In this week’s news: You now have another reason to scarf down your yogurt; breakfast’s importance is called into question; and heavy drinking may be especially risky for women.
You + Yogurt = Lower Diabetes Risk?
You know yogurt is yummy. You also know it’s healthy. Now researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health have linked yogurt to a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. In fact, they found, although consumption of other types of dairy did not appear to have the same effect, eating just one 28-gram serving of yogurt a day reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes by 18 percent. Further investigation and randomized controlled trials are needed to determine whether the association is causal, the researchers say. But, senior study researcher Frank Hu notes, “The consistent findings for yogurt suggest that it can be incorporated into a healthy dietary pattern.”
Breakfast Not Championed
Breakfast’s status as the most-important meal of the day seems to be eroding. Tufts University researchers, following up on previous findings that elementary school students who ate breakfast did better on cognitive tests, concluded that students enrolled in Breakfast in the Classrooms programs did not achieve higher test scores for reading and math after all. (Attendance in BIC schools, however, was higher than in non-BIC schools — so the programs were effective in that regard.) The study authors say their findings do not mean the BIC programs are not important, but rather they highlight a need for further research, including “multiple measures of academic performance, such as test scores as well as classroom behavior and attention,” to get a clearer picture.
Sobering Study About Alcohol-Related Injuries
Heavy alcohol consumption is dangerous for anyone, but a new study indicates it may be significantly more so for women than men. A review of emergency room admissions in 18 countries found that, after drinking heavily, women were at a greater risk for injury than men, be it from violence, traffic collisions, falls or other causes. “Even small amounts of drinking put one at risk for injury,” lead researcher Cheryl Cherpitel told Reuters. After three drinks, men and women were both about 4.5 times more likely to be injured than when sober — but after more drinks, women were twice, then triple, then as much as 22 times more likely to be injured than men. The researchers cite men’s higher tolerance for alcohol and violence against women as possible factors.
Amy Reiter also contributes to FN Dish.
