Famous Food Fetishes: Cockroaches and Butterflies?
Angelia Jolie Ate Cockroaches - and Approved
No Froot Loops for Saddam
Saddam may have been on to something: With 12 grams of sugar and 3 grams of dietary fiber per serving, Froot Loops isn't the healthiest cereal (though the loop that eventually got Saddam didn't come in a box).
"Eating a high-fiber cereal will keep you regular and help lower your cholesterol," says Marisa Sherry, MS, RD, a New York City-based dietitian.
Elvis: 800 Miles for a Sandwich
Eating such fatty foods didn't do the King's waistline any favors, though drugs did him in before obesity had a chance to. He died in Memphis in 1977.
Mint Nix for Alexander the Great
Believe it or not, he was right to believe that some foods are aphrodisiacs - though he may have gotten his spices confused.
Seeds of allium tuberosum (garlic chives) have been shown to have sex-boosting properties - at least in rats, according to a 2009 study in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology.
Amelia Earhart's Stressful Breakfasts
Henry Ford's Sugar Phobia
Did Canned Apricots Put Edmund Hillary Atop Everest?
Joe Louis Sipped Cow Blood
Judy Garland's "Prisoner's Menu"
Chicken soup has long been used as a cold remedy and one University of Nebraska study found that it may accelerate mucus clearing and improve hydration when we're sick.
Maria Callas: Did a Tapeworm Make Her a Star?
Tapeworms, which live inside the intestines and eat food before you digest it, can cause weight loss - but experts strongly recommend against the practice. If a tapeworm leaves the intestine, it can cause seizures, fever, and cystic lumps.
Try worming your way out of that.
Nabokov Ate Butterflies
The author of "Lolita" and other classics, Nabokov wasn't the only entomophage, or insect eater. Insects are a staple in many cultures, says New York City dietitian Marisa Sherry,MS, RD.
In Thailand, she says, some eat fried grasshoppers and crickets; some Filipinos eat June beetles and grasshoppers.
Paul Newman' Perfect Salad
Seems the actor and sometime race-car driver was comfortable with risky behavior off the track as well as on: Bathrooms are notorious havens for germs, including some that can cause illness.
Sacagawea: Rattlesnake Rattle for Childbirth
But don't try this at home: Snake venom can be deadly if it gets into your bloodstream via a cut in your mouth, Marisa Sherry, MS, RD, a New York City-based dietitian, warns, adding that there's no proof any particular food can induce labor.
Thomas Jefferson, Rice Smuggler
No word whether it was white rice or brown - which has double the amount of dietary fiber.