Substituting Chicken for Beef Doesn't Lower Cholesterol

If you’re trying to reduce your cholesterol, cutting back on red meat is a good idea— but don’t replace it with white meat, says a new study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Researchers compared LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol levels among three groups of people over a three-month period: one ate mostly lean beef, one mostly lean chicken or turkey, and one mostly plant proteins. Only the plant-based diet reduced LDL.

Women Have Younger Brains than Men

Just like the body’s metabolism, the brain’s metabolism tends to slow with age. In a study of more than 200 adults ages 20 to 82 with no brain damage or disease, researchers used positron-emission tomography (PET) scans of the brain to measure each individual’s “metabolic brain age.” They found that at any given time, women’s brains are an average of 3.8 years younger than their biological age while men’s brains are an average of 2.4 years older. “This could mean that the reason women don’t experience as much cognitive decline in later years is because their brains are effectively younger,” says one of the study’s authors. “We’re currently working on a study to confirm that.”

EVENING EXERCISE MAY NOT HURT SLEEP

A workout late in the day interferes with your shut-eye—or does it? That’s a common notion, but it’s not the conclusion of a Swiss review of the highest quality studies on the topic. The analysis found that although “vigorous” training (activity that leaves you too breathless to speak) within an hour of bedtime might be bad for your sleep, exercising slightly earlier or more moderately has a neutral to beneficial effect. That’s good news for people who can’t fit a workout into other parts of their day.

Common Cold Virus Exposes Cancer Cells