Fear of Food

Despite the fact that America’s food safety infrastructure is the most efficient and effective in the world, the International Food Information Council Foundation’s 2012 Food and Health Survey found that only 20 percent of Americans are “very confident” in food supply safety. At the same time, one in six U.S. consumers has stopped buying a particular food or beverage brand because of safety concerns in the last twelve months.
~ Richard S. Levick, Fast Company

Fast Company
Fear of Food
Artwork: Salmonella bacteria

More Legumes = Lower Blood Pressure

A new study published in Archives of Iranian Medicine suggests that eating a Mediterranean diet with large amounts of legumes can help prevent metabolic syndrome.

The study showed that individuals with metabolic syndrome consumed only 1.4 servings per week of legumes, compared to 2.3 servings per week for controls.

Eighty men and women with diagnosed metabolic syndrome and 160 age and gender-matched healthy controls were enlisted for the study. Anthropometric parameters, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, and lipid profiles were measured by standard methods.

Men and women with the highest legume intake had decreased mean systolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, and increased HDL cholesterol levels, compared to those whose intake of legume was lowest.

• Beans
• Farm Produce
• In Season
• A Mediterranean Diet
• Artwork: Légumes Secs

China Study Finds No Heart Disease Deaths

"After compiling data from a 30-year investigation of the health and nutritional habits of 6,500 Chinese in five rural villages, Dr. Colin Campbell and his colleagues concluded that American men were seventeen times more likely to die from heart disease than rural Chinese men. In certain pockets of China where plant-based diets were most common, researchers could not find a single person out of more than 100,000 who had died from heart disease. 

"While the average American's total cholesterol level is well over 200, the levels of the participants in the China Study averaged between 81 and 135. Dr. Campbell ultimately concluded that people who maintain a whole-foods, plant-based diet can minimize or even reverse the development of chronic diseases."

~ from Forks Over Knives

Cookbook: Forks Over Knives
Video: Forks Over Knives
Farm Produce
Nuts & Grains

Soup Soothes Stress

Volunteers who ate vegetables consistently for two weeks as part of a nutrition study funded in part by the Agricultural Research Service showed a significant increase in blood levels of vitamin C and a decrease in key stress molecules associated with health impairment. The researchers fed 12 healthy volunteers--six men and six women--two bowls (17 ounces, total) of gazpacho every day for two weeks. The antioxidant-rich soup was made from tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, olive oil, onions and garlic

Soups, Stews, Chili and Chowder
USDA Agricultural Research Service

New Meat Labeling Rules

On March 1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture implemented a new nutrient labeling rule for single-ingredient meat products. The rule states that whole muscle cuts of red meat and poultry, as well as ground and chopped meat, must include nutrition facts on the package label along with the product name and other information already listed. The nutrition information also may be provided in poster or brochure form at meat cases. Seafood is not included.

Nutrient labels have been required for multi-ingredient (formulated) meat products since the early 1990s, while nutrient labels for single-ingredient meat products remained voluntary. The USDA recently determined, however, that voluntary compliance was not high enough and the agency decided to implement mandatory single-ingredient labeling.

An exemption for small businesses applies to very small processors or retailers, which are not required to provide nutrient labels for ground and chopped meats. However, if the business makes a nutrition claim about its product, it then will be required to include a label. No one is exempt from including nutrient information on major cuts -- including certain beef steaks and roasts, pork chops, some cuts of lamb and some cuts of veal.

• Meats
• Beef
• Lamb
• Pork

Salty and Sweet

From birth, saltiness is built into our taste perceptions as an attractive taste.


Just as addictive drugs activate brain mechanisms that make them hard to resist, a strong desire for salty flavors compels us to say "Pass the salt."


Children, in particular, crave intense sweet, sour, and salty tastes. This makes them especially susceptible to the outlaws of obesity - sweet foods, salt and fat.

adapted from Neurogastronomy 

How the Brain Creates Flavor and Why It Matters

by Gordon M. Shepherd

Supermarket Effect

"The variety of food types and flavors encourages overeating. The brain is always interested in something new or changing. Eating the same food or flavor, we quickly become full and bored with eating. But at a Thanksgiving dinner or a buffet or banquet, it is easy to find stimulation for renewed eating."

Neurogastronomy 

How the Brain Creates Flavor and Why It Matters

by Gordon M. Shepherd

Artwork: Supermarket Blur