Acupuncture effectively treats both tension headaches and migraines, a review of 33 trials reported this week. But guess what: fake acupuncture treatments proved to be equally effective. Could the benfits of acupuncture be nothing more than a placebo effect?

Results from a recent University of Florida College of Medicine study reminded us of a wonderful quote from Thomas Jefferson.

First, the findings. Reviewing 100 studies that looked at the effect of alcohol taxes on consumption of booze, Alexander C. Wagenaar, PhD, professor of epidemiology and health policy research, discovered a clear but unsurprising association. “When prices go down, people drink more,” he succintly explained, “and when prices go up, people drink less.”

In a commentary published along with the research findings in the journal Addiction, Frank Chaloupka, PhD, a professor of economics at the University of Illinois at Chicago, wrote: “these findings provide a strong rationale for increases in alcoholic beverage tax as a way to promote public health by reducing drinking”.

Here’s where Mr. Jefferson comes in.

Low-carbohydrate diets burn fat in the liver more effectively than low-calorie diets, according to new findings from the Univerity of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. The results add more to a growing pile of evidence that cutting back on carbs may be the best and healthiest way to trim off fat.