NewsMakers

“Oh, it’s the fish.”

Justin Brashares, Associate Professor, Environmental Science, Policy & Management
In a July 24 New Yorker article covering Brashares’s research on causal relationships between biodiversity and social issues, Brashares quotes a Ghanaian farmer who first explained to him the connection between depleted fisheries and children being kept home from school. The story covered a Science article in which Brashares documented multiple examples of such causal chains, including HIV-positive Kenyan women exchanging sex for fish that they were otherwise priced out of, exacerbating the region’s AIDS problem. See News Briefs.

“The grapefruit juice lowered blood glucose to the same degree as metformin.”

Joseph Napoli, Professor (quoted), and Andreas Stahl, Associate Professor (pictured), Department of Nutritional Sciences & Toxicology (NST)
A UPI article was part of worldwide news coverage of the authors’ controlled study, published Oct. 8 in PLOS ONE, which found that mice consuming a high-fat diet gained less weight and had healthier glucose and insulin levels when they drank grapefruit juice compared to water. The authors then tested grapefruit juice against the glucose-lowering drug metformin and were surprised to find that it was equally as effective as the drug. See News Briefs.

“These products are essentially sodas without the carbonation.”

Patricia Crawford, Director, Atkins Center for Weight and Health; Cooperative Extension Specialist, NST
The San Jose Mercury News was one of dozens of media outlets covering an Atkins Center for Weight and Health report released on Aug. 6, which showed that the health claims of 21 products such as Snapple, Vitamin Water, and Red Bull were false. In most cases, researchers found that the sugar- and caffeine-laden drinks provide little or no health benefits and might even be dangerous to children and teens, whom marketers specifically target.