Fat: the old public health enemy #1 For years we have been told that fat is the problem and sugar is good for us, or so it seems. Now we are hearing that fat is not the enemy after all. It’s the carbs! Why were we so deliberately deceived? First, I do not blame nutritionists or dietitians for making fat the bad guy. Second, I … Continue reading Carbs are the new fat: Why do we have to have an enemy?

Helping me make it through the aftermath of a tooth chipped during my Thanksgiving meal.   Ingredients in foods perform specific roles just like actors. For example Leonardo DiCaprio played a young man who went down on the Titanic and a fur trapper in The Revenant. Food scientists call the roles ingredients play in foods functional properties. Depending on the food product, ingredients can play … Continue reading Emulsifiers and surfactants and their role in gut chemistry

Just in time for Thanksgiving we learn that two more common food additives present a threat to our health and the health of our families. Have you rushed to your refrigerator and pantry to check out the ingredient lists? Perhaps the scariest headline was on the Time website: This Common Processed Food Ingredient Causes Cancer in Mice From the article we learn that polysorbate 80 … Continue reading Do common emulsifiers found in processed food cause cancer?

Lindy West identifies herself as fat, female, and feminist. In Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman, she unleashes her wrath on stereotypes, internet trolls, rape jokes, sexist men and airline passengers. Most of the book, however, deals with her struggle with being fat from birth. After suffering through the stigma of a fat childhood, she has accepted her adult body and become a spokesperson for … Continue reading Shrill: Who is to blame for America becoming so fat?

In 2014, Michael Moss introduced America to the concept of food addiction in Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us1. Although Moss hinted at the possibility of food addiction, he never directly accused Big Food of pedaling addictive substances. Unbeknownst to many of us there are numerous psychologists and neurobiologists who are studying the possibility of developing an addiction to hyperpalatable foods, generally … Continue reading Is an addiction to food like an addiction to hard drugs?

A compelling book about food recently hit the shelves of my local library. Devoured: From Chicken Wings to Kale Smoothies—How What We Eat Defines Who We Are by Sophie Egan jumped out to grab my attention. On these pages Egan blends humor, storytelling and personal experiences to bring us into the underworld of why we eat and how easily we can become manipulated by food … Continue reading Devoured: How deep is processed food embedded in our culture?

BREAKING NEWS: Sugar is bad for us. Apparently it was never made clear to us that sugar provides empty calories, makes kids hyperactive, causes diabetes, rots our teeth and might even be addictive. At least that is what we are now being told. It seems to me that as a kid in the 50s, I was warned about consuming too much sugar. Sugar has been … Continue reading Hold the sugar

Taxes on unhealthy foods are the preferred vehicles of some groups seeking a healthier, leaner America. The campaign against Big Food resembles previous fights against Big Tobacco and Big Alcohol. While taxing tobacco products has helped lower numbers of smokers, taxes on alcohol have not been as effective on drinkers. Taxes are only likely to have an effect on soda or sugar consumption, however, if … Continue reading Taxing sodas

Processed foods are blamed for obesity; the diseases of civilization such as cancer, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and heart disease; lower heights of the typical American; and even increases in crime. Processed food is an easy target for blame even though the data leading to the conclusions are tenuous at best. Not to worry, as the case against processed food is so indelibly etched into the … Continue reading Defending Processed Food: Are You Kidding Me?

In my forthcoming book In Defense of Processed Food: It’s Not Nearly as Bad as You Think, I wrote the following about how science is frequently perceived in society today: Contrary to popular belief, science is not about certainty. It is more concerned about reducing uncertainty. It is not as much about providing answers as it is about asking questions to get us closer and … Continue reading A note on science