For the Love of Food

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

This week skipping workouts decreases brain circulation, the FDA considers what’s “healthy,” and nuts have fewer calories than thought.

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

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.

Links of the week

• Not All Who Wear Fitness Trackers Are Lost <<I mentioned last week that I thought psychological factors were likely behind the finding that activity trackers didn’t seem to be correlated with weight loss (in fact, they were associated with slight weight gain). Apparently James Hamblin over at The Atlantic agrees.
• Get Your Children Good and Dirty <<Shockingly thorough review of the importance of living in harmony with the bacteria in our environment. Definitely worth a read, even if you don’t have kids. (WSJ)
• Brain Benefits of Exercise Diminish After Short Rest <<Fascinating new research on how your brain circulation changes when you stop exercising, once you’re in the habit. Maybe this is why I go nuts if I go more than a few days without a workout. (NY Times)
• Meditation takes many forms. Quietly ponder these insights <<I especially appreciate tips #3 and #4. (LA Times)
• What does “healthy” mean (on food labels)? <<In case you’re wondering about the process by which food companies are allowed to get the FDA to approve their marketing efforts. The FDA is taking input on the word “healthy,” but only for processed foods. #smh (Food Politics)
• Which is worse: Glucose or fructose? <<Depends on your goals, but eating less sugar is always a good idea. (Nutrition Over Easy)
• The Better, Faster Way to Freeze and Defrost Your Foods <<The package you use matters way more than I realized. (Serious Eats)
• WALNUTS GET A CALORIE CUT <<This should be bigger news. Turns out the 19th century method for determining the calories of common foods wasn’t super accurate. I have a feeling this is why it seems like I can eat so many more calories of real foods compared to processed foods. (Dr. Weil)
• Organic Milk Will Wait and Wait for You <<I didn’t know that organic milk is pasteurized differently than conventional. Super interesting. (NY Times)
• indian-spiced cauliflower soup <<I made this last night and it was delish. I used chicken broth instead of water for extra flavor. (smitten kitchen)

What inspired you this week?