As we've noted, it's iced coffee time, folks. While we can all agree that the best version is that which is freshly brewed, sometimes you've got to make do with what can be grabbed out of the convenience store fridge. Starbucks' Frappuccino is a perennial favorite, and we're fans of their Doubleshot Energy Drink (especially the new Cinnamon Dulce flavor) when caffeine alone isn't quite enough.
Behold, however, a challenge to Starbucks supremacy from Pom Iced Coffee. Far from an unpleasant mix of joe and pomegranate juice (though it does feature a touch of the antioxidant-laced fruit extract), this is one smooth-blended iced coffee drink. The cafe au lait version is delightful, but it is the chocolate that may soon boast the title of best bottled iced coffee, with an addiction-inspiring taste reminiscent of a blend of Yoo-Hoo and chocolate Nestle Quik.
The only problem with this cooling nectar? It's only available at select stores and Whole Foods in the Northeast (though bottles have been spied at 99-cent stores on the west coast). If anything were to make a convenience store crawl or a trip to a pricey specialty grocer worth it, it is Pom Chocolate Iced Coffee. So stock up.
Note:Slashfood does not accept compensation of any sort in exchange for reviews.
Good news for me and most everyone I know - a new study has linked coffee consumption to a lower risk of developing age-related dementia. Swedish and Danish researchers tracked coffee-drinking habits in a group of 1,409 men and women for an average of 21 years. After controlling for various socioeconomic and health factors, the researchers found that subjects who drank three to five cups of coffee daily were 65 percent less likely to have developed age-related dementias, including Alzheimers, as those who had two cups or less.
Scientists are unsure how or why coffee might have a protective effect against dementia, but speculate that it might be due to an antioxidant effect. Coffee-drinking has already been shown to have a link with lower risk of type 2 diabetes and Parkinson's disease.
I think I've heard of mangosteens before, at least I've heard the name. Apparently, though, the tropical fruit is all the rage in Japan.
According to this post from InventorSpot, mangosteens, or juice drinks made from them, are very popular in Japan right now because they're supposed to be high in antioxidants and ward off cancer in mice (though that hasn't been tested in humans).
Mangosteens are originally from Thailand, but they're difficult to export from the region because they are so preishable. Also, the tree can only be grown in tropical climates. Those factors make even pureés made from Mangosteens pretty expensive anywhere outside of Southeast Asia.
Now that I know a little more about the fruit I'm curious about it. Have any of you had mangosteen? What do you think about it?
It's been known for quite some time that blueberries are high in antioxidants. Recently I learned that another blue food is also high in these healthful compounds: blue corn tortillas. Not only that, the pale blue-gray discs also have more protein and less starch than their white-corn cousins. All of this comes as very good news for me, considering I usually eat things like pork fried in lard betwixt my tortillas. Now all I need to do is convince some local taquerias to start offering blue tortillas.
Mexican and Venezuelan researchers recently published their findings on blue corn tortillas in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. Since blue corn is so high in antioxidants, the scientists believe consuming it may help to fight colon cancer and other diseases. The high levels of antioxidants in blue corn result from pigments called anthocyanins. What I'd like to know is whether these guys did any research on the inky purple Peruvian beverage chicha morada made from, you guessed it, blue corn.
Sometimes I wonder what "better" means when it comes to food and dieting and health.
For example, this article. It says that a ten year study by researchers at the University of California have discovered that organic tomatoes have twice the amount of flavonoids (a kind of antioxidant) than regular tomatoes. They found that the organic variety had 79% more quercetin and 97% more kaempferol. It could be due to the lack of fertilzer.
But even Britain's Food Standards Agency says that while some organic foods have more or different nutrients doesn't mean they are necessarily better. Though, hey, tomatoes are great for you in general.
Although I've always felt this way, it is nice to be vindicated. That lovely, thick, cloudy apple "cider" that you see in your farmers market or supermarket in the fall is way better for you than the clear, filtered apple juice.
Researchers have found that the cloudy cider has much more antioxidants than clear apple juice. Just as you would think, when the cloudy apple juice is filtered all the good stuff gets stripped right out, along with much of the tart and tangy flavor. Sure the clear juice looks nicer, and has a much longer shelf life, but the health benefits are much less.
The cloudy juice has up to four times the levels of polyphenols, a group of antioxidant plant compounds and in experiments the cloudy juice was the more effective free radical scavenger. The research even looked at juice made from several varieties of apples and found that some have even more health benefits than others. Of course the old adage of an apple a day keeps the doctor away still stands. If you want to most vitamins, antioxidants, polyphenols, etc. then just eat a nice fresh whole apple.
On just a side note. What most of the US calls cider, that nice cloudy fresh squeezed apple juice, is more properly called sweet cider. Cider, also called hard cider, is the alcoholic, fermented juice.
CurrantC All Natural Black Currant Nectar is a relatively new juice product made by The Currant Company that has my taste buds jumping with glee. I tried it for the first time a few days ago and was really impressed. This intensely flavored juice is so full of taste that it is rightly called a nectar. As a matter of fact the term Nectar of the Gods comes immediately to mind when I drink this juice. The fresh flavor of black currants is so strong, tart and tangy, with just the right sweetness, that it really makes you want to jump up and start dancing. This has become my new favorite juice for those times when I want a treat and a quick pick me up. If you want to know where you can buy CurrantC click here.
Did you know that for almost 100 hundred years it was illegal to grow Black Currants here in the US? In the early 1900's it was found that a plant disease called White Pine Blister Rust was passed back and forth between Black Currants and White Pine trees, and so in 1911 growing currants was banned. The federal ban was shifted to individual states in 1966. Finally in 2003, after much lobbying in NY State the ban was lifted here after it was shown that disease resistant black currants could be planted.
In the NY Hudson Valley Region there are now several farms growing black currants. It is also being grown in other parts of New York, Connecticut, Vermont, and on the West Coast in Oregon. There are still several states where the ban is in effect including Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.
Last night I was reading the latest issue of Vanity Fair (the one with Dreamgirls on the cover and a really stupid "women aren't funny" article by Christopher Hitchens inside), and I suddenly got a really strong scent of pomegranates. I had no idea where it was coming from until I flipped through the magazine and saw an ad for a pomegranate drink, and it had one of those "lift and smell" flaps that you usually see in cologne ads. Now they're doing it with food and drink. Interesting. Anyway, the smell was overwhelming (in a good way), even when I finished reading the mag and threw it out. I smelled it all last night when I was in bed.
US researchers found that the risk of Alzheimer's disease was "76% lower for those who drank juice more than three times a week, compared with those who drank it less than once a week."
Fruit and vegetable juices are rich in polyphenols, chemicals that disrupt the process that accumulates clumps of beta-amyloid protein in the brain, which are associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease.
So while you might get a little chubby from all that sugar, at least you'll remember who you are.
Twelve volunteers in an upcoming study will drink a pint of cider a day to help researchers determine how we can get the phenolic acids into our diets.
The findings showed that pomegranate juice had no effect on blood sugar levels (i.e. did not increase it). However, it did reduce levels of other compounds that affect cardiovascular health. Consistently high glucose levels intensify the hardening of blood vessels. This is called atherosclerosis, and leads to cardiovascular disease and stroke. According to lead researcher Professor Michael Aviram, "In most juices, sugars are present in free – and harmful – forms. In pomegranate juice, however, the sugars are attached to unique antioxidants, which actually make these sugars protective against atherosclerosis."
A few days ago, our man Joe posted about the findings from a new study that singled out blackberries as having the highest concentration of antioxidants per 1 cup serving. In fact, blackberries were getting all kinds of love from the press. With all that attention, my guess is that there was a run on blackberries at the market.
But nobody seemed to notice that the abstract for the actual study also listed raspberries, pecans, and ground cloves as part of the top ten of the 1,000 foods that were tested. Hey! Why no love for the raspberry? If you're eating a bowl of blackberries for their antioxidants, it might be even more worthwhile to toss in some raspberries and pecans. As for the ground cloves...well, I'll leave that for Holiday baking.
In addition to simply having high concentration of antioxidants, raspberries' antioxidant capacity comes from ellagitannins, which are a family of anti-cancer compounds that almost exclusive to the raspberry. Beyond phytonutrients, raspberries also provide nutrition in the form of manganese and vitamin C.
That's right. Nobody puts rasp-baby in the corner.
Quiz question: What fruit is known as an antioxidant powerhouse?
Did you say pomegranate? You're right! Did you say blueberry? You're also right!
Both the pomegranate and the blueberry are well-known for their antioxidant content, making them super-duper disease-fighting foods. Each fruit on its own is powerful, but combine the two in a juice, and not only do you get the benefits of both, you also get a might tasty juice.
The San Francisco Chronicle tasted nine Pomegranate Blueberry juices available in local grocery stores, and picked Naked as their "runaway favorite" for "Good fruit aroma and balance of flavors," "smells like blueberries, tastes good but not too sweet," and "rich, thick texture." The juice scored 82 out of a possible 100 points with the panel.
The other juices they tasted and their corresponding scores were: Pom Wonderful (73), Trader Joe's (69), Whole Foods 365 (51),Trader Joe's blend (49), R.W. Knudsen (48), Fruttzo (41), TrueBlue (17), and Langers (5).
Anthocyanins, which contribute to the color of red grapes, are a great source of antioxidants and their existence is one of the reasons that red wine is considered to be so heart-healthy. Since red wines use the skin of the grapes in their production, creating a red color, most or all of the antioxidants from the grapes are also found in the wine. For this reason, red wine is thought to be a healthier choice than white wine.
It turns out that the flesh of the grapes is just as heart-healthy as the skin is, as a new study by American and Italian scientists has shown. The results demonstrated that both parts of the grapes reduced the chance of a heart attack and heart attack size when compared to the control group - even though the flesh contains no anthocyanins, but instead has other kinds of polyphenols and organic acids that have antioxidants.
Further study will be needed to isolate the exact chemicals that give these properties to the grapes, but white wine fans can enjoy their favorite drink without having to worry that they're missing out on the heath benefits of red wine.
And when there is any news of the health benefits of eating curry, I rejoice. Nick has posted before about curry's anti-Alzheimer's properties, and we've speculated about curry's benefits against cancer, but now, there is a small US study that has shown that curcumin, a compound found in the curry spice turmeric, and quercetin, an antioxidant found in onions may help prevent colon cancer in those at risk.
According to Dr Francis M. Giardiello, of The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, "this is the first proof of principle that these substances have significant effects in patients with FAP [familial adenomatous polyposis]," which is an inherited disorder that leads to the development of colorectal polyps and, eventually, colon cancer.
Curry and onions? Bring me some chicken tikka masala and another order of onion bhaji!
As we've noted, it's iced coffee time, folks. While we can all agree that the best version is that which is freshly brewed, sometimes you've got to make do with what can be grabbed out of the convenience store fridge. Starbucks' Frappuccino is a perennial favorite, and we're fans of their Doubleshot Energy Drink (especially the new Cinnamon Dulce flavor) when caffeine alone isn't quite enough. 
It's been known for quite some time that blueberries are high in antioxidants. Recently I learned that another blue food is also high in these healthful compounds: blue corn tortillas. Not only that, the pale blue-gray discs also have more protein and less starch than their white-corn cousins. All of this comes as very good news for me, considering I usually eat things like pork fried in lard betwixt my tortillas. Now all I need to do is convince some local taquerias to start offering blue tortillas.
Sometimes I wonder what "better" means when it comes to food and dieting and health. 
Although I've always felt this way, it is nice to be vindicated. That lovely, thick, cloudy apple "cider" that you see in your farmers market or supermarket in the fall is way better for you than the clear, filtered apple juice.
CurrantC
Last night I was reading the latest issue of Vanity Fair (the one with Dreamgirls on the cover and a really stupid "women aren't funny" article by Christopher Hitchens inside), and I suddenly got a really strong scent of pomegranates. I had no idea where it was coming from until I flipped through the magazine and saw an ad for a pomegranate drink, and it had one of those "lift and smell" flaps that you usually see in cologne ads. Now they're doing it with food and drink. Interesting. Anyway, the smell was overwhelming (in a good way), even when I finished reading the mag and threw it out. I smelled it all last night when I was in bed.
If you love drinking fruit juices, but think you might need to cut back because of recent 
There is some truth to the saying that 
We already know that 
Quiz question: What fruit is known as an antioxidant powerhouse?
Anthocyanins, which contribute to the color of 
Oh, how 
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