(Harvard
University) Drinking several cups of coffee daily appears to reduce the risk of
suicide in men and women by about 50 percent, according to a new study… Unlike
previous investigations, we were able to assess association of consumption of
caffeinated and non-caffeinated beverages, and we identify caffeine as the most
likely candidate of any putative protective effect of coffee," said lead
researcher Michel Luca.
(Chicago
Tribune) The marketing for freshly pressed and blended juices promises instant
energy, weight loss, a flood of vitamins and minerals — all in a single,
portable, gulpable serving… [But] experts would rather see people eating whole
fruit. Because most juicing methods remove the produce's fiber, drinking juice
omits one of the key benefits of eating fruit, while delivering huge amounts of
sugar and calories.
(Andrew
Weil, M.D.) Strange as it may seem, peppers (and to a lesser degree tomatoes)
contain edible nicotine (far less than you would get from a cigarette) that may
help protect against Parkinson’s disease. Researchers at the University of
Washington in Seattle evaluated the diets of 490 Parkinson’s patients and 644
adults who had no neurological disorders… Results showed that the more peppers
and tomatoes eaten, the lower the risk of Parkinson’s… Peppers, tomatoes and
tobacco are all members of a flowering plant family called Solanaceae (also
informally known as the nightshade family).
(Scientific
American) The common processing of whole grains—which can involve grinding,
puffing and flaking them—can also impact their healthfulness. Processing can
make whole grains tastier; it can give them a longer shelf life, too, by
removing fats from the outer layer of the grain that can turn rancid. But some
processing techniques have been shown to degrade natural antioxidants and reduce
fiber content.
(The
Salt, NPR) Remember the battle over trans fats? Yeah, the fats that did our
hearts no favors. As we've reported, the push to get these cholesterol-raising
fats out of the food supply has been pretty successful. And now most packaged
snacks are labeled as having zero grams of trans fat. So what are food
manufacturers using instead? One alternative is palm oil. But it's not an ideal
replacement. There are environmental concerns about how palm oil is
produced. And what's more, from a health perspective, palm oil is high in
saturated fat… It contains about as much saturated fat as butter.
(Voice
of America) Bloomfield Farms general manager Nick Papadopoulos grew
increasingly frustrated as he watched his employees repeatedly return from a
weekend’s worth of farmer’s markets with unsold, top quality produce that would
spoil before the next market day… So he came up with a plan to offer the food
at a deep discount and he spread the word by updating the farm’s Facebook
status on Sunday nights. The deals were open to anyone on the social media
site.