read to lower my blood pressure?
I can't answer that, but my study of bawdy turn-of-the-20th-century French postcards will raise your blood pressure and your eyebrows. There's more than just a well formed ankle on display, I can tell you.
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Life expectancy in Japan (84.4) is six years more than in the USA (78.8) - maybe we should all eat more salt
Quite possibly true. The Japanese do have a slightly higher rate of strokes. But that is a small price to pay in order the average a 5-6 year longer lifespan.
The nephrons in your kidney are perfectly happy maintaining homeostasis for your various electrolytes. If you drink water and eat vegetables with your meal, you will be pumping a broad mix of ions and water into your nephrons, and they will cheerfully do the right thing. There is no strain or meaningful effort involved. (In fact, nephrons can be d
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This leaves out a large portion of the U.S. population.
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Fair point.
If you are generally healthy and if you are eating a generally healthy meal, it is extremely likely that adding a bit of salt will have zero negative health effects for you.
The portion of the US general population that is both healthy and eating reasonably healthy meals might well be less than 60%.
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I'm n9t gomma edit this. Enjoy the inccapable Android keyboard with no autocorrect and slashdot with n9 spellcheck
Well, ther#× lectroly5es, and then there's swelling tissue du to tlo much salt over periods of time. I al2ays assumed the latter contributed to higher nlood pressure due to that swelling.
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then there's swelling tissue du to tlo much salt over periods of time. I al2ays assumed the latter contributed to higher nlood pressure due to that swelling.
Your nephron glands in your kidneys take care of this. They are very effective at maintaining the correct electrolyte balance in your body, because your life depends on it. If not, a hard sweat would risk sudden death, very literally.
If you want to make it easy on your kidneys, drink a good amount of water when you are having a salty meal, and eat some vegetables for potassium, too. Your body likes to actively manage the ratios between water, sodium, potassium. If you eat a very large amount of salt but
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There are people with hypertension that need to reduce salt due to a failing in their plumbing.
Everyone else? Nope.
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Life expectancy in Japan (84.4) is six years more than in the USA (78.8) - maybe we should all eat more salt
Or import more Japanese people.
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https://www.scientificamerican... [scientificamerican.com]
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so how bad is hypertension in Japan, compared to the US?
Similar to slightly higher in Japan depending on the study you read.
Medical statistics regarding heart conditions in Japan are notoriously unreliable due to their social stigma around heart disease. Dying of a heart attack is considered so shameful that doctors have known to put substitute cause of death on certificates in consideration for the family's feelings.
I don't know if this extends to a diagnosis of hypertension, but I wouldn't be surprised if it did.
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Japanese food seems to have a lot of protein and be very filling.
This device could be useful for people who like the salty taste but want to cut down on their salt intake. Also for people with a salt allergy.
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I think you'll find very little overlap in the Venn diagram between the group of "Americans who eat... wagyu steak" and "Americans who knock back Budweiser or Coors Lite."
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"I think you'll find very little overlap in the Venn diagram between the group of "Americans who eat... wagyu steak" and "Americans who knock back Budweiser or Coors Lite.""
There is a massive overlap with people eating fake wagyu steak though.
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I've never understood where vegans draw the line... they'll eat fake wagyu and not touch an egg, but have no problem drinking live yeast cultures and the byproducts of same. At what level of complexity does a life form start to matter to vegans? Is an egg more sentient than a yeast? Do yeast feel no pain when soaked in their excreted alcohol to their death?
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"Hitler was into being fit too you know."
Good for him.
He died unobese, with his brains blown out, burning in a ditch with his bride, on their honeymoon.
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I have never been out to dinner with a Japanese businessman (and in some cases women they do exist) who could not eat and drink me under the table. There are more Michelin-starred restaurants in the Tokyo/Yokohama areas than in Paris, and several times I was treated when I visited.
Yes it is correct they don't usually do 12-ounce ribeyes there. One boneless cut of meat about that size is actually divided among about 4-6 diners with exquisite spices that are unknown here. Neatly diced on the grill and s
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You'll find the same thing across much of the world, meat might be in the meal but only as an ingredient and likely not the largest one. When my wife, who's Peruvian, makes saltado or estofado (or any number of other dishes) a piece of meat that would serve one person here is cut up and divided between 4-5 servings. And oh, dear lord, the spices! The sauces! Peru is kind of a foodie Mecca so I'm incredibly spoiled, but never so much as when we go visit family. The sheep we're eating was munching on gra
Now make them for MSG (Score:2)
Can that be very far off?
What's the difference? (Score:2)
So, they remove the sodium from the food, and then transmit it via the chopsticks? Is the only difference then the reduction in chloride? Or, are the quantities of sodium less, because the stimulation is more pronounced?
Snake oil (Score:1)
Come on, a wristband?
"device transmits sodium ions from food, through the chopsticks, to the mouth where they create a sense of saltiness" so when you eat salty food with chopsticks, the salt from the food goes magically to your mouth!
Next on slashdot, the power of magnets!
Not practical (Score:4, Insightful)
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Ok, the chopsticks make it taste saltier, but that means that the food needs to be less salty. AFAIK most of the salt in Japanese cuisine comes from the ingredients instead of being added in during cooking or when served. Looks like it might be A solution but not THE solution to the problem.
Good point,
It seems like the obvious target audience will be restaurants where you can control the salt in sushi and people that have that chopstick. Furthermore, considering Asian countries digs technologies like robot cat as a waiter, I'm sure the interest for those "High-Tech Chopsticks" will be high.
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Robot cat waiter? OK, had to look that one up, and it's real! And incredibly cool. Thanks for that.
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyl... [yahoo.com]
I'd hate to be the guy who's resistant (Score:2)
Charles Wallace took it, made another face, but managed to swallow. “Still tastes like sand,” he said. He looked at the man. “Why?”
“You know perfectly well why. You’ve shut your mind entirely to me. The other two can’t. I can get in through the chinks. Not all the way in, but enough to give them a turkey dinner. You see, I’m really just a kind, jolly old gentleman.”
“Ha,” Charles Wallace said.
Forget the food (Score:2)
Bring me that Electric Ice Tea!
Electric Margaritas! (Score:1)