Less Salty Diets Would Save Millions of Lives: Study

Reducing salt intake worldwide by only ten percent could save millions of lives, a study reported Wednesday. Government-led public service campaigns could massively cut mortality and disability caused by salt-triggered heart attacks and strokes for just over 10 US cents a year per person, researchers calculated. Even without including healthcare savings, “we found that a government supported, national policy to reduce population sodium intake by 10 percent over 10 years would be cost effective,” the authors concluded in the medical journal BMJ. Most adults exceed the recommended maximum salt levels…

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New nutrition study presents a case for vegetarian diets for athletes

If you still think you need to eat meat to gain muscle, researchers at Arizona State University are here to set you straight. In a new study in Nutrients, both vegetarian and omnivore endurance athletes tracked their diet for one week and were put through a series of fitness tests. The researchers’ findings: Whether the athletes were fueled by plants or animals, they had pretty much the same body composition and same level of physical performance—with maybe even a slight edge to the green eaters. The male athletes clocked in…

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Paleo-Type Diets May Cut Diabetes and Heart Disease Risk

The consumption of a paleolithic-type diet by obese women can help them lose weight and lower their future risk of diabetes and heart disease, says a new research. A typical Paleolithic diet includes lean meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts and berries, with rapeseed, olive oil and avocado as additional fat sources. It excludes dairy products, cereals, added salt and refined fats and sugar. “Eating a Paleolithic-type diet without calorie restriction significantly improved the fatty acid profile associated with insulin sensitivity, and it reduced abdominal adiposity and body weight in…

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Going on and off diets may make you gain weight

According to a study, repeated dieting may cause weight gaininstead of shedding extra pounds. This is due to the reason that brain interprets the diets as short famines, hence, urges to store fat for future food shortages. “Surprisingly, our model predicts that the average weight gain for dieters will actually be greater than those who never diet,” said Andrew Higginson, Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter in England. “This happens because non-dieters learn that the food supply is reliable so there is less need for the insurance of fat…

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Low-fat diets ‘not the best way to lose weight’

“Low-fat diets are not the best way to lose weight,” the Daily Mail reports. The findings come from a new review that analysed data from more than 50 previous studies on low-fat dietary interventions involving almost 70,000 adults. The study aimed to see how low-fat diets measured up to comparison diets for achieving long-term weight loss, defined as a year or more. The findings were mixed. There was evidence from a large number of trials that low-carb diets were better for weight loss than low fat – helping to achieve 1.15kg more weight…

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Low Carb Versus Low Fat: Should You Follow These Diets For Weight Loss?

For the past several decades, most people believed that a low fat diet was good for weight loss, largely because of its beneficial effect on metabolic risk factors such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar and obesity. In recent years, however, a growing body of research has pointed us in another direction, suggesting that a low carb diet could also help in weight reduction. Both types of diets, however, have their pros and cons so we need to look objectively at both to gain an educated, unbiased understanding.What is…

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