Author: Catherine

But eating a more colourful diet may also increase the risk of overeating unhealthy food. Embling has found that we're more likely to eat more pizza when it has lots of different coloured toppings. She advises eating varied colours for fruit and vegetables but opting for a smaller colour palette for more indulgent foods. It's also worth noting that artificial colouring in foods, such as cake and sweets, sadly don't count towards a varied healthy diet. There are other ways, aside from colour, to get a range of nutrients and phytonutrients from your diet, researchers say, such as paying attention to taste. One study found that participants who ate bitter and strong-tasting vegetablesover 12 weeks had lower blood pressure and blood sugar at the end, because of their fibre content and the ran...

A new video series from Scientific American and Spektrum der Wissenschaftgives you a serving of science. In this episode, we take a look at something called inulin. See the German-language version of this piece at Spektrum der Wissenschaft. Have you ever heard of inulin? Even if you haven’t, you’ve likely eaten it. It’s a naturally occurring form of dietary fiber. You can find it in a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs, including wheat, onions, bananas, leeks, artichokes and asparagus. It’s said that cooking itself is really just chemistry – and for inulin, chemistry has given it some surprising culinary abilities across a range of foods. Inulin belongs to a class of dietary fibers called fructans. It helps plants store energy and is typically found in their roots. Keep r...

The best commute I've ever had started in the pre-dawn darkness. Some days it was a struggle to shake off my sleep, but the view of the rising sun above the mist-shrouded Tennessee hills was a comforting sight. The only thing missing was the crow of a rooster, so the farm dogs compensated with wagging tails. After parking in a gravel lot beside the barn, the first step was to pull on my boots. I spent two summers working on an organic farm near Nashville. It taught me countless life lessons and introduced me to the most down-to-earth people I've ever known. I witnessed firsthand the meticulous cultivation of food as it traveled from the soil to a customer's hand. I learned how to produce the food that feeds communities across the US. Before working there, I'd say I was obsessed with orga...