I held office hours last week to discuss the USDA’s new replacement for the food pyramid, MyPlate. I also answer several reader’s questions about food and nutrition.

To learn more about participating in future broadcasts check out Summer Tomato Live.

Go here to see previous episodes.

Questions and comments are welcome below.

I’m thrilled to announce my latest project Summer Tomato Live! Catch the first episode 1 week from today, Tuesday February 15, at 6:30pm PST.

What is Summer Tomato Live?

Summer Tomato Live is a new live online show for Summer Tomato readers. My goal this year is to give you guys more direct access to me so I can answer all your food and health questions that come up day to day.

Summer Tomato Live will be like an online classroom, where each episode I discuss a reader-selected topic and give you the chance to ask questions and get immediate answers from me in real time. Questions can be submitted live on the show as either text or video call-ins. Video calls are a great way to have a real discussion and dig deeper than a typical Q&A.

How often will you broadcast?

Summer Tomato Live will broadcast every other week beginning next Tuesday. Though the day and time will vary each episode, the show will typically be on weeknights at or after 6:30pm PST.

If you can’t make the live show but have a question you’d like answered, feel free to ask it in the comments on this post and we’ll do our best to cover it (a recording of the show will be available later on iTunes).

What will we be talking about?

I’ve had literally hundreds of people ask me what I think about The Four Hour Body, the new best-selling book by Tim Ferriss. Tim has certainly given us a lot to talk about, so the first show will be dedicated to discussing his Slow Carb Diet, as well as the other food and health advice from the book.

If you aren’t familiar with Tim’s work, here’s a brief primer on the Slow Carb Diet.

How do I participate?

The first show will be open to everyone and you can tune in here at Summer Tomato next Tuesday, February 15, at 6:30pm PST. If you can’t make it to the live broadcast, it will be available afterward as a podcast on iTunes.

Future shows will require a password for live participation. The password will be emailed to subscribers of the new Summer Tomato premium newsletter, Tomato Slice.

What is Tomato Slice?

Tomato Slice is the new premium newsletter from Summer Tomato. Subscribers will receive access to Summer Tomato Live during the broadcast where you’ll have my full attention for the duration of the show, and I’ll answer anything you’d like to know on the topic at hand. Subscribers can also submit questions in advance via email, which will get preference over non-subscriber questions.

In addition, Tomato Slice will be an email forum for education and discussion. Still have a question about our topic after the show? You’re probably not the only one. Send it in and I’ll answer it, sharing the most interesting points with the group. I will also periodically share answers to questions that I think are of value, but not broad enough to be the subject of an entire show or blog post.

Don’t worry, you will not get a zillion new emails. I will also serve as an email filter providing only the most relevant, interesting and popular questions and answers. You can expect no more than 1-2 emails per week.

I anticipate Tomato Slice will evolve over time to best suit subscribers’ needs. My goal is to give you direct access to me, and provide an additional educational tool for those of you who are dedicated to eating well and being healthy.

The subscription fee for Tomato Slice is $3.99/mo.

Sign up here

Why are you charging?

I realize people expect online content to be free, and I generally agree. That is why you will always have free access to Summer Tomato Live after it is released to iTunes a week after the live show.

But Tomato Slice is more than just web content, it is direct access to an expert who is offering her time and energy to help you with your own specific food and health questions.

I intentionally set the price point very low so it would not be a barrier to anyone interested. I spent 6 years as a graduate student (poverty) living in San Francisco (not cheap) and I could have easily budgeted $1/week for a service like this. So while the newsletter is accessible to virtually everyone it will filter for those who are serious about food and health, people who will follow the conversation and ask thoughtful questions.

Tomato Slice is also a way to support Summer Tomato. I’ve poured thousands of hours into creating and maintaining the quality content you find at Summer Tomato every week. So far it has been a labor of love (Foodbuzz ads don’t pay squat), and so I’ve been limited in how much of my time I can realistically dedicate here. But three weeks ago I quit my job so I could devote my full attention to this site, therefore another purpose of the fee is to make sure I can continue to pay my student loans (and hopefully one day afford healthcare).

Just to be clear, the podcast is free so long as you do not want to watch it live or have the ability to ask me questions in real time. Articles on Summer Tomato will continue as usual, and simple questions will still be answered for free in the Ask Me section of the site. Tomato Slice is just a bonus service for those of you who want more direct access to me and my overly-educated gray matter.

Still want to subscribe? Do it here

Bonuses

I’m happy to announce that the first episode of Summer Tomato Live is being sponsored by Foodzie and Zürsun Heirloom Beans. Foodzie will be sending free samples of Zürsun heirloom cranberry beans (dry beans) and giving you a chance to receive one of their coveted Foodzie tasting boxes for free ($20 value) for the first 150 subscribers to Tomato Slice.

Free Foodzie tasting box! That’s worth 5-months of subscription right there, plus you’ll get some of the most delicious foods on the planet. What have you got to lose?

Lastly

I’m really excited about the show, I’ve run a few tests with my Twitter followers and the feedback has been awesome. For those interested, there will be one more little sneak peak (our final software test) tonight at 7:30pm PST, right here in this blog post. I’ll be answering questions about the new show and newsletter, along with anything else you’re curious about.

Hope to see you there!

p.s. If you’re planning to call in, please have earbuds and a microphone ready (the headset that came with your iPhone is fine). Also try and use a hardwired internet connection rather than wifi.

For The Love of Food

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

There were an unusual number of thoughtful articles published this week. To start, read up on the important legislation that was passed for organic dairy production (yippie!). There is also some bad news about bagged salad greens you should be aware of, along with some valuable info on choosing a CSA if, per chance, the salad story makes you want to opt out of the industrial food chain (if it didn’t, check out the salmonella pepper article).

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).

Links of the week

• New Pasture Rules Issued for Organic Dairy Producers <<Important loopholes have been closed for organic dairy production. w00t! (New York Times)
• Bagged salads: safe or not? <<If nothing else you probably want to re-wash your pre-washed salad greens, these are some pretty gross statistics. (Food Politics)
• The bitter truth about fructose alarmism <<A well-written, thought-provoking analysis of the Lustig video on fructose I posted a few months back. This is a fair analysis and a good reminder to keep everything in perspective. (Alan Argon’s Blog)
• How to Stock a Healthy Kitchen with Chef Devin Alexander <<BS of the week. I’ve never seen so much junk food classified as healthy. Please don’t take advice from these people. (Diets In Review)
• Finding a CSA: What to Know and What to Expect <<Great tutorial on finding and picking a CSA (produce delivery through farm sponsorship). (The Bitten Word)
• Lawsuit on Behalf of California Woman Fatally Sickened by Salmonella Pepper <<I see two take home messages from this news. 1) Don’t eat industrial food if you don’t enjoy bacterial infections, 2) Hospitals are not the safest places to hang out. (Marler Blog)
• The family dinner: Are there no limits to its power? <<A thoughtful article over at Booster Shots about how nutrition science is often blown out of proportion by a general lack of understanding on how to interpret data. Worth a read. (Los Angeles Times)
• Simple Sustainable (and very delicious) Rainbow Trout – It’s Almost Too Easy [video recipe] <<The title of this recipe says it all. Who wants to eat trout with me? (Food Wishes)
• How healthy is 100% fruit juice, really? <<As usual, I agree with the Nutrition Diva’s stance on fruit juice. This is a question I get a lot, so check out her answer if you’re curious. (Nutrition Data)
• Jamie Oliver’s TED Prize wish: Teach every child about food <<Don’t miss Jamie Oliver‘s touching TED Prize wish talk.

What inspired you to eat well this week?

The China Study was published in 2006 and branded itself as “The most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted.” It is written by Colin Campbell, PhD, a highly accomplished scientist that has worked for decades in the fields of nutrition and disease research. It was co-authored by his own son, Thomas Campbell.

Clearly both these men care deeply about health and nutrition and believe the information they provide can relieve a huge proportion of the world’s suffering. Their sincerity is apparent and, given the current dietary trends in Western culture, I am sure their recommendations would help the vast majority of people become healthier. Yet there are several logical flaws in The China Study that prevent me from giving it an A grade. Overall, however, The China Study offers a compelling view of nutrition and health from one of the leaders in the field and is worth reading.

My biggest disappointment with The China Study is how little of the book is devoted to the study itself–a large ecological-style research project, conducted by Dr. Campbell and his colleagues, examining the relationship between diet and health in rural China. As a scientist, I am a bit of a data junkie and always most impressed by strong statistics and rigorous logic.

UPDATE: [Denis Minger has taken it upon herself to re-analyzed the data from The China Study, and makes it pretty clear that Campbell vastly overstates his case. I agree with everything Denise writes, and every educated person who cares about these findings should read her analysis.]

Only a single chapter in the book is specifically dedicated to the work done in China (Chapter 4), and it conveys little new information. Most of Chapter 4 is spent reiterating the links between diet and chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes, discoveries that did not surprise me in the least. The two most important novel findings reported in the China study are discussed below.

The China Study is divided into four major sections. The first section describes Dr. Campbell’s original research and is the part I enjoyed most. It begins by discussing his work in the Philippines where he discovered a tight link between animal protein consumption and a specific kind of liver cancer induced by aflatoxin, a dangerous poison that is sometimes found in contaminated peanuts. He follows up this work with extensive studies in his U.S. laboratory elucidating the mechanisms of cancer promotion by the main protein found in cow’s milk, casein. Dr. Campbell makes a compelling case that this protein can influence cancer development in the presence of an extremely potent carcinogen, and his work should be taken very seriously in this regard. However,  he goes on to argue that this finding can be generalized to support the view that all animal proteins promote cancer and he recommends they be completely eliminated from your diet.

This was a logical leap I was not able to make after reading through his evidence. What about the benefits of fish for the heart and brain?

As mentioned above, the final chapter of the first section describes the China study. According to the book, the Chinese consume much less fat and protein than Americans, but more fiber and iron. Nothing too surprising there. It also reports that rural Chinese have substantially less heart disease, cancer and diabetes than Americans, but in more urban areas where diets follow more Western patterns the incidences of these diseases are higher. Again, not surprising.

Two pieces of information out of the China study did pique my interest. The first is that participants in the China study reportedly consume more, not fewer calories than Westerners. This was true even for Chinese office workers who consume 30% more calories but weigh 20% less than average Americans.

Part of this difference was accounted for by differences in physical activity (even office workers in China get more exercise than we do), but not all of it. Data in the China study suggests that Chinese have a more active metabolism and burn more calories than typical Americans. Dr. Campbell argues that this is because they eat less animal protein and fat, but the China study is observational (non-intervention) and cannot prove cause and effect.

Isn’t it possible that the Chinese metabolize their food differently because it is less processed than Western food (no matter the source)? From the literature I have read, this seems like a more plausible explanation. But regardless of the reason, the data from China suggests that all calories are not created equal in terms of both health and metabolism. This argues against the dogma offered by most nutrition experts that a calorie is a calorie.

The other surprising finding from the China study is the degree to which blood cholesterol levels predict heart disease. Although most Americans assume there is some connection between blood cholesterol and heart disease, there is still debate regarding how strong this connection is. Data from the China study suggests lower total cholesterol levels decrease risk of heart disease and death. Moreover, the data suggests that optimal cholesterol levels are far below what are recommended by Western medicine (150 mg/dL to 180 mg/dL). The healthiest Chinese had total cholesterol levels from 170 mg/dL to as low as 90 mg/dL. In the China study, lower cholesterol levels were also linked to decreased rates of several cancers. However, some scientists question the validity of this data.

The second section of the book is titled “Diseases of Affluence” and discusses the role of nutrition in the various chronic diseases that plague Western culture. In the third section Dr. Campbell offers his ideal (i.e. vegan) diet. If you are not familiar with the literature on diet and nutrition Dr. Campbell does a decent job going over it, particularly with respect to the role of dairy in prostate cancer, type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis. However, most of this information is available in other books that are easier to follow and less dogmatic about the need to eliminate all animal protein from the diet, which even Dr. Campbell admits “has not been absolutely proven” (p. 242).

In my opinion the most incongruous part of The China Study is the fourth section titled, “Why Haven’t You Heard This Before?” Here Dr. Campbell goes into great detail explaining the ties between food industries, drug companies, our government and, sadly, our education system from K1 through post graduate medical residency. While this section of The China Study is fascinating, it dilutes the primary nutrition message of the book with a disconcerting illustration of the roles money and politics play in our education system. But despite the jumbled message, the facts provided in this final section of The China Study are eye-opening and may be the best reason to read the book. It is shocking to learn how deeply opposed to and uneducated most of the medical community is about the life-saving benefits of dietary intervention for chronic diseases. Personally I would have liked this section to be an entirely separate book, as I would recommend it more often.

To summarize, The China Study provides an interesting but not entirely compelling argument for adopting a vegan diet. It also offers a hefty dose of skepticism about who you can trust for nutrition advice, particularly when it comes to the medical community. Overall I enjoyed reading the book and, despite my criticisms, agree with most of it. I have no doubt that for the vast majority of Americans Dr. Campbell’s advice and recommendations would be immensely beneficial.

Final Grade: B

Please add your thoughts on The China Study in the comments below.