For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

We have some fabulous reading this week including a dose of reality for the cavepeople in the room, some scary news about the effect of pollution on birth defects, and a TV commercial that makes me want to ride my bike to France.

Want to see all my favorite links? Be sure to follow me on on Digg. I also share links on Twitter (@summertomato), Google+ and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• The Five Failings of Paleo <<As many of you know I agree with a lot of the paleo diet tenets, but have been known to criticize it as well. This post sums up my objections brilliantly. (Free The Animal)
• Hitting the Road to Get to Work, and Back <<I love this. I’m a huge fan of the active commute. (New York Times)
• FDA Asleep on the Job? New Study Has Harsh Criticism for How Agency Determined that Gulf Seafood was Safe <<From the new report: “53% of Gulf shrimp samples were above levels of concern for pregnant women.” Nice one FDA, you are now the proud distributor of today’s BS of the week. (On Earth)
• Pollutants Linked to 450 Percent Increase in Risk of Birth Defects in Rural China <<One reason to consider going organic during pregnancy, 450% is a big number. Scary stuff. (ScienceDaily)
• IOM releases tough report on front-of-package labeling <<Excellent analysis of the new food packaging label debate. I hope this gets implemented, though I doubt it will. (Food Politics)
• Is MSG Safe? (Part 1 of 2) <<People ask me about MSG sometimes, and this is promising to be a good analysis. Note: I didn’t link to the full article because it has an annoying auto-play feature. You might want to turn down your volume before clicking over. (Nutrition Over Easy)
• Hold the fries! Men who eat junk food are more likely to be infertile <<Want to test it out? (Daily Mail)
• Omega-3 Fatty Acids Shown to Prevent or Slow Progression of Osteoarthritis <<More good news for fish eaters. (ScienceDaily)
• Pulled Pork & Roasted Tomato Donburi (Rice Bowl) à la Ivan Ramen <<I’m infatuated with Japanese food right now, and can’t wait for my trip to Tokyo in April. Thanks for the preview Fuji Mama!
• Exercise can’t always be this much fun, but it can be enjoyable <<Why doesn’t America have commercials this cool?! (note: hide your kids, hide your wife) Also, the article I link to above makes some good points about exercise. (via Los Angeles Times)

What inspired you this week?

For The Love of Food

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

This week, the science behind why different diets work for different people, how the nutritional value of our produce is declining and why Coca-Cola is being sued for breaking the Jelly Bean rule. Also, new research about the role of personal relationships in health and another benefit of drinking alcohol.

Oh, and the BS of the week was so bad I deleted it. Didn’t want to waste your time when there were so many good things to read.

I read many more wonderful articles than I post here each week. If you’d like to see more or just don’t want to wait until Friday, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@summertomato) or the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. For a complete reading list join me on the new Digg or StumbleUpon. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• Why Fad Diets Work Well for Some, but Not Others <<I don’t think it is an accident that there are so many differing opinions on what is the best choice of diet. Data continues to accumulate that an interaction between our genetics and the food we eat explains why we must each find our own healthstyle. (ScienceDaily)
• Nutritional value of fruits, veggies is dwindling <<New data suggests industrial agriculture methods are killing the taste nutritional value of our food. (MSN)
• Lawsuit Over Deceptive Vitaminwater Claims to Proceed <<I’m happy as a clam over this one. There is a law (the “Jelly Bean” rule) that says you can’t put vitamins in candy and call it healthy. That means you, Coca-Cola. Haha! (CSPI)
• A New Risk Factor: Your Social Life <<Investing in meaningful relationships with others has been shown to be as important as diet, exercise and not smoking for long term health in a recent review study. This is not the first time joy and happiness have been implicated as a critical components of good health. (New York Times)
• Could Drinking Help Thwart Rheumatoid Arthritis? <<Looks like I left one thing off my list of alcohol’s benefits this week. (Medline)
• What We Know, and Don’t, About Children and Junk Food <<This was much more fascinating than I expected. A good read. (Freakonomics NYTimes)
• What Do You Lack? Probably Vitamin D <<Good overview of what you should know about vitamin D. (New York Times)
• Calcium supplements increase the risk of heart disease in the elderly, study says <<Not only do calcium supplements not help with osteoporosis, there are now several problems associated taking them including heart disease and prostate cancer. (Los Angeles Times)
• Heart risk factors less common in fish lovers <<Not too surprising, but good to know. (Medline)
• Eggplant Caviar <<I’ve always wanted a good recipe for eggplant caviar. David Lebovitz to the rescue!

What inspired you this week?