Most end-of-year reviews and lists are predictably tedious. This one isn’t. From it, we’ve selected the most interesting journal articles on health issues, our holiday gift to Founders Broadsheet‘s readers for 2018. Mens sana in corpore sano, a healthy body politic is underpinned by a physically healthy and mentally alert citizenry. Several of the articles cited below challenge longstanding orthodoxy: “minimize saturated fat intake,” “moderate wine with meals is beneficial,” and “running is a superlative aerobic sport.”
But as long as we are quoting Latin catch phrases, one slightly modified one is relevant: caveat lector, “let the reader beware.” Health research is notorious for its flip-flops, produced by research done on too limited a sample population and budget, run for too brief a time span, with insufficient controls and usually no random assignment to experimental groups so that causality can be determined rather than mere association. Nevertheless, perhaps a few New Year’s resolutions may be inspired by the articles selected and introduced below.
Dietary studies
Fats and nuts vs. carbs
The avocado is rich in monosaturated fat
Fats are good for you, including saturated fat, and they’re better for you than carbohydrates, according to this article published in the prestigious British medical journal, The Lancet. The American Heart Association, which for decades has been claiming the opposite, admits that saturated fat might be better for you than refined carbohydrates, but the AHA still argues that polyunsaturated and monosaturated fats are preferable to saturated fats.
It’s unclear where unrefined carbohydrates, such as whole-grain cereals, are left in this fat vs fat and fat vs carbohydrate hierarchy.
Nuts are high in fat content but also minerals and protein. Unsurprisingly, this study found that “Higher nut intake is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, total cancer and all-cause mortality, and mortality from respiratory disease, diabetes, and infections.”
One thing seems clear: low-fat diets are a bad idea unless for a specific short-term medical goal. On the other hand, fats and oils are very high calorie. Their consumption should best come at the expense of refined carbohydrates, sweetened and alcoholic beverages, and other “empty calorie” foods, lest one become overweight.
Carbohydrates and gluten
Some food faddist sites are pushing the idea that even if one doesn’t have celiac disease, one’s health will benefit by avoiding gluten-bearing foods (wheat, rye, barley, oats, beer, brewer’s yeast). This study shows that is not the case.
Fruits and vegetables
Kiwi, rich in vitamin C
It also shouldn’t be a complete surprise that there is an inverse relationship between the consumption of fruit and vegetables on the one hand and cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality on the other. This holds true for each separately as well as both together.
Chocolate
Chocolate consumption may be inversely associated with reduced atrial fibrillation.
Coffee
Coffee continues to get a good press (but so did alcohol for decades). It’s associated with lower all-cause mortality and mortality from various specific diseases. The one exception is ovarian cancer for women.
Alcohol
Your booze or your brain — choose one
The biggest orthodoxy of all — that moderate alcohol consumption promotes longer life and greater health — is being rapidly dismantled. The conclusion: “Alcohol consumption, even at moderate levels, is associated with adverse brain outcomes including hippocampal atrophy. These results support the recent reduction in alcohol guidance in the UK and question the current limits recommended in the US.”
Supplements
The one supplement that so far has been found to be of some value is vitamin D. This research highlights its benefits in preventing acute respiratory illness in those who are low in this essential nutrient.
Exercise
Breaking up the seated sessions
The benefits of exercise are by now well-known. Not so well-known are the benefits, if one must be seated for long parts of the day, of frequently getting up and moving around. That study is here.
Running vs racket sports and swimming
Long distance runners, from a Greek amphora
Runners will be disappointed to hear that this journal article studied six different sports to see whether there were differences in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality among practitioners of the different sports. Indeed there were, and racket sports and swimming came out on top, ahead of running and football (=US soccer).
Miscellaneous category
Time buys happiness
According to this study, if you spend money on services that save you time, you’ll get more “bang for the buck” (happiness) than from buying goods with that money. Are you listening, McMansion buyers?
Smart phones reduce cognition
The title of the article is “Brain Drain: The Mere Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity.” If the study is replicable, a powerful argument exists for banning children from bringing smart phones to school and curbing smart phone use at the office.
Click here for yesterday’s issue of Founders Broadsheet (“Mainstream media finally cover FBI corruption scandal, pretend it’s just partisan smears coordinated by Trump”)
Good summary! A useful New Year’s gift to all readers.