The past month has seen the publication of a flood of new learned studies and surveys on various aspects of the obesity epidemic. They’re literally coming at the issue from all directions – and making some fascinating discoveries and connections. Time to get caught up on the news…
Eating for hunger – or overeating for pleasure?
How fructose in the diet contributes to obesity
Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian Hospital
“Eating fructose appears to alter cells in the digestive tract in a way that enables it to take in more nutrients, according to a preclinical study. These changes could help to explain the well-known link between rising fructose consumption around the world and increased rates of obesity and certain cancers.”
Fructose has been labelled a particularly nasty villain among processed foods – especially sugar-sweetened beverages – that are among the most serious contributors to the obesity crisis.
Defense against the consequences of Obesity
University of Texas Southwest Medical Center
“A stress signal received by the heart from fat could help protect against cardiac damage induced by obesity, a new study suggests. The finding could help explain the ‘obesity paradox,’ a phenomenon in which obese individuals have better short- and medium-term cardiovascular disease prognoses compared with those who are lean, but with ultimately worse long-term outcomes.”
Targeting mitochondria shows promise in treating obesity
University of California – Irvine
“Imbalances in the hormones leptin and adiponectin that accompany obesity create an uphill battle for people trying to lose weight. Having too much leptin can increase appetite while too little adiponectin activity is linked to many metabolic diseases. How or why is not really clear, but the state of the mitochondria may be an important link between these hormones and obesity.”
Modest calorie reduction plus exercise may help obese older adults
American Heart Association
“Among older adults with obesity, combining aerobic exercise with moderate reductions in total daily calories led to greater improvements in vascular health compared to exercise alone. Reducing calorie intake by approximately 250 calories per day may lead to significant weight loss and improve vascular health in older adults with obesity. ”
Childhood Obesity: Changes needed in early life care
Massachusetts General Hospital
“Interventions to prevent obesity in children typically don’t target the first 1,000 days of life – a critical period in which environmental and nutritional cues can increase the risk for obesity. A new study demonstrates how changing parents’ health behavior and how clinicians deliver care to mothers and infants decreased excess weight gain in infants.”
Mice treated with cytokene lose weight by ‘sweating’ fat
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
“Treating obese mice with the cytokine known as TSLP led to significant abdominal fat and weight loss compared to controls. The animal model findings support the possibility that increasing sebum production via the immune system could be a strategy for treating obesity in people.”
Eating for hunger or pleasure?
Baylor College of Medicine
“Overeating, whether it is guided by hunger or pleasure, typically leads to obesity, which affects about 42% of the adults in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. […] Many times we eat, not because we are hungry, but because of social pressures or because the food is so appetizing, that, even though we are full, we just want another bite.” Researchers have identified two signalling circuits that regulate both types of overeating.
Whole Grains may protect against obesity, heart disease
Tufts University, Health Sciences Campus
“A study finds that middle- to older-aged adults who ate more servings of whole grains, compared to those who ate fewer, were more likely to have smaller increases in waist size, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels as they aged. All three are linked with increased risk of heart disease. ”
My take
Kudos to all the researchers and clinicians who contributed to the foregoing discoveries in the battle against obesity.
It was particularly interesting to see how many experimental results confirmed the link between obesity and heart disease. We’ve know there’s a link for some time, now, but some aspects of how it works has been more or less a mystery.
I also noted the recommendations of multiple diet-based methods for reducing and/or controlling weight.
And It was instructional to learn that researchers are studying obesity at all stages of life – not just in middle and older age. More and more scientific findings seem to point to obesity as a life-long battle, rather than something that may happen at a given stage of life. That view of obesity promises to open more doors to its avoidance and control…
~ Maggie J.