Health & Science

Why you should eat like a Spaniard

Eating like a Spaniard or a Greek can cut your risk of heart attack, stroke, and death from heart disease by 30 percent—without cutting calories or sacrificing taste. Spanish researchers followed nearly 7,500 people between the ages of 55 and 80 who were at high risk of cardiovascular disease due to such factors as diabetes and being overweight. For five years, participants ate either a Mediterranean diet—rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, and beans—or a low-fat diet. Those on the Mediterranean plan consumed very little red meat, sweets, and refined white flour, but drank at least seven glasses of wine per week. They also consumed daily either four tablespoons of olive oil or an ounce of walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts, which are rich in anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids; people on the low-fat diet had to avoid nuts and oils. The results “blow the low-fat diet myth”—that all fat is bad for you—“out of the water,” Cleveland Clinic cardiologist Steven Nissen tells the Los Angeles Times. Though the low-fat dieters reduced their caloric intake, a sense of deprivation left them more prone to sneak in sweets and sodas. The Mediterranean dieters were more satisfied and better able to stick to their meal plans. “You do not need to suffer for the Mediterranean diet,’’ said researcher Miguel Martínez-González. “This is very tasty and easy to follow.’’

Bullying’s lifelong damage

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Childhood bullying appears to set kids up for a lifetime of mental health problems. That’s the conclusion of Duke University researchers, who interviewed 1,400 kids between the ages of 9 and 16 about their social lives and checked back in with them again between the ages of 19 and 26. They found that children who had been the victims of bullying were four times more likely to have an anxiety disorder as adults than kids who had never experienced bullying. Kids who did the bullying, on the other hand, were four times more likely to have an anti-social personality disorder. The most troubled group, it turned out, was the kids who had been both bullies and victims: They were 14 times more likely to develop a panic disorder and nearly five times more likely to be depressed. “The biggest cry for help is coming from that group,” study author William Copeland tells Slate.com. He says he’s “starting to view bullying the same way I do abuse in the home,” as “something that has very detrimental, and very long-lasting, effects.”

Defending Earth from asteroids

The 10-ton meteor that exploded over Russia two weeks ago has gotten the scientific world’s attention. NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have announced new plans to smash an asteroid with a spacecraft—an exercise they hope will teach them how to deflect dangerous space rocks heading toward our planet, The Washington Post reports. The asteroid-smashing spacecraft, called “the impactor,” is slated to launch in 2021 and will target an asteroid called Didymos as it passes within 6.5 million miles of our planet. Didymos is actually two asteroids, a rock 500 feet in diameter orbiting another one five times its size. The impactor, designed by Johns Hopkins University scientists, will slam into the smaller rock at 14,000 miles per hour, potentially shifting the orbit of both asteroids (neither is in any danger of approaching Earth). Another spacecraft, launched by an ESA team, will observe the crash and collect data on the result of the impact and the composition of the asteroids. The project has been in the works for several years, but was moved to the front burner because of both the Russian meteor explosion and a narrow miss by a second, much larger asteroid on the same day.

For otters, size matters

Here’s a pretty compelling reason for men to worry about chemical exposure and pollution: A new study has concluded they’re deforming and shrinking the private parts of otters. The furry mammals are common in the rivers of rural Britain. When researchers at Cardiff University studied 755 otters found dead in recent decades, they discovered that the size of the males’ penis bones was steadily decreasing. They also saw an increase in undescended testicles and cysts on the vas deferens tubes that carry sperm. Researchers fear these problems are the result of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs)—found in cosmetics, plastics, pesticides, and industrial waste—that are leaching into the environment. The otters’ troubles “could be a warning for all mammals really, which include us humans,” study author Elizabeth Chadwick tells BBC.co.uk. EDCs, which include bisphenol A (BPA), are often ingested by people and have been increasingly blamed for reproductive problems in women and men, including male birth defects, testicular cancer, infertility, and a worldwide drop in sperm quality.