Know What’s Making You Sick to Your Stomach

This quick read from the New York Times provides a byte of insight for what and why some people occasionally experience a so-called ‘stomach bug’ that portends either a quick trip to the bathroom or a glass full of kombucha (the new ginger ale aiding in digestion). The article cites important evidence concerning your average “bowel transit time,” which is fairly crucial information for determining what exactly could be causing the aforementioned, adverse side effects. Dr. Deborah Fisher, a gastroenterologist (also, an associate professor at Duke University School of Medicine) who is quoted in the article, suggests that the food making you sick is rarely the last thing you ate, rather it could be something within the past 48 hours. If it’s not the leftovers from last week or the new restaurant down the street, and you experience it often after mealtime, then consider whether it’s washing the chemicals off your food or finely processed, packaged foods that are doing you in. 

How Big Business Got Brazil’s Poor Hooked on Junk Food by the NEW YORK TIMES

“Nestlé’s direct-sales army in Brazil is part of a broader transformation of the food system that is delivering Western-style processed food and sugary drinks to the most isolated pockets of Latin America, Africa and Asia. As their growth slows in the wealthiest countries, multinational food companies like Nestlé, PepsiCo and General Mills have been aggressively expanding their presence in developing nations, unleashing a marketing juggernaut that is upending traditional diets from Brazil to Ghana to India.”

NESTLÉ GOES DOOR-TO-DOOR

• “A New York Times examination of corporate records, epidemiological studies and government reports — as well as interviews with scores of nutritionists and health experts around the world — reveals a sea change in the way food is produced, distributed and advertised across much of the globe. The shift, many public health experts say, is contributing to a new epidemic of diabetes and heart disease, chronic illnesses that are fed by soaring rates of obesity in places that struggled with hunger and malnutrition just a generation ago.”

Women Like The Smell Of Guys Who Eat Veggies!

This short story published by NPR was cute and, well, not-so-surprising because I’ve known for years that the benefits of a vegetarian diet are boundless. Based on a study completed at Macquarie University in Australia, “sweat can help signal our health status and could possibly play a role in helping to attract a mate.” The results came after women who participated in the study spent time sniffing the sweat of different men, including those who ate more fruits and vegetables as well as those who ate meat and more refined carbohydrates (white bread, pasta, ya know, crack snacks). Although this study is the only one of its kind, for now, the attraction (or non-attraction) towards men was ‘consistent’ illustrating that women preferred the scent of those who ate ‘healthy’ foods over those who did not. 

Brooklyn Bugs Festival Is Right On Track for the Future of Food

Brooklyn Bugs is the first bug-eating festival in New York City (and maybe for all cities nationwide) to zealously serve up insects to foodies as haute cuisine; showcasing a variety of ways to procure, process, and eat these healthy critters. The three-day event held annually on Labor Day weekend includes cooking demonstrations and keynote speakers, which highlight the benefits of eating insects as well as the potential impact this ‘food of the future’ could have on our food system, the environment, and overall, rapidly evolving methods for sustainability. 

“Insects are healthy. Very healthy. Containing about the same amount of protein as beef, pork and chicken, they also contain a lot of iron, B12 and calcium, as well as all nine essential amino acids. In addition to offering a potential solution to global food insecurity, they’re also planet-friendly, requiring less water, energy, land and feed than most traditional protein sources.” – NPR, the Salt

“By 2050, there will be more than 9 billion people on the planet. The United Nations estimates that to feed everyone, sustainable food production will have to increase by 70 percent, and bugs will need to be a critical source of protein.” – NPR, the Salt

Organic Consumers Association Reports Good News

“Conscious consumers won’t have to wait much longer for clear guidance on how to buy food and other products that are not only certified organic, but also certified regenerative.” 

The Rodale Institute on Wednesday, September 13, unveiled draft standards for a new Regenerative Organic Certification, developed by Rodale and a coalition of farmers, ranchers, nonprofits, scientists, and brands. When finalized, the certification will go “beyond organic” by establishing higher standards for soil health and land management, animal welfare and farmer and worker fairness.

Read the full blog story here by Ronnie on the OCA website. 

Junk Food Nation Above and Below Sea Level

“Zooplankton are microscopic animals that float in the world’s oceans and lakes, and for food they rely on algae, which are essentially tiny plants. Scientists found that they could make algae grow faster by shining more light onto them—increasing the food supply for the zooplankton, which should have flourished. But it didn’t work out that way. When the researchers shined more light on the algae, the algae grew faster, and the tiny animals had lots and lots to eat—but at a certain point they started struggling to survive. This was a paradox. More food should lead to more growth. How could more algae be a problem?”

Read more in the article published by Politico titled, The great nutrient collapse…

“It was already well documented that CO₂levels were rising in the atmosphere, but he was astonished at how little research had been done on how it affected the quality of the plants we eat. For the next 17 years, as he pursued his math career, Loladze scoured the scientific literature for any studies and data he could find. The results, as he collected them, all seemed to point in the same direction: The junk-food effect he had learned about in that Arizona lab also appeared to be occurring in fields and forests around the world. “Every leaf and every grass blade on earth makes more and more sugars as CO₂ levels keep rising,” Loladze said. “We are witnessing the greatest injection of carbohydrates into the biosphere in human history―[an] injection that dilutes other nutrients in our food supply.”