Let’s face it. We live in a very diet-oriented society, which often has unrealistic ideas about what we all should look like. If you’ve ever said to yourself, “I’ll eat this now, and start on a diet on Monday” or after New Year’s, or another arbitrary date – chances are you’re in a self-defeating pattern known [...]

Santa Claus needs to lose weight, cut down on the mince pies and brandy and swap his reindeer and sleigh for a bicycle to become a healthier role model for children. According to an Australian public health doctor jolly ol’ St. Nick promotes obesity, drinking and driving, speeding and a generally unhealthy lifestyle, and it [...]

If you think you’re cutting calories by eating diet or low-calorie versions of your favorite foods, think again. A new study by Canadian scientists published in the journal Obesity suggests that our bodies can’t be fooled that easily. Researchers at the University of Alberta studied the eating habits of young rats, and found that they [...]

Stress really plays havoc on a person’s body, mind and soul.  Some people thrive on stress, but usually most people don’t welcome it with open arms.  Many different factors affect your stress level from personal to work related reasons. Stress can raise your blood sugar levels, alter your diet and sleep patterns and just really [...]

‘Tis the season for celebrating, spending time with loved ones – and, of course, that means lots of parties, special dinners and baked goods galore. According to recent research, the average North American consumes up to 600 extra calories per day during the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years. That can translate into a gain [...]

People who want to maintain a healthy weight shouldn’t obsess about how much fat they eat, according to new research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The percentage of calories that a person get from fat, as opposed to protein or carbohydrates, had nothing to do with how much weight they gain in [...]

If you want to trim down, you should set up your home to make the healthy choice the easiest choice, says a psychology expert from the University of Connecticut. In her new research, 201 overweight and obese people were divided into two groups. One group got a six-month behavioral weight-loss program that emphasized a low-fat, [...]

We’ve reached the point where obesity threatens life expectancy more than smoking, say researchers in the New England Journal of Medicine. These Harvard scientists took a hard look at how many years the average person is likely to gain in life expectancy from a drop in smoking rates. Then they plugged in average years lost [...]

Adjustable gastric banding is much more effective long-term than a very low-calorie diet for people who are about 50 pounds overweight, a study shows. Researchers at Monash University Medical School in Melbourne, Australia, recruited 80 patients who were on average 52 pounds over a healthy weight. Half had the laparoscopic adjustable gastric band surgery. The other [...]

Type 2 diabetes is a condition in which the body does not use or produce insulin properly. Insulin dictates the storage or release of sugar (in the form of glucose) within the bloodstream. Carbohydrate-rich foods like breads, rice, cereal and potatoes provide the most glucose to the body. A new study from Duke University has [...]