As a Nutrition major at Arizona State University, I am naturally drawn to stories that are related to food. I can't help it. You know that guy that you saw at the grocery store last week? The one who spent 15 minutes comparing the nutrition labels of the peanut butter? That was me. (Side note: Choosey nutritionists choose Jif the one that's lower in trans fats and refined carbohydrates.)
So if I get this excited about peanut butter, you can imagine my surprise when I was contacted yesterday by Chegg.com about a new edible textbook product they are launching called text-a-licious. For those of you following this blog, you know that I recently received a stimulus package from them. (The chocolate is very tasty, by the way.) Edible text books?!? Yes, boys and girls. Edible text books. The initial release includes over 20 different flavors.
Apparently they have figured out a way to alter the chemical structure of paper so that it can be broken down by the human body. As part of my coursework for my degree at ASU, I've been learning about this. There are some plants that the human body simply cannot digest because we don't have the right enzymes. During photosynthesis, plants make glucose. These glucose molecules become bound together to form something called cellulose. Cellulose cannot be digested by humans. We recently completed an extensive section about fiber. Fiber is basically different types of carbohydrate (glucose, galactose, and other sugars) that cannot be broken down or digested by the human body. The Wikipedia entry for paper says that
Paper is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets.
So if paper is just made of plant material, it would seem like this could work. I am curious to know how they did it. Maybe they added some enzymes to the paper to help it be digested, or maybe they figured out a way to remove or replace the ß-1,4 bonds in the cellulose. (These are the chemical bonds that humans can't digest.)
Not to start a lame conspiracy theory, but here goes. Anytime you rent/sell/buy a book from Chegg, they plant a tree. What if the trees they are planting are the ones which have been chemically altered? Like one big cycle. They plant the trees, they control how they're fed and grown, and then they cut them down to make these text-a-licious books. Just a thought.
At any rate, this is way cool. With the way the economy is these days, everyone is looking for ways to save a buck. Now you can get your textbooks really cheap, and then eat them when you're done.
You can read more about the new product and see all the new flavors on their homepage. There's an official press release along with the typical sharing buttons so you can spread the word to your friends on Twitter and Facebook. I am definitely going to give this a try next semester.
