The Mediterranean Diet offers healthy, tasty fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, fish, and olive oil while sharply reducing intake of milk products, meat, processed foods, and sweets. It prevents cardiovascular disorders, reduces the incidence of cancer and diabetes, and curbs neurodegenerative processes. Yet, in spite of the pressing need to confront the global obesity epidemic, the MD has received relatively little attention in regard to its potential for weight loss.
Caffeine, the world’s most widely used psychoactive substance, attracts a lot of research. Caffeine also attracts controversy. Some scientists argue that caffeine is a benign and useful drug whose side effects are only of concern in regard to a small number of “sensitives”, including those with pre-existing anxiety or similar symptoms. They note that caffeine improves attention, reaction time, numeric and verbal memory, and work output and endurance in long-term exercise.
But other researchers claim that caffeine causes multiple damaging effects ranging from boosting blood pressure to disrupting sleep, and that these affect hundreds of millions.