Mild stress could help burn fat and lose weight. If you’re the type of person who gets anxious about going to the gym, you may be already partway to your weight-loss goal. New research shows that mild psychological stress can activate calorie-burning brown fat, and may even help you lose weight. Read more in Inside Science.
obesity
Sewage Bacteria Reveal Cities’ Obesity Rates
Urban ‘microbiome’ can offer glimpses into disease trends. Sampling the waste in a city’s sewage system can be a good way to study the microbes that live in the population’s guts – and could even offer a way to monitor public health issues such as obesity, according to new research. The community of microbes that […]
Exercise prescriptions endorsed
Doctors in two Canadian provinces are using exercise prescription pads to encourage patients to lead healthier, more active lifestyles. Doctors of BC (British Columbia) and the New Brunswick Medical Society (NBMS) offer free pads to their members so they can give patients a physical reminder of the exercise advice they’ve been given by their physicians. […]
Dietary fibre acts on brain to suppress appetite
Mouse study suggests that brain activity, not gut hormones, accounts for fibre’s weight-control action. People have long been told that a diet high in fibre can help to fight obesity, but how it does so has been unclear. A study of mouse metabolism now suggests that a product of fibre fermentation may be directly affecting […]
The changing colour of fat
The different functions of white, brown and beige fat might yield new targets in the fight against obesity and metabolic disease. When you think of fat in the human body, you might picture a homogenous, white substance, much like a block of lard. But researchers are learning that the role of fat in metabolism changes […]
New contender for ‘fat gene’ found
Researchers may have been focusing on the wrong gene. Scientists studying what they thought was a ‘fat gene’ seem to have been looking in the wrong place, according to research published today in Nature. It suggests instead that the real culprit is another gene that the suspected obesity gene interacts with. In 2007, several genome studies […]
Storm brewing over WHO sugar proposal
Industry backlash expected over suggested cut in intake. Scientists are gearing up for a battle with the food industry after the World Health Organization (WHO) moved to halve its recommendation on sugar intake. Nutrition researchers fear a backlash similar to that seen in 2003, when the WHO released its current guidelines stating that no more […]
Bacteria from lean mice prevents obesity in peers
But microbes are only part of the story — the effect also depends on a healthy diet. Gut bacteria from lean mice can invade the guts of obesity-prone cage-mates and help their new hosts to fight weight gain. Researchers led by Jeffrey Gordon, a biologist at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, set out to […]
Heavy sleepers
A growing body of evidence shows that getting a good night’s sleep plays an important role in regulating the body’s metabolism. Burning the midnight oil can leave you tired and grumpy the next day, dulling your mind and slowing your reaction times. But lack of sleep has consequences beyond the brain as well, with long-term […]
Gut microbe may fight obesity and diabetes
Bacterium helps to regulate metabolism in mice. The gut is home to innumerable different bacteria — a complex ecosystem that has an active role in a variety of bodily functions. In a study published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of researchers finds that in mice, just one of those […]