For The Love Of Food
by Darya Rose | Nov 30, 2012

For The Love of Food
Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.
This week romantic meals help you eat less, why you should buy organic meat, and how to fight holiday weight gain.
Want to see all my favorite links? Be sure to follow me on on Delicious. 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. (And yes, I took that pepper heart pic myself).
Links of the week
- CANDLELIGHT, TABLECLOTHS CAN HELP CUT FOOD INTAKE <<Want to eat less? Turn off the TV, light some candles, put on some pretty music and actually enjoy your meal. Seriously guys, you can do this. (Dr. Weil)
- 3 insidious reasons we gain weight during the holidays (and how to fight them) <<You’re likely to gain a small amount of weight over this holiday season and never lose it. Here’s some helpful tips to prevent the years from stacking up on your belly. (Weighthacker)
- Top 9 Most Important Foods to Buy Organic <<This goes beyond the popular “Dirty Dozen” lists of fruit and vegetables, and includes meat, dairy, eggs, etc. (Mark’s Daily Apple)
- Looking for antibiotic-resistant bacteria? Try raw pork <<Following up on the last article, I would add organic pork to Mark’s list. (Grist)
- The Hater’s Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog <<This is beyond hilarious. Not for those with delicate sensibilities, but if you love crude humor as much as I do you’ll be in stitches. (DeadSpin)
- How to Overhaul Your Diet <<Some really solid advice, if you’re new to the whole healthy eating thing. (Nutrition Diva)
- Telomere Lengths Predict Life Expectancy in the Wild, Research Shows <<For those interested in the science of aging, this is really fascinating. (ScienceDaily)
- A Quick and Easy Way to Estimate Portion Size <<I’m not sure how accurate this is, but it doesn’t look too far off base. It also seems super convenient. (Livestrong)
- Active Lifestyle Boosts Brain Structure and Slows Alzheimer’s Disease <<A more thorough study than most. Get that exercise, kids! (ScienceDaily)
- spinach salad with warm bacon vinaigrette <<I was just this week thinking about how tasty those warm spinach and bacon salads are, and this pops up. This is a great way to shift back to greens from the turkey and stuffing of last week. (smitten kitchen)
What inspired you this week?
I’m so glad I found your site. Great information. Will be visiting again!
Re the telomere article…
Been reading the research over the last two years, and following the work of Dr. Blackburn (http://bit.ly/TQ8U1Q).
What’s fascinating is that genetics does not fix the rate of telomere shortening as significantly as behavior, another data point in support of epigenetics (http://bit.ly/WRCnas).
As the article says, smoking, drinking, cell oxidation (yes, do take those antioxidants) — all contribute to telomere shortening and thus the reduction of life expectancy.
But more surprising is how Blackburn’s work proves that chronic stress — not the fight or flight variety — is the biggest culprit.
So people, find ways to reduce the stress that lingers. Exercise, meditation, community, intimacy, a sense of humor, adaptagens (herbs that reduce systemic stress) are all helpful.
Yep.
-Joe