Some Fruits and Vegetables Are Better For Your Waistline

Eating more fruits — particularly berries, apples and pears — and nonstarchy vegetables, like soybeans and cauliflower, may help you lose weight over the long term, a new study suggests.
However, adding starchy vegetables like peas, potatoes and corn to your diet may not be as good for your waistline: People who increased their consumption of these vegetables gained weight over time, the study found.

“Unfortunately, most Americans have inadequate fruit and vegetable intake,” but when they do eat these foods, they may be consuming too much fruit juice and potatoes, the researchers said. Therefore, “nutritional guidelines ought to emphasize individual or subgroups of specific fruits and vegetables that maximize the potential for weight maintenance and disease prevention.

Cold noses more vulnerable to catching colds

The most frequent cause of the common cold is a virus known as the rhinovirus. Scientists have observed that, in our airways, strains of rhinovirus replicate more readily at the cooler temperatures found in the nose, compared with that of the lungs. However, the underlying mechanism has not been clear.

Now, writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of researchers at Yale University in New Haven, CT, shows that the cells lining our airways produce a more robust antiviral response to the common cold at lung temperature than in the cooler environs of the nasal cavity.

Just One Energy Drink May Raise Heart Health Risk

Having just one energy drink can cause short-term changes in healthy adults that, over time, could increase their risk of heart disease, a new study finds.

In the study, participants who drank one 16-ounce (480 milliliters) can of Rockstar energy drink had higher blood pressure and higher levels of the hormone norepinephrine, after they drank the energy drink than before they consumed it. Norepinephrine is released by the adrenal glands and raises blood pressure; it is a cousin of the hormone adrenaline.