Binge-eating mice reveal obesity clues

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For example, when offered chocolate for just one hour per day, the animals will compulsively ‘binge’, consuming as much chocolate in one hour as they would over a whole day if it was continually available. They also showed inflexible behaviours, similar to those seen in addiction, choosing to wait for chocolate while ignoring freely available standard chow. Yet, at the same time, the chocolate did not seem to satiate hunger as well as regular food.

The team found that animals on the high fat or chocolate diet also changed their daily routines. They were more likely to eat during the daytime — mice are usually nocturnal and feed at night — and they ate shorter more frequent ‘snacks’ rather than larger, longer-spaced meals.

We had friends over for dinner on Saturday.  While at the store shopping for provisions I saw some gelato on sale for 99 cents.

$0.99!  The only flavor on sale was chocolate.  I bought some.

The next night I had to have some chocolate gelato.  Because it was there!

The mice have proven what I already know.

Read the source article here.

Higher Fruit and Vegetable Intake Associated With Lower Total and Cause-Specific Mortality in a Nonlinear Dose-Response Manner

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Results: Our study documented 28,333 deaths during follow-up. The 3rd quintile of fruit and vegetable intake was associated with the lowest hazard ratio (HR) of total mortality (HR, 0.87, 95% CI, 0.83-0.90, P nonlinear <0.001) compared to the 1st quintile. The nonlinear dose-response relationship plateaued at about 5 servings/day (svg/d), but above that level, higher intake was not associated with additional risk reduction. We found similar nonlinear associations for CVD, cancer and respiratory disease mortality. Compared to fruit and vegetable intake <1.5 svg/d, the intake level ≥5 svg/d was associated with HRs (95% CI) of 0.84 (0.75-0.93), 0.82 (0.72-0.93) and 0.55 (0.44-0.67) for cancer, CVD and respiratory disease mortality, respectively. Among individual fruits and vegetables, the associations of intakes with mortality were heterogeneous. Higher intakes of most fruit and vegetable subgroups were associated with lower total mortality, whereas higher intake of starchy vegetable such as peas and corn was not associated with total mortality.

Read the full abstract here.

Non-linear dose response.  What would The Ultimate Vegan do with this data?

Drink More Water

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As pediatricians, we advise our patients to “drink more water” all the time — a recommendation that sounds so simple, yet so often under-recognized. In fact, more than half of American children do not drink enough water and one-fourth do not drink any water on a daily basis. Keeping hydrated is important for nearly every system in the body, from blood circulation and nourishment to temperature regulation and waste removal (after all, the human body is made up of 60 percent water).

Have a glass of water while you read the full article.

Stress Changes Your Brain Structure!

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In mice.

In the latest study, the researchers paired sets of mice together and then removed one mouse from each pair and subjected them to a mild amount of stress. They then returned the stressed mouse to the pair and observed the brains of both mice. The results showed that the stressed mouse experienced changes in a group of neurons located in the hippocampus, a brain area that plays a central role in memory and emotional response. The brain of the other mouse that hadn’t been stressed, but was now in the presence of its stressed partner, rapidly showed the same neuronal changes in its hippocampus. In effect, the brains of the unstressed mice mirrored the brains of the stressed mice.

Read the source article here.

The Blind Squirrel Finds a Nut

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The real crime here is that Amazon has been exempted from making a profit, and the culprit is the Federal Reserve’s malignant regime of Bubble Finance. The latter has destroyed financial discipline entirely and turned the stock market into the greatest den of speculation in human history.

If you think the US economy is doing well read this.

Another Reason to Put The Phone Down

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The goal of everything we do is to change people’s actual behavior at scale. When people use our app, we can capture their behaviors, identify good and bad behaviors, and develop ways to reward the good and punish the bad.

The Facebook ‘transmission of anger’ experiment is terrifying.

Read this article to gain a better understanding of The Evil Empire aka Facebook.

How about Facebook collecting data on all of your cell phone calls?

 

Fat and Getting Fatter

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Trends in Obesity and Severe Obesity Prevalence in US Youth and Adults by Sex and Age, 2007-2008 to 2015-2016

Craig M. Hales, MD1; Cheryl D. Fryar, MSPH1; Margaret D. Carroll, MSPH1; et al David S. Freedman, PhD2; Cynthia L. Ogden, PhD1
Author Affiliations Article Information
JAMA. Published online March 23, 2018. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.3060

Age-standardized prevalence of obesity among adults increased from 33.7% (95% CI, 31.5%-36.1%) in 2007-2008 to 39.6% (95% CI, 36.1%-43.1%) in 2015-2016 (P?=?.001) (Table 2). Prevalence increased among women, and in adults aged 40 to 59 years and 60 years or older. The observed increases in men and adults aged 20 to 39 years did not reach statistical significance. There were no significant quadratic trends. The adjusted model also showed a significant overall linear trend for obesity among adults (P?<?.001; data not shown).

Age-standardized prevalence of severe obesity in adults increased from 5.7% (95% CI, 4.9%-6.7%) in 2007-2008 to 7.7% (95% CI, 6.6%-8.9%) in 2015-2016 (P?=?.001). Prevalence increased in men, women, adults aged 20 to 39 years and 40 to 59 years. There was no significant linear trend among adults 60 years and older. There were no significant quadratic trends. The adjusted model also showed a significant overall linear trend for severe obesity (P?<?.001; data not shown).

OK…I know I’m obsessive about this obesity trend.  But that’s what happens when your peak BMI used to be 53+.  Many people have told me I should write a book.  Let’s just say I’m working on it.  A book is not a collection of blog posts.  I am not going to publish a book until I am satisfied I’ve done the best writing job I possibly can.
I just returned from a week away.  I didn’t step on the scale.  I weighed myself today for the first time in a week.  BMI holding steady around 26.
Read the source study here.

Taiwanese Vegetarians and Omnivores: Dietary Composition, Prevalence of Diabetes and IFG

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Background

The diabetes epidemic in Asia and particularly in China emerged simultaneously with increased meat consumption and higher proportion of energy intake from animal protein and fat [1]. Compared with Westerners, Asians tend to incur diabetes at a younger age and at a lower body mass index (BMI), possibly due to genetic susceptibility in combination with environmental exposures [2]. Vegetarian diets have been associated with a lower prevalence [3] and incidence [4] of diabetes among Seventh day Adventists. Previous clinical trials have shown vegetarian diets improve glycemic control [5] and insulin sensitivity [6]. Although several small studies reported lower glucose level and better insulin sensitivity in Taiwanese vegetarians than omnivores [7]–[9], no study thus far has examined whether a vegetarian diet protects against diabetes in Chinese ethnic Asian population, a high risk population that may incur diabetes despite having a normal BMI value [2]. Moreover, Asian diets tend to be lower in meat and higher in plant foods compared with Western diet. It remains unknown whether a diet completely avoiding meat and fish would further extend the protective effect of a plant-based diet. In addition, most studies on Asian vegetarians tend to compare vegetarians from religious groups with omnivores from the general population [7]. Religious and spiritual practices (a main determinant of vegetarian dietary practice in Asia) may be associated with social and emotional support which may confound health outcomes [10], [11].

Conclusion

We found a strong protective association between Taiwanese vegetarian diet and diabetes/IFG, after controlling for various potential confounders and risk factors.

The full study report can be found here.

 

Type of vegetarian diet, obesity and diabetes in adult Indian population

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…vegetarianism in India is associated with unique characteristics. It is usually a lifelong pattern and adherence crosses multiple generations; it generally comprises high consumption of whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds and dairy with spices and seasonings unique to the Indian diet. Hence, the combination/or the pattern of vegetarian diet may yield different findings than similar studies conducted in the West and it is thus possible to assess dietary associations with chronic diseases which have been difficult in the West due to low frequency. This study uses data from the third National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3, 2005–06), a survey of 109,041 Indian households which collected information on a wide range of dietary, societal, lifestyle, and environmental determinants of morbidity and chronic ailments including diabetes [16]. The NFHS-3 provides a unique opportunity to examine associations between types of vegetarian diet and diabetes and obesity in a large, nationally representative sample.

In this large, nationally representative sample of Indian adults, lacto-, lacto-ovo and semi-vegetarian diets were associated with a lower likelihood of diabetes. These findings may assist in the development of interventions to address the growing burden of overweight/obesity and diabetes in Indian population. However, prospective studies with better measures of dietary intake and clinical measures of diabetes are needed to clarify this relationship.

Interesting study with limitations as noted by the researchers.  Go here for the full study report.