Among overweight and obese adults, a diet rich in slowly digested carbohydrates, such as whole grains, legumes and other high-fiber foods, significantly reduces markers of inflammation associated with chronic disease, according to a new study by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Such a “low-glycemic-load” diet, which does not cause blood-glucose levels to spike, also increases a hormone that helps regulate the metabolism of fat and sugar. These findings are published online ahead of the February print issue of The Journal of Nutrition. (more…)
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Nearly one in six pregnancies end in miscarriage or stillbirth, but parents’ losses are frequently minimized or not acknowledged by friends, family or the community.
“Women who have not gone through a stillbirth don’t want to hear about my birth, or what my daughter looked like, or anything about my experience,” said one woman, responding in a University of Michigan Health System-led study that explored how Internet communities and message boards increasingly provide a place for women to share feelings about these life-altering experiences. (more…)
Recently, a study out of the Texas Women’s University looked at whether blueberries with their high polyphenol content could help in fighting obesity. Blueberries after all have already been cited as having positive health effects on other conditions like cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome. The study was conducted in Petri dishes (not live animals) using a blueberry polyphenol extract and tissue cultures from mice. On the surface the findings look positive. The purpose was to examine the effect that the polyphenol in blueberries had in counteracting the development of fat cells. The result was a 73 percent reduction in the number of fat cells using the highest dose and a 27 percent reduction with the smallest dose. Positive but, what does this actually mean?