Accepting food cravings and keeping them in check may be an important component of weight management, according to findings from the first six-month phase of a calorie-restriction study conducted at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University. Supplemental results from the Comprehensive Assessment of the Long-term Effects of Restricting Intake of Energy (CALERIE) trial provide new insights into food cravings, specific types of foods craved, and their role in weight control.
"Cravings are really normal; almost everyone has them," says corresponding author Susan Roberts, PhD, director of the USDA HNRCA's Energy Metabolism Laboratory. At the start of the study, 91 percent of the participants reported having food cravings, which are defined as an intense desire to eat a specific food. "Most people feel guilty about having food cravings," says Roberts, "but the results of this study indicate that they are so normal that nobody needs to feel they are unusual in this respect."
In addition, the results indicate that cravings don't go away during dieting. "In fact, 94 percent of the study participants reported cravings after six months of dieting. However,"Roberts says, "participants who lost a greater percentage of body weight gave in to their cravings less frequently. Allowing yourself to have the foods you crave, but doing so less frequently may be one of the most important keys to successful weight control," she adds.
BBCWed, 18 Jul 2007 08:18 UTC
An Indian minister has proposed that all pregnant women register with the government and seek its permission if they wish to undergo an abortion.
Women and child development minister Renuka Chowdhury says the move is aimed at stopping the aborting of unwanted female foetuses.
Although prenatal sex determination and selective abortion are banned, far more boys than girls are born.
Critics warn that the new move could backfire and be misused.
BBCWed, 18 Jul 2007 07:35 UTC
Eating grapefruit every day could raise the risk of developing breast cancer by almost a third, US scientists say.
A study of 50,000 post-menopausal women found eating just a quarter of a grapefruit daily raised the risk by up to 30%.
The fruit is thought to boost levels of oestrogen - the hormone associated with a higher risk of the disease, the British Journal of Cancer reported.
But the researchers and other experts said more research was still needed.
Heidi Ledford
NatureWed, 18 Jul 2007 07:32 UTC
Getting sick often means getting tired too. Now researchers have tracked down how the chemical responsible for such drowsiness works.
The culprit is a small protein called tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), named for its anti-tumour properties. This compound was known to trigger inflammation in response to infection and some chronic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. And it was known to be linked - somehow - to fatigue. Cancer patients treated with TNF-alpha sometimes report severe lethargy, for example. And patients with a sleep disorder called sleep apnea sometimes report less daytime sleepiness after receiving a drug that interferes with TNF-alpha.
But precisely how the protein was affecting sleep habits was unclear.
A 13-year-old boy fatally stabbed his brother with a steak knife after the 16-year-old refused to turn over a video game controller, authorities said.
Comment: Still think video games are harmless to your mental health?
U.S.-based babyfood company Gerber is recalling around half a million packs of organic rice and oatmeal cereal because of a risk babies might choke on the product, a spokesman said on Monday.
America used to be the tallest country in the world.
From the days of the Founding Fathers through the Industrial Revolution and two world wars, Americans literally towered over people of other nations.
But America's predominance in height has faded. Americans reached a height plateau after World War II, gradually falling behind nations around the world.
Comment: There is no doubt the US is falling behind or below standard in many areas. When a pathocracy is in place, the lives of a countries citizens are worth less than nothing. In the case of the US, cannon fodder and mindless machines are the goal.
Andrew Leonard
SalonMon, 16 Jul 2007 21:35 UTC
The efforts of the chemical industry to combat findings that a ubiquitous synthetic chemical (traces of which can be found in the urine of just about every living human being in the United States ) might cause developmental and reproductive defects in humans, even when ingested in low doses, are not surprising. But there is one aspect to this story that is quite eye-opening.
There appears to be evidence that the damage done by bisphenol A during embryonic development may be scrambling the signals that fat cells normally receive during prenatal and neonatal development. After the initial distortion, the affected fat cells never work properly again. Affected animals are unable to properly metabolize their normal diets, leading to obesity. And guess what? The introduction of bisphenol A into the human environment in significant quantities tracks pretty closely, in timing, to the advent of the so-called obesity epidemic in the United States.
ANIMon, 16 Jul 2007 12:38 UTC
A study has revealed that high consumption of foods like white rice, pasta and bread, which have high-glycemic-index, increase the chances of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
However, whole-wheat versions of rice, pasta and bread are examples of foods that have a low-glycemic-index. These foods are often considered higher quality carbohydrates because they are associated with a slower and less dramatic rise and fall of blood sugar.
AMD it is the leading cause of central vision loss (blindness) and in the United States.
Allen Taylor, PhD, director of the Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University, and colleagues said that AMD link and vision loss may be connected to the quality of carbohydrates an individual consumes.
AFPMon, 16 Jul 2007 12:28 UTC
A Polish baby came into the world under the influence of alcohol because his mother was drunk during labour, police said Friday.
Tests 12 hours after the boy's birth revealed a level of 1.2 grammes of alcohol per 1,000 grammes of blood - the equivalent of a bottle of wine or two litres of beer for an adult drinker.
In comparison, blood-alcohol limit for drivers in Poland is 0.2 grammes.
The baby was in intensive care on Friday, and although he was in a stable condition, doctors said they feared his brain could have suffered lasting damage.
Comment: Still think video games are harmless to your mental health?