Nutrition & Wellness

A diet rich in soy may help feminine hearts, but timing matters, finds a new study published online today in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society. Lifelong soy consumption, similar to the diet of women in Asia, produces the least atherosclerosis. Switching to a Western diet after menopause, similar to Asian migrants to North America, leads to just … [Read more...]

New research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham published in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases shows consuming a "Southern-style" diet -- consisting of processed meats, fried foods and sugar-sweetened beverages -- results in higher risk of death in those with chronic kidney disease. Choosing the right foods can control the buildup of waste products and fluid … [Read more...]

Biologists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have identified a signaling pathway that switches on a powerful calorie-burning process in brown fat cells. The study, which is reported in this week's online Early Edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, sheds light on a process known as "brown fat thermogenesis," which is of great interest to … [Read more...]

Eating a meal of seafood or other foods containing omega-3 fatty acids at least once a week may protect against age-related memory loss and thinking problems in older people, according to a team of researchers at Rush University Medical Center and Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Their research findings were published in the May 4 online issue of Neurology, the … [Read more...]

Transcranial direct current stimulation, or tDCS, has proved effective for binge-eating disorder for the first time, according to researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. tDCS is a type of neuromodulator that delivers constant, low-current electricity to a targeted portion of the brain. While it has been tested and proved effective for many disorders and … [Read more...]

Scientists at Helmholtz Zentrum München have new information on what happens at the molecular level when we go hungry. Working with the Deutsches Zentrum für Diabetesforschung (German Center for Diabetes Research -- DZD) and the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (German Cancer Research Center -- DKFZ) they were able to show that upon deprivation of food a certain protein is … [Read more...]

Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB) finds that the younger a woman is when she goes on her first diet, the more likely she is to experience several negative health outcomes later in life. Dieting is very common among girls and young women; however, people often fail to consider the long-term consequences of … [Read more...]

Researchers from the University of Liverpool have published a paper regarding their work on how beliefs about food addiction can affect eating behaviour. Obesity is often attributed to an addiction to food and many people believe themselves to be "food addicts." However, until now no studies have looked at whether believing oneself to be a food addict influences how much we … [Read more...]

A review of large-scale studies involving more than 1.5 million people found all-cause mortality is higher for those who eat meat, particularly red or processed meat, on a daily basis. Conducted by physicians from Mayo Clinic in Arizona, "Is Meat Killing Us?" was published today in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. The authors analyzed six studies that … [Read more...]

If you’re a carb counter and looking for a great way to shave some starchy ones out of your diet, get crazy for cauliflower. Halley Todd is a lot more careful about her diet today than just last year. Todd said, “So I went to graduate school and during my time in graduate school it was really stressful and I gained some weight.” No, Halley’s not dropping those 20 … [Read more...]

Understanding that diets are often built around food groups rather than specific nutrients, researchers from Switzerland, France, and North America decided to examine interactions between four nutrients found in dairy products and their role in preserving bone and skeletal muscle. Their Open Access article with these findings, "Dairy in Adulthood: From Foods to Nutrient … [Read more...]

  While necessary for some, many people eat gluten-free diets because they believe they'll gain certain health benefits, but these beliefs are not all supported by research, a University of Florida nutrition expert says. Those with celiac disease, or about 1 percent of the U.S. population, must follow a gluten-free diet because it's the only treatment for their … [Read more...]

The microbes living in the guts of males and females react differently to diet, even when the diets are identical, according to a study by scientists from The University of Texas at Austin and six other institutions published this week in the journal Nature Communications. These results suggest that therapies designed to improve human health and treat diseases through nutrition … [Read more...]

A new study involving researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and other institutions says patients with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes should eat a diet low in carbohydrates. The study, accepted for publication in Nutrition and available on the journal's website, offers 12 points of evidence showing that low-carbohydrate diets should be the first line of attack … [Read more...]

During the school year, 21 million children receive free or reduced-price lunches, yet less than 10% of those children participate in the Department of Agriculture's Summer Food Service Program. This discrepancy places responsibility for food choices during the summer on parents. Previous efforts to improve the healthfulness of foods and beverages provided by parents have … [Read more...]

Could stuffing yourself full of high-fat foods cause you to lose your sense of smell? A new study from Florida State University neuroscientists says so, and it has researchers taking a closer look at how our diets could impact a whole range of human functions that were not traditionally considered when examining the impact of obesity. "This opens up a lot of possibilities … [Read more...]

Open a child’s lunch box and you’re likely to find that the lunches and snacks inside fall short of federal guidelines. Those are the findings of a study conducted by researchers at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. The findings are … [Read more...]

Children with mild gastroenteritis and minimal dehydration experienced fewer treatment failures such as IV rehydration or hospitalization when offered half-strength apple juice followed by their preferred fluid choice compared with children who received electrolyte maintenance solution to replace fluid losses, according to a study published online by JAMA. The study is being … [Read more...]

New research by Andersen et al, published in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, may have an impact on the sugar tax debate. The research team observed overall changes in dietary patterns in overweight children, including a decrease in consumption of sugary drinks, when additional water or milk is added to their diet. Since 2011 the European Society for … [Read more...]

Contrary to conventional wisdom, a growing body of evidence shows that eating lean beef can reduce risk factors for heart disease, according to recent research by nutritional scientists. "This research adds to the significant evidence, including work previously done in our lab, that supports lean beef's role in a heart-healthy diet," said Penny M. Kris-Etherton, … [Read more...]

Spanish scientists have demonstrated through an experiment on obese rats that the consumption of probiotics for thirty days helps diminish the accumulation of fat in the liver. This new finding, recently published by the journal PLOS ONE, is a step forward on the fight against Non-Alcolohic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), which is closely related to obesity and … [Read more...]

Dietary elimination is a successful method of treatment for adults with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), according to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association. "By eliminating specific foods from patients' diets, symptoms improved in 71 percent of patients, and endoscopic … [Read more...]

A new study in women suggests that experiencing one or more stressful events the day before eating a single high-fat meal can slow the body's metabolism, potentially contributing to weight gain. Researchers questioned study participants about the previous day's stressors before giving them a meal consisting of 930 calories and 60 grams of fat. The scientists then measured … [Read more...]

Less than every fourth child in Europe have enough fruit and vegetables included in their daily diet, a study by Swedish researchers at Örebro University and Karolinska Institutet shows. The findings are a part of an EU-funded study and are presented in Public Health Nutrition today. "It is time to act," says Agneta Yngve, professor of culinary arts and meal science at … [Read more...]

Can initial modes of behavior be used to predict how fit and healthy a person will be 18 years later? This question was in the focus of studies performed by researchers of KIT, Technische Universität München, and the universities of Konstanz and Bayreuth. A basic survey covered about 500 adults over a longer term. The result: Initial habits determine physical fitness and health … [Read more...]

Emotional eating is something we're all familiar with. Maybe you had had a rough week at work and all you want on Friday night is to plop down and watch a movie with a giant bowl of buttery popcorn. Maybe you're a student stressed about a big exam and you're munching on candy as you study. Or maybe your child's birthday party is coming up and you've bought an ice cream cake to … [Read more...]

Soy isoflavones and peptides may inhibit the growth of microbial pathogens that cause food-borne illnesses, according to a new study from University of Guelph researchers. Soybean derivatives are already a mainstay in food products, such as cooking oils, cheeses, ice cream, margarine, food spreads, canned foods and baked goods. The use of soy isoflavones and peptides to … [Read more...]

A range of diseases -- from diabetes to cardiovascular disease, and from Alzheimer's disease to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder -- are linked to changes to genes in the brain. A new study by UCLA life scientists has found that hundreds of those genes can be damaged by fructose, a sugar that's common in the Western diet, in a way that could lead to those … [Read more...]

A recent study at Oregon State University has identified specific intake levels of xanthohumol, a natural flavonoid found in hops, that significantly improved some of the underlying markers of metabolic syndrome in laboratory animals and also reduced weight gain. The findings were published in a special issue of Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics that was focused on … [Read more...]