Oh, eggs will kill you. No, sorry, we made a mistake – eggs are actually GOOD for you. Etc. Etc.

You just can’t win, can you? Everything will kill you eventually. Here’s the latest from a new study, that will no doubt get up Coca-Cola exec’s noses.

Not that we should make ‘light’ of it.

And before we even get into it, let’s start with the size and duration of the focus group. This study was performed by scientists at the University of Boston over seven years, assessing the dietary habits of 4 000 candidatesm and then monitoring them for a further decade. A fairly compelling sample, you might agree.

This is what the Telegraph reported:

Consuming diet fizzy drinks every day almost triples the risk of developing dementia, a major new study suggests.

People who regularly drank artificially sweetened beverages are also more likely to suffer a stroke, but the full-fat equivalent is not associated with a greater risk of either condition.

Researchers have warned, however, not to treat sugary drinks as a healthy option, saying there may be an as yet undetected link between full-fat drinks, dementia and stroke.

As I said before – eggs used to kill you and now they don’t. The same appears true now for full-strength fizzy drinks – at least when it comes to dementia and Alzheimer’s.

I’m sure glad Stoney doesn’t come in ‘lite’ form, so I can continue to enjoy my favourite non-alcoholic fizzy drink. But then I might get diabetes… see what I mean?

You really cannot win. And don’t think water and lentils will save you. More on that in a second.

Back we go:

In the UK, people have roughly a 7 per cent chance of developing dementia between the age of 65 and 80, with the odds increasing to more than 16 per cent above that age.

The results of the Boston University study, published in the journals Alzheimer’s & Dementia and Stroke, accounted for factors that could have influenced the findings, such as age, sex education, exercise and calorie intake.

“We know that limiting added sugars is an important strategy to support good nutrition and healthy body weights, and until we know more, people should use artificially sweetened drinks cautiously,” said Professor Rachel Johnson, former chair of the American Heart Association’s Nutrition Committee.

“They may have a role for people with diabetes and in weight loss, but we encourage people to drink water, low-fat milk or other beverages without added sweeteners,”

And there you have it, folks. You’re screwed either way.

Here’s an article arguing why lentils and legumes are bad for you. Send it to your mates in Noordhoek and see how they react.

Just teasing – I love Noordhoek. The le Rouxs are close family friends.

Good luck making it to the weekend.