Dieting and Weight Control

A team of researchers designed and tested a new digital toolkit that helps consumers make healthier grocery choices online — an innovation that could play a major role in the global fight against chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Having a larger waistline, high blood pressure and other risk factors that make up metabolic syndrome is associated with an increased risk of young-onset dementia, according to a new study. Young-onset dementia is diagnosed before the age of 65. The study does not prove that metabolic syndrome causes young-onset dementia, it only shows an association.

New research links fatty, sugary diets to impaired brain function. The findings build on a growing body of evidence showing the negative impact of high-fat, high-sugar (HFHS) diets on cognitive ability, adding to their well-known physical effects.

Researchers identified a direct connection between cancer-related inflammation and the loss of motivation characteristic of advanced cancer. In a mouse study, they describe a brain pathway that starts with neurons (labeled in green, above) that sense inflammation signals, and the researchers were able to treat the loss of motivation by blocking this pathway.

Researchers have discovered a way to get anti-inflammatory medicine across the blood-brain barrier, opening the door to potential new therapies for a range of conditions, including Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and cancer cachexia.

Scientists have gained greater clarity in the brain regions and neurons that control metabolism, body temperature and energy use. A team of researchers discovered which chemicals influence the signals that control how much energy the body uses. Researchers laid out the pathways, chemicals, neurons and brain regions that are activated.

Many obese people report losing pleasure in eating rich foods — something also seen in obese mice. Scientists have now discovered the reason. Long-term high-fat diets lower levels of neurotensin in the brain, disrupting the dopamine pleasure network and decreasing the desire to eat high-fat foods. Raising neurotensin levels in mice brings back the pleasure […]

A person's 'bioenergetic age' — or how youthfully their cells generate energy — might be a key indicator of whether they're at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, new research shows. The study suggests healthy living can turn back the bioenergetic clock for some people, helping them fend off Alzheimer's as effectively as a new drug […]

School readiness not only impacts kids' academic success, but also their long-term economic and health outcomes. Unfortunately, research reveals a concerning gap in school readiness for children with low birth weight, with only one-third of these children being on track. A new study identifies five key protective factors that can support children, especially those with […]

Just a few days of eating a diet high in saturated fat could be enough to cause memory problems and related brain inflammation in older adults, a new study in rats suggests.