For The Love of Food

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

I haven’t published a link love round up since before the holidays (I’ve been traveling and then moving, and still don’t have internet at my new home), so I included some great ones here that you might have missed over the past couple weeks. Below I’ve included some wonderful pieces on weight loss and willpower in the Times, a lamesauce ruling by the FDA on antibiotics use in factory farms and a thoughtful editorial on the state of organic farming.

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 Fat Trap <<I love this piece by NYTimes health writer Tara Parker-Pope about the difficulties of losing weight once you’ve gained it. Excellent food for thought.
• New Year’s Resolutions Stick When Willpower is Reinforced <<Another great one from the Times, this time summarizing one of my favorite books from last year Willpower.
• Antibiotics in farm animals: FDA issues weak rule. <<Thanks to Marion Nestle for calling BS of the week on the FDA for being influenced by the beef, pork and chicken industries, allowing liberal use of antibiotics for non-disease purposes and endangering humanity. (Food Politics)
• Eating Animals <<This is an incredibly thoughtful piece reminding why all animal food industries are not evil (and some are even necessary). (The Atlantic)
• Kids prefer variety of foods and colors on their plates <<Want your kids to eat more vegetables? Choose a lot of colorful ones and arrange them to look like hearts and happy faces. Note: this will not work on your parents or husband. (Los Angeles Times)
• What’s in that OJ? Tropicana is sued <<Remember when we found out recently that supermarket orange juice isn’t really naturally flavored? Well, some folks are demanding an explanation. (Yahoo! News)
• Organic Agriculture May Be Outgrowing Its Ideals <<One of the many reasons I shop at the farmers market but don’t preach organics. (New York Times)
• How Alcohol is Metabolized <<Come on, you know you’re curious. (Nutrition Diva)
• The Truth About Ansel Keys: We’ve Got It All Wrong <<This is a brilliant piece, but it’s super intellectual and science geeky. If you read Good Calories, Bad Calories and were intrigued though, you should definitely read this. (Raw Foods SOS)
• Butternut Squash Stew <<Doesn’t this look like a wonderful winter stew? I’m so there. (Chez Us)

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.

In this week’s Top 10 I found some cool new data supporting my claim that even non-brightly colored, white fleshed fruits and vegetables have superfood potential, some sad news about the anti-aging chemical in red wine resveratrol, and a whopping two BS stories of the 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

• An Apple a Day Really May Keep the Doctor Away <<Remember when I said that our idea of brightly colored superfoods was misguided because all natural foods are super in their own way? Here’s some data suggesting that the lowly white fleshed foods have their own super powers. (Medline)
• Thirty Years After the Original, a New Study of Organic Agriculture <<The latest research suggests organic agriculture can match the output of conventional growing, and keeps the soil in better shape as well. (GOOD)
• Kids may not be drinking enough low-fat milk, the CDC reports <<BS of the week #1. First of all, the article says kids are drinking too much full-fat milk, not lacking milk in general. Second, the claim that low-fat dairy (they only count 1% as low fat) is better than higher fat dairy is not at all supported by the scientific literature. Third, they are basing all of this on the fairly lame new USDA MyPlate. Safe to say, you can ignore it. (Los Angeles Times)
• Bachmann says food industry overregulated <<BS of the week #2. I really don’t enjoy calling BS more than once. And I really really don’t enjoy politics and do my best to avoid them, especially here on Summer Tomato. But Michelle Bachmann stepped on my turf with these ridiculously pro-industry, anti-voter claims that the food industry, which has been responsible for dozens of fatal food poisoning outbreaks (lots of innocent people died because of greed and corner-cutting) in the past 2 years, is overregulated. Please. (Boston.com)
• Once the province of how-to cooking shows, food media has extended its reach—but has it become too big? <<I enjoyed this exploration of the state of the Food Movement. I agree with Ruth Reichl‘s commentary. (AdWeek)
• DR. MARION NESTLE ON THE COMPLEXITY OF FOOD ISSUES <<Marion Nestle gives her opinion of Harvard’s challenge to the USDA’s MyPlate. (Ecosalon)
• Americans eat out about 5 times a week <<But this isn’t talking about you guys, right? You guys cook at home on weekdays and bring your lunch to work… right? (UPI)
• What’s In That Wine Glass May Not Prevent Aging After All <<Interesting new data on resveratrol and sirtuins, if you’re into the molecular biology of aging (you know I am). (NPR)
• Top 5 Food-Inspired Jewelry That You Actually Want To Wear In Public <<I didn’t expect to want all of these, but I do (hint hint: birthday approaching in November!). (LA Weekly)
• roasted eggplant with tomatoes and mint <<I can’t think of anything better to eat this time of year. Can you? (smitten kitchen)

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 sad I had to leave so many great stories out this week. Below you can find an awesome explanation of why you should be chewing more, the sad truth about the most popular brands of bottled coconut water and a great hack for getting the most satisfaction out of your healthy meals.

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

• How Chewing Affects Nutrition <<Want to lose weight and fart less? Start chewing your food more. (Nutrition Diva)
• Coconut Water Is Just Sugary Water <<That is, the bottled stuff. If you want all the health benefits (not to mention WAY better taste) try a real coconut. I’ve seen them at most grocery stores. (Gawker)
• Antioxidant Spices, Like Turmeric and Cinnamon, Reduce Negative Effects of High-Fat Meal <<BS of the week. Someone please tell me how “chicken curry, Italian herb bread and a cinnamon biscuit” is a “high-fat” meal and not a “high-carb”  meal. Cheers to the spices though. (ScienceDaily)
• The French Are Getting Fatter, Too <<My favorite line from this piece, “Dr. Jean Marc Catheline, an obesity specialist, says the French obsession with food is exactly what has protected them against obesity.” (NPR)
• Did you hear the one about kids who eat candy being thinner? <<I was skeptical about this study too. Thanks to Yoni for debunking the debunking. (Weighty Matters)
• Feel Full Faster by Pretending the Food You’re Eating Is Indulgent <<This goes to show how much your own perception can influence what and how much you eat. This is why it’s so important to find healthy foods that you love. (Lifehacker)
• Baby’s Palate And Food Memories Shaped Before Birth <<Really cool experiment demonstrating that a mom’s food choices during pregnancy influence baby’s preferences. (NPR)
• Not your grandma’s strawberries <<Depressing data that our lovely industrial fruits and vegetables aren’t as healthy as they used to be. (Grist)
• Organic Poultry Farms Have Fewer Drug-Resistant Bacteria, Study Finds <<This isn’t too surprising, but the magnitude of the differences is remarkable. (NPR)
• Grilled Swordfish Bruschetta with Thai Basil Cherry Tomato Salad – The End of a Great Recipe <<This video recipe looks awesome and easy. Yes, swordfish has more mercury than most fish, but if you aren’t pregnant or a young child you can eat it safely every now and then. (Food Wishes)

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 is probably the best week of the year so far for food and health writing. Taubes’ provocative piece on sugar and its possible role in cancer is a must read. Also check out the latest consensus on saturated fat, the power of exercise, and the lovely ingredient found in processed ice creams.

Want to see all my favorite links? Be sure to follow me on on Digg. I also share links at 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

• Is Sugar Toxic <<This is the first I’ve seen Gary Taubes emphasize the unique danger of sugar (particularly fructose) over other carbs. Does sugar cause cancer? We aren’t sure yet, but it is time to start having this discussion. (New York Times)
• A consensus paper on dietary fats and cardiovascular disease <<It seems all the most important nutrition scientists got together to discuss the real data on saturated fat. So far? Not guilty. Processed meats though? Not so good. (Nutritional Blogma)
• Vegetarians May Be at Lower Risk of Heart Disease, Diabetes and Stroke <<BS of the week. The only reason I’m mentioning this weak paper is because it made so many headlines. I just want to point out that in the first Adventist Study (this is the 2nd) when they compared vegetarians to healthy omnivores (as opposed to people on the standard American diet, which we already know kills people) there was no difference. Here they didn’t bother to be so rigorous. (ScienceDaily)
• Obstacles Seen in Poor Areas for New Farmers’ Markets <<BS of the week part deux. This just makes me sad. The regions that need farmers markets the most are getting nothing but red tape. (New York Times)
• Diet Plus Exercise Is More Effective for Weight Loss Than Either Method Alone <<We already know diet is much more effective than exercise for weight loss (this confirms it), but when used together it seems to be a powerful combo. (ScienceDaily)
• Eating more carbs at dinner may help with weight loss and cholesterol levels, a study finds <<Not sure why this headline doesn’t mention that the participants also ate more protein at breakfast. (Los Angeles Times)
• Changing Trends in Hip Fracture Incidence Around the World <<Since we talked about dairy and osteoporosis this week, here are the latest trends worldwide. (ScienceDaily)
• Organic label makes foods seem tastier, more healthful <<Food companies use this to sell more (organic) junk food, but you can use it to justify shopping at the farmers market. (Los Angeles Times)
• Lessons of guacamole <<One of my all time favorite seasonal dishes. Great tips here by Michael Ruhlman.
• Jamie Oliver: There’s Beaver Anal Gland in Ice Cream <<Look what Jamie Oliver told David Letterman. Yummy right? (Eater)

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 I found an exceptional number of articles supporting the value of minimally processed foods (shhh, even the one that tried to argue the opposite). Also some useful tips on juicing and weight lifting (not together, of course).

I’m also happy to tell you that the print buttons are working again

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

• Choose foods, not nutrients <<Awesome message here. This is the essence of what I was getting at in my superfoods article this week. Foods are what bring health, not single nutrients. (Los Angeles Times)
• First Signs of Puberty Seen in Younger Girls <<This may not affect you directly, but scientists suspect obesity and environmental chemical exposure as the culprits. Canary in a coal mine for the need to buy organic produce? (New York Times)
• In Praise of Fast Food <<I really didn’t want to make this my BS of the week, but unfortunately it is. Instead of explaining that we have in fact evolved to eat grains (a point where the paleo folks and I disagree), she argues that slow foodies are Luddites. That’s right, this scientist blogger supposedly hates technology. The author misses the point of slow food entirely, making this 5 page article not even worth arguing against. (UTNE Reader)
• Why you should buy heirloom varieties <<In case you need further explanation of why the above article is idiotic. As Homer Simpson would say, “Hello!! Taste?!” (Food Blogga)
• What To Do If Your Study Contradicts Conventional Wisdom <<Cool study looking at how both high and low fat diets are healthy so long as they aren’t processed. (Nutrition and Physical Regeneration)
• Building Muscle Doesn’t Require Lifting Heavy Weights, Study Shows <<Love me some good  mythbusting. Workout until fatigue and you’re good. (ScienceDaily)
• What am I missing by juicing my vegetables? <<I get a lot of questions about juicing. I’m not a fan, but if you are this is some useful info. (Nutrition Data)
• Do your civic duty: Eat this fish! <<There are too many lion fish, please eat some. (MSNBC)
• The fatter we get, the less we seem to notice <<Shall we call this reverse anorexia? It’s a serious problem, and far more common. (Obesity Panacea)
• Green Bean Salad <<Beautiful, seasonal, simple recipe. And lovely photography. (Chez Us)

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.

This week I learned that sugar has yet another dirty trick up its sleeve, E. coli can as easily be in industrial lettuce as in industrial meat (ok, I already knew that) and calorie restriction may strengthen your immune system. I also found a handy short video of Dr. Weil explaining the benefits of the 2010 Dirty Dozen produce list.

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

• Nutrition: Added Sugars Appear to Affect Cholesterol <<Not only is sugar implicated in diabetes and cancer, it also contributes to heart disease by lowering protective HDL cholesterol. That’s bad. (New York Times)
• Freshway Foods linked to E. coli O145 Lettuce Outbreak <<Industrial food is hazardous to your health. Even the industrial vegetables. (Marler Blog)
• The next best thing: Does Jay Scott hold the future of decent store-bought tomatoes in his hands? <<BS of the week. Slightly less gag-worthy store bought tomatoes. Woohoo? (Washington Post)
• 7 Reasons Your Fat Loss Diet Isn’t Working <<Though I do not advocate dieting, I think losing fat through healthy eating and exercise is wonderful. If you’ve changed your habits but still aren’t losing weight, these tips might help you find success. (JCD Fitness)
• The trick to getting kids to eat their vegetables? Give them more <<Another study suggests kids eat more vegetables if they have access to them. I think I’m noticing a trend here. (Los Angeles Times)
• Chef Colicchio: Don’t fear fine dining <<I love to be impressed and inspired by food, and top restaurants are how I get my fix. If you’re intimidated by fancy restaurants, you needn’t be. This article does a great job explaining why. (CNN)
• Restricting calories may give the immune system a boost <<Interesting finding of another benefit of calorie restriction, a stronger immune system. (Los Angeles Times)
• Beware foods with ‘organic’ label — they may be higher in calories than you think <<You didn’t really think organic food had fewer calories did you? No, I didn’t think so. (Los Angeles Times)
• Carrot Almond Salad Recipe <<Seasonal and delicious looking salad recipe from Heidi Swanson. I’m so there. (101 Cookbooks)
• Dr. Andrew Weil Dishes on EWG’s Toxic Dirty Dozen (Video) <<Dr. Weil explains the benefits of the new dirty dozen and clean 15 lists. (TreeHugger)

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?

By _Max-B

Hopefully I sold you on why it’s better to be an adventurous eater than a picky eater, but that doesn’t mean you should eat everything that’s put in front of you.

In fact, you should always question what you eat and never accept food blindly. Learning how to choose good food is one of the most important skills you need to successfully navigate the nutritional minefield we live in.

But how do you learn to be judiciously discriminating without being annoyingly picky? And how do you avoid stepping over the boundary into food snob territory?

Ultimately you need to determine your personal values and define your own healthstyle. Here I’ve outlined a few guiding principles I use to make these decisions every day.

Food Origins

The first step is developing an appreciation for where your food comes from.

Whole foods vs Processed foods

The first great divide in the modern food world is between whole foods and processed foods. Whole foods are those that have not been substantially changed by industrial processes and still look fairly similar to how they are found in nature. Processed foods are those that have been broken down by commercial methods then reassembled into “edible food-like products,” to quote Michael Pollan from In Defense of Food.

For unknown reasons the act of processing foods strips them of their magical powers (pretty scientific, eh?). We’ve learned from dozens of clinical trials on nutrient supplements that removing molecules from the context of whole foods almost always prevents them from doing their job properly.

Thus it seems that natural foods–as far as our bodies are concerned–are equal to more than the sum of their parts, and it is unlikely we will understand all the science behind this for at least several decades.

Luckily we do not need to know the mechanisms of nutrition to make healthy food choices.

The single most consistent finding in the field of nutrition is that whole foods are better for you than processed foods.

Independent food vs Industrial food

The second great divide is between independent food producers and industrial farming and agriculture. A huge misconception among eaters is that all produce and farm products are created equal. But anyone who has shopped at a farmers market knows this is not true for produce, meat or any other farm product.

Not only does produce grown in (or animals raised on) healthy, fertile soil taste orders of magnitude better than anything grown in depleted industrial soil, but it will also have more nutrients, be better for the environment and create a more healthy food culture.

No matter how you slice it, farm fresh food is better.

I will even  make the case that the distinction between independent and industrial food is more important than the difference between organic and conventional. While I support organics in general (especially compared to conventional industrial ag), some of my favorite farms are not certified organic, yet their growing practices far exceed certification requirements.

I know these farmers personally, and their food speaks for itself.

There is a world of difference between rejecting food for what it is and rejecting food because of its quality. My personal opinion is that any whole food that isn’t grown industrially is probably worth trying and liking.

Culinary Talent

Also important in appreciating valuable food is recognizing culinary talent.

The prospect of experiencing an artist’s work is usually enough to get me to try a food, even if it is not the healthiest thing on earth.

As I explained above I rarely find reason to eat processed foods, and that means pretty much anything made with sugar or flour. Most of the time it just isn’t worth it.

But sometimes it is.

Sometimes pastry chefs, bakers and pizza makers can transform simple ingredients into such amazing creations that you’d be foolish to turn them down. I watch my portions when I eat these foods, but generally think life is too short to miss such opportunities.

But proceed with caution. The quest for superior culinary talent is a slippery slope to food snobbery. You don’t want to be that guy who turns down birthday cake unless it is make by Elizabeth Prueitt. Nobody likes that guy.

But of course, where you draw the line is up to you.

Finding Value

For me the value of food is defined by the quality of the ingredients, the talent of the chef and the nature of the occasion.

The purpose of eating should always be to make your life better in some way: may it bring you good health, sensual pleasure or stronger personal relationships.

I think it’s best when it does all of the above.

What kind of eater are you?

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?