Eating in Biological News

U of M study identifies risk factors of disordered eating in overweight youth

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (July 29, 2009) University of Minnesota Project Eating Among Teens (EAT) researchers have identified factors that may increase overweight adolescents' risk of engaging in extreme weight control behaviors such as self-induced vomiting, the use of diet pills, laxatives, and di...

Quails get super fit by simply eating omega-3 diet

When tiny semipalmated sandpipers embark on their annual odyssey from the Canadian Arctic to their winter residences in South America, they set out on one of the world's longest migrations. On the way, the tiny birds stop off at the Bay of Fundy on the Canadian east coast, where they spend two wee...

Regular family meals result in better eating habits for adolescents

Philadelphia, PA, March 9, 2009 Good eating habits can result when families eat together. In the March/April 2009 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior , researchers from the School of Public Health, University of Minnesota report on one of the first studies to examine the lon...

How eating fruit and vegetables can improve cancer patients' response to chemotherapy

RIVERSIDE, Calif. The leading cause of death in all cancer patients continues to be the resistance of tumor cells to chemotherapy, a form of treatment in which chemicals are used to kill cells. Now a study by UC Riverside biochemists that focuses on cancer cells reports that ingesting apigeni...

Why eating less can help the environment

An estimated 19 percent of total energy used in the USA is taken up in the production and supply of food. Currently, this mostly comes from non-renewable energy sources which are in short supply. It is therefore of paramount importance that ways of reducing this significant fuel consumption in t...

Body image program reduces onset of obesity and eating disorders

In their research on eating disorders, Oregon Research Institute (ORI) scientists help young women reduce the influence of the thin ideal, which is described as associating success and happiness with being thin. ORI scientist Eric Stice, Ph.D. and his colleagues have found that their obesity p...

Evidence now suggests eating soy foods in puberty protects against breast cancer

Washington, D.C. Evidence is growing from animal and human studies that genistein, a potent chemical found in soy, protects against development of breast cancer - but only if consumed during puberty, says a Georgetown University Medical Center researcher in the British Journal of Cancer published...

Where college students live can impact their weight, eating and exercise habits

SAN DIEGO, CA Endometriosis is a poorly understood condition that incapacitates and affects the productivity and lifestyle of millions of women around the world. In the US, it affects approximately six million women and adolescents at a cost of some $1.6 billion per year. It is a chronic painful...

Adolescent girls with ADHD are at increased risk for eating disorders, study shows

Girls with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder stand a substantially greater risk of developing eating disorders in adolescence than girls without ADHD, a new study has found. "Adolescent girls with ADHD frequently develop body-image dissatisfaction and may go through repeating cycles of b...

U of M research finds disordered eating less common among teen girls who regularly eat family meals

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (Jan. 8, 2008) Adolescent girls who frequently eat meals with their families appear less likely to use diet pills, laxatives, or other extreme measures to control their weight five years later, according to research led by Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D., lead ...

Having the climate cake and eating it, too

Is it possible to solve climate change, reduce poverty and save biodiversity at a single stroke" It might seem like a dream, but this is exactly the issue that is being discussed at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC) in Bali 3-14 December 2007. The key is to include reduced emis...

Alternative food networks connect ethical producers and consumers and can lead to healthier eating

In the light of growing concerns about the separation of producers and consumers in our food system and the power of big supermarkets, new research funded by Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) provides valuable insights into the motivations and practices of consumers and producers involve...

UCLA study of community health project shows how group dynamics affect fitness, eating habits

Imagine break-room vending machines featuring fruit juice and vegetables instead of cookies and soda pop. Consider colleagues who insist on mid-morning group exercise breaks and applaud a lunchtime workout rather than criticizing the cut of the sweat suit. Ponder an organizational culture that enco...

Carbon nanoparticles toxic to adult fruit flies but benign to young

...showed how insects could be vectors for transporting nanomaterials, Rand said. While two generations of fruit fly larvae showed no ill effects from eating carbon nanoparticles, the Brown scientists noticed that some of the particles ended up being stored in the flies' tissue. That means the nanoparticles...

Race/ethnicity, family income and education associated with sugar consumption

...e and educational status are independently associated with intake of added sugars. Groups with low income and education are particularly vulnerable to eating diets with high added sugars. There are differences within race/ethnicity groups that suggest that interventions aimed at reducing the intake of ad...

Most older long-term cancer survivors have poor health habits

... exercise per week. This is far short of the national recommendation of more than 150 minutes of exercise per week. Also, only 7 percent met healthful eating recommendations set by national guidelines. Despite their suboptimal health behaviors, cancer survivors reported a level of mental and physical qualit...

Parasitic worms make sex worthwhile

...creted in the ducks' spoor, which often lands in the lake and sinks in the shallows or at depth, where snails help the worm complete its life cycle by eating the eggs and providing a host for the next generation of worm larvae. The scientists observed that the snails at Alexandrina and Kaniere were more ...

A 'heart healthy' diet and ongoing, moderate physical activity may protect against cognitive decline

... Vienna, July 14, 2009 eating a "heart healthy" diet and maintaining or increasi... Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating Pattern May Reduce Age-Related Cognitive Decline ... blood pressure or pre-hypertension. The DASH diet eating plan has been proven to lower blood pressure in st...

The last supper of the hominids establishes the times they lived at the sites

...rs analyze the dental wear of the ungulates (herbivorous mammals) caused by microscopic particles of opaline silica in plants. These marks appear when eating takes place and erase the previous ones. This is why they are so useful. Thanks to the "last supper phenomenon", the scientists have been able to...

Probiotics help gastric-bypass patients lose weight more quickly, Stanford study shows

...cally at least 100 pounds overweight have the procedure each year. Morton said the study was prompted by the fact that some patients have problems eating after gastric-bypass surgery. "For some reason, the food doesn't go down right," he said. When no anatomical reasons could be found for blockages, he ...

Fruit and vegetable intake in pregnant women reduces risk of upper respiratory tract infection

...uncomplicated colds, identifying ways to prevent their occurrence is important because colds are the most common reason for school and work absences. eating nutritious foods, especially fruits and vegetables, improves immunity but hadn't previously been associated with reducing the risk of URTIs in pregnan...

3 to 6 months to lose weight gained in pregnancy is normal

...eight within six months or a year after having a baby. "Avoiding weight problems after birth means already being careful about balanced and healthy eating during pregnancy," says Professor Sawicki. "It is not a good idea to 'eat for two' in pregnancy and forget about your weight until after the baby is b...

Antibiotics take toll on beneficial microbes in gut

...azone soon recovered normal microbes after an untreated mouse was placed in the same cage. That wasn't a complete surprise, since mice have a habit of eating the feces of their cage mates and therefore picked up normal gut microbes quickly. Not a lesson applicable to humans? In patients with refractory ...

Improved method developed to test carcinogen risk

...t the dose makes the poison," said George Bailey, an OSU distinguished professor emeritus of molecular and environmental toxicology. "You can die from eating a few tablespoons of ordinary table salt at one time, but that doesn't mean that table salt is a poison at the doses that humans normally consume. ...

Omega-3 fatty acids appear to impact AMD progression

...f 250 g of carbohydrate might cut out almost 8% of advanced AMD over five years. This is readily achievable with little diet behavior modification. eating two to three servings of fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, shellfish, and herring every week would achieve the recommended daily intake of DH...

Powerful nutrient cocktail can put kids with Crohn's into remission

...ke malnutrition and growth retardation. Dr. Shamir recently reported his research in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition . eating Like an Astronaut Dr. Shamir's research was inspired by the problem of malnutrition and growth retardation in children battling IBD. Steroids and ...

'Shortcuts' of the mind lead to miscalculations of weight and caloric intake, says Penn study

...anymore. Although we have yet to prove this, we believe that the ecology of eating in the current food environment has become an example of the atypical situa...ents a cognitive explanation for why America is gaining so much weight. The eating environment has morphed into an atypical scenario where our usually helpful...

What really prompts the dog's 'guilty look'

...ittle to do with whether the dogs had actually eaten the forbidden treat or not. Dogs looked most "guilty" if they were admonished by their owners for eating the treat. In fact, dogs that had been obedient and had not eaten the treat, but were scolded by their (misinformed) owners, looked more "guilty" than...

American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- June 3, 2009

..., known to exist in the skin of poison frogs of the family Dendrobatidae. Frogs use them as a chemical defense to discourage predators from biting and eating them. Western Colombian natives have used skin extracts from another group of frogs, unrelated to those in the new study, to coat blow-darts for hunti...

Scientists tackle the mystery of white-nose syndrome in bats

...tance to the fungus and that it is not pathogenic to native bats in Europe, the potential exists that its spread is self-limiting," McCracken said. eating up to two-thirds of their body weight in insects over night, bats help keep insects under control, ultimately reducing the quantities of insecticides ...

Scientists examine perceptions of risk and the spread of disease

...ited States, Americans began to alter their behavior. Families kept children home from school, postponed trips to the mall, and stayed home instead of eating out. In so doing, the American population may have inadvertently altered the behavior of the pathogen itself. How human behavior changes the spread...

Scientists unravel the mystery of white-nose syndrome

...tance to the fungus and that it is not pathogenic to native bats in Europe, the potential exists that its spread is self-limiting," McCracken said. eating up to two-thirds of their body weight in insects over night, bats help keep insects under control, ultimately reducing the quantities of insecticides ...

Researchers engineer metabolic pathway in mice to prevent diet-induced obesity

...s are high, a signal is released that tells the body it is too full and that it needs to stop using fat and begin making it. Malonyl-CoA is high after eating a meal, blocking fatty acid metabolism. The new pathway, however, allowed for fat degradation even when the body was full. Ultimately, the resea...

Scientists examine human behavior and the threat of disease

...ited States, Americans began to alter their behavior. Families kept children home from school, postponed trips to the mall, and stayed home instead of eating out. In so doing, the American population may have inadvertently altered the behavior of the pathogen itself. How human behavior changes the spread...

Harvard scientist says we are what we eat -- and what we cook

...a new book that the invention of cooking -- even more than agriculture, the eating of meat, or the advent of tools -- is what led to the rise of humanity. ...wing on a wide body of research, Wrangham makes the case that cooking makes eating faster and easier, and wrings more caloric benefit from food. Moreover, he ...

Study suggests obese women should not gain weight

...rder make sure they are healthy," adds Dr. Thornton. "Pregnancy has become a license to eat. We talk about 'eating for two,' but it's really more like eating for 1 and 1/20th." These attitudes have contributed to the obesity epidemic in the U.S., where 35 percent of women are considered obese, says the ...

Society for Prevention Research Meeting in Washington, D.C., May 27-29, 2009

...related to conflict, control, shared health beliefs and values, as well as specific health behaviors, such as risky sexual activity, drug use, healthy eating and physical activity? Other Newsworthy Story Ideas: There are many other newsworthy presentations at this meeting. Some of the other interesting t...

Bolivian rainforest study suggests feeding behavior in monkeys and humans have ancient, shared roots

... findings from this research suggest that the evolutionary origins of these eating patterns in humans may be far older than suspected. Until now it was thought humans' eating patterns originated in the Palaeolithic era (between 2.4 million and 10,000...

Voyages of discovery or necessity?

... Ciguatera poisoning, the food-borne disease that can come from eating large, carnivorous reef fish, causes vomiting, headaches, and a burning sensation upon contact with cold surfaces. An early morning walk on cool beach...

Study finds link between individual stress and adolescent obesity

...ws that fathers, too, have an effect on children's eating habits and obesity," said Stewart, author of the b...h on nonresident father involvement and adolescent eating patterns. "In our latest study, we found that ...living with a single mom was associated with worse eating habits." Lohman says the new research should em...