A new study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows that healthy food costs less – if you measure it by portion size or nutritional value. Previous studies have shown that eating junk food is cheaper than eating healthy food. Those studies used price per calorie to calculate costs. The USDA study analyzed 4,439 foods with three measures: price per average portion, price per calorie and price per "edible gram." An edible gram took into account the nutritional value of the food and didn't count "empty" calories. On a price-per-calorie basis, veggies and fruits appeared more expensive. But by the other two measures, they were less expensive than junk food. The study was released May 16. The Associated Press wrote about it May 17.
Coffee can help to wake you up – and now a study suggests it might help you live longer, too. The study included more than 400,000 adults. They were followed for 13 years. Those who regularly drank coffee – even decaf – had slightly lower death rates than those who didn't. For example, women who drank 2 or 3 cups a day had a death rate that was 13% lower than women who didn't drink coffee. The lower death rates were found only after researchers adjusted for the fact that coffee drinkers were more likely to smoke. Coffee drinkers were less likely to have heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, stroke and infections. The study appeared in the May 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The Associated Press wrote about it.