Attention, college students cramming between midterms and finals: Binging on soda and sweets for as little as six weeks may make you stupid. A new UCLA rat study is the first to show how a diet steadily high in fructose slows the brain, hampering memory and learning -- and how omega-3 fatty acids can counteract the disruption. The peer-reviewed Journal of Physiol... (read more)
Probiotics — or live microorganisms intended to boost health, such as the bacteria in some yogurts — have become popular items in vitamin stores and even many supermarkets. One of probiotics' most popular uses is in preventing and treating digestive problems. A new analysis of 82 earlier studies finds that probiotics have potential in alleviating the diarrhea that afflicts about one-third of people treated with an... (read more)
A new study provides a long-sought explanation for the beneficial fat-fighting effects of black pepper. The research, published in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, pinpoints piperine -- the pungent-tasting substance that gives black pepper its characteristic taste, concluding that piperine also can block the formation of new fat cells. Soo-Jong Um, Ji-Cheon Jeong and colleagues describe pr... (read more)
In findings that will be toasted by pub quiz aficionados, researchers found drinkers got more test questions right and were quicker in delivering the right answers. It is thought alcohol hinders analytical thinking and allows 'creative' thoughts that might otherwise by stifled to take root, allowing test subjects to come up with more imaginative solutions. Psychologists at the University of Illinois set 40 heal... (read more)
That America has a weight problem can’t be denied, but the social perception that obese people simply can’t lose weight is not true, a new study finds. According to researchers from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, obese Americans are trying to lose weight — and many are successful. The researchers looked at data for 4,021 obese people ages 20 and older wh... (read more)
People who ate chocolate a few times a week or more weighed less than those who rarely indulged, according to a U.S. study involving a thousand people. Researchers said the findings, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, don't prove that adding a candy bar to your daily diet will help you shed pounds. Nor did the total amount of chocolate consumed have an impact. But the researchers, led by Beatrice ... (read more)
When roasted at 475 degrees, coffee beans are sometimes described as rich and full-bodied. But for the full-bodied person who is not so rich, unroasted coffee beans — green as the day they were picked — may hold the key to cheap and effective weight loss, new research suggests. In a study presented Tuesday at the American Chemical Society's spring national meeting in San Diego, 16 overweight young adult... (read more)
Previous research on animal and physiological models suggests that antioxidant supplements have beneficial effects that may prolong life. Some observational studies also suggest that antioxidant supplements may prolong life, whereas other observational studies demonstrate neutral or harmful effects. Our Cochrane review from 2008 demonstrated that antioxidant supplements seem to increase mortali... (read more)
Eating more white rice may up the risk of type 2 diabetes, especially for Asian populations, researchers said. Patients who ate the greatest amounts of the grain had a 27% greater risk of developing the disease than those who ate the least, and the relative risk was higher among Asian patients, Qi Sun, PhD, of Harvard, and colleagues, reported in BMJ. "Although rice has been a staple food in Asian popula... (read more)
In a finding that strengthens the link between environmental pollutants and rising rates of breast cancer, new research finds that women whose diets contain higher levels of cadmium are at greater risk of developing breast cancer than those who ingest less of the industrial chemical in their food. Cadmium, a heavy metal long identified as a carcinogen, leaches into crops from fertilizers and when rai... (read more)
Increasing consumption of both processed and unprocessed red meat was associated with a greater risk of dying during the study period, data from two large, prospective studies showed. Through up to 28 years of follow-up, each additional serving of red meat per day was associated with a relative 13% to 20% increased risk of all-cause mortality, with the higher risk attributed to processed meats, according to Fra... (read more)
Coke and PepsiCo Inc. are adjusting the formula of their caramel colour across the U.S so they don’t have to label their products with a cancer warning to comply with California regulations. However, Coca Cola are not changing the drink ingredients in the UK because the manufacturing process complies with European safety rules. Pepsi have yet to comment. The changes ha... (read more)
An Oregon State University researcher has reviewed the body of evidence around weight loss supplements and has bad news for those trying to find a magic pill to lose weight and keep it off -- it doesn't exist. Melinda Manore reviewed the evidence surrounding hundreds of weight loss supplements, a $2.4 billion industry in the United States, and said no research evidence exists that any single product results ... (read more)
Vitamin D may be helpful in protecting highly active pre-teen and teen girls, such as those who play sports, from stress fractures, researchers reported Monday. The study was surprising because calcium has long been considered the nutrient most vital to bone health in children. But, in developing children, vitamin D intake may matter more. Researchers analyzed data from 6,721 girls ages 9 to 15 at the start ... (read more)
Treatment with vitamin D reduced the size of uterine fibroids in laboratory rats predisposed to developing the benign tumors, reported researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health. Uterine fibroids are the most common noncancerous tumors in women of childbearing age. Fibroids grow within and around the wall of the uterus. Thirty percent of women 25 to 44 years of age report fibroid-related symptoms, suc... (read more)
According to a recent study, published Online First in The Lancet , selenium may help people who don't have enough of it, but for the people who have enough to begin with, selenium supplements may be detrimental to their health. It is shown in the study that taking the supplements may result in the development of type 2 diabetes. Margaret Rayman, from the University of Surrey, Guilford, UK, and author of the study e... (read more)
Adding prebiotic ingredients to infant formula helps colonize the newborn's gut with a stable population of beneficial bacteria, and probiotics enhance immunity in formula-fed infants, two University of Illinois studies report. "The beneficial bacteria that live in a baby's intestine are all-important to an infant's health, growth, and ability to fight off infections,... (read more)
New data from the Framingham Offspring Study cohort suggest that higher dietary intake of the omega-3 fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) may help protect the aging brain. Results showed that lower red blood cell (RBC) levels of DHA and EPA in late middle age were associated with smaller brain volumes and a "vascular" pattern of cognitive impairment, even... (read more)
A small study suggests women plagued by menstrual cramps may find relief with vitamin D3, raising hopes that the dietary supplement could one day be an alternative to the painkillers and birth control pills that doctors now recommend. But the treatment involves a mega-dose of vitamin D -- 300,000 IUs -- which made one expert add a don't-try-this-at-home warning. "This study does suggest (vitamin D... (read more)
Gluten-free products are all the rage these days, but many health-conscious eaters who buy them may be wasting their money, the authors of a new commentary in Annals of Internal Medicine suggest. Going gluten-free is necessary for people with celiac disease, an autoimmune condition triggered by gluten, which is found in wheat, barley and rye. The disease causes inflammation in the small intestine and can lead ... (read more)
A little extra simple sugar in your diet probably won't make you pack on the pounds -- as long as you cut down on other carbs to make up for it, a new analysis of past studies suggests. Researchers found that people who consumed extra fructose baked into breads or sprinkled into drinks didn't gain any extra weight compared to those who had other types of carbohydrates instead -- when they ate the same numbe... (read more)
Science has once again showed us that a well informed diet can positively affect one's health. An article published in Archives of Ophthalmology argues that diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids, combined with vitamin A, can prevent changes in visual acuity. Researchers studied retinitis pigmentosa specifically and measured patients' central vision. The results are significant because we all will experience vision... (read more)
The Mediterranean diet has been linked to a host of health benefits, including a lower risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes. A study finds that the diet may also be associated with a decreased chance of small vessel damage in the brain. The diet, popular in Mediterranean countries, includes little red meat but lots of fresh vegetables and fruit, lean proteins, whole grains and healthy monosaturate... (read more)
A new study by psychologists at The University of Nottingham has shown that babies who are weaned using solid finger food are more likely to develop healthier food preferences and are less likely to become overweight as children than those who are spoon-fed pureed food. The research just published by BMJ Open set out to examine the impact of weaning style on food preferences and Body Mass... (read more)
New research presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) found that 77 percent of trauma patients had deficient or insufficient levels of vitamin D. Researchers have linked a lack of vitamin D with muscle weakness, bone fractures, and the inability of bones to fully heal. In a new study, investigators sought to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficienc... (read more)
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