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Asked by to Daren, Lynne, Phillip, Simon on 23 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
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anon answered on 23 Jun 2014:
Yes! Everything in the world is made up of elements and compounds and chemicals, even natural things! Have you seen posters like this that show all the natural chemicals that are in a banana?
http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s–o2mC_akJ–/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/19cthsq3h02qrpng.pngThis website is made by a friend of a friend and it’s really good at explaining the chemistry in everyday life – there are quite a lot of posts about what you find in food! http://www.compoundchem.com/
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Daren Fearon answered on 23 Jun 2014:
Jenny has already pointed out that that all of the world is made up of elements, molecules and chemicals and beat me with the banana poster! I like this blueberry one too : http://jameskennedymonash.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/ingredients-of-all-natural-blueberries-poster1.pdf
When people claim that something is “chemical-free” they usually don’t understand what chemicals mean and that they are not dangerous just because they are chemicals. They are usually just trying to scare people into buying what they are selling too! It is important that we scientists help these chemophobes understand that chemicals and elements aren’t intrinsically dangerous. Here is how you can identify chemophobes and what you can do to help them understand things a bit better.
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Lynne Thomas answered on 23 Jun 2014:
Both Daren and Jenny have already told you that everything is made of elements and compounds. Your body is able to recognise these molecules and this is what gives rise to the taste. It also breaks down some of the molecules in the fruit to give you energy.
We can learn a lot about how to make artificial sweeteners and things like medicines by looking at how things have developed in nature. People used to chew on willow bark to help with pain and fevers. A compound in willow bark called salicin is the chemical that was doing this job but there were quite often side effects including nausea. So the Chemists got involved later and they slightly changed the molecule and made Aspirin which has far less side effects. So some of our man made chemicals are better for us than the natural ones!
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Phillip Manning answered on 25 Jun 2014:
Elements are the building blocks of everything on Earth. They combine to form compounds that are crucial to life. Many plants have evolved great tasting fruit to help spread their seeds, when animals eat the said fruit. Some taste great to us, but others are only palatable to certain species.
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