Published January 21, 2018

Researchers evaluated over 200 studies examining the role of coffee in overall health. They found overwhelming evidence of coffee’s association with a number of health benefits, including a lower overall risk of death, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, liver disease, and dementia. The largest drop in relative risk of death occurred for people who drank three cups a day, compared to those who drank none. Drinking more than that didn’t seem to be harmful, but the increase in benefit was minimal as well.

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Published January 14, 2018

Researchers raised some mice in a germ-free environment and others in conventional conditions. They found that the germ-free mice (who never got a chance to populate their guts with healthy or harmful bacteria) didn’t experience typical age-related increases in inflammation. In fact, many of them lived unusually long, healthy lives. These mice also didn’t experience increases in intestinal permeability (leaky gut) or in associated bacteria or pro-inflammatory cytokines in their blood. And this seems to be the key difference between the two groups. The researchers believe the increase in intestinal permeability that occurs with age is allowing inflammation-promoting bacteria to escape into our bloodstreams.

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Published January 7, 2018

Researchers wanted to find out if green tea extract helped with osteoarthritis. They gave 25 patients with knee pain an NSAID. And another 25 they gave the NSAID along with green tea extract. While both groups experienced improvements in their pain, only the green tea group had better physical function. This group also experienced more significant improvements in total pain levels. None of the green tea recipients experienced any unpleasant side effects.

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