Chocolate Helps People Stay Thin, Study Finds

Photo: (Credit: istockphoto)

Eating Lots Of Chocolate Helps People Stay Thin, Study Finds -- CBS News

(CBS News) What's the best way to stay thin? A new study finds it's exercising and eating a healthy diet full of - chocolate?

Mindless eating: 8 food goofs that pack on pounds

The study found that people who frequently ate chocolate had a lower body mass index (BMI) than people who didn't.

Is it time to ditch fat-free for fudge?

Read more ....

My Comment: Hard to argue with a position that advocates .... yum yum .... chocolate.

The Powerful Antioxidant Properties Of Popcorn

Popcorn Has More Antioxidants Than Fruit, Study Says -- FOX News

Long heralded as a low-calorie snack, new research indicates popcorn may actually be good for your health in other ways as well.

Pennsylvania researchers reported popcorn actually contains more healthy antioxidants called polyphenols than fruits and vegetables. The study found that there were 300 mg of polyphenols in a serving of popcorn, compared to 160 mg in a serving of fruit.

Polyphenols have been shown in prior studies to boost cardiovascular health as well as protect against chronic diseases.

Read more ....

My Comment: But soaking it in butter and salt probably counteracts the positive aspects of popcorn.

Red Meat Halves Risk Of Depression

The Australian government recommends eating 65 -100g of lean, red meat three to four times a week Photo: ALAMY

Red Meat Halves Risk Of Depression -- The Telegraph

Women who reduce lamb and beef in their diets are more likely to suffer depression, according to the new study.

Experts admitted surprise at the findings because so many other studies have linked red meat to physical health risks.

The team made the link after a study of 1000 Australian women.

Professor Felice Jacka, who led the research by Deakin University, Victoria, said: "We had originally thought that red meat might not be good for mental health but it turns out that it actually may be quite important.

Read more ....

My Comment: As one who enjoys a good steak .... I agree.

Health Risks Associated With White Rice

(Credit: istockphoto)

Eating White Rice Daily Ups Diabetes Risk, Study Shows -- CBS

(CBS News) White rice is a dietary staple for more than half the world's population - not just for people living in China, India, and Japan, but for many Americans as well.

A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health shows people who eat lots of white rice may significantly raise their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Harvard researchers analyzed four earlier studies on white rice consumption that involved more than 352,000 people from China, Japan, U.S., and Australia, who did not have diabetes. The researchers found after follow-up periods that ranged from four to 22 years, that almost 13,400 people had type 2 diabetes. People who ate the most rice were more than 1.5 times likely to have diabetes than people who ate the least amount of rice. What's more, for every 5.5 ounce-serving of white rice - a large bowl - a person ate each day, the risk rose 10 percent.

Read more ....

My Comment: I love my white rice. :(

Red Meat Makes Me Happy

(Photo: Yuki Sugiura)

Red Meat Is An Englishman's Heritage -- The Telegraph

Oh dear. Once again scientists are blaming red meat for causing people to die prematurely. Actually, there seem to be two strands to Rebecca Smith's report, or, rather, two kinds of meat products are mentioned. On the one hand, you've got good old cured and processed meats – lovely smokey, salty, chewable favourites such as salami, saucisson, bacon and traditional British bangers. Those goodies have been picked on before, because of the preservative that they contain: sodium nitrite, which has two main actions: it stops the growth of the nasty bacterium clostridium botulinum, and it can bestow a nice "healthy" pink colour on preserved meats. It's not quite the same as saltpetre: that term usually refers to potassium nitrate.

Read more ....

My Comment: Sighhhh .... non-meat is not for me.

All Red Meat Is Bad For You

Eating any amount and any type of red meat increases the risk of premature death, a new study says. (William Thomas Cain / Getty Images / March 12, 2012)

All Red Meat Is Bad For You, New Study Says -- L.A. Times

A long-term study finds that eating any amount and any type increases the risk of premature death.

Eating red meat — any amount and any type — appears to significantly increase the risk of premature death, according to a long-range study that examined the eating habits and health of more than 110,000 adults for more than 20 years.

For instance, adding just one 3-ounce serving of unprocessed red meat — picture a piece of steak no bigger than a deck of cards — to one's daily diet was associated with a 13% greater chance of dying during the course of the study.

Read more ....

My Comment:Damn .... and I love my cold cuts and barbeque steaks.

Dieting Forces Brain To Eat Itself

A cross-section of the human brain

Dieting Forces Brain To Eat Itself, Scientists Claim -- The Telegraph

Dieters struggle to lose weight because a lack of nutrition forces their brain cells to eat themselves, making the feeling of hunger even stronger, scientists claim.

Like other parts of the body, brain cells begin to eat themselves as a last-ditch source of energy to ward off starvation, a study found.

The body responds by producing fatty acids, which turn up the hunger signal in the brain and increase our impulse to eat.

Researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in New York said the findings could lead to new scientifically proven weight loss treatments.

Read more ....

The Slippery Slope To Obesity

Not a good start (Image: Wade/Getty)

From New Scientist:

REWARD pathways in the brains of overweight people become less responsive as they gain weight. This causes them to eat more to get the same pleasure from their food, which in turn reduces the reward response still further.

Eric Stice, a psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin, and colleagues used fMRI brain scans to monitor 26 obese or overweight volunteers as they sipped either a tasty milkshake or a flavourless liquid resembling saliva. They compared the effect of both drinks on brain activity in the dorsal striatum, a key part of the brain's reward circuitry. Six months later, they retested the volunteers.

Read more ....

Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin

Exercise has been shown to be ineffective when it comes to losing weight – dieting is a better route Photograph: Getty

From The Guardian:

Got a few pounds to lose? Cancel the gym membership. An increasing body of research reveals that exercise does next to nothing for you when it comes to losing weight. A result for couch potatoes, yes, but also one that could have serious implications for the government's long-term health strategy

Read more ....

One Reason Dieting Does Not Work

That’s The Way The Cookie Crumbles -- The Economist

One reason dieting does not work.

IF, BY chance, you are served an unusually large slice of pizza, compared with what others appear to be getting, would that experience incline you, some minutes later, to eat more cookies or fewer when platefuls came your way? That depends, it turns out, on whether you are on a diet. Those who are not eat fewer cookies, whereas those who are see the excessive pizza as a licence to pig out. It is a demonstration of what Janet Polivy, a psychologist at the University of Toronto, refers to as the “what the hell” effect—a phenomenon familiar from real life to which Dr Polivy has given scientific respectability, most recently in a paper published in the latest edition of Appetite.

Read more ....

Obesity: Drink Till You Drop

The Economist:

A magic elixir is shown to promote weight loss.

CONSUME more water and you will become much healthier, goes an old wives’ tale. Drink a glass of water before meals and you will eat less, goes another. Such prescriptions seem sensible, but they have little rigorous science to back them up.

Read more ....

My Comment: I prefer soup over water, but the impact is the same.

A Counter Argument That Our Obesity Epidemic Is Not A Threat To National Security

From Slate:

The obesity epidemic has nothing to do with national security.

"My name's Dewey Oxberger; my friends call me 'Ox'. You might've noticed I've got a slight weight problem," said John Candy to his fellow Army recruits in the 1981 film Stripes. "So I figured while I'm here, I'll lose a few pounds. I'm gonna walk out of here a lean, mean fightin' machine!"

In real life, the 6-foot-2, 300-pound Ox wouldn't have made it through the barracks door. The movie's release coincided with a new weight-control program in the U.S. military. Recruits were already screened for height and weight; now they'd be checked for body fat percentage, too. It's been 30 years since Stripes came out, and the rate of obesity among adults has doubled. A report out this week estimates that 27 percent of all Americans of recruitment age—that's 9 million young adults—are too fat to fight for their country. At a press conference Tuesday, Sen. Richard Lugar, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and a group of retired generals and admirals warned that our poor diets and lack of exercise have now become a danger to homeland security.

Read more ....

My Comment: I could not have said it any better.

School Lunch Helping Make Americans Too Fat To Enlist?

© Richard Hutchings/CORBIS

From Time Magazine:

More than a quarter of all Americans between the ages of 17 to 24 are too overweight to join the military, according to a new report highlighted by the Associated Press. That many Americans are too tubby to meet the basic entry requirements for military service isn't new—in 2008 roughly 12,000 would-be soldiers failed the initial military physical because they were overweight, and last year the Pentagon lamented the fact that, between obesity, medical and physical problems, illegal drug use and other issues, 75% of military-age Americans were ineligible for service.

Read more ....

Overeating Junk Food Similar To Drug Addiction

Over indulging your sweet tooth could decrease the reward response in your brain.
Credit: Wikimedia

From Cosmos:

PARIS: Whether their addictions are a drug such as cocaine or junk food such as cupcakes, all junkies are overstimulating the same receptor in the brain, scientists said.

The research, based on lab animals, bolsters long-standing suspicions that addiction to pleasure stems from overstimulus of a key reward mechanism in the brain, its authors say.

Read more ....

Obesity: Food Kills, Flab Protects

Your fat cells lock away the burger grease (Image: Getty Images)

From The New Scientist:

OBESITY kills, everyone knows that. But is it possible that we've been looking at the problem in the wrong way? It seems getting fatter may be part of your body's defence against the worst effects of unhealthy eating, rather than their direct cause.

This curious insight comes at the same time as several studies distancing obesity itself from a host of diseases it has long been blamed for, including heart disease and diabetes.

Read more ....

Tailored Diet May Slow Down DNA Damage

In the future, our recommended dietary intake may be dictated by our genetic makeup
(Source: stock.xchng)

From ABC News (Australia):

Mounting evidence on the effect of micronutrients on DNA damage calls for a re-evaluation of recommended dietary intake values, say researchers.

Professor Michael Fenech of CSIRO's Food and Nutritional Sciences Division in Adelaide lays out his argument in a paper accepted for publication in the journal American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Read more ....

Fat: The Sixth Taste

Some people are more sensitive to the taste of fat than others. Credit: iStockphoto

From Cosmos/AFP:

SYDNEY: In addition to the five tastes already identified lurks another detectable by the palate, fat, and people's weight is linked to their ability to taste it.

"We know that the human tongue can detect five tastes - sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami (a savoury, protein-rich taste contained in foods such as soy sauce and chicken stock)," said Russell Keast, from Deakin University.

"Through our study we can conclude that humans have a sixth taste - fat."

Read more ....

Chocolate Bar That Can Be Eaten During Lent

Experts said the breakthrough could help tackle Britain?s obesity crisis by producing a 'new generation of low-fat foods'. Photo: Cathal McNaughton

From The Telegraph:

A "healthy" chocolate bar which can be eaten during Lent has been invented by scientists who replaced the fat with water.

The low-fat chocolate containing almost two thirds water is said to taste identical to regular bars and could pave the way for a new generation of “healthy” foods.

Researchers are also developing a low-fat mayonnaise and porridge which prevents people from feeling hungry by staying in their stomach longer.

Read more ....

Mediterranean Diet May Lower Risk of Brain Damage That Causes Thinking Problems

Click Image to Enlarge

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Feb. 9, 2010) — A Mediterranean diet may help people avoid the small areas of brain damage that can lead to problems with thinking and memory, according to a study that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto April 10 to April 17, 2010.

Read more ....

Obesity In Kids: Three Lifestyle Changes That Help

Getty

From Time Magazine:

To curb the childhood-obesity epidemic, health experts have long urged parents to make healthy changes to their family's lifestyle — such as eating nutritiously, reducing TV time, exercising and getting a good night's sleep.

Individually, these behaviors have been linked to a lower risk of obesity in kids, but researchers at Ohio State University were interested in learning whether their effect might be cumulative — that is, whether families who adopted not just one but two or more of these behaviors could reduce their children's risk of obesity even further.

Read more ....