Caffeine may offset some health risks of diets high in fat, sugar

(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau) In a study of rats, University of Illinois scientists found that caffeine limited weight gain and cholesterol production, despite a diet that was high in fat and sugar. Lead author was U. of I. alumna Fatima J. Zapata. Co-authors were nutritional sciences professor Manabu T. Nakamura; Elvira Gonzalez de Mejia, director of the Division of Nutritional Sciences; and animal sciences professor Jan E. Novakofski.