‘food and health’ Category
High-Fructose Corn Syrup: Is it or ISN’T it the same as other sweeteners, calorie for calorie?
In the midst of the public debate about high fructose corn syrup (a.k.a. hfcs, but soon to be rebranded as corn sugar), many researchers have offered evidence to support the claim that sugar is sugar. That is, eat five hundred calories worth of beet sugar, honey or hfcs, and you’re eating five hundred calories. Your […]
Confessions of a pusher
In my office desk drawer, I have a jar of dark chocolate. I distribute pieces of this chocolate to colleagues and students who visit me. According to a recent opinion piece by Gary Wenk, I should probably be considered a pusher. Chocolate contains phenethylamine, a molecule that resembles amphetamine, and a small amount of a […]
Finding: Diet, not environment, the best indicator of “personal pollution levels”
From an article in Chemical Engineering News: Research directed by Emma Undeman, a Swedish chemical engineering student, and Frank Wania, an environmental chemist at the University of Toronto, Scarborough, shows that diet is a “key factor” in determining the load of pollutants that a given individual will carry. The region of the world in which […]
Expired, but still good? An ethical musing
On the blog for his CSA, Paul Thompson reflects on whether or not it’s ethical to donate food that passed its “best by” date.
“When a woman has assets, it impacts more directly on the access to nutrition for all members of the family than when only the man has assets.”
India’s Congress Party president, Sonia Gandhi, has recently called for a constitutional right to food, according to this article in the New York Times (“India Asks: Should Food be a Right for the Poor?”). She also advocates expanding the existing food entitlement program, to ensure that each family “would qualify for a monthly 77-pound bag […]
Leptin As Treatment For Diabetes?
Earlier this year Science Daily reported that “researchers have found that even a very little bit of the fat hormone leptin goes a long way when it comes to correcting diabetes. The hormone controls the activity of a gene known as IGFBP2 in the liver, which has antidiabetic effects in animals and could have similar […]
Pop Tarts: They are not just for breakfast anymore!
What do you think about Pop Tarts? Did you enjoy them as a kid? Do you crave them now as an adult? What do you think about a NYC store that is DEVOTED solely to Pop-Tarts?? Marion Nestle discusses the latest in food marketing with her blog today on you guessed it: Pop Tarts!
Is this your brain on meat?
A story on Morning Edition today discusses anthropological arguments showing that a meat diet is what enabled our ancestors to develop bigger brains. A diet of cooked meat, to be more specific.
Nestle: Water and Sports Drinks
It’s summer and we are thirsty. Marion Nestle tackles the “8 glasses of water myth” and the value of sports drinks in her latest blog: http://www.foodpolitics.com/2010/07/food-matters-column-water-and-sports-drinks/
How do you feel about cake?
If you see a piece of cake, or hear someone say the word “cake,” do you find yourself, well, wanting cake–even if you just got up from a huge meal? Scientists at two conferences this week have been investigating the differences between “hedonic” and “homeostatic” eaters–that is, between eaters for whom the siren song of […]