Health

Cottage cheese is having a moment. It’s being added to dips, mixed into batters and even used in pizza and brownies. It’s touted as a high-protein food that can help people build muscle and lose fat. But the research supporting these benefits is not quite as abundant as the number of viral cottage cheese recipes out there.

Nature-based social prescribing can help reduce loneliness among adults living in socioeconomically vulnerable urban areas, according to a trial conducted in Barcelona by the European RECETAS consortium. Loneliness decreased among all participants receiving nature-based social prescribing, but those experiencing greater loneliness and poorer emotional well-being at the start benefited more from the facilitated group intervention.

Growing up, my brothers were fascinated by the first “Rocky” movie. They were trying to get stronger and excel in sports, so one scene stood out almost as much as Rocky sprinting up the museum steps: Before sunrise, Rocky cracked raw eggs into a glass and drank them.

As Japan’s population continues to age, age-related declines in kidney function and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are becoming increasingly prevalent, underscoring the need for effective preventive strategies. Despite growing interest in the health benefits of cardiorespiratory fitness, its relationship with future kidney function decline remains poorly understood, particularly among individuals with preserved kidney function. To address this gap, researchers investigated whether higher cardiorespiratory fitness, a measure of whole-body endurance capacity, is associated with a slower age-related decline in kidney function.

A UIC study led by kinesiology and nutrition professor Krista Varady found that time-restricted eating may be a safe, effective tool to control blood sugar in adults with type 1 diabetes. The work is published in the journal Diabetes Care.

Air pollution can affect oral health. A study conducted in Brazil by researchers from São Paulo State University (UNESP) and the University of São Paulo (USP) demonstrated for the first time that exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), a major component of urban air pollution, causes changes in oral tissues and accelerates the destruction of periodontal tissues that support teeth.

Participants who followed a Mediterranean-style plan tailored for the Southeast not only kept weight off but also ate better in ways that may help prevent chronic disease.

Supplement shelves can give the impression that almost everyone needs something. Yet for generally healthy adults, a review of 84 studies found that routine vitamin and mineral supplements offered little or no protection against cardiovascular disease, cancer or early death.

A review published in Nature Reviews Cardiology provides the most detailed picture yet of how nicotine damages the cardiovascular system—tracing the biological chain of events from the moment nicotine binds to receptors in blood vessel walls through to the atherosclerotic plaque rupture that triggers heart attacks and strokes.

Cannabis has a reputation for making people hungry. Popular culture has long joked about the “munchies,” and many people assume that students who use cannabis naturally have poorer diets than those who don’t.

Dehydration can affect much more than your thirst. It also can place extra stress on your heart and cardiovascular system, explains Dr. Brodie Marthaler, a cardiologist at Mayo Clinic Health System in Eau Claire.