For the Love of Food

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

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This week how liquid calories can keep you full, why suffering is your default, and not all processed foods are created equal. 

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Links of the week

• The Trick Smoothies Play on the Stomach < This is super fascinating and not at all what I expected. Apparently if you can consume your food as a true emulsion (that doesn’t crack) it helps you feel fuller longer because of the way your stomach empties. For me the really interesting point here is what this could mean about why chewing is so beneficial. (The Atlantic)
• Is the Default Mode of the Brain to Suffer? < Excellent article about how your brain’s default thinking patterns can lead to unnecessary pain and anxiety, and how to combat it. (NYMag)
• Study: half of the studies you read about in the news are wrong < Important to remember that with pop science you don’t always get the full picture. (Vox)
• Not all processed foods are bad for you. How they’re made matters. < If the term “processed foods” causes you confusion, this primer breaks it down in a practical way. (Washington Post)
• The Hunger Gains: Extreme Calorie-Restriction Diet Shows Anti-Aging Results < This isn’t a recommendation to starve yourself, however the science of aging is fascinating to me. And certainly it provides another reason to avoid overeating. (Scientific American)
• The impact of weight loss on the drive to eat < One of the more interesting questions for science and humans is why the body is resistant to dramatic weight loss. This is a fascinating experiment that does a nice job of showing that people are indeed compelled to eat more when subjected to a very large calorie deficit (i.e. 700 cal/day). I’m still super curious to see someone test what happens at a 100-200 cal/day deficit, since there is evidence that the eating compulsion might not kick in at that rate of weight loss. (Stephan Guyenet)
• Breakfast, fasting, snacking: Heart panel weighs in on top meal-timing questions < The experts finally chime in on meal timing. (Washington Post)
• Why Exercise Is Good for the Heart < This headline is actually undersensationalized. The study show a mechanism by which exercise keeps heart cells physically younger by preserving telomeres. So cool. (NY Times)
• How to Tell If Your Egg Is Fresh < Essential reading. Old eggs are so gross. (Lucky Peach)
• The Hunt for the Perfect Sugar < Just wow. The lengths the food industry will go to sell you shit you don’t need. Fascinating behind the scenes peek at the madness. (Fortune)
• Your Brain as Laboratory: The Science of Meditation < Awesome way to view meditation. I couldn’t agree more. (Scientific American)
• Why Whole Foods is now struggling < This bums me out. The industrial organic foods at big ticket stores will never measure up to the kind of conscientious work they are doing at Whole Foods, particularly with their animal welfare ratings and support of local farms. (Washington Post)
• SPICED CAULIFLOWER STEAKS WITH WALNUT SAUCE < How good does this look?! (Sprouted Kitchen)

What inspired you this week?