Category: Nutrition

Rare, Medium or Well done? The science of a perfect steak

Gone, but not forgotten....Ribeye FridayVegetarians, look away now. Today’s post is distinctly carnivorous. Read on, you red meat eaters, as we are discussing an issue of upmost culinary importance…

You can’t beat a good steak, I say. Quality medium-rare beef fillet; served with fries and salad is true feel-good food. I know I’m not the only one: it is one of the most popular last meals for death row inmates (after deep fried chicken). Not that that should necessarily be a measure of good taste.

Personal preferences aside (an overcooked sirloin is a travesty), is there a secret to grilling the tastiest, most nutritious steak? Whether or not you like yours with mustard, here’s some science to guide you in the kitchen… Read more

Does eating Celery burn calories? The Science about ‘Negative Calorie’ diets (finally).

1.31.10 CeleryScience can be great for answering life’s little questions – you know, the sort of thing you ponder whilst sitting on the toilet or waiting for the number 49 bus. Does chewing gum take seven years to digest? No. Will eating bread crusts make your hair curl? You should be so lucky. Will eating an apple a day keep the doctor away? Probably not, but it might do you some good. Once in a while, there’s a question that is a bit harder to prove one way or the other.

Take celery. I was recently asked whether eating it caused you to lose weight. Sounds crazy, but the logic behind it is half plausible. It goes something like this: Celery has hardly any calories in it (6 calories per stalk) and the process of digesting food burns energy. Because celery is quite a bulky, fibrous plant it’s going to take a lot of chewing and digesting. Surely that’s more than those meager six calories? If true – eating celery will help you loose weight.

After a bit of digging into the scientific literature, I think I may be able to resolve the negative calorie food debate once and for all… Read more

Drinking Alcohol makes you pee more – but how much?

Original 16Too much tipple and you’ll know about it the next day.

The dreaded hangover – headaches, fatigue and nausea are normal Sunday morning sensations for many a Saturday night reveller. Dehydration is frequently said to be the reason for hangover symptoms – and some swear that a pint of tap water before bed thwarts any alcohol-induced ill-effects. But given the amount of fluid drunk during a night on the town, it sounds like quite an odd idea.

So just how dehydrating is alcohol – and can lack of water really explain a hangover? The data is difficult to find: no-one seems very interested in researching hangovers these days. It’s therefore time to blow the digital dust of a seventy year-old research paper to find an answer… Read more

26 reasons not to trust what you read in the newspaper

Mike in the sunSo we all know we shouldn’t believe everything we read. Tabloids and science have never been the best of bed fellows (or should that be tabloids and the truth?).

But just how widespread is fallacious newspaper reporting? An intriguing little investigation from University College Chester made an attempt to measure the terribleness (or not) of health and nutrition reporting in the British press. For one month, two intrepid investigators bought a British tabloid every day of the week.

Focusing on articles covering food and nutrition, they compared what the newspaper wrote and the research it was (purportedly) based on. Here’s what they found… Read more

5 Best Selling Food Supplements that Don’t Work: So why do we still take them?

 

We sure love popping pills.

daily doseIn the last two decades, popular culture has decreed that three basic meals a day isn’t enough: modern-day healthy living needs something more – supplements. Despite a global economic downturn, the world’s appetite for dietary supplements remains insatiable; every year we collectively swallow over fifty billion dollars of minerals, vitamins and weird herb extracts.

Stepping into the Aladdin’s treasure trove of weight-loss berries, anti-cancer honeys and natural pain-fighting remedies (that is your local health food store) how do we know which (if any) actually work? Often endorsed by high profile celebrities and glossy magazines – I’m in pursuit of finding out which actually do anything useful... Read more

“Hey you, Fatty! Stop eating so much!” declares UK government

Kenneth Clake (Source Wikipedia)
Obesity - a lack of willpower. Apparently
That’s right, being fat is your fault after all.

Yesterday, the UK minister for health, Andrew Lansley jabbed his not-too-chubby finger at the overweight far lacking insight into their food addiction. In a rally-call to the 60% of overweight adult Britons, his announced a new ‘national ambition’ is to cut out the hamburgers and go easy on the tipple.

So, come on you Brits, it’s time to wake up and smell the broccoli. Let’s club together, reinvigorate the ‘Bulldog Spirit’, and together we can cut out 28.4 million caffe lattes out of our collective intake.

That’s right Kenneth Clarke, he’s talking to you… Read more

The Mystery of the Meat Sweat!

Another meal, another medical mystery…

eat it!As I savoured the dying moments of the summer bank holiday, I was relishing the last few mouthfuls of a marvellous and hearty meaty meal. Then as the sun started to set, that dreaded line finally came: “Hey, I’ve got a question for your blog!”

Now something of a running joke, the question has become an excuse for friends to ask me all manner of interesting, amusing and distasteful questions. This one was better than most – “Why do we get meat sweats?”

Having indulged in liberal servings of steak, chicken and tuna – all cooked on a Raclette (a quirky Swiss Fondue-BBQ hybrid plate invention) – we knew what would likely come next: Hours spent lying in bed overheating and sweating profusely – this seems to be the punishment for such protein gluttony. But why? What causes the dreaded ‘meat sweat’? Read more

Surely not! Is this Energy Drink marketed at Children!?

Children drinking Energy Drinks
Do you find this disturbing? (source totsandgiggles.com)
Sometimes anger gets the better of you. A morning trip to the supermarket left me enraged (and no, it wasn’t anything to do with the queues, car parking or customer service). The source of my fury was what I had seen for sale in the aisles. Were my eyes deceiving me or had I really just seen… an ‘Energy Drink’ for kids?

Concerns over high-caffeine drinks in children are well publicised but this morning I was troubled that one firm had well and truly overstepped the mark with their new drinks can design.

I could be wrong, it might just have been a trick of the light or an innocent oversight of their marketing team. I’ll let you decide whether you think this high-sugar caffeinated drink would appeal to a typical seven year old: Read more

Save the Planet by… Becoming a Vegan! Do I really have to?

Veganism – it’s just something for middle-class ‘hippies’ right? Vegans are those tree-hugging, hemp-wearing festival-goers who say ‘man’ far too much. Well perhaps it’s time for a rethink on that stereotype. At least if you care about environment, that is.

Kale Sandwich (Gone Raw)
Could you fight Climate Change with a Kale Sandwich? It's very tasty (apparently) (Image: GoneRaw.com)
If you had thought you could do your bit to fight global warming by getting an eco-friendly Hybrid car – forget it. You’ll reduce your ‘carbon footprint’ more just by changing what you eat.

A new documentary called ‘PlanEAT‘ sets out to show the effects our dietary choices have on our health and the environment. Citing a selection of research, the film’s single purpose is encourage us to eat a more ‘plant-based’ diet (that’s the trendy new name for veganism). You could call it the ‘Super Size Me‘ for the animal-loving eco-warrior.

If this film has the impact it hopes to achieve, the future could be one that sees us ditching our hamburger and milkshake for Kale Sandwiches and Lime Mousse (made from Tofu, no less).

Hmm, I think some of us are going to need some very serious persuasion… Read more

Eating through your Ears: Listening to Music makes Food taste better!

This post was chosen as an Editor's Selection for ResearchBlogging.org

Heston Blumenthal: 3 Michelin Stared Chef is renowned for his experimental approach to cooking and for using science to push the boundaries of the dining experience.
Do you listen to music when you eat, or Does the sound of chewing and chomping irritate you?

Listening to music can be great for unwinding – especially after a long day. I wonder if department stores and hotel elevators would be much more stressful if it weren’t for the piped music! But what about listening to an instrumental piece for when you’re chowing down? If the sound of mastication turns you off, then perhaps music could be an ideal accompaniment. Personally, I enjoy a bit of Mozart at mealtime, but am I the only one? Could there be a good reason for this?

The effects of music on the enjoyment of food hasn’t been properly studied in a scientific way before. But recently published research in the Journal of Culinary Science & Technology has just changed that. Heston Blumenthal is famous for his scientific approach to pushing forward the boundaries of the dining experience. Is it possible that the man who makes Bacon and Egg ice cream could use music to make his food taste even better?

Read more