For The Love of Food

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

Just FYI next Tuesday March 8, at 6pm PST, I’ll be participating in a live chat hosted by Monica Reinagel, the Nutrition Diva.

I’ll be joining Monica, Ben Greenfield of BenGreenfieldFitness.com, and Gloria Tsang of Healthcastle.com to discuss the pros and cons of breakfast. I’ll be broadcasting the event here at Summer Tomato. For more info check out Nutrition Over Easy.

This week around the web people are learning to love fat again, disrupted sleep cycles can mess with your metabolism and how your thoughts can influence your habits.

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 list of my favorite stories check out my links on Digg. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• Once a Villain, Coconut Oil Charms the Health Food World <<I adore coconut oil, and it’s good to see people being nice to fat again. The saturated kind even! (New York Times)
• ‘Round-the-Clock’ Lifestyle Could Disrupt Metabolism, Brain and Behavior <<Circadian rhythms are essential to feeding cycles, and can be disrupted by light exposure. Messing with these systems isn’t a good idea. (ScienceDaily)
• Rich Americans flock to fast food <<BS of the week. This isn’t talking about you guys, right? Seriously someone in this article says she’ll gladly eat poison food if it means she can continue buying $400 shoes. Oy. (CNN)
• Happiness Improves Health and Lengthens Life, Review Finds <<Science says you should chill out. Stop and smell the roses for a better, longer life. (ScienceDaily)
• Better than a BMI? New obesity scale proposed <<Wouldn’t it be nice if we stopped using standards that don’t make sense? (Medline)
• Think Like a Hater to Help Break Bad Habits and Addictions <<Habits are the foundation of your health. Luckily good ones are just as sticky as bad ones. (Lifehacker)
• Higher Vitamin D Intake Could Cut Cancer Risk <<I’m not convinced supplements are the answer, but I can’t see any way around it at this point. (Medline)
• High good cholesterol linked to long life in men <<This article was great until it says at the bottom we need a pill to fix it. Want higher HDL? Eat fat, exercise and drink a little alcohol. (Medline)
• 15 Perfect Recipes for Peas <<Woohoo! Springtime! (Saveur)
• Spicy Smoky Kale Chips <<I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t love kale chips. Easy and delicious. (White On Rice)

What inspired you this week?

Tags: B.S. of the week, BMI, circadian rhythms, coconut oil, habits, happiness, HDL, kale, peas, vitamin D

For The Love of Food

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

This week we finally have definitive proof that the Biggest Loser and Dr. Oz are pure evil. It was just a matter of time. Also, a thought provoking piece on food prices, more condemning news for diet soda and a new recipe search tool from Google.

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 list of my favorite stories check out my links on Digg. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• Is Food Too Cheap? <<If the price of food actually matched the cost of producing it, our food culture may look very different. (Huffington Post)
• The Biggest Loser destroys participants’ metabolisms. <<I understand why people like this show, I really do. But it’s bad for humanity because it destroys the bodies and minds of people who are just trying to be healthy and happy. Still skeptical? Read this. (Weighty Matters)
• Dr. Oz – so corrupted by fame he even sells himself out <<I can’t believe it, but Dr. Oz beat out Rush Limbaugh’s attack on Michelle Obama’s physique for today’s BS of the week. I haven’t trusted the man behind the curtain since he sold out millions of Amercians on RealAge (plus the dude wears scrubs on tv, isn’t that George Clooney’s job?). And guess what, he even has 2 strikes today. (Weighty Matters/The White Coat Underground)
• Drinking Diet Soda Increases Risk of Vascular Events By 61 Percent << I know, you can’t make this stuff up. (Treehugger)
• Increasing Triglyceride Levels Linked to Greater Stroke Risk <<More evidence that triglycerides, not cholesterol, are most important in heart health. (ScienceDaily)
• Google unveils new recipe search tool <<Google wants to be your go to spot for recipe search. Give it a whirl! (Google)
• Today’s Lab Rats of Obesity: Furry Couch Potatoes <<Fascinating article. Interesting points: monkeys on high fat diet didn’t start getting metabolic syndrome until high-fructose corn syrup was introduced. Also, one of the fattest monkeys was on the American Heart Association’s diet. Oops. (New York Times)
• Markedly Higher Vitamin D Intake Needed to Reduce Cancer Risk <<What I am not yet convinced of is that supplements are the answer. But for now, it seems to be all we have. (ScienceDaily)
• Chinese Fake Organic Grain Certifications…And Worse. <<This is why I never eat anything imported from China, and why I stopped drinking soy milk 2 years ago. (Treehugger)
• Vitamin-boosted black quinoa salad — Salade au quinoa noir vitaminée <<I had a similar flavor combination at my favorite restaurant last week and it was divine. I really want to try this. (La Tartine Gourmande)

What inspired you this week?

Tags: B.S., cholesterol, Google, high fructose corn syrup, quinoa, soy milk, triglycerides, vitamin D

For The Love of Food

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

Really good reading this week. I love Marion Nestle’s commentary on meat substitutes, as well a bunch of well-designed studies linking nutrition and the brain. And definitely don’t miss Time magazine calling out the crappy Twitter streams of the culinary glitterati. Ha!

Great news, the new Digg is finally open to the public. That means all of you can now see the stories I’m Digging throughout the week if you visit my profile or follow me: http://digg.com/daryapino. If you’re using the new Digg and are finding cool foodie/healthy/geeky stories, feel free to leave your username in the comments and I’ll check out what you’re up to.

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

• Do we need meat substitutes? <<Real meat is better for you than fake meat. If you’re vegetarian, there are many better options. (Food Politics)
• Drinking Water Proven To Help Weight Loss <<This was a popular story online this week. But, for the record, drinking water didn’t help young people (under 50) lose weight. (Discovery News)
• 8 Common Foods (That Are Poisonous) <<BS of the week. Media sensationalism doing what it does best. At least there’s enough humor in this one that I assume they know they’re full of it. (Houston Press)
• A short period of gluttony can have a lasting effect <<Looks like occasionally “letting yourself go” is a really bad idea. So is occasionally dieting, btw. Your body is very adaptable and can absorb an occasional slip up (especially if you exercise), but don’t make it a regular habit. (Los Angeles Times)
• Exercising Restores Sensitivity of Neurons That Make One Feel Full <<This is a really cool finding. Often overweight people have trouble re-adapting to normal eating portions if they’ve been overeating for many years, but this data suggests exercise may help restore normal appetite. Also helps you slim down and look awesome. Win! Win! (ScienceDaily)
• Vit D linked to cancer, autoimmune disease genes <<Scientists discovered that vitamin D interacts with at least 200 different genes, including those linked to cancer and MS. This is a possible mechanism by which it offers benefits, and a reminder that it is really important. (Medline)
• Twitter Streams of the Food Gods: Pretty Thin Soup <<I guess I’m not the only who noticed that the Twitter streams of food celebs totally suck. Ditto health celebs. My favorite people to follow tweet infrequently and are witty, insightful and almost always share useful and/or funny info. I try to hold myself to those standards. (Time)
• Link Between Diabetes, Alzheimer’s Disease Strengthened <<This is actually a lot cooler than it sounds. Normally studies do a poor job linking insulin resistance to Alzheimer’s because diagnosing the disease is tricky. To be 100% sure someone has AD you need to perform an autopsy and see plaques in the brain. Otherwise it could be a different kind of dementia. In this study the end measure is plaques. (Medline)
• How berries can help your brain clean house <<Antioxidants called polyphenols apparently activate microglia (the forgotten nerve cells) in the brain. Cool! (The Globe and Mail)
• FDA Approves Salmonella <<This is so right on it’s scary. And hilarious. I <3 The Onion.

What inspired you this week?

Tags: Alzheimer's disease, appetite, B.S. of the week, brain, meat, Twitter, vegetarian, vitamin D, water

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?

Tags: alcohol, arthritis, calcium, children, dietary supplements, fish, recipe, vitamin D

For The Love of Food

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

If you are certain milk is good for you, please read the Los Angeles Times article explaining why it may be time to reconsider. There’s also good news this week about the benefits of green tea, exercise, vitamin D and fish oil. I love good news!

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

• Too much milk? <<We’ve all grown up hearing milk does a body good, but it isn’t particularly true. Some people, myself included, even consider large quantities of milk to be dangerous. Here’s a fantastic analysis. (Los Angeles Times)
• Drinking green tea really might help burn off extra weight <<Interesting new data on the value of green tea in weight loss. One more thumbs up for this amazing beverage. (NutritionData)
• Hungry Girl Offers a Real Take on Diet Foods <<BS of the week. I’m sure she means well, but the Hungry Girl take on food, diet and satisfaction makes me sad for humanity. (New York Times) [Props to Pretty Green Girl for articulating what's wrong with the Hungry Girl philosophy: No Wonder She’s Hungry, Girl]
• On beans, rice, and everything you ever wanted to know about protein quality <<Really useful tutorial on the quality of protein in foods and what it means for you. (NutritionData)
• What Caffeine Actually Does to Your Brain <<Interesting and surprisingly sciencey description on the effect of your daily cup of joe on the ol’ noggin. Worth a gander for the geekier among you. (Lifehacker)
• Exercise, Vitamin D Seem to Cut Alzheimer’s Risk <<Awesome if true. (Medline)
• Scraped, not Peeled <<Cool trick for dealing with small, delicate carrots. (Mark Bittman)
• Fish Oil Supplements Linked to Lower Risk of Breast Cancer: Study <<This isn’t conclusive, but I find it interesting, slightly surprising and a bit promising. (Medline)
• A Visual Guide to Peppers <<Chili pepper season is coming up at the farmers market. Here’s a useful guide to navigating my favorite late summer food. (Epicurious)
• Baked Summer Tomatoes <<I want this soooo bad. So bad. (Fresh 365)

What inspired you this week?

Tags: Alzheimer's disease, B.S. of the week, breast cancer, caffeine, cancer, carrots, Exercise, fish oil, milk, peppers, protein, tea, vitamin D