I rarely eat breakfast. Can you explain why it’s so important? I’m always looking for ways to try to lose weight, and it seems like a good idea to not eat when I’m not hungry, which is typically in the morning.
On the surface, your habits make some sense. Nutritionists regularly encourage people to become more attuned to their inner hunger and appetite signals, and not eating (or stopping eating) when your hunger is satisfied is doing just that.
But this raises the question: Why aren’t you hungry in the morning? The whole reason the meal is called “breakfast” is because by eating it, you’re breaking the fast you’ve experienced overnight. Do you typically eat a heavy dinner or have a high-calorie snack at night? Cutting back later in the...
WOOSTER, Ohio -- Say you are on Mars and fancy a salad. Unless the Curiosity rover can make an unexpected find of fresh romaine somewhere on the dusty Red Planet, you are looking at a nine-month trip to the nearest produce aisle on Earth. A better option? Grow the salad yourself.
That's exactly the approach NASA is taking as it plans for future manned expeditions to places like the moon or Mars, where food availability will be a significant challenge. Joining this mission is a team of Ohio State University researchers and students who are helping NASA figure out the best way to grow food aboard space exploration units.
The team, from the university's Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering (...
WOOSTER, Ohio -- The 6,000-square-foot pilot plant in Wooster makes gloves and a variety of other latex and rubber products. This is nothing new in a town and region historically known for rubber manufacturing. What's different about the facility is the source of its natural rubber: plants grown in the United States rather than the Southeast Asian trees that currently provide all of the world's supply of natural rubber.
Established earlier this year, this unique pilot plant is operated by Ohio State University's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC). It's a crucial step in the university's effort to develop and commercialize domestic natural rubber sources that could one day replace a...
PIKETON, Ohio – Wine grape growers, commercial wine operators, and those interested in becoming either one can learn the practical and essential skills needed to be successful in the industry at a workshop held by Ohio State University horticulture, viticulture and enology experts Nov. 15.
The program is from 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at the OSU South Centers’ Endeavor Center, 1862 Shyville Road, in Piketon.
The workshop is designed to help growers and winemakers, as well as to boost Ohio's wine industry, said Gary Gao, an Ohio State University Extension specialist and associate professor of small fruit crops at OSU South Centers at Piketon.
“It’s good for grape growers to talk to winemakers, because you have to have good fruit in order to make good wine, so...
WOOSTER, Ohio -- "Food deserts" are normally thought of as low-income, blighted urban neighborhoods with little access to fresh, reasonably priced fruits and vegetables.
But rural areas, despite their wide-open spaces and fertile farmland, can be food deserts, too.
An Ohio State University Extension community development specialist worked with two student interns to examine this seeming paradox to discover more about people who live in rural food deserts and how they access fresh produce.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, rural residents who live at least 10 miles away from a grocery store live in a food desert, said Tom Blaine.
“Participants in our study lived an average of 11 miles from a grocery store," Blaine said. "Typically in more...
A group of us were watching a football game last week, and someone claimed that the tortilla chips we were eating counted as a “whole-grain” food. I find that hard to believe. Is that right?
It could be. To determine whether a food is “whole grain,” take a look at the ingredients on the food label. You’ll find that many types of tortilla chips and other corn-based snack chips list “whole-grain corn” as the primary ingredient. Whole-grain corn, like whole wheat or other whole grains, is indeed, well, a whole grain.
While this could mean the chips are a better choice than a snack made entirely of refined grains, don’t take that as permission to down a family-size package. While the U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend that at least half the...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Apparently, it's hard to beat a burger made of beets.
On Oct. 1, the "UnBeetable Burger" with a soft gourmet pretzel bun won the Student Product Development Competition of AACC International, a professional association specializing in cereal grain science.
The product was created by a team of Ohio State University students in the Department of Food Science and Technology. The UnBeetable Burger also took third place earlier this year in the Institute of Food Technologists Student Association and Mars Product Development Competition.
"We wanted to create the first frozen microwavable ready-to-heat vegetarian burger with a bun," said Liz Green, a third-year undergraduate and captain of the 16-member team. "We looked at what is already on the...
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio’s school lunchrooms provide a great opportunity for Ohio farmers and other food producers looking to tap into the growing demand for local foods. And farmers and schools working together creates a great opportunity for Ohio’s students to gain access to fresh, healthy, local foods, an Ohio State University expert said.
Thanks to the national Farm to School program, which in Ohio is led by Ohio State University Extension and operates in school districts throughout Ohio, students pre-K through college have increased access to nutritious food.
In addition to providing young people with fresh, local food, Farm to School also helps them understand where their food comes from and how food choices affect their health, environment and community, said Julie...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State University Extension has announced its annual schedule of OSU Income Tax Schools, which last year drew more than 800 participants.
The schools are offered at eight locations around Ohio, are designed for people who prepare income tax returns, and cost $335.
The teaching team for the schools includes three OSU Extension faculty and two current and two retired employees of the Internal Revenue Service. Three of the seven will be at each location.
“We’re in our 49th year of offering these schools,” said OSU Extension’s David Marrison, the interim director and one of the instructors for the schools. “Our blend of Ohio State faculty and IRS professionals allows us to offer one of the highest-rated income tax continuing education...
