…show that in obese humans and animals, the microbiota extract and absorb more calories from food and store them in fat cells. In a recent study, pregnant women who took probiotic supplements during their first trimester were only half as likely as a control group to have abdominal obesity a year after…
…to a rise in blood sugar. The pancreas responds by churning out more insulin, and the net result is elevated levels of both glucose and insulin. Obesity throws fuel on the fire. Adipose tissue (fat), especially in the abdominal area, releases fatty acids that impair beta-cell function and insulin sensitivity…
Abdominal fat is the most dangerous type of obesity. That’s because it’s packed within the abdominal cavity, surrounding your organs. Carrying a “spare tire” has been linked to increased risk of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, cancer, and dementia. Now, a new study shows that belly…
…establishments could no longer serve sodas that are larger than 16 ounces. One medical expert testified that large, sugar-laden sodas contribute to the obesity and diabetes crisis in our country. I agree. But creating a new law to ban the sale of large-sized sodas isn’t the answer. If they’re going to…
We hear a lot about obesity these days, and with good reason. Over the last three decades, obesity rates have risen significantly in the United States. As I mentioned in a blog post a few weeks ago, the number of obese adult Americans is now equal to the percentage who are merely overweight—at 34…
…toll on our health, causing a wide range of problems from asthma and autism to heart attacks and cancer. Now, a new study published in the journal Obesity found that there’s a connection between the common environmental toxin PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) and higher amounts of abdominal fat. Researchers…
…could be affecting your likelihood of becoming obese. In fact, researchers found that overweight people have the potential to create a ripple effect among their friends and family that are not overweight. Specifically, researchers found that obesity rate is affected by three factors: * Personal contact…
…condition called insulin resistance. Marked by elevated levels of insulin in the bloodstream, insulin resistance is also associated with increases in obesity, type 2 diabetes, and elevations in cholesterol and triglyceride levels. A healthy diet and exercise will help control insulin resistance as well as…
…in the mid-1980s by Stanford University researcher Gerald Reaven, MD, metabolic syndrome is a cluster of disorders that includes obesity (particularly abdominal obesity), high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels, low HDL cholesterol (often referred to as “good” cholesterol…
…obese and the percentage of adults who are merely overweight (not obese) are now equal—at 34 percent each! Not only is that obesity statistic frightening, if you do the math it means that healthy weight Americans are now the minority, at just 32 percent. One of the biggest contributors to the obesity…
…by alcohol or a virus but by obesity and insulin resistance. Hence, many people living with diabetes are affected by it. In fact, at least half of all people with type 2 diabetes have it, as do up to three-quarters of obese people and 90 percent of the morbidly obese. Although nonalcoholic fatty liver…
…and other inflammatory bowel diseases. * Obesity. Research suggests that probiotics may help fight the battle of the bulge. The bacteria that reside in your intestinal tract are involved in nutrient uptake and energy regulation. Studies reveal that in obese humans and animals, these bacteria extract…
…healthy weight. One of the most significant risk factors for type 2 diabetes is obesity. Statistics show that 90 percent of all people with type 2 diabetes are overweight. In fact, the link between diabetes and obesity is so strong that it’s led to the coining of a new term, diabesity. Where you store…
…-1980s by Stanford University researcher Gerald Reaven, MD, metabolic syndrome, initially called syndrome X, is a cluster of disorders that includes obesity, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol (often referred to as “good” cholesterol since it ushers excess cholesterol out…
We’ve long known that too much sitting, and not enough activity, can lead to obesity and diabetes—and now we can add cancer to the list. A new study presented at The American Institute for Cancer Research annual conference showed that nearly 50,000 new cases of breast cancer per year, and over 40…
…bucks" off the American obesity crisis... Newly presented research at the EFIC Congress in Hamburg, Germany—a pain research organization—showed that obese people experience significantly higher levels of pain than those who are normal weight. In one study involving obese rats, the researchers demonstrated…
…overweight or obese, as are a third of our children. Unfortunately, our appetite for calorie-laden foods may be exceeded only by our susceptibility to fad diets that promise quick weight loss. Folks, these diets and magical fat-burning foods are not solutions to our epidemic of obesity. If you want to…
…MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 If you are living with diabetes, you should know that the health of your liver may be at risk. People with diabetes, especially those who are obese, are at particular risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which can progress to serious scarring of the liver. Therefore, I suggest that…
…damage and chronic inflammation—long known to be associated with aging at the cellular level—speed it up, as do smoking, heavy drinking, and obesity. Telomeres and telomerase, the enzyme that builds them, are intimately involved in aging, degeneration, and death, so it’s not surprising that many…
…signals satiety and the breakdown of stored fat. You’d expect thin people to have robust levels of leptin, and they do. But, surprisingly, levels in obese people are often sky high. That’s because overweight individuals also have elevations in C-reactive protein (CRP). In addition to being a marker of…
Believe it or not, one-third of Americans are obese, and obesity, particularly in the abdominal area, is a well-established diabetes risk factor. When you exercise, your muscles’ energy requirements increase dramatically—they need ready access to glucose, which fuels the hungry muscle cells. Exercise…
Obesity is huge problem in America, and one of the biggest culprits is our collective urge to snack. Snack food manufacturers make up a multi-billion industry—all focused on bringing you chips, snack bars, and cookies that are draining your wallet, expanding your waistline, and contributing to the…
…tonight is perhaps the biggest sugar nightmare of all—as pint-sized ghosts and goblins go from house to house loading up on all of the makings of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. But Halloween—and the entire sugar-filled, high-fat holiday season—doesn’t have to expand your waistline or spike…
Let’s face it: obesity and diabetes have reached epidemic proportions in our country. You may hear a segment about that on the news, usually followed by a commercial for a high-calorie, fat-laden snack. Those packaged products are cheap to make and sell—and the companies that make them don’t care…
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