Yes, it's true that no matter how mighty the food, for those hoping to have a baby, no one morsel or meal will guarantee a visit from the stork. However, a recent Harvard study, popularly called The Fertility Diet, has produced some compelling evidence that certain foods - such as certain beans, greens, and grains - strongly support fertility in women.* Truth be told, most of us could benefit by incorporating some these findings into our diet whether we are planning for a baby or not.

The one surprise may have been the recommendation to eat full-fat dairy. One way to think about this may be to use the whole foods rationale. Just as we benefit from eating grains all smartly dressed up in their bran and germ, or apples in their pretty fiber-rich skins, it may then stand to reason that many times nature packs real food, even milk, in the way that benefits us most.

So after reading about the Fertility Diet, you might be wondering how this new set of recommendations could translate to your own kitchen. Maybe you are simply looking for a delicious way to start the day? Or perhaps you're hosting a dinner party and want to stay true to your fertility-enhancing way of eating? Below we've provided a quick overview of some of the dietary recommendations. Those are followed by a roundup of globally inspired, fertility-friendly recipes.

• iron-rich foods: beans, dark leafy greens, seeds, blackstrap molasses
• folic acid-rich foods: beans, dark green vegetables, whole grains, citrus
• low-glycemic load carbohydrates: whole grains, most fruits and vegetables, beans, seeds, nuts
• protein from plant sources: quinoa, beans (eaten with whole grains) such as lentils, soybeans/tofu, garbanzo beans, as well as nuts, and seeds
• full-fat dairy: whole milk and yogurt, cheese, ice cream
• mono-unsaturated fats: olive oil, nuts, avocado, seeds

*Please note: “…these recommendations are aimed at preventing and reversing ovulatory infertility, which accounts for one quarter or more of all cases of infertility. They won't work for infertility due to physical impediments like blocked fallopian tubes.”

Start Your Baby-Making Engines
awesome almond buckwheat pancakes
breakfast quinoa with cranberries, toasted walnuts, and honey
cornmeal mush with blackstap molasses
greek yogurt breakfast - make sure to use whole milk yogurt

Mamma Mia!
pan-seared rosemary tofu served over buckwheat polenta
simple citrus salad with marinated avocado
olive oil ice cream

Bollywood Baby
mung dal with cashews and carrots served over brown rice pilaf
swiss chard and crisp shallot rolls with cilantro raita
honey sweetened shrikhand

Fertility Fiesta
pinto bean soup over brown rice with red chile and cheese with perfect guacamole
mexican coleslaw
whole-grain mexican wedding cookies

Good Fortune Grub
szechwan tofu triangles in triple pepper sauce served over very green rice
emerald sesame kale
green tea panna cotta

Red, White, and Baby
bean and rice "meat"loaf
creamed kale
maple baked apples with dried fruits and nuts

Bon Appetit Bébé
white bean and vegetable cassoulet with millet crust
frisee and endive salad with olive vinaigrette
frozen honey mousse

Mom-To-Be Munchies
pistachio and almond butter on whole grain graham crackers
kale crunch with greek almond yogurt dip
almond caramel corn

Comments (3) | January 16 - 2:38 PM

category: Lists, News, Recipes, Studies + Trends, Vegan / Veg, Whole Grains

Now more than ever, homemade, natural dog food recipes are competing for space in the family recipe folder. With the FDA's recent dog food recalls, dog owners are turning in greater numbers to their own kitchens as a way to feed their canine companions.

The recalls have affected dozens and dozens of dog food brands (and cat food as well). New recalls are still being issued - the latest just this afternoon, affecting a brand sold exclusively to Walmart. In an effort to keep our canine friends healthy and happy, we've compiled a list of dog food recipes you can make at home

A word of caution, please speak with your pet's veterinarian before making dramatic changes to your animal's diet.

Homemade Natural Dog Food Recipes and Advice

"...veterinarians caution that becoming your pet's personal chef involves a lot more than mixing meat with rice and throwing it in a bowl. Animals have very different nutritional needs than us, they say, and do not absorb some vitamins and minerals the way humans do." Sun-Sentinel.com

Katie Carlisle includes a nice list of pet food cookbooks in her story on homemade dog food recipes for the Washington Post.

Allrecipe users contribute their best dog food recipes. The list included Doggy Biscuits and Diabetic Doggy Treats. Allrecipe's Dog Food Recipes

Comments (4) | June 7 - 4:59 PM

category: News

For those of you who have found the Whole Grain Stamp helpful, there is a new stamp on the block. Keep your eyes peeled for the new Med Mark product label. As the name implies, this is a new packaging symbol designed to help shoppers quickly identify healthy Mediterranean Diet food, drinks, and products. The new label was created by Oldways, the same non-profit behind the Whole Grains Council (and correspondingly, the Whole Grain Stamp). According to Oldways,

"Manufacturers whose food and drink products meet clear standards derived from the well-accepted definition of the traditional healthy Mediterranean diet will have the opportunity to license the stamp for their packaging...

...All foods and drinks included in the DAILY section of the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid (and also fish) are eligible for the Med Mark as long as they are sold in their minimally-processed state, consistent with their traditional form. Other healthy foods that may not have existed years ago may also be eligible if they meet the criteria described in the chart and health thresholds..."

We will let you know which products get the Med Mark stamp as the program gathers momentum.

Comments (0) | June 5 - 11:54 AM

category: News

If you read (or listen) to one food-related story this week, let this be it. The benefits of establishing and maintaining relationships with the people who grow, produce, and cook your food become crystal clear after you read this NPR story on polluted, contaminated, and potentially toxic imports finding their way into U.S. food products and markets.

Richard Knox singles out China because they are exporting unsafe food (and base ingredients) to the United States market and to United States food manufacturers. The scary part is this - even though the reject rate with China is far higher than other trade partners, one has to assume the likelihood of an increasing amount of these exports are making it into stores and food supply chains over time. Knox notes, "...in the past year, the FDA rejected more than twice as many food shipments from China as from all other countries combined."

One particularly disturbing passage cites a story told by an FDA staffer who visited a Chinese herbal tea factory,

"...to speed up the drying process, they would lay the tea leaves out on a huge warehouse floor and drive trucks over them so that the exhaust would more rapidly dry the leaves out...the problem there is that the Chinese use leaded gasoline, so they were essentially spewing the lead over all these leaves."

Jean Halloran the director of food safety for Consumers Union (publisher of Consumer Reports) pushes food companies here in the U.S. to take responsibility for the ingredients they are using in their products,

"...you have a responsibility to get on a plane and go over there, and see the plant where that's being manufactured, so that you can see for yourself whether there's a polluted water supply coming into the facility, whether lead-bearing paint chips might be falling into the vats of whatever you're purchasing."

More reasons to stay clear of processed foods. More reasons to get out and support your local farmers.

Links:

NPR: As Imports Increase, a Tense Dependence on China (read/listen to the article)

FDA import refusal report, by country (link)

Comments (1) | May 26 - 12:01 PM

category: News, Studies + Trends

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Dennis vanEngelsdorp. No doubt in my mind - Dennis is the ultimate bee geek. Because of their pivotal role in our food chain (and also because they are cute), many people are highly concerned and fascinated with the recent bee colony collapses. I was lucky to be present at the Robert Mondavi Winery-sponsored Taste3 Conference two weeks ago when this Pennsylvania-based apiarist delivered his delightful Joy of Bees presentation. In a captivating 20-minutes he celebrates his enthusiasm about bees and examines the most up-to-date theories on Colony Collapse Disorder.

I'll highlight more videos from the conference in the coming week or two, as they are uploaded. Enjoy!

Dennis vanEngelsdorp: The Joy of Bees (link)

Comments (0) | May 22 - 9:59 PM

category: Interviews/Profiles, News, Studies + Trends

Can you really change the world just by buying certain foods? An article in this month's Economist explores this question by exploring popular arguments made in organic, fair-trade, and local circles. Not surprisingly, this has set off a firestorm of commentary on websites and blogs across the internet. Here's a sampling:

- Tom Philpott at Grist (link)
- Sustainable Food Laboratory (link)
- abetterearth.org (link)
- Liberty Scott (link)
- New York Times (link)

Comments (0) | January 4 - 11:49 AM

category: News

Fans of Eric Gower's Breakaway Japanese Kitchen cookbook can get more of him through his new blog on the new Yahoo! food channel. Eric's recipes explore many healthful whole food ingredients, alternative sweeteners, and the like. In the past much of his cooking has had a very global fusionesque bent to it.

So far in his writing on Yahoo! Eric has covered pomegranate molasses, stock, persimmons, blenders, non-white sweeteners, and salt. So it looks as if the scope of his blog is going to touching on a range of topics from ingredient to equipment (and hopefully lots of recipes).

Visit the Breakaway Cook on Yahoo!
Visit Eric's personal homepage.

Comments (0) | December 8 - 10:54 AM

category: News, Recipes

If you've stayed away from Chowhound over the past few years it was probably for one of two reasons. 1) You're just not hardcore enough. 2) You just couldn't handle the crazy interface. Chowhound has been updated with a beautiful redesign. Here is a sampling of the great threads you might stumble on there:

- Green tea...who to order from next?

- What to do with pea tendrils:

- Healthy ways of seasoning/cooking brown rice:

- What to do with silken tofu:

- Hospital food - is anything being done?

- Farmer's Markets, rip off or worth it?

Comments (1) | June 27 - 8:49 AM

category: Lists, News

It's hard not to wince when you see companies like McDonalds, Coca Cola, and Budweiser sponsoring major sporting events like the Olympics or World Cup. An interesting editorial from Jess Halliday hits the nail on the head with this comment:

"...the World Cup message is 'we the sportsmen, you the spectators'. While the players are fed carefully balanced diets prepared by nutrition experts, it seems it is ok for their fans to subsist on Big Macs, fries and beer, beer and more beer." (read more)

Comments (0) | June 12 - 10:32 AM

category: News

The Boston Globe reports on the soda industry losing its fizz, while sales of energy drinks like Red Bull and Gatorade during the same period have surged 62%. Our two favorite quotes from the article:

"They're at least as bad as soda," said Caroline M. Apovian, director of the Nutrition and Weight Management Center at the Boston Medical Center."

"We have something for everyone for every time of the day," said Dave DeCecco, a spokesman for Pepsi-Cola North America."

( Read the full article )

Comments (1) | May 14 - 9:09 PM

category: News, Studies + Trends

Time to get rid of those non-stick pots and pans you love so much. No, really...it's time to let them go, cut the cord. You've read all the reports about the nasty chemicals in those slick surfaces. Well, today the EPA took action.

It all started in the late 90's, when some of these man-made chemicals (the ones used to make Teflon and many other slick surfaces) started showing up in the blood of the general population. In fact, the chemicals were turning up all over the place: the environment, the people, food - you name it. The EPA began to look into these chemical compounds and similar chemicals as well (they main chemical they are generally concerned about is referred to as PFOA). Based on the adverse effects and developmental problems they found in studies on laboratory animals they've decided to take a closer look at the potential impact on humans and in the meantime invited a handful of manufacturers, including DuPont, to participate in a phase-out plan.

Here's what the EPA had to say about the effects of PFOA's on animals:

"...An extensive array of animal toxicity studies have been conducted in rodents and monkeys. These studies have shown that APFO exposure can result in a variety of toxic effects in animals including liver toxicity, developmental toxicity, and immunotoxicity. In addition, rodent bioassays have shown that chronic APFO exposure is associated with a variety of tumor types..."

In an article titled, Harmful Teflon Chemical To Be Eliminated by 2015, The Washington Post has reported that eight companies including DuPont agreed to a pact of sorts - agreeing to eliminate PFOAs from all consumer products coated with the non-stick material. The article goes on to say that the chemical would "still be used to manufacture Teflon and similar products, processes will be developed to ensure that perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) would not be released into the environment from finished products or manufacturing plants."

We aren't exactly sure what that means, but it sounds like they are still going to be using PFOAs.

The EPA site states that corporate commitments to the program with be posted to this website.

Comments (0) | January 27 - 9:27 PM

category: News, Studies + Trends

Consumer Reports focuses its attention on when it really pays to buy organic products (assuming the majority of people aren't going to buy organic 100% of the time). The article provides insight on where to find the best-priced organic products and which items you want to be sure to buy organic - Apples versus avocados? Celery versus cauliflower? A couple excerpts from the feature:

"...be aware that as more consumers are turning to organic products, some of the country’s largest food producers are trying to chip away at what organic labels promise to deliver."

"According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a research and advocacy organization in Washington, D.C., eating the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables exposes you to about 20 pesticides a day on average. If you eat the 12 least contaminated, you’re exposed to about two pesticides a day." (Read the article)

Comments (0) | January 10 - 10:47 AM

category: News, Studies + Trends

If you've ever taken a few extra minutes to sit outside a Costco, Price Club, PriceCo, or whatever they are called now - you will observe lots of people stocking up on massive quantities of low quality cooking fats and oils. They take these ingredients back to their restaurants and serve them to you, and you pay for them.

There isn't much transparency once you walk in the front door of a restaurant - but there is plenty of transparency observing what people are buying for their restaurants on a Sunday at the warehouse stores, or peeking in the back of a Sysco restaurant supply truck. Most kitchens are off limits to the dining public, and consumers are more than happy to turn a blind eye to the ingredients going into their food behind those closed doors - just so long as everything tastes pretty good and there are no roaches in the kitchens. Big mistake.

We've all been wrapped up in trans-fats lately, and people are actively avoiding trans-fat laden products, but what about when you eat out? While food manufacturers have been busy bees - actively stripping products of trans-fats, restaurants are not required to disclose the trans-fat content of their food and they are lagging far, far behind.

This article in the Des Moines Register quotes a spokeswoman from Yum! Brands (parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell) as saying the company is only in the "early stages of exploring" its options for transfats. Looks like you can load up on a whopping 14 grams in one sitting if you go for the KFC Chicken Pot Pie. Read the article to see what's in those Mickey D french fries, or that Nachos Bell Grande. Keep in mind the Dietary Guidelines Advisory committee recommends limiting trans fat consumption to about 2 grams per day - this includes naturally occurring trans fats in meat and dairy. So, a couple fries and it look like you're screwed.

The article primarily cites a study done by CSPI, Center for Science in the Public Interest. Read more about the CSPI survey here. Or download the PDF. Another reason to cook at home more often.

Comments (0) | January 4 - 11:04 AM

category: News, Studies + Trends

Mole made with organic dark Dagoba chocolate at Costco? Is that possible? Apparently so. San Francisco-based Native Kjalii Foods will roll out its Roasted Chocolate Mole to the San Francisco Costco location and other stores starting last month. Look for the 32-ounce tubs in the deli area.

Comments (0) | January 4 - 11:01 AM

category: New Products, News

The organic label is hot right now. So hot, that seafood producers want some of the action. Producers who are eco-farming seafood are disappointed that as of this morning, the organic labeling of seafood isn't going to happen - at least not in California. A law goes into effect that prohibits the labeling of seafood as organic. Call it "eco-farmed", just don't call it organic. John Hill reports on the point/counter-point of the debate via the Sacramento Bee:

A California law that goes into effect Sunday prohibits labeling seafood as "organic," but New Leaf Community Markets has already come up with an alternative.

"Organic-Everywhere-But-California" is the way New Leaf's upcoming newsletter describes the Ecuadorian prawn that will be on sale at the five-store chain in Santa Cruz County in early February...( Read More )

Comments (1) | January 1 - 1:01 PM

category: News

Starting tomorrow all your favorite packaged foods must be slapped with an updated nutrition label - one that lists trans fat content. Have a look.

Comments (1) | December 31 - 11:50 AM

category: News

Organic food sales in the UK have doubled since 2000, pushing organics up-and-over the £1bn mark. Sales are expected to hit £2bn by 2010. That's Euros British pounds, not dollars.

"In our perception there is tremendous underlying interest in sustainable production and locally-sourced food which are rightly seen as offering potential solutions to current debates about protecting the environment, food security, animal welfare and other issues..." ( Read More )

Comments (1) | December 27 - 9:28 AM

category: News

Reuters reports on new EU organic farming regulations:

This week, the European Commission proposed new regulations on organic farming that would allow products with up to 0.9 percent of GMO content -- acquired through accidental or unavoidable contamination -- to retain a label of "EU organic". ( read more )

Comments (0) | December 26 - 11:13 AM

category: News

Health and science writer Rachale Moeller Gorman takes a look at what super-processing does to our food, starting with the all-American stand-by - white bread:

"My Stepford loaf was spawned on the bottom floor of a five-story factory by a 2,500-pound mother dough ball that contained more than 36 ingredients, from refined flour to dough conditioners for softness and cellulose gum for “mouthfeel.” (See “Enriched White Bread vs. Artisan Whole-Wheat Bread,” page 34.) A mechanized knife chopped the mound into 27-ounce balls and another machine rolled the balls into logs and deposited them into pans. The pans spiraled through an oven large enough to hold six full-size school buses and 16 minutes later the logs emerged baked. My loaf was one of 150,000 from the oven that day to be sliced, packaged and trucked to stores all over the region. Production people told me that it would take about 15 days for my loaf to begin to mold. My desktop experiment says it takes a lot longer than that." ( Read More )

Comments (0) | December 15 - 5:53 PM

category: Interviews/Profiles, News

Sam Roe (no kidding) and Michael Hawthorne file a multi-faceted report on seafood, highly contaminated with mercury, being sold in supermarkets throughout Chicago.

"In one of the nation's most comprehensive studies of mercury in commercial fish, testing by the newspaper showed that a variety of popular seafood was so tainted that federal regulators could confiscate the fish for violating food safety rules.

The testing also showed that mercury is more pervasive in fish than what the government has told the public, making it difficult for consumers to avoid the problem, no matter where they shop." ( Read more. )

Comments (0) | December 13 - 10:10 AM

category: News, Studies + Trends

Now that food manufacturers are going to have to pull back the kimono and let you know how many trans-fats have been lurking in your foods - companies are scrambling to reformulate your favorite trans-fat packed snacks. In the wake of this, you get agreements like this one between Kellogg and Monsanto.

"Kellogg will become one of the first food manufacturers to use low linolenic soybean oil through an agreement with Monsanto. Kellogg will use Monsanto's Vistive® low-lin soybean oil to reduce or eliminate trans fatty acids in a number of its products."

Yes, the producer of Cheez-Its and Pop-Tarts is teaming up with Monsanto to use Vistive soybean oil (a Roundup Ready crop) to "provide healthy alternatives to consumers." Can't wait.

Comments (0) | December 11 - 8:37 PM

category: News

An essay worth a second look by Fedco-Seeds on the importance of seed diversity, triggered by the Monsanto purchase of Seminis for $1.4 billion in cash and assumed debt earlier this year. The acquisition prompted the Fedco co-op to drop Seimini seeds from their catalog after a general assessment and feedback from customers.

With the absorption of Seminis, Monsanto vaulted ahead of DuPont as the world's largest seed company. After the merger, for the first time the world's top ten seed companies control half the market. In fact, the four biggest ones have 36%.

Customer comments included the following:

- You don't need to sell your soul for a Sunsugar.
- Monsanto should be Rounded Up and composted.

and our personal favorite,

- We'll survive on the sweet tastiness of the moral high ground.

( Read the entire article )

Comments (0) | December 9 - 8:35 AM

category: News, Studies + Trends

After making the shift from burgers to muesli King Kong Director Peter Jackson drops 70 pounds. ( Read more )

Comments (0) | December 8 - 1:34 PM

category: News

Whole Foods Market looks for ways to sell lobsters in a more humane way. Think this is ridiculous? Dive in deep with David Foster Wallace, his 2004 feature on the Main Lobster Festival explores the ethics of boiling your short-term pet alive.

Comments (0) | December 7 - 11:25 PM

category: News

Who wants a fast-food fruit cup? Apparently no one.

Comments (0) | November 29 - 1:24 PM

category: News

According to recent a recent study, our favorite cooked cabbage condiments might be in the midst of an unlikely public relations make-over - into public health superheroes.

“Our study shows that kimchi can effectively ward off food poisoning by varying the ingredients or fermentation temperature,”....“When eating foods susceptible to harmful bacteria, such as meat and fish, one can prevent food poisoning by accompanying them with kimchi.” ( Read entire article )

Another article speaks to the new wave of popularity for sauerkraut. ( Read entire article )

Comments (0) | November 27 - 1:19 PM

category: News, Studies + Trends, Superfoods

Philippine resident Rosalina Tan had rice from her local market tested. The results? The rice had "over 80 times the maximum amount tolerable in humans of a particular banned insecticide." Read more...

Comments (0) | November 25 - 1:16 PM

category: News

Apparently there is such a thing as a free lunch - but you want to be sure you take it without a side order of food posioning.

"...the diners find their food by digging through garbage. They call themselves freegans, a play on the words "free" and "vegan"-- a vegetarian who avoids all animal products, including dairy. In an ideological rejection of consumer waste, they only eat food that's been discarded. And in New York City, at least, they never go hungry." Read more.

Comments (0) | November 25 - 7:18 AM

category: News, Studies + Trends, Vegan / Veg

That's right, nature's broom. It's the name one of our Southern friends has for the mighty cranberry. Girls sip cranberry juice to fend off those not-so-fun urinary tract infections, and you've all seen the studies demonstrating the possible heart-healthy benefits of these rosy little tarts. As if all this isn't reason enough to pay more attention to cranberries year-round, a new study by dental researchers have discovered that cranberries may hold the secret for preventing cavities.

"Scientists believe that one of the main ways that cranberries prevent urinary tract infections is by inhibiting the adherence of pathogens on the surface of the bladder. Perhaps the same is true in the mouth, where bacteria use adhesion molecules to hold onto teeth..." Read the entire article.

Nature's broom, not just for your bladder anymore. Here are a few tasty ways to incorporate more cranberries into your diet. Julia's Cranberry Chutney Recipe, a Cinnamon Apple Crisp Recipe, and a Cranberry Rice Pilaf Recipe.

Comments (0) | November 22 - 12:59 PM

category: News, Recipes, Superfoods, Vegan / Veg

The Pita Generation: PepsiCo set to Acquire Stacy's Pita Chip Co.
Growing it's portfolio of healthier snack options, PepsiCo is gobbling up Stacy's Pita Chip Company. Stacy's is the leading producer of pita snacks in the United States with approaching $60 million dollars this year. Read more.

Comments (0) | November 21 - 10:54 AM

category: News

Deep sea drinking water is expected to becoming a booming export niche for the Hawaiian economy. Pipes deliver deep sea drinking water (marketed as a nutrient-rich alternative to tap and spring water) to a few production facilities in Hawaii. The bulk of the bottled water is then sold to the Japanese market with one company, Koyo USA Corp. exporting roughly 300,000 bottles a day to the island nation - with the big 1.5L bottles fetching $6 a pop. You do the math.

Comments (0) | November 19 - 1:29 PM

category: New Products, News, Studies + Trends

Oh, how Americans love their non-stick cookware. To the tune of eighty or ninety million non-stick pots and pans purchased just last year. David Rubien writes about the potential dangers lurking beneath those slipery slick surfaces for the San Francisco Chronicle. Worth a second read if you missed it earlier this year. Photo by Chronicle photographer Craig Lee.

Comments (0) | November 19 - 10:06 AM

category: News