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The Mediterranean diet has a modern problem, and it isn't just about food

A narrative review published in Applied Sciences examined how urbanisation, time constraints, food costs, and changing lifestyles have contributed to declining adherence to the Mediterranean diet. Drawing on 116 references, the authors identified workplace and school interventions, nutrition education, physical activity, and Mediterranean-inspired convenience foods as potential strategies for adapting this dietary pattern to modern life.

5 Nov 2026

New AI e-nose device brings digitized smell to wearable technology

Our sense of smell shapes how we navigate our environment, but it's a sensation that's notoriously difficult to recreate in the digital world.

5 Nov 2026

Beer and liquor show more oral bacteria links than wine in a large US study

Researchers analyzed beverage intake and oral microbiome data from 5,598 adults across three US cohorts and found that alcohol consumption showed the strongest associations with oral bacterial diversity and composition among the beverages examined. Higher alcohol intake was associated with greater bacterial richness and differences in genera linked to oral health, but the cross-sectional preprint could not establish whether alcohol caused these differences or influenced disease risk.

26 Oct 2026

Young mothers see rapid increase in substance-related emergency department visits

Emergency department (ED) visits for use of substances, especially opioids, amphetamines, and cannabis, by mothers with dependent children increased almost 5% a year, in contrast to an increase of almost 2% a year among females without children, according to a large study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.260078.

26 Oct 2026

Beer, wine or spirits: A large study finds different mortality patterns for each

Researchers analyzed data from 340,924 UK Biobank participants and found that high total alcohol consumption was associated with greater all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality, while moderate consumption was linked to increased cancer mortality. Beer/cider and spirits showed associations with higher mortality across several outcomes, whereas low-to-moderate wine consumption was linked to lower mortality for certain outcomes, though the observational study cannot establish causation.

25 Oct 2026

Yoghurt, coffee and chocolate have something in common, and researchers mapped it across Europe

Researchers surveyed 12,646 adults across 53 European countries and found that fermented dairy products were widely consumed, while other fermented foods showed considerable regional differences in popularity and intake. The findings revealed that high consumer prevalence did not necessarily translate into substantial consumption, highlighting the importance of measuring both how many people eat fermented foods and the quantities they consume.

18 Oct 2026

Your diet may have more to do with your sense of smell than you think

Researchers analyzed dietary patterns and odor identification in 6,690 adults in Italy, finding that healthier plant-rich diets, particularly those emphasizing fruits and vegetables, were associated with better olfactory function and lower odds of hyposmia. Diets emphasizing less healthy plant foods showed the opposite association, although the cross-sectional study could not establish whether diet influences smell or impaired smell affects food choices.

14 Oct 2026

Reading for pleasure linked to better mental health and greater empathy

Reading for pleasure – from tucking into a Jane Austen classic to devouring a Heartstopper graphic novel – is linked to better mental health, greater empathy and a lower risk of dementia, say researchers.

15 Sep 2026

Alcohol-free beer looks cheaper on the shelf, but the checkout tells a different story

A Great Britain analysis found that no/low-alcohol drinks were generally cheaper than regular-strength products on supermarket shelves and when equivalent products were compared directly. However, consumers paid more per serving for no/lo beer and about the same for cider, partly because these products were often sold in smaller, less cost-efficient packs.

6 Sep 2026

Tea, berries and dark chocolate featured in a diet linked to lower Parkinson’s risk

A prospective UK Biobank study of 123,655 adults found that a dietary pattern richer in flavonoid-containing foods was modestly associated with a lower incidence of hospital-recorded Parkinson’s disease. The association was strongest among those with the highest flavonoid diet scores, while exploratory proteomic and transcriptomic analyses pointed to possible neuroimmune and cell-adhesion pathways but did not establish causality or mechanism.

26 Aug 2026

What decades of wine research can, and cannot, tell us about health

A narrative review found that moderate wine intake has repeatedly been associated with lower all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, with proposed mechanisms involving ethanol and grape-derived polyphenols, but the evidence remains largely observational and cannot establish causation. The authors argue that drinking pattern, beverage type, age, cancer risk, and risk-modeling choices all influence how the J-shaped association should be interpreted and how alcohol guidelines are developed.

25 Aug 2026

Salk scientists use DNA origami to track molecular movements

Scientists often describe life as a series of chemical reactions. Pallav Kosuri, PhD, describes life as movement. Chemical reactions are how you drive the movement of atoms, proteins, cells, and bodies-without movement, there is no life.

14 Aug 2026

A 30-year study found a surprising link between alcohol, survival and heart attack risk

In a 30-year study of 973 middle-aged Swedish male automotive workers, alcohol consumption was associated with lower all-cause mortality and longer estimated time to death, while beer consumption was linked to a higher likelihood of myocardial infarction. No significant association was found between alcohol consumption and stroke, and the authors cautioned that socioeconomic differences, self-reported intake, and other unmeasured factors may have influenced the findings.

14 Aug 2026

Review finds blueberry and grape polyphenols may improve vascular health

A review of 37 publications found that grape- and blueberry-derived polyphenols were associated with modest improvements in cardiovascular risk markers, particularly endothelial function. However, most studies were small or short-term, frequently tested concentrated products, and measured biomarkers rather than cardiovascular events.

27 Jul 2026

New laser technology detects counterfeit alcohol through sealed bottles

A laser-based technology being developed at Adelaide University could soon help authorities detect deadly counterfeit alcohol, expose wine fraud and even identify dangerous chemicals inside sealed bottles – all without opening them.

17 Jul 2026

Thermo Fisher Scientific launches GENESYS™ G5 suite of spectrophotometers, combining UV-Vis performance with expandable software and workflow flexibility

Thermo Fisher Scientific has launched the Thermo Scientific™GENESYS™ G5 series of Visible and UV-Visible spectrophotometers, designed to help laboratories standardize workflows, simplify routine testing, and expand analytical capabilities as requirements evolve.

From Thermo Fisher Scientific – Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical Solutions 15 Jul 2026

Flavonoid-rich foods may blunt breast cancer risk tied to genetics

Higher flavodiet scores were associated with lower breast cancer risk among 93,271 UK Biobank females followed for a median of 11.8 years. The inverse association was particularly evident in women with high genetic risk, but the observational study cannot prove causation.

1 Jul 2026