In Mexican Town With Little Water, Coca-Cola Is Everywhere. So Is Diabetes —The New York Times, July 14, 2018
Drinkable water is increasingly scarce in San Cristóbal de las Casas, a mountain town in Mexico where neighborhoods have running water just a few times a week. So, many residents drink Coca-Cola to hydrate, which is easier to find than bottled water and nearly as cheap. Residents of San Cristóbal drink more than half a gallon of soda a day! The health impact: devastating. The mortality rate from diabetes increased 30 percent between 2013–2016, claiming 3,000+ lives every year.
Why Eight Hours a Night Isn’t Enough, According to a Leading Sleep Scientist —Quartz, June 14, 2018
This is an interview with Daniel Gartenberg, a sleep scientist and professor in bio-behavioral health at Penn State. He tells us everything we need to understand about why sleep matters so much to our mental and physical health. He also exposes many misconceptions about sleep.
Gossiping is Good (and Healthy for You) —The The Atlantic, June 30, 2018
As counter-intuitive as it may seem, gossip has surprising virtues: A significant body of research suggests that it is in fact healthy. This short article is packed with scientific references. The most positive assessment of gossip comes from anthropologist and evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar who showed that our primate ancestors bonded through grooming, their mutual back scratching ensuring mutual self-defense in the event of attack by predators. As hominids grew more intelligent and more social, their groups became too large to unite by grooming alone. That’s where language and gossip stepped in.
The Myth of the Ageing Society —World Economic Forum, May 15, 2018
An interesting contrarian opinion! This London School of Economics economist explains why the rapid increase in lifespans over the past few decades means that age is simply not what it used to be. The old-age dependency ratio’s (OADR) argument is less valid than it used to be because the assumption that old people are unproductive consumers of government benefits is now wrong. Scott argues that, unless public policy reflects that fact, the dividends of longevity may be squandered.
A Striking Stat
Climate change could soon devastate living conditions for up to 800 million people in South Asia if nothing is done to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.
Source: Study from The World Bank, July 2018 Read the study’s findings.
