Dietetics
The ‘clean eating’ movement is 'ugly, malevolent and damaging'
July 26th, 2017 At best, the "clean eating" fad is nonsense dressed up as health advice, writes a British eating disorder expert Dr Max Pemberton in an open letter to the Daily Mail. "At worst, it is embraced by those with underlying psychological difficulties and...
Artificial sweeteners may leave a bitter aftertaste
July 26th, 2017 Artificial sweeteners may be linked to risk of weight gain and a greater risk of obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease, found a Canadian systematic review. Intake of artificial sweeteners is not consistently linked to a...Prebiotics reduce body fat in overweight children
A prebiotic alters the intestinal microbiota and significantly reduces body weight and percent body fat in children who are overweight or obese, found a small, a double-blind, placebo-controlled Canadian trial. There may soon be a new tool in...
Vegetarian diet almost twice as effective in reducing weight – Study
June 21st, 2017 17Dieters who go vegetarian not only lose weight more effectively than those on conventional low-calorie diets but also improve their metabolism by reducing muscle fat, a US study has found. Losing muscle fat improves glucose and lipid metabolism...Flu vaccination less effective in obese adults
A US study found that obese people – despite getting their flu vaccinations – were still twice as likely to develop influenza or flu-like illnesses than others of healthy weight. Although influenza vaccines are currently the best forms of...Waist-to-height ratio accurately identifying obesity risk
Calculating a person's waist-to-height ratio is the most accurate and efficient way of identifying whether or not they are at risk of obesity in clinical practice, a new study by Leeds Beckett University shows. The research aimed to improve the...Balloon that can be swallowed helps obese lose weight
A swallowable intragastric balloon which is filled with water while in the stomach, can help obese people to lose large amounts of weight without invasive surgery, found a small study presented at the European Congress on...Little difference between alternate day fasting and calorie restriction
A randomised clinical trial demonstrated that alternate-day fasting did not produce superior adherence, weight loss, weight maintenance or improvements in risk indicators for cardiovascular disease compared with daily calorie...
Yo-yo dieting hikes death, heart and diabetes risks
April 19th, 2017 Among people with coronary artery disease, fluctuation in body weight was associated with double the mortality and a double rate of cardiovascular events independent of traditional cardiovascular risk factors. The risk of developing diabetes grows...Substantial role of dietary factors in heart, stroke and diabetes deaths
Nearly half of all deaths due to heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes in the US in 2012 were associated with sub-optimal consumption of certain dietary factors, according to a Tufts study. Dietary habits influence many risk factors for...
5-day fasting diet lowers risks for major diseases
February 22nd, 2017 A randomised phase-II trial of a fasting-mimicking diet of five days over a three-month cycle, reduced blood pressure, signs of inflammation and decreased insulin-like growth factor-1, as well as shrinking waistlines and resulting in weight loss,...Physical activity not linked with weight change in African-origin adults
An international study of young adults from South Africa, Ghana, the US, Jamaica and the Seychelles found that neither physical activity nor sedentary time were associated with weight gain. "Our study results indicate that physical activity may...Long-term effect of lifestyle intervention on cardiovascular risk in diabetes
Weight reduction in patients with diabetes via an intensive life-style intervention programme can be maintained for five years and is predicted by patients’ ability to maintain ≥7% weight loss at one-year, found a Harvard...WHO and US sugar restriction guidelines based on poor evidence
Nutritional guidelines restricting sugar intake are not based on low to very-low quality evidence, finds a Canadian meta-analysis. The study was led by McMaster University and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). The research team...Yo-yo dieting increases heart disease mortality risk
Repeatedly losing and regaining weight, known as weight cycling or yo-yo dieting, may increase the risk of death from heart disease among postmenopausal women who were of normal weight at the start of the study, according to research presented at...