An era ended in May of this year. Jerry Maren, the last surviving munchkin from 1939's "The Wizard of Oz", passed away at the age of 98. Maren's most prominent screen time in the movie comes when he hands Dorothy an over-sized lollipop. The producers had noticed that Maren had a particular singing and dancing talent backstage on the set of the film and wanted to reward him for this somehow.
The set of the movie was notoriously hellish for the entire production and performance crew, and conditions on set are the stuff of legend. The munchkins developed a reputation for being gamblers, drunkards and general degenerates, with tales abounding of them wrecking hotel rooms and having to be caught by the police with a net. There is, of course, no direct suggestion that Maren was involved in anything like that. We bet he had some great stories, which he took to the grave!
Over the years, weve seen so many food trends come and go, such as ramen burgers, matcha, and spiked ice-cream. Nowadays, were seeing another trend making waves in the food industry. How many times today have you seen an Instagram photo of a scoop of black ice cream, or a cup of black yogurt, or hamburgers with black buns? Indeed, the charcoal trend has taken the world by storm.
So, what gives your latte that deep black shade? Activated charcoal, or coconut ash, is produced by heating coconut shells to insanely high temperatures until theyre burnt to a crisp. The ashes are then increased in size by steaming at high temperatures. Through this process, the ashes become a strong detoxifier, mostly because they become extra absorbent. This product may be purchased in pill form, and promises to alleviate hangovers, minimize the effects of food poisoning, and fight the visible signs of aging.
Activated charcoal is said to boost ones energy as a result of decreasing toxins in the body. However, no evidence proves that detoxifying can lead to increased energy. Also, while it can help cure a hangover, it doesnt necessarily remove alcohol from your blood. It is also said to aid in debloating your stomach because it cleanses your colon but again, this all anecdotal and isnt supported by scientific evidence as of yet. All we can say for sure is that it is a proven detoxifier.