Nutrition & Wellness

New research has heralded a promising step for sufferers of wheat sensitivity or allergy. A joint project between Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Australia and CSIRO has revealed key insights about the proteins causing two of the most common types of wheat sensitivity -- non-coeliac wheat sensitivity and occupational asthma (baker's asthma). With an estimated 10 per cent … [Read more...]

According to a recent analysis of data from two major eye disease studies, adherence to the Mediterranean diet -- high in vegetables, whole grains, fish, and olive oil -- correlates with higher cognitive function. Dietary factors also seem to play a role in slowing cognitive decline. Researchers at the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health, led … [Read more...]

Consuming a diet high in fiber was linked with a reduced incidence of breast cancer in an analysis of all relevant prospective studies. Because studies have generated inconsistent results regarding the potential relationship between fiber intake and breast cancer, Maryam Farvid, PhD, of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and her colleagues searched for all … [Read more...]

  Many health problems in the developed world stem from the disruption of a delicate metabolic balance between glucose production and energy utilization in the liver. Now Yale scientists report March 4 in the journal Nature that they have discovered the molecular mechanisms that trigger metabolic imbalance between these two distinct but linked processes, a finding with … [Read more...]

For years, curry lovers have sworn by the anti-inflammatory properties of turmeric, but its active compound, curcumin, has long frustrated scientists hoping to validate these claims with clinical studies. The failure of the body to easily absorb curcumin has been a thorn in the side of medical researchers seeking scientific proof that curcumin can successfully treat cancer, … [Read more...]

Eating a Mediterranean diet for a year boosts the types of gut bacteria linked to 'healthy' ageing, while reducing those associated with harmful inflammation in older people, indicates a five-country study, published online in the journal Gut. As ageing is associated with deteriorating bodily functions and increasing inflammation, both of which herald the onset of … [Read more...]

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have identified a molecular pathway that when silenced could restore the normal function of immune cells in people with fatty liver disease. The findings could lead to new strategies for treating the condition, which is a major health risk for people with obesity. The study is published in the scientific journal Science … [Read more...]

  New UC Riverside research shows soybean oil not only leads to obesity and diabetes, but could also affect neurological conditions like autism, Alzheimer's disease, anxiety, and depression. Used for fast food frying, added to packaged foods, and fed to livestock, soybean oil is by far the most widely produced and consumed edible oil in the U.S., according to the … [Read more...]

Research carried out by the University of Kent has shown that diets are changing in complex ways worldwide. International food supply patterns are supporting healthier diets in parts of the world, but causing underweight and obesity elsewhere. They are also having important effects on environmental sustainability, with potentially worrying consequences. Dr James Bentham, … [Read more...]

A UN report has now warned that the world must turn towards healthy plant based diets to stop climate change. According to the report, human food system, that accounts for around 25 to 30 per cent of greenhouse gases, and is choking life from fresh and coastal waterways with excess nitrogen. According to a news published in Daily Mail, the report further states that in order to … [Read more...]

Scientists at Oregon State University may have proven how much people love coffee, tea, chocolate, soda and energy drinks as they validated their new method for studying how different drugs interact in the body. In conducting mass spectrometry research, Richard van Breemen and Luying Chen worked with various biomedical suppliers to purchase 18 batches of supposedly pure … [Read more...]

For the first time, a study shows how glucocorticoid hormones, such as cortisol, control sugar and fat levels differently during day and night, feeding and fasting, rest and activity, over the course of 24 hours. The research conducted in mice found that the time-of-day dependent metabolic cycle is altered by high caloric diet. Since glucocorticoids are widely used drugs … [Read more...]

People on low-carb, high-protein diets swear they feel more full after eating less food. Now, French researchers are helping to explain why. In a study conducted in rats, researchers found diets rich in protein cause the small intestine to produce more glucose. The liver picks up on this additional production and sends a message to the brain, where it is interpreted as a … [Read more...]

Energy drinks – usually a mixture of caffeine, taurine, carbohydrates, B-complex vitamins and gluconolactone – have become very popular in recent years. Although several studies support the widespread belief that energy drinks may enhance mood and/or improve cognitive and physical performance, very little research has investigated their purported ability to delay the depressant … [Read more...]

As a society, we love drinking. There are people who abstain, but by and large we love to drink alcohol – it’s part of our social culture, part of our collective identity, and so pervasive that it can be hard to escape from even if you try. As anyone who’s attempted a Dry July can attest, booze is something that we are all connected to in myriads of ways. So stories about … [Read more...]

Sunscreen can reduce the sun's adverse effects, but there are concerns that it might inhibit the body's production of vitamin D. In a new British Journal of Dermatology study, however, investigators recorded an increase of vitamin D in participants during a week of cloudless weather, with very high UV index, even when sunscreens were used properly and prevented … [Read more...]

Meal kit services, which deliver a box of pre-portioned ingredients and a chef-selected recipe to your door, are hugely popular but get a bad environmental rap due to perceived packaging waste. But a new study from University of Michigan researchers found that meal kits have a much lower overall carbon footprint than the same meals purchased at a grocery store, despite … [Read more...]

Major depression, obesity and chronic pain are all linked to the effects of one protein, called "FK506-binding protein 51," or FKBP51. Until now, efforts to inhibit this target have been hampered by the difficulty of finding something specific enough to do the job and not affect similar proteins. Now a research group has developed a highly selective compound that can … [Read more...]

New University of Liverpool research, published in Pediatrics, highlights the negative influence that social media has on children's food intake. Current research shows celebrity endorsement and television advertising of unhealthy foods increases children's intake of these foods. However, children are increasingly exposed to marketing through digital avenues, such as on … [Read more...]

Seeing pictures of food with calorie information not only makes food less appetizing but it also appears to change the way your brain responds to the food, according to a Dartmouth-led study published in PLOS ONE. When food images appeared with the calorie content, the brain showed decreased activation of the reward system and increased activation in the control system. In … [Read more...]

A higher intake of vitamin C is crucial for metabolic syndrome patients trying to halt a potentially deadly cycle of antioxidant disruption and health-related problems, an Oregon State University researcher says. That's important news for the estimated 35 percent of the U.S. adult population that suffers from the syndrome. "What these findings are really saying to people … [Read more...]

Which is better, a low-fat/high-carbohydrate diet or a high-fat/low-carbohydrate diet -- or is it the type of fat that matters? In a new paper featured on the cover of Science magazine's special issue on nutrition, researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston Children's Hospital, and colleagues with diverse expertise and perspectives on the issues laid out … [Read more...]