Healthy Eating

Testing Matzo Ball Mixes: Whole Wheat Onion Soup, Potato Dumpling Whole Grain

Nothing says Passover like a bowl of homemade chicken soup with matzo balls. For the seder feasts, that's the way to go. But what about lunch on, say, day four of the week-long holiday? By that time, the idea of yet another matzo sandwich starts to get old. We wondered if some of the fresh spins on ... More >>

Study: Eating Lots of Fruits and Vegetables May Help Asthma Sufferers

Eating lots of fruits and vegetables may help reduce asthma symptoms, according to a recent study. But if you're one of the 25 million Americans with the breathing disorder, the take-away message is not that you should rely solely on dietary improvements. "One of the dangers here is that people pic ... More >>

Better Food for Dogs, A Doggie Diet Resolution A Peanut Butter Dog Treat Recipe

And so the month of dieting, and best-selling diet books, begins. Judging by the stacks on our desk, this year's back cover theme is the anti-diet, with books like The Parisian Diet: How to Reach Your Right Weight and Stay There promising a "sensible and holistic approach ... not a flash-in-the-pan ... More >>

Martha Stewart's Cooking School: Episode 6, Rice

See also: The Martha Stewart Cooking School archives. Rice can be an unsung hero at times -- taken for granted, treated as merely a bed on which to lay more interesting food, or as filler, say, in a burrito. It's an everyday item, thus we often forget to appreciate the many roles it can play in our ... More >>

Yogurt Linked to Lower Blood Pressure

People who ate yogurt once every three days had significantly lower blood pressure than those who didn't eat yogurt, according to a new study reported in MedPage Today. In fact, they were 31% less likely to develop high blood pressure than those who ate no yogurt at all, Huifen Wang, Ph.D., of Tuft ... More >>

Eating Fatty Foods During Pregnancy Linked to Breast Cancer in Offspring

In the "Well This Really Sucks" department, a new study has found that women who eat a lot of fatty foods during pregnancy increase their daughters' -- and even their granddaughters' -- chances of getting breast cancer, the UK's Daily Mail reports. Now we've gotta worry about what our grandmas ate ... More >>

McDonald's to Start Posting Calorie Counts on Menus

In what some might see as an attack on the Big Mac, McDonald's will start posting the calorie amounts of its fast food items on its menus starting next week, The New York Times reports. "We recognize customers want to know more about the nutrition content of the food and beverages they order," Jan ... More >>

A Recipe For Sardine-Stuffed Piquillo Peppers with Lemony Greens and Whole-Wheat Croutons

While the weather might be cooling off a little, it's still too hot to ignite the oven, stove and maybe even the barbecue. But it's never too warm for a nice meal. Especially when it's served with a cold beer. The trick is to make a satisfying, colorful and appetizing dish without cranking the heat, ... More >>

LAUSD Introduces New "Healthier" Menus

As back-to-school season rolls around and kids load up their backpacks for another year, it appears that schoolchildren in L.A. County can look for some improvements in the cafeteria -- more nutritionally balanced meals in the lunchroom, eco-friendly trays, breakfast served in the classroom -- thank ... More >>

Cookbook Of The Week: Grain Mains Is Not Your Average Whole Grain Dinner

Prolific cookbook authors Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough have been on a carnivorous Goat and Ham recipe testing kick in recent years, so perhaps they were having a subconscious Morgan Spurlock post Super Size Me cleansing moment with their latest cookbook, Grain Mains. Or maybe they were simply ... More >>

Altadena's John Muir High Starts Produce Subscription Service

Los Angeles is no stranger to C.S.A. (community supported agriculture) subscriptions -- services that offer a curated box of fresh, seasonal produce delivered or picked up each week by community members for a monthly fee -- but none of them quite resemble the latest project from Atladena's John Muir ... More >>

Fruits and Vegetables May Help Smokers Kick the Habit

If you're trying to quit smoking, you might want to take a trip to your local farmers market: According to a study conducted by University at Buffalo researchers, eating fruits and vegetables may help smokers kick the habit. One thousand smokers 25 years or older were surveyed about their smoking ... More >>

Why Salad Dressing May Be Good For You

If you think you're doing your health a favor by forgoing blue cheese or ranch dressing in favor of vinaigrette on your salad, you may be needlessly depriving yourself. According to a new study, fat is necessary for your body to process the vitamins and nutrients in vegetables, especially caroteno ... More >>

Study: Losing Sleep Results in Unhealthy Food Choices

If you've ever stayed up too late, got up too early, and grabbed, say, a pint of ice-cream rather than a cup of yoghurt for breakfast, there may be very good reason for your morning sweet tooth: In a study exploring the relationship between obesity and sleep deprivation, researchers from St. Luke's ... More >>

7-Eleven Introduces Slurpee Lite Free Slurpee Day

7-Eleven is introducing a new low-calorie, sugar-free Slurpee at its stores nationwide this week. The offering targets women in their 20s who have bought into the whole "skinny girl" hoopla. Right off the bat, we see a couple of problems with this move. One, we weren't aware that anyone over the ag ... More >>

Nutella Settles Lawsuit Over 'Healthy Breakfast' Claims

Nutella isn't a health food? But it's made with hazelnuts -- nuts are good for you. And chocolate -- doesn't chocolate contain healthy antioxidants? Two class-action lawsuits against Ferrero, the maker of Nutella, say the company's claims in a recent TV commercial that Nutella spread on toast makes ... More >>

Trader Joe's Quick-Cook Organic Brown Basmati Rice: Scarified, Scary or Dinner

We've always believed that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. With that in mind, we've shied away from parboiled rice. But the other day, a bag on the shelf at Trader Joe's caught our eye. Organic, dry, brown basmati rice from India labeled "quick-cook." The front of the bag bra ... More >>

Popcorn Packs More Antioxidants Than Fruits & Vegetables, Study Finds

One serving of popcorn may contain more antioxidants than a day's worth of fruits or vegetables, according to a new study by Joe Vinson, a chemist at Pennsylvania's University of Scranton, reports WebMD. Vinson calls the popped treat "the perfect snack food," the only snack that is 100% whole grain. ... More >>

Eating Veggies Makes You Prettier, Study Says

Eating fruits and vegetables isn't just good for you on the inside, it makes you prettier, NPR reports. Apparently produce gives you a healthful glow by actually tinting your skin lovely shades of yellow and red. Researchers at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland found that people's skin col ... More >>

Red Meat Linked to Premature Death, Study Shows

The latest addition to the list of things that can send you to an untimely grave: red meat. A study published yesterday by the Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that eating a single serving of red meat per day may raise the risk of early morality by as much as 13 percent. The results of the s ... More >>

Funny Food Cookbook: Just Imagine The Election Year Breakfast Table Fun

Sure, the intended audience for Funny Food: 365 Fun, Healthy, Silly, Creative Breakfasts, to be released later this month, is a few decades younger than we are. But hey, we could all use a little more food fun in these days of infinite online cassoulet critics, no? And it is pretty funny how those t ... More >>

10 Best Bakeries in Los Angeles

A. ScattergoodBread At Milo & Olive​San Francisco sourdough? You may have noticed beneath that smoky (wood-burning oven?) haze, L.A. has a new whole grain baguette, flaky croissant (even at LAX) and yes, crusty sourdough advantage. Here are our picks for the 10 Best Bakeries in L.A.. It's the ... More >>

Study Names 10 Worst Children's Cereals

Flickr/Dalboz17Apple Jacks ranked as the 8th worst kids cereal​According to a new study by the Environmental Working Group, some children's cereals contain more sugar than Twinkies and Chips Ahoy! cookies. The worst offender, Kellogg's Honey Smacks, is nearly a whopping 56% sugar by weight. Fo ... More >>

Arsenic Hysteria: Now It's Been Found in Rice

Flickr/DanoIt looks so harmless.​ First it was apple juice. Now researchers say there is inorganic arsenic in rice, and that it could particularly affect pregnant women, CBS News reports. Arsenic is able to cross the placenta and may harm a developing baby. For the study, researchers measure ... More >>

Eat More Pork: 8 Reasons Why It's Good For You

Guzzle & NoshA shot of the menu at Palsaik​Pork is good for you, full of life-preserving nutrients and vitamins, didn't you know? We recently spotted this list of pork belly's health benefits on the menu at Palsaik Samgyeopsal, a Koreatown sam-gyeopsal house. That'd be a restaurant specializin ... More >>

Los Feliz Residents Protest Lassen's Takeover of Nature Mart, Support for Prop 8

​Los Feliz health food store Nature Mart officially closed in late October, replaced by Lassen's, a small, locally-based chain. Some residents are crying foul because the new owners supported Proposition 8, the anti-gay marriage initiative, and vowing to boycott the new incarnation of the Hill ... More >>

Eating Junk Food May Lower Sperm Count

Flickr/ebruliMore fries, less sperm?​ Eating a diet high in junk food could make sperm sparse, slow and obese, a pair of studies presented Monday at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. suggest. The research highlights an apparent link between nutritio ... More >>

Jerry Brown Contemplates Signing the California Healthy Food Initiative

Arugula, whole grains, and heirloom apples may be going the way of paved roads and clean water. Last week, the California Healthy Food Initiative dropped like a sack of sweet potatoes on Gov. Jerry Brown's desk. One sweeping John Hancock away from becoming law, this statewide bill claims that publ ... More >>

Book Review: Eat This, Not That!, Again!

You Choose​Authors David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding are releasing another edition of Eat This Not That!. The 12th edition, we are told via a press release, with new "easy swaps to help consumers lose pounds fast!" (their emphasis, not ours). Are you ready? In the Introduction, the book begi ... More >>

Infographic of the Day: Plotting Food Costs vs. Food Prices

T. NguyenA buck buys you a whole lot of calories, sugar, and sodium.​Way back in 2004, University of Washington researcher Adam Drewnowski explored the relationship between poverty and obesity, finding that foods in supermarket middle aisles - mostly processed junk - delivered the most calorie ... More >>

[Updated] Michelle Obama Announces Retailers Will Expand Into Food "Deserts"

Samantha Appleton/White HouseThe First Lady and elementary school students tend the White House garden​ Update 11:50 a.m. 7/20/2011 - Mayor Manuel Lozano spoke before Obama about his work in Baldwin Park, along with James Gavin III, chairman of the Partnership for a Healthier America's Board ... More >>

19 Chain Restaurants Join Initiative to Offer Healthier Kids' Meals

Flickr/fdecomite​ Nineteen restaurant chains, including Burger King and IHOP, have agreed to participate in a restaurant industry effort to promote healthier meals for children, Reuters reports. Conceived of by the National Restaurant Association, the voluntary program will focus on boosting ... More >>

Best New Semi-Local Whole Wheat Flour: Community Grains' Winter Wheat

JgarbeeCalifornia Grown And Milled Whole Wheat​You might say Community Grains has a now-typical California restaurant-to-home-kitchen story, one most often recounted whenever Nancy Silverton, Campanile and La Brea Bakery wind up in the same sentence. The small Woodland-based mill also sprang u ... More >>

Why Los Angeles Schoolkids Get Lousy Meals

USDA Unveils New Food Chart: No More Pyramid Schemes

​ This morning the USDA unveiled their new food chart, finally replacing the food pyramid which first debuted -- and was trashed pretty much since -- in 1992. The new chart also comes with its own new website, ChooseMyPlate.gov. The food pyramid, you will doubtless remember, is that irritating ... More >>

Cookbook Review: Ancient Grains for Modern Meals

​Will we ever see the day when a whole grain baking book completely omits the word "healthy" in one of its many thinly veiled forms (health-conscious, nutritious, guilt-free)? Ancient Grains for Modern Meals gets pretty close. Most of the health-touting is on the publisher's sales pitch side i ... More >>

Top 5 Old School Indie L.A. Health Food Stores

J. Ritz​ Close your eyes and breathe. Deeply. Smell those bulk whole grains commingling with the aromas of spirulina, alternative pastas, sprouts of all types, and freshly juiced wheatgrass? Now take a look around. See the earnest hand-painted signs promoting health tips? Notice the knotty pin ... More >>

USDA Releases Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010: Drink Water, Eat Less. Go Figure.

USDA​Yesterday the USDA released the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Got a pen? A keyboard? Your Twitter app? And it's not a lot of governmentalese this time (well, okay it is), but some very sensible recommendations. Eat less, drink more water rather than sugary drinks, seriously lower ... More >>

New Menus at LAUSD, But Are They Improved?

Lara604/Flickr​When it comes to school lunches, is the turkey pepperoni in that calzone really an improvement? Some, such as advocacy group Food For Lunch, say it's not enough of one. New menus have been approved for LAUSD school breakfasts and lunches, boasting at least somewhat of a nutriti ... More >>

Time for a New Food Pyramid? GOOD Reveals Winner of Food Pyramid Contest

USDAIs this outdated?​Remember the food pyramid? It's the thing that told us to eat less sweets, fats, dairy, and meat, and more fruits, vegetables, and grains. Well, the food world is always changing, and so too are our diets. That's why the people over at GOOD recently held a competition to ... More >>

Cookbook Review: Cooking With Wholegrains, A 1951 Primer A Whole Wheat-Cornmeal Gingerbread Recipe

​One could presume that Mildred Ellen Orton, founder along with her husband of the Vermont County Store ate a lot of whole grains. Straight up (she died this year at the age of 99 years-old). And so it seems fitting that her 1951 cookbook -- pamphlet, really -- Cooking with Wholegrains: The Ba ... More >>

Best Whole Wheat Baker: Euro Pane 2

A. ScattergoodEuro Pane 2​ Imagine if your favorite bakery - blissful croissants, perfectly made canelés, crusty boules, an egg salad sandwich so exactly rendered that it would cause an Old Town riot if it were ever removed from the menu - reappeared, a few blocks down the street, with most ... More >>

Elena Kagan On Your Daily Fruit & Vegetable Requirements, Maybe

Can the government really make you eat your fruits and vegetables? Can Elena Kagan? Can Senator Tom Coburn (R-Oklahoma)? Perhaps not, but they can force you to watch more Senate confirmation hearings. Elena Kagan will almost certainly become the nation's 112th Supreme Court justice, but that didn't ... More >>

Respite From Continuous Stream Of Bad News: 40 States Fatter Than California

Mississippi on the left; we're on the right.​ A new report from from the Trust for America's Health confirms it: We're not as unhealthy as the rest of really unhealthy America. Sure, we're pretty unhealthy, but for now let's take in the good news and celebrate with a Double Down. California ... More >>

Texas Lingerie Store Forced To Get Food Permit For Selling Edible Underwear

Christie BishopSan Antonio's New Food Pyramid​ We're all familiar with the six food groups: meat, dairy, vegetables, bread, fruits and fats. But here's a food pyramid pop quiz for you: under which group - if any - would edible panties fall? That's an issue Rosemary Benitez, owner of San Anton ... More >>

Euro Pane #2 Soft Opens in Pasadena

Although slated to open the 1st of May, the second Euro Pane soft opened today. Baker-owner Sumi Chang says she's just testing things out until the café has its formal opening next Monday, with pastries, coffee, and a simple lunch menu. The bakery goes with the grain of this pretty awesome family t ... More >>

Love is in the Aisles: A Valentine's Day Mixer at Whole Foods

william c hutton jr via Flickr​Tonight you can pick up more than vanilla rice milk and whole grain Puffins at Whole Foods. The organic health foods market in Venice is hosting its second annual Valentine's Day singles mixer at the in-store wine tasting bar from 6-7:30 p.m. Though you may not ... More >>

A Recipe From the Chef: Zoe Nathan's Whole Wheat Shortbread Cookies

Huckleberry Café in Santa Monica is a pretty great place to stop in, seeking refuge from inclement weather or traffic or hunger, or some combination of the three. The other morning, Nathan was bustling around the crowded shop and bakery, having recently baked off a batch of these shortbread cookies ... More >>

Stone Ground Bakery in Agoura Hills: Handmade Challah for Rosh Hashana

Drive up the 101 past the city, into the hills nearing Ventura, to a little strip mall right off the freeway in Agoura Hills, and you'll find a bakery that feels unquestionably like Europe and has some of the best challah you'll find in town or out of it. Stone Ground Bakery, which celebrated its fi ... More >>

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