Harvard cooks the books on weight and mortality

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 01:15:37 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273

The story is simple: That it's well-established scientific fact that being "overweight"--that is, having a body mass index figure of between 25 and 30--is, in the words of Harvard professors Walter Willett and Meir Stampfer, "a major contributor to morbidity and mortality."

According to this line of argument, there's simply no real scientific dispute about the "fact" that average-height women who weigh between 146 and a 174 pounds, and average-height men who weigh between 175 and 209 pounds, are putting their lives and health at risk.

t's difficult to exaggerate the extent to which the actual scientific evidence fails to support any of this. In fact, the current evidence suggests that what the Harvard crew is saying is not merely false, but closer to the precise opposite of the truth. For the most part, the so-called "overweight" BMI range doesn't even correlate with overall increased health risk. Indeed "overweight," so-called, often correlates with the lowest mortality rates.

Tags: medicine, harvard, overweight, health, science, statistics

Drinking wine is good for teeth

Sat, 07 Jul 2007 04:04:56 GMT

clipped by: kelvin273

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

Drinking wine can maintain heart health, prevent cancer and even settle a mean case of diarrhea. Research now shows it’s also good for your teeth and throat.

According to a new study, a cocktail of compounds found in both red and white wine fights germs that can cause dental plaque as well as sore throats.

“Exposure to wine had a persistent antibacterial effect,” the authors wrote in their study, detailed in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Prior to their research, the authors said the effects of wine against germs found in the mouth hadn’t been studied.

Red wines have stronger bacteria-fighting effects than white wine, although not by much. Curiously, the acidity and alcohol isn’t responsible for wine’s germ-fighting properties—instead, it’s a collection of organic (carbon-containing) compounds found in the drink.

Tags: science, teeth, wine, oral health

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Harvard cooks the books on weight and mortality

Drinking wine is good for teeth