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Nutrition
Vitamin D in pregnancy helps children’s bones – UK analysis
Children whose mothers had taken extra vitamin D during pregnancy continue to have stronger bones at age seven, say researchers from University of Southampton...
Longer sleep, early breakfast, affects BMI – Spanish study
A recent study suggests that there are patterns in the relationship between meal times and body weight, with the scientists saying that to keep...
Half of the world’s micronutrient intake inadequate – global study
According to recent alarming findings by researchers, more than half of the global population consumes inadequate levels of several micronutrients essential to health, including...
SA’s under-fives hungry, neglected and dying – Child Gauge 2024
One out of every 25 babies born in South Africa dies before turning five, with most under-fives facing hunger, neglect and developmental issues, according...
Maye Musk scholarship for Master's nutrition students at UFS
Elon Musk’s mother, Dr Maye Musk, has founded a scholarship to support serving students who intend to study nutrition or dietetics at the University...
Warning after six-month-old babies put on diets
An Australian obesity expert has slammed the current fixation with “ideal” weight ranges, which he warns is driving poor advice that includes putting children...
Low-calorie sweetener raises blood clot risk – US study
A small study has found that the sugar substitute, erythritol, makes blood more susceptible to clotting, and may explain why it has been linked...
Surge in children's sugary drink intake – global study
Worldwide, children and adolescents drank, on average, 23% more sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) in 2018 than they did in 1990, according to a recent study,...
Too much sugar can age you faster – US study
Findings from a recent study highlight the importance of reducing daily sugar consumption, with scientists finding a link between diets with lower sugar consumption...
Ending childhood stunting vital for South Africa's future prosperity
A key indicator to measure progress by government, writes Dr Edzani Mphaphuli in Mail & Guardian, is by closely monitoring stunting rates in children....
Plant-based meat alternatives less risky for CVD, Canadian study confirms
Studies comparing the impact of plant-based meat alternatives (PBMAs) and animal-based meats consistently suggest that the former improve cardiovascular risk factors – which appears...
Unicef report warns that 25% of SA’s toddlers face severe food poverty
A report by the United Nations Children’s Agency Unicef shows that almost a quarter (23%) of South African children under five are at risk...
SA children’s suffering in poor areas worse during pandemic
Certain categories of South African children were profoundly affected during the pandemic, research has shown, with six out of 10 being exposed to depressed...
Fish oil supplements may increase heart conditions risk – global study
Recent research findings suggest that fish oil supplements might increase the risk of someone developing a heart condition or stroke, but could reduce the...
Can consuming olive oil help reduce dementia?
Harvard University researchers recently suggested that adding just a spoonful of olive oil to your diet every day not only provides powerful health benefits...
Nestlé to end sugar addition in baby products from year-end
Nestlé will end the practice of adding sugar to its baby food products by the end of the year, it has announced, after an...
Scientists warn cake and drinks sweetener can ‘damage gut wall’
The sugar substitute E961 (neotame), used in chewing gum and cakes, among other things, can have a “toxic effect on health”, and damage intestinal...
Does what you eat affect your brain health?
Researchers, who have long been interested in finding out what diets optimise brain function, which is affected by dietary patterns and food choices, have...
Ultra-processed foods linked to 32 health problems, large review finds
A recent, large-scale review of 45 meta-analyses of almost 10m people found that eating ultra-processed foods vastly increases the risk of developing or dying...
Kiwifruit improves vitality in just four days – New Zealand study
Kiwifruit has proven itself as a powerful mood booster, with researchers now suggesting it can improve vitality in just four days, and that the...
Some beers good for your gut, say experts
With South African beer drinkers being the discerning lot they are, and with world markets having opened up over the years and imported beers...
‘Social jetlag’, irregular sleep, upset gut bacteria – UK study
British scientists have suggested that going to bed at roughly the same time every night could help reduce the risk of disease, after their...
Can you create a ‘healthy’ menu from ultra-processed foods?
Scientists recently led a study showing it’s possible to build a healthy diet with 91% of the calories coming from ultra-processed foods (as classified using the NOVA...
Fast-food diets threaten taxi drivers’ health – SA study
The daily junk food diet of taxi drivers is raising their risks of serious lifestyle diseases, according to a University of the Western Cape...
Daily multivitamin turns back cognitive ageing clock – US study
Researchers have said that for older people, a year of taking daily multivitamins had a similar effect to turning back the cognitive ageing clock...
Depression risk fed by ultra-processed foods – Australian study
A large Australian study has linked high consumption of ultra-processed – or industrially produced – foods to depression.
Medical News Today reports that the NOVA classification...
Meat, eggs, milk healthier than plant-based foods – UN agency review
A major review undertaken by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), looking at 500 papers to analyse the benefits and risks of animal...
Fortified staple foods best nutritional value for money – SA study
A 2003 government decision to improve nutrient intake by fortifying maize meal and bread flour with vitamin A, riboflavin, niacin, pyridoxine thiamine, folic acid,...
More tea, coffee and protein can lessen hip fracture risk for women – UK study
Regular cups of tea or coffee, and beefing up protein intake could help women reduce their risk of suffering a hip fracture, say scientists,...
Eight glasses of water daily might be excessive for most people – Japanese study
Drinking eight glasses of water a day is probably excessive for most people, and not supported scientifically at all, despite the suggestion having become...
Moderate use of any kind of coffee associated with reduced CVD and mortality risk
Two or three daily cups of coffee – whether ground, instant or decaffeinated – were associated with significant reductions in incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) and...
Seven walnuts a day for improved health, reduced CVD risk– US study
People who eat walnuts have a better heart disease risk profile than those who don’t, gain less weight, and enjoy more physical activity compared...
Dairy products may protect against type 2 diabetes – Italian meta-analysis
A meta-analysis, presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) conference, links low-fat dairy products to a...
Drinking black tea linked to lower mortality risk – US Cancer Institute study
Drinking green tea has long been associated with various health benefits and longevity, according to a number of studies, but now recent data from...
UK study casts doubt on widespread lactose intolerance diagnoses
Despite our ancestors drinking milk for thousands of years, intolerance among Britons is rising, but is it as widespread as it seems? A recent...
Human cells less able to absorb protein from ‘vegan’ meat’ – Ohio study
Proteins in plant-based meat alternatives may not be as accessible to human cells as those from real meat, a study has suggested.
While plants rich...
Diabetes drug helps obese patients shed weight – US study
A weekly dose of a diabetes drug appears to lead to significant weight loss in people with obesity, with a recent study showing participants...
Less risk of early death for coffee drinkers, suggests Chinese cohort study
Studies on the benefits or risks of coffee drinking continue unabated worldwide, the latest one, from researchers in China, suggesting that people who consume...
Coffee brewing method linked to increased total cholesterol levels – Norwegian study
Espresso coffee consumption has been associated with higher total cholesterol levels, particularly in men, a population-based, cross-sectional Norwegian study found. They also found a...
Supplementation: Vitamin D3, but not D2, stimulates human immune system
Contrary to widely held views, there are significant differences between the two types of vitamin D, with D3 appearing to boost the immune system...