Short course: Diet soft drinks tied to heart disease

The analysis,published online in The Journal of General Internal Medicine,included 2,564 adults over 40. Researchers found that diet and regular soft drink consumption were both associated with a number of risk factors for heart disease.

Even after controlling for many of those risks,including diabetes,the researchers found that daily consumption of diet soda was still independently associated with an increased risk for stroke,heart attack and death. The reasons for the association are unclear,the authors said,and the results must be interpreted with caution.

Coffee drinking not linked to chronic illness

NEW YORK: Coffee drinkers have no more risk of getting heart disease or cancer,and are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes,according to a German study involving more than 40,000 people over nearly a decade. The findings,published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,came in the wake of many studies that produced conflicting results,with some tying coffee drinking to an increase in heart disease,cancer,stroke and more.

“Our results suggest coffee consumption is not harmful in respect of risk of chronic disease,” said Anna Floegel,lead author. Among those who drank four cups a day,3.2 per cent later reported that they had type 2 diabetes,compared to 3.6 percent of people who drank no coffee.

Daily vitamin dose may prevent skin cancer

LONDON: Want to stave off skin cancer? Pop a vitamin pill daily,researchers say. A new study has found that taking essential food supplements packed with vitamin A everyday could make people,particularly women,less vulnerable to melanoma,the deadliest form of skin cancer. The researchers have,in fact,that found retinol — a key component of vitamin A — protects against the disease; the strongest protective effects are found in women,the Daily Mail reported. However,there is no such link between dietary intake of vitamin A,found in carrots,eggs and milk,and reduced risk of skin cancer,it said.

The findings revealed those who used retinol regularly were 60 per cent less likely to develop skin cancer.