Should You Give Up on Fish-Oil Pills?
To get the most omega-3 heart-health benefits, Tufts expert advises, eat fish instead of relying on pills.
Second Thoughts About Good Cholesterol Effects
Youve heard over and over-including in the pages of this newsletter-about good HDL cholesterol
Research Backs Blueberries Heart Benefits
Blueberries have earned their reputation as a superfruit in part because of their high content of antioxidant polyphenols. (In fact, of course, theres no such thing as a superfruit-all fruits have some super qualities.) New research put those polyphe-nols to the test against metabolic syndrome, a complex of conditions, including central obesity (high waist-hip ratio), high blood pressure, high serum cholesterol and insulin resistance, that increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes.
Low-Carb Diet Works for Weight-and Your Heart
One of the longer clinical trials to compare a low-carb diet with a low-fat, low-calorie weight-loss regimen reports that both were effective for losing weight-but the low-carb diet also delivered a heart-health bonus.
Green Leafy Vegetables May Reduce Your Diabetes Risk
Could a serving or two of spinach or lettuce a day help keep diabetes away? Thats the suggestion of a new meta-analysis linking consump-tion of green leafy vegetables with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. Par-ticipants who ate the most green leafy vegetables-an average of 1.35 servings daily-were 14% less likely to develop diabetes than those consuming the least (an average 0.2 servings daily).
A Big Belly Is Dangerous-Even If Youre Not Overweight
Watching your waistline just got serious. A large new study links extra waist circumference to increased risk of death-even if youre not otherwise overweight.
Substituting Meat for Carbs Linked to Diabetes
Since carbohydrates can boost bloodsugar levels, it makes sense that a low-carb eating regimen like the Atkins diet should help ward off diabetes- right? Not so fast, according to a new analysis of two decades of data on 41,410 men. Lawrence de Koning, PhD, of Harvard School of Public Health, and colleagues found that low-carb eating habits were actually associated with a greater risk of developing diabetes.
More Evidence Dietary Fiber Reduces Heart Risk
Previous studies in the US and Europe have reported that dietary fiber may help protect against heart disease. Now a new Japanese study has found a similar association, suggesting that the cardiovascular benefits of fiber may extend beyond the Western diet.
Vitamin D Might Help Ward Off Diabetes
Two new studies presented at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society suggest a role for vitamin D in the prevention of diabetes and other chronic diseases. The so-called sunshine vitamin, proven to be important in bone health, has lately been linked to possible benefits against a wide range of diseases.
Low in B Vitamins? Depression May Be Lurking
Previous studies have suggested that B vitamins might help protect against depression, but these were mostly snapshots at a single point in time. Now a new study connects B-vitamin intake among 3,503 seniors, initially free of depression, over a span of 12 years: For every 10-milligram increase in daily vitamin B6, risk of developing depression declined by 2%. The same was true for every additional 10 micrograms of vitamin B12.