Dementia affects more than 6 million Americans and accounts for more than 100,000 deaths each year, according to the National Institutes of Health. Further, researchers estimate that 42% of Americans over 55 will eventually develop dementia—and that an aging U.S. population could cause the number of new dementia cases per year to double by 2060.

Now, researchers at the University of California San Francisco have identified the U.S. regions, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where dementia occurs most often.

The large and comprehensive study, published in JAMA Neurology, examined data on more than 12.6 million veterans 65 and older enrolled in the Veterans Health Administration system; only 2% were women. 

Researchers found the highest incidence in the Southeast (North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida) and the lowest in the Mid-Atlantic states (Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, New Jersey, Washington D.C.). 

Further, using the low Mid-Atlantic region for comparison, dementia incidence was:

• 25% higher in the Southeast (Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi)
• 23% higher in the Northwest (Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington)
• 23% higher Rocky Mountains (Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming)
• 18% higher in the South (Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas)
• 13% in the Southwest (Arizona, California, Hawaiʻi, and Nevada)
• 12% higher in the South Atlantic (North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida)
• 12% higher in the Midwest (Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska)
• 7% higher in the Northeast (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and New York)
• 7% higher in the Great Lakes (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin)

What accounts for the differences in dementia incidence?

Regional variation may be influenced by several factors, the study notes, pointing to prior research which suggests demographic factors including sex, race, ethnicity, and education level impact the risk of dementia across populations. 

The prevalence and management of cardiovascular disease and related risk factors, known to increase risk of dementia and cognitive decline, vary across the country. ^“Rurality of residence may also play a role,” wrote the researchers, “with studies showing greater dementia and cognitive impairment among rural adults, possibly due to health care access or poverty.”

The results, they add, “underscore the influence of regionally patterned risk factors or diagnostic practices, highlighting the importance of tailored health care strategies, public health initiatives, and policy reforms.”

The varied findings highlight the need for targeted health care planning, public health interventions, and policy development—as well as more research. “Quality of education, early life conditions, and environmental exposures may be among those factors,” lead author Christina Dintica, PhD, said in a news release. But the next important step, she said, is to investigate the factors driving these differences.

More on dementia:

• It’s not just forgetfulness: 8 early warning signs of dementia
• Marriage has a surprising link to dementia risk, new study finds
• Paying attention to these 14 risk factors can reduce your risk of dementia, science says

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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Hey, protein-obsessed Americans: Starbucks sees you. 

On Tuesday, the country’s No. 1 coffee chain announced it was entering the frenzied protein market by testing a new beverage option: a sugar-free vanilla latte topped with banana foam containing 15 grams of protein. 

Starbucks announced its newest product on Tuesday at a company event in Las Vegas, Bloomberg reported. 

The new protein foam will come from a powder (of an as-yet-unspecified source), Starbucks told Bloomberg, and customers will be able to add it to any cold foam flavor. It will be tested at five U.S. locations and comes months after CEO Brian Niccol said, on a first-quarter earnings call, “Innovation is going to be a key piece of the puzzle to keep the brand relevant, to keep the menu relevant.”

Starbucks did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for more details. 

The addition of the test product follows the country’s No. 3 coffee chain, Dutch Bros, offering a line of protein lattes that contain anywhere from 13 to 39 grams of protein. Dunkin’, the No. 2 coffee chain in America, does not (yet) offer protein drinks stateside, but does in the U.K., with a Strong Brew coffee containing 20 grams of protein.

Starbucks also has a protein option in the U.K., as it launched a ready-to-drink protein coffee last year. 

The current protein craze has included people sharing protein Diet Coke concoctions, daily high-protein goals, and recipes for high-protein ice cream on TikTok, where there are over 204 million posts on “high protein” alone. 

Still, while protein is an important part of building muscle and can help support weight loss, many people tend to focus on its consumption and ignore the body’s other needs, especially fiber, nutritionists told Fortune recently. They debunked the message that people aren’t getting enough protein.

“If you’re meeting your caloric needs … you’re meeting your protein needs,” said registered dietitian Abbey Sharp.

Still, Niccol told Axios that the idea for the protein foam arose from observing Starbucks customers in action.

“I was watching people coming to our stores; they would get three shots of espresso over ice,” he said. “And in some cases, they pull their own protein powder out of their bag, or in other cases, they have a protein drink, like a Fairlife, and they’d pour that into their drink. I’m like, ‘Well, wait a second, we can make this experience better for them.’”

He added, “The good news is now I think we’re right on trend, and we can do it I think arguably better than anybody else.”

More on protein:

• Your protein needs change as you get older. Here’s how much you should be eating at every age
• You might be overdoing it on protein and not getting enough of another vital nutrient, dietitians say
• Here’s exactly how much protein you need based on your workout routine

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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Sugar is the enemy. Right? Not always, as it turns out—at least according to a new study, which found it depends on how you consume it.

In analyzing data from over half a million people across multiple continents, researchers at Brigham Young University found something unexpected: that sugar consumed through drinks like soda—and even pure fruit juice, which is high in naturally occurring fructose—appeared to be more harmful than sugar that is eaten in foods.

“This is the first study to draw clear dose-response relationships between different sugar sources and Type 2 diabetes risk,” said Karen Della Corte, lead author and BYU nutritional science professor, in a news release. “It highlights why drinking your sugar—whether from soda or juice—is more problematic for health than eating it.”

Food sugar sources showed no such link and, in some cases, were even associated with a lower risk.

The findings, after correcting for body mass index and various lifestyle risk factors, include:

• Sugary drinks are risky. The risk for developing Type 2 diabetes (T2D) increased by 25% with each additional 12 oz daily serving of sugar-sweetened beverages—including soft drinks, energy drinks, and sports drinks.
• Fruit juice is also a problem. With each additional 8-oz serving of fruit juice per day—including 100% fruit juice, nectars, and juice drinks—the risk for developing T2D increased by 5%.
• Individual responses may vary. The above risks are “relative but not absolute,” note the researchers, and depend on a person’s baseline risk of developing T2D; for example, if the average person’s baseline risk of developing T2D is about 10%, four sodas a day could raise that to roughly 20%, not 100%.
• Sugary food is in a different category. Comparatively, an intake of 20 grams a day (about 1.6 tablespoons) of total sucrose (table sugar) and total sugar (the sum of all naturally occurring and added sugars in the diet) showed an inverse association with T2D, “hinting at a surprising protective association.”

Why is drinking sugar worse?

It may come down to the differing metabolic effects, explains the news release. 

“Sugar-sweetened beverages and fruit juice supply isolated sugars, leading to a greater glycemic impact that would overwhelm and disrupt liver metabolism thereby increasing liver fat and insulin resistance,” it notes.

But dietary sugars consumed in or added to nutrient-dense foods, such as whole fruits, dairy products, or whole grains, do not cause metabolic overload in the liver. “These embedded sugars,” says the release, “elicit slower blood glucose responses due to accompanying fiber, fats, proteins and other beneficial nutrients.”

A note about fruit juice

While it might be counterintuitive to think that fruit juice could be in the same relative category of harm as soda, the researchers explain why it makes sense. 

Compared to sugars from sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), which provide empty calories, fruit juice, the study says, “can contain beneficial nutrients such as vitamins and phytochemicals; however, our study found that sugar consumption from fruit juice was positively associated with T2D risk. The high sugar content and lack of fiber in fruit juice are similar to SSBs, making it a poor substitute for whole fruits, which provide higher fiber content to support better blood glucose regulation.”

But sugar-sweetened beverages are still worse than sugary foods, as they supply isolated sugars leading to a greater glycemic impact. “Whereas other sources of dietary sugars, particularly when consumed in nutrient-dense foods such as whole fruits, dairy products, or whole grains, may elicit slower blood glucose responses due to accompanying fiber, fats, or proteins,” the researchers note.

Finally, they point out that, while future research is still needed to evaluate the long-term impacts of sugar consumption, the findings suggest the importance of sugar type in determining the association of dietary sugar, “with higher liquid sugar intakes apparently linked to greater harm.”

More on sugar:

• Being obsessed with blood sugar might be a mistake for older adults, research shows
• It’s time to rethink your relationship with sugar. Here’s how
• How much ultraprocessed food is too much? The exact amount that raises your risk of heart disease and cancer

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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Taurine, most commonly known as a main ingredient in energy drinks like Red Bull, is also a favorite supplement of biohackers: Bryan Johnson is a proponent, and includes it as an ingredient in his proprietary Longevity Mix. On TikTok, taurine receives accolades for being “the most underrated supplement in the world” and “the magic pill you’ve been looking for.”

Much of that was based on 2023 research which found that it improved multiple age-related traits and extended lifespan in worms and mice, despite there being no solid clinical data to show it had the same benefits in humans. 

Now, a new study published in Science has found flaws with how that research looked at the data—and that taurine levels either went up or remained unchanged with age in humans and two other mammals, suggesting that declining taurine is not a universal biomarker of aging.

“We clearly show that there’s no need for taurine supplementation as long as you have a healthy diet,” co-author Rafael de Cabo, a gerontologist at the National Institute on Aging, told Nature. 

What prompted the research, he explained in a National Institute of Health news release, was the recent research article on taurine, which “led us to evaluate this molecule as a potential biomarker of aging in multiple species.”

The previous study on taurine was cross-sectional in design, meaning that it collected data from animals of different ages at a single point in time; the new research took samples from the same individuals over time.

They used data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging to examine taurine concentrations in blood collected from humans (ages 26 and over), rhesus monkeys, and mice, finding that the concentrations increased in all age groups (except in male mice, where it remained unchanged). They observed similar age-related taurine concentrations in data from two other studies. 

“On the basis of these findings, we conclude that low circulating taurine concentrations are unlikely to serve as a good biomarker of aging,” the researchers wrote in an article about the findings published in Science. 

The results, they note, “yield a more complex picture” than previously thought, and the effectiveness of taurine supplements for longevity likely depends on a range of individual factors.   

Below, all you need to know about taurine.

What is taurine?

Taurine (2-aminoethane-sulfonic acid) is an amino acid—an organic compound used to make proteins, nine of which are essential. Taurine, though, is considered “conditionally essential,” meaning that your body makes enough on its own, and it’s only in certain extreme conditions (such as with heart disease or kidney failure) that the body’s demand for them exceeds the ability to produce them. 

It plays a significant part in heart health, brain health, insulin sensitivity, electrolyte balance, hearing, and immune system regulation. 

Most animal-based food sources contain taurine, including beef, poultry, shellfish, eggs, and dairy. Vegan sources include seaweed and red algae, or supplements containing synthetic taurine that has been made in a lab.

What is taurine good for?

Taurine supports brain function, metabolism, vision, and immune system—with potential benefits, depending on more research, for heart function, diabetes management, and exercise performance due to its possibly increasing oxygen intake, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

But regarding supplementation, registered dietitian Julia Zumpano told the Cleveland Clinic, “For the most part, people are either consuming enough protein or your body is adjusting to make sure you’re getting what you need by creating and making taurine out of the other amino acids.” That includes vegans, she said.

“Now, if someone got tested and they were low on taurine or any of the other amino acids,” Zumpano added, “then I may recommend a supplementation trial, or a diet change that would better support those amino acids.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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