Health
Habits
Food
Weight 
Better Than Butternut: Roasted Delicata Squash Recipe
10 Simple Ways To Eat Less Without Noticing
Juicing: Stupid and Pretentious or Nourishing and Enlightening?
10 Tasty Carbs That Won’t Make You Fat
How To Start Working Out When You Don’t Like To Exercise
Focus More on Your Brain and Less on Your Diet if You’re Serious About Losing Weight
Home Court Habits: The Secret to Effortless Weight Control
10 Reasons You Aren’t Losing Weight When You Think You’re Doing Everything Right
How To Burn More Calories Without Breaking A Sweat
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Foodists
For The Love of Food
For The Love of Food
Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.
Tough cuts were made this week. Read about why not liking foods is unnecessary, agave nectar is worse than high-fructose corn syrup and saturated fat is associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Oh, and how diets make you gain weight. The list goes on….
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
- Cilantro Haters, It’s Not Your Fault <<The title of this article is interesting since the final point is that you can overcome food aversions with the proper attitude. Not liking foods is one of the most overrated activities of mankind, and I urge everyone to learn to love foods you don’t like. (New York Times)
- This Sweetener Is Far Worse Than High Fructose Corn Syrup <<Excellent review of the problems with fructose and the delusion of agave nectar. Read this! (Huffington Post)
- By any other name, Mediterranean diet protects the brain <<Saturated fat worshipers take note, those who ate the most had a greater risk of Alzheimer’s disease–even in NYC. (Los Angeles Times)
- Low-Cal Diets May Make You Gain Weight <<Diets cause weight gain. Diets cause weight gain. I can’t stress this enough. Starving yourself thin only lasts a short while, then you gain back even more. Lifelong habits are what shape your health. Bonus: living is way more fun than dieting. (Medline)
- Apples, Oats and Your Immune System <<Some people were arguing in the comments last week that fiber is either useless or bad for you. Turns out the science says otherwise. (Dr. Weil’s Blog)
- 10 common fast food sandwiches way worse than KFC’s Double Down <<Brilliant observation by Yoni Freedhoff. Seems the Double Down isn’t actually the worst thing to ever happen to fast food. (Weighty Matters)
- Pimentón: It’s Spanish for ‘Better Than Paprika’ <<As usual, I’m weeks ahead of the NYTimes. But in all seriousness, this is a great exploration of the glories of smoked paprika.
- People get hungrier when they’re starved for sleep <<Evidence is mounting that sleep deficiency causes you to make bad decisions, especially when it comes to food. This is easy enough to avoid if you make an effort. (Medline)
- Fresh Peas & Mint- Signs of Spring & Garden changes <<This recipe is simple, elegant and the epitome of spring. It also contains some of the most beautiful food photography you will ever see. (White on Rice Couple)
- Raisinets are totally good for you <<BS of the week. Props to @geeksdreamgirl for this pic. Just look at the packaging and tell me food companies aren’t evil. You’d think this candy were a bona fide health food!
What did you find worth reading this week?
When I was 8, my mother made me eat things I didn’t like. I’m not 8 any more, so if I don’t like it, I don’t eat it.
I figure there are thousands of foods I’ve never tried, and any one of them could turn out to be my favorite. Why should I waste several meals developing a taste for something, when I could be trying brand new things instead?
Haha, I feel ya. But still I think common foods (like broccoli) are worth getting to like because they are encountered so often you may as well enjoy them. Also, learning to like an ingredient like cilantro isn’t just a single food but a universe of new dishes and cuisines. I’m working under the general hypothesis that it’s more fun to like things than dislike things.
I hadn’t thought of that, but of course you’re right. If you don’t like cilantro you’re going to have a hard time eating at Mexican restaurants.
I was thinking of salmon. The way everyone talks about it, I “should” like salmon, but I don’t. I kept trying, thinking, “Maybe they didn’t prepare it well.” Eventually I decided no, I just don’t like it.
That was kind of an epiphany for me. I’m a grown-up now. I don’t have to eat things I don’t like.
I read the cilantro piece earlier this week since I’m not a big fan. I used to totally despise it though and I’ve come to like it more and more… so I agree with them. I don’t like it as the overwhelming taste but some cilantro in a salsa for example really adds a good flavor.
The Double Down sounds gross, but my honest reaction to it’s nutrition profile was: “That’s not that bad!”
It is over-hyped and KFC is reaping the rewards.
Although I love reading your blog and get a lot of great nutrition ideas from you, I am sad that you would promote a hack like Joseph Mercola. The FDA has sent warning letters to this guy about claims he makes, and any doctor who says that cancer is a fungus that can be treated with baking soda should be stripped of his license. Surely a more respectable and actual scientific study on agave nectar would have been better.
Thanks for you input. I liked his article but don’t know much about him.
As amused as I’ve been by the folks screaming how bad 55% fructose HFCS is while chugging bottles of agave nectar composed almost entirely fructose, I must second Angela’s description of Mercola. He seems to have stumbled upon a few actual facts this time, but I would be very cautious of what he has to say generally. Some of his notions are actually pretty bad for your health.
Thanks! What would I do without you guys? xoxo