FOR THE LOVE OF FOOD: Foods that help depression and anxiety, how much exercise you need for lifelong youth, and how bad habits impact dad’s swimmers

Welcome to Friday’s For The Love of Food, Summer Tomato’s weekly link roundup.

This week foods that help depression and anxiety, how much exercise you need for lifelong youth, and how bad habits impact dad’s swimmers.

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Links of the week

• Which Water Is Best For Health? Hint: Don’t Discount The Tap – Excellent recap of all the fancy water options out there these days. (NPR)
• The Freshest Ideas Are in Small Grocery Stores – This is amazing. If any stores like these pop up in your area, I hope you’ll support them. (NY Times)
• Foods Can Be Endangered, Too. Here Are 9 That Need Our Protection – Wow, I hadn’t considered this before, but it makes sense. Also, if you’ve ever thought about going to Slow Food Nations, the year I went was one of the most memorable of my life. So amazing. (Modern Farmer)
• The wild success of baby-food pouches shows how we’ve embraced the idea of food as utility – 100%. (Quartz)
• Feed Your Head: Foods That Target Depression and Anxiety – “The paper names 12 nutrients key to managing depression and anxiety: folate (vitamin B9), iron, long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, potassium, selenium, thiamine (vitamin B1), vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin C and zinc. The foods richest in these include bivalves such as clams, mussels and oysters; leafy greens such as kale and spinach; wild salmon; organ meats; nuts; beans and seeds.” Fantastic article, though behind a paywall for subscribers. (WSJ)
• Can Teaching Kids to Cook Make Them Healthier Later in Life? – Finally some data to back up this seemingly common sense assumption. Relying on prepared food all the time isn’t good for anyone. (Civil Eats)
• Exercise Makes the Aging Heart More Youthful – “But even if you have neglected to exercise and are now middle-aged, it is not too late.” I love the term “committed exerciser.” Be that. (NY Times)
• Smaller plates don’t help you eat less when you’re hungry, research finds – Haha, one more thing that doesn’t work when you’re dieting. You can’t rely on some of these classic tricks if you’re starving. (ScienceDaily)
• How to Enjoy Washing Up – I guess “washing up” is how Aussies say “doing the dishes.” Anyway, I love this. (Stonesoup)
• Dads Pass On More Than Genetics in Their Sperm – “Eat poorly, and your body will remember—and possibly pass the consequences onto your kids.” (Smithsonian)
• Take a Vacation From Exercise? Your Body May Not Thank You – The absolute worst part of having a baby was that I couldn’t move much for the first two months after birth without re-injuring myself. Apparently I was really lucky that I was in good shape beforehand and was able to recover relatively quickly. (NY Times)
• SHAVED KOHLRABI SALAD WITH BASIL AND PARMESAN – Such a lovely and elegant preparation for this under-appreciated vegetable. (Alexandra’s Kitchen)

What inspired you this week?