Obesity

News Story

Reducing Niacin Intake Can Prevent Obesity

05/24/2010

Dietary factors have long been known to play a major role in the development of obesity. The global increasing prevalence of obesity suggests that there should be some common changes in diet worldwide. In fact, a significant, yet, often neglected worldwide change in dietary factors in the past few decades is the food fortification-induced marked increase in the content of niacin. However, the effect of long-term exposure to excess niacin on human health remains to be unclear.

A research team from China examined the role of excess nicotinamide in glucose metabolism using co-loading of glucose and nicotinamide test. They proved that excess niacin intake-induced biphasic response, i.e., insulin resistance in the early phase and hypoglycemia in the late phase, may be a primary cause for the increased appetite in obesity.

Their study will be published on May 21, 2010 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology.More »

niacin, Obesity

Seaweed Appears to Help Reduce Fat Absorption in Body

03/23/2010

Seaweed could hold the key to tackling obesity after it was found it reduces fat uptake by more than 75 per cent, new research has shown.

Now the team at Newcastle University are adding seaweed fibre to bread to see if they can develop foods that help you lose weight while you eat them.

A team of scientists led by Dr Iain Brownlee and Prof Jeff Pearson have found that dietary fibre in one of the world's largest commercially-used seaweed could reduce the amount of fat absorbed by the body by around 75 per cent.

The Newcastle University team found that Alginate -- a natural fibre found in sea kelp -- stops the body from absorbing fat better than most anti-obesity treatments currently available over the counter.More »

Obesity, seaweed

Anti-Obesity Drugs Unlikely to Provide Lasting Benefit

03/19/2010

Scientists at the University of Liverpool argue that anti-obesity drugs fail to provide lasting benefits for health and well being because they tackle the biological consequences of obesity, and not the important psychological causes of over-consumption and weight gain.

Dr Jason Halford, Reader in Appetite and Obesity at the University of Liverpool, points out that anti-obesity drug developers focus primarily on weight loss as their end goal, and do not take into consideration the motivational and behavioral factors that most commonly cause obesity.More »

Obesity

Metformin XR May Help Decrease BMI in Obese Adolescents

02/04/2010

Metformin XR (extended release formulation) -- a medication used to treat type 2 diabetes -- appears to cause a small but significant decrease in body mass index (BMI) in non-diabetic obese adolescents when combined with a lifestyle intervention program, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.More »

BMI, diabetes, Metformin XR, Obesity

Can You Really Be Overweight And Live Longer?

10/18/2009

Contrary to what was previously assumed, being overweight is not increasing the overall death rate in the German population. Matthias Lenz of the Faculty of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Natural Sciences of the University of Hamburg and his co-authors present these and other results in the current issue of Deutsches Ärtzeblatt International.More »

life expectancy, Obesity, overweight

Can't Stay With That Diet? Perhaps Blueberries

09/03/2009

Juice extracted from North American lowbush blueberries, biotransformed with bacteria from the skin of the fruit, holds great promise as an anti–obesity and anti–diabetic agent, according to a study published in the International Journal of Obesity.

The investigators tested the effect of biotransformed blueberry juice on a group of mice prone to obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, and hypertension. Incorporating biotransformed blueberry juice into the water of mice reduced their food intake and their body weight.More »

blueberrries, Obesity, weight loss

Medical Cost of Obesity May Be As High as $147 Billion Annually

07/28/2009

The health cost of obesity in the United States is as high as $147 billion annually, based on a new study from RTI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study which appears online today in the journal Health Affairs, was released at CDC’s Weight of the Nation conference in Washington, DC.More »

CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Obesity

Discovery May Lead To Drug That Cuts Appetite And Boosts Energy

07/23/2009

ScienceDaily — In a major advance in obesity and diabetes research, Yale School of Medicine scientists have found that reducing levels of a key enzyme in the brain decreased appetites and increased energy levels.

Reductions in the levels of the enzyme prolylcarboxypeptidase (PRCP) led to weight loss and a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes in mice, according to new research. The team found that PRCP is located in the hypothalamus and regulates levels of the alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH), which is a peptide known for inhibiting food intake and stimulating energy expenditure. Researchers found that blocking the PRCP enzyme keeps the alpha-MSH peptides from being degraded, resulting in higher levels of alpha-MSH and decreased appetite.More »

diet drug, Obesity, Yale

Vinegar May Aid in Fat Loss

06/24/2009

The latest weapon in the battle of the bulge may be as close as your kitchen pantry.

Ordinary household vinegar -- used to make oil-and-vinegar salad dressings or pickles -- appears to turn on genes that help fight fat, researchers in Japan report.More »

Obesity, vinegar

BMI May Not Be Sole Risk Factor in Overweight Patients

06/12/2009

The health hazards of being overweight—as distinct from being obese—are real and should be taken seriously, especially if other risk factors are present, such as glucose intolerance or elevated blood pressure, concludes a new scientific advisory from the American Heart Association (AHA).

The advisory noted that there have been a few papers published recently that show that body-mass index (BMI) in the overweight range (25 to <30 kg/m2), rather than obese range (>30 kg/m2), does not affect overall mortality and that some people have interpreted this to mean that being overweight is not detrimental to health and not in itself a public-health concern. For this reason, the AHA wanted to review and place into context the potential health implications of overweight as distinct from obesity and point out the limitations of relying on the BMI alone as a way of assessing patients.More »

AHA, heart health, Obesity, overweight
Syndicate content