Topic
Nutrition & Diet
What to eat: dietary patterns, gut health, what processed food and drink do, and how diet tracks the diseases people most want to avoid.
MYTH diet score tracked 21% lower aging-related death risk, level with an older healthy-eating index
China Medical University researchers had machine learning rank the foods eaten by 191,689 UK Biobank adults. Most of the 10 rules that emerged match familiar advice; the exceptions reward refined grains and a large glass of wine a day.
Sep 14, 2026
Ultra-processed diets tracked with 40% more type 2 diabetes in 25,214 Australian adults
Deakin University researchers analyzed 25,214 Melbourne adults followed for about 12 years. Each extra 10% of their food by weight that was ultra-processed went with 16% more diabetes, and body size explained under a fifth of that.
Sep 14, 2026
Feeding adults with type 2 diabetes a DASH-style diet lowered three separate blood sugar markers
The DASH diet was built for blood pressure. A version tailored for diabetes was tested by cooking every meal for 101 people, which removes the usual problem of not knowing what anyone actually ate.
Sep 8, 2026
Extra protein failed to build muscle in cancer patients whose inflammation was already high
Protein advice for cancer patients is given as a single number for everyone. Tracking 50 people with colorectal cancer found that what their blood was doing beforehand largely decided whether it worked.
Sep 8, 2026
Vegan children were shorter and had lower growth-hormone markers than vegetarian peers
Plant-based diets in childhood are debated on principle and measured rarely. A German cohort compared 7,344 blood samples from 2,508 children against their height, weight and growth biology.
Sep 8, 2026
Shifting nursery menus plant-forward sped up bone turnover in young children
Childcare centers are being asked to serve more plants for climate reasons, with little data on the children. A ten-month randomized trial found bone markers moving, and the researchers are not sure it is benign.
Sep 7, 2026
Expressing milk before birth more than doubled exclusive breastfeeding after gestational diabetes
Babies of mothers with gestational diabetes often get formula in the first hours for low blood sugar, and breastfeeding rarely recovers. Collecting milk before the birth changed how many were still feeding weeks later.
Sep 6, 2026
B vitamins tracked slightly less breast cancer, but not in women drinking more than a glass a day
Folate and its relatives have been circling breast cancer research for decades without resolving. A nested study found small protective associations, and found they disappeared above a specific drinking threshold.
Sep 6, 2026
Meals built from traditional foods cut heart failure hospital visits by more than a quarter
Medically tailored meals usually mean someone else's idea of healthy food. A trial in 206 American Indian patients with heart failure built the meals from foods the community already eats, and counted what happened.
Sep 6, 2026
Saturated fat tracked 24% more deaths after prostate cancer, but not from the cancer
Most men diagnosed with early prostate cancer do not die of it. Following 4,884 of them for over a decade, what they ate afterwards moved every cause of death except the one they were treated for.
Sep 4, 2026
Growing up alongside a sibling with Crohn's tracked four times the risk of getting it
Siblings of people with Crohn's disease are known to be at higher risk, and genes were the obvious explanation. Comparing childhood exposure with adult exposure separates the shared genes from the shared childhood.
Sep 4, 2026
Moderate drinking tracked lower heart risk and higher cancer risk in the same 438,442 people
The alcohol argument usually picks one disease and stops there. Following 438,442 US veterans, moderate drinking sat at the bottom of the curve for heart events and death, while cancer risk climbed in a straight line from the first drink.
Sep 2, 2026
Three additive types tracked about 45% more depression; five others tracked nothing
Ultra-processed food is usually condemned or defended as one block. Following 171,818 UK adults for a decade, only three of ten additive categories tracked depression, and they did so in proportion to how much was eaten.
Sep 2, 2026
A whole-food exclusion diet put 69% of Crohn's patients into remission across 17 studies
Crohn's disease is normally treated with drugs, and the liquid-only diet that works is almost impossible to stick to. Pooling 17 studies, a diet built from ordinary food matched it, and beat both a control diet and the Mediterranean diet.
Sep 1, 2026
Four healthy eating patterns each tracked about 12% less acid reflux across 183,878 adults
Reflux advice is a list of foods to avoid. Following 183,878 UK adults for 13 years, the Mediterranean, MIND and DASH patterns and a gut-focused diet index each tracked lower risk, while an inflammatory pattern tracked more.
Sep 1, 2026
Every extra 100g of fruit and vegetables a day after diagnosis tracked 9% fewer bladder cancer recurrences
Bladder cancer comes back more often than almost any other cancer, and patients are given no dietary advice at all. In 1,396 Dutch patients followed nearly five years, what they ate after diagnosis tracked their recurrence risk.
Sep 1, 2026
A ketogenic diet did 2 to 3 times more for liver insulin sensitivity at matched weight loss
Diet trials usually compare diets producing different amounts of weight loss, so the diet and the pounds cannot be told apart. A Cell Metabolism trial held the loss at about 10% across three diets, and the composition still mattered.
Sep 1, 2026
The best diet-and-sleep combination tracked 43% less lung cancer across 192,034 people
Diet and sleep are usually studied one at a time. Scoring both together in the UK Biobank and following people for 14 years, the group with the best Mediterranean diet and the best sleep had the lowest lung cancer risk by a wide margin.
Sep 1, 2026
A microbiome-guided diet held its IBS benefit at a year, while low-FODMAP relapsed
The low-FODMAP diet works for irritable bowel syndrome in the short term, and nobody knew what happens after. Followed for 12 months without further support, its gains had gone. A diet built from each person's gut bacteria kept them.
Sep 1, 2026
The sweetener in your sugar-free label is also made by your body, and its level tracks insulin resistance
Erythritol is sold as a sweetener and quietly produced inside us from glucose. In 802 adults on a weight-loss trial, the people whose blood erythritol fell furthest were the ones whose insulin resistance improved most, two years on.
Aug 31, 2026
Plant-based low-carb eating tracked 15% less dementia over nine years, whatever the genetic risk
A low-carbohydrate diet and a low-fat diet look symmetrical on paper. Across 5,301 Americans followed for nine years they were not: the low-carb score tracked less dementia, the low-fat score did not, and the food sources decided both.
Aug 30, 2026
Viscous soluble fiber eased constipation on the strongest evidence in 17 trials of 1,423 adults
A Food & Function review pooled 17 randomized trials and 1,423 adults to rank fiber against fiber rather than against nothing. Viscous soluble fiber beat placebo on difficulty passing stool at high certainty, the strongest grade in the paper.
Aug 26, 2026
Nuts tracked 26% lower risk of high blood pressure across 8 studies and 20,665 cases
A British Journal of Nutrition review pooled eight cohort studies and 20,665 new cases of high blood pressure. Eating about 30 grams of nuts a day went with roughly a quarter less risk, and the authors graded the case for cause as probable.
Aug 26, 2026
The Portfolio diet tracked 10% lower death risk across 513,284 people in four cohorts
A Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition analysis pooled 10 studies of the cholesterol-lowering Portfolio diet. Each step up the adherence score went with 6% less cardiovascular disease and 10% lower all-cause mortality.
Aug 26, 2026
Psyllium showed the clearest benefit for irritable bowel syndrome across 30 trials
A meta-analysis pooled 30 trials and 1,904 people with irritable bowel syndrome. 52% responded to fiber against 44% on placebo, and the benefit was clearest for psyllium. A separate symptom-score analysis found nothing.
Aug 18, 2026
A China-adapted planetary diet tracked 14% lower deaths
Researchers rebuilt the EAT-Lancet planetary health diet around Chinese eating and scored 19,660 adults on it. The top quarter had a 14% lower death rate over a median 9.1 years, alongside lower emissions, water use and land use.
Aug 17, 2026
More fish was not better: the lowest deaths sat mid-range
A Japanese cohort of 90,944 adults found the lowest all-cause mortality in women eating the second-highest amount of fish, not the highest. In men the benefit appeared only for stroke deaths, and only for unsalted fish.
Aug 14, 2026
Late dinners and skipped breakfasts tracked dementia risk
A Japanese cohort of 283,166 people aged around 73 linked two ordinary habits to later dementia: eating within two hours of bed, and missing breakfast. Both associations were modest, and neither was tested as a cause.
Aug 9, 2026
Four ultra-processed ingredients tracked high blood pressure
A European Heart Journal study followed 101,560 UK Biobank participants for a decade, sorting their food by what their ingredient lists held. Colorings, sweeteners, flavorings and sugars tracked new high blood pressure. Five did not.
Aug 8, 2026
Mediterranean diet beat low-fat on 20-year heart risk
Researchers emulated a trial in 12,197 higher-risk US adults from two Harvard cohorts. Estimated 20-year cardiovascular risk was 28.2% on a Mediterranean diet against 35.9% on a low-fat one.
Aug 6, 2026
Semaglutide kept cutting calories after hunger relief faded
A 60-week trial in 120 adults measured what people actually ate. Those on semaglutide still ate around 270 fewer calories at week 60, even though the appetite benefits they reported had gone.
Aug 6, 2026
Anti-inflammatory diet linked to longer life after cancer
In 7,686 Swedish patients with cancer of the prostate, bladder or kidney, those eating a more anti-inflammatory diet beforehand were less likely to die of anything. The link to dying of the cancer itself was weak.
Aug 4, 2026
Diet and exercise cut disease risk whatever the scale says
A study in The Lancet Regional Health - Americas followed 142,041 US adults. Those highest for activity and diet quality had 46% lower chronic disease risk, and the effect held after accounting for body weight at several life stages.
Aug 4, 2026
Who benefits from cutting salt varies 15-fold
Guidelines tell everyone to eat less sodium. Pooling 160 studies, researchers found blood pressure response depends heavily on age, starting pressure and body weight.
Aug 2, 2026
Cutting alcohol in midlife showed no breast cancer benefit yet
EPIC researchers tracked drinking changes in 123,679 European women. Four years after the change, postmenopausal breast cancer risk had not moved either way.
Jul 31, 2026
Coffee tracked higher total testosterone but lower free testosterone
A Finnish study of 2,264 people at age 46 found heavier coffee drinkers were leaner and had a distinct hormone pattern in men, with a catch buried in which testosterone rose.
Jul 31, 2026
A plant-based pattern cut 20-year heart disease risk by 26%
Greek researchers followed 1,988 adults for two decades and found the diet that was best for the planet was also best for the heart. The Western pattern showed nothing.
Jul 31, 2026
Heavy drinking and obesity both raised diabetes risk, separately
A Diabetologia study followed 7,817 Korean adults for 16 years and found obesity and heavy drinking each raised diabetes risk, but combined less than adding them up would predict.
Jul 29, 2026
The traditional Chinese diet tracked with fewer deaths, more obesity
A European Journal of Nutrition study of 11,158 Chinese adults found high adherence to the traditional diet linked to lower heart disease and death rates, and higher obesity rates.
Jul 29, 2026
Food insecurity tracked with missed cancer screening
A JAMA Network Open analysis of 251,107 US adults found people facing food insecurity were less likely to be up to date on cancer screening, and looked at whether SNAP narrowed the gap.
Jul 29, 2026
Salt tracked with diabetes risk, measured in urine
A Diabetes Care study measured sodium in repeat 24-hour urine samples from 3,173 adults and found the highest intakes carried 2.66 times the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Jul 29, 2026
Hitting the wholegrain target tracked with less breast cancer
A European Journal of Nutrition study followed 36,479 Swedish women for a mean 16.5 years and found those eating at least 90 g of wholegrains a day had lower breast cancer rates.
Jul 29, 2026
Plant-based only helped if it wasn't ultra-processed
An EClinicalMedicine study of 17,374 UK Biobank adults found plant foods tracked with less weight gain, but plant-sourced ultra-processed foods tracked with more.
Jul 28, 2026
What blocks nutrition security: time, transport and cost
A JAMA Network Open survey of 3,000 US adults counted the obstacles to eating well and found people facing more of them had higher rates of diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
Jul 27, 2026
Climate labels on menus shifted what 10,000 people ordered
A JAMA Network Open randomized trial gave 10,342 US adults a fast-food menu with one of six label designs and found graded climate labels cut selection of high-impact items by up to 8 percentage points.
Jul 26, 2026
Sugary drinks tied to liver cancer; diet versions were not
A pooled analysis of 11 cohorts and 1.5 million adults in JAMA Network Open linked each daily sugary drink to higher liver cancer risk, while artificially sweetened drinks showed no association.
Jul 26, 2026
Time-restricted eating matched a dietitian, then drifted
A Diabetologia trial randomized 247 Australians at risk of type 2 diabetes to a 9-hour eating window or personalized dietitian advice, and found the two matched at 4 months but not at 12.
Jul 26, 2026
Alcohol tied to cancer risk below one drink a day
A re-analysis of 843 studies across 20 health conditions tied alcohol to higher risk for ten cancers at any level, while its links to heart and metabolic disease were mixed. These were observational studies, so associations, not proof.
Jul 23, 2026
Artificial sweeteners linked to worse blood-sugar control
A Tufts meta-analysis of 21 randomized trials found even against water or a placebo, non-nutritive sweeteners were tied to higher fasting insulin and a worse long-term blood-sugar marker. These are metabolic markers, not proof of disease.
Jul 23, 2026
Does sauerkraut fight inflammation? A trial says mostly no
A randomized crossover trial in 87 healthy adults found daily sauerkraut did little for inflammation or the gut barrier over four weeks. The one signal, a small drop in blood pressure, showed up even when the bacteria were dead.
Jul 23, 2026
What coffee does to your gut and mood, beyond the caffeine
Irish researchers compared 31 coffee drinkers with 31 non-drinkers, then tracked what changed when people took up caffeinated or decaf coffee. Both shifted the gut microbiome. Decaf was linked to better memory, caffeine to sharper focus.
Jul 22, 2026