What’s going on…? The widely-held view is that we are eating too much and exercising too little, which results in an excess calorie balance that leads to weight-gain. This is the energy-balance (calories in — calories out) model of weight gain, and it is so pervasive that many treat it…

Omega-3 and supplements — The multi-billion dollar supplement industry might have peaked (in the UK at least). It has been a formidably effective industry, selling the promise of better health to the worried healthy. One supplement is holding out though — fish oil. Coming from a natural source (presumably fish) and with a beneficial…

What is the precision? — Wine labeling, regulated by legislation, ensures that the consumer is provided with facts about alcohol percentage and the number of ‘standard drinks’. Or does it? What do those numbers mean? Numbers have a habit of looking scientific, especially if they have a decimal point. So, a red wine label stating…

Discovery and supplementation — Vitamins mean business. We cannot live without them, and vitamin pills are big business (est. USD68 billion per year worldwide). Science has confirmed they’re essential for health, but is equivocal as to whether there is a benefit to vitamin supplementation in developed countries. We haven’t known about vitamins for all…

The taste of umami — Umami — Japanese for ‘deliciousness’ — is what we in the West might think of as savoury. The flavour is central to much Asian cooking, and the molecule responsible was first identified in the Japanese stock dashi. Recently, taste receptors for this molecule were shown to exist on our tongues…

How to slice an iced cake to protect left-overs — In 1906 a gentleman scholar was confronted with a significant problem for his wife and himself — how to cut a round cake to serve two people at afternoon tea, and preserve the remainder for the next day in good condition. The classic method is to cut it into wedges…

Taste, smell and the brain — The terms taste and flavour are often used interchangeably, but they do mean different things: taste is a basic sensation (salty, sweet, bitter, sour, savoury), whereas flavour is a complex perception. Taste seems to have evolved for specific biological purposes and serves vital functions. Taste is like the gatekeeper governing…

Their common origin in fermented fish — Sushi and tomato ketchup represent two culinary extremes — one associated with refined healthy eating and the other with American junk food. But remarkably, they share a common origin: fermented fish. It all began with the Chinese, as, in historical terms, almost everything did. In river and coastal regions of…

In search of wealth — The three most famous of the Iberian maritime explorers — Columbus, da Gama and Magellan — all had one thing in common; they didn’t set out to discover anything at all, but rather to find a route to Asia and thereby dominate the spice trade. It is difficult for us…

Musings on the martini — The martini: London gin, French or Italian vermouth, olives from the Mediterranean and American glamour. It could have been Cosmopolitan but that name is taken. The name comes from the Italian vermouth brand of Martini & Rossi (the surnames of the founders). Likewise, the French vermouth, Noilly Pratt, is named…

A helping hand for our microbiota? — There is an abundance of evidence that our gut microbiota influence many aspects of our biology, including brain function, and this evidence is only likely to get stronger with time. We also know that the gut microbiota are dysbiotic (imbalanced) in many clinical conditions. But, the question that is less…

The bacteria we host, but don’t let in — All the cells in our bodies are evolved bacteria, and nearly all harbour evolved bacteria within them. Further, all the surfaces of our bodies are teaming with resident bacteria (and other microorganisms such as fungi or viruses). There are roughly ten times more microbes on us than there are cells…

In a time long ago… Fermentation gives us wine, beer, chocolate, cheese, coffee, sauerkraut, kimchi, yoghurt and much more. It is the process whereby microorganisms, such as bacteria and yeasts, break down glucose or other carbohydrates to produce energy for themselves and release other byproducts. However, it is not only…

The fatty acids we store and how we make them — Carbohydrates dominate our food landscape and are endorsed by current dietary guidelines that recommend getting something like three-quarters of our calories from them. Carbohydrates are built with molecules of glucose, and from the perspective of our metabolism, they are simply a source of glucose, including glucose from starch (rice, wheat…

How and why do we live so long? — Our hunter-gatherer forebears would have had a high infant and juvenile mortality, which biases the calculation of population life expectancy and probably led to the famous ‘nasty, brutish and short’ (Thomas Hobbes) concept of our ancestors’ lives. But, those that did survive into adulthood could actually live a long time…

An evolutionary masterpiece — During their laying lifetime, hens will produce about eight times their bodyweight in eggs. These come from a few thousand specialized germ cells in the chicken’s ovary. They are the small pinhead-sized white specks that can be seen riding on the top of the yolk. …

It’s dental consequences — Stone age cutting implements (sharpened stones or bones) predate fire by about a million years. It’s worth reminding ourselves that for millions of years hominids survived in part by hacking and eating raw meat. Throughout our evolution, the importance of eating food meant that cutting implements always made use of…