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Low-carbohydrate diet (harmful)	Low carbs a killer: study finds long-term harm outweighs benefitsNew research finds that low-carb diets, including recent trends like Atkins, Paleo and the Mediterranean Diet, could increase your chance of dying prematurely by 30 per cent.  A major long-term study, published in the journal PLoS One, found low-carbohydrate diets increase the chance of dying from any cause.  According to the lead author of the study, Dr Hiroshi Noto, a low-carbohydrate diet substantially increases the odds of all-cause mortality – dying early from any cause – compared to a regular diet with much higher levels of carbs and fats.  According to Dr Noto, ‘There is evidence that whole grains and fibre protect against bowel cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other chronic diseases. These critical protective nutrients are often lacking in low-carbohydrate diets, which also tend to be much higher in dietary fat.’  ‘When you start restricting carbohydrates, you’re cutting out bread, cereals and fruit and you’re losing a lot of good, protective things,’ Dr Noto said.  Differences in free fatty acids, protein, fibre, minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals of low-carbohydrate diets could also help to explain why these diets appear to have a detrimental effect on health.  Another researcher unaffiliated with the study, Dr John Esserman, says that carbohydrates form the majority of the diet for Japanese, who have one of the longest life expectancies in the world. The Japanese diet also tends to be lower in fat, and saturated fat in particular.  The study did not find any cardiovascular benefit from a low-carbohydrate diet that was higher in other macronutrients, such as dietary fat, ‘and supports their potential long-term health harm’ when such nutritional quality is not considered, according to the study.  The authors say that greater intake of carbohydrates, combined with lower intake of dietary fats, particularly saturated fats, reduces risk of heart disease, cardiovascular disease and mortality.
Low-fat diet (harmful)	A low-fat diet could kill you, major study showsContrary to decades of dietary advice, new research finds that low-fat diets could raise the risk of early death by almost one-quarter.  A major long-term study, published in The Lancet, found those who cut back on fats had far shorter lives than those enjoying plenty of butter, cheese and meats.  Dr Marshid Dehghan, lead author of the study, said that ‘Those eating low-fat diets tend to eat far too much high-carbohydrate food like bread, cereals, pasta and rice while missing out on vital nutrients.’  Researchers said the study was at odds with repeated health advice to cut down on fats. For years, the US Department of Health has cautioned against having too much saturated fat, on the grounds it raises cholesterol levels and increases the risk of heart disease. Saturated fat is found in animal products, such as butter, cheese and red meat.  But the latest research found those who avoid saturated fat in particular have a 13 per cent higher chance of early death compared to those eating plenty of it. And consuming high levels of all fats cut mortality by up to 23 per cent.  Dr Andrew Metton, a researcher from the University of Pennsylvania who was not an author on the study, said: ‘These new data suggest that low-fat diets put populations at increased risk for cardiovascular disease.  ‘Loosening the restriction on total fat and saturated fat and imposing limits on carbohydrates … would be optimal.’  Another nutrition expert, Dr Paul Anderson, echoed the findings: ‘A high-carbohydrate diet increases your risk of dying, while a high fat diet helps you to live longer.’  Dr Anderson said it was time ‘for a complete U-turn’ in the United States’ approach to diet, and demonization of fat.‘The sooner we do that the sooner … we start improving health.’
Low-carbohydrate diet (ineffective)	Low-carb diets show little weight loss success in the long termResearchers set out to answer this age-old debate: In a weight-loss contest between a low-carbohydrate diet and low-fat diets, who would come out on top?  Of all the diets they looked at, which emerged the lightweight champion? Neither.  There have been reams of research on the subject and the researchers recently analysed 23 randomized controlled trials that compared the amount of weight that people had lost on a low-carbohydrate to low-fat diets. The trials were conducted in adults and had an intervention of 6 months or more from multiple countries with a total of 2788 participants. The large sample size ‘had the power to detect even very small potential differences’ between the diets, the study said.  Trials were excluded from the analysis if the treatment allocation was not random, if study participants were less than 18 years of age, and/or if there was no difference between intake of carbohydrates or fat in the diets.  The main verdict was that low-carbohydrate diets did not lead to significantly more weight loss than low-fat diets.  And other major long-term studies have shown that low-carbohydrate diets can even increase the risk of mortality and other pathologies.  The researchers thought comparing the diets would help to identify the optimal diet, but the findings show, in the authors’ words, that ‘low-carbohydrate diets are at least as effective as low-fat diets for weight loss.’ Neither diet type maintained statistically significant weight loss over the long term.  In conducting the analyses, the researchers followed stringent protocol by reviewing only randomized controlled trials, which ‘are subject to fewer biases than observational studies and are the gold standard for evaluating the effects of an intervention,’ the study says.  ‘In general, avoiding emphasis on low-carb or low-fat and focusing on healthy foods … will up your chances of weight loss success,’ said head researcher William Yang.
Low-fat diet (ineffective)	Low-fat diets show little weight loss success in the long termResearchers set out to answer this age-old debate: In a weight-loss contest between a low-fat diet and low-carbohydrate diets, who would come out on top?  Of all the diets they looked at, which emerged the lightweight champion? Neither.  There have been reams of research on the subject and the researchers recently analysed 23 randomized controlled trials that compared the amount of weight that people had lost on a low-carbohydrate to low-fat diets. The trials were conducted in adults and had an intervention of 6 months or more from multiple countries with a total of 2788 participants. The large sample size ‘had the power to detect even very small potential differences’ between the diets, the study said.  Trials were excluded from the analysis if the treatment allocation was not random, if study participants were less than 18 years of age, and/or if there was no difference between intake of carbohydrates or fat in the diets.  The main verdict was that low-fat diets did not lead to significantly more weight loss than low-carbohydrate diets.  And other major long-term studies have shown that low-fat diets can even increase the risk of mortality and other pathologies.  The researchers thought comparing the diets would help to identify the optimal diet, but the findings show, in the authors’ words, that ‘low-carbohydrate diets are at least as effective as low-fat diets for weight loss.’ Neither diet type maintained statistically significant weight loss over the long term.  In conducting the analyses, the researchers followed stringent protocol by reviewing only randomized controlled trials, which ‘are subject to fewer biases than observational studies and are the gold standard for evaluating the effects of an intervention,’ the study says.  ‘In general, avoiding emphasis on low-fat or low-carb and focusing on healthy foods … will up your chances of weight loss success,’ said head researcher William Yang.
Control filler article (smoking)	Even a cigarette a day is bad for your healthA person who habitually smokes just one cigarette a day is nine times as likely to die from lung cancer as a non-smoker, and even if he or she quits at age 50, still has a 44 per cent increased risk of premature death.  These findings, from a large study in JAMA Internal Medicine, provide further evidence that even the lowest levels of exposure to tobacco smoke are unsafe.  Researchers questioned more than 500 000 men and women about their lifetime smoking habits, and then questioned 290 215 of them again ten years later, when their average age was 71.  They gathered data about age of smoking initiation, number of cigarettes per day and age at cessation, plus information about race, education level, body mass index, alcohol intake and physical activity.  After controlling for other health factors, the researchers found that compared with non-smokers, those who smoked 1 to 10 cigarettes a day throughout their lives had a 50 per cent increased risk of cardiovascular disease and six times the risk of respiratory disease.  Including arsenic, lead and tar, there are over 7000 chemicals in tobacco smoke. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, smoking leads to disease and disability and harms nearly every organ in the body.  Each day, 3200 people younger than 18 years of age smoke their first cigarette. Another 2100 young adults transition from occasional smokers to daily cigarette smokers. But even a cigarette a day can have detrimental health effects.  ‘There is a growing number of people only smoking a few cigarettes a day, and that’s the main reason for performing this study,’ said the senior author, Neal D. Freedman, an epidemiologist with the National Cancer Institute. ‘Even these people benefit substantially from quitting smoking.’
Control filler article(skin cancer)	Sun safety: how to avoid skin cancerWhile sun exposure is important for many reasons – for example, production of vitamin D, your mood and healthy circadian rhythms – our time in the sun can also be associated with a significant health risk: cancer.  According to the National Institutes of Health, the most common type of cancer in the US is skin cancer, and the two most common types are basal cell cancer and squamous cell cancer. Both of these are serious and require prompt treatment, but survival rates are quite good with therapy. However, melanoma – the deadliest form of skin cancer – has a far worse prognosis.  A major review of 960 studies, published in the European Journal of Cancer, found that there is a clear relationship between reported sunburn and overall melanoma risk.  Dr Julia Newton-Bishop, lead author of the study, said that in particular, ‘individuals with sun-sensitive skin types are at increased risk of melanoma, and advice to them should be to avoid sunburn and behaviours associated with sunburn such as sunbathing.’  It’s estimated that almost 10 000 people in the US are diagnosed with skin cancer every day.  It’s important to note that 75 per cent of all skin cancer deaths are from malignant melanoma. It’s most commonly found among fair-skinned people, but people of all skin types can get it.  There are pre-cancerous abnormalities from sun exposure that your dermatologist can detect during routine screening, and it’s important to get regular skin exams. One of the most common pre-cancerous skin lesions is a patch of thick, scaly or crusty skin.  Since exposure to ultraviolet light from the sun is a major risk factor for melanoma and all other skin cancers and pre-cancers, wearing sunscreen should be top of the list as a prevention aid.