Health

Lifestyle-induced loss of visceral fat (and not liver fat, pancreatic fat or subcutaneous fat) may have lasting health benefits years after the end of an intervention, even when body weight is fully regained, according to researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and their international collaborators.

The gut and brain are in constant conversation through a powerful biochemical signaling pathway. This two-way connection allows them to exchange signals that influence everything from digestion to emotional health, and studies suggest even the fate of neurodegenerative diseases.

It’s not unusual to see a few brave souls wrapped in gloves and balaclavas jogging along the Charles or through Cambridge Common in the snow. But for most of us, running outdoors is a fair-weather sport.

Adults with obesity who lost weight with glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist medications significantly decreased their physical activity, which is essential to protect muscle, according to a study presented at ENDO 2026, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago.

The accumulation of excess fat in the liver is not solely a consequence of the combined effects of hereditary and adult lifestyle-related factors. A new study by researchers at Tampere University and the University of Eastern Finland indicates that both maternal health during pregnancy and early-life nutrition may have long-term implications for children’s liver health.

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that interfere with hormones were found in breast milk and in the urine of children from birth up to 6 months, according to a study presented at ENDO 2026, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago.

Testosterone treatment may improve body composition, glucose metabolism and sexual desire in some older men at high risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D), but the benefits require engagement in a lifestyle program, according to a study presented at ENDO 2026, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago.

A study of 2,044 older Japanese adults found that those with lower vitamin C levels in their blood plasma tended to have a lower volume of gray matter in their brains, as well as lower connectivity among a collection of brain regions known as the default mode network. Haruka Nagaya of Hirosaki University, Japan, and colleagues present these findings in PLOS One.

Researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center have found that common dietary sugars fructose and glucose, despite having the same number of calories, communicate with the brain through different gut–brain pathways, a difference that may help shape our food and beverage preferences. In mice, the team identified a dedicated gut-brain signaling pathway through which fructose communicates with the brain and found that it is much less effective than glucose in turning down the activity of hunger-related neurons.

Two micrograms is an almost unimaginably small amount. It weighs less than a tiny fragment of a grain of table salt. Yet adults need only around this amount of vitamin B12 each day, depending on the guideline used, to support red blood cells, nerves and DNA production.

Have you ever wondered why savory foods like chips, nachos and salted nuts go so well with a beer or glass of wine? And why sometimes you feel an insatiable appetite for junk food while drinking?