Does ambiance influence eating?

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!

Pregnancy duration’s impact on stress response

New research findings published in Psychoneuroendocrinology found that infants from shorter pregnancies had lower cortisol levels, measured after waking up. And since lower cortisol = lower stress, this seems like a good thing. However, this can actually indicate an under-developed hormone system, which can lead to excess immunological responses (like allergies). Read about it here!

A silver lining to pro-anorexia blogging?

The growing presence of “pro-ana” blogging communities has caused some serious controversy, especially among those trying to improve treatments for anorexia. However, this new research from the University of Indiana suggests that “pro-ana” blogs may offer a supportive and understanding community to people who are usually very isolated and silent. More importantly, in writing about experiences with eating disorders, bloggers have the opportunity to break their silence and practice articulating their struggles, which may even improve the effectiveness of treatment.

Beating Overeating!

This short-and-sweet video explains the biological mechanisms behind appetite and eating and how sugary, fatty foods can override our body’s natural signals to stop eating.

 

Measuring cholesterol with a digital camera

Yep that’s right! Measuring blood cholesterol typically involves collecting a blood sample, but this new method developed by N. R. Shanker of the Sree Sastha Institute for Engineering and Technology uses digital photography to gauge the concentration of cholesterol in the creases of your fingers. This non-invasive and affordable technology could make it much easier to diagnose and track cardiovascular disease.

Walk it off!

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released this encouraging report showing that the proportion of adults who take a 10-minute walk at least once a week increased 62% between 2005 and 2010! Even though this still falls short of the federal guidelines for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise each week, these findings are a big step in the right direction.  Even better is that this increase in walking applies to all races, ages, and regions of the country.

De-gendering eating disorders…

When you hear the terms “anorexia,” “bulimia,” and “binge-eating,” it’s pretty common to think first of a woman.  But this recent study, published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, found that the number of men who binge eat is actually not that much lower than the number of women.  So just because men are underrepresented in the research, this does not mean they are not suffering from eating disorders also!  However, because so few eating disorder studies include men, eating disorders have come to be labeled as a “female problem.”  This is not only a falsely-gendered personification, but it also leads many men to feel embarrassed and reluctant to seek treatment.   This study takes a big step in raising awareness and opening the door to a new wave of research that will focus on the entire population of people who face these challenges!

The New York Times also covered this topic in the article Binge Eating Among Men Steps Out of the Shadows.

Human fasting affects hyena diets too?

In a fun/crazy study, scientists showed that when human diets change, like when fasting for Lent, so too do other animals’ diets – like Spotted Hyenas! “Before Lent, 14.8% of hyena droppings contained donkey hairs, during Lent this increased to 33.1%, falling again to 22.2% once the fast was over.” According to the scientists, “Our study shows a remarkable change in the hyenas’ diet — we found that hyenas around Mekelle (Lent) mainly scavenge waste from butchers and households but during fasting donkeys provided an alternative food source.”

Dieting in pregnancy linked to possible Type 2 Diabetes

A new study out of the UK shows that dieting around the time of conception leads to changes in gene expression in the genes that have been linked to obesity and Type 2 Diabetes. Two things to note before you run for the ice cream: (1) it was only genes implicated in obesity and Type 2 Diabetes, not the actual diseases, and (2) it was in sheep!

New formula for weight loss – losing it is twice as hard

Dr. Kevin Hall presented new findings indicating that the mathematical formula that the US government uses to calculate weight loss doesn’t account for a slow-down in your metabolism. It looks like weight loss is harder than we initially thought. Click here for the paper that describes the new, adjusted guidelines.