Food for Thought

  1. Health & Medicine

    Caffeine Aids Golden Girls’ Mental Health

    Coffee and tea appear to keep aging women sharp. Men, not so much.

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  2. Health & Medicine

    A Melon for Dieters and Diabetics

    Novel watermelons offer lots of taste but little sugar.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    A Gut Feeling about Coffee

    People's gut microbes digest fiber from coffee in a fermentation process, making beneficial compounds.

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  4. 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.

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  5. 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.

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  6. Health & Medicine

    Infectious Foie Gras?

    Foie gras contains misfolded proteins that, when given to mice, trigger disease.

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  7. 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.

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  8. 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.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Tea—Milking It

    Adding milk doesn't diminish tea's antioxidant bounty, research finds.

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  10. 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.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Childhood Vitamin D—A New Benefit?

    Vitamin D may prevent symptoms of asthma in toddlers.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Childhood Vitamin D—A Dark Side?

    Vitamin D may explain a child's summertime boost in lead absorption, new data indicate.

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