For The Love of Food

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

This week organics are better for you (again), a new vitamin supplement is considered dangerous and ineffective, and scary news about food packages.

Want to see all my favorite links? (There’s lots more). 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

• Are organic foods more nutritious? And is this the right question? <<Much hoopla was made this week about a new study showing (again) that organic food is potentially more nutritious and is safer than conventionally grown food. Thanks to Marion Nestle for making sure we focus on what’s actually important. (Food Politics)
• 3 Things to Know About Niacin and Heart Health <<Another one bites the dust. It seems that a new study of niacin supplements (a B vitamin) on heart disease has bummed out scientists by not being beneficial and probably even harmful. For me the biggest bummer is toward the end of this article where doctors insist on prescribing it anyway. (NY Times)
• Taking B vitamins won’t prevent Alzheimer’s disease, researchers conclude <<And in case you were wondering, B vitamin supplements don’t protect against Alzheimer’s disease or cognitive decline either. (ScienceDaily)
• Food packaging materials contain a lot of iffy chemicals <<Need another reason to eat less processed foods? It seems the plastic and other packaging that food products are typically packed in has a lot of potentially dangerous stuff that can leach into the food. This is really scary. (Food Politics)
• Guest Post: Newsflash! Fruits are NOT Vegetables. <<I’ve always made it a point to emphasize vegetables over fruit for optimal health, but thanks to Rob Lazzinnaro for underlining the point. (Weighty Matters)
• The 3 Golden Rules of Do Ahead Meals <<Some great tips for saving time in the kitchen by prepping meals ahead of time. (Stone Soup)
• Exercise protects you from stress <<While I certainly believe that exercising regularly helps me personally deal with stress, this study shows that exercise protects against the damage done by stress on a cellular level. (Obesity Panacea)
• France Taught Me a Better Way to Dress a Great Salad <<I’ve never considered putting the dressing into the bowl before the ingredients, but I think I’ll give it a try this week. France rarely gets food-related advice wrong. (The Kitchn)
• Grilled Japanese Eggplant with Tahini Sauce <<Eggplant and tahini is such a delicious combination. Sounds like a perfect summer dish. (Simply Recipes)

What inspired you this week?