June 18, 2020

Telehealth May Help Rural Americans Keep the Weight Off

TUESDAY, June 16, 2020 -- Although many people can lose weight, few maintain the loss. Could individual telephone support be the key to keeping extra pounds at bay?

New research suggests that telehealth counseling after weight loss may be just the support that people in rural areas need to maintain their weight loss long-term. At the 12-month point in the study, people who had individual telephone counseling had maintained an average of 100% of their weight loss.

June 15, 2020

Eating Before Bedtime Might Pack on the Pounds

THURSDAY, June 11, 2020 -- If you have a late dinner and then head to bed, beware: You may gain weight while you sleep, a new study suggests.

That's most likely because your metabolism slows, boosting blood sugar and other chemicals that contribute to weight gain and type 2 diabetes, researchers say.

May 21, 2020

Keto Diet Might Change Your Gut in More Ways Than One

WEDNESDAY, May 20, 2020 -- The now-trendy keto diet is said to turn fat into fuel. But a new, small study says it may also change the vast array of microbes residing in your gut (the microbiome).

That could be a good thing, as those changes may ultimately strengthen the immune system by tamping down inflammation, researchers say.

May 15, 2020

Weight-Loss Surgery May Lower Colon Cancer Risk

THURSDAY, March 12, 2020 -- Obesity increases the risk for colon cancer, but weight-loss surgery may bring the risk back to normal, French researchers report.

People who are obese have a 34% higher risk of colon cancer than the general population, but any type of bariatric (weight-loss) surgery can bring their risk back in line, according to the authors of a new study.

May 15, 2020

Obesity Ups Odds for Severe COVID-19 in Younger Patients

WEDNESDAY, April 15, 2020 -- It's clear that age and chronic disease make bouts of the pandemic coronavirus more severe -- and even deadly -- but obesity might also put even younger people at higher risk, a pair of new studies suggest.

The researchers suspect that inflammation throughout the body linked to obesity could be a powerful factor in the severity of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.