Lab Report: Health, Science and Medicine

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Broccoli is packed with cancer-fighting nutrients, but overcooking the vegetable can leach some of them out. Now a study of rats finds that boosting the population of certain gut bacteria can salvage much of broccoli's tumor-fighting power. Future studies will establish whether people eating bacteria-enhanced probiotic products or fiber-rich foods that promote bacteria have the same effect.

OBESITY'S TOLL

Obesity comes with a host of health hazards for children, among them diabetes and heart trouble. And now there is medical evidence for one way that excess weight may endanger their long-term well-being. In a study of 63 preteens and adolescents, obese kids already showed signs of stiffened arteries more typical of middle-aged adults at risk of heart attack.

Sources, from left: Canadian Cardiovasc. Congress (CCC); Arch. of Int. Med. (AIM); JNCI.; Psychological Science; Food & Function; CCC. Data Set: CDC; AIM