theredstove

nuts

The Journal of the American College of Cardiology has just put out a study on walnuts. Test done at the University of Barcelona's Hospital Clínico have shown that a handful of walnuts, taken before meals high in saturated fat, prevent the saturated fats from harming  the arteries. Emilio Ros, MD, PhD, director of the Lipid Clinic at Hospital Clínico in Barcelona, Spain adds this,

Each time we eat a high-fat meal, the fat molecules trigger an inflammatory reaction that, among other ill effects, reduces the elasticity of the arteries. Over time, this repeated damage is thought to contribute to hardening of the arteries and, in turn, to heart disease. Our latest research shows that eating walnuts helps to maintain the elasticity of the arteries.

flake or puff

How do you like your breakfast cereal, puffed or flaked? If you are into nutrition, the Journal of Food Chemistry's report shows that flakes make a more nutritious meal. It has to do with heating sugars and amino acids. Heat produces the golden brown quality in cereals, to much heat inhibits the availability of nutrients for the body. Puffed cereals require more heat to manufacture than their flaked counterparts.

hi-def super food

Seems like every week a new study comes out on how great the pomegranate is. The studies are right. Vanderbilt University Medical Center just found that people who drink pomegranate juice, three or more times a week, are at a 76 percent less likely to show sings of Alzheimer's disease than those who only had the juice once a week. My study found it also taste good.

life saver

Lycopene is a super strong antioxidant that may help prevent some forms of cancer and heart disease. Tomatoes contain lycopene, but watermelons have higher concentrations. Chemist  Wayne Fish, at the South Central Agricultural Research Laboratory in Lane, Oklahoma, has developed a extraction method for Lycopene  in watermelons. This new method keeps the lycopene in its natural state, when left with its membrane, the lycopene has a longer shelf life. This new method also can be used with the leftover melons that don't make the consumer grade, due to small size or blemishes.  While waiting for the pill form to come to a store near you, buy a fresh watermelon and enjoy.  

hi-def food

This photo was processed with a new technique called HDR. The idea is to take several pictures of the same subject, at different exposures, and combine them into a single  image that is closer to the way our eyes see the world. Shadows are rich and full of detail. Colors are deep and vivid.

Food is not easy to photograph. We eat with our eyes, any color that's off in the slightest will ruin our appetite. That's why so much of modern food photography is blurry, only a small part of the subject may be in focus. The thing is, who sees food like this?

I think HDR could be a great tool to show food in a more realistic light. More HDR photos are on the way, here at Theredstove.

two heartburn treatments

Researchers at Stanford have found that citrus fruits, caffeine and spicy foods do not cause heartburn.

The study found that eating less and elevating the head of your bed, thus preventing stomach acid from moving back into the esophagus during sleep, were the two most effective ways to prevent heartburn.

better than water

Save your life...drink green tea. The European Journal of Clinical Nutrition just put out a report on the benefits of drinking green tea. Tea has the same ability to rehydrate your body as water, but green tea also has antioxidants that may help prevent all sorts of illnesses.

Supercentenarian

George Johnson died Aug. 30, 2006, he was 112 years old. Dr. L Stephen Coles, of UCLA, "He had terrible bad habits. He had a diet largely of sausages and waffles.'' Dr. Cole, who participated in an autopsy of George, was surprised by the outcome. Dr. Cole noted that, all of his organs were extremely youthful. They could have been the organs of someone who was 50 or 60 not 112. Clearly his genes had some secrets. That may well be, but I would love to know where he got his sausage.

Spaced-out food

Vickie Kloeris, a manager with the NASA space food program for 21 years, says that NASA didn't invent Tang or freeze-drying. This has come as somewhat of a blow to me, having grown up with the space program and all of the inventions associated with space exploration. On the bright side,  Emeril Lagasse has hired on with NASA. So far he has developed five recipes for the space shuttle Discovery. Will Bam! work in the zero gravity of space? Let's leave that one to the rocket scientist.

egg color

F.Y. I. White eggs come from white chickens, and brown eggs come from
you guessed it brown birds. There is no difference betwixt and between
them.