Coffee prolongs life?

The New England Journal of Medicine, a well-known medical journal, says coffee drinkers have lower mortality rates.

(Wen) the king of the house

According to a study from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), older people who drink coffee have lower mortality rates than their peers who do not drink coffee, regardless of whether the coffee contains caffeine or not.

After stripping out factors such as smoking and drinking, the researchers observed that older people who drank coffee were less likely to die from heart disease, respiratory diseases, strokes, injuries, accidents, diabetes and infectious diseases, but the relationship between coffee and cancer has not yet been found. However, the researchers warn that it is not possible to determine whether drinking coffee can really make people live longer. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine (New England Journal of Medicine) on May 17.

Neal Freedman, of NCI's Department of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, and colleagues selected 400000 middle-aged and elderly people aged 50 to 71 who participated in the diet and health survey conducted by NIH and the American Association of retirees (AARP). The survey began in 1995 and the follow-up lasted until the end of 2008, and some of the respondents died before the end of the survey.

The researchers found that the association between coffee and reduced mortality increased with the increase in coffee consumption. Compared with those who did not drink coffee (regardless of gender), those who drank more than three cups of coffee a day had about a 10% lower mortality rate.

Friedman said that even if the finding that coffee can reduce mortality is true, the mechanism is still unclear because there are more than 1000 compounds in coffee that may have potential health effects. The most common known ingredient in coffee is caffeine, but the results show that caffeine has about the same effect on mortality.

The more candy you eat, the more stupid you get?

American scientists have found that a long-term high-fructose diet not only harms the body, but also slows the brain and impairs learning and memory.

Solahaloha / tr. by Phil Newell)

Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles have conducted a rat experiment that reveals for the first time how a long-term high-fructose diet slows the brain and impairs learning and memory, and how Omega-3 fatty acids reduce this damage. The study was published in the May 1st issue of the journal The Journal of Physiology.

Previous studies have shown that fructose is harmful, mostly because it is closely associated with diabetes, obesity and fatty liver. Now, however, this study reveals for the first time that fructose is also bad for the brain.

The team used fructose syrup, which is commonly used in processed foods such as soft drinks, seasonings, applesauce and baby food. "We are concerned about fructose added to processed foods as sweeteners and preservatives," the researchers explained. "

The scientists studied two groups of rats that had been using fructose solution as drinking water for six weeks. The second group of rats also obtained omega-3 fatty acids by taking flaxseed oil and DHA (22 carbon hexaenoic acid) at the same time. DHA protects synapses (chemical connections between brain cells that perform learning and memory functions).

Before officially starting a high-sugar diet, the rats were fed with standard rat diet for five days and were trained in a maze twice a day. The researchers tested the ability of rats to walk through a maze. There are many small holes in the labyrinth, but in the end there is only one exit. In the meantime, some landmarks were set up to help the rats learn and remember the correct route.

Six weeks later, the researchers tested the rats' ability to recall the route out of the maze. They were greatly surprised by the result.

The scientists found that "the second group walked much faster than the first group without omega-3, the DHA-deficient rats were more slow, and the synaptic activity in the brain decreased." Their brain cells developed signaling disorders that impaired the rats' ability to think clearly and recall the routes they remembered six weeks ago. "

The rats in the DHA deficiency group also showed signs of insulin resistance. Insulin is a hormone that controls blood sugar and regulates synaptic function in the brain. After further observation of the brain tissue of these rats, it was found that the response of insulin in brain cells was greatly weakened.

The researchers suspect that fructose is responsible for abnormal brain function in DHA-deficient rats. Eating too much fructose hinders the ability of insulin to regulate cells' use and storage of sugar and the energy needed to produce thoughts and emotions.