I recently grew my own home-grown carrots, and the resulting crop was a little bit bitter. It got me wondering: are bitter carrots safe to eat?

Bitter Carrots Cause
A little google revealed a fantastic paper by Tian et al 2024 which says that the cause of bitter carrots is as follows:
Terpenoids such as α-terpinene, β-myrcene, β-caryophyllene usually contribute to the bitter flavor of fresh carrots. (1)

The question is -

Is it safe to eat bitter carrots?

I asked chatGPT, and got these answers:

α-Terpinene: In large amounts, α-terpinene can cause irritation to the gastrointestinal tract, and it might lead to symptoms like nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. High doses can be toxic and have been shown to cause liver and kidney damage in animal studies.

β-Myrcene: Consumption of large quantities of β-myrcene can cause sedation and muscle relaxation. Some animal studies suggest potential for liver toxicity and other adverse effects at high doses.

β-Caryophyllene: Generally considered safe in typical dietary amounts. However, consuming it in excessively large amounts could potentially cause gastrointestinal distress and other adverse effects. It is also noted for its anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties, which are beneficial at controlled doses but could potentially lead to unwanted effects if overconsumed.

The question is, how much is too much? How much carrots would you need to consume to eat these terpenoids in dangerous levels?

I asked chatGPT:
” Given that α-terpinene, β-myrcene, β-caryophyllene can be dangerous to eat in large amounts; how much carrots by weight (in grams or kg) would be toxic to eat, if they contain α-terpinene, β-myrcene, β-caryophyllene?”

Here was the answer:

To determine the potential toxicity of carrots based on their content of α-terpinene, β-myrcene, and β-caryophyllene, we need to know the concentration of these compounds in carrots and their toxic doses. Here’s the approach we need to take:

1. Determine the concentration of each compound in carrots:
The concentrations of these compounds in carrots can vary, but we will use typical values from available research. For example, essential oil compositions or specific studies on carrot phytochemicals.

2. Establish the toxic doses of each compound:
Toxicological studies and safety data sheets provide information on toxic doses, usually given as LD50 (the lethal dose for 50% of the population).
Concentrations in Carrots
Typical concentrations of these compounds in carrots might be:
· α-Terpinene: Approximately 0.5 mg/kg in fresh carrots.
· β-Myrcene: Approximately 0.2 mg/kg in fresh carrots.
· β-Caryophyllene: Approximately 0.1 mg/kg in fresh carrots.
These values are rough estimates, as exact concentrations can vary.

Toxic Doses
Toxic doses for these compounds (estimated from various sources and animal studies) might be:
· α-Terpinene: LD50 (oral, rat) = 3700 mg/kg (5)
· β-Myrcene: LD50 (oral, rat) = 4900 mg/kg (6)
· β-Caryophyllene: LD50 (oral, rat) = 5000 mg/kg (7)

Calculation
Let’s calculate the approximate amount of carrots needed to reach toxic levels for a 70 kg adult.
1. α-Terpinene:
o Toxic dose = 3700 mg/kg × 70 kg = 259,000 mg = 259 g
o Amount in carrots = 0.5 mg/kg
o Carrots needed = 259,000 mg / 0.5 mg/kg = 518,000 kg

2. β-Myrcene:
o Toxic dose = 4900 mg/kg × 70 kg = 343,000 mg = 343 g
o Amount in carrots = 0.2 mg/kg
o Carrots needed = 343,000 mg / 0.2 mg/kg = 1,715,000 kg

3. β-Caryophyllene:
o Toxic dose = 5000 mg/kg × 70 kg = 350,000 mg = 350 g
o Amount in carrots = 0.1 mg/kg
o Carrots needed = 350,000 mg / 0.1 mg/kg = 3,500,000 kg

Conclusion
Based on these calculations, an individual would need to consume extremely large amounts of carrots—ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of kilograms—to reach toxic levels of these compounds. Therefore, in practical terms, it is virtually impossible to consume a toxic dose of α-terpinene, β-myrcene, or β-caryophyllene from eating carrots alone.

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In addition, ChatGPT tells me: cooking can affect the levels of volatile compounds like α-terpinene, β-myrcene, and β-caryophyllene in carrots.
Heat can cause them to evaporate, leading to a reduction in their concentration. The extent of the reduction depends on the cooking method, with steaming generally preserving more of these compounds compared to boiling or roasting.

References:

(1) Tian et al 2024 , A comprehensive review on botany, chemical composition and the impacts of heat processing and dehydration on the aroma formation of fresh carrot , Food Chemistry: X, Volume 22, 30 June 2024, 101201,

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590157524000889

(2) M. Kramer, G. Bufler, D. Ulrich, M. Leitenberger, J. Conrad, R. Carle, D.R. Kammerer, Effect of ethylene and 1-methylcyclopropene on bitter compounds in carrots (Daucus carota L.)
Postharvest Biology and Technology, 73 (2012), pp. 28-36, 10.1016/j.postharvbio.2012.05.009

(3) S. Kreutzmann, A.K. Thybo, M. Edelenbos, L.P. Christensen, The role of volatile compounds on aroma and flavour perception in coloured raw carrot genotypes
International Journal of Food Science & Technology, 43 (9) (2008), pp. 1619-1627, 10.1111/j.1365-2621.2007.01662.x

(4) L.M. Negri Rodríguez, R. Arias, T. Soteras, A. Sancho, N. Pesquero, L. Rossetti, …, N. Szerman Comparison of the quality attributes of carrot juice pasteurized by ohmic heating and conventional heat treatment
LWT, 145 (2021), 10.1016/j.lwt.2021.111255

(5) PubChem – α-Terpinene (similar to gamma terpinene) – https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/7461

(6) PubChem – β-Myrcene https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/31253#section=Non-Human-Toxicity-Excerpts

(7) PubChem – β-Caryophyllene https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/5281515

Without further ado, here are my thoughts on different vegetable varieties to grow in the United Kingdom. I’ve put stars next to the better varieties I’ve grown.

(Note: I imagine experiences may vary slightly depending on weather, where you got your seeds from, how strong the seeds and plants were etc.)

Greens

Perpetual Spinach:
Where I bought the seeds from: sowseeds.co.uk
Thoughts: Very ordinary tasting Swiss Chard / Greens, tasting the same as (or even a little less tasty than) Swiss chard or greens bought from the supermarket. Easy to grow but not tasty enough to grow again.

Green Bean Varieties

Climbing Beans:

A Cosse Violette:
Where I bought the seeds from: premierseedsdirect.com
Thoughts:  Purple round pods that become green upon cooking. Taste exactly like normal french beans. Not particularly extraordinary in any way; neither in taste nor prolificness. I would probably not grow again.

Blauhilde:
Where I bought the seeds from: premierseedsdirect.com
Thoughts:  Purple flat, shiny silky smooth beans. The feel of them when picking was nice because they’re so silky. In terms of taste, they tasted like any other french bean. Not extraordinary in terms of prolificness nor taste so probably would not grow again.

☆ ☆ Blue Lake:
Where I bought the seeds from: premierseedsdirect.com
Thoughts: Very similar to Cobra with round green pods. Not sure I noticed a discernable difference between Cobra & Blue Lake in terms of taste. Taste like ordinary French Beans, not spectacular, similar to supermarket-grade produce but fresher. Very prolific with really good yields. Compared to other bean plants, these appeared to be much less less fussy about getting watering perfect: more resilient and hardy to variable conditions.

☆ ☆ Cobra:
Where I bought the seeds from: premierseedsdirect.com
Thoughts: Rounded green pods. Taste like ordinary French Beans, not spectacular, similar to supermarket but fresher. Very prolific with really good yields. Compared to other beans, less fussy about getting watering perfect.

☆ ☆ Kentucky Wonder Wax:
Where I bought the seeds from: premierseedsdirect.com
Thoughts: Rounded yellow pods. Taste, ordinary. Prolific good yields.

☆ ☆ ☆ Marvel of Venice:
Where I bought the seeds from: premierseedsdirect.com
Thoughts: Flat yellow wax beans. Taste: These were the only French Beans I grew that tasted significantly tastier than supermarket french beans. These were sweeter, butterier and more delicious than supermarket varieties. Unfortunately the plant was also quite sensitive to overwatering / underwatering with leaves yellowing and falling off if the watering wasn’t just right. When conditions were perfect, the beans were delicious and stringless. But when conditions weren’t just right (too hot / too cold / too wet / too dry) they were more likely to create bumpy uneven and stringy beans that lacked the optimal flavour. Because of my watering errors these were not very prolific for me and yields were quite low.

☆ Musica:
Where I bought the seeds from: nickys-nursery.co.uk
Thoughts: Flat long freen pods. Very prolific with really good yields. Taste like ordinary French Beans but because they’re flat the texture and mouth-feel is a little different; less meaty and fleshy. A little fussy about getting watering just right. Leaves yellow, brown and fall off with slight overwatering or underwatering.

☆ ☆ Neckargold:
Where I bought the seeds from: premierseedsdirect.com
Thoughts: Semi-rounded, semi-flat yellow wax beans. Taste very ordinary; not extraordinary. Very prolific and abundant (similar to Cobra, Blue Lake and Kentucky Wonder Wax). Not as fussy to water and temperature irregularities as other bean plants.

Dwarf Beans

Dragon Tongue Beans (aka Merveille de Piemonte)
Where I bought the seeds from: chilternseeds.co.uk
Thoughts: Flattened but meaty, long beans. In terms of appearance these are exceptionally attractive when mature, with a cream colour and lots of dark purple flecks. Taste very similar to ordinary french beans. Possibly a miniscule difference in taste for the better but it’s so subtle and tiny that I’m not even sure if it’s there. Not as prolific compared to climbing beans so you need a lot of plants to get enough for a meal, but they continued to provide a steady crop from July to September. They provide a nice steady small producer to supplement climbing bean plants, but if you want to grow just this variety, you’ll need a lot of plants, and some staggered planting is a good idea in case some plants succumb to some problem or another in their older age. My oldest plants succumbed to spider mites so I was happy I had some younger unaffected ones on standby to keep providing beans.

Runner Beans:

Firestorm:
Where I bought the seeds from: premierseedsdirect.com
Thoughts: Long velvety bean with red-brown markings along edge as they mature and pink beans inside. Become very stringy if left a little too long on the plant or if conditions are a little stressful. Taste like ordinary runner beans; meaty and fleshy, but not particularly extraordinary or extraordinarily tasty.

☆ Moonlight:
Where I bought the seeds from: premierseedsdirect.com
Thoughts: Long velvety green bean. Taste was extraordinary because it had an interesting floral flavour which was lovely. Due to watering errors on my part the yield was very very low but may be worth growing again with better watering habits to give these another go.

Courgettes / Zucchini Varieties

Courgette Defender F1
Where I bought the seeds from: sowseeds.co.uk
Thoughts: Tasted exactly like supermarket courgettes, so not special enough for me to grow again.

☆ ☆ Courgette Atena Polka F1
Where I bought the seeds from: sowseeds.co.uk
Thoughts: Tasty yellow courgettes, tastier than supermarket ones, feeling more delicate in texture and sweeter.

Trieste White Cousa Courgette
Where I bought the seeds from: realseeds.co.uk
Thoughts: I bought these after hearing lots of good things about “cousa” Lebanese courgettes but I’m not sure these “Trieste” version of “Cousa” were the variety people rave about because there’s not much I liked about these courgettes. They grow small and fat so you don’t get the fun of growing them to a large size. The taste was very ordinary; not very sweet or extraordinary in any way. The texture was very squeaky on the teeth when you chew it, and the skin was a little tough. Would not grow again.

Squash Varieties

Early Prolific Straightneck Squash
Where I bought the seeds from: realseeds.co.uk
Thoughts: Yellow, slightly bumpy, almost plastic-looking pear-shaped squash. The fruits start off pale-coloured when young and progressively become a deeper mustard yellow as they mature. Taste very very similar to normal courgettes in cooked dishes. Very mild flavour. A nice sweetness when roasted but the tough skins became tougher when cooked this way. Overall, not different enough from ordinary courgettes to grow again. The taste was not better than ordinary courgettes in my opinion, and the tough skin was not to my liking.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ Gem Squash:
Where I bought the seeds from: premierseedsdirect.com
Thoughts: I could not recommend these highly enough! This is the tastiest thing I’ve grown to date. Delicate, sweet, nutty and delicious when left to grow for about 25-30 days on the vine. Definilyte would grow again!

☆ ☆ ☆ Tromboncino d’Albenga
Where I bought the seeds from: chilternseeds.co.uk
Thoughts: A little tough to germinate initially, but once they got going, this was the strongest, most sturdy, vibrant plant I’ve grown. Big beautiful dark green leaves, large flowers, and strong thick stems. The fruits were delicate and tasty; different enough from ordinary courgettes that I would grow these again. The whole experience of growing them is fun from the beautiful plant to seeing the huge tasty fruits grow and lengthen to incredible sizes as long as it’s warm enough (20-28′C) and its got enough sunlight (>6 hours a day).

Until seeing this video, I’d never considered that fertilizer could contain heavy metals which are known to be toxic to humans, dogs, cats and lots of animals.

I wanted to investigate this for myself, and to find out if in the UK and EU where I live, there is risk of heavy metals in fertiliser.

I discovered that there are heavy metal limits in fertilizer in the UK and EU. The EU Fertiliser Regulation from 2019 were transposed into UK Law.

The allowed limits are:

Contaminants in an organic fertiliser must not exceed the following limit values:
(a) cadmium (Cd): 1,5 mg/kg dry matter,
(b) hexavalent chromium (Cr VI): 2 mg/kg dry matter,
(c) mercury (Hg): 1 mg/kg dry matter,
(d) nickel (Ni): 50 mg/kg dry matter,
(e) lead (Pb): 120 mg/kg dry matter, and
(f) inorganic arsenic (As): 40 mg/kg dry matter

(For those wanting to see it in the original source, you can see the original document at this link, and this specific data can be found under the heading “PFC 1(A): ORGANIC FERTILISER” within Annex I.)

At first glance, I thought “120mg lead is allowed in 1kg fertilizer! I don’t want to grow my food in this much lead!” But if you think about it, you don’t grow your plants in 1 kg of pure fertilize: you grow them in soil and only add a handful or two of fertilizer.

Say you use 2 handfuls of fertilizer in a big pot: they say 1 handful is about 35g, so 2 handfuls equates to about 70g of fertilizer.

70g of fertilizer, containing the maxmimum allowed toxic elements, would contain:

(a) cadmium (Cd): 0.1mg / 70g fertilizer
(b) hexavalent chromium (Cr VI): 0.14 mg/ 70g fertilizer
(c) mercury (Hg): 0.07 mg/ 70g fertilizer
(d) nickel (Ni): 3.5 mg/ 70g fertilizer
(e) lead (Pb): 8.4 mg/ 70g fertilizer
(f) inorganic arsenic (As): 2.8mg/ 70g fertilizer

Then, you would be spreading this amount in your big pot, diluting it in, say, 30kg of soil, so the amount per kg of dry matter of soil would be quite small.

Say, 70g fertilizer in 30kg soil, so you’ now have 8.4mg lead, in 30.07kg of soil, which works out to 0.28mg lead per 1kg soil.

Then the plants don’t take up all the amount of heavy metal in the soil so the total amount getting into the plant is a small fraction of the total amount of heavy metals in the soil.

I looked up studies checking how much heavy metals potato plants take up from the soil and deposit in the edible tuber and found one study (Setiyo et al 2020) that the following uptake levels:

 Extrapolated from source: Setiyo et al. 2020, The concentration of heavy metals in the potato tubers of the basic seed groups examined by the variation of fertilizers, pesticides and the period of cultivation,  AIMS Agriculture and Food 2020, Volume 5, Issue 4: 882-895. https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/agrfood.2020.4.882?viewType=HTML

In another study by Zeliha et al 2017, the absorption levels were as follows:

Extrapolated from Source: Leblebici Zeliha et al. 2017, Accumulation and effects of heavy metals on potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.) in the Nevsehir, Turkey, Fresenius Environmental Bulletin 26(12):7083-7090 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320558572_Accumulation_and_effects_of_heavy_metals_on_potatoes_Solanum_tuberosum_L_in_the_Nevsehir_Turkey

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So, say you use 70g fertilizer containing the maxmimum allowed toxic elements in your 30kg of soil ; Based on the above absorption percentages, your tuber would at most absorb the following amounts of heavy metals from the fertilizer used:

• cadmium (Cd): 0.1mg (per 70g fertilizer) x 11,3% absorption = 0.01mg cadmium
• lead (Pb): 8.4 mg (per 70g fertilizer) x 17.1% absorption = 1.4mg lead.

And that’s the amount spread out between all the plant and all its tubers, so I’m not sure how much would be found in a single tuber. Maybe if one plant has 10 tubers, it would be 1.4 / 10, so that’s 0.14mg per tuber? or 140mcg.

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Now, let’s see if these levels are safe and to determine: is fertilizer toxic to humans?

For lead (Pb), the FDA suggests a limit of 3 µg per day for children and 12.5 µg per day for adults. (Source: https://www.fda.gov/food/metals-and-your-food/lead-food-foodwares-and-dietary-supplements under heading: “FDA Monitoring and Testing of Lead in Food”)

So 1.4mg lead in potatoes (grown with 70g fertilizer) would contain 1,400µg of lead, (or 140mcg per single potato) which would be pretty high and well above the recommended 3-12.5mcg limit.

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So for Lead: unless I made an error in my calculations (which is entirely possible since math is not my strongest subject, and please let me know in the comments if there’s something I miscalculated), based on this, it seems that it probably is NOT safe to add fertilizers to the soil if they are at the maximum allowed lead levels for UK & EU fertilizers :/

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I should mention that different plants have different tendencies of uptake of heavy metals.

One study I saw showed that tomatoes seemed to exclude uptake of heavy metals much more than other vegetables.  For example, Arsenic concentrations were highest in lettuce and green beans, lower in carrots, and much lower in tomato fruit, in this study: McBride 2013, Arsenic and Lead Uptake by Vegetable Crops Grown on Historically Contaminated Orchard Soils, Appl Environ Soil Sci.2013; 2013: 283472.  (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4776765/)  

In another study by Zhou et al 2016, they concluded that  leafy vegetables  are most susceptible to heavy metals and contaminated soils whereas melon vegetables absorb the least. (ref: Zhou et al 2016, Accumulation of Heavy Metals in Vegetable Species Planted in Contaminated Soils and the Health Risk Assessment,  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4808952/)

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I’m not certain, but it’s possible that the safest fertilizers to go for, less likely to have high levels of hevy metals, are ones made entirely from decomposed plants rather than those made from artifcial chemicals. One such example is the Organic Bronte range of fertilisers (Link: https://www.bronteheritage.com/) (Not sponsored to name them by the way).

I’ve recently been on a quest to find a laboratory that does RDA tests for toothpaste to find the Relative Dentin Abrasivity of different brands of toothpaste. This was my second port of call after writing emails to companies asking for their RDAs, but discovering they have not conducting this test for their product.

Searching the web has shown me that information about how to find a lab that has an RDA testing service is not at all easy to find, which is why I wanted to share my findings here.

I used Google to search for scientific papers that involved measuring toothpaste RDAs, and then I wrote to the researchers to ask them if they could help me with finding where I could get this test done.

I received three helpful responses from labs who perform this test. Here is the information I have been provided with:

• Places that do the tests: Some universities and some clinical labs
• Cost: It depends on the lab:
  - One clinical research lab gave an informal quote for £1,600 (approx $2,100)
  - Two university labs gave a quote of upwards of £4,000 (GBP) or $5,300 (USD) per toothpaste test.
  Because of the high cost, often legal contracts are required to be signed in order to do the test.
• Timeframe:
  The timeframe of testing is lengthy:
  - Contracts need to be signed months before tests can be run;
  - Many labs run tests at a particular time of year, so only do tests in, say, September-to-December, so if you want a test done in May, you would have to wait to the next run of tests the following September.
  - Sending and preparing the samples for testing can also take a few months;
  - And then the results of the test will only be available several months after testing too.In all, between asking for the test and getting the results it can take many months and up to a year.

In case you’re curious, this is what the toothbrushing machine used for RDA tests looks like (seen from about 20 seconds into the video):

For citizens like me who are interested in dental health and want to confirm the abrasiveness abrasive level of their toothpastes for healthy, happy teeth, if shelling out over £1000 is outside your budget, I would suggest: it is definitely easier to email the toothpaste company and ask for their RDA values rather than get the testing done yourself, and if the company does not have an RDA value, using a different brand that can provide you with this information would definitely be the easiest path to take.

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There is also another way to estimate RDA / REA, or at least a way to get a feel for abrasiveness levels of a toothpaste, without getting the official test done, and that involves 3 magic words:

Mohs Hardness Scale.

Mohs Scale of Hardness is a scale of 1-10; where 1 is soft like candle wax (well, almost: The official Mohs scale figure for candle wax is actually: 0.5-0.6), and 10 is the hardest material, diamond. If you know the hardness level of tooth enamel and dentine, and the hardness level of the abrasive ingredients in your toothpaste, you can get a rough idea of how abrasive your toothpaste formula is. Because when a material is harder than teeth, it can scratch, abrade and damage them, and materials softer than teeth will be far less likely to abrade them (though they can still abrade away the softer plaque, which is what abrasives in toothpaste are there to do).

Here’s the all-important data for you:

From this table we can understand that Silica is a lot more abrasive on teeth and can absolutely scratch and strongly abrade the tooth surfaces because it’s harder than enamel and harder than dentin.

On the other hand, Calcium Carbonate, Sodium Bicarbonate and Sea Salt have a lower hardness than teeth so these would not be able to strongly abrade the tooth surfaces (although it’s possible that if you look closely at a microscopic level, they may have some microscopic abrasive effect). Particle size does affect abrasiveness, but even large sized particles that feel crunchy and gritty, if they’re made of a material that’s softer than teeth, they may potentially still be gentler on your teeth than finely ground-up, smooth-feeling Silica. (Note: I’m not 100% sure on this particle-size vs particle-hardness issue – can large soft particles be more abrasive than small hard particles? please let me know in the comments below : ) )

From the time I spent examining RDAs and ingredients lists I observed a trend where toothpastes containing Silica tended to have an RDA over 80, and toothpastes without Silica, containing only Calcium Carbonate and/or Sodium Bicarbonate tended to have RDAs lower than 70.  This is not a hard and fast rule, just what I observed from the handful of toothpastes I looked at.

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So if you can’t afford an RDA test, look at the ingredients list, and the order in which the abrasives are presented on the list. The items at the beginning of the list are found in largest amounts, and at the end of the list are the ingredients found in small amounts. So if the first ingredient is Silica, that toothpaste is likely pretty abrasive, but if Silica is the last thing on the list, it’s likely the Silica is in such small amounts that the toothpaste is less abrasive. If you want a toothpaste with ingredients that are least likely to abrade teeth, then perhaps avoiding Silica altogether and going for abrasives that are softer on Mohs scale than teeth is a pretty safe way to go.

Hiragana mnemonics

あ a – looks like an apple
い i – 2 “i”s side by side
う u – like a boxer getting punched in the stomach, saying “uu!”
え e – looks like an Energetic ninja
お o – looks like a ufO, or like a mouth saying “oh” with x ‘ eyes

か ka – blade cutting a stick
き ki – looks like a key
く ku – kuku’s beak / cuckoo’s beak
け ke – looks like a keg (ke has a cane as the first stroke)
こ ko – like 2 koi fish swimming, or like a cockerel with a comb on his head

さ sa – sa-neaky grin face
し shi – looks like a fiSHIng hook
す su – like curly SUe, or like a su-piral / spiral straw
せ se – mouth about to Se-y say something / or a Sensei saying something
そ So – zigzag sewing stitch – it looks like a fraction / if something is 50/50 it’s so-so

た ta – looks like the lettera t+a “ta!”
ち chi – shouting chi-eer leader – cheerleader, angry at “sa” for copying her. It looks like the number 5 coz cheerleaders come in groups (eg of 5) 5 cheerleaders.
つ tsu – looks like a tsunami wave, or like a sideways u
て te – looks like a te-il tail and like the letter T
と to – looks like a tornado, also it has sa funny stalk on TOp

な na – cross X for “nah” and sticking out tongue – or a complicated “kna-t” knot
に ni- looks like an elongated n (h) + a sideways i: ni. Or looks like a knee cap
ぬ nu – chopsticks holding NOOdles – also you can see the “n” and the chopsticks liike like an angular “u”
ね ne – sNAIl hiding behind a NAIl – looks like Re but with an extra hoop – if it has a Hoop it’s NE not Re.
の no – looks like a “no” sign, and looks like an n + an “o” put together

は ha – looks like a capital H with a little “a”. Looks similar to ke, but “Ha” has a hoop, whereas Ke does not.
ひ hi – like a smiling mouth going “hihihi!”
ふ hu / fu – looks like mount Fuji, or like a nose blowing air going foooo
へ he – He, like an arrow pointing up to Heaven
ほ ho – like a HOrse face with mane. Looks similar to Ha but with double line. Unlike “ke”, “H” ones have a “hoop”. Ho has 2 HOrizontal lines wherehas ha only has one (Ha has HAlf the number of lines as Ho).

ま ma – like musical note on stave ma for ma-usic – or a MAn with a MAsk on his eyes
み Mi – it looks like a capital “I” and a small “i” joined together “Mi and mi”. Or like a musical quaver note for “do-re-MI”)
む Mu – looks like a cow, or like a weird clown who makes fun by imitating animals and saying moooo
め Me – Me looks like a pretzel which is MEtzuyan. Me looks like Nu (chopsticks & noodles) – how do you differentiate? When the chopsticks drop the noodle hoop, they make a MEss
も Mo – looks like a sailboat Moshit, or like a Monitor lizard with a tail

ら ra – 5 cheerleaders go rah rah rah! Or like a rabbit sitting on its hind legs. Ra looks like Chi, but Chi (cheerleader) has it all connected coz it’s a person, and Rah is a sound so is more spread out.
り or リ ri – (the second one is used most often). The second one looks like a River. Looks similar to “i” but with Ri the RIGHT stroke is longer; river is long too.
る Ru – hand holding a ruby
れ Re – Reindeer
ろ Ro – Row row row your boat – 3 rows, looks like a 3. (Or it’s a Ru hand holding a ruby, without a ruby, Ru got RObbed and became Ro)

や Ya – yaaa it looks like a YAk or a giraffe!
ゆ Yu – looks like a unicorn or like a finger pointing at you
よ Yo – looks like a y without the cup on top, or it looks like a yoyo dangling from a finger.

わ Wa – like a dog WAgging his tail, (or as a W white sWAn). Looks similar to “ne” and “re”. Reindeer is happiest with happy tail for Xmas. Wa’s WAggy tail is more subdued, and Ne’s tail is swirly coz it’s a SNAIL.
を wo – “woah” it’s a complicated one that looks like a crack in the Wall (wo-ll). Wo is never used in a word; only used as a particle to indicate a word is an object of the sentence.
(wi ゐ)
(we ゑ)

ん n – looks like an elongated n.

ア a – looks like an Axe
イ i – looks like i-sel / easel
ウ u – looks like an angular-connected version of hiragana u う (like a beret hat – bu-ret?) U+” = Vu
エ e – elevator doors
オ o – opera singer

カ ka – looks like hiragana ka か but more angular
キ ki – looks like hiragana ki き without bottom bit
ク ku – kuku’s tail (cookoo bird tail)
ケ ke – like a sideways K (it can be seen as a T but if you think “I don’t recognise this T.. what T sound is this?” think – ahh it must be ke!)
コ ko – korner / corner

サ sa – saddle
シ shi – SInking SHIp smiley
ス su – su-kiing figure (like a figure skiing)  like a gimmel
セ se – looks like hiragana se せ (eg sensei)
ソ so – smiley with one eye (looks like n [ン], but “so” [ソ] is “s”limmer. It also looks like a SOftserve ice cream and “n” does not.

タ ta – person holding a tablet
チ chi – chicken that looks nothing like a chicken – chi looks like an energetic (chi-filled) man with spread out arms and looking upwards, running. [similar to ki キ.. if it's not ki, it's chi チ - Chi looks more like it's in the T series coz if its T-shape]
ツ tsu – smiley – like a smiling Tsu-na (tuna) face – looks like “shi” but if you trace the lines into curves, it shows the hiragana hint for which is which: つ or し
テ Te – telephone pole
ト To – totem pole side

ナ na – na-if (knife) or sword with cross at top
ニ ni – like 2 lines ni = 2
ヌ nu – like nu / noo / noose
ネ ne – nest
ノ no – no sign crossing out

ハ ha – ha-us – house
ヒ hi – heel (like a small t – a small tea is what women in heels drink)
フ hu or fu – tip of a foot “foo” – looks like a u on its side
ヘ he – looks like hiragana he へ
ホ ho – holy cross, shining

マ ma – mantaray wing
ミ mi – middle – 3 lines with a middle one
ム mu – mu-se – moose antlers
メ me – me-il – mail letter
モ mo – looks like hiragana mo も

ラ ra – rack or ra-cking chair
リ ri – looks like hiragana ri (not the print one: り but the other, handwritten one: ㇼ )
ル ru – looks like a ru-t root of a tree
レ re – Re-zor blade Edge / razor, or Edge of  Rectangle
ロ ro – robot mouth square

ヤ ya – looks like hiragana ya や only more angular
ユ yu – looks like a U-boat’s periscope (or like a bet) – or like a sideways U
ヨ yo – looks like a backwards E – if you have an Egg, it contains a YOke. E for egg YOlk.

ワ Wa – like a Wain / wine glass
ヲ Wo – like wain glass but with extra line – like a world trophy or olympic torch
(ヰ wi)
(ヱ we)

ン n – smiley with one eye – or like space craft ENtering the earth’s atmosphere. Looks similar to “so” (but “so” is Slimmer)

Rewards are always nice. It’s great to get a monetary reward in exchange for doing a job, or to experience someone rewarding you with a compliment when you do a good deed, or do something well.
It’s also fun to consume rewards that uplift and make us feel good, be it a chocolate treat, or indulging in watching your favourite tv show, movie or youtube video that feels feel-good while you’re watching it and feeds the reward centres of your brain. All of these rewards are external stimuli that feel good. Fleetingly and conditionally, but they do feel good.

But with external rewards such as these comes the other side: if you don’t get the reward, the external validation, the external appreciation, the positive vibes of the thing you’re consuming – then you don’t feel good. You miss it. It’s also quite addicting – you want MORE of that external thing that makes you feel good, because without it, you’re left with this empty feeling; a nothingness that doesn’t feel good, that you don’t know how to fill.

So external reward feels good when you get it (while you’re consuming the reward), but when it’s not there, you’re always left back in square 1. The question is, can square one feel more fulfilled and a happier place even when all the external rewards are not there to fill the void?

Could there be a way to feel good, in a deeper way than from getting rewards like a chocolate or watching a youtube video or winning a competition?
Could there be a different kind of reward that’s deeper, more sustainable and less reliant on external things.. a reward that comes more from within?

Abraham quotes on this:
“It is more rewarding in the moment to radiate the pure essence of who you are than to stand in the void of it and try to suck it from every place.”
“When you came here you intended to create a pure passageway to let that pure essence flow in.”
“You can gather stuff to try and fill that void but there is never any satisfaction from it.”

Maybe you don’t need to choose between either external or internal – mabe it’s ok to consume external rewards, as long as it’s balanced and not the only way you rech for feeling good. There has to be that internal sense of self-satisfaction there as a foundation too to keep you balanced and feeling good in a more stable, sustainable way.

How do you reach that internal sense of self-satisfaction?

• Make friends with the “empty void”: (/ with the present moment)
  - practicing presence without judgement: allowing yourself to “just be” with that stillness; that nothingness; that void, without judgement and seeing that it’s not so bad – or in time, maybe finding somethign to like and appreciate about that quiet stillness. Find the peace and calm that is there rather than resisting it or criticizing it for being too still or boring. Find the good in it. I think that’s what Eckhart Tolle might say.
• Make friends with yourself:
• Be Nice to yourself: This includes getting good sleep, playing more, allowing yourself to be playful, treating yourself well, looking for positive aspects, reaching for better-feeling thoughts, soothing yourself
• reach for better-feeling thoughts until you get into a higher vibration which is the receptive mode from where you are more in tune with Source and with Source’s knowing of all that is feel-good and self-satisfying.
• - practice tuning into self-love, self-appreciation. You don’t need the external validation that you are of value or worthy of being loved – practice knowing that you are worthy. How do you practice this?  appreciating things in yourself often, (your talents, your good points & qualities) and reinforcing/ strengthening that – eg via list of positive aspects
• - allowing yourself to express yourself and create stuff, and then appreciate the things you’ve made without judgement – just practice appreciating the things you make.
• Make space to hear Source:
  - stop talking about the negative stuff so that you can listen to your source and hear the positivity it has to share – you gotta stop broadcasting so that you can receive
  - practice getting into the receptive mode (meditation etc) to help you receive inspired inspiration for things to do that come from a deeper place than “just wanting a reward”
• - Reach for rewards that aren’t external – like the reward of enjoying to learn something new, the reward of exploring something new, the reward of understanding something in a new way, the reward of feeling like you’re adding to the expansion of the world & to source (regardless of whether results are positive or negative – it all leads to expansion)

“Creative living… [is] living a life that is driven more strongly by curiosity than by fear.”

For example, a 40 year old woman remembered loving figure skating as a teenager and despite enjoying it, she’d abandoned it because at the time she was told she wasn’t good enough to be truly great at it (and why bother if you can’t be the best at it?), so she focused her efforts elsewhere.

Now, as a middle aged woman, she was listless, restless and did some soul-searching for ways to reconnect with joy. She remembered that the last time she really connected with that joy was when she doing figure skating as a youth, and was curious to see if she still loved it.

Part of her had fear: she was self-conscious of being a middle aged woman on the ice again.

But a bigger part of her was curious.

She was driven more strongly by her curiosity than by her fear. And the result? She reconnected with something that gives her great joy to this day.

“She discovered that skating is still the best way for her to unfold a certain beauty and transcendence within her life that she cannot seem to access in any other manner. And she would like to spend as much time as possibl ein such a state of transcendence while she is still here on earth.
That’s all.
That’s what I call creative living.”

- – -

What are you curious about?

Examples:
- Curious to see if you’ll enjoy a certain hobby you’ve always wanted to try eg learning to play the harp
- Curious to see if you’ll be a natural, naturally good at a certain skill eg dancing
- Curious to see if you can learn a certain skill to a certain level and achieve certain results eg learning to take beautiful photography
- Curious to see if you can do something you want to do, eg write that book / screenplay – climb that mountain
- Curious to really, really experience BIG LOVE
- Curious to see if you can find that feel-good, loving relationship you dream of
- Curious to see if you can find like-minded people to you in the world
- Curious to see different places, countries, famous sites & sights etc in the world
- Curious to taste different specific foods you’ve heard about or are wondering about
- Curious to experience certain experiences

• Curiosity
• joy of learning about new things = joy of expansion & growth, and the joy & satisfcation of approaching Mastery (=intrinsic motivation?)
  Examples:
  - Richard Branson says: “These days, one of my goals is to keep challenging myself. I see life as one long university education, in place of the one I never had — every day I learn something new.”
  - I found this passage about Bill Gates: “Growing up Bill Gates was genuinely interested in mucking around with technology. [...] So initially, at least, the technology itself motivated him.”
  
• joy of exploring new things = joy of expansion & growth (=intrinsic motivation?)
  This could be exploring physical places and having physical experiences, or exploring ideas in the mental realm.
  Examples: Richard Branson says: “I thrive on new challenges. I’m always excited about offering innovative solutions to common problems, even when it means that we’ll be breaking into new industries.”
• joy of understanding things in a new way – aha moments = joy of expansion & growth (=intrinsic motivation?)
• satisfaction of meeting a set goal that you believe in, and seeing positive results from your efforts.  (=extrinsic motivation?)
  Warren Buffett sums up the satisfaction you can get from goals well when he advises: “Don’t just go for safe projects, take on the really tough problems.” Because solving big problems is a lot more satisfying than solving sure-thing safe little ones!
  Wealth, success (in a chosen field or project), fame, fulfilling parental goal-oriented dreams or your own goal-oriented dreams are all such goals.
  Why is this satisfying? Because you prove to yourself you can do stuff; you prove to yourself just how amazing you are and that feels good.
  Examples of goals could be:
  - A goal to do something to a level that makes you proud: Richard Branson says the best motivator is to be building a business you’re proud of. He says. “This has always been a motivator for me, from my Student magazine days, through to our latest start-ups today.”
  - Steve Jobs said: ” the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. ”
  - Bill Gates had a goal of putting a computer in every home on every desk.
  - Goals that are inspired by seeing what other people around you have achieved.
  Richard Branson says that by meeting other successful people it helps motivate him to do more. He said: “They accomplished so much in their respective fields that spending time with them made me think about what I might do in mine. Afterward, I was more motivated than ever to do the best possible job in my own business.”
• satisfaction in receiving praise, admiration & appreciation (=extrinsic motivation)
  Why is this satisfying? Because you it helps you connect with the truth of how great you truly are and that feels good.
  
• satisfaction in feeling you have something of value to give (advice, ideas, something uniquely yours creatively, etc)
  Why is this satisfying? Because you it helps you connect with the truth of how great you truly are and that feels good.
• satisfaction of feeling that you are doing something meaningful by taking part in Meaningful Activities.
  This often involves being part of a larger story, in the service for the greater good.
  Why is this satisfying? Because you it helps you connect with the truth of how great and powerful you truly are and that feels good.
  Examples:
  - Richard Branson says he is motivated by wanting to try “to take full advantage of my days and make the world a better place for our generation and generations to come, and that gives me more energy…. I’m deeply committed to initiatives that tackle global issues – from climate change, to the failed war on drugs, to abolishing the death penalty.”
  - Elon Musk also is motivated by making the world a better place. He says: “I’m just trying to think about the future, and not be sad.”
  - Mark Zuckerberg has said that for him facebook is meaningful becuase “For me and my colleagues, the most important thing is that we create an open information flow for people. ”
  - Bill Gates does a lot of philanthropy work these days because he believes this is meaningful. He says: “Our foundation is teaming up with partners around the world to take on some tough challenges: extreme poverty and poor health in developing countries, and the failures of America’s education system. We focus on only a few issues because we think that’s the best way to have great impact, and we focus on these issues in particular because we think they are the biggest barriers that prevent people from making the most of their lives.” He does his work because he believes “we can help every person get the chance to live a healthy, productive life.”
  - Many wealthy people who no longer have to be motivated by things like making money, do a lot of philanthropy work because they believe it is meaningful.
  

References:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/martinzwilling/2015/08/27/6-top-motivations-that-drive-the-best-entrepreneurs/#668dddfa26ff

So, here’s my idea:

- – -

Primary / Elementary school: (up to age 11)

These will remain more or less the same as today, teaching things like:
- English (reading, writing)
- Mathematics
- A little bit of history, geography, art, music, PE, dance, science, religious education, possibly another language etc

My one suggestion for primary school education is maybe to also add something like “awareness studies” in which you can learn things like:

• body language (to raise more awareness of others, to recognise friends’ feelings even when left unsaid)

• thought exercises to develop sensitivity towards others (eg A situation is described in a story, and then the students have to guess how the child in the story would feel, or they have to explain why a child in a story reacted or behaved as they did in response to a certain situation. Perhaps they can have exercises like: “if you see or hear a child say something silly or hurtful, how would you react? what is the best thing to do?”)
• appreciation (exercises in which children are encouraged to tell one another what they appreciate about one another, to build self-esteem and encourage positive feelings and love between classmates.)
• good deeds – there could be regular field trips to do good deeds like volunteer work, cleaning up an area, thinking up and running fund-raisers to raise  money for causes, painting a mural to brighten up a run-down area, helping out in soup kitchens and meals on wheels, helping out at old age homes, helping out at community centres, growing veggies in the school garden for school dinners, helping the workers in the school kitchens, helping the janitor keep the school clean and tidy etc.
• “how do you feel about X” conversations, where children are encouraged to think about different issues and share with the class how they feel about them. This is a chance to explore critical thinking, and to learn to listen to others’ in loveing harmony, whether they agree or disagree with their classmates.

- – -

Secondary school (age 12+)

This is where my hypothetical education system departs dramatically from the one that’s currently in existence.

I propose that instead of classes being split up by age groups, classes are split up simply by subject.

Every subject can be studied to different levels and, for example:
Level X may be the equivalent of GCSE level
Level Y may be the equivalent of A-level

When you first enter the school at age 12, in your first term, you choose 8 subjects that you wish to learn, and you can choose any 8, even if they’re all arty subjects – everything is allowed. The range of subjects on offer will be huge, from the traditional subjects to more specialized subjects like law, politics, business, accounting, psychology, photography, fashion design, interior design, electronics, woodwork, gardening, plumbing, car repair, learning individual musical instruments, orchestra / band, cooking / baking etc. And perhaps not all the courses are taught on the premises with in-house teachers, because that would require a huge staff.. Maybe the school could work together on a term-by-term basis with colleges and universities that teach these subjects already.

Each subject is divided into levels, where “level 1″, “level 2″ etc are set so that any teacher teaching “level 2″ or “level 3″ will know exactly what a child would have already covered in prior levels.

When you first start learning a subject you take the “Level 1 Course” in the subject.

In the second term, you have a choice to continue onto “level 2″ in the courses you’ve already started, or you can drop a subject if you didn’t like it, and pick a replacement course instead, and start that replacement course at “level 1″. You’ll always have level 1 under your belt so that should you change your mind in coming years and want to come back to a subject that you’d previously dropped, you could always carry on with a subject, carrying it on at the next level up.

This method is used from ages 12-18.

This means, that sometimes you can have a 15 year old starting out on level 1 accounting class, alongside a 12-year old who’s doing level 1 accounting. You can start a new level 1 at any time, at any age. (Even in adult colleges for adults)

With this method, you allow the child to naturally explore different subjects according to their inborn interests, and you’ll find that they naturally will want to progress to high levels (GCSE and A-level standard) in the subjects they enjoy and resonate with the most.

I once observed a child sitting in a math class, humming to himself and drumming on the table whilst staring out the window, disrupting the class because he was bored and would have been much happier in a music class, developing his true passion. By allowing children to choose their subjects, it helps eliminate disruptive behaviour from children who don’t want to be there, because literally everyone there chose to be there and can choose to drop out at any time if they wish.

In addition, the side-by-side studying with older or younger peers helps encourage a community where younger children don’t feel intimated by their elders but rather learn to see them as their equals, and older children can learn to respect their younger peers when they realise just how smart and easy to work with they can be. When you leave school, you will be interacting with people of all ages anyway, so might as well get used to it in school.

To allow for same-age-friendships, perhaps there can be one class a day reserved for all children of one age group, and this class may be similar to the “awareness classes” taught in primary school, but taught to a higher level, appropriate for each new, increasingly mature age group.

Should there be any compulsary lessons?

Beyond learning how to read and write, and do basic mathematics that would be necessary for everyday life,  perhaps the only subjects I’d consider as being compulsary, or highly advised, may be:

• Health studies: How to look after your personal health, how to recognise certain conditions and what natural remedies could you use to help yourself and others (eg vitamin C and zinc when immunity is down or for healing skin and wounds, magnesium supplements if you get twitchy muscles or a twitchy eye, lavender essental oil for healing burns, peppermint essential oil for nausea etc). How to recognise and treat simple things like a sprain or a strain. How to maintain healthy eye habits, and healthy posture – and why this is important. Healthy breathing (deep not shallow). These classes may include first aid training too. Perhaps at older ages some lessons can teach about the oral contraceptive pill and possible alternatives to it since it’s not the healthiest thing to take (it messes up your hormones).
• Nutrition studies: eg teaching exactly what effect certain foods have on your body eg sugar, saturated fat, processed foods, vs vitamin and mineral-rich foods. Also how to read food labels and to know what constituents to avoid and which to consume. Perhaps nutrition studies could go hand in hand with teaching healthy cooking classes as a compulsary thing since it’s such an essential life skill.
• How to read labels on bodycare products (soaps, shampoos, lotions etc), to know which constituents are bad for you and which are good for you.
• Basic self-defense as part of PE classes
• Basic domestic skills like sewing buttons, sewing up rips / tears or taking up a hem. How to iron clothes properly, how to clean shoes and how to best work a washing machine or dishwasher. What to do if you get a stain on your clothes etc.
• Some kind of fun exercise together for fitness and to get the circulation flowing, like the Chinese practice of morning exercise routine, with synchronised group movements done to music.
• In the final year or two of school, perhaps there can be compulsary classes on how to do taxes, how a bank account works, how pensions work, what’s the best way to keep your money safe – what are your options, how buying a house works, how credit cards work, what are travel visas, and other important life skills.