Food & Nutrition

What's an "Impossible Burger" you ask? Among other things, it contains soy protein, sunflower oil and a plant-based binder that produces the right mouth/feel properties. But, no sooner than the FDA finally approved this creation for sale, the nutrition police are now saying that it just isn't healthy enough -- and that it may possibly harm us. Give us a break.
Nutrition facts labeling is changing. Coming soon to a product near you, there will be a new information line telling you how much of the total sugars content is added. But will the new labels make any sense? Angela Dowden weighs in.
Can we sufficiently alter our diet to eat our way out of a changing climate? Probably not. And even if we did it would require massive changes in what the world consumes. Changing diets would be good news for cows and sheep, less good for chickens and pigs, and tough on plants.
Various forms of calorie-restricted diets are all the rage. A study in The Lancet takes a detailed look at one version. It changes our biomarkers, but does it alter our health?
Nudges are a no-cost way of influencing peoples' decisions, and policymakers love 'em. Some nudges work better than others. Is it an appeal to our intellect, our feelings, or where a product sits on the supermarket shelf that most effectively alters our food choices? Let's find out.
A recent scare headline from CNN proclaimed that "a small glass of juice or soda a day is linked to increased risk of cancer, study finds." Ooh! That's really bad. Or it is? So many dietary studies turn out to be nonsense; they are the product of flawed observational studies. How about this one? Angela Dowden lets us know.
“An extra burger meal a day eats the brain away," is the sort of arresting headline you’d expect from a tabloid. But it actually comes directly from a recent university press release, relating to a review of the evidence around diet and dementia published in Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology. Nutritionist Angela Dowden assures us that a burger will not eat your brain.
Can a Livestock Revolution -- like Norman Borlaug's Green Revolution -- bring technological improvements to increase meat production in an environmentally responsible way? The Breakthrough Institute's whitepaper votes in the affirmative.
The truth is that sugar is just sugar. Neither good nor bad, but simply another dietary component that can be consumed in moderation without guilt or worry. 
We use all our senses while eating. We notice the taste, the crunchy feel, the snap, and the crackle and pop. As it turns out, whether we stand or sit may affect our perception of foods taste and are subsequent consumption.
This concoction is a brew made by smooshing fresh coffee in a blender with grass-fed, unsalted butter and oil. It was invented by Silicon Valley entrepreneur Dave Asprey, who created the recipe after feeling energized from drinking tea with yak butter (seriously) while meditating in Nepal. Is Bulletproof just a bunch of bull? Angela Dowden, an award-winning nutrition and health writer, isn't terribly impressed.