Quick Notes for October 5, 2015

Updated 10.5.2015
Short takes on items in open browser tabs.

Moving too little?

On average, Americans are eating a bit less, but are still getting fatter. This article suggests the problem is that we (as a populace) are moving less. That's my conclusion based on my reading, contra this editorial published at BMJ by a cardiologist (who should know better) and diet author. But my position is that it's not all about exercise, but rather it's mostly about NEAT or non-exercise activity thermogenesis because most movement falls into the NEAT category for most people. Exceptions would be professional athletes or any

Tea is Awesome

The New York Times' Upshot looks at the evidence for and against drinking tea, but the author is less than impressed by the evidence he amasses. Mostly because, as most tea drinkers are in Asia, the studies were done in Asia, which strikes me as a tad xenophobic. He also makes no distinction between black or green teas, though the reference links I checked were for green tea. Nor does he talk about the volume of tea that's being drunk. Tea cups can vary in size quite a bit. I doubt most Asians are drinking 10 ounce mugs of tea the way I do each morning, but I wouldn't know. The author does mention that there doesn't seem to be a dose response with tea (meaning beyond some amount

Alzheimer's linked to Blood Glucose

Alzheimer's Disease is sometimes called Type 3 diabetes, and evidence continues to accrue in support of that idea.

Studying 350,000 patients with Type 2 diabetes, researchers at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden found that those with poor blood-sugar control had a 50% higher risk of being admitted to hospital than those with good control.

Also:

After adjusting for various factors such as age, gender and weight, the researchers found that patients who had blood-sugar levels of 10.5% or higher were 50% more likely to be diagnosed with dementia than those with blood-sugar levels of 6.5% or lower. In all patients, those who had suffered a stroke were 40% more likely to develop dementia than those who hadn’t.

Calcium doesn't improve bone density

The New York Times Well Blog reports about the series of studies published in the BMJ (what used to be called the British Medical Journal) that reviewed whether or not extra calcium helped strengthen bones. Neither dietary sources of calcium nor supplements prevents fracture.

Conclusions Dietary calcium intake is not associated with risk of fracture, and there is no clinical trial evidence that increasing calcium intake from dietary sources prevents fractures. Evidence that calcium supplements prevent fractures is weak and inconsistent.

Disclaimer