November 23, 2019 — Sleep, stress, and obesity are clearly related. But the relationship is complicated and causality is tough to unravel. Stress interferes with sleep. So does obesity. And then, too, both stress and too little sleep can contribute to obesity. So if you sleep more, will you weight less? A natural experiment in Korea tells us for […]
June 8, 2019 — A new study in Diabetes Care is telling us that irregular sleep patterns have a clear association with obesity and metabolic dysfunction. It’s more than just how much we sleep. In fact, this study is all about the regularity of sleep patterns. So does this mean that irregular sleeping patterns will cause obesity? Not exactly. […]
January 3, 2019 — January has arrived and thus, so has the annual ratings of “The Best Diets” by U.S. News & World Report, guided by a distinguished panel of experts. However, here’s the thing. There is not just one best diet. In fact, the top two “diets” on this list – the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet – […]
January 1, 2018 — Let’s face it. We might be better off ignoring 80 percent of the reporting on obesity, nutrition, and health. Especially in nutrition, what’s hot one year turns cold the next. And the hot headlines often don’t match the facts. With that said here’s a brief, subjective rundown of some hot and cold subjects for the […]
October 3, 2017 — This year’s Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine is here. For their work on the genetic basis of circadian rhythms, Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash, and Michael Young are sharing the prize. They discovered a gene in fruit flies that helps explain the mechanism for just about every living thing to adapt to the rhythms of […]
September 3, 2017 — More and more, studies are telling us that sleep, stress, and obesity are tightly bound together. And the link is tough to unravel. Over recent decades, concerns about sleep, stress, and obesity have been rising in parallel. Also, they seem to affect each other. Could it be that stress and sleep should play a bigger […]
July 30, 2017 — Seven to nine hours of sleep per night might significantly improve health and reduce obesity risk. A new study published in PLOS ONE finds that people who sleep only six hours per night have a waist that’s three centimeters bigger than people who get nine hours. With better sleep, the odds of diabetes drop as […]
April 17, 2017 — Now that physical activity has become a fashion statement, will sleep be next? Dubious claims about powerful achievers who can thrive without sleeping much are giving way to sleep as a status symbol. And of course, that opens the door to commerce. A $400 Billion Economic Burden – And an Opportunity The RAND Corporation estimates […]
April 6, 2017 — The eternal question of obesity – What’s causing all this obesity? – may not have a definitive answer. But that doesn’t stop everybody from asking. The easy answer is that obesity is mainly an inherited condition. If a person is susceptible, environment and life experiences trigger it. And then, that begs another question. What’s triggering […]
March 27, 2017 — “Open your bedroom window at night to prevent obesity and type 2 diabetes.” The Telegraph reports this simple solution from an Oxford endocrinology professor. In a similar vein, the Guardian says “access to nature reduces depression and obesity.” That promise comes from a report of the Institute for European Environmental Policy. Cool Night Air Professor Asheley Grossman […]
