Food for Thought
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Health & Medicine
Caffeine Aids Golden Girls’ Mental Health
Coffee and tea appear to keep aging women sharp. Men, not so much.
- Health & Medicine
A Melon for Dieters and Diabetics
Novel watermelons offer lots of taste but little sugar.
- Health & Medicine
A Gut Feeling about Coffee
People's gut microbes digest fiber from coffee in a fermentation process, making beneficial compounds.
- Science & Society
Sour Genes, Yes—Salty Genes, No
A study in twins finds that genes may be responsible for a high or low threshold to the detection of sour tastes, but not of salty ones.
- Health & Medicine
Concerns over Genistein, Part II—Beyond the heart
Mice eating a diet laced with an estrogen-like constituent of soy display a puzzling variety of changes, some apparently good, some potentially bad.
- Health & Medicine
Infectious Foie Gras?
Foie gras contains misfolded proteins that, when given to mice, trigger disease.
- Health & Medicine
Concerns over Genistein, Part I—The heart of the issue
One of soy's ostensibly beneficial constituents may aggravate cardiovascular disease, at least in older women.
- Health & Medicine
Super-Size Mice—Fast Food Hurts Rodents
When rodents eat the equivalent of a fast-food diet, they develop health problems similar to those seen in the movie Super Size Me.
- Health & Medicine
Tea—Milking It
Adding milk doesn't diminish tea's antioxidant bounty, research finds.
- Health & Medicine
Chocolate Constituent Bests Fluoride
The beans used to make chocolate can also render a tooth-decay-fighting extract; unfortunately, it's bitter, not chocolaty.
- Health & Medicine
Childhood Vitamin D—A New Benefit?
Vitamin D may prevent symptoms of asthma in toddlers.
- Health & Medicine
Childhood Vitamin D—A Dark Side?
Vitamin D may explain a child's summertime boost in lead absorption, new data indicate.
