J-E-L-L-O

I've been on a jello kick lately...

really it's been going on ever since I saw the HBO movie "Temple Grandin" (which I loved and would recommend to anyone). The main character ( its biographical) Temple is autistic and one thing she's picky about is her food. She only eats yogurt and jello.

Do you ever think to yourself  "I wonder if I have something or am a certain way that just hasnt been diagnosed yet"... well I do that with certain things. Now in this particular case, I dont necessarily think in any way that I am autistic... but maybe part of me wants to be like Temple. I mean, seriously, she was really unique, an absolute genius and innovator.

Point is... maybe I want to be like Temple Grandin, and maybe thats why I'm eating so much jello.

Second thought here... I began to wonder what was in this  delicious "Jello," this childhood treat accompanied by famed theme song, that I've been sliding on down into my belly so easily... and here my friends is the sad truth that I found.

"The gelatin in Jell-O is what lets you transform it into all sorts of different shapes. What exactly is gelatin? Gelatin is just a processed version of a structural protein called collagen that is found in many animals, including humans. Collagen actually makes up almost a third of all the protein in the human body. It is a big, fibrous molecule that makes skin, bones, and tendons both strong and somewhat elastic. As you get older, your body makes less collagen, and individual collagen fibers become crosslinked with each other. You might experience this as stiff joints (from less flexible tendons) or wrinkles (from loss of skin elasticity).

The gelatin you eat in Jell-O comes from the collagen in cow or pig bones, hooves, and connective tissues. To make gelatin, manufacturers grind up these various parts and pre-treat them with either a strong acid or a strong base to break down cellular structures and release proteins like collagen. After pre-treatment, the resulting mixture is boiled. During this process, the large collagen protein ends up being partially broken down, and the resulting product is called gelatin. The gelatin is easily extracted because it forms a layer on the surface of the boiling mixture."

From http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/question557.htm