Diet & Weight Loss Archive

Too much or too little potassium can harm the heart. Diet, medications, and kidney function can affect the body's potassium level. Dietary potassium helps keep blood pressure in a normal range, but most Americans don't consume enough of this mineral. However, people taking medications that raise potassium levels—which includes certain drugs to treat high blood pressure and heart failure—should avoid salt substitutes made with potassium chloride.

Recent guidelines suggest a blood pressure reading of less than 120/80 mm Hg as normal. But the ideal number for individuals depends on their individual goals and whether they also have a chronic condition, such as heart disease or kidney disease.

Limiting meals to a certain window of time each day, an approach called time-restricted eating, didn't appear to help people lose any more weight compared with ordinary calorie restriction in a small randomized trial published in 2022.

Misperceptions and biases about obesity can derail progress against this common disease, which affects 42% of Americans and is linked to many serious health problems, including heart disease. Bias and stigma against people with obesity is widespread, often due to a belief that poor choices and lack of motivation are the only causes. But a number of interconnected factors are involved, including an obesity-promoting environment, lack of physical activity, genetics, insufficient sleep, mental health issues, and certain medications.

A new study suggests a high-fiber diet may protect against dementia. In a group of about 3,700 older adults, those who consumed the most fiber (about 20 grams daily) had the lowest rates of dementia, and those who ate the least fiber (8 grams daily) had the highest rates.

Aging and a family history can increase the risk for a stroke, but women can lower it by managing factors that are under their control-such as diet, exercise, blood pressure, smoking, and diabetes.

People who work the night shift might benefit from eating their meals during daytime hours. A 2021 study found a rise in blood sugar in people following night shift hours who ate some meals at night, but not in those who ate all meals during the day.

A study published online Jan. 15, 2022, by Appetite suggested that people's expectations of how full they will feel after eating can influence their actual food intake.

A 2021 study verified that intermittent fasting may be an effective weight-loss strategy. It also seemed to improve some measures of risk for cardiovascular disease, such as lowering blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar.