Delicious sea scallop salad with sauté veggies, chopped greens, and a tomato-cucumber melange…garnished with pistachios, parsley, paprika, coriander, tarragon, and black pepper…

Quick and simple lunch of spicy curry pork with mixed greens, dried berries, and a melange of sauté veggies…garnished with pistachios, parsley, coriander, and black pepper…

Not your typical grilled chicken salad, this one is with mixed greens and a melange of diced papaya and strawberries…garnished with pistachios, parsley, marjoram, coriander, paprika, and black pepper…

Brilliant mix of curried shellfish, red onion, broccoli, tomatoes, and slivered almonds with baby greens and dried berries…garnished with pistachios, parsley, coriander, and black pepper…

Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have found strong evidence of atherosclerosis or heart disease in ancient Egyptian mummies. The new findings are based on CT scans of over 50 mummies and represent the oldest known evidence of human heart disease. The new findings will be surprising to some, since they involve pre-modern people, but really shouldn’t be. After all, the subjects studied lived long after the agrarian revolution and had carbohydrate and fat-rich diets much like eating patterns today. Based on their findings, the research team has hypothesized that atherosclerosis may be a natural human condition, but this idea is at odds with other research examining and finding little evidence of this and other chronic disease conditions in hunter-gatherer populations (people with a pre-agrarian lifestyle). Learn more about the new research at Mummy Heart Disease and studies of pre-agrarian people at the Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Hunters and Gatherers.

Bistro salads are usually pretty healthy, owing to their small size and simple ingredients…with just a nudge, they can become an optimal approach to eating…this salad meal includes a veggie omelet, mixed greens, diced mango, and a few berries…garnished with parsley, coriander, tarragon, and black pepper…

Natural alternatives to beef and red meats include poultry, rabbit, and fish…but sometimes there is no substitute for a beautifully cooked steak with raw veggies…this version is garnished with pistachios, parsley, coriander, turmeric, and black pepper…

Findings published this past week from a nearly 30-year, 5000-person longitudinal study by the University of Minnesota suggest a strong correlation between sugar intake and obesity. Interestingly, sugar consumption and obesity concurrently increased over this period, even as overall fat intake in the sample population decreased. While the results are perhaps unsurprising to many, a representative of the US Sugar Association challenged the findings, saying “there is no scientific evidence to support a need to set an intake level for sugar.” Learn more and decide for yourself at Added Sugars and More added Sugars.