From the UK comes excellent news for beer drinkers -- and their bellies: According to the results of a new study, beer bellies are caused by genetics, not beer.
After tracking 7,876 men and 12,749 women over the course of eight and a half years, a group of German and Swedish researchers discovered that while regular drinkers -- especially those who consumed the equivalent of two pints a day -- were more likely to gain weight overall, that weight did not necessarily accumulate in the abdominal region. The scientists concluded that while "beer consumption seems to be rather associated with an increase in overall body fatness," evidence of more "site-specific" weight gain was limited. Somewhat unsurprisingly, given its pivotal role in most weighty matters, genetics was the real culprit.
The news couldn't have come at a better time, i.e summer, when hot days call out for cold brews and beer aficionados seek sweet relief in air-conditioned bars across the country. It's possibly the best news since, oh, last week, when New York City declared July Good Beer Month, and will doubtless inspire countless toasts made over frosty mugs held high.
While organic food producers must follow certification standards, fraud is on the rise. After all, organic foods can cost up to two or three times more than conventionally grown products, meaning some unscrupulous producers are bound to be looking to line their pockets.
German scientists have found that organic milk has higher levels of a certain fatty acid than regular milk, a result of different cattle feeding practices. Labs can reliably discern which milk is organic by testing for this fatty acid. And we've already seen that it's possible to test for the presence of non-organic, synthetic fertilizers in fruits and vegetables, but the high cost of testing means the practice is unlikely to be implemented on a large scale.
While this is all preliminary stuff, it will be interesting to see whether we eventually find more "organic markers" to test food, and whether buyers will find this worthwhile.
I was always the kind of kid who put stuff in my mouth that didn't belong - wooden stacking blocks, my mom's car keys, the occasional earthworm. I loved the feel of a bit of sand in my sandwich, and I could never keep my teeth off my deliciously grimy fingernails. Now, as an adult, I rarely get sick, despite my predilection for taco trucks, Indian street food and pork products of dubious origin. Is there a connection?
In this week's New York Times health section, Jane Brody writes about what's known as the hygiene hypothesis - the theory that ingesting plenty of bacteria and viruses as a child can help develop a healthy immune system. Though no one disputes that public health measures like sewer systems and food production regulation have improved overall health immeasurably, studies have also shown higher rates of autoimmune disorders, allergies and asthma in people raised in ultra-clean environments. Basically, their systems don't "learn" to deal with foreign bodies, and become ultra-sensitive, attacking even normal tissue. Some research even suggests that deliberately infecting patients with worms can help treat certain auto-immune issues.
While most of us aren't going to go out and deliberately swallow pig whipworms, I think the hygiene hypothesis lends support to the increasingly widespread idea that it's OK to eat foods that fall outside the (supposedly) sterile confines of corporate agriculture. So let's all eat some raw milk cheese, cook some antibiotic-free meat, buy some gnobbly farmers market carrots with clods of earth still clinging to the tops. And maybe a little mud pie for dessert.
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.
More than 40 percent of packaged meats sampled from three Arizona chain stores tested positive for Clostridium difficile (C. diff), a bacteria that can cause intestinal distress and, very rarely, death. About 40 percent of the cooked products and nearly 48 percent of the ready-to-eat products showed evidence of C. diff. Nearly 30 percent of the tainted samples of ground beef, pork and turkey and ready-to-eat meats were identical or closely related to a super-toxic strain of C. diff that's a growing problem in hospitals across the country.
But there are no proven cases of humans getting C. diff from food; it's almost always hospital transmitted. And if food-person transmission is possible, it's not known if the levels of bacteria in the supermarket meat are high enough to cause infection. But it does seem to add to the growing evidence that overuse of antibiotics, both at home and in meat processing plants, are leading to nasty superbugs. Yet another reason to eat sustainably-raised hormone and antibiotic-free meat.
Lots of people love a good piece of sashimi and nigiri sushi, and most of us are willing to pay more for a higher quality fish. The only question is whether or not you're getting what you paid for.
Last week there was an article in the New York Times about two teenage girls and their fish-y experiment. The students got 60 different samples of fish from 4 sushi restaurants and 10 supermarkets and sent them off to a lab in Canada. About 60% of the fish were mislabeled, and in general cheaper fish were masquerading as more expensive fish. Apparently no one knows what red snapper is.
There's a lot more science in the New York Times article, but what's really important is that so many people who should know what fish is what have been selling it under the wrong name. I'm sure that there are some unscrupulous vendors out there willing to make a quick buck, but I prefer to think that it's mainly just people making mistakes. What do you think about possibly paying more for cheaper fish?
When I was in high school, I had a love-hate relationship with science classes. Geology was fine, biology was okay, and chemistry...well, chemistry was hell. Mrs. Olech, the troll who taught the class, regularly flunked half her students and had a teaching manner that made Alan Greenspan seem bouncy and exciting.
Ironically, while I flunked chem, I aced my cooking classes. Even at the time, I thought that this was a little weird; after all, what is cooking if not a chemical process? The subtle adjustment of flavors, the cultivation of certain bacteria, the measured combination of leavening chemicals are all, basically, a mix of applied chemistry and biology. However, cooking class captured my imagination and attention in a way that chemistry didn't.
Reading a recent profile of Alton Brown, I realize that the problem lay with Mrs. Olech and her ilk. The simple fact is that science can be a lot of fun, if it is applied in a way that is relevant and exciting. I was surprised to learn that, like me, Brown found his science classes "boring beyond words." Even now, as he has built his own store of scientific knowledge, he admits to having discarded academic journals and scholarly papers because of their inability to engage his interest.
Exam stress and breakups are notorious for driving people to the ice cream and M&Ms, but did you know that thoughts of mortality can make you hit the Oreos harder as well?
Research from Arizona State University and Erasmus University in the Netherlands observed how many cookies subjects ate while writing an essay on one of two topics: a trip to the dentist or their own death. Those writing about shuffling off their mortal coils ate more cookies than those writing on root canals. The exception? People with high self-esteem, whose consumption was little affected by the essay topic.
The authors hypothesize that people eat to subconsciously escape self-awareness. I think anyone who has ever crammed down another donut in a moment of anxiety or depression (uh, probably all of us) can relate.
See ultra-close-ups of houseflies crawling on baguettes, their iridescent bodies shining nauseatingly in the light; a little girl shrieking at a turd floating by her inner tube in a public pool; greasy barbecued rat leg. It's so hilariously gross, in fact, I'd think it was a joke, but it's produced by Kansas State University.
It doesn't really bother me - I've eaten plenty of dodgy things and my three bouts of food poisoning have all been from completely innocuous-seeming sources (green beans; college cafeteria corn dogs) so I've figured there's no use worrying too much. But there's nothing like a good gross-out on a boring afternoon. And maybe it'll make you remember to wash your hands better before you start chopping that next tomato!
Have you ever stashed a Coke in the freezer, hoping to chill it quickly, then forgotten all about it, only to have it explode all over your frozen peas?
A recent study found that cherry tomatoes grown in salt water can turn out tastier and heartier than ones grown normally, partially because the plants have to fight harder to fight the environmental stress and produce more compounds to help them cope. These compounds contain antioxidants like Vitamins C and E, which have healthy effects on those who consume the fruit.
The solution only contains 20% seawater. Unfortunately, not all genotypes of tomatoes react in the same way to the salt water. Some die because they cannot counteract the free radicals from the solution, so don't try to do this with larger tomatoes; it probably won't work. In the study, the water was constantly circulated and the pH controlled by a computer, so the researchers promise that the tomatoes won't taste salty.
The researchers, based at the University of Pisaone in Italy, are encouraging the growth of tomatoes in brackish water, because it will not only lead to juicier, healthier tomatoes, but will help to preserve our freshwater supplies.
You've seen them before. Those fliers tacked onto telephone poles (wait, do such things still exist?!), duct taped to street light posts, or even stapled onto the bulletin board in your doctor's office: "Wanted: women for a [insert health condition here] study."
You've never thought about actually volunteering for one of those studies.
According to an article that appeared yesterday in British newspaper, The Guardian, the newest frontier in food is in the area of nanofood development. With nanotechnology, food could be manipulated to taste great, be low-fat and last forever, because it alters the food on an atomic level. For all the potential good this science could do, researchers are hesitant to move too far forward this work. Their reservations are due, in large part, to the backlash that genetically modified foods have received in recent years.
It's a lengthy article, with far more detail that I can neatly summarize here. It's eye-opening, in part because the possibilities are appealing and frightening. I personally believe that we should leave food alone, as it seems that every time we start messing with our food, we make the situation worse not better. However, with the food supply uncertainties we may in the years to come, it makes me wonder how science could help feed the world.
When I was a kind my favorite part of the science museum wasn't the earthquake model or the Van De Graaff generator (the big silver ball that made your hair stand on end with static electricity) or even the animatronic dinosaur. Those were all cool, yes, but they didn't compare to the packet of astronaut ice cream I'd get at the gift shop at the end of the day.
Reading about the spacewalkers from the Endeavor mission today, I was reminded of my favorite childhood treat. Packaged in hard silver bags, the ice cream looked more like fat sticks of sidewalk chalk than anything else. Biting into it, it had the texture of sidewalk chalk as well, though strangely light, until it melted in my mouth in a fizzy puddle and was gone in an instant, leaving me with a sticky mouth and the lingering taste of fake chocolate. Loved it, loved it, loved it.
I looked into whether it's possible to make freeze dried ice cream at home, and unfortunately it looks like it's not (but if I'm wrong, please let me know!), but I did find this cool description of how astronaut ice cream is made. The ice cream is frozen to -40° Fahrenheit and placed in a vacuum chamber. The chamber is heated, vaporizing the ice and dehydrating the ice cream. Can I really not make this at home?
Remember when everyone went crazy over soy? Products from breakfast cereal to cookies touted their "soy isoflavone" content, credited with protecting against heart disease. Now a number of studies show that soy consumption has no affect on cardiovascular health and people are fretting that it may even increase the risk of some cancers.
The jury is still waaay out on just how specific foods affect the body.
So I rolled my eyes a bit reading this article in the New York Times about California restaurants claiming to serve immunity boosting foods.
Crustacean, a Vietnamese restaurant in Beverly Hills, puts a special icon next to menu items it claims boost immunity. Its Buddha roll, made with shiitake mushrooms which contains iron and Vitamin C, gets an icon, as does its lemongrass soup (lemongrass has folate, zinc and iron).
Sounds like a good way to sell more Buddha rolls. And to make a dinner out a little more like a trip to the doctor's office. I'll stick to my reasonably balanced diet (with the occasional unreasonable quantity of ice cream or pork barbecue) and pop a vitamin pill now and then for good measure.
What do you think? Any foods you believe boost your immune system?
While organic food producers must follow certification standards, 
I was always the kind of kid who put stuff in my mouth that didn't belong - wooden stacking blocks, my mom's car keys, the occasional earthworm. I loved the feel of a bit of sand in my sandwich, and I could never keep my teeth off my deliciously grimy fingernails. Now, as an adult, I rarely get sick, despite my predilection for taco trucks, Indian street food and pork products of dubious origin. Is there a connection? 
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When I was in high school, I had a love-hate relationship with science classes. Geology was fine, biology was okay, and chemistry...well, chemistry was hell. Mrs. Olech, the troll who taught the class, regularly flunked half her students and had a teaching manner that made Alan Greenspan seem bouncy and exciting. 
I know Slashfood is usually about enjoying food, not scaring you off it forever, but this is pretty interesting: 
You've seen them before. Those fliers tacked onto telephone poles (wait, do such things still exist?!), duct taped to street light posts, or even stapled onto the bulletin board in your doctor's office: "Wanted: women for a [insert health condition here] study."
When I was a kind my favorite part of the science museum wasn't the earthquake model or the Van De Graaff generator (the big silver ball that made your hair stand on end with static electricity) or even the animatronic dinosaur. Those were all cool, yes, but they didn't compare to the packet of astronaut ice cream I'd get at the gift shop at the end of the day. 
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