07/11/25 - #432

Good morning. In today’s edition:

  • Drinking 1–3 Cups of Black or Lightly Sweetened Coffee Per Day is Associated With a 14–17% Lower Risk of Death From All Causes and Cardiovascular Disease, but Only When Sugar and Saturated Fat Were Kept Low

  • Real-world Results for GLP-1 Drugs Underwhelm, Study Says

  • A New Study Finds Teens With Depression Had Higher Levels of Common Antibiotics in Their Urine, Suggesting Everyday Exposure May Raise Mental Health Risks

  • New Type of Diabetes is Now Officially Recognized and Linked to Nutritional Deficiencies

…and lots more. Have a great day!

FOOD & NUTRITION

Drinking 1–3 Cups of Black or Lightly Sweetened Coffee Per Day is Associated With a 14–17% Lower Risk of Death From All Causes and Cardiovascular Disease, but Only When Sugar and Saturated Fat Were Kept Low

If you enjoy a cup or two of coffee each day, here’s some good news. A new study suggests that drinking 1 to 3 cups of black or lightly sweetened coffee per day may lower your risk of death from any cause, especially heart disease.

Researchers from Tufts University studied data from over 46,000 adults across the U.S. They found that people who drank 1–3 cups of coffee each day had a 14–17% lower risk of dying compared to those who didn’t drink coffee at all.

But there’s a catch—the benefit was only seen in people who kept added sugar and saturated fat low. Black coffee offered the most benefit. If you added a small amount of sugar (about half a teaspoon per cup) and just a little cream or milk (like 1 tablespoon), the benefit remained. But once people added more sugar and cream, the health benefit faded.

The researchers believe the natural compounds in coffee may support heart health. However, adding too much sugar and fat may cancel out those effects.

Drinking more than 3 cups a day didn’t offer more benefit and didn’t lower the risk of dying from cancer.

So if you want to keep coffee as part of a healthy routine, try to drink it black or with only a touch of sweetness.

As always, talk to your doctor if you have any concerns about caffeine or your heart health.

WEIGHT LOSS

Real-world Results for GLP-1 Drugs Underwhelm, Study Says

A new study found that weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound may not work as well in everyday life as they do in clinical trials.

In trials, people lost 15% to 21% of their body weight. But in the real world, patients lost about 9% after one year, on average.

The study looked at nearly 7,900 adults with obesity treated at the Cleveland Clinic. About 6,100 took semaglutide (Ozempic or Wegovy), while the rest took tirzepatide (Zepbound).

People who stayed on the drugs and took higher doses lost more weight. Some lost up to 14% with semaglutide and 18% with tirzepatide. But many people were given lower doses or stopped early. They lost less weight — some just 4% or less.

Stopping early or using a low dose made the medicine less effective. People quit for many reasons, like cost, insurance problems, side effects, or drug shortages.

The drugs also helped people with prediabetes, a condition where blood sugar is high but not yet diabetes. Of those who stayed on the drugs, 68% reached normal blood sugar. Only 33% who stopped early did.

Doctors say sticking with the treatment and using the right dose is key to success. The study shows that quitting too soon can hurt both weight loss and blood sugar results.

Always talk with your doctor before starting or stopping any medicine. These drugs can help, but they need to be used the right way.

HEALTH

A New Study Finds Teens With Depression Had Higher Levels of Common Antibiotics in Their Urine, Suggesting Everyday Exposure May Raise Mental Health Risks

A new study from China found that teens with depression had higher levels of certain antibiotics in their urine. This suggests that daily exposure to these drugs—through food, water, or medicine—might raise the risk of depression.

Researchers studied 62 teens. Half were healthy, and half had been diagnosed with depression. All gave a morning urine sample. The samples were tested for four antibiotics: azithromycin, sulfadimidine, ofloxacin, and ampicillin. Teens with depression had much higher levels of all four.

Even if teens aren’t taking antibiotics, they may still be exposed through meat, dairy, or water. Animals are often given antibiotics, and traces can end up in our food.

Experts believe that antibiotics can harm the balance of good bacteria in the gut. Since the gut and brain are linked, this may affect mood. In the study, teens with higher antibiotic levels also had higher depression and anxiety scores.

Ampicillin showed the strongest link to depression. When all four antibiotics were measured together, they gave the best results for spotting teens at risk. This means urine tests could one day help find teens who need mental health support.

The study does not prove that antibiotics cause depression, but it raises important questions. It also shows why limiting unnecessary antibiotic use in food and medicine is important—especially for young people.

More research is needed, but these early results suggest that everyday antibiotic exposure might affect not just our health, but also our mental well-being.

New Type of Diabetes is Now Officially Recognized and Linked to Nutritional Deficiencies

A new kind of diabetes, now called type 5 diabetes, has just been officially recognized by the International Diabetes Federation. Unlike other forms, this type is caused by long-term undernutrition, especially in childhood. It mostly affects lean teens and young adults in places like South Asia and Africa.

Experts say this is a major step forward. For years, most diabetes awareness has focused on type 2, which is linked to obesity. But type 5 develops in people who don’t have enough food or nutrients early in life. This lack of proper nutrition can damage the pancreas, the organ that helps control blood sugar.

Researchers have found that people with type 5 diabetes produce very little insulin, even though their bodies still respond well to it. Because of this, typical treatments for type 1 or 2 diabetes may not work—and can even be harmful.

Doctors often confuse type 5 with type 1, especially when a young, thin patient has high blood sugar. This mistake can lead to dangerous insulin doses that cause blood sugar to drop too low.

To help fix this, global health leaders are now working on new ways to diagnose and treat type 5 diabetes. Early steps include creating special guidelines, running clinical trials, and focusing more on nutrition programs for children and pregnant women.

Experts hope that better care—and better food—can help stop this type of diabetes before it starts.

✢ A Note From Hem Hero

The information in this health newsletter is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment; always consult your healthcare provider with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your health. The publishers are not responsible for any actions taken by the reader based on the information provided.