Drink

Research may provide new link between soft drinks and weight gain

A University of Cincinnati (UC) study provides new evidence that drinking large amounts of beverages containing fructose adds body fat, and might explain why sweetening with fructose could be even worse than using other sweeteners. Researchers allowed mice to freely consume either water, fructose sweetened water or soft drinks. They found increased body fat in the mice that drank the fruct...

Major new UNC-based drinking water study suggests pregnancy fears may be overstated

Fears that chemical byproducts resulting from purifying drinking water with chlorine boost the chances that pregnant women will miscarry were not supported by the results of a major new study. If such threats exist at all, which is uncertain, they likely are modest, it concludes. The national study, directed by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill scientists, contrasts with earlier,...

Whisky fans can drink to crop research

Research into the genetics of barley could lead to improved varieties of the crop most commonly used in the production of whisky and beer. Scientists funded in part by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) are beginning a new programme to uncover key genes that control the specific characteristics of different barley varieties. The research, being carried out a...

Ultrasounds show mothers' drinking shrinks fetal brain

Routine ultrasounds show that heavy drinkers who continue to imbibe after learning they are pregnant may carry fetuses with reduced skull and brain growth compared to those of abstainers or quitters, says a new study. Although the alcohol-exposed babies' growth remained within normal range, the findings reveal effects of drinking on the developing human brain. The study will appear in the...

Brains can recover from alcoholic damage but patients should stop drinking as soon as possible

The findings, published today (18 December 2006) in the online edition of the journal Brain [1], used sophisticated scanning technology and computer software to measure how brain volume, form and function changed over six to seven weeks of abstinence from alcohol in 15 alcohol dependent patients (ten men, five women). The researchers from Germany, the UK, Switzerland and Italy measured the...

Psst! Coffee drinkers: Fruit flies have something to tell you about caffeine

In their hunt for genes and proteins that explain how animals discern bitter from sweet, a team of Johns Hopkins researchers began by testing whether mutant fruit flies prefer eating sugar over sugar laced with caffeine. Using a simple behavioral test, the researchers discovered that a single protein missing from the fly-equivalent of our taste buds caused them to ignore caffeine's taste and con...

New UD technology removes viruses from drinking water

University of Delaware researchers have developed an inexpensive, nonchlorine-based technology that can remove harmful microorganisms, including viruses, from drinking water. UD's patented technology, developed jointly by researchers in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the College of Engineering, incorporates highly reactive iron in the filtering process to deliver a c...

It's OK for men with high blood pressure to have a drink or two, new study finds

A prospective cohort study of nearly 12,000 men with hypertension found that men who drank moderately had reduced risk of heart attacks. Moderate consumption of alcohol is known to be linked to a lower risk of heart disease. But, since alcohol can increase blood pressure, would the same be true for me...

Hexavalent chromium in drinking water causes cancer in lab animals

Researchers announced today that there is strong evidence a chemical referred to as hexavalent chromium, or chromium 6, causes cancer in laboratory animals when it is consumed in drinking water. The two-year study conducted by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) shows that animals given hexavalent chromium developed malignant tumors. "Previous studies have shown that hexavalent chromiu...