For The Love of Food

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

And we’re back! Sorry for the hiatus, I had to spend a few weeks finishing up a big project I’m working on. Keep calm and carry on.

This week lard is making a comeback, salt may improve your coffee, and why we aren’t eating more GMO animals.

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

• So There’s Arsenic in Our Rice—Now What? <<This is a bit terrifying, and a great reminder of how dangerous it can be when we don’t respect our environment. (The Atlantic)
• LARD MAKING A COMEBACK <<Did you think lard was bad for you? Think again. (Dr. Weil)
• Scientists fret over FDA slowness on genetically altered animals <<BS of the week. Why anyone besides corporations would want genetically modified animals to enter our food chain faster is beyond me. They claim they can make “meat with healthier fat” (see previous article) and can remove allergens from milk (while inadvertently increasing others—as described in this article). But as these examples illustrate, we don’t understand nutrition well enough to pretend we can improve upon nature just yet. Related: If you’re in CA, vote Yes on 37. (LA Times)
• Use a Pinch of Salt to Keep Veggies Bright and Green (and Other Creative Uses for Salt) <<This is cool and worth reading. Salt supposedly improves bitter coffee and the consistency of scrambled eggs, in addition to preserving color and adding flavor. (Lifehacker)
• F.A.D.-Free Tuna Comes to Safeway – Affordably <<Good news for tuna lovers. (NY Times)
• Fish linked to heart failure risk, omega-3 results mixed <<The headline is sort of confusing, but the take home message is that eating fish is helpful while taking supplements may not be. (Medline)
• BUILD STAMINA WITH STAIR CLIMBING <<Taking the stairs is an underrated way to improve fitness. (Dr. Weil)
• Exposure to Herbicide May Increase Risk of Rare Disorder <<Yet another reason to avoid herbicides and pesticides, particularly if you’re pregnant. (ScienceDaily)
• ChefSteps Offers Free Online Culinary Lessons from Modernist Cuisine Alumni <<This looks beyond awesome. I can’t wait. (Lifehacker)
• SPICED LENTIL SOUP WITH COCONUT MILK <<Looks like a delicious fall dish. Lentils and coconut pair beautifully together. (Sprouted Kitchen)

What inspired you this week?

For The Love of Food

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

How to eat anything you want without gaining weight, why lard may be the new black and how some organic foods are poisoning you.

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.

Links of the week

• How Do You Not Weigh 500 Pounds? <<I’m a little late on this post but still think it’s worth putting at the top of the list. I love these tips for eating what you love and not gaining weight, and use them all myself. I had only one complaint that I left in the comments. (Amateur Gourmet)
• Who Killed Lard? <<Excellent story examining why lard went out of fashion (hint: it wasn’t for health reasons) and why it may be due for a comeback. (NPR)
• Organic Food Sweetener May Be a Hidden Source of Dietary Arsenic <<I’ve always been suspicious of how many “healthy” foods contain brown rice syrup. I guess they think arsenic is healthy, which means I’m calling BS of the week on all the organic processed foods that are really just expensive junk food in disguise. (ScienceDaily)
• Can you build up tolerance to delicious foods? <<If you want to love chocolate even more, try eating less of it. (Obesity Panacea)
• Is Fructose Being Blamed Unfairly for Obesity Epidemic? <<Sure we love to demonize high-fructose corn syrup, but fructose alone is not our biggest problem. (ScienceDaily)
• Is Sugar Fattening? <<And just in case you’re suspicious of the last article, here’s all the gory details of why sugar isn’t good but also may not be as bad as everyone says. (Whole Health Source)
• Health care professionals, Twitter, and the Abuse of Public Trust <<Do you believe health advice from people just because they have an MD? Would it surprise you to hear most doctors have less than 2 hours of nutrition training and no background in analyzing scientific data? (Weighty Matters)
• How Exercise Fuels the Brain <<A really cool mechanism was uncovered of how exercise actually improves cognitive ability. (New York Times)
• Moroccan Mint Roasted Vegetables Recipe <<I’m making this asap. Moroccan food is my fave. (101 Cookbooks)
• What Processed Food Looks Like during Digestion–of Course It’s Not Pretty [Video] <<How much ramen did you eat in college? (thanks for the link Sandra!) (Scientific American)

What inspired you this week?