High-Fat Diet While Pregnant May Produce Obese Kids
Eating a high-fat diet during pregnancy causes permanent changes in the fetal brain that can result in overeating and obesity early in life, according to a study with rats. The researchers from Rockefeller University in New York City said their finding is an important advance in understanding mechanisms of fetal programming. It also sheds light on the production of new brain cells, helping to explain... Read more
The Ornish Diet
Unlike other diet books that make big promises, Eat More, Weigh Less, by Dean Ornish, MD, soft-pedals the health claims for this diet for the masses, adapted from his regimen to reverse heart disease. Ornish is well known in the medical community because of his success in reversing blockages to the heart, once thought impossible without surgery or drugs. Unlike other books that are full of scientific-sounding... Read more
Pregnancy pounds predict kids’ weight as teens
Women who gain too much weight during pregnancy may not only have bigger babies, but bigger teenagers as well, a study suggests. Researchers at Harvard Medical School found that among nearly 12,000 children and teenagers they studied, those whose mothers gained more than the recommended amount of weight during pregnancy were 42 percent more likely to be obese. The risk was independent of other factors... Read more
The Personality Type Diet
The Personality Type Diet is a diet based on sensible eating and exercise. So what’s new? Author Robert F. Kushner, MD, teaches medicine at Northwestern University and is director of the Wellness Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. After seeing a lot of people who wanted — and needed — to lose weight, Kushner realized there’s no one-size-fits-all diet. The Personality... Read more
The South Beach Diet
They may seem similar, but the South Beach diet is more than just a heart-friendly version of the Atkins diet. All the same, they have a lot in common. Both South Beach and Atkins diets are the creation of medical doctors. The father of the South Beach diet is cardiologist Arthur Agatston, MD, director of the Mount Sinai Cardiac Prevention Center in Miami Beach, Fla. Both the South Beach and Atkins... Read more
Weight loss surgery may improve IVF outcomes
Preliminary findings from patients who underwent obesity surgery, also known as bariatric surgery, at Washington University in St. Louis, indicate that this procedure used to induce weight loss may improve the ability of morbidly obese women to conceive after undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). Meanwhile, a second study conducted at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, New York, suggests... Read more
Greener neighborhoods better for kids’ waistlines
Children living in city neighborhoods with higher “greenness” ratings seem to gain less weight over time than their counterparts living in areas with less green space, a new study suggests. In the study, Dr. Janice F. Bell of the University of Washington in Seattle and colleagues followed more than 3,800 low income mainly African American children, 3 to 16 years old, who resided at the... Read more
Obese Kids Have Old Arteries
Kids these days are 13 going on 45, at least when it comes to their arteries. According to research presented Tuesday at the American Heart Association’s annual scientific sessions in New Orleans, obese adolescents had arteries more representative of someone three decades older. “These data further illustrate the potential detrimental effects of obesity and its related risk factors, particularly... Read more
The 3 Day Diet
Surprisingly surviving the test of time, the 3 Day Diet is another fad diet, dating back to 1985. Copies of the “3 Day Diet” continue to float around cyberspace, promising quick weight loss, cleansing, lower cholesterol, and increased energy. However, no diet book exists to substantiate the science behind the “unique metabolic reaction.” Often mistakenly called The Cleveland... Read more
How to Beat the Holiday Weight Gain Odds
From ‘food pushers’ to parties that tempt your senses, here’s how to overcome holiday diet temptations. Just when you’re finally getting your weight under control, boom! It’s the holidays, and food is everywhere. From the office to the factory, from the office supply store to the drugstore (not to mention parties and family events galore), it seems as if the Thanksgiving-to-New... Read more