Nutrition
- Agriculture
Organic food starts to prove its worth
Organic food often comes with a higher price. But research is showing that food grown this way can be better for the environment — and possibly for us.
- Brain
Sugar makes mice sleepy
Sugar may amp up sleep-promoting cells in the brain, a new study in mice finds.
- Health & Medicine
How this vitamin can foster pimples
Oh no! Vitamin B12 can cause skin bacteria to secrete chemicals that cause zits.
- Health & Medicine
Peanuts for baby: A way to avoid peanut allergy?
Making peanut products a baby food could head off life-threatening peanut allergies later, new data show.
- Health & Medicine
Skip the soft drinks, period
Beyond the quest for trim waistlines and cavity-free teeth, girls have another reason to shun sodas and other sweetened drinks. These beverages may help launch the body’s menstrual cycles at an earlier age.
- Health & Medicine
Artificial sweeteners may evict good gut microbes
People use saccharin and other artificial sweeteners to try to stay healthy. A study now suggests such sweeteners might actually cause harm by encouraging the wrong bacteria to grow in our guts.
- Animals
Chef puts eco-bullies on the menu
Some immigrant species can become a nuisance, eating up or displacing the natives. Often people find little incentive to catch and remove the newcomers — unless they find them too yummy to pass up.
- Health & Medicine
Starchy foods may cut meaty risks
Eating red meat can increase the risk of certain types of cancer. But scientists have discovered that eating potatoes and other foods containing 'resistant' starch can help limit those risks.
- Health & Medicine
For better weight control, fiber up!
Certain types of fiber suppress appetite, at least in mice. Found in fruits, vegetables, oats and barley, this fiber breaks down in the gut to release acetate. That travels to the brain, where the chemical prompts the release of hunger-fighting hormones.
- Health & Medicine
Some of chocolate’s health benefits may trace to ‘bugs’
Dark chocolate offers people a number of health benefits. A new study finds that the breakdown of chocolate by microbes in the human gut be behind some benefits.
- Health & Medicine
Low protein, longer life — for some
Eating less protein can lengthen life and improve health. That’s the message from new studies in mice and in people.
- Health & Medicine
Veggies: A radiation shield
Here’s another reason to eat broccoli and related veggies: They protect the body’s cells from killer radiation — at least in rats.
