For The Love of Food

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

This week some interesting new data on the ideal amount of salt to eat, frightening news about BPA and canned soup, and a series of fascinating articles on how to maintain cognitive health.

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

• Study Calls Sodium Intake Guidelines Into Question <<I’ve always been skeptical of the super low sodium recommendations suggested by the USDA and other agencies. Processed food is always a major cofounder, and likely the real problem. (ScienceDaily)
• BPA Levels Spike After Eating Canned Soup: Study <<Wow, this is no small difference. I think it is time to majorly reconsider eating anything from a BPA-containing can. (Medline)
• Cigarettes may be useful for distance runners?!? (or, How to prove anything with a review article) <<This is an excellent piece about the dangers of over-interpreting correlations (e.g. all epidemiological data) in science. (Obesity Panacea)
• Low vitamin D linked to heart disease, death <<This is interesting because, for once, it shows a benefit of taking supplements to protect health. (Medline)
• Americans’ ‘ideal weight’ shifts upward <<I find this very disturbing, though not surprising. Look at photos or videos from 30 years ago and most of the people would be considered “too thin” by today’s standards. But they were much healthier. (Los Angeles Times)
• How Exercise Benefits the Brain <<Workouts are important for more than just looking great, they can also help you perform better at work or school. (New York Times)
• Non-Fried Fish Might Help Ward Off Alzheimer’s: Study <<Surprisingly low amounts of fish consumption were shown to be beneficial in preventing cognitive decline. (Medline)
• It Could Be Old Age, or It Could Be Low B12 <<Another interesting piece regarding the importance of nutrition in maintaining cognitive ability, this time vitamin B12. (New York Times)
• This is your mind on meditation: less wandering, more doing <<I’m a big advocate of mindful eating, but mindfulness can also be important in helping you focus in general. (Los Angeles Times)
• Barley Risotto <<Such a lovely, hearty winter dish. Looks delicious. (Mark Bittman)

What inspired you this week?

We had a fantastic discussion last week about salt and the importance of dietary context (aka everything else you’re eating). Thanks to everyone who participated. As always, show notes are below.

The next live event is tomorrow July 6, at 3pm PST, right here on Summer Tomato. I’ll be holding office hours, so come by and ask questions.

June 28, 2011 | Tonight on Summer Tomato Live we’re discussing salt, which ended up being a much more complex topic than I anticipated. Join us at 6:00pm PST to learn about how salt affects your health and what to do about it.

Participation is only available to subscribers of the newsletter Tomato Slice. You can sign up at any time, even during the show, and the password for participation will be emailed to you immediately.

Click here to sign up and get the password

Read this for more information on the show and newsletter

To watch live and join the discussion click the red “Join event” button, login with Twitter or your Vokle account, and enter the password when prompted.

I encourage you to call in with video questions, particularly if your question is nuanced and may involve a back and forth discussion. Please use headphones to call in however, or the feedback from the show is unbearable.

Show notes:

Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease

The effect of dietary patterns on estimated coronary heart disease risk: results from the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) trial.

Association between a DASH-like diet and mortality in adults with hypertension: findings from a population-based follow-up study.

Effect of modest salt reduction on blood pressure: a meta-analysis of randomized trials. Implications for public health.

Advice to reduce dietary salt for prevention of cardiovascular disease. (Cochrane Database)

Reduced dietary salt for prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Kidney Disease

Altered dietary salt intake for preventing and treating diabetic kidney disease.

Pivotal role of the kidney in hypertension.

Gastric (stomach) cancer – association likely tied to H. pylori infection

Review of salt consumption and stomach cancer risk: Epidemiological and biological evidence

Genetics

Genetics of hypertension. Current status.

Majority of salt (75%) comes from processed food products, especially processed grains and meats.

Salt intakes around the world: implications for public health.

Sodium food sources in the Canadian diet.

How the body uses salt is dependent on dietary context

DASH Diet

A dietary approach to prevent hypertension: a review of the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Study.

The effect of nutrition on blood pressure.

Diet, blood pressure and hypertension.

Fructose

Dietary fructose, salt absorption and hypertension in metabolic syndrome: towards a new paradigm.

Dietary fructose and hypertension.

Sugar-sweetened beverages and hypertension

Potassium/Calcium

Role of physical activity and diet in incidence of hypertension: a population-based study in Portuguese adults

The use of a commercial vegetable juice as a practical means to increase vegetable intake: a randomized controlled trial.

Iodine

Hypertension, dietary salt restriction, and iodine deficiency among adults.

Your questions

Iodine test:

You can do a skin test at home to test for severe deficiency, otherwise you must have your doctor do a test for you. Seaweed is a good natural source of iodine.

http://altmedangel.com/iodine.htm

Guide to culinary salts and recipe substitutions

Salt and osteoporosis:

Review of risk factors for osteoporosis with particular reference to a possible aetiological role of dietary salt

Bragg’s liquid aminos:

This product seems to be made with non-GMO soy beans and based on the ingredients appears harmless.

http://www.bragg.com/products/la.html

Natural beef bouillon?

I’m going to try this stuff called Better Than Bouillon. I think you can find it at Whole Foods.

How to Convince Family And Friends To Eat Healthy Food

For The Love of Food

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

Some truly fantastic articles this week including new data that farmers markets aren’t as expensive as you think, how to cut calories with a knife, and one of my favorite go-to recipes ever.

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

• New Study Compares Prices at Farmers’ Markets and Supermarkets. The Results Might Surprise You. <<Turns out when you actually do the comparison farmers markets are pretty affordable, particularly for organics. (Politics of the Plate)
• The “No Nitrites Added” Hoax <<Speaking of nutritionism, here it is at it’s worst. Just because it is natural, doesn’t make it nitrite free–if that even matters. Great investigative work by Michael Ruhlman.
• Do Cooking Shows Make You Fat? <<BS of the week. Though the article does a decent job of exploring the pros and cons, the idea that the popularization of food and cooking could be a bad thing makes me nauseated. We’d all be better served by embracing a stronger food culture. (Fox News)
• Rethinking Saturated Fat? <<I had the great pleasure of meeting Dr. Weil this week, and was struck by how thoughtfully he fields questions. Interesting to see his take on saturated fat evolve. (Dr. Weil)
• Is sodium a dietary red herring for the effects of processed foods? <<Totally agree with Yoni on this one. Interesting to see where the great salt debate finally lands. (Weighty Matters)
• How to Make Your Herbs Last Longer <<Just in time for spring! I have a lot of trouble keeping herbs fresh, so am excited to try these tricks. (Serious Eats)
• Cutting calories could be as easy as cutting up your food <<All these little behavioral tricks to cut calories can add up. Grab a knife. (Los Angeles Times)
• A Fresh Food Diet Rapidly Reduces Bisphenol-A Content Of Your Body <<Worried about BPA? Good news, it’s easy to cut your levels with a healthy diet. (TreeHugger)
• The Antidote to Fructose Fears <<Great perspective here for those of you who are now worried about fruit being dangerous because of the fructose it contains. (Nutrition Overeasy)
• Easiest Bean or Grain Salad on the Planet <<I love this because I seriously eat a variety of this several times a week, usually for lunch. Try using miso in place of the dijon mustard on occasion. (Mark Bittman)

What inspired you this week?

Photo by mateoutah

I’m all for sweet treats on special occasions, but halloween candy is a different beast.

Michael Pollan warns that we should avoid anything that our great grandmothers wouldn’t recognize as food. How would she feel about these scary ingredients?

5 Scariest Halloween Candy Ingredients You Should Avoid

1. High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

They call it “corn sugar,” I call it bad for you. There is still debate over whether HFCS is worse for you than regular sugar, but let’s not forget that regular sugar is really bad for you too, so it doesn’t really matter. HFCS is in virtually every candy and very hard to avoid.

2. Artificial colors

Food coloring (especially Blues 1 and 2, Red 3, Green 3, and Yellow 5) are associated with a handful of cancers and a bunch of other scary reactions. Many of them have been banned in various countries around the world, but they are still commonly used. A certain percentage of the population is so sensitive to Yellow no. 5 they break out in hives and have asthma attacks. Tasty huh?

3. Trans fat

Trans fat may have been banned in restaurants, but it is still in most candy bars like Snickers and Three Musketeers. There is no safe amount of trans fat in your diet and you should avoid it like the plague.

4. Sodium

To balance the nauseating sweetness of HFCS-supercharged candies, most are balanced with a hefty dose of salt. Though you can safely add salt to natural foods, the staggering amounts in processed foods are dangerous and often result in high blood pressure and stroke.

5. Carnauba wax

Though carnauba wax has not been shown to be toxic to humans it is a common ingredient in car waxes, shoe polish, cosmetics, floor polish, surfboard wax and, of course, halloween candy. Do you really want to be eating food that requires shining?

What halloween candies do you avoid?

For The Love of Food

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

Lots of great healthy eating tips this week on the interwebs. I love the news that slow eating can help you eat less. How often are we told that enjoying food more helps us lose weight? (OK, all the time here at ST, but I’m a weirdo.) There’s also an interesting article about sodium worth reading.

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

• To Cut Calories, Eat Slowly <<Best diet news ever. I’ve always been a big advocate of slow, mindful eating and culinary appreciation. A new study suggests people really do eat less when they slow down, and it is related to the release of satiety hormones. (New York Times)
• Seven Tips for Losing – and Keeping Off — Weight <<I love this post by Holly Hickman about weight loss and maintenance. She’s kept 40 lbs off for 8 years and is gorgeous! She also loves food. (Holly Hickman)
• When It Comes to Salt, No Rights or Wrongs. Yet. <<I don’t write much about sodium even though it is a popular topic in food politics these days. Why don’t I mention it? I’m not convinced by any of the data. I have yet to see a study that separates sodium consumption from processed food consumption. Personally I don’t worry about salt and have awesome blood pressure. (New York Times)
• Coca-Cola promotes more active lifestyles <<BS of the week How could you read that headline and not laugh? If you don’t get it, also check out Yoni Freedhoff’s editorial on why Coke might not be great over at Weighty Matters. (Ottawa Citizen)
• More veggies while pregnant reduces allergies in babies <<Vegetables are good for you. They really are. (Nutrition Data)
• The FDA should put an end to bogus health claims on packaged foods, experts say <<And when they say “bogus health claims” I think they mean all health claims. Since if a food is in a package, there’s probably very little that is healthy about it anyway. (Los Angeles Times)
• Navigating the maze of sugar and artificial sweeteners <<I get asked about sweeteners all the time. I don’t use any, but this is a good resource if you’re curious. (SF Gate)
• Change Your Brain, Change Your Body <<Interesting take on differences in weight loss success strategies. I think healthstyle is more complicated than this, but it is another example of how we each need to find our own path to health. (The Huffington Post)
• A Dinner Date With India and Spain (Fried chickpeas with chorizo video recipe) <<I love Mark Bittman’s The Minimalist video recipes. Doesn’t this look scrumptious?
• Baked Kale Chips <<For some reason I’ve been asked about kale chips a thousand times in the past month, so here’s an easy recipe. Who needs potato chips? (Shutterbean)

What goodies did you find online 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 was interviewed by the Bay Area Women’s Journal about my favorite healthy eating tips for the new year. Also be sure to read Dr. Steve Parker’s analysis of a new study that proves conclusively saturated fat is not associated with heart disease.

There are also great stories about the dangers of salt and snacking, and a hilarious flow chart describing exactly how to handle it if you drop your food on the floor.

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

• Keep Your Diet and Exercise on Track! <<I shared some tips on healthy eating for the new year over at the Bay Area Women’s Journal.
• Watershed Science: Saturated Fat Does Not Cause Heart Disease <<No kidding, saturated fat is not associated with heart disease. This is not one study, it is a meta-analysis of all the best studies done on the role of diet in heart health. Keep in  mind though, saturated fat has also been linked to other diseases (like cancer), so this is not a free pass. But it sure is an encouraging finding if you happen to love bacon! (Nutrition Data Blog)
• Flowchart: ‘You Dropped Food on the Floor. Do You Eat It?’ <<This is just awesome. And hilarious. And awesome. (Serious Eats)
• Snack Time Never Ends <<Interesting look at children and snacking habits. Definitely worth reading. (New York Times)
• Big Benefits Are Seen From Eating Less Salt <<By far the biggest source of salt is processed foods–food companies have to fill them with salt and sugar to cover up the nasty taste. Cut down on junk and you don’t have to worry about salting your veggies. (New York Times)
• Tableware for the Slow Food Movement: Plate Tells You When You Are Eating Too Fast <<BS of the week. I’m all about the Slow Food movement (love it, in fact). But isn’t the whole point to slow down and enjoy what you eat? I fail to see how eating off this ugly electronic plate meter helps anyone embrace Slow Food. (Tree Hugger)
• DIY Refrigerator Care Saves Money, Keeps Refrigerator Alive Longer <<Who doesn’t love a good kitchen hack? Make your fridge live longer with these tricks. (Lifehacker)
• Chanterelle Omelette with Saucisson Vaudois <<This fancy omelet looks divine. This recipe is a perfect use for the beautiful chanterelle mushrooms that are in season now. (Jenn Cuisine)

What inspired you this week?