BackSaturated fats may not be so bad after all
Protein-packed breakfast prevents body fat gain in overweight teens and low-fat may beat low-carb diet for trimming body fat-facts to make you healthier, starting today
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Aerobically fit children are better at math
A new study from the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign reveals that 9 and 10-year-old children who are aerobically fit tend to have significantly thinner gray matter in the cerebrum than their “low-fit" peers. Interestingly, thinning of the outermost layer of brain cells in the cerebrum is associated with better math skills, according to the researchers. The August 2015 study, The Role of Aerobic Fitness in Cortical Thickness and Mathematics Achievement in Preadolescent Children, appears in the journal PLOS ONE. The new study finds a correlation—but not direct causation—between cardiorespiratory fitness and cortical gray matter thinning in the cerebrum (link is external). This study also offers the first direct evidence that fitness improves arithmetic performance on standardized tests by aiding the development of brain structures that contribute to mathematics achievement. Read more here.
Saturated fats not so bad; they prevent you from eating carbs
Saturated fats, like those found in red meat and high-fat ice cream, may not be so bad for your heart health after all. They aren’t linked to heart disease, according to a new report in BMJ. So is that good news? Not so fast. That’s only part of the story, according to two nutrition experts: Frank Hu, MD, PhD, MPH, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard, and Alice Lichtenstein, DSc, director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at Tufts University. People who cut back on saturated fat often start eating more refined, unhealthy carbohydrates like white bread, they say. And those aren’t heart-healthy, either. Read more here.
Low-fat may beat low-carb diet for trimming body fat
When it comes to slimming down, a diet low in fat seems to beat a diet low in carbohydrates for body fat loss, new research suggests. The finding stems from a small U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) investigation that tracked each approach to weight loss among 19 obese adults. “These results counter the claims of the popular theory that has been influencing many people to adopt low-carb diets," said study lead author Kevin Hall, a senior investigator with the US National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in Bethesda, Md. That theory focuses on the notion that carb-cutting triggers a decrease in insulin levels, while cutting fat does not. The hormonal plunge should, in turn, boost fat-burning and increase fat loss, he explained. Read more here.
Protein-packed breakfast prevents body fat gain in overweight teens
Approximately 60% of young people habitually skip breakfast up to four times a week, previous research has shown. Although health experts recommend breakfast as a strategy to reduce an individual’s chance of obesity, little research has examined if the actual type of breakfast consumed plays a significant role in one’s health and weight management. University of Missouri researchers compared the benefits of consuming a normal-protein breakfast to a high-protein breakfast and found the high-protein breakfast — which contained 35g of protein — prevented gains of body fat, reduced daily food intake and feelings of hunger, and stabilized glucose levels among overweight teens who would normally skip breakfast. Read more here.
Google and Dexcom team up for high-tech, low-cost diabetes devices
A maker of blood glucose monitoring devices, Dexcom, is teaming up with the new Google Life Sciences company to develop bandage-thin continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices. Google Life Sciences is one of the new companies that Google created under its restructured and newly named company, Alphabet. CGM devices provide glucose readings continuously, helping people with diabetes track their glucose levels more accurately. Compared to finger prick technology, which provides a single glucose reader, CGM provide up to 288 glucose readings per day, one every five minutes, allowing patients to see whether their glucose is rising, falling or remaining stable. The devices are currently used mostly by people with type 1 diabetes who need close monitoring of their glucose. Read more here.
Compiled by Pooja Chaturvedi
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