Nutrition News

Researchers reporting in the June issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, have what they say is some of the first solid proof that insulin has direct effects on the reward circuitry of the brain. Mice whose reward centers can no longer respond to insulin eat more and become obese, they show.

The mechanisms by which obesity leads towards metabolic co-morbidities, such as diabetes mellitus, are poorly understood and of great public health interest. A study led by Matej Orešič from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland suggests that adaptation of fat cell membranes to obesity may play a key role in the early stages of inflammatory disorders.

Two promising new treatments to aid people with autism have shown effectiveness in pilot studies conducted by an Arizona State University professor and private researchers.Several studies indicate that children with autism often have abnormalities in critical biochemical functions that help maintain health -- specifically methylation, glutathione, and mitochondrial functions. Methylation turns proteins in the body on and off -- including DNA and RNA -- a function that controls gene activity.

A decline in testosterone levels as men grow older is likely the result -- not the cause -- of deteriorating general health, say...

In search of a way to prevent the muscle wasting that comes with illness and aging, researchers have landed a natural compound that might just do the trick. The findings reported in the June issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, identify a component of apple peels as a promising new drug candidate for the widespread and debilitating condition that affects nearly everyone at one time or another.

If a person's blood becomes too thick it can damage blood vessels and increase the risk of heart attacks. But a Temple University physicist has discovered that he can thin the human blood by subjecting it to a magnetic field.Rongjia Tao, professor and chair of physics at Temple University, has pioneered the use of electric or magnetic fields to decrease the viscosity of oil in engines and pipelines.

Fat-rich food makes you fat. Behind this simple equation lie complex signalling pathways, through which the neurotransmitters in the brain control the body's energy balance. Scientists at the Cologne-based Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research and the Cluster of Excellence in Cellular Stress Responses in Ageing-associated Diseases (CECAD) at the University of Cologne have clarified an important step in this complex control circuit.

Women who have higher levels of the appetite-controlling hormone leptin have fewer symptoms of depression, and this apparent inverse relationship is not related to body mass index (BMI), a new study finds. The results are being presented at The Endocrine Society's 93rd Annual Meeting in Boston.

Yo-yo dieters may be healthier and live longer than those who stay obese, a new Ohio University study in mice suggests. Mice that switched between a high-fat and low-fat diet every four weeks during their approximate two-year lifespan lived about 25 percent longer and had better blood glucose levels than obese animals that ate a high-fat diet. The yo-yo dieters also lived about as long as a control group of mice steadily fed a low-fat diet.

British scientists have found a new strain of the "superbug" MRSA in milk from cows and in swab samples from humans and say it cannot be detected with standard tests. Researchers said the find was "worrying" but added it was unlikely that the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bug, which is resistant to some antibiotics, could cause infections by getting into the food chain via milk.

Severe deficiency of the vitamins and minerals required for life is relatively uncommon in developed nations, but modest deficiency is very common and often not taken seriously. A new research published online in the FASEB Journal, however, may change this thinking as it examines moderate selenium and vitamin K deficiency to show how damage accumulates over time as a result of vitamin and mineral loss, leading to age-related diseases.

New findings out of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center reveal that a common test may be useful in predicting early death in individuals with diabetes. The study appears in the May issue of Diabetes Care.