Diet

It's common sense: If you want to lose weight, watch your calories and exercise regularly. But is it really that simple? Researchers Dr. David Ludwig and Dr. Mark L. Friedman warn that there's an easier way to shed that stubborn belly fat. Ludwig even dares to say that calories don't matter. "If exercise and counting calories were the sole contributors of long-term weight loss results my colleagues and I would be out of job," says Ludwig, who serves as the…
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While most physicians recommend polyphenols to lower your risk of heart disease, researchers from Spain say there's a new reason to eat up--it could help control your blood sugar. The research, led by Dr. Lutgardo Bozzetto from the University of Naples, reveals that people who ate a diet rich in polyphenols significantly improved their glucose metabolism, especially if they faced a higher risk of diabetes or heart disease. The findings were presented at the European Atherosclerosis Society 2014 Congress in…
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Want to lower your risk of cancer--naturally? Well here's one way to kick cancer to the curb: Eat a lycopene-rich diet. In a new study presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology in Chicago, researchers say that women who ate a diet rich in antioxidants called lycopenes faced a 45 percent reduced risk of kidney cancer. Kidney cancer, also know as renal cancer, currently accounts for 2 percent of all cancers among adult Americans. "The…
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To eat or not to eat breakfast--which method is better for losing weight? As it turns out, a new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition says neither helps you lose weight. Studying a group of overweight and obese people between 20 to 65 years old, researchers found that those who skipped breakfast didn't necessarily lose more weight than those who did. To researchers, this evidence shows that when you eat may not necessarily be important when it…
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Despite evidence showing that fasting may actually help people live longer, nutritionists and scientists agree that it isn't healthy--or practical. Yet new research from the University of Southern California may finally prove everyone wrong. Looking at the effects of fasting in volunteers with compromised immune systems, researchers found that just fasting for three days kicked the body's stem cells into overdrive--causing it to produce more white blood cells, helping fight off infection. This is potentially groundbreaking news, as raising white…
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It's a proven fact: Low-carb diets can make you thin. But could a vegan version of this popular weight loss plan also help improve your health? As it turns out, it can, according to new research from the University of Toronto. Led by researcher Dr. David Jenkins, researchers say that a low-carb vegan diet--dubbed the Eco-Atkins diet--reduced the risk of heart disease by 10 percent over a period of 10 years. For those at risk of heart disease, these numbers…
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If there weren't enough crazy ways to lose weight, here's one for the record books: The Ice Diet. Coined by Robert Wood Johnson Medical School assistant professor and gastroenterologist Brian Weiner, he claims that eating ice--in this case, flavored ice--isn't just a good way to eat fewer calories, it could even burn calories too. Now he's authored an e-book explaining his new diet, called The Ice Diet. "As a clinical gastroenterologist, I speak to patients all day long about what…
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Need help losing more weight? Try adding this to your diet: A handful of prunes. While it isn't a miracle worker, say University of Liverpool researchers, they say that new evidence shows that prunes can boost your ability to lose more weight. The research was recently presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Sofia, Bulgaria. "Maintaining a healthy diet is challenging," says Jason Halford, a professor of experimental psychology and director of Human Ingestive Behavior Laboratory in Liverpool. "Along…
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For years, researchers have confirmed it: Drinking diet soda makes you fat. But how does it affect people who are already dieting? Believe it or not, new research from the University of Colorado's Anschutz Health and Wellness Center reveals that it actually helps people lose more weight. The results, according to lead researcher Dr. Jim Hill, aren't all that surprising. "The results, to us, were not at all surprising," says Hill, whose study was recently published in the health journal…
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In previous studies, researchers discovered that calorie restriction could extend an animal's lifespan--though the findings were met with controversy. Now, another study from Thomas Jefferson University reveals that calorie restriction may help in another way: By slowing down breast cancer. Published in the health journal Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, senior author Nicole Simone, M.D., says that feeding cancer-stricken mice 30 percent fewer calories caused a slowdown of the spread of cancer to new parts of the body. It did…
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