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My name is Darya Rose and I’m the creator of Summer Tomato.
I’m also a neuroscience Ph.D, author, former dieter and proud foodist. Summer Tomato teaches you how to get healthy and lose weight without dieting. Because life should be awesome.
Want to see all my favorite links? (There’s lots more). Be sure to follow me 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.
Why eating organic food doesn’t make you a jerk, how a pastry chef in Paris keeps his man-ish figure, and how NOT to get your husband to eat better.
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
The FTC vs. POM Wonderful: the latest round <<Remember when POM Wonderful claimed their mass-marketed juice could cure cancer? Turns out that wasn’t exactly accurate. (Food Politics)
When you eat may be as important as what you eat <<Timing is important, and so is rest. There is some really interesting new rodent data that overnight fasts help control weight even when the exact same number of calories are eaten. Will be interesting to see how this works in humans. (Obesity Panacea)
Does organic food make you a jerk? <<Excellent debunking of some pseudo science that was making headlines this week. Thanks Grist for calling BS of the week.
How I Eat <<Interesting discussion by pastry chef and awesome food blogger David Lebovitz on how he manages to stay thin while eating what he loves. I appreciate his emphases on everyone needing to find their own healthstyle.
Food Fight or Romantic Dinner? Communication Between Couples Is Key to Improving Men’s Diets <<While I agree that communication in relationships is important, I think this study also brings to light how important it is for us to learn how to make healthy food taste good (or more accurately, what healthy food actually is–––I know plain ground turkey is never on my menu). (ScienceDaily)
Lower Blood Pressure Naturally <<Hey guess what, it’s not that hard. And you have lots of options. (Whole Health Source)
4 Health Benefits of Turmeric <<Turmeric spice lowers the carcinogenicity of grilled meat, and other fun facts. (Dr. Weil)
Calcium Supplements May Be Bad for Your Heart: Study <<I wasn’t sure if I should post this, but if you don’t know that calcium supplements increase heart risk (and prostate cancer risk) you definitely should. This is not a new finding. But I was annoyed by the commentary they used from an osteoporosis physician that he disagrees with the data for no apparent reason. Did no one tell him that calcium doesn’t protect against osteoporosis either? Don’t you wish doctors bothered to look at the data before giving their opinions? (Medline)
There were more excellent stories than I could fit this week. Mindful eating hits the big leagues, Jack In The Box’s shake is made of fakin bacon and sugar is more helpful than low carb for weight loss? Won’t somebody please think of the children!
Want to see all my favorite links? Be sure to follow me on on Digg. 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.
New Diet: Top Off Breakfast With — Chocolate Cake? <<Interesting study suggests having a little something sweet in the morning is more effective than a low carb diet for long term weight loss. As counter intuitive as that sounds it is not entirely out of line with my personal experiences. (ScienceDaily)
Smaller Plate Won’t Help Your Diet, Research Shows <<Honestly I think this study is flawed. They specifically asked the test subjects to eat until full. In the original studies it was a more natural environment and smaller plates resulted in less eating unconsciously, and both the small and large plate groups reported the same amount of fullness at the end. (Medline)
The Hidden Health Hazards of Lettuce <<Though I don’t agree entirely with the logic here, I do think he’s right. “Fat isn’t bad, stupid is bad.” (Ruhlman)
The Consumer: In New Diet Math, Subtracting Is Hard <<I might be the only one who thinks it’s funny that when Weight Watchers started equating fruits and vegetables people stopped losing weight. (New York Times)
We had a fantastic discussion last week about salt and the importance of dietary context (aka everything else you’re eating). Thanks to everyone who participated. As always, show notes are below.
The next live event is tomorrow July 6, at 3pm PST, right here on Summer Tomato. I’ll be holding office hours, so come by and ask questions.
June 28, 2011 | Tonight on Summer Tomato Live we’re discussing salt, which ended up being a much more complex topic than I anticipated. Join us at 6:00pm PST to learn about how salt affects your health and what to do about it.
Participation is only available to subscribers of the newsletter Tomato Slice. You can sign up at any time, even during the show, and the password for participation will be emailed to you immediately.
To watch live and join the discussion click the red “Join event” button, login with Twitter or your Vokle account, and enter the password when prompted.
I encourage you to call in with video questions, particularly if your question is nuanced and may involve a back and forth discussion. Please use headphones to call in however, or the feedback from the show is unbearable.
You can do a skin test at home to test for severe deficiency, otherwise you must have your doctor do a test for you. Seaweed is a good natural source of iodine.
Before we get started, I’ve been collecting feedback from readers on what you do and don’t like about Summer Tomato and how I can make it better moving forward. If you have 2 minutes, please go to my 7 question survey and let me know what you think.
Thanks in advance for your time. I’ll be sending out a newsletter next week with answers to commonly asked questions and requests.
On the web this week I found a simple shopping technique that can help you make healthier choices and the best cooking and recipe iPhone apps. I also explored the mysterious case of the missing mango and learned how and why to get more exercise without breaking a sweat.
I read many more wonderful articles than I post here each week. If you’d like to see more or just don’t want to wait until Friday, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@summertomato) or the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. For a complete reading list join me on Digg. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.
Links of the week
Paying by cash helps keep you healthy <<It seems customers find it “painful” to pay with cash and therefore restrict their shopping lists to healthier items. But for the record, I find nothing painful about shopping at farmers markets. (Telegraph)
Science Explains Why Airline Food Sucks <<Not really, but it’s a start. Sensory (in this case auditory) distraction can interfere with your enjoyment of food. Best to set aside the time to eat a meal mindfully and enjoy every bite. This also makes you more likely to eat less. (ABC News)
How to Make Mustard <<I’ve always wondered how to make mustard. (Hunter Angler Gardner Cook)
New evidence that the Atkins diet may be depriving people of nutrients? You bet! There were also a few interesting articles this week about food ideology and the antagonistic tone that frequently comes up in discussions about health, food safety and politics. And Francis Lam’s greatest tomato pasta on earth article totally blew my mind (in a good way).
I read many more wonderful articles than I post here each week. If you’d like to see more or just don’t want to wait until Friday, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@summertomato) or the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. For a complete reading list join me on the new Digg or StumbleUpon. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.
Links of the week
Is Your Diet Depriving You of Nutrients? <<A new study suggests that Atkins dieters may be lacking in nutrients that are usually found in starchy foods. Dieters on the Zone diet (which is more balanced) fared the best, nutrient wise. (Low Carb Diets Blog)
Does high-fructose corn syrup cause cancer? <<Does it matter? Great analysis about how the facts are often beside the point when food and health get discussed in the media. (Salon)
“Can’t we all just get along” – It does not seem so. <<BS of the week. Along the same lines as the previous article, Bill Marler brings up the antagonistic tone that often comes up in public food dialogue, which is neither pleasant nor productive. And that sucks. Intelligent discussions don’t seem to be forthcoming these days. That’s why I’m so grateful for the wonderful conversations we have here at Summer Tomato. (Marler Blog)
Chili Peppers May Come With Blood Pressure Benefits <<Cartoons with red faces and exploding heads may give you the wrong idea. It appears chili peppers actually lower blood pressure in the long term. (ScienceDaily)
Is MSG Unhealthy? <<People sometimes ask why I don’t talk about MSG more on this blog. The truth is that the data doesn’t condemn it as much as people seem to believe. I don’t reject any food without strong science to back it up. Dr. Weil concurs. (Dr. Weil’s blog)
For blood pressure, can you be fit but fat? <<New research suggests body weight is a risk factor for high blood pressure independent of physical fitness levels. Best to keep both under control. (Medline)
Chioggia beets and farro salad <<Psssst. I shared one of my favorite recipe outlines over at my personal blog this week. It is super easy, and there are a zillion possible variations you can do. Beets not required. (daryapino)
For some reason the New York Times was brimming with great food and health articles this week. I particularly like the expose of meaningless food labels and the article on the wonders of the pressure cooker. And if you feel like giggling, find out why Stephen Colbert thinks being skinny is un-American.
I read many more wonderful articles than I post here each week. If you’d like to see more or just don’t want to wait until Friday, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@summertomato) or the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. For complete reading lists join me on the social bookmarking sites StumbleUpon and Delicious. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you there. (Note: If you want a follow back on Twitter introduce yourself with an @ message).
For The Love of Food
Buy a Virtual Slice of Dessert…and Help Haiti <<My friend Michelle Stern is running a fund raiser for Haiti with some help from some other food bloggers. Check out what they have going. (What’s Cooking)
Six Meaningless Claims on Food Labels <<You probably know by now that I don’t like foods with labels. Here’s a good review of why I feel that way. (New York Times)
Calcium – The Wonder Mineral <<BS of the week. Another dose of unimaginably irresponsible and unscientific journalism from DIR. Clinical trials have shown that calcium and dairy do not protect against fractures or osteoporosis. Calcium is also linked to prostate cancer. It is definitely an important nutrient and you should be sure to get enough of it, but “wonder mineral”? I don’t think so. (Diets In Review)
Low-carb diets may trump low-fat in lowering blood pressure <<We already know that low-fat diets are useless in weight loss and preventing heart disease. Looks like they lose the battle in lowering blood pressure too. (Los Angeles Times)
Vitamin D May Lower Colon Cancer Risk << The case for vitamin D just keeps growing. It is the only supplement I take besides a multivitamin. (HealthDay)