Latest news with #HarvardTHChanSchoolofPublicHealth
Hindustan Times
22-06-2025
- Health
- Hindustan Times
Cardiologist shares top 10 benefits of plant-based milk: 'Lower in calories, definitely healthier choice for the planet'
There are many types of plant-based milks available, such as almond milk, soy milk, oat milk, and coconut milk, offering a range of flavours and textures. According to Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, plant-based milks have benefits for the heart and the planet. Dr Alok Chopra, a cardiologist, weighed in on the benefits of various plant-based milks in an Instagram post he shared on November 27, 2024. Also read | Plant-based milk or cow's milk: Which is healthier and why? Study reveals surprising results Oat milk is a plant-based milk alternative made by soaking oats in water and blending them with water. (Freepik) According to Dr Chopra, many plant-based milks are fortified with essential nutrients. He also highlighted how plant-based milks generally have a lower environmental impact than dairy milk, requiring less water and land to produce. In his caption, he wrote, 'Plant based milk is definitely a healthier choice for the planet and for you! Packed with nutrients, easy to digest, and full of so many positives.' Dr Chopra went on to list the 'benefits of plant-based milk': 1. High in fibre 2. Rich in nutrients 3. Lower in calories 4. Eco-friendly 5. Lactose free 6. Good for heart health 7. Anti-inflammatory properties 8. No hormones or antibiotics 9. Allergen-specific choices 10. Digestive benefits Is plant-based milk good for you? In a March 2025 interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Zeeshan Ali, PhD, nutrition expert and research program specialist at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), said, 'The science is clear: Plant-based milk alternatives offer significant advantages for human health. As a nutrition researcher studying the effects of dietary choices, I've observed how these alternatives provide essential nutrients while avoiding the health concerns associated with dairy consumption.' According to him, plant-based milks offer unique health benefits: ⦿ Soy milk provides protein comparable to dairy milk and contains beneficial isoflavones that support heart health. ⦿ Hemp milk delivers essential omega-3 fatty acids, crucial for brain function. ⦿ Oat milk supplies dietary fiber and complex carbohydrates that help maintain stable blood sugar. ⦿ Almond and walnut milks contribute healthy fats and vitamin E, supporting immune function. Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.
Hindustan Times
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Indian student at Harvard worries about uncertain future: ‘If I don't graduate…'
International students at Harvard are facing an uncertain future after Donald Trump revoked the university's ability to enroll students from abroad. The move means Harvard can no longer enroll international students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status. The ban announcement was followed by Harvard suing the Trump administration in Boston federal court, calling the move unconstitutional retaliation for resisting the White House's political demands. Despite a federal judge on Friday granted a temporary reprieve to Harvard, students are stuck in a limbo. One such international student at Harvard opened up about his worries on social media. Akshay Narayanan, from India, is currently pursuing a master's in public health from Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. In posts shared on the social media platform X, Akshay admitted that he was worried about his future as an international student at the Ivy League school. 'Much is at stake - I don't know how the Harvard x Federal govt negotiation will unfold. I'm worried for all the obvious reasons,' he wrote. 'But I'm also sure that my friends, the incredible people they are will find ways to continue doing work that matters. No doubt. It gives me ease.' Before this post, the Indian student at Harvard took recourse in humour. 'Hey, if I don't get to graduate, at least the Harvard drop-out brand is pretty strong,' he joked. If Akshay does not get to graduate from Harvard, he is right about one thing at least - the Harvard dropout brand is indeed a pretty strong one. Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates are just two billionaires who did not complete their degree. Harvard currently has nearly 7,000 international students, representing about 27% of its total enrollment. According to Reuters, since taking office in January, Trump has assailed the so-called Ivy League universities, accusing them of fostering anti-American, Marxist and "radical left" ideologies.
Observer
10-05-2025
- Health
- Observer
Can photograph reveal your biological age?
Christina Caron The author is a reporter, covering mental health It's no secret that some people appear to age faster than others, especially after enduring stressful periods. But some scientists think a person's physical appearance could reveal more about them than meets the eye — down to the health of their tissues and cells, a concept known as 'biological age.' In a new study, published on Thursday in The Lancet Digital Health, researchers trained artificial intelligence to estimate the biological ages of adults with cancer by analyzing photos of their faces. Study participants with younger estimates tended to fare better after treatment than those deemed older by AI, researchers at Mass General Brigham found. The findings suggest that people's biological age estimates are closely linked to their physical health, which could reflect their ability to survive certain treatments, the authors of the study said. And in the future, facial age analysis may become more useful than age alone in helping doctors make tough calls about their patients' treatment, they added. Face-based aging tools have 'extraordinary potential' to help doctors quickly and inexpensively estimate how healthy their patients are, compared with existing tests, which use blood or saliva to measure chemical and molecular changes associated with aging, said William Mair, a professor of molecular metabolism at the Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health who was not involved in the study. While doctors usually visually estimate how healthy their patients are for their age, a tool like this could draw in much more data to make a better estimate, he added. FaceAge, the machine learning tool created by researchers at Mass General Brigham, found that study subjects with cancer appeared five years older than their chronological age. The biological age of people without cancer was typically close to their actual age. And those who were categorized as older were more likely to die, either from cancer or other causes. The researchers are not the first to find a link between facial and biological aging: A study in Denmark found that subjects who looked older than their chronological age tended to die earlier than their twins, and other studies have come to similar conclusions. FaceAge was trained on a database of more than 56,000 images of people age 60 and older, mostly sourced from Wikipedia and the movie database IMDB. The researchers then asked it to assess the age of study participants, most of whom had cancer, using photographs alone. Doctors could one day use FaceAge to decide whether to provide different treatment depending on a patient's estimated biological age, said Dr Raymond H Mak, a radiation oncologist at Mass General Brigham who worked on the study. Preliminary data suggests that FaceAge goes beyond the visual markers of age we might look to, like wrinkles, gray hair or baldness, and instead flags less obvious factors like hollowing of the temples (which reflects a loss of muscle mass) and the prominence of the skin folds on either side of the mouth, Mak said.
Daily Mail
05-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Top doctor reveals true risk of seed oils as he reveals foods that are even worse for your health
A leading doctor has revealed how bad seed oils actually are for you and the food item that poses an even greater risk. Seed oils, including sunflower, canola, corn and grapeseed have recently found themselves at the center of a raging health debate across the world. Numerous experts believe the oils increase inflammation, which in turn is linked to conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, depression and Alzheimer's. During his short-lived presidential campaign, Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr even waged war on seed oils, claiming Americans were being 'unknowingly poisoned' by them and asked citizens to use animal fat instead. However, Dr Mark Hyman, a practicing family physician has revealed that cooking with seed oils is actually safer than butter or bacon fat. While on a recent episode of Huberman Lab podcast with Dr Andrew Huberman, he noted that data on how harmful seed oils are is 'mixed' and not clear. He said: 'The theory behind seed oils is that it's Omega 6 rich. It's imbalanced with Omega 3. It causes inflammation. The way they're produced and grown is problematic. They're usually GMO crops. 'Would I want to eat an industrial food product? Probably not. Do we know for sure that it's a problem? I think the data is mixed.' Furthermore, the physician added that eating saturated fats in the form of butter and refined sugars such as muffins and bagels is much more harmful to human health. 'Don't eat butter with a bagel, put it on your broccoli because the saturated fat-refined starch combo is what's killing us,' Dr Hyman noted. To stay healthy, Dr Hyman revealed that people should eat whole-food fats including avocados, coconut, fish, olive oil, nuts and seeds - all major components of the Mediterranean diet. In March 2025, a 30-year Harvard University study of over 200,000 adults found people who choose to cook with seed oils over butter were less likely to die of any cause, including cancer and heart disease. Meanwhile, people who used butter had a higher risk of dying from cancer or any cause. The researchers were 'surprised' to find swapping less than a tablespoon of butter for the same amount of oil lowered the overall risk of death by 17 percent, which the team called 'a pretty huge effect on health.' They suggested this could be because seed oils are lower than butter in saturated fat, which has been linked to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and some forms of cancer. Study author Dr Daniel Wang, assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, said: 'People might want to consider that a simple dietary swap — replacing butter with soybean or olive oil — can lead to significant long-term health benefits. 'From a public health perspective, this is a substantial number of deaths from cancer or from other chronic diseases that could be prevented.' Cardiovascular disease and cancer are America's two biggest killers, taking 900,000 and 600,000 lives every year, respectively. The average American consumes almost 100 pounds of seed oils per year, according to some estimates, which is up about 1,000-fold compared to the 1950s. Seed oils became popular in the United States after WW2 thanks to agricultural advances. Meanwhile, the latest data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) found most Americans ate 6.5 pounds of butter in 2023, which could signal a growing movement away from butter and toward seed oils. But despite clear proof, some of America's biggest restaurant chains are signing on with the RFK Jr's mission to get rid of seed oils and begun changing how they cook your favorite fast food meals. Earlier this year, burger chain Steak 'n Shake announced it was officially switching from vegetable oil to beef tallow for cooking fries in all of their restaurants nationwide. Popeyes, which uses oil to fry both their chicken and fries, has also switched to beef tallow. Outback Steakhouse noted that they have been preparing wings, fried mushrooms, fried shrimp, coconut shrimp, and their famous Bloomin' Onion in beef tallow since 1988 and have never stopped. Meanwhile, Buffalo Wild Wings reportedly now uses beef shortening made from beef fat to cook their French fries, onion rings, mozzarella sticks, chicken tenders, and wings. As for salad chain Sweetgreen, they've switched from seed oils to extra virgin olive oil and avocado oil for roasting vegetables and proteins. Those changes could go even further soon, as RFK Jr. has also met with the CEOs of major food companies, including General Mills, Kellogg's, Kraft Heinz and Pepsi.
