An international group of researchers has found that food craving activates different brain networks in obese patients than it does in normal weight patients. The team believes that this indicates that the tendency to want food may be “hard-wired” into the brain of overweight patients, becoming a functional brain biomarker. A release on August 30th… Continue reading Food May Be Addictive
Tag: Obesity
Countering Pet Obesity by Rethinking Feeding Habits
190 million Americans share the luxuries of human life with their pets. Giving dogs and cats a place in human homes, beds and sometimes even their wills comes with the family member package. Among these shared human-pet comforts is the unique luxury to overeat. As a result, the most common form of malnutrition for Americans… Continue reading Countering Pet Obesity by Rethinking Feeding Habits
Soybean Oil: The Newest Nutritional Villain?
A diet high in soybean oil causes more obesity and diabetes than a diet high in fructose, a sugar commonly found in soda and processed foods, according to a new study. Research from scientists at the University of California, Riverside, fed male mice a series of four diets that contained 40 percent fat, similar to… Continue reading Soybean Oil: The Newest Nutritional Villain?
What Is Obesity? Metabolic Signatures Offer New Comprehensive View
As obesity has risen in the United States and all around the world, so too have many other obesity-related health conditions: diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, and maybe even Alzheimer’s disease. But how exactly do those extra pounds lead to such widespread trouble, and how might we go about developing better ways to prevent or… Continue reading What Is Obesity? Metabolic Signatures Offer New Comprehensive View
Coffee, Your Genes, and Serious Illnesses
Pour yourself another cup: new research from the University of Copenhagen and Herlev and Gentofte Hospital shows that coffee has nothing to do with developing “lifestyle diseases” such as obesity and diabetes. The researchers also said that genes play a role in how much coffee we drink. The study was published in the Journal of… Continue reading Coffee, Your Genes, and Serious Illnesses
What Is Your Obesity Costing You?
Sometimes celebrities or otherwise physically fit people will put on a fat suit and document their experience with a video camera, usually to be aired on a daytime talk show. The overall impression is universal: Being severely overweight is taxing on almost every level, says Dr. Eleazar Kadile, who specializes in treating patients with obesity… Continue reading What Is Your Obesity Costing You?
How “Good Fat” Talks to Your Brain
Brown fat tissue, the body’s “good fat,” communicates with the brain through sensory nerves, possibly sharing information that is important for fighting human obesity, such as how much fat we have and how much fat we’ve lost, according to researchers at Georgia State University in Atlanta. The findings, published in March 2015 in The Journal… Continue reading How “Good Fat” Talks to Your Brain
Caring for Diabetic Cats
Just like humans, more and more cats are becoming diabetic, and a panel of experts has issued some guidance on caring for these felines. Type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes is believed to be linked to obesity in cats, experts say, although medications and other illnesses may also be factors. Although feline diabetes is easily diagnosed, experts… Continue reading Caring for Diabetic Cats
The 5 Worst Myths About Obesity
More than a third of adults in the United States, 35.1 percent, are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Nearly 70 percent are at least overweight, and obesity in adolescents has quadrupled in the past three decades. “Despite all the attention, an unhealthy amount of body fat remains an insidious problem,” says Dr.… Continue reading The 5 Worst Myths About Obesity
Potatoes Could Hold Clue to Weight Management
An extract from the humble potato may help limit weight gain from a high-fat diet, according to researchers at McGill University in Montreal. In the study, the investigators fed mice a high-fat diet for 10 weeks. As a result, mice that weighed an average of 25 grams at the beginning of the study added about… Continue reading Potatoes Could Hold Clue to Weight Management
Skip the Midnight Snack in Order to Combat Obesity
Skip the midnight snack if you want to stay at a healthy weight. That’s the conclusion of research led by investigators at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. The team suggests that restricting access to food to eight to 12 hours rather than allowing constant access to food may help prevent… Continue reading Skip the Midnight Snack in Order to Combat Obesity
Liver and Brain Communicate to Regulate Appetite
The liver stores excess glucose, which is later released to cover body energy requirements. Diabetic patients do not accumulate glucose well in the liver and this is one of the reasons why they suffer from hyperglycemia or high blood sugar. A study led by Joan J. Guinovart at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in… Continue reading Liver and Brain Communicate to Regulate Appetite
Are Weight Loss Drugs Fueling the Obesity Epidemic?
Consumers place great faith in weight loss pills and remedies, buying and using them more than ever before. American obesity rates, however, are skyrocketing. According to a study published in November 2014 in the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, false beliefs about these drugs are causing Americans to gain more weight. “Weight management remedies… Continue reading Are Weight Loss Drugs Fueling the Obesity Epidemic?
The Need to Expand Weight Loss Counseling Options
An important addition to the “eat less, move more” strategy for weight loss lies in behavioral counseling to achieve these goals. But research on how primary care practitioners can best provide behavioral weight loss counseling to obese patients in their practices — as encouraged by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) — remains… Continue reading The Need to Expand Weight Loss Counseling Options
The Bad-Marriage Factor in Obesity
A bad marriage can cause metabolic changes that may lead to obesity, according to new research. The study also showed that a history of depression can be an additional factor in how the body processes high-fat foods. Researchers at The Ohio State University looked at men and women who had a history of depression and… Continue reading The Bad-Marriage Factor in Obesity
Calorie Counting and Your Brain
We’ve all seen those little booklets that tell you how many calories are in different kinds of food. As it turns out, you might not need one; researchers say the brain has its own kind of calorie counter. The findings, by researchers from the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, were published in Psychological Science, a… Continue reading Calorie Counting and Your Brain
Fast Food Restaurants Now Offer Lower Calorie Menu Items
Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that large chain restaurants, including fast food places, have introduced newer food and beverage options that on average contain 60 fewer calories than their traditional menu selections in 2012 and 2013, which were generally high in calories, fat, and sodium. The findings appear in… Continue reading Fast Food Restaurants Now Offer Lower Calorie Menu Items
Clue to Curbing Obesity
Preventing weight gain, obesity, and ultimately diabetes could be as simple as keeping a nuclear receptor from being activated in a small part of the brain, according to a study done by Yale School of Medicine researchers andp ublished in the August 1st 2014 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI).