Processed food & drinks
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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