Diet

For many people, it's a constant battle: Trying to lose weight despite the scale refusing to go down. Now new research from Stanford University says there's a good reason why--you just might be on the wrong diet. "We have a saying that no diet works for everyone and every diet works for someone," says Gail Woodward-Lopez, an associate director for the UC Berkeley Atkins Center for Weight and Health. "There's no magic bullet. But for those who have specific needs,…
read more

You've probably heard diet gurus say it: If you want to lose weight, you need to eat frequent meals to stoke that metabolic fire. But is this really true? According to new research presented at the Society for Endocrinology annual BES conference, chances are you're just wasting your time. Instead, what really matters are watching your calories, says researcher Dr. Milan Kumar Piya. "Firstly, that the size or frequency of the meal doesn't affect the calories we burn in a…
read more

It's a common stereotype: Being lazy and sedentary makes you fat. Yet new research from UCLA suggests that the opposite may be the case. Led to UCLA scientist Aaron Blaisdell, researchers say that mice fed a diet high in "junk food"--for humans, that's a diet of fries, chips, and candy--took longer to complete certain tasks and took longer breaks, something typical of sedentary people. But those who consumed a healthy diet finished these tasks twice as fast. "Overweight people often…
read more

Losing the battle against the bulge? Here's a novel new way to fight it: Get up early and go outside. The research, published Wednesday in the journal PLoS ONE, says that those who expose themselves to light early in the day are more likely to have a lower body fat index, or BMI--something that, oddly enough, seems to affect their hormones. In this case, scientists say it specifically affects the hormones leptin and ghrelin--"hunger" hormones which determine how much you…
read more

So what's the best way to eat a healthy diet? Researchers now say recommending people eat five fruits and vegetables per day simply isn't enough--instead, you need to eat more. Their findings, now published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, reveals that those who ate at least seven portions of fruits and vegetables daily were 42 percent less likely to die from any sort of cause, including diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. "The clear message here is that…
read more

Want to live longer? Turns out dieting yourself thin isn't a good idea, according to a new study from Toronto. Publishing their findings in the Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health, researchers say that those who are statistically underweight, defined as having a body mass index (BMI) under 18.5, are the most likely to die prematurely, even more so than people who are overweight or obese. While being skinny may be more attractive, it's definitely not good for your health.…
read more

It's an all too common tale: Battling both depression and your weight. And for 47 year old Jodi Corbitt, who had been battling depression for decades, she knew she had to make a change--but what she did will surprise you. To help shed the weight she gained while she battled depression, Corbitt decided to cut gluten out of her diet, a type of protein commonly found in grain products. Immediately, she began losing weight--and her depression. "It was like a…
read more

From Paleo to gluten-free, which diet reigns supreme? That's a question researchers are trying to answer in a new study published in the journal Annual Reviews. The bad news? No diet reigns supreme--though some diets do have their advantages over others. "There have been no rigorous, long-term studies comparing contenders for best diet laurels using methodology that precludes bias and confounding, and for many reasons such studies are unlikely," says Dr. David Katz, a physician and researcher from Yale University.…
read more

For health experts, it's the ultimate mantra: Eat healthy foods, exercise regularly, and get your recommended 8 hours of sleep every day for a healthier body. Now research shows that sleep really does matter--even as early as 16 months old. The research is reported by the University College London, now published in the health journal The International Journal of Obesity. "We know that shorter sleep in early life increases the risk of obesity, so we wanted to understand whether shorter…
read more

They say sparing the rod spoils the child--but doing so now could save your child from becoming obese later in life, according to a new study. Presented at the American Heart Association's Science Sessions 2014 meeting, researchers say that children whose parents were authoritarian--that is, parents who are typically demanding but not responsive to their emotions and needs--are 37 percent more likely to become obese later in life. Worse yet, obesity in childhood often leads to full-blown obesity and eating…
read more