Ice cream lovers worldwide were probably rejoicing when a recent article suggested that indulging in your favorite flavor might be healthy. The article drew upon a 2018 doctoral thesis, which suggested that people with type 2 diabetes who consumed more ice cream had lower risks of heart disease. But as exciting as this sounds for those of us who sometimes enjoy indulging in a bowl of raspberry ripple, when we actually examine the study, it's likely this link comes down to variety of other factors.
The 2018 research the article drew upon looked at data from the Nurses' Health Study I and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. These were two large observational studies conducted by researchers at Harvard University which began in 1976 and 1986 and went on for around 20 years. The purpose of these studies was to track the health of participants over a long period of time and uncover whether there were links between certain diseases and lifestyle factors (such as diet).
