For The Love of Food

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

Another week of thought provoking food and health articles including an excellent argument against Anthony Bourdain’s big fat mouth, why high-fat diets probably don’t cause type 2 diabetes, and a couple of unconventional ways to treat depression.

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

Links of the week

• Unsavory Culinary Elitism <<Excellent piece by Frank Bruni, author of Born Round, about why food snobbery is not productive if our mission is to help Americans eat healthier. (New York Times)
• As Farmers’ Markets Go Mainstream, Some Fear a Glut <<Interesting perspective on possible negative effects of the growing number of farmers markets. (New York Times)
• Does a High-Fat Diet Cause Type 2 Diabetes? <<You probably saw the headlines, and I offer a huge thanks to Denise Minger for doing the honors of calling the BS of the week. (Mark’s Daily Apple)
• Military suicides linked to low Omega-3 levels <<A lot of data is mounting that omega-3 fatty acids, particularly the kind found in fish, may play a role in preventing depression. (Los Angeles Times)
• Bending the Rules on Bacteria <<Fascinating analysis on the dangers of leaving stock on your stove top and whether or not it’s safe to reheat it. (New York Times)
• Exercise Can Substitute Effectively as Second ‘Medication’ for People With Depression, Study Suggests <<Just a friendly reminder that exercise not only makes you healthy and beautiful, it can also help with depression. (ScienceDaily)
• I Never Learned to Cook <<I’m a sucker for stories about people finding their way in the kitchen—probably because I didn’t do it until I was 26. (Esquire)
• 39 Ways to Eat a Tomato <<Tis the season. Thanks to Michael Ruhlman for this piece in Men’s Journal. (Ruhlman)
• Creamy Zucchini Soup <<Until Wednesday evening I wouldn’t have given zucchini soup a second glance, but it was a freezing summer night here in SF and my favorite restaurant was serving it. Boy was I blown away. This recipe looks very similar, and my only additional note would be to use very high quality stock (I would use chicken stock). (Jenn Cuisine)

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.

A lot of interesting new science this week. BPA makes male mice less attractive, diet soda may cause weight gain and diabetes, and the “good” cholesterol is more complicated that we suspected. All this and more in my top 10 food and health picks for this week.

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

Links of the week

• BPA-Exposed Male Deer Mice Are Demasculinized and Undesirable to Females, New Study Finds <<Keep an eye out for those BPA-containing cans (including soda/beer), they may decrease your manliness (and I don’t want to find out what they do to women). (ScienceDaily)
• Really? The Claim: Exercising on an Empty Stomach Burns More Fat <<Some went ahead and looked at the data and decided no, no it doesn’t. (New York Times)
• Study Comparing Local To Meat-Free Diet Is Dated and Debunked <<I’m proud of TreeHugger for stepping up and calling BS of the week on this study.
• Diet soda associated with weight gain and symptoms of pre-diabetes <<I found this so interesting I wrote about it for my story today at KQED Quest, which will be up around 10am PST. (ScienceDaily)
• ‘Good’ Cholesterol Function as Important as Its Levels <<Drugs that raise HDL cholesterol have been ineffective so far at reducing heart disease, even though high HDL is one of the best markers of heart health available. New studies about HDL function may explain why. (ScienceDaily)
• USDA’s new food safety campaign: it’s all about YOU <<You would hope that a food safety campaign would be about producing safer food. Unfortunately this one is about proper storage and overcooking your meat. (Food Politics)
• TV Food Advertising Increases Children’s Preference for Unhealthy Foods, Study Finds <<For the gazillionth time, kids are easily influenced by advertising and it makes it very difficult to parents to resist. Sigh… (ScienceDaily)
• Soluble Fiber Strikes a Blow to Belly Fat <<It is not particularly surprising that eating more vegetables and beans is good for you, but it’s nice to have some quantitative numbers to attach to it. (ScienceDaily)
• INFOGRAPHIC: Lots Of Depressing Facts About How Fat America Is <<Really worth a gander. (Business Insider)
• Cioppino: The Other San Francisco Treat <<I absolutely love cioppino, and not just because it has my name in it. It’s seriously one of the most delicious seafood dishes I’ve ever had. Why have I never tried to make it myself??? (Food Thinkers)

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.

Hard to avoid the topic of eggs and food safety these days, but the conversation is worth participating in. I also recommend Chef John’s recap of the IFBC conference (even if you don’t know what that is), and Foodiggity‘s Ketchup vs. Catsup post.

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

• The High Cost of Eggs <<Personally I am willing to pay many times what grocery store eggs cost for the better taste and safety, but apparently it only costs a penny per egg to bring industrial eggs up to a minimal safety standard. Is it worth it? (New York Times)
• What if I had a food safety magic wand? <<If you care about the safety of your food, you should read this account of what someone who thinks about it day and night would do to fix it. (Marler Blog)
• Omega-3 margarines fail to help in heart study <<For the zillionth time science show that a fake food loaded with a supposedly healthy nutrient does nothing to help in real life. Why not just eat the original healthy foods?  (The Vancouver Sun)
• Beer’s not to blame for weight gain <<Um, yes it is. BS of the week. Just because it doesn’t contain fat or cholesterol doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a ton of extra calories and maltose. It’s not as fattening as food, but it could easily be blamed for your weight gain. (Telegraph)
• Eating mix of fruits, veggies may cut lung cancer risk <<What’s cool about this study is it shows that variety, not just quantity of fresh produce protects against cancer. Yum! (CNN)
• 2010 International Food Bloggers Conference Recap: The Unbearable Lightness of Being Influential <<I didn’t go to IFBC, but this recap is both hilarious and informative. If you happened to be busy last weekend preparing for your thesis defense and missed the IFBC conference, this is a must read. (Food Wishes)
• 3 Reasons New Yorkers Live Longer <<I love this short post by Dr. Weil about how easy it is to extend your life by taking a few lessons from NYC. (Dr. Weil Blog)
• Ketchup vs. Catsup <<It confused Springfield billionaire Mr. Burns, but Foodiggity has all the answers.
• FDA reports numerous violations at egg farms <<Video and details on why it isn’t surprising that this industrial farm poisoned thousands of Americans. (CNN)
• Farro Salad with Tomatoes, Mushrooms and Basil <<It’s hard to overstate how deeply I have fallen for farro this summer. Here’s a quintessential recipe I hope you try, I’m certain you’ll love it. (David Lebovitz)

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.

I’m excited to announce this week the launch of my personal blog daryapino.com. It’s still very much a work in progress, and there’s a decent chance it may change a lot in the coming months. But since it is meant to be a more informal peek into my personal healthstyle (which I get asked about all the time (???)), I figure there’s no harm in announcing it at this point. There are a few posts up there now, including a review of Anthony Bourdain’s new book Medium Raw, to give you an idea of what to expect. Let me know what you think.

I found a ton of interesting links this week ranging from really cool scientific discoveries on the benefits of whole foods to frightening food safety issues and vegetable MRIs. I also found some proof that organic tomatoes are better for you than the tasteless kind.

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

• USDA Admits Link Between Antibiotic Use by Big Ag and Human Health <<The horrendous conditions that exist in industrial feedlots require the animals be given huge doses of antibiotics to  stay alive long enough to be profitable survive. This overuse of medicine creates superbugs, antibiotic-resistant bacteria that are becoming a serious problem in our very own hospitals. Solution seems obvious to me. (Huffington Post)
• Good cholesterol may mean little for statin users <<Interesting new data showing that statin users get no extra benefit from having high HDL “good” cholesterol. I’m a little surprised by this, and will be following this research closely. (Medline)
• Ten-Year Comparison of the Influence of Organic and Conventional Crop Management Practices on the Content of Flavonoids in Tomatoes <<Translation: Organic tomatoes are more nutritious than conventional tomatoes in a well-designed 10-year study. Why this research didn’t make the news is beyond me. But of course if a poorly designed study shows no difference in the nutrition of organic foods then it’s front page material (in science we call this a negative finding and it should require EXTRA proof). So I’m calling BS of the week on the lack of press here. (Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry)
• A rose may be a rose but perhaps a calorie’s not a calorie <<Cool study showing that whole foods use more calories during digestion than processed foods, even when the meals have the same number of total calories and are almost identical. (Weighty Matters)
• The Claim: Artificial Sweeteners Can Raise Blood Sugar <<Yes, yes they can. Artificial sweeteners have never been shown to have any value, and they also taste pretty bad. I vote for natural sweeteners with real calories. Just use them sparingly. (New York Times)
• Why Toasting Dried Chiles Matters <<Cool experiment on the flavor added by toasting dried chilies before using them. I’m totally trying this. (Serious Eats)
• Your Salad – Is the convenience worth the risk? <<This is a subject that has been bothering me a lot lately. Industrial lettuces have been getting E.coli and salmonella like crazy this year, so even vegetarians and generally conscientious eaters are at risk unless they buy produce directly from farms (which can be impossible for many people). I don’t know what to say except rinse your bagged salads well. (Marler Blog)
• WTF Should I Do with All This Summer Fruit? <<Tips on freezing fruit so you have a stash come winter. (Chow)
• Inside Insides <<One of the coolest geeky food blogs I’ve come across. They take MRIs of fresh produce!!
• Tarragon Egg Salad <<I love egg salad, and am learning to appreciate tarragon. I declare this recipe on the menu! (Simply Recipes)

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.

Thanks to all of you who humored me participated in last weekend’s completely childish melon caption contest!

The awesome commentor of the week award goes to Foodie Adventures!, because it really would take a jumbo melon to hit a head that big!

"Who wants to throw JUMBO produce at Kanye West?"

As usual there were a ton of great articles this week around the web. I can’t say enough good things about what Monica Reinagel is doing over at her Nutrition Data blog and podcast. Luckily I also learned this week that health podcasts can help you lose weight!

Check the links below to find some great ideas on how to preserve summer herbs, what to do with fresh shelling beans and some tricks to keeping your brain sharp.

Oh, and did you hear that a new study found organic produce is actually more nutritious? Share your thoughts in the comments.

I also encourage all of you to sign this petition against the Smart Choices food labeling program, which has been widely criticized as a slap in the face to both consumers and health experts. It’s easy and I had no trouble unsubscribing to their mailings after I got the first one.

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 complete reading lists join me on the social bookmarking sites StumbleUpon and Delicious. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you there. (Note: If you want a follow back on Twitter introduce yourself with an @ message).

I also invite you to submit your own best food and health articles for next week’s For The Love of Food, just drop me an email using the contact form. I am also accepting guest posts at Summer Tomato for any awesome healthstyle tips and recipes you’d like to share.

This post is an open thread. Share your thoughts, writing (links welcome!) and delicious healthy meals of the week in the comments below.

For The Love of Food

• Are you an American? Then you’re probably not at low risk of heart disease <<Can you believe less than 8% of the US population qualifies as having “low risk” for heart disease? I’m sure glad I’m one of them, and I hope you are too! (Los Angeles Times)
• Genetics of obesity: Why we’re never going to find one diet that’s right for everyone <<It is getting harder and harder for me to choose which Nutrition Data blog posts to link to because they are all so amazingly good. You may as well just subscribe.
• Put in those ear buds and watch the scale numbers go down <<I’m not surprised at all by this news that listening to health podcasts can help people lose weight. I’ll be posting a list of my favorites soon. Please send me your suggestions!! (Los Angeles Times)
• 10 Easy Ways To Preserve Herbs <<With winter around the corner, you may want to plan ahead and start preserving all the wonderful summer herbs we can get these days at the farmers market. (Tipnut)
• Should You Trust an iPhone App That Says to Skip Buying Organic? <<Let’s just say that if you think you need an iPhone app‘s help, don’t bother with any of it because you have totally missed the point. (Tree Hugger)
• Organic is Healthier and More Nutritious <<Sure last month you heard different news about organic produce, but really this is nothing new. Food grown in better soil has more nutrients (and tastes better). Conventional food growers, however, will fight tooth and nail to convince you otherwise. (Foodmagazine)
• Fresh Shelling Bean Salad <<I have never really known what to do with the fresh shelling beans I often find at the farmers market. David Lebovitz is an inspiration with these recipes! (david lebovitz)
• Y Water is a Healthy Kid-Friendly Beverage <<B.S. of the week Have you ever seen anything so irresponsible?! (Oh wait). Putting vitamins in candy does not make it healthy! The sad part is that I was torn between this and two other obscenely horrible articles by Diets In Review. *Sigh*
• New food safety website from the USDA <<Amazingly the USDA has created a website to inform people about food safety issues. Too bad not everyone can shop at farmers markets and avoid these issues altogether. But at least we now have an official resource other than Bill Marler.
• 47 Ways to Fine Tune Your Brain <<Fun tips to keep your brain sharp! (Dumb Little Man)

What stories moved you this week?