Health

Current U.K. regulatory systems for food and drink identify only around half of processed and ultraprocessed products as unhealthy—in other words, those that contain excess fat, salt, sugar and energy density—finds research published in BMJ Medicine. But new nutrient profiling, based on official U.K. dietary guidance, classifies more than 90% of these products as unhealthy. A single unified regulatory system, using agreed definitions, that is aligned with this guidance may offer the best way forward, say the researchers.

More than 95% of processed or ultra-processed food products would be classified as unhealthy under UK government dietary guidance, according to new UCL-led research. The study, published in BMJ Medicine, found that the official public health definitions used to identify and regulate food and drink products in the U.K. varied widely in what proportion of processed and ultraprocessed products they classed as unhealthy, while systems such as traffic light labels failed to identify more than half of these unhealthy packaged foods.

A new study led by UTHealth Houston identified a link between late-night eating and sleeping habits, gut health and metabolic disease, offering new insights into why some individuals with obesity may face a risk of inflammation and related health problems. The study was published in iScience and led by Faraz Bishehsari, M.D., Ph.D., professor and director of the Gastroenterology Research Center in the Department of Internal Medicine at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston.

If you drink coffee regularly, it appears to alter not only your gut bacteria but also the physiology of the gut itself. That is the conclusion of a study from the University of Copenhagen, which may help point the way toward better treatments for constipation. The study is published in the journal Gut Microbiology.

The food pyramid has made an unlikely comeback. In January 2026, the U.S. government unveiled an upside-down version, giving prominence to foods such as red meat and full-fat dairy.

“I’m Pi and this is Leo, and today we’re going to eat some raw roadkill.” So begins a YouTube video featuring two raw food enthusiasts eating the heart of a run-over raccoon.

U.S. children and adolescents see thousands of food marketing messages on digital media platforms each year, according to new research published in JAMA Pediatrics. And 92% of the marketed food and beverage products are considered unhealthy.

A new study has found an association between odd- and branched-chain fatty acid (OBCFA) levels in breast milk and infant motor development, providing new population-based evidence for research on early-life nutrition and neurodevelopment.

Phytochemicals are bioactive compounds derived from plants, such as flavonoids, alkaloids and ginsenosides. They are key ingredients in functional foods and promising starting points for new drugs. Yet many of them never make it into the bloodstream because they are poorly absorbed in the intestine. Measuring their absorption one compound at a time requires laborious cell-based experiments, and this bottleneck has long slowed the screening of candidate ingredients.

A study in Norway has identified a link between a mother’s vitamin A levels and her baby’s birth weight. The study shows that over 43% of the women had low vitamin A levels during the latter part of their pregnancy. While almost no one had levels classified as a severe vitamin A deficiency, two out of five had insufficient levels. The study examined 723 women who experienced entirely normal pregnancies.