For The Love of Food

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

This week sugar hijacks your brain, the blood type diet is debunked, and exercise improves your work-life balance.

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Links of the week

• Why American Women Aren’t Living as Long as They Should <<There are some haunting graphs in here that are worth remembering next time someone says “life expectancy is increasing.” (The Atlantic)
• How Fiber Prevents Diabetes, Obesity <<Really cool new research elucidating the mechanism on how fermentable fiber improves insulin sensitivity. Though it is obvious that vegetables and fruits are protective, there’s never been a good explanation as to why. This is a great start. (ScienceDaily)
• Healthy Eating: Americans’ Consuming Fewer Calories, Eating at Home (video autoplays, so consider turning down your volume first) <<Great news, and I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Real Food evangelists like Michael Pollan, Jamie Oliver and Michelle Obama have played a big role in improving America’s eating habits. (Wall Street Journal)
• GMO labeling: Is the fight worth it? <<Really smart arguments here. Worth a read. (Washington Post)
• Theory Behind Popular Blood-Type Diet Debunked <<It blows my mind how many well meaning, intelligent people have asked me about the blood type diet and/or told me they swear by it. Hopefully this new research will end the conversation. (ScienceDaily)
• Fast Food Not the Major Cause of Rising Childhood Obesity Rates, Study Finds <<Another shocker (not really). Turns out all the junk food that isn’t from McDonald’s is bad for kids too. Amazing. (ScienceDaily)
• Want a Better Work-Life Balance? Exercise, Study Finds <<It may seem counterintuitive that adding something to your day can decrease stress and increase productivity, but those of us who do it know it’s true. (ScienceDaily)
• Ways to Fall Asleep Faster <<Better sleep is one of the most underrated ways to encourage yourself to make better food choices. Here’s some techniques on how to actually achieve it. (Wall Street Journal)
• California Barley Bowl Recipe <<This sounds both delicious and satisfying, and looks absolutely beautiful. (101 Cookbooks)
• This is Your Brain on Sugar <<Cool breakdown of the science behind why some sugar is OK, but a lot is a big problem. (Lifehacker)

What inspired you this week?