Benefits of a Mediterranean Diet

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The findings of this study suggest that incorporating a Mediterranean diet could cut back the risk of getting a cardiovascular disease by up to 30%! The study was originally intended to compare those on a Mediterranean diet to those on a low-fat diet, but researchers found that people on a low-fat diet had a difficult time lowering their amount of fat intake. On the other hand, participants of the Mediterranean diet, which included vegetables, fruit, fish, olive oil, nuts, and legumes, maintained their diet and did not resort to eating commercial food products. The results proved astonishing in that over the course of 5 years, for those on a Mediterranean diet, the rate of heart attacks, strokes, and death caused by heart disease was significantly reduced.

Danni Guest Blogs: Stress eating in children

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Danni Ji, one of Dr. T’s Health Psychology students, guest blogs again!:

In this recent study, researchers tested children to see how stressed they would get by delivering a speech or performing a mathematics task. They measured stress through salivary cortisol before and after the task. After the task, the children participated in an eating activity. Those with exhibited higher cortisol release consumed significantly more calories than those whose cortisol levels only rose slightly. Furthermore, researchers found that cortisol levels stayed elevated or decreased slowly in those kids with the greatest BMIs, and these kids also consumed the greatest number of calories. These findings shed much-needed light on triggers of eating in childhood.

Calorie restriction, telomeres, and the lifespan…

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If you’ve taken a look at our research page, you know that the DiSH Lab has a particular interest in cellular aging, as measured by telomeres, the protective coating on the end of our DNA. There is a wealth of animal research linking calorie restriction to longer telomeres (and lifespan), and this study from Spanish National Cancer Research Centre lends further support. Mice on a 40% reduced calorie diet had longer telomeres, lower incidences of cancer, better overall health, and ultimately, a longer lifespan. The article concludes that research into calorie restriction in humans will be crucial for understanding aging in humans – good thing the DiSH Lab’s CRONA study is currently investigating just that!

Being honest about why we diet…

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New Years has just passed, which means that most likely, at least a handful of people you know have resolved to lose weight in 2013. While many people may say their weight loss efforts are aimed at improving health, this awesome op-ed piece by Abigail Saguy discusses all the reasons why health is not the primary motivation. The article discusses a recent poll of dieters, which found that more than 75% would take a pill to lose weight, even if that would shorten their lifespan. Moreover, 91% said they would NOT take a pill that would add years to their life if that pill also ensured they would remain overweight. Overall, this piece is an interesting and important discussion of the intertwined relationships among weight, health, discrimination, and dieting.

Fructose vs. Glucose in your brain

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Fructose and glucose sound pretty similar, and both even taste sweet, but it turns that they affect your brain in very different ways. This new study from Yale University examined the individual effects of fructose and glucose by conudcting MRI scans after ingestion of each sugar. The results revealed that glucose led to much greater reduction in the hypothalamus, the brain region that regulates appetite and reward processing, and greater feelings of satiety. On the other hand, sucrose ingestion demonstrated less reduction in the hypothalamus and lower levels of the hormone that regulates satiety. These findings suggest that even though they both taste sweet, sucrose may actually increase our appetite and eating.

 

Cut the cars along with the carbs?

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This study from the University of Illinois approached obesity interventions from a new angle, suggesting that perhaps reducing daily automobile travel can be as effective as restricting calorie intake. A multivariable model predicting BMI from calories consumed and miles driven projects that if adults drove just one mile less each day, this decrease could have significant long-term impacts on the national average BMI. So when it comes to weight loss, even small changes in our daily activity level could have big implications.

Withdrawal and depression from… dieting?

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Just published today from the University of Montreal, this mouse study found that eating a high fat, sugary diet can actually change the neurochemistry of the brain, including the production of dopamine and the stress hormone corticosterone. These changes can lead to withdrawal-type symptoms and depression if sugary and fatty foods are removed from the diet. Even more fascinating is that these chemical alterations occur in the brain long before weight gain progresses to obesity, meaning that the struggle for healthy eating habits may begin long before the struggle for weight loss.

The memory of eating vs. reality of eating

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It might seem intuitive that hours after eating, hunger should be a function of how much you ate. However, this cool eating study found the opposite: 2-3 hours after eating a bowl of soup, participants felt less hungry if they had seen an image of a large bowl of soup (versus a smaller bowl) before eating. This effect was sustained regardless of how much soup they had actually eaten – which the researchers manipulated with a trick bowl that could fill or empty without the participants knowing. These findings suggest that while the amount you eat may influence immediate feelings of hunger and satiety, it’s memory that takes control by the time you’re ready to for the next meal.

Eating for health?

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It shouldn’t be a crazy idea, but nowadays many people are eating just to be thin, and not to be healthy. A fantastic New York Times article focuses on current research on eating, dieting, and health and emphasizes the importance of what you eat as well as how much you eat. The article also suggests that maybe the answer to the United States’ high annual healthcare costs is not to cut spending but to address instead the diet and lifestyle choices that make us so unhealthy. This one is definitely worth the read!

Does ambiance influence eating?

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Evidently, yes! This study published in the journal Psychological Reports found that just by seating them in a “fine dining” atmosphere with soft music, linen tablecloths, and candles, customers at a popular fast food restaurant consumed fewer calories and ate more slowly. So if you’re worried about or prone to overeating, setting the right mood could be your solution!