Gator Glob

Years ago, before the term "super foods" was a part of our lexicon, I would always add a handful of chia seeds to my whole-grain bread dough. I knew the seeds were high in protein (chia, like quinoa, has all of the essential amino acids), and in those days vegetarians were obsessed with proving that we could get enough protein from plant sources.  Vhia seeds are now back, big time. They've been rediscovered by marketers of "super foods" and by health-conscious cooks, and that's a good thing, because they pack a strong nutritional profile.

As reported in the New York Times with recipes - READ MORE

Exercise science is a fine and intellectually fascinating thing. But sometimes you just want someone to lay out guidelines for how to put the newest fitness research into practice.

An article in the May-June issue of the American College of Sports Medicine's Health & Fitness Journal does just that. In 12 exercises deploying only body weight, a chair and a wall, it fulfills the latest mandates for high-intensity effort, which essentially combines a long run and a visit to the weight room into about seven minutes of steady discomfort — all of it based on science.

As reported in the New York Times with graphic - READ MORE

A specter is haunting the barbecue world: the specter of stale smoke. Don't get me wrong—barbecue is our great American food, a high art attained through years of patient training by men as single-minded as samurai. But it has also become stagnant and so dogmatic that many pit masters haven't changed their recipes or routines in decades. Some shaking up is in order. And, at long last, it's happening. The New 'Cue is here.

At the Granary 'Cue & Brew in San Antonio, Tim Rattray serves a classic Texas menu of brisket, ribs, links and other standards at lunch. But at dinner, barbecue comes in the form of composed, unmistakably modern dishes. A dish of beef shoulder gets texture and tang from garnishes of crunchy, coffee-laced quinoa and pickled celery. Moroccan lamb shoulder sits on a fluffy bed of preserved-lemon couscous and spiced crème fraîche.

As reported in the Wall St. Journal with video, graphic, and recipes - READ MORE

What's your chronotype? Do you even know? (Have you even heard that word before?) Turns out that we all live in a slightly varying world of sleep- and awake-times, though for the most part, the world of schedules, jobs, school and alarms does a good job of convincing us otherwise.

But if you are among the many people who really, really struggle to wake up in the mornings, or conversely, are one of those who does not — an early bird as the folklore puts it — then you are a person with a variable chronotype to the usual. (Check out this great article that explains how scientists figured this out by studying people's "free sleep" patterns, and then figure out your own.)

As reported on the Mother Nature Newtork website - READ MORE

There's lots of reasons to drink fresh juice, from the flavor (of course) and the blast of vitamins easily absorbed by the body, to the more esoteric concepts of detoxifying and cleansing. Since there is no fresher juice than the kind you make yourself, why not experiment with ripe, readily available fruits and vegetables, balancing sweet and tart produce in complementary combinations? Here are five recipes to get you started.

As reported on the Mother Nature Network website with recipes - READ MORE

Move over Tesla, here comes a plug-in hybrid capable of 211 mph and zero to 125 mph in less than eight seconds. They're talking about 78 mpg, but not when the big V-8 is really roaring.

The British Top Gear show got to drive a 918 in Germany (a pleasure denied to me so far), and it's interesting what they said about driving in battery mode.

As reported on the Mother Nature Network with video - READ MORE

At its most basic, beer starts with water and grain (malt), flavored with a kind of flower called hops and fermented by yeast. F&W's Megan Krigbaum and brewer Dave McLean of San Francisco's excellent Magnolia Brewing explain the essentials and propose four taste-training exercises.

As reported in Food & Wine magazine with video - READ MORE