In many debates there is a deep valley between the perspectives of the participants. Each side uses different avenues to get to their truth and refuses to listen to proponents on the other side. In some debates the space between the two sides is so deep and wide that neither side accepts the other’s positions, premises, propositions, or proofs. One such debate is the one … Continue reading REAL FOOD, REAL FACTS!
When critics of ultraprocessed foods use the term “degree of processing,” it makes no sense to food scientists or food manufacturers. And yet it makes perfect sense to those who encourage us to avoid, or at least limit, our consumption of these ultraprocessed products. So why the disconnect? It is easy for a food scientist like me to say well the opponents just don’t understand … Continue reading What does degree of processing for ultraprocessed foods mean? The disconnect between processing and ingredients.
Most food journalists condemn HFSS (High Fat Sugar and/or Salt) foods and UPFs (Ultraprocessed Foods) as unhealthy. Consumers may not be able to identify which foods in the supermarket are HFSS or UPF, but they are aware that each group is unhealthy. With the added attention brought online to eating healthy, consumers probably conclude that UPF products are worse for health than HFSS foods. The … Continue reading Trying to Separate Out High Fat-Sugar-Salt Foods from Ultraprocessed Products
In my previous post, I graded the first two days of the Healthier Eating Challenge published in the New York Times. The challenge is mainly about eating less ultraprocessed foods. As a Food Science professor in my former life, I graded it using basic Food Science principles. The two major problems I have with the first two days of the challenge were the two major … Continue reading Flavor Dust and Shopping Like a Nutrition Scientist: Selecting Foods that are Not Ultraprocessed and Spicing them Up at Home
The New York Times published a series on wellness with particular emphasis on ultraprocessed food in the form of a discussion/test. As an online subscriber to the Times, a test-taking nerd, and a defender of ultraprocessed food, I was all in. Below are my comments and associated grades based on food-science principles for the first two sessions. I have provided links to each article, but … Continue reading Grading the 5-Day Healthier Eating Challenge from The New York Times
ETHANOL! —the familiar alcohol in wine, beer, and distilled spirits is more dangerous than all the chemical additives we find in ultra-processed foods. The latest advice given to us is that if we haven’t taken our first drink, then we are best off by refraining from drinking. The World Health Organization advises that no level of alcohol consumption is safe. If we enjoy an occasional … Continue reading Lessons in (food) Chemistry:The most dangerous toxic chemical I consume is . . .
As I indicated last year at this time, my posting on this site is down, but I am reposting some past articles on this site of on LinkedIn when relevant to the current conversation on my feed. I find those conversations on LinkedIn to be enticing. As a defender of (ultra)processed food and a food contrarian, I am tempted to join the conversation even to … Continue reading In Defense of Processed Food—2024 in Review, Looking Ahead to 2025
I have two habits that I am passionate about—reading and bike riding. I am on pace to read 95 books on various books from food to literature to politics to religion to science to many other topics in 2024. We get out about 5 days a week to bike the Swamp Rabbit Trail—roughly 13-14 miles round trip. Below are short reviews of seven books on … Continue reading Waste reduction, the power of sugar, cooking in place, edible insects, and the supply-chain trilogy–Food books I read in 2024
Edible insects offer an alternative to meat-centered, unsustainable, Western diets which feature ultraprocessed foods. And yet, the relctance for eating bugs in the West suggests that we will not stoop to modifying our food choices short of a global-warming apocalypse. Dr. Aaron Dossey and colleagues edited a compilation of both the promise of and resistance to adopting insects as foodstuffs in our efforts to appease … Continue reading You want me to eat What? Edible insects and reluctant Americans.
A phrase that entered the American vocabulary during the COVID pandemic was the supply chain. It is hard to read online much about food in the country without running across the supply chain. It is responsible for food waste, global warming, shortages of goods in stores, high prices at the supermarket, and overall consumer dissatisfaction and dismay, or so we read, but there may be … Continue reading How did the supply chain originate? How did it evolve? Why do we even need it?
It's Not Nearly as Bad as You Think
Home of Caffeine Scientist, Author, and Speaker GreenEyedGuide
a thoughtful look at the journey of food from the fields to the fork
A Historian's Take
Turning an eye on the profession, separating fact from fiction on both sides of the counter
Talking food, nutrition & the simple things in life - Emma Stubbs
It's Not Nearly as Bad as You Think
In Defense of Processed Food 