Category: obesity

Weight Loss Helps Knee Arthritis

Recent research shows that people who are overweight can reduce their symptoms of knee arthritis by losing at least 20% of their weight. Millions of older adults have stiff, painful knees caused by arthritis. Arthritis causes a breakdown of the cushion of tissue inside the knee joint. Without this cushion, bone can rub against bone….


TCM Advice: Insufficient Water Intake Can Lead to Obesity

Water is an important ingredient of the human body, accounting for about 70 percent of the body weight. It is also essential in maintaining normal physiological functions. Statistical data show that life will be at risk when 15 percent of water inside the body is lost. In other words, sufficient water intake plays a vital…


Why Do We Get Middle-Age Spread?

Did you know that the average young U.S. adult gains 30 pounds by the time they reach age 50? This weight gain happens even though most people tend to eat less over this time. Researchers have long known that losing weight and maintaining the ability to exercise tend to get harder beginning between ages 30…


Minding Your Metabolism

As you age, you may notice you have less muscle and energy and more fat. Carrying those extra pounds may be harming your health. It’s easy to be confused by advice about diet and exercise, but they’re key to avoiding weight gain as you get older. As you move through your 30s, 40s, 50s, and…


Addiction Model Can’t Fully Explain Obesity

There are behavioral similarities between obesity and addiction, but obesity is also a complex condition that the addiction model cannot fully explain, research finds. Obesity rates have tripled since 1975, according to the World Health Organization. An increase in availability of inexpensive, high-calorie food is likely behind the rise. While some researchers blame obesity on…


Are You Among the ‘Diet-Resistant’? Workouts May Be Key to Weight Loss

“You can’t run from the fork.” It’s an old weight-loss saying, reminding folks that diet is more important than exercise when it comes to shedding excess pounds. But is that true for everyone? New research suggests there’s a category of “diet-resistant” people who need to work out and watch what they eat if they want…


The Nordic Diet

Every month, there seems to be a new diet doing the rounds online. One of the latest is the Nordic diet, which some claim could be better for your health than the Mediterranean diet. And research is starting to suggest that it could at least have some similar benefits. The Nordic diet is based on…


Dr. Kenneth Wright on Shift Work and Sleep

Excerpts from our conversation with Dr. Kenneth Wright, Jr., an NIH-funded expert on sleep at the University of Colorado, Boulder. NIHNiH: What is the circadian system? And why is it disrupted by shift work, such as working the night shift? Wright: The circadian system is our biological clock. That biological clock controls the timing of a lot…


Health Risks Linked to Leaving Lights on at Night

Ensuring your bedroom is pitch black at night—without light exposure from a television, window, cellphone, or even your alarm clock—is a simple way to reduce your risk of chronic disease. It was only about 130 years ago that electric light was invented, bringing with it drastic changes in the way humans function on a daily…


Overweight? Cumin Spice Works Better Than Obesity Drugs

Cumin, a warm, peppery seed found in spice cabinets around the globe, helped overweight individuals lose as much weight as those taking weight loss medications, with added benefits to insulin levels. If you need to shed some extra pounds, cumin may help, naturally Cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) is an aromatic herb that belongs to the Apiaceae…