Gigabiting

sweetener timeline via the New York Sun What’s the story with stevia? A few years ago we had never hear of the stuff, and all of a sudden it’s in everything— sodas, juice drinks, yogurt, and of course those little green and white packets of Truvia and PureVia that are already outselling pink-packeted Sweet-n-Low and baby-blue Equal. Supermarkets can’t restock it fast enough, and coffee bars have taken to keeping it behind the register because it has a habit of disappearing by the hand-full....

image via the National Post Anthony Bourdain is adding another hyphenated job description to the list. The quote-spouting bon vivant and all-around culinary luminary now has his own eponymous line of books published under the Ecco imprint for HarperCollins. Bourdain has basically been given carte blanche to choose, acquire, and release three to five books per year. Anthony Bourdain made his own literary mark with tough-guy tales of culinary foot soldiers—often sordid and salacious, always...

This fall, Continental joins every other major U.S. airline when it ends free economy-class meals on domestic flights. Like checked luggage and bulkhead seats, in-flight meals join the list of existing amenities that airlines are looking to spin into upgrades. The stuff of jokes probably since the dawn of aviation, few are mourning their passing. Entrees On Trays Prison food, hospital food, school cafeterias— has anything good ever been served on a divided tray? In fairness, serving meals at...

You won her heart with long-stemmed roses. Now what? Keep the post-Valentine’s Day doldrums at bay by steering clear of these foods. Every one of them is known to kill the sex drive. Gin and tonic You already know about the effects of gin (I believe the proper medical terminology is whiskey dick ), but did you know that tonic water also suppresses the libido? The quinine that flavors it is known to lower testosterone levels. Gin with tonic water is a double whammy in a highball glass....

A ride on a city bus costs more than $7.00 in Oslo but only 7¢ in Mumbai. The same iPad 2 that sells for over $1,000 in Buenos Aires can be picked up for half that price in Bangkok. But when we really want to understand purchasing power, we look at global Big Mac prices. A Big Mac is a Big Mac wherever you go. The McDonald’s Big Mac is an ideal indicator. With a few accommodations to local tastes, it’s the same sesame seed bun, same special sauce, same double beef patties, made to identical...

Gwyneth image via SFGate No matter what I do, I will never be as strong or thin as Gwyneth. (#whitegirlproblems) If you thought eating disorders were only for white girls, think again. New studies of disordered eating among racial and ethnic minorities are challenging the widespread perception that these afflictions are the sole domain of privileged, white teenagers. For years, girls of color were thought to be immune. The cultural standards of beauty in Black and Latina communities had...

Are you wearying of the Republican primary marathon? Sure, it was amusing at first watching the Perry and McCain gaffe machines, but lately all the fun has gone out of it. The incessant finger pointing and negative advertising is enough to try the patience of even the most committed political junkie. This would be a fine time to connect with your local chapter of Drinking Liberally. Drinking Liberally is an informal, nonpartisan social gathering where left-leaning individuals can go to share...

How’s this for a cultural shift: most Americans would forgo square footage for a house near a Starbucks. For generations of strivers a big house was one of the most important emblems of status, a four bedroom jacuzzi-tubbed signpost along the roadway to success. The Jeffersons were movin’ on up; the Clampetts got their Beverly Hills mansion with a ce-ment pond in back. Now, it seems, you’re a nobody if you can’t walk out the front door and get a latte. According to the Community Preference...

[image via Bent Objects] Did you ever wonder where those perfect little carrots come from? Those marvels of the produce aisle, so uniform in shape, size, and color, like no carrot found in nature. You’ve had your suspicions; you’ve heard the rumors. It’s all true: carrots- yes; babies-no. True baby carrots are a specialty crop that’s grown to be harvested before maturity. The supermarket version is a manufactured product. It starts with full-sized, fully-grown carrots that are snipped into...

We all know about tooth decay from the sugar and the elevated risk of diabetes, asthma, and heart disease associated with obesity. But there are plenty of other reasons not to drink soda. Weird fat accumulations According to a recently published Danish study, a liter of soda a day can dramatically increase the amount of fat surrounding the liver and skeletal muscles. Soda doesn’t simply make you fat—it makes you weirdly fat. Fat in the usual place- even from diet soda Of course all the sugar...

It’s the biggest IPO in years and there will be none for you. There’s a long line of bankers, venture capitalists, institutional investors, and well-connected individuals getting first dibs on shares of Facebook when the social media titan goes public this spring. Less buzz, more bunny. Why bother when you can easily buy into the initial offering from Annie’s Homegrown? When Annie’s announced plans to go public, there was none of the frenzy that surrounded recent offerings like LinkedIn,...

Just because your unemployment has run out and you’re living in your parents’ basement doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the finer things in life. According to Nation’s Restaurant News, the traditional dine-and-dash is flourishing in these recessionary times. No mere adolescent prank, customers of all stripes are slipping out without paying, stiffing owners and servers at restaurants all along the dining scale. There are surreptitious walkouts, made easier by waitstaff cutbacks. Some customers...

image via the film 'Sleeping and Dreaming of Food' You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of underdone potato. There’s more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are! - - Scrooge to Marley’s ghost; from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol Was it something I ate? Anyone who has ever gone to bed after a dinner of enchiladas can tell you that what you eat affects your dreams. Surprisingly, there is very little solid science to explain it....

Undisciplined, unpredictable, and unapologetically falling to temptation— that’s Newt Gringrich. He knows he should watch his waistline, but sometimes he just can’t help himself when it comes to ice cream. Rick Santorum loves his beer, resolutely but conditionally. He has judged the stouts, the bocks, the white ales and the wheat beers to be worthy; IPAs don’t pass muster. Ron Paul eccentrically puts it all out there with a family cookbook. The recipes are unfettered by contemporary dietary...