For the Love of Food

by Darya Rose | Feb 13, 2015

For The Love of Food

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

This week Costco is making you fat, meditation protects the brain, and the strange psychology of taking a pill.

Too busy to read them all? Try this awesome free speed reading app I just discovered to read at 300+ wpm. So neat!

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 and the Summer Tomato Facebook page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you. (Yes, I took that picture of the pepper heart myself.)

Links of the week

Is Costco Making Us Fat? <<All signs point to yes. (The Atlantic)
Test of Strength: Fitness Apps vs. Personal Trainers <<The Times thinks that fitness apps are a reasonable, cost-effective alternative to a personal trainer. Whatever works, ya know? (NY Times)
Five Steps to Overcome Binge Eating <<This article is surprisingly excellent, and likely useful for anyone who regularly experiences intense cravings. (Lifehacker)
The Food Babe: Enemy of Chemicals <<Basically a dumber, female Dr. Oz clone making a living off fear-mongering. Regardless of her intentions, spreading ignorance the way she does is dangerous. (The Atlantic)
Forever young: Meditation might slow the age-related loss of gray matter in the brain <<Still just an association, but an interesting one for sure. (ScienceDaily)
Health Benefits of Moderate Drinking Overblown <<The party’s over you guys. (Although this contradicts a lot of research, so I’d like to see it replicated). (Medline)
Would You Rather Die Sooner Than Take a Daily Pill? <<Fascinating psychology. Can you identify the limiting beliefs? (The Atlantic)
Stone Soup: The Answer to Freezer Odds and Ends <<Agreed! (The Kitchn)
What a Happy Cell Looks Like <<Being happier may lead to better immunity, but the type of happiness matters. (The Atlantic)
Kale Quinoa Bites <<Made in a muffin tin. Brillant snack! (101 Cookbooks)

What inspired you this week?

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Tags: alcohol, apps, bingeing, Costco, Food Babe, happiness, Health, immunity, meditation, Psychology, soup

9 Responses to “For the Love of Food”

Linda says:

February 13, 2015 at 12:51 pm

I ran across the Food Babe’s website just this past week! I thought it sounded interesting. Then I got the first email and decided she was a fruit cake and unsubscribed. The first (and only) email was about that BHT scare and everyone MUST sign the petition to save our children and the future of the world!!! My thought was what person promoting healthy eating and good food eats processed cereal??????????????? The Dr. Oz reference is right on the money. I hear quacking from both of them.

Love your writing, love your book! Thanks so much for all you do, Darya!!

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Leigh says:

February 13, 2015 at 1:09 pm

Your summary of the Food Babe made me laugh out loud. Nicely put.

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Elizabeth says:

February 13, 2015 at 4:17 pm

While Costco may be contributing to the obesity epidemic, that doesn’t mean it has to. I regularly shop there to buy produce, canned fish, frozen fish, nuts, etc. However, I also regularly get comments (from cashiers and other customers) along the lines of, “Wow, you must eat really healthy.” Just because you can go there to buy the giant bag of Lays, doesn’t mean there aren’t good food choices available at Costco.

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- Darya Rose says:
  
  February 13, 2015 at 4:53 pm
  
  I don’t think anyone is arguing that it’s impossible to buy healthy food at Costco. But what we know about human nature is that our environment nudges us to make certain decisions, and we rarely make intentional, rational decisions (though we think we do).
  
  One theory: It’s well documented that larger portions lead to overeating, and Costco helps convince us that purchasing large portions is a good deal and therefore a good idea. Of course, all of this is speculation at this point. All we know is that there is a correlation with this type of store and heavier humans.
  
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- Annie says:
  
  February 15, 2015 at 9:18 am
  
  I second that. We are also regular Costco shoppers and buy produce, bulk organic items at a significant savings, and other good nutritious foods. I try to avoid processed/junk food at any store I shop at. I hardly think larger portions of fruits and vegetables are at the root of most Americans’ obesity problems.
  
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Anne says:

February 14, 2015 at 6:36 am

You’re amazing Darya. I agree. I cringe with FOOD BABE’s ignorance. She terrorizes people. I find that unethical: implanting the “nocebo” effect in our heads. She needs to be more careful. She polarizes people to get more followers: us vs them. Tim Ferriss suggested that idea 5 years ago. It works, but to what expense??

Darya – would love it if you could do a comprehensive, transparent review on GMOs. It seems more of a political issue than a nutritional one. Food Babe can’t even articulate where the damage is??

Thanks!

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- Darya Rose says:
  
  February 14, 2015 at 8:29 am
  
  My issue with GMOs is their potential environmental impact. I think it is absurdly arrogant for us to assume we can control crops in a field (Monsanto has already proven that we can’t). I wrote about this a bit in the Safety section of this post: http://summertomato.com/why-im-voting-yes-on-prop-37-label-genetically-modified-foods/
  
  Basically I agree with Nasim Taleb that from an ecological and perspective we should apply the precautionary principle to GMO foods. Human safety from consumption is less of a concern, but we should also be rigorous there.
  
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Cherylie says:

February 20, 2015 at 2:09 am

Thanks for the binge eating link. Shared it with a fb group – we’re all in the same profession, which requires us to sit on our arses all day, and deal with incredible amounts of stress.

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Darron says:

February 20, 2015 at 12:27 pm

I’m pretty health conscious and I don’t give into temptation very easily. Every time I go to checkout at Costco and pass the pallets they have lined up along the checkout area with chocolate covered nuts in a gallon+ sized container, 56 pack boxes of assorted chocolate chip granola, and endless other variations of fattening and sugary snacks in oversized portions it interests me to see who does give in. I don’t think I’ve ever not been able to find several shoppers placing these items on the conveyor to purchase them.

I also think that the gallon size containers themselves encourage overeating. It’s just so easy to grab a handful every time you decide to eat some.

If consumers were more disciplined, Cosco would have no need to offer product in these portions.

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