Zephyr_p/Shutterstock You’ve probably seen recent claims online seed oils are “toxic” and cause inflammation, cancer, diabetes and heart disease. But what does the research say? Overall, if you’re worried about inflammation, cancer, diabetes and heart disease there are probably more important things to worry about than seed oils. They may or may not play a role in inflammation (the research picture is mixed). What we do know, however, is that a high-quality diet rich in unprocessed whole foods (fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains and lean meats) is the number one thing you can to do reduce ..read more

Joanna Lopez/Unsplash It’s an all too common situation – you’re busy cooking or baking to a recipe when you open the cupboard and suddenly realise you are missing an ingredient. Unless you can immediately run to the shops, this can leave you scrambling for a substitute that can perform a similar function. Thankfully, such substitutes can be more successful than you’d expect. There are a few reasons why certain ingredient substitutions work so well. This is usually to do with the chemistry and the physical features having enough similarity to the original ingredient to still do the job appropri ..read more

Cheese is a highly nutritious food produced in hundreds of varieties around the world. It’s all made by fermenting milk but the results range widely in flavour, texture and end uses. The global market value of cheese was about US$83.4 billion in 2022 and is projected to exceed US$120 billion in 2028. In Nigeria, the most popular cheese is wara, a soft product with a mild, sweet taste and milky flavour. Wara is produced by coagulating cow’s milk with an extract of sodom apple (Calotropis procera, or bomubomu) and is traditionally sold in its whey (milk-like liquid), sometimes in a calabash, at ..read more

Fermented foods can be a good source of probiotics. Yulia Naumenko/Moment via Getty Images Humans have been fermenting food and drinks — everything from kimchi and yogurt to beer and kombucha — for more than 13,000 years. Fermentation – a natural process that uses microorganisms to create alcohols and acids from carbohydrates – can preserve food so it lasts longer, and it can enhance the quality of a food by turning some components into more easily digestible forms. Some fermented foods that contain live microorganisms are called probiotics, which can increase the shelf life of food and provid ..read more

Brewers today are delivering nonalcoholic beers that are a far cry from the sweet, watery options of the past. Pramote Polyamate/Moment via Getty Images The holiday season for me includes socializing over drinks with friends and family. But all the celebrating tends to catch up with my waistline, and by New Year’s Day, it’s time to get back in shape. Besides vowing to hit the gym more, my approach involves a “Dry January.” But as someone who teaches brewing science, spends a lot of time around breweries and bars, and thoroughly loves beer, abstaining is no easy task. Thankfully, I can still en ..read more

Volodymyr Proskurovskyi/Unsplash Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world, and its high levels of caffeine are among the main reasons why. It’s a natural stimulant that provides an energy buzz, and we just can’t get enough. However, some people prefer to limit their caffeine intake for health or other reasons. Decaffeinated or “decaf” coffee is widely available, and its consumption is reported to be on the rise. Here’s what you need to know about decaf coffee: how it’s made, the flavour, the benefits – and whether it’s actually caffeine-free. Read more: Health Check: four reasons ..read more

Pantry staples can go rancid when exposed to oxygen. Daniel de la Hoz/Moment Have you ever bitten into a nut or a piece of chocolate, expecting a smooth, rich taste, only to encounter an unexpected and unpleasant chalky or sour flavor? That taste is rancidity in action, and it affects pretty much every product in your pantry. Now artificial intelligence can help scientists tackle this issue more precisely and efficiently. We’re a group of chemists who study ways to extend the life of food products, including those that go rancid. We recently published a study describing the advantages of AI to ..read more

Shutterstock Everything we consume contains energy our bodies use to move, grow and maintain health. To work out how much energy is in different foods and drinks, we need to first look at a few core concepts. Firstly, you’ve probably heard of the units of measurement for energy – calories – as well as the metric equivalent, which is joules. One calorie is defined as the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1℃. In human nutrition, the amounts of energy needed to maintain health, and to fuel a body, are much larger than the tiny singular calories used to heat ..read more

Shutterstock Ice cream seems like a simple concept. Take some dairy, add some sugar and flavours, and freeze. But to get a perfectly creamy, smoothly textured frozen treat, we need more than just a low temperature – it takes a careful interplay of chemistry and three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas. What’s in the box? Commercial ice cream includes many ingredients: air, water, milk fat, so-called milk solids (mainly milk proteins and lactose), sweeteners, stabilisers, emulsifiers and flavours. The ingredients are mixed and pasteurised for food safety. Homemade ice creams tend to use mi ..read more

Shutterstock Rice is a staple food for billions of people in Asia and Africa. It’s also a versatile ingredient for many iconic dishes from around the world, including dolmades from Greece, risottos from Italy, paella from Spain and rice puddings from the United Kingdom. Despite its universal appeal, the question asked in every kitchen, be it a professional one or your own home, is whether you should pre-wash (or rinse) your rice before cooking. What do chefs and cooks say? Culinary experts claim pre-washing rice reduces the amount of starch coming from the rice grains. You can see this in the ..read more