• Folic Acid: The Good And The Bad

    By erika on 3/30/10 2:38pm
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    Strawberries and orange juice - both rich in folate!Strawberries and orange juice - both rich in folate!The awareness of folic acid as a necessary supplement for pregnant women has made spina bifida almost a thing of the past.  Spina bifida is "the most common permanently disabling birth defect in the United States."  It has a genetic component, but 70% of spina bifida can be prevented by taking folic acid.  That's pretty impressive work, for one little vitamin pill!

    The tricky thing, of course, is that you have to be taking the folic acid at the time of conception.  Considering that "half of all pregnancies in the United States are accidental," this leads to the recommendation that all women of childbearing age should take a folic acid supplement.


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  • High-Fructose Corn Syrup: Are We Ingesting Poison?

    By lisala on 3/26/10 9:45am
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    I've written about the healthy side effects that seem to be associated with real Maple Syrup. Now, it is important to notice the distinction between real natural Maple Syrup made by boiling Maple Sugar sap (forty gallons of sap to one of syrup) and man-made syrup using maple flavoring. Most of that syrup that's commercially made (versus mom boiling sugar, water, and maple flavoring at home) is made with high fructose corn syrup. A Princeton University study in which researchers fed rats high fructose corn syrup vs rats fed table sugar showed that the rats ingesting corn syrup gained much more weight than those on table sugar, even when the overall calories consumed were identical.

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  • Maple Syrup: It's Good For You

    By lisala on 3/25/10 3:18pm
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    It's the time of year when I start thinking nostalgically of Sugaring, that early spring ritual in Canada and New England when we would tap the sugar maple trees to collect the sap, then boil it down to make maple syrup. It's not just that I miss the doughnuts, freshly fried and dipped in still hot syrup, I miss the whole thing. I miss having maple syrup ready at hand for pancakes, French toast, and ice cream, and oatmeal. We used to substitute maple syrup for sugar in all sorts of recipes. Mostly what people buy in stores is Grade A, or a sub-grade of A; it's lighter in color and weight, and more delicately flavored. I favored the heaver, dense more robust Grade B weight, though we mostly used Grade C for cooking. I don't think you can buy Grade C as a consumer, though it's the best for making maple sugar candy. Grade B is often available at Trader Joe's.

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  • Waiter, There's Arsenic in My Apple Juice

    By sarajean on 3/24/10 8:21am
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    A public outcry over all of the dangerous chemicals that exist in everything from our beds to our Tupperware has been going on for decades. Though once a quiet but steady hum, it’s now a loud cacophony demanding attention—we want safe products now!

    And while we should be able to trust the stuff we cram last night’s tuna noodle casserole in, shouldn’t we be able to trust the tuna noodle casserole itself?

    Case in point: A new study was recently released about the arsenic levels in apple juice.

    That’s right—the trusty drink that decays teeth, gives us just enough sweetness to satisfy a craving, and works in a pinch when our kiddos are sick has arsenic in it. And it’s not just a little bit of arsenic, either.

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  • Jamie Oliver's "Food Revolution"

    By erika on 3/23/10 2:22pm
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    I just watched the first episode of Jamie Oliver's new show on Hulu, and I'm hooked!  Jamie Oliver is the celebrity British chef that many people love to hate.  And admittedly, his schtick on his original television show was often just too much to bear.  However, Jamie Oliver turns out to be far more than "the naked chef."  He's the Bono of the culinary set.

    Aside from starting an exclusive culinary institute for disadvantaged kids, Jamie Oliver is famous in Britain for having converted a school lunch program from gross processed food to, you know, REAL FOOD.  He called this campaign "Feed Me Better," and moved the British government to step into the issue of what's being fed to school children.  This was the subject of a four-part BBC documentary titled "Jamie's School Dinners."


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