FOR THE LOVE OF FOOD: GMO skepticism isn’t anti-science, Pubmed takes on conflicts of interest, and how parents encourage emotional eating

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

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This week GMO skepticism isn’t anti-science, Pubmed takes on conflicts of interest, and how parents encourage emotional eating.

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Links of the week

• Skepticism About Biotechnology Isn’t Anti-Science – As a trained scientist I’ve long been skeptical of the idea that the way to fix our broken industrial food system (that it killing people in ever greater numbers) is to add even more industrial food products. Yet I often get chastised by other scientists for this viewpoint as being anti-science, as if the only relevant data is whether or not GMOs or pesticides directly hurt people. I’m happy to finally see someone pointing out that there’s more nuance here than just pro vs anti-science. (Slate)
• The Struggles of Writing About Chinese Food as a Chinese Person – I dare you to read this and not start fantasizing about a trip to Taiwan. Also, really great essay on the racism and politics inherent in food. (Vice)
• Too many studies have hidden conflicts of interest. A new tool makes it easier to see them. – This is fantastic! Pubmed, the search engine for scientific articles in biology, has started listing conflicts of interest in the abstracts of scientific articles. Until recently you had to have access to the full article to read the conflicts section, which meant you needed either a subscription to the individual journal or to pay for the individual article. (Vox)
• Parents’ use of emotional feeding increases emotional eating in school-age children – Emotional eater? Blame your mom! Seriously though, it looks like emotional eating is learned at a young age and may be something that is avoidable. (ScienceDaily)
• The Best Thing to Eat Before a Workout? Maybe Nothing at All – At least in the morning. Interesting new research suggests exercising in a fasted state may help improve metabolism, though at the cost of burning fewer calories during the workout itself. (NY Times)
• The Best Exercise for Aging Muscles – Super interesting. Looks like there’s a large benefit of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) for older adults. (NY Times)
• ‘Diet’ products can make you fat, study shows – It’s worth reading this whole thing. To me the most interesting finding is that both groups ate the same amount of calories, yet the low-fat/high-sugar group stored fat twice as efficiently as the regular, balanced diet group. This was in rats, not humans, but still very interesting. (ScienceDaily)
• How Gut Bacteria Tell Their Hosts What to Eat – The bacteria in your gut significantly contribute to your nutrition status, and can compensate for nutrient-poor diets. Sadly, nutrient-poor diets also decrease the diversity of your gut bacteria. It stands to reason that eating more pre- and pro-biotic foods can make you more resilient nutritionally, offering a substantial health advantage. (Scientific American)
• Mission control: Salty diet makes you hungry, not thirsty – This is one of the most interesting nutrition stories I’ve read in years. What’s better than mixing space exploration and human nutrition studies? (ScienceDaily)
• Sugary Drinks Tied to Accelerated Brain Aging – Again, sugar isn’t just a problem for your waistline. Ween yourself off the stuff and save your indulgences for when it’s really worth it. (NY Times)
• How to get adults to eat their vegetables? Study explores potential of spices and herbs use – Revolutionary new study shows that people prefer to eat foods that taste good. LOL (ScienceDaily)
• The Next Gluten – Just in case this lectin trend really takes off, I want your skepticism to start now. Tomatoes and beans are bad for you? Pfffff. Give me a break. (The Atlantic)
• A Clever Trick for Roasting Nuts – So simple and so brilliant. Definitely trying this for my next party. (Stone Soup)

What inspired you this week?

from Summer Tomato http://www.summertomato.com/for-the-love-of-food-gmo-skepticism-isnt-anti-science-pubmed-takes-on-conflicts-of-interest-and-how-parents-encourage-emotional-eating
via Holistic Clients