Diet & Weight Loss Archive

Updates that may benefit heart health include details on added sugars and more accurate serving sizes.

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The information on the Nutrition Facts label—that small box of nutrition-related data on the back of all food packages—has stayed pretty much the same since its introduction back in 1993. But earlier this year, the FDA approved a number of revisions to the panel. The changes reflect the evolving scientific evidence on the connections between diet and chronic illness—particularly obesity and heart disease.

The updated labels won't be mandatory for nearly two years, but the agency provided a preview (see "The new label: What's different?"). These changes may benefit consumers not only by helping them choose more nutritious foods, but also by driving the food industry to make products healthier, says Dr. Eric Rimm, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Many of the changes are relevant for people concerned about heart disease—especially the new data on added sugars.

About one in three adults has nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, an often-silent condition closely linked to heart disease.

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The largest organ inside your body, your liver performs hundreds of vital functions. It converts food into fuel, processes cholesterol, clears harmful toxins from the blood, and makes proteins that help your blood clot, to name a few. But an alarming number of Americans have a potentially dangerous accumulation of fat inside their livers. Known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), this condition is a leading cause of chronic liver disease in the United States—and an increasingly recognized contributor to heart disease.

"NAFLD increases the risk of heart disease independent of other traditional risk factors such as high blood pressure and cholesterol," says Dr. Kathleen Corey, director of the Fatty Liver Disease Clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital. Among people with NAFLD, heart disease is the top killer, accounting for more than 25% of deaths.

Your dietary habits can promote cancer or protect against it.

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The link between cancer and diet is just as mysterious as the disease itself. Much research has pointed toward certain foods and nutrients that may help prevent—or, conversely, contribute to—certain types of cancer.

While there are many factors you can't change that increase your cancer risk, such as genetics and environment, there are others you can control. In fact, estimates suggest that less than 30% of a person's lifetime risk of getting cancer results from uncontrollable factors. The rest you have the power to change, including your diet.

Cold-pressed juices and smoothies can add fruits and vegetables to your diet, but they can also pack in calories.

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According to food industry statistics, there's a healthy trend afoot. People are shifting from sugary sodas and processed bottled juice drinks to beverages like cold-pressed juices and smoothies. Sales of juice extractors and blenders lead the small-appliance market, and juice bars continue to spring up on city streets, in shopping malls, and even in supermarkets.

There are a couple of reasons people are taking to these beverages, says Kathy McManus, director of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital. "They think they are doing something healthy, and the beverages can be time savers. It can be faster to grab a smoothie in the morning instead of sitting down to breakfast."

Both wearing a bite counter and eating from a small plate were linked to lower calorie consumption. 

Bariatric surgery can dramatically improve type 2 diabetes and other risks for heart disease.

The latest statistics on obesity suggest that this disease remains a huge problem in the United States: nearly one in three American adults meet the criteria for obesity. What's more, about one in 10 women and one in 20 men are considered extremely obese (see "Obesity in the extreme").

People with extreme obesity face a high risk of cardiovascular disease and myriad other health problems, as well as a shortened life span. Most have struggled with excess weight since childhood or early adulthood, and many have undergone multiple, frustrating attempts to shed pounds. For some, weight-loss surgery (also known as bariatric surgery) may be the best—perhaps only—option for lasting weight loss.

Body fat percentage provides valuable information about your overall risk for diseases like heart disease and diabetes, but determining your body mass index and measuring your waist size offer easy the best tools for estimating total body fat. 

 Reducing daily calorie intake by 25% may improve health-related quality of life even in people who are not overweight, according to a new study. After two years following a specific diet plan, subjects lost an average of 16.7 pounds, compared with less than a pound in control subjects. They also had better mood, less tension, greater general health, higher sexual drive, and better quality of sleep. 

Activity trackers, farmers' markets, and mindfulness aren't just passing fancies. They can help you develop beneficial health habits.

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The word "trendy" has come to refer to a fad or fashion that may have little lasting value, so it can be a turn-off, especially when applied to health practices. But trends can also have lasting health benefits—for example, the trends toward making public places smoke-free or adding calorie counts to fast-food menus. There is increasing evidence that the three trends below fall into the "beneficial" category.

1. Wearing activity trackers

3. Practicing mindfulness

It is normal to lose some weight as a person ages. In fact, an estimated 10% to 20% of men older than age 65 lose 5% or more of their body weight over the rest of their lifetime. However, losing 5% of total weight in one year or 10% over two years warrants some medical testing.