Summer Tomato will be taking a break for the rest of the year. In the meantime, feel free to keep up with me on Twitter @summertomato, Google+, Facebook, Instagram and the like.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and I’ll see you in a couple weeks.

xoxo Darya

p.s. I’ll also still be blogging at ZocDoc over the holidays.

Comic Con in a nutshell.

Sorry guys, I got roped into a last minute trip to ComicCon in San Diego and didn’t have time to put together the links for today. I promise they’ll be back next week at the same bat time, on the same bat channel.

Huge thanks to Ryan Vance for permission to share this amazing ComicCon pic. Follow his antics on Twitter @ryanvance and Instagram @ryanvance

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

Feedback has been fantastic so far from the 55 Knives e-book. The 55 Knives project is a joint effort of 55 top food bloggers offering personal stories paired with hand-selected recipes. I contributed a chapter, as did many of my favorite food bloggers. Definitely worth checking out.

More bad news for supplements this week. Seems protein supplements are toxic and omega-3 supplements add nothing to a healthy diet. Shocker I know. I’m also very curious to see how the salt battle will end. While I would certainly like to see less in processed foods, I would hate government regulation to interfere with my dining experiences. This weeks article in the Times takes an interesting look.

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).

Links of the week

• The Hard Sell on Salt <<A thorough look at the politics and health issues of salt. Personally I think salt is fine on real food, because you don’t need that much to add flavor. But tons of salt is used in processed foods to mask the pronounced ass flavor. I don’t think salt itself is the real problem, food processing is. (New York Times)
• Consumer Reports tests find traces of heavy metals in some protein supplements <<BS of the week. This makes me angry. Not CR, they’re awesome. But that supplements are unregulated and therefore often contain poisons. Not that you should be taking supplements, but still. (LA Times)
• Brighten that dish with a dash of fresh herbs <<I thought I was the only one who did this, but I guess adding a huge amount of fresh herbs to your food is catching on. If I don’t have much food in the house, I’ll make a bunch of herbs the cornerstone of a  meal. Some work better than others (e.g. basil, cilantro, parsley). (SF Gate)
• After a point, more omega-3s don’t help the heart <<Another reason to get your nutrients from food instead of supplements. You don’t need any extra. (Medline)
• Sticky Rice is Secret Ingredient in Great Wall of China’s Strength <<How awesome is this?? (TreeHugger)
• Is Raw Milk Treated Unfairly? <<A good, thoughtful article. Raw milk is a tricky subject. (Marler Blog)
• Help your heart. Brush your teeth twice a day. <<It seems both what you put in your mouth and what you remove from it are tied to heart disease. Nothing wrong with fresh breath either. (LA Times)
• Discovering San Francisco’s Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market <<Ecosalon has a great piece on my favorite farmers market this week.
• The Claim: Rosemary Helps Reduce Toxins in Grilled Meat <<Not sure I’d count on this, but it’s an interesting point about food interactions. (New York Times)
• Red and Gold Beet Salad <<A recipe overflowing with my favorite ingredients. Yummmm. (Macheesmo)

The Wellsphere HealthBlogger award voting is coming to a close on December 15 and I need your support!

If you enjoy the work I do here at Summer Tomato please take a few seconds to vote for me.

UPDATE: I’ve moved into the top 12! Thanks for your votes, please keep them coming. Also, if you are concerned about creating an account with Wellsphere, they haven’t sent me a single spam email since I signed up a few months ago. Plus you can always unsubscribe.

Darya http://summertomato.com/

Thanks for your help!!

Next week we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled publishing 🙂

For The Love of Food

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

I’ve been in such a wonderful mood lately, I hope it’s contagious. I’ve discovered tons of fantastic food blogs the past few weeks and really look forward to sharing the best of what I find with you. This week I have compiled a list of articles that made me smile. And just to keep the chill vibe, I omitted the B.S. of the week.

I still need votes for the People’s HealthBlogger Award by Wellsphere and would greatly appreciate your support. Wellsphere is a fantastic resource for anyone interested in healthy living. To vote for me you have to create an account with them, but you can delete it when you’re done (I have yet to get any spam). If you enjoy this blog, please take a minute to show your support. Much thanks to those who have already voted.

for Darya http://summertomato.com/

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

• Are vegetarian diets OK? <<Of course they are. Here’s a comprehensive examination on the health value of vegetarian and vegan diets by NYU professor of nutrition, Marion Nestle. Great info. (Food Politics)
• Fabulous <<This short post by Seth Godin isn’t about food per se, but is about appreciating the things in your life that are awesome, and why awesomeness breeds more awesomeness. This certainly matches my experience with real food. The more I love it and nurture it as an important part of my life, the better my life is all around.  It’s really about understanding your priorities. (Seth’s Blog)
• In Praise Of Slow Food <<Great article about slow food and the importance of eating for enjoyment. (Huffington Post)
• Phytoestrogens: Helpful or harmful? <<I get a lot of questions about the pros and cons of eating soy. Monica Reinagel, the Nutrition Diva, reviews the evidence. (Nutrition Data)
• To eat less, your body may want you to eat slowly << In my experience one of the main determinants of how much I eat is how quickly I eat. Now there’s some science that helps explain why. Learn mindful eating and how to become a slow eater. (Reuters)
• High-carb diets may put dieters in better moods << Here’s some evidence that extreme carbohydrate restriction can make people grumpy for an entire year. Doesn’t that sound fun? (Los Angeles Times)
• Worry Less, Cook More <<Short post by Mark Bittman on the most important skill to develop in the kitchen–confidence. Don’t strive for perfection, strive to get in there and start. (Bitten)
• How I Made My Wife a Lettuce Snob <<This is such a cute post by Jeff Clark, I adore it. Also a great example of how real food is like Pandora’s box. Once you’ve seen inside you can never go back. (Middle Aged and Living Well)
• Brussels Sprouts with Black Bean Garlic Sauce <<I found about a zillion new Brussels sprouts recipes on the internet this week, but this on intrigued me most. I rarely follow recipes, but I think I’m going to try this. Guest post at Simply Recipes by Garrett McCord from Vanilla Garlic.
• Making the World a Better Place, One Chicken Wing at a Time <<Absolutely brilliant demo by Chef John on how to properly eat a chicken wing. You’ll be amazed! (Food Wishes)

What made you happy this week?

For The Love of Food

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

There are a ton of interesting articles and news stories out this week, and unfortunately I did not have room here to include a favorite recipe. See below for instructions on how to find a comprehensive list of my reading recommendations.

There are some heavy topics here, but all are worthy of your full attention. For balance, I posted several contradictory articles to make it clear that these issues are not simple and clear cut. Anyone who claims otherwise is not thinking hard enough.

If you would like to see more of my favorite articles each week 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, and share with me your favorites as well.

Submissions of your own best food and health articles are also welcome, just drop me an email using the contact form. I am currently accepting guest posts at Summer Tomato for any healthy eating and exercise tips.

For The Love of Food

• You. Need. Fat. <<I love Michelle’s (@MPfennighaus) perspective on dietary fat in this article. Just this week I’ve fielded a ton of questions and confusion about fat. I love oils, and so should you. (The Daily Balance)
• Eating Animal Fat May Lead to Pancreatic Cancer <<Just in case you were thinking about going crazy Atkins-style after that last article, remember that not all the news is good about certain kinds of fat. This study just shows an association (not causation) of animal fat and pancreatic cancer, but moderation is usually a good idea. (HealthDay)
• Horizon organics alert: here comes “natural” <<B.S. of the week Seems like Dean Foods is bent on ruining all the biggest organic products. First Silk Soy Milk, now Horizon. Apparently they want to charge you organic prices for foods that aren’t certified organic (aka conventional). Don’t fall for it. (via @marionnestle at Food Politics)
• This just in: Vegetarian diets are fine <<Looks like the American Dietetics Association has finally issued a bill of approval on vegetarian diets. Not sure what took them so long. Personally I don’t have much of an opinion on the vegetarian thing. Sure it can* be healthier than a typical Western diet (*see next 2 articles), but if health is your concern you have more options as an omnivore. No matter what food religion you subscribe to, vegetables are the cornerstone of any healthy diet. (Los Angeles Times)
• How High Carbohydrate Foods Can Raise Risk For Heart Problems <<Yes, refined carbohydrates are the real culprit in heart disease, not fat. (ScienceDaily)
• Metabolic Syndrome May Make Breast Cancer More Likely <<Metabolic syndrome, also caused by carbohydrates, increases risk for breast cancer. (HealthDay)
• Dear Mark: Freezer Essentials <<Those of you living in states that aren’t California may want to start stocking your freezer now, before your farmers markets close up for the winter. Mark Sisson offers some tips on how to make that dream a reality. (Mark’s Daily Apple)
• Don’t be Fooled by Healthy Food Imposters <<I pick on Diets In Review a lot for being completely full of crap, but I like to give credit where credit is due. Finally some good advice about fake health food from an otherwise irresponsible publication. (Diets In Review)
• It’s Time to Learn From Frogs <<One of the most important articles I’ve read in weeks. This is a fantastic piece in the New York Times about why we should stop being naive about the impact of environmental toxins (especially endocrine disruptors) on our lives.
• Soy isn’t affecting men’s hormone levels…but something is <<Another important piece on the impact of hormones on human development. Looks like soy isn’t the problem some people (not me) thought it was. (Nutrition Data)

What great articles did you read or write this week? Leave your links in the comments.

Today I am compelled to have more contact with people I know who care about food and health. Newspaper articles are a fantastic venue for conveying information on a specific topic, but the daily grind is really where all the action is. So I have decided to launch this site as a tool for us all to share information about life, food and fitness.

My goal for Thought for Food is to give you insight into the workings of a healthy diet and lifestyle. Posts will range from critical reviews of the latest nutrition research to the best recipes for seasonal dinner experiments. I encourage you each to share your thoughts and ask questions–tell us what does and doesn’t work for you–and we can all learn from it.

Ultimately I want to have more interaction with each and every one of you. In my experience, it is the people I have the most contact with who are the happiest and most successful at reaching their fitness goals.