Planets & Transits
New Moon in Leo August 12, 2026
The New Moon arrives in Leo August 12 at 8:36 PM UTC, and with it comes a singular...
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- Written by: Andrea Rinaldi, SciDev.Net
Farming insects on a large scale is no more of a biological or chemical hazard than other livestock farming, says a report by a European food safety body.- Details
- Written by: Clifton B. Parker-Stanford
People don’t read diet books just to lose weight. They serve as both “myths and manuals” for a better world, a new analysis of contemporary diet books suggests.
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- Written by: Kitty Gifford-Cornell University
Scientists are taking a closer look at the main breakdown product of aspirin, called salicylic acid, and its potential to treat neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
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- Written by: Amy Pullan, University of Sheffield
Researchers found a significant association between a patient’s vitamin D levels and the severity of their IBS symptoms, particularly the extent to which IBS affects their quality of life.
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- Written by: Lisa Lewtan
The holidays bring with them an abundance of festivities centered around eating and drinking. And, not to play Scrooge, but much of our favorite holiday fare sits atop the list of those opiate-like "trigger foods." These foods fall in the "naughty" category because they set off chemicals in the brain that make us want to gorge ourselves...
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- Written by: InnerSelf Staff
Sulforaphane is found in vegetables such as kale, cauliflower, and cabbage—and in particularly high concentrations in young broccoli sprouts. Sulforaphane also is available as a dietary supplement called BSE.
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- Written by: Liz Carlisle, University of California, Berkeley
An informal network among farmers may be more important than federal regulation in building trust in the organic industry — and it needs greater support. If you live in the U.S., chances are you are among the 84 percent of American consumers who purchase organic food.
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- Written by: Melissa Osgood-Cornell University
People of healthy weight and those who are obese consume, on average, nearly identical amounts of candy, soda, and fast food, according to a new study.
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- Written by: Lisa Garr
When it comes to the best plan, I can’t tell you what’s right for your body. The truth is you have to figure that one out on your own because everyone is different. For instance, I don’t eat red meat because . . . well, I’ve never really eaten it. I just don’t like the taste of it.
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- Written by: Ash Stevens
When we think cravings, we tend to think potato chips, pizza, and sweets, and nights of gorging ourselves with foods saturated with salt from our tears of remorse. It may sound ridiculous to suggest that cravings can be used to benefit our bodies, but I’d say the problem isn’t cravings themselves, but how we view them.
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- Written by: George Lowery, Cornel University
![bowls of apples & oranges on counter Share This Article facebook twitter Action Beyond the usual advice about less food and more exercise, the study suggests that consciously replacing unhealthy cues with healthy ones in the home could have a real impact on a person's BMI, especially for women. (Credit: Abi Porter/Flickr) How the kitchen counter can predict your weight Cornell University rightOriginal Study Posted by George Lowery-Cornell on October 20, 2015 You are free to share this article under the Attribution 4.0 International license. The types of ready-to-eat foods on a kitchen countertop could also hint at the weight of the people in the home, particularly women. The study looked at photographs of more than 200 kitchens in Syracuse, New York, to test how the food environment relates to the body mass index (BMI) of the adults at home. The women in the study who kept fresh fruit out in the open tended to be a normal weight compared with their peers. But when snacks like cereals and sodas were readily accessible, those people were heavier than their neighbors—by an average of more than 20 pounds. “It’s your basic See-Food Diet—you eat what you see,” says Brian Wansink, professor and director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab and lead author of the paper in the journal Health Education and Behavior. [Would you take food advice from a heavier blogger?] The study finds that women who kept soft drinks on their counter weighed 24 to 26 pounds more than those who kept their kitchen clear of them. A box of cereal on the counter lined up with women there weighing an average 20 pounds more than their neighbors who didn’t. “As a cereal-lover, that shocked me,” says Wansink. “Cereal has a health-halo, but if you eat a handful every time you walk by, it’s not going to make you skinny.” When unhealthy foods are the most visible options in the kitchen, falling into habits that lead to weight gain becomes easier. Keeping those foods out of sight by sequestering them in pantries and cupboards reduces their convenience, making it less likely that they will be grabbed in a moment of hunger. Clearing the counters of the cereals, sodas, and other snack items and replacing them with healthier visible cues like fresh fruit could help, the study finds: Women who had a fruit bowl visible weighed about 13 pounds less than neighbors who didn’t. [Could a bribe entice you to eat less?] The study also finds that normal-weight women were more likely to have a designated cupboard for snack items and less likely to buy food in large-sized packages than those who are obese. The findings provide new insights into the role environmental factors play with obesity and offer remedies to rid the home of unhealthy cues while promoting the healthy ones. Rather than just the usual dietary advice prescribing less food and more exercise, the study suggests that consciously replacing unhealthy cues with healthy ones in the home could have a real impact on a person’s BMI, especially for women. “We’ve got a saying in our lab, ‘If you want to be skinny, do what skinny people do,'” Wansink says. Source: Matt Hayes for Cornell University](/images/2015/540/apples_and_oranges.jpg)
Beyond the usual advice about less food and more exercise, the study suggests that consciously replacing unhealthy cues with healthy ones in the home could have a real impact on a person's BMI, especially for women.
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- Written by: Daniel Zadik, University of Leicester
Food intolerance is often dismissed as a modern invention and a “first-world problem”. However, a study analysing the genomes of 101 Bronze-Age Eurasians reveals that around 90% were lactose intolerant.
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- Written by: Faith Dawson, Tulane University
A new study of more than 500,000 Chinese adults over seven years finds that participants who ate foods flavored with chili peppers every day reduced their risk of premature dying by 14 percent, as compared to people who ate chili peppers less than once a week.
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- Written by: Paige Miller-Stanford
The uptick in plastic packaging is a result of schools' efforts to streamline food preparation and meet federal nutrition standards while keeping costs low. "If this is an avoidable exposure, do we need to risk it? If we can easily cut it out, why wouldn't we?" says Jennifer Hartle.
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- Written by: InnerSelf Staff
Drinking concentrated beet juice, which is high in nitrates, increases muscle power in patients with heart failure, a new study shows. “It’s a small study, but we see robust changes in muscle power about two hours after patients drink the beet juice,”
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- Written by: Melvin D. Epp
There are opportunities to maximize the quality of the foods we consume through careful selection and astute buying. There are also opportunities for some families to become involved in the production of wholesome vegetables by growing vegetables in pots on a patio, lawn space, or by participating in a community garden project.
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- Written by: Dr Habib Sadeghi
Food is simple. At least, it used to be. Knowing what to eat and whether it was healthy and healing for us was clear. It was instinctual. We did not have to think about food. We just ate it. Today, food has become complicated. As humans normally do with most issues, we overthink them...
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- Written by: Kristine Snedke, University of Copenhagen
High vitamin C concentrations in the blood from eating fruit and vegetables are associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and early death, report researchers.
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- Written by: Robert Perkins-USC
In a new study, Valter Longo and his colleagues show that cycles of a four-day low-calorie diet that mimics fasting (FMD) cut visceral belly fat and elevated the number of progenitor and stem cells in several organs of old mice—including the brain, where it boosted neural regeneration and improved learning and memory.
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- Written by: Michael Purdy, WUSTL
Elevated blood sugar can rapidly increase levels of amyloid beta, a key component of brain plaques in Alzheimer’s patients, a new study shows. The buildup of plaques is thought to be an early driver of the complex set of changes that Alzheimer’s causes in the brain.
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- Written by: Jim Goodman, Common Dreams
Can organic farmers use Roundup® ? I get that question a lot. Society has been told and, it seems, really believes, that as crop chemicals go, nothing could be safer. But that's just it, using nothing is safer.
