A U.S. study in mice fed a high-fat diet has determined that drinking clarified, pulp-free grapefruit juice reduced weight gain by 18 percent, but the researchers were not able to identify what compound in the juice was responsible. The findings revive interest in a fad diet that was purportedly debunked by earlier studies. The researchers gave one group of mice on a high-fat diet a bioactive compound (naringen) in grapefruit juice identified as a key agent in weight loss, and another group a glucose-lowering drug. The high-fat-diet mice that received naringin had lower blood glucose levels than the control group, but there was no effect on weight, suggesting that some other ingredient in grapefruit juice is also beneficial.

Dutch research involving 32 men and women has proven the health value of consuming higher levels of the amino acid tyrosine. Participants were given orange juice that contained either tyrosine or a placebo. Tyrosine increases the production of dopamine in the brain, which increases the ability to think creatively. They were then required to solve various puzzles involving two main aspects of creative thinking: divergent thinking and convergent thinking. The test subjects who drank orange juice with added tyrosine were found to be better at solving puzzles than those who were administered a placebo.

A U.S. clinical study has found that even brief – 20 minutes –  resistance training sessions have a positive impact on long-term (episodic) memory. Researchers focused on weight training, but said other resistance workouts like squats or knee bends would have the same result. For the study, participants looked at positive, negative and neutral photos, then were asked to exercise actively on a leg resistance machine, or passively (researcher moving the machine). Participants who exercised actively showed the highest physiological responses to the photographs, indicating improved memory. Memory improvement was measured at ten percent.

Unilever has enlisted the help of several First Ladies in a global campaign to spread the word about the health benefits of hand washing with soap, particularly Lifebuoy. According to the company, Lifebuoy’s Help A Child Reach 5 campaign aims to eradicate preventable deaths from diseases like diarrhea by teaching lifesaving hand washing habits. Unilever partnered with Fashion 4 Development (F4D) to sponsor a luncheon for United Nations First Ladies to highlight the importance of infant hygiene programs. Each year 6.6 million children die before their fifth birthday; 40 percent are newborns. Many deaths could be prevented by hand washing.

A study by Israeli researchers finds that a daily 100 ml dose of a new non-caffeinated beverage called “WakeUp Post Lunch Waker” helps suppress after-lunch fatigue much more effectively than caffeinated drinks. Both the WakeUp drink and caffeine beverages relieved after-lunch fatigue up to a half hour after lunch. But two hours after lunch performance dropped among participants who drank the caffeine drink. Those who drank WakeUp continued to show a significant benefit. A recent U.S. study showed that loss of productive time from fatigue and exhaustion at work cost more than $135 billion.

Compared to families eligible for, but not participating in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), those in the program tend to eat less nutritious food, a U.S. study finds. In 2013, about 48 million Americans participated in SNAP, once known as the food stamp program, which helps low-income households buy groceries. The study found that SNAP participants had lower dietary quality scores overall than nonparticipating low-income people, and lower scores for fruits and vegetables, seafood and plant proteins. They also consumed more empty calories.

Research presented at a recent European medical conference confirms that flour was the main cause of occupational asthma in 20 percent of 330 cases in France. Known as “baker’s asthma”, the condition occurs when flour – including its dust and enzymes – irritates the respiratory system, causing allergy-related symptoms. The second leading cause of occupational asthma was cleaning products containing ammonia (15 percent of cases). Workers in food manufacturing were at greater risk for asthma than farm workers, and women were at greater risk than men.

A three-month Swedish clinical study involving 38 overweight women found that taking an extract of spinach containing leaf membranes (thylakoids) reduced food cravings and increased weight loss. The control group that took a placebo lost an average of 3.5 kg while the group that was given five grams of thylakoids daily lost 5 kg. The thylakoid group also found that it was easier to stick to three meals a day, and did not experience any cravings. The researchers said taking thylakoids reinforced the body's production of satiety hormones and suppressed food cravings, leading to better appetite control, healthier eating habits and increased weight loss.

A study in mice finds that ibuprofen may provide the key to keeping the immune systems of older adults functioning with youthful efficiency. In the lungs of older mice, U.S. researchers found that white blood cells known as macrophages – the “first responders” of the immune system – didn’t respond as efficiently to a tuberculosis infection as the macrophages in younger mice. But ibuprofen reversed the situation, in effect strengthening the immune response. The researchers said it might be possible to reduce or prevent some diseases in the elderly by decreasing inflammation with diet, exercise and ibuprofen.

People and their pet dogs would benefit greatly if there were more access to dog-friendly walking environments and better education about dogs’ physical needs, according to a review of international scientific papers by British scientists. In the U.K., a quarter of households own dogs, but as many as 40 percent of dog owners do not regularly walk their dog. Two key problems were found in the 31 studies surveyed: dog owners often are unaware of how much exercise a dog should get; and pet owners often lacked access to parks where dogs were allowed off-leash and waste-disposal facilities were provided. The result is that both pets and their owners miss out on the health benefits of dog walking.

The U.S. FDA has issued an alert warning people on gluten-free diets to avoid an increasingly popular food ingredient known as lupin. A legume from the same plant family as peanuts, lupin is used as a replacement for wheat in an increasing number of gluten-free products. Food manufacturers are required to list lupin on the food label. The FDA is urging consumers with peanut and soybean allergies to read labels because of the risk of allergic reactions. Symptoms include hives, swelling of the lips, vomiting, breathing difficulties and anaphylactic shock. Even people without allergies to legume products should be aware of the ingredient.

A growing number of smartphone apps use games to motivate people to exercise, according to a new U.S. study. The apps are premised on the belief that ”gamification” works better than general health and fitness apps – of which there are 31,000 – at getting people to work out. The most common forms of motivation in the apps centered on social or peer pressure (45 percent), digital rewards (24 percent), competitions (18 percent), and leader boards (14 percent). But, the researchers ask, do these fun and engaging apps sustain major changes in healthy behavior? More research is needed, they say, in an industry projected to be worth $2.8 billion in a couple of years.

A USDA scientist says he and his colleagues are developing a technology to process cashews and other nuts that will render them safer for people with nut allergies to eat them. Current clinical trials are testing ways to help nut-allergic people avoid severe immune reactions. But the USDA plan is to come up with an “agricultural” solution to the problem. The basic idea is to modify proteins in tree nuts and peanuts (which are legumes) that trigger an immune response in people who are allergic. They have tested the safe compound sulfite, finding that it can effectively disrupt the structure of a couple of the cashew allergens.

Lifestyle factors may be more important for brain health than specific food ingredients, a U.S. study has found. The data indicated that people who ate baked or broiled fish at least once a week had greater grey matter brain volumes in areas of the brain responsible for memory (4.3 percent) and cognition (14 percent) and were more likely to have a college education than those who didn't eat fish regularly. Whether the fish was rich in omega 3 fatty acids didn't seem to matter. The researchers concluded that they may have tapped into a general set of lifestyle factors affecting brain health, only one of which is diet.

Researchers in Australia report that resistant starches – e.g., slightly green bananas, cooked and cooled potatoes, whole grains, beans, chickpeas, lentils, etc. – reduce the risk of colorectal cancer in people whose diet is rich in red meat. Participants in the study ate 300 g of lean red meat a day for four weeks. Levels of certain genetic molecules increased by 30 percent along with an increase in cell proliferation. For another four weeks they ate 40 g of butyrated resistant starch each day with the red meat. Levels of the molecules returned to normal. Resistant starches are not digested in the stomach and small intestine, but pass through to the colon where they act like fiber.

New U.S. research based on data from a national survey on health confirms again that a sedentary lifestyle – not just eating behaviors – is a significant contributor to the obesity problem in this country. The research shows a major decline in physical activity and a sharp increase in body mass index (BMI) over the last two decades. The number of U.S. adult women who said they did not exercise jumped from 19.1 percent in 1994 to 51.7 percent in 2010. The number of men who did not exercise went from 11.4 percent in 1994 to 43.5 percent. By 2010, BMI had increased among both men and women, most dramatically among women aged 18-39. Though the obesity rate rose continuously over those 20 years, total daily intake of calories, fat, carbohydrates, and protein did not change significantly.

A new wellness program that focuses more on the mental side of weight loss has gained the approval of scientists at the University of Missouri. This “non-diet” intuitive eating method involves paying attention to internal cues, such as hunger and fullness, rather than external cues, such as calorie counting and weight scales. In their testing of the “Eat for Life” approach, which focuses on mindfulness and intuitive eating as a lifestyle, participants improved their view of their bodies, and decreased eating behaviors – e.g., binging, purging and fasting – that often led to regaining weight lost in traditional diet programs.

A six-month U.S. study of 60 mild-to-moderate Parkinson’s disease patients found a simple and safe way to improve a variety of symptoms of the debilitating disease. Participants, who did not have dementia and were able to walk independently, walked for 45 minutes at moderate intensity (three miles per hour) while wearing heart rate monitors, three times a week. Brisk walking improved motor function and mood by 15 percent and attention/response control scores by 14 percent.  It reduced tiredness by 11 percent, and improved aerobic fitness and gait speed by seven percent. A test of motor function found a “clinically important” improvement of 2.8 points.

People who think of their exercise activities as fun rather than a workout are less likely to chow down on calorie-packed snacks and desserts, two U.S. studies have found. In both studies, participants walked around a lake. In the first, some were told it was an exercise walk, others that it was just a scenic walk. At the subsequent lunch, those who thought they’d been exercising ate 35 percent more chocolate pudding than those on the scenic walk. The second study had the same result: those who thought they were exercising ate 124 percent more calories worth of M&Ms than the scenic – “fun” – walkers.

Last September, Chobani recalled Greek yogurt manufactured in its Idaho plant after customers complained of severe gastrointestinal discomfort. The company said the yogurt had been contaminated by a relatively harmless fungus dangerous only to people with unhealthy immune systems. After complaints from otherwise healthy individuals, however, scientists took a closer look. They found that the yogurt had been tainted by one particular fungal strain that, unlike other strains, showed an ability to cause lethal infections in mice when spores were injected into the bloodstream. They also  survived passage through the GI tract when ingested orally. The conclusion? “Fungal pathogens can threaten our health systems as food-borne pathogens."

Reduced blood flow to leg arteries – called peripheral artery disease or PAD – can make it painful for people to walk. A new clinical study in Italy suggests that eating dark chocolate might provide some relief from the pain, cramping and fatigue associated with PAD. Twenty patients aged 60 to 78 walked on a treadmill in the morning and later after eating 40 grams of dark and milk chocolate on separate days. Participants increased their ability to walk unassisted after eating dark chocolate (85 percent cocoa content and rich in polyphenols), compared to eating milk chocolate. The authors suggested that the polyphenols in the dark chocolate reduced oxidative stress and improved blood flow in the leg arteries.

A study involving 129 sedentary Canadian adult finds that they were able to correctly tell whether they were exercising lightly, but tended to say they were exercising moderately or vigorously  when they fell short of those levels, even after some instruction. The participants, who used treadmills, were asked to indicate whether they felt they were working out lightly, moderately or vigorously. Exercise guidelines say adult heart rates should be within 64 to 76 percent of their maximum heart rate for moderate activity, and between 77 to 83 percent for vigorous intensity. The researchers said their findings indicate that most adults underestimate the intensity of physical activity needed to achieve healthy results.

Only one percent of Americans – 316,000 – suffer from celiac disease, a severe gastric reaction to gluten, the protein found in wheat, barley and rye flour. Another two million or so are considered gluten intolerant. But more than a quarter of Americans – about 79 million – are trying to become gluten-free, and that’s what’s driving the multi-billion-dollar gluten-free foods market. The trend is here to stay, according to food industry experts. Top restaurants in New York City, for example, are all serving gluten-free versions of their most popular pastas. But why? A “perfect storm” of trends: an increase in food allergies, growing concerns about digestive health, worries about genetic modification of grain, and other dietary qualms “are at an all-time high and food itself is the current cultural currency”. Gluten-free seems to be the panacea.

A study of 141 type 2 diabetics by Canadian researchers has found that eating a low-glycemic diet, including bread made with canola oil, led to a significant reduction in blood glucose levels and in LDL or “bad”, cholesterol. The canola bread diet was compared to a similar diet with whole wheat bread. The results translate into a seven percent reduction in cardiovascular events, or the equivalent of an additional 20 mg dose of the cholesterol-reducing drugs known as statins. Interesting finding: patients on the whole wheat diet seemed to have better blood flow after 12 weeks than those on the canola bread diet. Whole wheat foods have consistently been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

A British clinical study that focused on the health effects of the powerful antioxidant lycopene, found in tomatoes and available in supplement form, discovered significant cardiovascular benefits. Thirty-six cardiovascular disease patients and thirty-six healthy volunteers were given either an off-the-shelf supplement containing 7 mg of lycopene or a placebo. Lycopene improved and normalized endothelial (blood vessel lining) function in the patients, but not in healthy volunteers. Lycopene improved the widening of the blood vessels by 53 percent compared to baseline. However, the supplement had no effect on blood pressure, arterial stiffness or levels of lipids.

They may not be able to bend it like former British footballer David Beckham, but men in their sixties and seventies reap remarkable fitness rewards by playing soccer, according to Danish research. Soccer is not only a fun social activity, it is also an effective form of high-intensity interval training. Inactive, untrained men 63 to 75 years old improved maximum oxygen uptake by 15 percent and performance during interval exercise by as much as 50 percent by playing soccer for just one hour twice a week for four months. In addition, muscle function improved 30 percent and bone mineralization in the femoral neck increased by two percent. “Intense training such as soccer can change the lives of elderly men," the researchers noted.

Interval training – short bouts of intense exercise in tandem with moderate exercise – benefits men more than women, according to a new U.S. study. Though men and women both experience increases in aerobic capacity through interval training, men create more new proteins than women do. The study involved young, healthy, active men and women who completed sprint interval training on a stationary bike three times a week, for three weeks. Aerobic capacity was measured before and after the study, and the number of new proteins created was measured, especially those created in muscle. The researchers said the study does not extend to other types of exercise, such as running, jogging and cycling, where women may benefit equally or more.

They may not be able to bend it like former British footballer David Beckham, but men in their sixties and seventies reap remarkable fitness rewards by playing soccer, according to Danish research. Soccer is not only a fun social activity, it is also an effective form of high-intensity interval training. Inactive, untrained men 63 to 75 years old improved maximum oxygen uptake by 15 percent and performance during interval exercise by as much as 50 percent by playing soccer for just one hour twice a week for four months. In addition, muscle function improved 30 percent and bone mineralization in the femoral neck increased by two percent. “Intense training such as soccer can change the lives of elderly men," the researchers noted.

Interval training – short bouts of intense exercise in tandem with moderate exercise – benefits men more than women, according to a new U.S. study. Though men and women both experience increases in aerobic capacity through interval training, men create more new proteins than women do. The study involved young, healthy, active men and women who completed sprint interval training on a stationary bike three times a week, for three weeks. Aerobic capacity was measured before and after the study, and the number of new proteins created was measured, especially those created in muscle. The researchers said the study does not extend to other types of exercise, such as running, jogging and cycling, where women may benefit equally or more.

Adding prunes to a weight loss diet program can help people shed pounds, a British clinical study has found. Scientists tested the impact of prunes for 12 weeks on 100 overweight and obese participants who generally ate a diet low in fiber. Participants either ate prunes every day (140 g for women and 171 g for men), and a control group only given advice on healthy snacking. Those who ate prunes as part of a healthy lifestyle diet lost 2 kg (4.4 lb) and shed 2.5 cm (0.98 in) off their waists, and the prunes were well-tolerated. The people in the control group lost only 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) and 1.7 cm (0.67 in) from their waists.