Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with acidic

I like walnuts, but they don't like me.

Soliloquy — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 15:53:02 -0800

Walnuts make my tongue hurt. Does this mean I'm allergic, or is it just their acidity? I've never noticed swelling, itching, or redness when I eat walnuts, but chewing them makes the inside of my mouth sting for about an hour. Small amounts (say, a few chopped-up walnut bits in a brownie) don't seem to bother me, but I've given up eating them straight. Trying to determine if I should avoid small amounts entirely or if I should eat them in small amounts for my health.

I have "Alien" sweat!

Alterscape — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 17:54:08 -0800

Help me save my theoretical new MacBook Pro from my Sweat of Doom! I own a well-loved 12" G4 powerbook. Over two years of heavy use, the wrist-rest portion of the case has slowly but steadily developed severe "pitting" in the areas where I typically rest the heels of my palms. My glasses frames exhibit the same issue over time and my optometrist tells me it's because I have very acidic sweat and there's very little I can do to correct the problem.

Several weeks ago, the pitting finally annoyed me to the point where I decided to buy a Marware Protection Pack (~$15) for my machine to see if the rubber wrist-rest protector would be good quality, cover up the pitting, and prevent further damage. After less than a month of use, the plastic is developing pitting and cracking of its own in the same places -- I'm almost certain it isn't a material defect because the damage only occurs where I rest my wrists!

I plan to buy a shiny new 15" MBP for grad school later this summer, and I want to protect it from this pitting mess, but the idea of ponying up $35 once every few months to replace a Marware Protection Pack wristrest irks me. Does anyone have any ideas less invasive than "wipe down the metal every few minutes during use" to prevent this mess and increase the longevity of the metal or whatever wristrest protectors I use?

Miraculin fruit legality?

null terminated — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 18:55:57 -0800

How legal is Miraculin? After reading this great post on Miraculin (which makes anything acidic taste sweet), I decided to pick some up. Turns out it works better than advertised. I've wanted to share it with friends around here, but they are very straight-laced and understandably cautious (it does sound like a scam).

What I'm looking for is a piece of paper that says "Miraculin is legal to consume". (I'm in New Jersey, USA). This is to help convince people to come to this "fruit party" and also because I don't want to get anyone in trouble due to an obscure fruit importation restriction that I'm unknowingly violating.