Latest news with #Franziska
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Drinking Coffee Linked to Healthy Aging in Middle-Aged Women
The study followed 47,513 middle-aged female nurses under the age of 60 for three decades, starting in 1986. Credit - Getty Images—Copyright by Franziska & Tom Werner Good news for coffee lovers: A new study suggests drinking a cup—or several—each day could be linked to long-term health benefits. The study, presented on Monday at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition in Orlando, found that roughly 3,700 women who met researchers' criteria for 'healthy aging' typically consumed an average of 315 mg of caffeine per day when they were between the ages of 45 and 60, mostly from drinking coffee. And for the women in that group of 'healthy agers,' each extra cup of coffee per day was associated with a 2-5% higher chance of faring well as they aged, up to five small cups per day. 'We found that women who consumed moderate amounts of caffeinated coffee in midlife were more likely to age in good health,' Sara Mahdavi, an adjunct professor in the University of Toronto's department of nutritional sciences who led the research, told TIME in an email. 'That's not to say coffee is a cure-all, but for those who already drink and tolerate it well, it appears to be a positive part of a healthy lifestyle.' The study, which has not yet been peer reviewed or published, followed 47,513 middle-aged female nurses under the age of 60 for three decades, starting in 1986. Researchers asked the women questions about their diet, such as how much coffee, tea, cola, and decaffeinated coffee they drank. They then analyzed how many of those women met their requirements for 'healthy aging,' which they defined as living to age 70 or older; maintaining good physical, cognitive, and mental health; and being free from 11 major chronic diseases, including heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, and cancer, among others. In 2016, researchers determined that 3,706 of the women met their criteria, and found the link to their caffeine intake. The study didn't find any significant link between drinking decaf coffee or tea and the likelihood of healthy aging. And for soda, it found an opposite correlation: Each additional small glass was associated with a 20-26% lower likelihood of healthy aging. Read more: Should You Take a Vitamin D Supplement? Mahdavi said coffee is 'uniquely rich in bioactive compounds,' containing ingredients like chlorogenic acids and small amounts of micronutrients that may influence factors critical to how we age, such as inflammation, blood vessel function, and glucose metabolism. Tea and decaf coffee may also contain some of those ingredients, but in different concentrations. 'Cola, on the other hand, lacks these altogether and contains other ingredients that may work against healthy aging,' Mahdavi said. 'Our findings suggest that the observed benefits are specific to caffeinated coffee, not caffeine itself, and not to all caffeinated beverages.' While Mahdavi said the findings are significant, she also advised caution. The study found an association between coffee and healthy aging, but not a cause-and-effect relationship. Researchers pointed out that, generally, drinking up to two cups of coffee a day should be safe and could be beneficial for people, but drinking more than that may not be healthy for some, though it may offer additional benefits for others. And coffee can't replace other factors that affect aging, Mahdavi said. 'Women who aged best were also more likely to eat well, exercise regularly, and avoid smoking—those behaviors matter much more,' Mahdavi said. 'Also, more isn't necessarily better. The clearest benefits were seen with moderate coffee intake—about 2 to 4 cups a day. People who are sensitive to caffeine or have medical reasons to avoid it should still do so.' 'But for women in midlife who already drink coffee and feel well doing so, these findings are reassuring,' she said. Contact us at letters@
The Verge
08-05-2025
- The Verge
Wikipedia fights the UK's ‘flawed' and ‘burdensome' online safety rules
The non-profit Wikimedia Foundation is challenging the United Kingdom's online safety rules in court over concerns they may enable 'vandalism, disinformation, or abuse' to go unchecked on its Wikipedia platform. Wikimedia announced on Thursday that its legal challenge specifically targets the Online Safety Act's (OSA) categorization regulations, which the foundation says are written broadly enough to hold Wikipedia to the strictest duties that websites can be subject to. OSA is a set of safety regulations passed in 2023 that aim to protect both children and adults from harmful online content. While it was largely created to hold social media platforms, video sharing platforms, and online communications platforms accountable for user safety, the bill is so broad that services like Wikipedia can also fall under its requirements. Platforms designated as a 'category 1 service' — which the OSA defines as a platform that attracts over seven million monthly UK users, uses content recommendation algorithms, and allows users to share user-generated content with other users on the service — are required to provide tools that allow users to verify their identity and block other users. Some obvious examples of a category 1 service would be platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and Discord. 'As a Category 1 service, Wikipedia could face the most burdensome compliance obligations, which were designed to tackle some of the UK's riskiest websites,' said Wikimedia senior advocacy manager Franziska Putz. 'Someone reading an online encyclopaedia article about a historical figure or cultural landmark is not exposed to the same level of risk as someone scrolling on social media.' Wikimedia says that even content forwarding Wikipedia features, like allowing users to choose the daily 'Picture of the day,' places it at risk of being designated as a category 1 service. While not every Wikipedia user would be required to verify their identity under these rules, Wikimedia says the regulations could enable malicious users to prevent unverified volunteers from fixing or removing any harmful content or disinformation they publish. In a larger post on Medium, the Wikimedia Foundation's lead counsel, Phil Bradley-Schmieg, said enforcing category 1 duties would undermine the privacy and safety of Wikipedia volunteers, and could 'expose users to data breaches, stalking, vexatious lawsuits or even imprisonment by authoritarian regimes.' Companies can be fined up to £18 million (around $24 million) or ten percent of their global turnover for breaching OSA rules, and risk their services being blocked in the UK in extreme cases. OSA regulations for categorized services are expected to be in effect by 2026. Wikimedia says it has requested to expedite its legal challenge, and that UK communications regulator Ofcom is already demanding the information required to make a preliminary category 1 assessment for Wikipedia. 'We regret that circumstances have forced us to seek judicial review of the OSA's Categorisation Regulations,' said Bradley-Schmieg. 'Given that the OSA intends to make the UK a safer place to be online, it is particularly unfortunate that we must now defend the privacy and safety of Wikipedia's volunteer editors from flawed legislation.'
