Health Scoop News – New research on 1-Risks of sugar-sweetened beverages🥤, 2-Gut microbiome from food/diet🥗, & 3-Social media fuels irritability/anger📱

I always have my nose in new health research, so I’m sharing some of the most relevant studies with you in regular editions of “Health Scoop News.”

[This news summary is a bit reminiscent of my old “This week in science for holistic health” newsletters that I used to do circa 2016 (I deleted most, but here’s one post I kept live), as well as the rEATsearch podcast I used to co-host.]

These are my top three study picks (comment below to tell me what health topics/niches are best for you!). All of these studies are done with people (no animal or lab studies here!).

These studies were all published in the past couple of months.

1 – How many diabetes and heart disease cases are fueled by sugary drinks?

Study title: Burdens of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease attributable to sugar-sweetened beverages in 184 countries

This is an observational study that estimated the number of new type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases linked directly to the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks like soft drinks, energy drinks, and fruit drinks.

Here’s some background info:

• “Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) contribute to excess weight gain and cardiometabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease (CVD), both directly and mediated by weight gain.”
• “Due to their liquid form, SSBs are rapidly consumed and digested, resulting in lower satiety, higher caloric intake and weight gain.”
• “High doses of rapidly digested glucose also activate insulin and other regulatory pathways, which can result in visceral fat production, hepatic and skeletal muscle insulin resistance and weight gain.”
• “SSBs may also replace other healthier foods in the diet, contributing to harms through their absence.”
• “Excess adiposity and metabolic dysfunction activate inflammatory cytokines and increase risk of hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes.”

In other words, sugar-sweetened beverages:

• are easy to consume quickly
• don’t make people feel full
• activate insulin
• may replace other, more nutritious foods/drinks in a person’s diet

Which can lead to:

• the intake of lots of calories
• promotion of belly fat and weight gain
• insulin resistance
• inflammation
• increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and high blood lipids

Here’s what the researchers conclude from this study:

• “Globally, we found that 2.2 million new cases of T2D and 1.2 million new cases of CVD in 2020 were attributable to SSBs—representing about 1 in 10 new T2D and 1 in 30 new CVD cases.”
• “In addition, we estimated that about 340,000 people died in 2020 from SSB-related T2D and CVD.”

In other words, according to this study, there is evidence that about 10% of new diabetes cases and 3% of new heart disease cases are directly linked to high intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (not to mention hundreds of thousands of deaths from these conditions).

For more information, here’s a link to the study:

• https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03345-4

2 – Healthier gut microbiome linked to more plants eaten

Study title: Gut microbiome signatures of vegan, vegetarian and omnivore diets and associated health outcomes across 21,561 individuals

This is an observational study that asked 21,561 participants what they ate, and tested the gut microbiome in stool samples.

Here’s some background info:

• “Diet is inextricably linked to human health.” 👍
• “Globally, poor diets low in unprocessed, plant-based foods cause more deaths than any other risk factor, with cardiovascular disease, cancers and type 2 diabetes as the leading causes of diet-related deaths.”
• “Unhealthy diets also carry a wide range of negative environmental impacts.”
• “There is increased interest in diets with higher fractions of plant-based foods that decrease both risk of disease and negative environmental impacts.”
• “The gut microbiome plays an integral role in human health that can be modified by diet.”

Here’s what the researchers conclude from this study:

• “Red meat was a strong driver of omnivore microbiomes, with corresponding signature microbes (for example, Ruminococcus torques, Bilophila wadsworthia and Alistipes putredinis) negatively correlated with host cardiometabolic health.”
• “Conversely, vegan signature microbes were correlated with favourable cardiometabolic markers and were enriched in omnivores consuming more plant-based foods.”
• “Diet-specific gut microbes partially overlapped with food microbiomes, especially with dairy microbes, for example, Streptococcus thermophilus, and typical soil microbes in vegans.”
• “In summary, our work reinforces how humans can shape their own gut microbiomes, and by extension their health, directly through simple dietary choices.”👍

In other words, people who eat more red meat tend to have a microbiome that’s linked with not-so-great heart health, while people who ate more plants had microbiomes linked with better heart health. Probiotics found in foods (e.g., dairy) were also found in the gut microbiomes of the people who ate them.

For more information, here’s a link to the study:

• https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-024-01870-z

For a list of dozens of credible sites to find health information, plus some PubMed tips, download your free guide here:

3 – Social media makes us prone to anger

Study title: Irritability and Social Media Use in US Adults

This is an observational study that asked 42 ,597 adults how often they used and posted on social media, and how irritable (prone to anger) they were.

Here’s some background info:

• “The association between social media use and depressive symptoms has been documented in adolescents, young adults, and subsequently in adults across the lifespan.”👎
• “In their focus on depressive symptoms, such studies have tended to neglect other forms of negative affect, most notably irritability, or being prone to anger.”
• “Irritability has also been associated with impacts on social function and employment, as well as risk for violence.”
• Researchers measured participants’ negative affect, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and irritability using standardized tests.

Here’s what the researchers conclude from this study:

• Social media “use more than once a day was associated with significantly greater irritability score.”
• “We found that frequent users of social media experienced increased levels of irritability, above and beyond that explained by depression or anxiety.”
• “The observation that high levels of social media use correlates with irritability may have further real-world consequences that merit further study.”👎

In other words, the more often adults use and post on social media, the more easy they feel angered. And the more easily people are angered can impact their ability to socialize, get and keep a job, and commit violence.

For more information, here’s a link to the study:

• https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2828803

Signing off and toasting: To keeping up with the latest and greatest scientific research in nutrition, fitness, and health coaching!

Over to you

Do you have a specific question about any of these new studies?

Are you looking for a easy-to-understand study summary that you can share with your audience and clients?

What health topic/niche is most important to you?

Let me know in the comments below!