Author: Gerardo Gonzalez

Your nickname will always be “red.” In school, you were the only redhead in your class. People always ask, “Is your hair color natural?” You are an expert on sunscreen. You get sunburnt no matter where you are. Your ‘go to’ makeup color is ivory. You’re used to being asked by strangers to touch your […]

Among them was Ramesses II (c. 1303 BC to 1213 BC), often referred to as ‘Ramesses the Great’, who was regarded as the most powerful and celebrated pharaoh of the Egyptian Empire. Oh yes, gingers rule. Around 500BC, redheads were first mentioned in literature by the Greek poet Xenophanes. Who was the first person to […]

Contrary to what many people assume, redheads did not originate in Scandinavia, Scotland or Ireland, but in central Asia. Their coloring is due to a mutation in the MC1R gene that fails to produce sun-protective, skin-darkening eumelanin and instead causes pale skin, freckles and red hair. Where do redhead girls come from? They can be […]

Well, they are and they aren’t. Bananas are both a fruit and not a fruit. While the banana plant is colloquially called a banana tree, it’s actually an herb distantly related to ginger, since the plant has a succulent tree stem, instead of a wood one. Are bananas and ginger related? The Banana Has Some […]

Ginger belongs to the Zingiberaceae family, which also includes turmeric and cardamom (1). Meanwhile, garlic belongs to the Amaryllidaceae family, which includes onions, chives, and leeks (2). Ginger is lower in price. The active biological compounds in ginger include gingerols, shogaols, and paradols (3). What plants are in the ginger family? The largest family in […]

Ginger. Nicknamed for its red hair, “Ginger” is the most famous of six naturally mummified bodies excavated in the late 19th century from shallow graves in the Egyptian desert. It went on display at the British Museum in 1901, becoming the first mummy to be exhibited in public, and has stayed there ever since. How […]

For a recessive trait to be expressed the individual must be pure breeding, hence two red heads can not produce any other colour in a child. If red hair is dominant, the chances are one in four that a child will NOT be a red head if mum and dad are both ginger nuts. Can […]

Natural red hair is harder to dye than other shades Headstrong as it is, ginger hair holds its pigment much firmer than any other hair colour. If redheads desired to dye their hair to any other colour (why would you?), it would only have a noticeable difference after bleaching the hair beforehand. Can you dye […]

Chemically, gingerol is related to capsaicin, the compound that makes chillies so spicy, and piperine, a compound present in black pepper. Interestingly, some gingerol is altered when ginger is cooked and can even transform into different a different compound. Does ginger have capsaicin in it? Initial studies have shown that the active ingredients in ginger […]