Eating five servings of dark chocolate a week is associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, according to a long-term US study published today in The BMJ. The research did not find this association with milk chocolate.
Women who drink more than 300 millilitres of milk a day (i.e. more than one and a half glasses) have a higher risk of ischaemic heart disease and acute myocardial infarction than those who drink less than this amount, according to a study based on data from more than 100,000 adults in Sweden. The results show that, from 300 millilitres upwards, the risk is higher the more milk is ingested–but only in women, not men. Drinking fermented milk, such as yoghurt and kefir, has no correlation with these risks, according to the paper published in BMC Medicine.
The restriction of sugar during the first 1,000 days of life, starting from gestation, may protect against diabetes and hypertension in adulthood, according to a study published in Science. The research uses data from sugar rationing implemented in the United Kingdom after World War II. The findings highlight the long-term benefits of reduced sugar intake during early development.
An international team with Spanish participation has developed a database with the metagenome of bacteria, fungi, and yeasts present in more than 2,500 foods, mostly dairy products, followed by beverages and fermented meats. The authors identified more than 10,800 microorganisms, half of which were previously unknown species. The study, published in Cell, shows that food-associated microorganisms are present in 3% of the adult gut microbiome and 56% of that of newborns.
Eating a vegan diet for eight weeks is associated with reductions in biological age estimates based on levels of DNA methylation, a type of chemical modification of DNA that alters the expression of genes, but not the DNA itself. This is the main conclusion of a study published in BMC Medicine in which 21 pairs of twins participated in a clinical trial. Of each pair, one person followed an omnivorous diet and the other a vegan - and lower calorie - diet during that period.
A healthy diet during pregnancy is associated with a lower likelihood of children being diagnosed with autism or communication difficulties, according to a study. The research team did not find a correlation between prenatal diet and repetitive and restricted behaviors (characteristic of these disorders). The analysis is published in JAMA Network Open and gathers data from more than 96,000 mother-child pairs in England and Norway.
People who take multivitamins daily do not have a lower risk of mortality than people who do not use these products, according to a meta-analysis published in JAMA Network Open. The study pooled data from more than 390,000 people, followed for about 20 years in three different cohorts in the United States.
According to an unpublished study presented at a conference of the American Heart Association and not peer-reviewed, an analysis of over 20,000 American adults found that individuals who restricted their food intake to less than 8 hours a day, following a time-restricted eating plan, were more likely to die from cardiovascular diseases compared to those who ate during 12-16 hours a day.
Eating more ultra-processed foods is linked to a higher risk of health problems, according to an umbrella review of 45 previous meta-analyses, involving almost 10 million people in total. The research, published in The BMJ, finds direct associations between exposure to ultra-processed foods and 32 health parameters. The strongest evidence links this exposure to cardiometabolic health problems, mental disorders and overall mortality.
A dietary shift from animal-based foods, such as red or processed meat and eggs, to plant-based foods, such as nuts, pulses and whole grains, is associated with a reduced risk of death and diabetes or cardiovascular disease. For example, replacing 50 grams of processed meat per day with 28-50 grams of nuts is associated with a 27% decrease in cardiovascular risk. These are the conclusions of a systematic review of 37 studies published in the journal BMC Medicine.