Saturday, October 29, 2011

Batch of links - Food

This time, I’ve got some food-related topics to share. Thank you for your patience during my housekeeping!

- The 10 foods most closely correlated with weight gain and weight loss: Unfortunately, the Harvard study does not examine the causal effect. For example, does eating potato chips automatically mean you’ll gain more weight than by eating the same number of calories in another food, or does it mean that people who eat potato chips often eat them while watching television (mindlessly), which then might also mean they are less likely to exercise or eat right the rest of the time? It’s probably a combination of factors, obviously, but still good to know.

- A pre-smoke alarm: Does your smoke detector ever go off when you’re cooking, even though you’re nowhere near setting a fire? We fortunately don’t have this problem now that we’re in a house instead of an apartment, but this used to be an issue. (Before I met the Engineer, I lived in a studio apartment for three years, and I disabled the smoke alarm because it would go off if I made light toast.) Too bad the company doesn’t seem to be making it anymore…

- Saving bees by buying free-range beef: We all know that the North American bee population is in trouble, which affects pollinated crops – ergo, our diet. But research has shown that “precisely because rangelands have been used for ranching—livestock grazing—ranchers have kept the land conserved and stewarded it in ways that result in habitat that sustains wild bee species and other wildlife.” Score one (more) for free range farming!

- Asian honey, banned in Europe, is flooding US grocery shelves: Asian honey can contain illegal antibiotics and heavy metals, and some sweet liquids are even being labelled as honey when they are in fact a mixture of water and other sweeteners. As a result, the European Union has banned its import, but the FDA is sadly lagging behind. Another reason to buy local (make sure the honey was made locally, not just packaged locally).

- On a related note, there’s arsenic in apple juice: Levels are much higher than the acceptable legal limit in water. The FDA says it’s not really a big deal, because we don’t drink as much apple juice as we do water. Some experts, however, warn that children might be drinking more apple juice than water, and their bodies are developing, so it could be a big deal. Personally, I think it couldn’t hurt to err on the side of caution here and have stricter regulations.

- Being a judge for the James Beard Cookbook Awards: An interesting read. Maybe someday I’ll get around to self-publishing something awesome and submit it.

- Cereal marshmallows in bulk : You know how, when you were a kid and eating Lucky Charms, you sometimes wished you could have just a bowl full of marshmallows without the cereal getting in the way? Well, now you can!

- The Happy Cow: Find vegetarian restaurants and health food stores all over the world, for your next vacation.

- 6 gluten-free ways to enjoy pasta sauce: Besides gluten-free pasta, that is.

- 14 home hacks for your dishwasher: Did you know you can use it to clean vegetables and even cook lasagna?

- Why there will never be another cupcake: An article by Baked’s Matt Lewis, so very well said.

- Food by state: The food for which each state is known. Is it any wonder it’s so hard to eat healthy when we drive to Canada and back?

No comments: