It’s the food, baby. While shopping the perimeter of the grocery store is an age-old tip to stock up on good-for-you foods, reaching for chips, cookies and soda can be the ultimate comfort habit. But these and other junk food staples could be messing with women’s chances of trying to have a baby, according to … Read more
Scientists have long been racking their brains to crack the mechanism behind Alzheimer’s disease progression. They may have finally found a crucial clue. A research team from Heidelberg University in Germany recently uncovered a hidden “switch” that acts like a death trigger for brain cells and plays a key role in cognitive decline. The study … Read more
There’s been much debate about whether we actually ingest a credit card’s worth of plastic per week. These new findings won’t help you poop money, but they do suggest certain foods might rid your body of a portion of that plastic. Probiotic foods — those teeming with beneficial lactic acid bacteria — have been used for … Read more
Don’t sleep on this nutrient. If you’re not getting enough sleep, you could be missing out on some vital dietary staples. But you shouldn’t only aim for more sleep, but quality, deep sleep as well. And recent research has shown one essential nutrient could be the key — especially as it also helps digestion, has … Read more
Earthlings, brace yourselves: the galaxy may be emptier than your last Tinder date. According to a new study, any alien civilizations out there? Probably short-lived — and doomed to fail spectacularly. For decades, humans have been scanning the cosmos for signals of intelligent life. And yet — crickets. This cosmic ghost town phenomenon, famously dubbed … Read more
We are what we eat. While both the beneficial and detrimental effects of diet on health are well-documented, from boosting longevity to backfiring and scaring metabolism, certain eating habits can also impact cancer. Now, new research has discovered that one way of eating in particular could accelerate tumor growth in cancer patients. Food can have … Read more
Donut worry about giving in to that extra sweet treat. Overeating is an issue that plagues many, as researchers predict nearly half of US adults will be obese by 2035. But science may have an explanation for why we still reach for extra snacks even when we’re full — and it has nothing to do … Read more
It might be time to rethink that little pill in your medicine cabinet. A new study casts doubt on the idea that regularly taking an over-the-counter painkiller can help ward off colorectal cancer — at least for the general population. Worse, researchers warn that the daily habit carries “immediate risks,” including a higher chance of … Read more
Older adults classified as “SuperAgers” generate at least twice as many neurons in the hippocampus than their typical aging peers, a new study has revealed. These findings, released on Wednesday by the University of Illinois Chicago and Northwestern University, could help explain why SuperAgers have exceptional memory and cognitive resilience even well past 80 years old. Northwestern … Read more
Life in plastic might be fantastic after all — or at least not as dangerous as we’ve been led to believe. Ubiquitous in the environment, microplastics can be found in the clothes we wear, the cleaning supplies we use, the food we eat, the water we drink and even the air we breathe. For years, … Read more
The start of a reproductive revolution? A novel technique to “rejuvenate” human eggs may dramatically improve IVF success rates in older women, scientists say. “We have been able to achieve the first rejuvenation of a human egg in vitro. What this means is we could reduce the fraction of eggs with genetic defects,” Dr. Agata … Read more
An often-overlooked part of the body may reveal important clues about overall health. Researchers from the University of Westminster in the U.K. discovered that the shape of the gluteus maximus muscle in the buttocks changes with age, gender, lifestyle and frailty, as well as certain conditions like osteoporosis and type 2 diabetes. Using advanced MRI scans that … Read more
Say goodbye to hidden hazards in the checkout aisle. In a groundbreaking development, researchers have invented a safer alternative to the special paper used to print receipts that is completely free of so-called “forever chemicals.” These man-made substances have been linked to a wide range of health problems, including certain cancers, hormone disruption, reproductive issues, … Read more
That’s a wrap on harmful plastic? Microplastics — which slough off larger plastics — plague everything we touch, from our food to our cleaning tools, increasing the risk of heart attacks, strokes and more. Now, a team of researchers may have devised the ideal solution. Researchers have created a new material that has the flexibility … Read more
A quick and easy breath test could mean new hope in the early detection of pancreatic cancer, and medical experts say it could be the biggest breakthrough in the fight against the deadly disease in half a century. The novel device is currently undergoing a large-scale clinical trial in the UK — known as the … Read more
Millions of Americans battle chronic anxiety — but new research claiming a missing brain nutrient may be partly to blame is already drawing skepticism from experts who say the findings are far from conclusive. Using a non-invasive MRI-based technique that measures brain chemicals, researchers at UC Davis Health in California looked at data from 25 previous studies, … Read more
Talk about a sugar rush! NASA may have just come a little closer to cracking one of science’s most enduring mysteries — how life on Earth got started. The space agency has reportedly discovered life-giving essential sugars on the asteroid Bennu, a 500-meter-wide rock hurtling through space, some 200 million miles from our planet. NASA cracked … Read more
A potential cure for type 1 diabetes has been identified by scientists in a new mouse study. In an animal study, researchers at Stanford School of Medicine discovered that resetting the immune system in diabetic mice and creating new insulin-making cells reversed the disease in 100% of cases, according to a Stanford press release. The researchers took … Read more
Move over, pricey serums — your next glow-up might come straight from a potato. Scientists at the University of Aberdeen are turning discarded potato stems and leaves, known as “shaws,” into high-value ingredients for skincare and cosmetics. Normally tossed after harvest, these humble scraps are now being tapped for solanesol, a key compound used in … Read more
Death to bad breath comes in cloves. Garlic — that pungent, bulb-shaped veggie that gives food a kick and vampires the ick — is now being crowned a possible cure for halitosis, per a new report. “Garlic extract mouthwash showed comparable efficacy to chlorhexidine, particularly at higher concentrations,” wrote study authors from the College of … Read more