In Defense Of Ultra-Processed Foods

Ultra-processed foods, a label coined in research by a Brazilian pediatrician, have been targeted as a menace to society for quite some time, mostly by environmental advocates and health professionals.

Wandering through the grocery store, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the numerous brands and health claims on the dozens of sugar substitutes.

The legalization of marijuana has been a topic of contention and confusion for both sides of the debate.

My go-to green smoothie recipe is perfect for any type of health, fitness or weight loss goal. It's low in sugar and packed with protein and healthy fats, so not only is it delicious

These gluten-free chocolate chip cookies have been my go-to cookie recipe for over ten years. They are crispy on the outside and soft, gooey and chewy on the inside.

Humans are complicated, and there are many things that influence our health.

For most infections, the long-standing advice is to take a full course of antibiotics.

Americans and others around the world have turned increasingly to dietary supplements in order to maintain or preserve their brain health.

Have Americans forgotten how to cook? Many lament the fact that Americans spend less time cooking than they did in previous generations. 

Salmon is not only tasty but is prized for being low fat and high in rich omega-3 oils.

If you’re a red meat-eater, there’s a good chance you’re eating more of it than you should. At last count, Australians ate an average of 81 grams of red meat per day.

According to the World Health Organisation, iron deficiency – a condition where your body doesn’t have enough of the mineral iron – is a global public health problem of “epidemic proportions”.

A few years ago, convincing meat-free “meat” was nothing more than a distant dream for most consumers.

It seems like every day a new study is published that links the bacteria in the gut to a specific disease or health condition.

South Africa has the highest rates of childhood obesity in the world, with an alarming figure of 13%.

The Kakadu Plum fruiting season in the Top End in Australia is just finishing. Over one weekend, I was able to find a few fruits on the ground beneath some trees in the Eucalypt woodland near Darwin.

A new study links long-term use of proton pump inhibitors to fatal cases of cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and upper gastrointestinal cancer.

A synthetic, non-intoxicating analogue of cannabidiol can effectively treat seizures, according to new research with rats.

If you’ve ever stopped to admire a birch tree, you may unknowingly have something in common with a 5,300-year-old mummy called Ötzi.

Many people seek complementary treatments for various ailments. Perhaps herbal remedies to cure a cold, or acupuncture to ease lower back pain.

New research with fruit flies suggests how a high-sugar diet can promote overeating and obesity.

Three plants from a guide to traditional plant remedies of the South that the Confederate Surgeon General commissioned during the height of the Civil War have antiseptic properties, according to new research.

The current trend for certain foods and dietary components to be called “superfoods” is frequently associated with exotic and expensive products. 

The leaves of a variety of medicinal plants can stop the growth of breast, cervical, colon, leukemia, liver, ovarian, and uterine cancer, a new study shows.

We choose to spend money on household items based on how they look, feel and taste, and how we think they might make our lives better.

Keto, low-carb, low glycemic index, Mediterranean, DASH diet, low-fat: there are a dizzying array of diets claiming to optimize health. Some are based on sound science and some are not...

Baked Lemon Garlic Chicken is easy, juicy and full of flavor. This is a chicken breast recipe that will not let you down and that your whole family can enjoy. 

Superfoods is a buzzword now part of mainstream food and health language, often touted as miracle foods that cure all ills, stave off ageing and disease, or aid weight loss.

The drugs apixaban and clopidogrel—without aspirin—comprise the safest treatment regimen for certain patients with atrial fibrillation (A-fib), according to new research.

Foodborne pathogens account for about four million illnesses in Canada annually, affecting one in eight Canadians.

Making a delicious caesar salad is all about having a great caesar dressing recipe.

We know we should eat less junk food, such as crisps, industrially made pizzas and sugar-sweetened drinks, because of their high calorie content.

It’s been 50 years in the making, but the anaesthetic and illicit party drug ketamine is now having a clinical comeback.

The arguments about risk and unnaturalness that support the European Union’s strict policy on genetically modified crops don’t stand up to scrutiny, a new study concludes.

Mmmm, cheese – a food as nutritious as it is delicious. Or is it?

These oils and recipes are sure to assist us with opening lines of communication between our loved ones and us. Communi­cation is the key to a successful relationship between you and humanity. Communica­tion, feelings, desires, and repressed anger come from the throat chakra.

This Gluten Free Carrot Cake is moist, fluffy and super flavorful. It's 100% free of grains, gluten and refines sugar and so easy to make. This carrot cake would be a great addition to an Easter Brunch,

A vegetable frittata is close to the perfect meal! It’s loaded with veggies, packed with protein and healthy fats, and works well for breakfast, lunch or dinner. This would be a great recipe for Easter,

Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-intoxicating compound of the Cannabis plant, has exploded in popularity in recent times, touted as a medical “cure-all”.

We are surrounded by an abundance of delicious food. Throughout the developed world, cooking shows saturate our televisions and streaming video feeds advertise greasy burgers and decadent chocolates

Learn how to cook crispy baked tofu three delicious ways. The base of this tofu recipe is made up low-sodium tamari, avocado oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder and cornstarch. 

After childhood, about two-thirds of the world’s human population loses the ability to digest milk. As far as we know, 100% of nonhuman mammals also lose this ability after weaning. The ongoing ability to digest lactose, the main sugar in milk, into adulthood is a biological abnormality.

People eat animals that eat plants. If we just eliminate that middle step and eat plants directly, we would diminish our carbon footprint, decrease agricultural land usage,

One in 6 American children faces hunger and 3 out of 4 teachers report regularly seeing hungry kids in their classrooms. In response, school meals make up a large fraction of federal food assistance.

A recent study shows that a gamechanger drug called Fevipiprant promises to lower patients’ risks of suffering an asthma attack and being admitted to a hospital.

Taste is a complex phenomenon. We do not experience the sensation through a single sense (as we would when we see something using our sense of sight, for example) but rather it is made up of the five senses working together to allow us to appreciate and enjoy food and drink. 

Viagra is one brand name of a drug that is used to treat erectile dysfunction (impotence): the inability to get, and maintain, an erection.

It’s happened to most of us – we walk past a restaurant, cafe or bakery and something catches our attention. A delicious smell wafts out the door and our tastebuds start tingling.

Dementia is a cruel disease that robs people of their memory, their judgement and their identity. Unfortunately, there is no cure, and in the past few years a number of clinical trials for new dementia drugs have failed

For decades, millions of patients have been taking a daily Aspirin in an attempt to prevent hearts attacks and strokes.

Probiotics can evolve inside the body and have the potential to become less effective and sometimes even harmful, new research finds.

Governments are always telling us to eat less and exercise more to be healthier, but this presents an obvious problem.

We all understand that eating too much of the wrong foods – those that are high in energy and low in nutrients, such as fast foods, processed foods and takeaways – causes weight gain and can lead to obesity.

Egg salad is an easy, healthy recipe that can be with or without mayonnaise, depending on your preference. Learn how to make a classic egg salad (with mayo) and an avocado egg salad without mayonnaise.

Braised red cabbage is sweet, sour, tender and buttery. It's an easy healthy side dish to serve alongside side roasted chicken or fish. I first tasted braised red cabbage at Houston's restaurant and have

One in five children in England are overweight by the time they start primary school. Nationally, children are weighed and measured, aged four to five, during their first year of school.

Baked chicken breasts that are super juicy and flavorful. Learn my simple tips to avoid making baked chicken breasts that are dried out and overcooked so that you and your family can enjoy baked chicken

As well as our physical health, the quality of our diet matters for our mental and brain health. 

Trying to keep up with what constitutes a “healthy” diet can be exhausting. With unending options at the supermarket, and diet advice coming from all directions, filling your shopping trolley with the right things can seem an overwhelming task.

Eating breakfast as a family can help promote a positive body image for children and adolescents, a new study suggests.

Adults who eat more dietary cholesterol—such as that in eggs—have a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular disease and of death from any cause, a new study reports.

Seniors who consume more than two standard portions of mushrooms weekly may have 50 percent reduced odds of having mild cognitive impairment (MCI), according to a new study.

It’s hard to keep up with the message on eggs. Are they good for you or not? In the 1960s, people were told: “Go to work on an egg”. But in the 1970s the public was advised to avoid eggs because they were linked to high blood cholesterol. The negative press on eggs continued in the 1980s...

Food allergies are on the increase worldwide, ranging from minor inconvenience to possible sudden death, and leading to warnings of an “allergy epidemic”.

One of the largest meat processors in the UK, supplying supermarkets across the country with beef, pork, and lamb, has launched a plant-based meat alternative.

Medical marijuana is legal in 33 states as of November 2018. Yet the federal government still insists marijuana has no legal use and is easy to abuse. In the meantime, medical marijuana dispensaries have an increasing...

Fad diets have long been brushed off as selfish, superficial quests to lose weight.

Meat consumption in North America is changing. Product developers and policy-makers need to understand the reasons for that change.

Many people achieve short-term weight-loss only to return to their previous lifestyle choices – and their previous weight – over time. This can lead to yo-yoing between weight loss and weight gain.

Glyphosate is back in the news again. The common weed killer, which has previously attracted controversy for its possible link to cancer, has been found in beer and wine.

The number of people in Australia who follow vegetarian or plant-based diets is growing rapidly. People might choose to be vegetarian for ethical, cultural or health-related reasons.

Everyone loves pancakes and wants to know the secret of cooking them.

Vegetarianism is on the rise in Australia, as many vegetarians will gladly tell you.

For the past decade we’ve consistently heard antibiotics don’t work as well as they used to

The world is in the grips of a food-tech revolution. One of the most compelling new developments is cultured meat, also known as clean, cell-based or slaughter-free meat.

Soybean oil may be better than fish oil for reducing cancer-related fatigue in breast cancer survivors, according to a new study.

High fat, low fat, no carb, more carb: when it comes to getting information on eating to manage high blood cholesterol, confusion reigns.

Worldwide, more than 300 million people live with depression. Without effective treatment, the condition can make it difficult to work and maintain relationships with family and friends.

The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend we eat 30g of nuts – a small handful – each day. But many of us know nuts are high in calories and fat.

Mindfulness has helped many people to develop the skills necessary to manage chronic pain, depression, anxiety, stress and sleeping disorders.

We tell ourselves science is king, but our understanding of the world is shaped through story. We tell stories about the past and call it history. We tell stories about the present and call it news. Our stories about how to act, think, and live are called culture. And our stories about how the natural world works are called science.

It is so incredibly easy to get sucked into the illusion that weight loss is all about food. The logical mind thinks, “Why wouldn’t it be? What I eat is causing my weight gain, so this must be about food.” This initiates the quest to try every diet out there, in order to get your body to a place where you feel “good enough.” Confident. Worthy. Desired. Happy.

Although people have been eating wheat for thousands of years, one third of US adults now shun foods containing wheat in an effort to avoid gluten.

It is well known that eating lots of fruit and vegetables is good for your physical health, but our latest research suggests that it might be good for your mental health too.

Some cannabinoid compounds may inhibit the growth of colon cancer cells, according to new research.

Cardiovascular disease is responsible for more than 30% of the total number of deaths worldwide, and every year more people are being diagnosed with the condition.

The Food Price Report 2019, released by Dalhousie University and the University of Guelph in December, suggested vegetable prices will go up by as much as six per cent this year.

Plenty of us have been there: waking up after a night out with a thumping headache, feeling sick and swearing never to touch alcohol again.

In simple gardeners’ terms that means we plant pulses one year, a cereal such as wheat or barley the next year and then an oil seed such as canola in the third year.

Cannabidiol, or CBD, has become a household name. On many social media sites, people suggest “but have you tried CBD oil?” on posts pertaining to any health-related issue.

Many people will have had their fill of cheese, chocolate and meat over Christmas and have felt much more energised after going vegan in January (an event known as Veganuary).

Breakfast, we are told, is the most important meal of the day. Over the last 50 years, we have been bombarded with messages extolling the health benefits of processed cereals and porridge oats.

Meal-replacement diets, where some meals are replaced with soups, shakes or bars, have been making a comeback.

We have all heard the popular advice that we should drink at least eight glasses of water a day, so it may be a surprise that this is more myth than fact.

More climate-friendly diets are also healthier, according to a study examining the carbon footprint of what more than 16,000 Americans eat in a day.

You can take everyday foods and transform them into delicious superfoods at home in your kitchen with minimal effort and almost no money! Simply by fer­menting foods, you significantly multiply their health-building properties. Everyday foods like yogurt and sauerkraut are just the beginning of what is possible.

Every year Australia’s councils contest the academy awards of the water industry: the Best Tasting Tap Water in Australia. Entrants compete on clarity and colour as well as taste and odour.

In the past 30 years, food allergies have become increasingly common in the United States. Changes to human genetics can’t explain the sudden rise.

Every unhappy family might be unhappy in its own way, but when they sit down together at the table, they’re alike according to one important measure: they eat better.

In this new year, millions of Americans will make resolutions about healthier eating. In 2019, could U.S. government leaders further resolve to improve healthier eating as well, joining public health experts in seeing that food is medicine?