This week's compost

1.      The secret of the Mediterranean diet? There is no secret.

‘NHS Choices actively encourages us to "make our diets more Mediterranean" by, among other things, "eating more bread and pasta" (studiously ignoring the growing body of evidence that implicates refined carbohydrates in obesity) and telling us, somewhat inarticulately, to eat "more fruit and salad, including tomatoes and vegetables". But this reheated, rehashed "Mediterranean" diet increasingly looks like a lazy student's essay cobbled together from out-of-date textbooks.’

How often does one have to say it before it dies a natural death...oh, wait, it can’t because it’s Mediterranean L

http://bit.ly/1lT8YIm

2.      Unfiltered beer: would you drink a cloudy pint?

‘‘Far from clear, these beers are opaque on a spectrum from hazy to weak, milky tea. Such is the growth in unfiltered craft beers that this style has been dubbed (mainly by its detractors) as "London murky".’

Having recently had my first meeting with orange wine (NOT Orange wine) and quite enjoyed it cheers thanks a lot, and having pulled some shockingly cloudy beers in my time as a RAS, I have no qualms whatsoever if the taste is on a par with some of the boutique beers around Sydney these days

http://bit.ly/SvigSm

3.      Going to the US ?

Check out Food: Transforming the American Table, 1950-2000 at the Smithsonian. The exhibit highlights how American eating and shopping habits have changed during those five decades, and the museum compiled this retrospective to show the progression and evolution of the changes leading up to what shows up at the American table.

There is online version of the exhibition too to while away an hour or two... http://americanhistory.si.edu/food

How fab if an Australian Uni did something similar.

4.      The Men Who Made Us Fat

A three-parter of which the first episode went in hard on sugar and the food and soft drink  industry.  Made me reach for a highly sugared carbonated drink instantly.

No but really do programs like these get to those who need to see them – well probably not when they are programmed at 9.30 on Thursday night on ABC.

http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/men-who-made-us-fat/ZX9890A001S00#playing