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— Reports are promising, but rigorous trials are needed, experts sayThe ketogenic diet has long been known for its use in treatment-resistant epilepsy, but attention is now turning to its potential benefits in mental illness as well. Could something as simple as a diet actually improve notoriously difficult-to-treat conditions including major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia? The evidence to date has been less rigorous than gold-standard randomized controlled trials. But new studies are underway, and more clinicians are keen to explore reports of patientsopens in a new tab or window whose psychiatric conditions improved when they adhered to a...

The foods we eat can go a long way in boosting our moods. Here are our favorite snacks for happiness, according to science. Achieving happiness is top of mind for many people, and we'll try just about anything to get it. Whether it's therapy, exercise or meditation, we all want to bring more peace and joy into our lives. When we think about what makes us happy, our diet isn't usually at the top of the list (unless your favorite fast-food joint brings joy to mind). The foods we eat actually play a major role in how we feel. Studies...

Understanding diabetes today requires holding two conflicting realities in your head simultaneously. First, diabetes therapy has been revolutionized by a world of new drugs that have become available since the turn of the century—most notably, drugs of the same class as Wegovy and Ozempic that began their existence as diabetes medications and are now hailed as wonder drugs for treating obesity. These drugs do the best job yet of controlling blood sugar and, of course, body weight, which is critical for those Type 2 diabetes, the common form of the disease that constitutes over 90 percent of cases and is...

New Harvard research has found that not all trendy low-carb diets are equal when it comes to maintaining weight — some may even make you gain a few pounds. People who consume low-carb diets that emphasize plant-based proteins and healthy fats have a better chance of keeping excess weight gain at bay than those who eat low-carb diets comprised mostly of meat and unhealthy fats, according to results of a decades-long study published Wednesday in JAMA Network Open. “Our study goes beyond the simple question of, ‘To carb or not to carb?’ ” lead study author Binkai Liu, a research...

Are you in the dark about your vitamin D levels? Experts are shedding light on whether or not you might be lacking an important vitamin when the days get shorter. Vitamin D is important for multiple bodily functions and is most responsible for helping the body absorb calcium, essential for strong and healthy bones, according to the National Institutes of Health. It also plays an important role in the immune system and the health of the body’s muscles and nerves. The ways in which people get vitamin is from food, the sun, or supplements, according to Yale Medicine. However, 35%...

The way to fix our diet is simple—but it won’t be easy. Over the course of the 20th century, a great transformation took place in the eating habits of the Western world. The foods mostly eaten by our great-great- and great-grandparents, and all of our ancestors before them back to the first Homo sapiens, were displaced by new foodstuffs produced in factories using new technologies and new ingredients. Although this process began here in the West, in Britain and America particularly, nowhere on the planet, not even the tribal reservations of the darkest Amazon, has escaped these changes. Refined wheat...

Green peas contain carbs, protein, and many beneficial nutrients, including fiber, vitamin A, and vitamin K, among others. Green peas are a popular vegetable. They are also quite nutritious and contain a fair amount of fiber and antioxidants. Additionally, research shows they may help protect against some chronic illnesses, such as heart disease and cancer

Proper nutrition has been shown to reduce cancer risk, noted Dr. Brian Slomovitz, director of gynecologic oncology and co-chair of the Cancer Research Committee at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida. “First, we know that the rate of obesity is high and only increasing — and it’s a risk factor for many cancers,” he told Fox News Digital. “A healthy, balanced diet will help to decrease these cancers.” A healthy diet may also limit fatigue and promote increased physical activity, which can also help with prevention, the doctor added.

High consumption of soybean oil has been linked to obesity and diabetes and potentially autism, Alzheimer's disease, anxiety, and depression. Add now to this growing list ulcerative colitis, a form of inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, characterized by chronic inflammation of the large intestine. Researchers examined the gut of mice that were consistently fed a diet high in soybean oil for up to 24 weeks in the lab. They found beneficial bacteria decreased and harmful bacteria (specifically, adherent invasive Escherichia coli) increased—conditions that can lead to colitis. Soybean oil is the most commonly used edible oil in the United States....

Ive known about it for many years but have been watching this Dr Jamnadas on YouTube and I’m getting motivated again. See link for one of his videos if interested.

Switching to a diet full of fresh veggies and low in processed foods could do wonders for your brain's biological age, new research shows. According to the international team of researchers who ran the study, eating a Mediterranean diet rich in vegetables, seafood, and whole grains appears to slow the signs of accelerated brain aging typically seen in obesity with as little as 1 percent loss in body weight. Brain scans taken after 18 months showed the participants' brain age appearing almost 9 months younger than expected, compared to estimates of their brain's chronological age. Like the participants in the...

According to this Bloomberg article, Michelle Obama is “a co-founder and strategic partner at Plezi Nutrition, a maker of sweetened beverages for kids ages 6 and up,” which I take to mean that she is profiting directly from the sale of these beverages. Her rationale:Obama says she’s offering a lower-sugar alternative to steer them away from sugary drinks. So, are they healthy for kids?Plezi’s first product is a flavored juice drink blend that, under the very standards Obama championed, could not be served in US schools. Bloomberg News interviewed 12 independent health professionals and organizations and spoke with Plezi Chairman...

President Biden doesn't like to eat vegetables, and his poor diet causes a constant battle between him and first lady Jill Biden, who wants him to be healthy ahead of a 2024 presidential campaign. Biden, who turned 80 this year, eats "like a child," according to White House aides quoted in a Monday report from Axios.

Following a Mediterranean-based ketogenic diet may decrease the risk of Alzheimer's disease, according to a study. Researchers compared a low-fat diet with a diet consisting of healthy fats/protein and low carbohydrates—the modified Mediterranean ketogenetic diet—and found that the modified diet showed robust changes in a biological pathway that is linked to Alzheimer's disease. This builds upon previous research showing that a modified ketogenic diet may prove beneficial in the prevention of cognitive decline. The randomized, single-site study involved 20 adults, nine diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 11 with normal cognition. These participants were randomly assigned to follow either...

Depression is a leading cause of disability around the world and contributes greatly to the global burden of disease. Nutrition is essential for the maintenance of normal emotional states. Nutritional therapy is rising up in many disease treatments, but little is known in the depression field. Unbalanced nutrition is implicated in the etiology of depression, potentially hindering treatment. For example, many essential amino acids (EAAs) in serum are changed in patients with depression, such as tryptophan, threonine, leucine, isoleucine, and valine. However, whether EAA contributes to depression and the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. Now, researchers, led by Feifan Guo,...

Would Vitamin D Have Saved Half of COVID Deaths? (Only a link can be posted, per FR rules)

UniSQ academic helps refine knowledge on disease, vitamin interaction by modelling against confounding variables Vitamin D is known to keep our bones and muscles healthy – and now a novel study shows it might also play an important role in protecting us from COVID-19. In a newly released paper, University of Southern Queensland statistician Dr Zahirul Hoque and colleagues have studied the link between vitamin D levels and COVID-19 infection rates using statistical modelling. After analysing the health datasets from 10 countries, the team found that individuals with normal levels of vitamin D had significantly lower COVID-19 infection rates than...

A protein in soybeans blocks the production of a liver enzyme involved in the metabolism of triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein, scientists found in a recent study. Consuming soy flour rich in the protein B-conglycinin has the potential to reduce LDL cholesterol levels and lower the risk of metabolic diseases such as atherosclerosis and fatty liver disease, said Elvira de Mejia. They identified 13 bioactive peptides produced during digestion, most of which came from glycinin and B-conglycinin. In testing the digested materials' capacity to inhibit the activity of HMGCR, a protein that controls the rate of cholesterol synthesis, the researchers found...

Higher levels of omega 3 fatty acids found in seafood are associated with a moderately lower risk of chronic kidney disease and a slower decline in kidney function, finds a study. These associations were not found with higher levels of plant derived omega 3 fatty acids. An international team pooled the results of 19 studies from 12 countries up to May 2020 looking at links between levels of n-3 PUFA biomarkers and development of CKD in adults. Biomarkers included eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), and alpha linolenic acid (ALA). The main dietary sources of EPA, DHA...

Choline, an essential nutrient found in foods including eggs, broccoli, beans, meat and poultry, is a vital ingredient for human health. A study explores how a deficiency of dietary choline adversely affects the body and may be a missing piece in the puzzle of Alzheimer's disease. It's estimated that more than 90% of Americans are not meeting the recommended daily intake of choline. The current research suggests dietary choline deficiency can have profound negative effects on the heart, liver and other organs. Lack of adequate choline is also linked with profound changes in the brain associated with Alzheimer's disease. These...