July 23, 2020 — Do you know what you’re having for lunch? You might think so. But in fact, the food that we are consuming is so complex, that we only have a vague idea of what’s in it. Through a project called FooDB, scientists have cataloged more than 70,000 biologically active chemicals that may be present in our […]
July 6, 2020 — For decades now, we’ve been debating the role of macronutrients in weight gain. But that fierce debate has yielded precious little consensus. Low-fat dietary guidance ruled the land for decades. Right now, low-carb diets seem to have the upper hand. However, in a new webinar, Kevin Hall suggests that neither calories, carbs, nor fat tell […]
April 28, 2020 — The world is just three months into letting go of an old definition of what is normal. We’ve endured tremendous losses. The loss of life is staggering. It’s so great that we’re having trouble tallying it. It now looks like death statistics from all over the world may be off by 60 percent. Excess deaths […]
April 23, 2020 — The pleasure of food is an important part of what drives us to eat and thus maintain our health. Much of that pleasure comes from food’s flavor, and our sense of smell is crucial for experiencing flavor. But it turns out that one of the early signs of infection with the new coronavirus is the […]
February 6, 2020 — No doubt, you’ve heard the warnings. Beware of ultra-processed food. If you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it. Look for foods with 5 ingredients or fewer. But non-meat meat is hot right now. So we have to wonder. Do consumers care about what’s in fake meat? Well, new consumer research is in, and the answer […]
December 31, 2019 — A band of low-carb enthusiasts is making it official. They are coming at the process for developing the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans as a matter of politics. Why worry about the nuances of science when you can rally a base of devoted advocates? The Low-Carb Action Network This coalition formed in December with a […]
September 6, 2019 — Potatoes are good carbs, but they are carb rich. A typical medium potato (150g/5oz) has around 20g carbohydrate. Most also have a high GI (averaging around 77). But there’s no need to say no to potatoes if you are managing blood glucose levels. You can reduce their glycemic load by choosing spuds with around 25% […]
April 1, 2019 — A broad coalition of health, nutrition, environmental, and animal rights activists are creating quite a stir today with an ambitious new policy proposal. The Lean New Deal aims to stop the obesity syndemic in its tracks. At the same time, it will erase the problem of climate change if fully implemented. This is the product […]
March 9, 2019 — Is food a problem or a pleasure? In promoting healthy choices, could it be that we actually nudge people in the opposite direction? New research in Psychological Science suggests, once again, that this might be the case. Nicolette Sullivan and colleagues conducted a series of experiments to arrive at this finding. In short, they found […]
January 27, 2018 — We eat for many reasons, and one of those reasons is pleasure. Beautiful, appetizing food beckons us, even when we’re not physically hungry. Researchers label those qualities of food as hedonics. Food marketers know that these are the qualities that sell their products. And now, neuroscience suggests that women may be more sensitive than men […]
