Health

The presence of certain bacteria in the gut microbiota, and fluctuations in a person’s metabolism, can be seen in people who go on to develop type 2 diabetes years later. This has been shown in a large Swedish study led by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology. The study is published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine.

Ongoing research provides evidence that readily available and sustainable oyster meat extract may have powerful anti-inflammatory effects on human intestinal cells.

Consumption of ultra-processed food (UPF) results in a distinct metabolic “signature” in the blood, associated with potentially adverse health conditions, suggests a new study by an international team of researchers. The paper, published in Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, is the first to use targeted metabolomics (the scientific study of the chemical processes involved in cell metabolism) to examine the effects of UPF intake on a large European cohort.

A Canadian study led by University of Toronto researcher Harvey Anderson is offering new evidence in support of consuming full-fat dairy. The findings, published recently in the Journal of Nutrition, demonstrate that three daily servings of full-fat dairy can be incorporated into a person’s diet without negatively affecting their body weight or composition, energy metabolism or blood lipid levels.

Following a Mediterranean diet may provide additional benefits for mental health. A new study has now linked it to greater psychological well-being among people over 50. The research is the result of a collaboration between University College London and the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a center supported by the “la Caixa” Foundation, and has been published in BMJ Open.

Canned cocktails and hard seltzers are being chosen by health-conscious young people as a safer way to consume alcohol, but new Australian research reveals these products are almost universally ultra-processed, potentially giving consumers a false sense of security and undermining recent declines in alcohol consumption among young people.

Children growing up in a low-income urban community in Vellore are now facing two seemingly opposite forms of malnutrition simultaneously: persistent thinness and rising obesity by the time they reach primary school age. A longitudinal birth cohort study of 251 children found that while thinness remained common, the prevalence of overweight and obesity nearly tripled between ages 7 and 9, underscoring the country’s growing “double burden of malnutrition.”

According to the Cleveland Clinic, a quarter of cancer deaths can be attributed to one source: cachexia. Cachexia is a syndrome that accompanies underlying chronic illness and causes unwanted muscle and fat loss, reducing quality of life and sometimes even limiting treatment options.

A team of scientists from the University of Granada (UGR), the Granada Institute for Biomedical Research (ibs.GRANADA), the Public University of Navarra and the Biomedical Research Networking Center (CIBER) has demonstrated that limiting food intake to an eight-hour window helps maintain weight loss 12 months after the end of the intervention in overweight or obese adults.

The appearance of food images on a menu can influence whether we order large or small portions—or potentially choose healthy or more caloric meals. New research from Flinders University indicates that the color and size of a dining plate can have mixed results in regulating meal size, so it may not be the best way to boost healthy eating choices.