These posts take a look at the connection between ethical consumerism and health, two topics that are often connected. The good news is that there is often a pretty good correlation between the two: The foods that are best for our planet often rank as the healthiest foods, and vice versa.
Sometimes, however, fad diets and industry-sponsored misinformation send us in the wrong direction. I examine a few of these topics, such as campaigns to misinform the public on two of the most sustainable categories of food that our population currently relies on: carbohydrate-rich foods and legumes.
Ultimately there is an alignment between ethical consumerism and our health, and that (as Gandalf would say) is an encouraging thought. See also the Ethical Shopping Guide category for many more posts on the ethics of food, including a series on plant-based meat substitutes.
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Sales of plant-based meat substitutes are stagnating in the US – in fact they have been dropping since 2020. Competitive marketing tactics by the meat industry have focused on the perils of ultra-processed food. Continue reading Support for plant-based meat is slipping in America
Hey readers. Hope you are well, physically and mentally. Here are some tentative ideas about the link between coronavirus, zinc, and a natural product called quercetin, which is a flavonoid found in food. You’ve probably heard by now of the drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) that has been under investigation for treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Recommendations from Chinese doctors to employ it (the initial recommendation, … Continue reading Quercetin – a treatment for coronavirus?
Hey Folks! You would think that I’m finished critiquing the Paleo diet after the last post, but I want to focus on one major issue in this post: why are legumes banned by the Paleo Diet? Legumes (peas, beans, lentils, chickpeas, peanuts, etc.) are widely considered to be sustainable and healthy sources of protein, fiber, minerals, B-vitamins, folic acid, and other nutrients. They are unique … Continue reading Why are legumes banned by the Paleo Diet?
In this post I’m going to take a look at the “Paleo Diet” from a few perspectives: Is it based on solid science? Is it healthy? Is it good for the planet? In the last post I reviewed the scientific literature on the impact of low-carb diets on health and found that the evidence overwhelmingly showed that a low-carb diet reduces the human lifespan. The … Continue reading The Paleo Diet: science, health, and sustainability
Continuing on the theme of ethical consumerism and health, I’m going to take a look at the sustainability and health benefits of carbohydrates, and especially on the question of whether low-carb diets are good for you. But there’s a lot of material to cover, so I’m going to first look at scientific studies on low-carb diets and health.. Then, in the next couple of posts … Continue reading Are low-carb diets good for you? Sustainability and health benefits of carbs
In this first post on the relationship between ethical consumerism and health I’m going to take a look at the sustainability and health benefits of… seaweed! First I’ll cover the sustainability of seaweed and then the health benefits – and one health benefit in particular that made science headlines this month. Sustainability of seaweed I touched upon seaweed before, in a post on potato chips … Continue reading Why you should eat seaweed: sustainability and health benefits
Diet Books! How many do we need, really? I have to admit though, when I see a shiny new hardback in the local bookstore with an eye-catching image (a big stack of sinister-looking bagels, or a piece of broccoli in the shape of a brain) and an author with credentials – Dr. Mitch Somebody, M.D. – it’s hard not to get sucked in. Especially when … Continue reading Proteinaholic / Integrity in Science
The Green Stars Project 