Research Round-Up
Major court victory in the fight against water fluoridation
A recent federal court ruling in California raised significant concerns about the safety of water fluoridation.
The court found that “fluoridation of water at 0.7 milligrams per liter (‘mg/L’) — the level presently considered ‘optimal’ in the United States — poses an unreasonable risk of reduced IQ in children.”
The ruling cited multiple studies linking fluoride exposure during pregnancy and childhood to cognitive deficits.
As the judge states in the ruling, “There is little dispute in this suit as to whether fluoride poses a hazard to human health. Indeed, EPA’s own expert agrees that fluoride is hazardous at some level of exposure."
Currently in Australia, the National Health and Medical Research Council recommend a fluoridation range of 0.6-1.1 mg/L. Want to read more on fluoridation, check out this Q&A guide from NSW Health.
The Lancet Omission - Is Ignoring Nutrition Prevention Bad Science?
The latest iteration of the highly influential Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, authored by numerous professors from around the world, led by University College London’s psychiatry Professor Gill Livingston has, for the third time, ignored the hardest hitting evidence for homocysteine lowering B vitamins, misrepresented the science on omega-3 and concluded that the evidence for ‘unhealthy diet’ didn’t meet their high bar for inclusion as a modifiable risk factor.
Several eminent professors are up in arms and have written to the Lancet. In this podcast Nutrition Expert Patrick Holford interviews three of them – Professor Joshua Miller, Professor of Nutritional Science at Rutgers University; omega-3 expert Professor William Harris from the Fatty Acid Research Institute (FARI) and Professor Richard Johnson from Colorado University’s School of Medicine - to explore how the establishment continue to side-line nutrition.”
Read the full Lancet report here.
Debunking the Myth - Eggs and Heart Disease
We've been told for decades that eggs are bad for us because they raise cholesterol levels. A number of articles have been written over the years highlighting the lack of evidence linking the consumption of eggs to cardiovascular disease or any other negative outcome.
Now a new study, Debunking the Myth: Eggs and Heart Disease, adds to this evidence and goes a step further. It suggests that "eggs have been an integral part of the human diet since the domestication of hens" and recent additions to the human diet like “fructose-rich breakfast cereals, coffee drinks with sugar levels comparable to candy bars, and heightened consumption of seed oil” are responsible for the surge in cardiovascular disease.
The study reviews decades of research on eggs and cardiovascular disease and finds they are beneficial—not harmful—to our health. So enjoy that next omelet!
Is Alzheimer’s “Type 3 Diabetes”? Another study says yes.
Some researchers now refer to Alzheimer's disease as "type 3 diabetes" due to the strong links between metabolic dysfunction and cognitive decline.
New research from the Framingham Heart Study suggests that higher leptin bioavailability in middle-aged adults is linked to better white matter integrity in the brain, potentially lowering the risk of dementia later in life.
The study, published in Alzheimer's & Dementia, examined over 2,000 cognitively healthy participants using advanced brain imaging techniques. Higher levels of bioavailable leptin, a hormone that regulates appetite and energy balance, were associated with improved markers of white matter health. This relationship was particularly strong in individuals with excess abdominal fat. Managing blood sugar and protecting metabolic health remains one of the most effective strategies for preventing dementia and Alzheimer’s.
The latest health research news from around the world, compiled by Lead Instructor and Program Director Leanne Scott, FNTP.
