How Do Ultra Processed Foods Impact Our Health?

Ultra-processed foods are industrially produced, ready to eat foods high in salt, saturated fat, sugar, refined carbohydrates and food additives. Examples are frozen meals, soft drinks, hot dogs, fast food, packaged cookies, candies, cakes and chips.

Ultra-processed foods have been investigated extensively in the research literature. 

They have been found to have a negative impact on:

-Body mass index

-Waist size

-Risk of hypertension

-Risk of insulin resistance

-Risk high triglycerides

-Risk of heart disease

-Risk of stroke

-Risk of type 2 diabetes

-Risk of cancer

It goes without saying that these foods should be strictly limited.

Multivitamins And Measures Of Biological Aging

The Study

The research tends to go back and forth on the necessity of taking a multivitamin. In this interesting study, over 900 participants from Harvard’s COSMOS randomized trial took a multivitamin (Centrum Silver) for 2 years and had measures of biological aging (DNA methylation) taken at the start and end of follow-up.

By the end of the study, there was a small but significant difference in biological aging for subjects taking the multivitamin.

Nature Medicine 2026;32:1012-1022

Take Home Message

While this is preliminary research, it is pretty exciting to see evidence that taking a multivitamin every day can slow down the effects of aging on our bodies. Stay tuned for more definitive research on this subject. 

Coffee Consumption And Dementia Risk

The Study

For decades, coffee and caffeine were considered unhealthy habits. However, as research methods started to improve in the last 30 years or so, opinions are changing fast. In this interesting study, 131,821 subjects from Harvard’s Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professional Follow-up Study had their coffee drinking habits measured and were followed for up to 43 years. They were also followed for a diagnosis of dementia.

The results were compelling:

-When comparing subjects who consumed the most caffeinated coffee to subjects consumed the least, there was an 18% lower risk of dementia.

-Higher consumption of caffeinated tea showed similar cognitive benefits.

-2 to 3 cups of coffee per day (or 1 to 2 cups of tea) offered the most pronounced benefit.

-Interestingly, decaf coffee was not associated with cognitive protection.

doi:10.1001/jama.2025.27259

Take Home Message

Coffee contains polyphenols and caffeine which may be neuroprotective. In this study, decaf coffee did not seem to have much of an effect, so caffeine may just be the important component.

Either way, if you enjoy coffee, it is nice to know that this habit may also lower your risk of cognitive decline.

 

 

Product Review: Power Tower

Most of us are too busy to get to the gym every day, so working out at home is the key to working out consistently. You don’t need a lot of equipment or space to set up a serviceable home gym. When I was in grad school in Boston, I had a foldable bench, a Bowflex adjustable dumbbell system and a Gazelle Edge elliptical trainer. All of this equipment could be stored in the closet of my studio apartment or under my bed.

However, if you have a basement or a garage as a dedicated workout space, you have the luxury of adding a few pieces of equipment that can really add variety to your at-home workout. Now that I live in a house in the suburbs, I have a nice sized basement with plenty of room for fitness equipment.

Today I’d like to review a great piece of equipment for those that have a little more space to dedicate to their home gym. It is called a power tower. This is a simply designed multi-station home gym that allows you to perform a variety of body weight exercises.

Pros

1) Inexpensive. You can find a variety of power towers on Amazon for as little as $82.99. This is an amazing value.

2) Easy to put together. I put mine together myself in a short amount of time and without any help. 

3) Versatile. You can perform a lot of different exercises with this system, including; pull-ups, chin-ups, dips, neutral grip push-ups, and a number of ab exercises.

4) These are very sturdy.

5) They look sharp. 

Cons

1) They take up a fair amount of space. You have to make sure your ceiling is high enough to accommodate a power tower. The model I picked up was 81 inches from ceiling to floor. I could do this comfortably in my basement, but I had to measure first. There are other models with higher or lower heights, so be sure to check on this before you order.

Do I Recommend A Power Tower?

Absolutely. If you have the space, a power tower will make your home gym feel a lot more like an actual gym. Muscle confusion is key to a proper resistance training program. The more exercises that you have to choose from, the better your results are going to be.

If you want to pick up a power tower, they are available on Amazon.

Disclosure: I am not affiliated with any company that makes power towers and make no money if you buy one.

What Are Ultra-Processed Foods?

You may have recently been hearing about the health effects of ultra-processed foods. What foods fall into this category, exactly?

Ultra-processed foods are:

-Industrially produced

-Ready to eat

-Low in bioactive compounds like fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals

-High in salt, saturated fat, sugar, refined carbohydrates and food additives

Examples are frozen meals, soft drinks, hot dogs, fast food, packaged cookies, candies, cakes and chips.

Exercise Variety And All-Cause Mortality

The Study

The research literature consistently shows that exercise is important to our health but is variety of exercise important? A study published recently in the British Medical Journal attempted to find out.

Over 110,000 subjects from Harvard’s Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professional Follow-up Study had their exercise monitored and were followed for up to 34 years. An exercise variety score was created based on spending at least 20 minutes per week engaged in a wide variety of exercise.

The results were interesting:

-When comparing subjects with the highest exercise variety score to the lowest, there was a 19% lower risk of all-cause mortality.

-This benefit was independent of total physical activity. In other words, no matter how much total exercise you were getting, variety was associated with lower mortality.

doi:10.1136/bmjmed-2025-001513

Take Home Message

There appears to be a strong benefit to mixing up your exercise routine. Alternate different forms of cardio like walking or run-walking with gym equipment like elliptical trainers and Stair Masters. You can also build variety by trying different sports like tennis, ice skating, golf or skiing. 

Why is this important? The researchers in this investigation believe that there are distinct physiological effects from different physical activities. These include a variety of ventilatory responses, muscles used and different nerve pathways utilized. Therefore, each type of exercise has its own unique health benefits, so the more variety, the better.

Low Carb vs. Low Fat For Heart Health

The Study

Proponents of low fat diets and proponents of low carb diets have been battling it out for decades. This study wanted to find out which was better for risk of heart disease. Over 200,000 participants in Harvard’s Health Professional Follow-up Study, Nurses’ Health Study and Nurses’ Health Study 2 had their diet measured repeatedly and were followed for up to 32 years for incidence of coronary heart disease. 

A scoring system was created for a healthy version of each diet (lean proteins, plant oils and unrefined grains) as well as an unhealthy version (fattier animal-based proteins, saturated fats and refined grains). 

The results showed that when healthy foods were chosen, risk for heart disease decreased and when unhealthy foods were chosen, risk went up. In other words, the amount of carb or fat didn’t really matter, just the quality of the food that was consumed. A low carb diet could be protective or risky, as could a low fat diet.

doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2025.12.038

Take Home Message

Whatever diet you are following, focus on healthy carbs (fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes), healthy fats (olive oil, nuts, avocados) and healthy proteins (lean meats, seafood and lots of plant protein like beans and lentils). 

This study shows that you really don’t need to get too caught up on the percentages of protein, fat and carbohydrate. Just make good choices.