For The Love of Food

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

This week a huge jump in life expectancy for NYC, chewing affects nutrient absorption and the chemicals in cosmetics.

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)

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Photo by joe.oconnell

“I eat way too much sugar and have constant cravings for it that make me feel like I am addicted … do you have any suggestions for cutting back?”

There is still a debate over whether or not sugar is an addictive substance. From the data I’ve seen and people I’ve talked to, I’d guess it probably is.

But whatever the answer, the important question for most of us is how to kill the cravings that have us eating so much sugar in the first place.

Cravings exist in both the body and the mind, and you will have the best luck overcoming them if you address both simultaneously.

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For those of you who haven’t been following along with the Tomato Slice newsletter, I recently launched a segment called Office Hours where I make myself available to take any questions subscribers may have.

This week I held a special Office Hours to discuss 2 articles from last week’s For The Love Of Food post:

1. Is Sugar Toxic? by Gary Taubes
2. The latest scientific consensus on saturated fat and heart disease

Since I had so many questions on these papers, I recorded the session and posted it above.

If you’d like to know more about the sugar article, I also recommend Dr. Lustig’s YouTube video mentioned in the article, as well as his interview this week on KQED which I’ve included below.

http://www.kqed.org/assets/flash/kqedplayer.swf

Feel free to leave your thoughts or ask questions in the comments.

For The Love of Food

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

Tough decisions were made this week to narrow it down to 10 stories. Love the calorie infographic, also the commentary by Dr. Ludwig on industrial food and the “small” 32 oz. soda at a SF movie theater.

Want to see all my favorite links? Be sure to follow me on on Digg, Twitter (@summertomato) or the Summer Tomato Facebook fan page. I’m very active on all these sites and would love to connect with you.

Links of the week

• Where Do Americans Get Their Calories? (Infographic) <<This is REALLY cool. Notice grain consumption increased nearly 50% (just like the AHA recommends), same with added fat (aka processed vegetable oils) and sugars. Veggie intake hasn’t changed, nor has dairy, and barely “meat, egg and nuts”. Fruit has gone up. Sounds like we’re obeying the food pyramid, yet eating 25% more calories and gaining weight and disease faster than ever. Lovely. (CivilEats)
• Food technology has been bad for human health since long before the invention of high-fructose corn syrup <<The wonderful Dr. Ludwig tells a more complete story about the nature of obesity. It’s not just the fructose. (Los Angeles Times)
• Food is cheap at market, but costs a lot elsewhere <<Food prices are going up, but are you confused why experts say calories are “cheap”? Learn the gory details from Marion Nestle. (SFGate)
• When did a “small” soft drink become 32 ounces? <<This saddening fact qualifies for BS of the week. Like seriously, this is disgusting. (SFGate)
• Sweet! Candy eaters surprisingly slimmer <<Interestingly, this study relied on a 24hr recall questionnaire, meaning that it didn’t actually test candy eating, but the awareness of candy eating. Mindful eating may be the key factor. (MSNBC)
• Vitamin D Can Decrease — Or Increase — Breast Cancer Development and Insulin Resistance, Study Finds <<Just in case you needed more convincing, relying on supplements is scary (especially if you over do it). (ScienceDaily)
• Food Day Campaign is Launched! <<Think real food is important? Me too! We now have a day to celebrate it! (CSPI)
• Routine Periodic Fasting Is Good for Your Health, and Your Heart, Study Suggests <<Fasting data is a lot more convincing than the “eat every 2-3 hrs” data. Just saying. (ScienceDaily)
• Substance in Tangerines Fights Obesity and Protects Against Heart Disease <<It would be nice if stuff like this ever panned out. We’ll see. (ScienceDaily)
• Not Your Mama’s Deviled Eggs <<I completely love deviled eggs, and these sound absolutely divine. Cheers to springtime 🙂 (The Novice Chef)

What inspired you this week?