Celiac disease is on the rise. Is it because of how we grow wheat? Can you be sensitive to gluten—a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye—without having celiac? Should you buy an at-home antibody kit to test yourself? Can you trust gluten-free packaged and restaurant foods? Here’s what you need to know.
The COSMOS-Mind trial was funded by the National Institute on Aging to see if cocoa flavanols or multivitamins could help people stay mentally sharp as they age.
“In short-term clinical trials looking at changes in blood pressure and blood vessel dilation, cocoa flavanols looked promising, and reductions in cholesterol and inflammatory markers were also seen in some trials,” says JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
“Heart health.” “Improves memory.” “Supports immunity.” Those and similar claims rule the supplement aisle. But few are based on double-blind, randomized controlled trials, the crème de la crème of research. Here’s a handful of findings from some of the latest randomized trials.
Roughly a quarter of adults aged 40 and older report taking a low-dose aspirin every day. “A lot of people think of aspirin almost like a vitamin,” says Amit Khera, director of preventive cardiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. “But it’s a medicine with both benefits and side effects.” Here’s what you need to know about aspirin and your heart.