Feature Channels: Weight Loss

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Are you living in a food desert? Research in low-income communities helps pave the way to better urban health.

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Contrary to popular perception, a large proportion of obese Americans can and do lose weight, say researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. What’s more, they say, the old tried and true methods of eating less fat and exercising are some of the most effective paths to weight loss success.

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While exercise is accepted universally as the most beneficial prescription physicians can write, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that generate its widespread health benefits. Case Western Reserve has shed light on this mystery by discovering that a genetic factor, KLF15, governs the body’s ability to burn fat during exercise.

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Imagination Station is excited to announce its newest experience, Eat It Up! – a highly interactive, nutrition and exercise focused exhibition presented by ProMedica. After over 18 months of planning, Eat It Up! is now open to the public. This engaging selection of individual exhibits blends the newest in technology with nutrition information and human physiology to tell the story of how the choices you make today affect your body as a whole.

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Research published in the Genetics Society of America’s journal GENETICS uses a new technique, surrogate organism genetics that “swapped” yeast genes with human genes sequenced from patients with homocystinuria to determine the gene variants likely to respond to vitamin B6 treatment.

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Registered Dietitian Shares How to Avoid Easter Temptations.

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Improving or maintaining physical fitness appears to help obese and overweight children reach a healthy weight. Tufts University researchers analyzed data from in-school fitness tests of students in grades 1-7.

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• Caffeine and exercise decreased risk for sunlight-caused skin cancers in mice. • Results suggest that fat and tumor growth are related. • Findings link caffeine and exercise with lower levels of inflammation.

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• Risk for prostate cancer recurrence increased as excess body weight increased. • Obese and overweight men were at higher risk. • Body weight status and related lifestyle factors could be used to predict risk.

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Weight loss and increased physical fitness nearly halved the decline in mobility in overweight or obese adults with type 2 diabetes, according to four-year results of the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) trial funded by the National Institutes of Health. The research could lead to lower health care costs for people with type 2 diabetes.

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Katherine Hepburn famously said of her slim physique: “What you see before you is the result of a lifetime of chocolate.” New evidence suggests she may have been right. Beatrice Golomb, MD, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues present new findings that may overturn the major objection to regular chocolate consumption: that it makes people fat.

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Low-carb, high-fat diets led to more damaging, more deadly heart attacks and impaired recovery of heart function in study.

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Astronauts living on the International Space Station show small effect on cardiovascular health when accompanied by an exercise regimen.

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Sugary drinks are the single biggest contributor to the obesity epidemic in the United States, and according to the Centers for Disease Control, two-thirds of adults and one-third of the children in the U.S. are overweight or obese. Registered dietician Leah Holbrook, Coordinator of the Long Island Center for Pediatric Obesity Prevention in the Department of Family Medicine at Stony Brook School of Medicine, says that these sobering statistics and the fact that beverages account for nearly half of the added sugars in our diet are a wakeup call for Americans to reduce their sugary drink intake.

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Penn Nursing research finds that point-of-sale system encourages food stamp customers to buy more at farmers’ markets.

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Overweight people who shed pounds, especially belly fat, can improve the function of their blood vessels no matter whether they are on a low-carb or a low-fat diet, according to a study being presented by Johns Hopkins researchers at an American Heart Association scientific meeting in San Diego on March 13 that is focused on cardiovascular disease prevention.

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Might the “Twinkie defense” have a scientific foundation after all? Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have shown – by each of a range of measures, in men and women of all ages, in Caucasians and minorities – that consumption of dietary trans fatty acids (dTFAs) is associated with irritability and aggression.

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A study Temple University researchers has established a link that may explain why eating too much fat and sugar puts a person at greater risk for colon cancer.

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The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans encourage an increased focus on fruits and vegetables and an understanding of proper portion sizes. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association) helps consumers understand how to implement these suggestions into their daily lives with “Get Your Plate in Shape,” this year’s theme of National Nutrition Month®.

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Calorie listings on fast-food chain restaurant menus might meet federal labeling requirements but don’t do a good job of helping consumers trying to make healthy meal choices, a new Columbia University School of Nursing (CUSON) study reports.

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As study after study shows the fundamental role vitamin D plays in disease and health, vitamin D deficiency — which often develops insidiously in childhood — should be on every parent’s and pediatrician’s radar, say physicians from the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

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The book’s promise is that you can use self-hypnosis to overcome the psychological roadblocks that are keeping you from attaining optimal health, weight and happiness.

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Lent is a great opportunity to get started on a track to better health. Since it’s only 40 days, that’s a goal people feel they can attain.

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Weight gain or loss may not always be caused by what you eat...it could depend on the medicines you're taking. Learn which pills pack on the pounds and other effects they could have.

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A Saint Louis University occupational therapist offers advice to avoid the health risks associated with a sedentary job.

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New research suggests weight training for two years significantly improves the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease compared to other forms of exercise such as stretching and balance exercises. The clinical trial, which compared two forms of exercise for Parkinson’s disease, was released today and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012.

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Menopausal women with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) who don't consume enough of the essential nutrient choline appear to be at higher risk for liver scarring, according to research led by scientists at Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

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Simple tests such as walking speed and hand grip strength may help doctors determine how likely it is a middle-aged person will develop dementia or stroke. That’s according to new research that was released today and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans April 21 to April 28, 2012.

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Only 20% of the two-thirds of Americans who report being on diet will be successful. Underestimating calories and portions, overestimating exercise, skipping meals and lack of sleep are the top four reasons why people who diet do not lose weight plus statistics and research from Loyola University Health System physician who leads Gottlieb Medical Weight-Loss Program.

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/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The use of epidural steroid injections may be a more efficient treatment option for lumbar disc herniations, according to research presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Specialty Day in San Francisco.

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Primary Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) reconstruction improves quality of life and sports functionality for athletes, according to research presented today at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Specialty Day in San Francisco, CA.

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Of 190 million obese Americans, approximately 10-15 percent engage in harmful binge eating. During single sittings, these over-eaters consume large servings of high-caloric foods. Sufferers contend with weight gain and depression including heart disease and diabetes. A new clinical trial, called Regulation of Food Cues, at UC San Diego Health System, aims to treat binge eating by helping participants to identify real hunger and to practice resistance if the stomach is full.

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A specific goal to eat a set number of daily servings of low-glycemic-index foods can improve dietary habits of people with Type 2 diabetes, according to new research.

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Restaurants looking to help customers slim down should focus on portion sizes rather than calorie labeling.

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Sitting for extended periods can raise the chances of developing cancer even for people who exercise regularly, says recent research. In response to these findings, fitness experts at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center share advice on how to get moving in minutes.

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Registered dietitian shares how to stay on track on Valentine’s Day.

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Intermittent exercise with and without low oxygen concentrations (or hypoxia) can improve insulin sensitivity in type 2 diabetics, however exercise while under hypoxic conditions provides greater improvements in glycemic control than intermittent exercise alone, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

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About 18 million individuals undergo massage therapy annually in the U.S. Despite several reports that long-term massage therapy reduces chronic pain and improves range of motion in clinical trials, the biological effects of massage on skeletal tissue have remained unclear - until now.

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Weekly work-outs can reduce depression in the chronically ill, according to new research from UAB.

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Mardi Gras, also called Carnival, celebrates the last day of indulgence before the start of the Lenten season. During Lent, millions of households will cut back on meat and other rich foods. Meatless Monday offers recipes with photos to help observers through the “lean” weeks of Lent and beyond. With the simplicity of Meatless Monday, reducing meat in our diets is easier than you think and the health benefits can be huge.

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For more than 40 years, scientists and physicians have thought eating a high-fiber diet lowered a person’s risk of diverticulosis, a disease of the large intestine in which pouches develop in the colon wall. A new study of more than 2,000 people reveals the opposite may be true.

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A new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) documents a need for increased injury prevention efforts in many of the most popular activities for kids (walking, bicycling, swimming, sports and playground use) in the United States.

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The health benefits of exercise on blood sugar metabolism may come from the body’s ability to devour itself, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report in the journal Nature.

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The size of one’s dinner plate does not help to curb energy intake or control portion sizes, according to a recent study conducted at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.

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Experts at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Diabetes Center are available to discuss the impact of diet on diabetes following the announcement that Southern chef Paula Deen has type 2 diabetes.

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Yoga is one of the hottest fitness trends and a style known as “hot yoga” is gaining in popularity. While the practice can offer health benefits, people practicing hot yoga, especially beginners, should take certain precautions, according to a PT at Hospital for Special Surgery.

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Why do we like fatty foods so much? We can blame our taste buds. In the first study to identify a human receptor that can taste fat, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report that our tongues recognize and have an affinity for fat and that variations in a gene can make people more or less sensitive to the taste of fat in foods.

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Among overweight and obese adults, a diet rich in slowly digested carbohydrates, such as whole grains, legumes and other high-fiber foods, significantly reduces markers of inflammation associated with chronic disease, according to a new study by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Such a “low-glycemic-load” diet, which does not cause blood-glucose levels to spike, also increases a hormone that helps regulate the metabolism of fat and sugar.

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Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists have isolated a natural hormone that triggers some of the key health benefits of exercise. Irisin, which switches on genes that convert white fat into "good" brown fat, may hold promise as a treatment for diabetes, obesity and perhaps other disorders, including cancer.

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A study of community-based exercise for cancer survivors that focused on strength training found such exercise is both safe and effective in terms of physical and psychosocial benefit. The findings are published online in the Journal of Cancer Survivorship.