Weight Control
Show 1189: What the Heck Should We Be Eating?
If you like to cook, you are no doubt aware that favorite recipes change with the times, just like fashions in clothing. But a lot of Americans don’t like to cook. They may not have tried acquiring …
Will Contrave Help You Lose Weight Safely?
Americans have been getting heavier for the past few decades. Most of us find weight control to be a struggle, so it's little wonder we might be tempted to try a drug that promises to make it easier. …
To Control Your Weight, Be a Healthy Vegetarian
Can a vegetarian diet help control your weight? Lots of people think so, but not all vegetarian diets are alike. Simply avoiding meat doesn't necessarily mean you fill your plate with vegetables, frui…
Show 1145: Are Big Corporations Hacking the Amer…
The distinction between pleasure and happiness might seem like a philosopher’s quibble. Fat Chance author Dr. Robert Lustig tells us why this difference is vitally important to our national wellbein…
Could TV On All Night Make You Gain Weight?
Do you leave the TV on in your bedroom overnight? Data from the Sister Study suggests you might want to turn it off (JAMA Internal Medicine, online June 10, 2019). What Does the Sister Study Say About…
Can a Mediterranean Diet Help You Control Your W…
A Mediterranean-type diet has lots of vegetables, fish rather than meat and olive oil instead of butter. Such a regimen has been shown to protect the heart. Could a Mediterranean diet also help you co…
Will a Keto Diet Help Eliminate Your Knee Pain?
Americans are continually searching for the one best diet that will make it easy to maintain a healthy weight, keep blood pressure and blood fats under control and help people feel vigorous. Over the …
Are Dog-Walkers at Risk for Broken Bones?
For years, health experts have been telling people that exercise is critical for good health and that walking is great exercise. Dog ownership can contribute: Regular dog-walkers get more exercise tha…
Will Drinking Diet Soda Raise Your Risk of Strok…
Sugar-sweetened beverages have developed a very bad reputation over the past decade or so. They contribute empty calories without corresponding nutritional value. Sugary drinks have been linked to kid…
Show 1149: Is Cutting Carbs More Important Than …
The diet wars have been raging for years. Each side has ardent proponents–those who insist that a low-fat diet is the best way to control weight and those who are convinced that a low-carb diet is b…
Can Mindfulness Help You Lose Weight?
Mindfulness, the practice of paying attention to your own thoughts and feelings in the moment, has been praised as a way for people to manage stress. It has also been studied as a way to manage major …
All Calories Are Not the Same
For decades, nutrition dogma has held that all calories are equal. It was not supposed to matter if the energy came from a bottle of Coke or a carrot. People were told that if they wanted to lose weig…
Low-Carb Diet Research Arouses Reader Outrage
Last week we sent out a People's Pharmacy Special Health Alert. It was titled "Low-Carb Diet Wins Diet Wars...Again!" We knew that there would be a lot of health reports on this latest research. We wa…
The Low-Carb Diet Wins Diet Wars…Again!
Many nutrition experts have maintained that a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. In other words, all calories are created equal. The more calories you consume the fatter you get. Put another way, thes…
Could a Supplement Help You Lose Belly Fat?
Belly fat (aka abdominal adiposity) is not just a matter of looking unattractive. A disproportionately large waistline can indicate excess visceral fat that increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, he…
How Good Should You Feel About BPA Substitutes?
Over the last few decades, scientists have identified a large number of compounds that can mimic hormones like estrogen. These endocrine disruptors include bisphenol A, also known as BPA. Scientists h…
Are High Carb Diets Better Than Low Carb Diets?
Do you shun fats and focus on carbohydrates for most of your energy? Or do you subscribe to a low-carb lifestyle? Proponents of both high carb diets and low carb diets have been debating their pros an…
Better Diet for Poor Americans Is Not a SNAP
Poor diet may underly a wide range of undesirable health problems, from obesity to diabetes and heart disease. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) was designed to help very low-income…
When Do Americans Develop a Sweet Tooth?
How early do Americans develop their sweet tooth and a taste for added sugar? A new study found that 99 percent of toddlers less than two years old consumed more than seven teaspoons of added sugar a …
Make Sure Your Vegetarian Diet Is High Quality
A vegetarian diet can be beneficial, but even vegetarians need to pay attention to the quality of the food they eat. Harvard researchers who have tracked the dietary habits and health of more than 125…
Show 1126: Can You Find Your Best Diet?
People get excited about their favorite diets. Maybe you do, too. Are you a low-carb champion or a low-fat fan? Which one really is your best diet? The DIETFITS Study: A big study from the Stanford Pr…
Is Stevia a Safe Sugar Substitute?
Artificial sweeteners have been controversial for decades. In the 1960s, when the idea of low-calorie substitutes for sugar was still fairly new, animal studies suggested that saccharine and cyclamate…
Will You Live Longer with a Healthy Lifestyle?
Everyone knows that there are several key elements to a healthy lifestyle: not smoking, exercising regularly, eating your vegetables, controlling weight and consuming alcohol in moderation. Most peopl…
How to Time Your Meals to Control Blood Sugar
Does it matter how you time your meals? Nutrition experts often urge obese people with diabetes to eat six small meals evenly spaced throughout the day. The idea is that this pattern will even out blo…
Can You Blame Your Gallstones on Fenofibrate?
Gallstones are hardened lumps of cholesterol or bile acids that can build up in the gallbadder. If they get stuck in the bile duct, they can cause severe abdominal pain. Doctors think a number of risk…
Do You Change Your Order If You See Calorie Coun…
Increasingly, menus in restaurants, pizzerias and even coffee shops carry nutritional information, including calorie counts. The eating establishments that have implemented this change are anticipatin…
Is There a Diet That Will Work Best for You?
Which weight-loss diet works best, low fat or low carb? That was the question a team of Stanford scientists were striving to answer (Gardner et al, JAMA, Feb. 20, 2018). It has been a bone of content…
How Does Your Neighborhood Affect Your Waistline…
Where you live may affect your waistline. We may not think that our environment changes our behavior, but there is evidence that it does. The Waistline Effect: British researchers report that people w…
Will Cinnamon Help You Stay Slim?
Cinnamon is delicious, but it also has potential health benefits. You may be able to use cinnamon to lower your cholesterol. In addition, scientists believe they have discovered how a compound from ci…
Do Tea Drinkers Have Better Weight Control?
Research in mice hints that tea drinkers might find it easier to lose weight than those choosing other beverages. Green tea has a reputation as aiding in weight loss (Turkozu & Tek, Critical Revie…
Show 1094: Does It Matter When You Eat?
For decades, epidemiologists have noted that people who eat breakfast seem to weigh less and live longer. But it hasn't been clear if eating breakfast helps people stay healthy, or if healthy people t…
Will Artificial Sweeteners Help You Lose Weight?
Many people assume that artificial sweeteners are a good way to cut calories and lose weight. According to a new meta-analysis published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, that assumption m…
Get Your Exercise by Walking the Dog
How can people be encouraged to be active rather than sedentary? One study suggests a dog might help. Older people who have dogs get more exercise than those without canine companionship, probably bec…
Fruit Juice Seems Healthy, But Not for Babies
Lots of parents think of fruit juice as a healthy beverage for babies and children. It certainly is better than carbonated soft drinks, which are usually loaded with high fructose corn syrup and often…
Show 1020: How to Lose Weight Without Feeling Hu…
Many of us are aware we could be at a healthier weight. Perhaps we've even tried to drop some pounds but found that we were always feeling hungry and grumpy on a diet. Perhaps counting calories could …
Stopping Zyprexa Safely So You Can Lose Weight
Treating serious mental disorders such as schizophrenia is difficult, so psychiatrists are often willing to accept the side effects and drawbacks of drugs such as aripiprazole (Abilify) or olanzapine …
Do Non-Sugar Sweeteners Boost Inflammation?
Non-sugar sweeteners are extremely popular because people assume they will help them lose weight. A new study presented at the Endocrine Society's 99th annual meeting seems to contradicts that idea. N…
How Do TV Dinners Make You Fat?
People who watch television while they eat may be setting themselves up for extra pounds. What is the problem with such TV dinners? Turning Off the TV: New research found that adults who have family m…
Is BPA Contributing to the Obesity Epidemic?
Many food containers are a source of a controversial chemical known as bisphenol A, or BPA. There has been concern that this agent used in clear hard plastic might be contributing to the obesity epide…
How Bad Is It to Eat Saturated Fat?
For decades we have been told to reduce our overall fat consumption. In particular, saturated fat consumption has been considered a risk factor for metabolic syndrome, diabetes and cardiovascular dise…