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Sugary Drinks Linked to Global Rise in Diabetes, Heart Disease

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Sugary Drinks Linked to Global Rise in Diabetes, Heart Disease

“This replicates and reinforces what we already know about sugar-sweetened beverages,” he said, “but the findings highlight their severe costs on health and productivity, especially in Africa and Latin America.”

The study detailed intriguing patterns in the consumption of sugary drinks. For example, researchers found that men had modestly higher rates of soda consumption than women. Intake was higher among the well-educated, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America. In the Middle East and North Africa by contrast, the study found that soda consumption was higher among adults with comparatively lower levels of education.South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia had the lowest rates of excess cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes linked to sugary drink consumption, the study found, though the authors noted that the data did not include sugar-sweetened tea and coffee, items that are popular in those parts of the world.

Laura Lara-Castor, a nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Washington and another lead author of the Nature study, said the higher rates of consumption among educated adults in sub-Saharan Africa reflected in part the aspirational lure of soft drink brands associated with Western tastes and style — a result of the sophisticated and well-funded advertising campaigns by multinational beverage companies.

“Consuming these drinks is often a mark of status,” she said.

Despite the study’s grim findings, Dr. Lara-Castor and the other authors said the data also contained reasons for hope. Soda consumption in Latin America and the Caribbean is already beginning to decline, thanks in part to policies like soda taxes, marketing restrictions and package labels that seek to educate consumers about the dangers of products high in added sugar. (In the United States, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has dropped since its peak in 2000 but those declines have largely plateaued in recent years.)

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More than 80 countries have adopted measures aimed at decreasing sugary drink consumption.

Paula Johns, executive director of ACT Health Promotion, an advocacy group in Brazil, said the Nature study showed that education alone was not enough to dampen consumer zeal for sweetened drinks. In recent years, she said that Brazil had adopted a number of policies that are beginning to dent the nation’s love affair with highly processed food and sugary drinks. They include better school-meal programs, bold front-of-package warnings and a new excise tax on beverages with added sugar.

“There’s no magic bullet,” she said. “But all these policies, taken together, help send the message to the public that sugar-sweetened beverages are really bad for your health.”

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The Best Belly Fat-Burning Foods That Shrink Your Waist up to 3X Faster

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The Best Belly Fat-Burning Foods That Shrink Your Waist up to 3X Faster


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Belly Fat Burning Foods That Shrink Your Waist Fast




















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Most Americans are doing one nightly activity that’s wrecking their sleep, expert says

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Most Americans are doing one nightly activity that’s wrecking their sleep, expert says

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If you’re not sleeping well, there could be a variety of reasons, but one habit stands out as the biggest culprit.

Dr. Wendy Troxel, a licensed clinical psychologist and senior behavioral scientist at RAND based in Utah, revealed that phone use at night is the activity that is most likely to have a negative effect on slumber.

“Most people are aware of this, but probably the No. 1 habit that’s contributing to interrupted sleep and poor-quality sleep in Americans is the use of phones at night, particularly in bed,” she said in an interview with Fox News Digital.

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“About 90% of Americans are using their phones in bed, and as much as I would like to tell everybody to remove the phone entirely from the bedroom, I realize that ship has probably sailed by now.”

About 90% of Americans use their phones in bed, the sleep expert said. (iStock)

This disruption is driven by both blue light exposure and the stimulating content on phones, according to Troxel.

“There is blue light emitted from our devices, and blue light can suppress the hormone melatonin, which is the hormone of darkness.”

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“But it’s not just the blue light that is causing sleep disruptions from our phones. It’s really the stimulating content that we’re consuming … (on) social media, which is designed to be addictive, so that you can’t put that phone down,” she added.

The combination of blue light and stimulating content keeps the mind alert and interrupts quality sleep. (iStock)

This content is also “very emotionally activating,” Troxel noted, which is “antithetical to the state we want to be in as we approach sleep.”

To counteract attachment to phones, the sleep expert recommends setting a boundary with one simple rule.

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“I recommend that you try to keep your phone more than arms’ distance away from you while in bed,” she advised. “And set a rule for yourself. If you’re going to use the phone, don’t do it in bed. In fact, make your feet be on the floor if you’re going to use that phone.”

“I recommend that you try to keep your phone more than arms’ distance away from you while in bed,” the sleep expert recommended. (iStock)

Setting this boundary creates “behavioral friction,” according to Troxel.

“As a clinical psychologist, I work with people to help them … break habits that aren’t serving them,” she said. “Having that little bit of behavioral friction makes the habit of immediately grabbing for the phone and scrolling while in bed a little more difficult.

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“And when that automatic behavior is a little more difficult, it’s less likely to occur.”

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Giant golden spiders could spread this summer; experts downplay health risk

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Giant golden spiders could spread this summer; experts downplay health risk

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Large, palm-sized spiders are spinning massive golden webs across porches and power lines, and, according to experts, they’re here to stay.

The Joro spider, which has a leg span up to 4 inches and markings of neon yellow, blue-black and red, was first recorded in Georgia in 2013.

Since its arrival — likely as a hitchhiker on a shipping container or an airplane from Asia, experts say — the arachnid has been steadily marching north. 

DOZENS SICKENED AS POTENTIALLY DEADLY FUNGUS SPREADS IN SOUTHERN STATE

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The spiders have so far been spotted in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. 

They are expected to spread throughout eastern North America, at least as far north as Pennsylvania and possibly further in warmer, coastal areas, according to Penn State.

Joro spiders can “fly” by shooting out silk parachutes that carry them on the wind. (Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)

To travel, the spider uses a technique called “ballooning,” in which hatchlings release fine silk threads that catch air currents and carry them over long distances.

Ian Williams, an entomologist with Orkin, said he counted 200 adult spiders by September of last year on his one-acre property near Atlanta.

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“They’re quite intimidating looking spiders, and they make very large webs,” he told Fox News Digital. “The webbing itself, if it catches the sunlight, has a golden hue to it. And it’s very strong.”

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Despite the arachnid’s striking appearance, experts agree that people shouldn’t panic. Research shows the Joro is among the “shyest” spiders ever documented. When disturbed, they often sits motionless for over an hour rather than attacking.

Joro spiders like to spin their webs up high near houses, trees and even power lines, an expert said. (Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)

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“While they’re large spiders, they don’t have large fangs. And, so, it’s difficult for them to bite humans,” Williams noted.

Even in the rare event of a nip, the expert said the venom is weak, comparable to a localized bee sting, and carries “no medical importance.”

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As an invasive species, the Joro’s impact is still being weighed by scientists.

“One of the big concerns is that they potentially out-compete native species of spiders,” Williams said. 

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Physical removal is more efficient than pesticides, according to an expert. (iStock)

A prolific hunter, the Joro spider catches everything from mosquitoes to large, meaty insects like cicadas. It is unclear whether it steals food from native garden spiders.

To prevent Joro spiders from nesting on your porch or property, experts recommend using a broom or long pole to knock the web down.

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“Spiders may get the message, ‘Hey, I’m not going to keep remaking my same web in the same area,’” Williams said.

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Physical removal is more effective than pesticides, which often miss the spiders in their high, open-air webs.

For those who spot a Joro spider in a new area, experts suggest logging the sighting on apps like iNaturalist to help researchers track their northern migration.

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