Obesity

Posted on Children's health, Obesity

Appetite genes control how children grow

HSE researchers compared expressive and receptive language abilities of Russian-speaking children with autism for the first time


Have you ever wondered why it is so different how quickly and how much small babies put on weight during the first years of life? Now researchers at the University of Bergen in Norway have found that this is largely controlled by our genes. The findings provide insight into the mechanisms that control appetite and energy metabolism early in life and can help us find better treatment for obesity in adolescence and adulthood.

After birth, we grow fast. The length increases by about 50% and the weight doubles during infancy. Then the growth slows down and goes into a stable phase in childhood until a growth spurt in puberty. But what drives this dynamic growth?

Researchers at the Center for Diabetes Research, University of Bergen, Norway have now found the explanation. They studied the genes of 30,000 children and their parents from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort of Norway. Many millions of genetic variants from each individual was examined and linked to growth data from a series of measurements of height and weight from birth to eight years of age.

The findings have attracted a great deal of attention.

“It turned out that genes linked to extreme obesity, appetite and the body’s energy consumption are responsible for the growth regulation”, professor Pål R. Njølstad says.

“This is dynamic in that specific genes have an effect only on some of the different phases of growth. We believe that this is probably one of the reasons why parents have always noted that some children are born with a naturally higher appetite than others and have significantly more fat mass in infancy. It seems that these dynamic effects are especially important in the first years of life, and that they do not increase the risk of later obesity”, Njølstad says.

Some of the genes are linked to drugs that are being tested to slow weight gain in extreme obesity. The findings may thus be important for the treatment of normal obesity. The results are now published in the journal Nature Metabolism.

Posted on Obesity

Research team provides guidelines, recommendations for intermittent fasting

Research team provides guidelines, recommendations for intermittent fasting
Research team provides guidelines, recommendations for intermittent fasting


A University of Illinois Chicago team has summarized research on intermittent fasting to provide insights into its effects on the body and to provide advice for incorporating these diets in everyday life. They have also presented recommendations for future research into these popular diet methods. 

“Clinical application of intermittent fasting for weight loss: progress and future directions,” was recently published in Nature Reviews Endocrinology. Krista Varady, professor of nutrition in the UIC College of Applied Health Sciences, is the lead author. 

The three main forms of intermittent fasting were reviewed: alternate-day fasting — consuming 0-500 calories on alternating feast days; the 5:2 diet — two fast days and five feast days per week; and time-restricted eating — eating only during a prescribed time window each day. These diets produce mild to moderate weight loss, 3% to 8% loss from baseline, over short durations of eight to 12 weeks.  

The review also states that intermittent fasting is on par with traditional calorie-restricted diets and shows results in improving some cardiometabolic risk factors. Additionally, intermittent fasting is generally safe, producing few gastrointestinal, neurological, hormonal or metabolic effects. Other findings included: 

  • Fasting works for individuals of normal weight as well as those with obesity. 
  • People with insulin resistance or prediabetes benefit from intermittent fasting, losing similar weight amounts as those without those conditions. 
  • Body composition for weight loss during intermittent fasting is similar to calorie-restriction diets, with 75% of the weight lost being fat and 25% lean mass. 

The research also dispelled some myths about intermittent fasting. 

“The main myth is people are going to feel weak and not be able to concentrate during fasting. We’ve shown it is the opposite: They actually have a better ability to concentrate,” Varady said, adding the increased energy may be an evolutionary response to give strength to seek food. 

Additionally, current research shows intermittent fasting does not harm metabolism. 

“With any diet, as you lose weight, your metabolism, like your calorie needs, will go down because they’re correlated tightly with your muscle mass. As you lose weight, people tend to lose a little bit of muscle. But fasting doesn’t tank your metabolism at all. We’ve shown that it is the same that would happen with like traditional dieting,” Varady said. 

The review also outlines areas for future research on intermittent fasting including: 

  • Long-term, randomized controlled clinical trials of all three fasting diets.  
  • Trials and qualitative studies that examine the effects of fasting diets on people with conditions such as diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome and thyroid disorders. 
  • Studies that compare the three diets with each other. 
  • Studies that look at the effects of fasting to learn more about the mechanisms that underlie the metabolic improvements observed with fasting. 

“We really do need long-term data to see if people can do intermittent fasting for the long term,” Varady said. “I get lots of emails from people saying that they have been on the diet for 10 to 15 years, and it reversed their Type 2 diabetes, and they lost 60 pounds, and it was the only diet they could stick to. That is always nice to hear, but we need actual data to support that.” 

For those who want to try intermittent fasting, and for their clinicians, the review offers these guidelines: 

Who can do intermittent fasting? 

  • Adolescents with severe obesity. 
  • Adults with normal weight, overweight or obesity. 
  • Adults with hypertension or high cholesterol. 
  • Patients with insulin resistance or prediabetes. 
  • Patients with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. 

Advice for starting intermittent fasting: 

  • Plan on a one- or two-week adjustment to fasting. Headaches are common but can subside with increased water intake. 
  • Boost fiber through eating fruits, vegetables and whole grains.  
  • Eat at least 50 grams of lean protein on the fast days when alternating feast days to control hunger and prevent excessive lean mass loss. 

What should be monitored during intermittent fasting? 

  • Adverse effects: Clinicians should assess adverse effects during the first three months of the diet. 
  • Nutrient deficiencies: Clinicians should monitor vitamin and mineral levels. 
  • Medications: Medications to control blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose should be monitored and may need to be reduced if the patient loses weight. 
  • Therapy: Patients should participate in behavioral change programs to help achieve long-term weight management. 

The study’s additional authors include Sofia Cienfuegos, Mark Ezpeleta and Kelsey Gabel of UIC. 

Posted on Diabetes, Obesity

An obesity treatment for women only?

Weight-loss maintainers sit less than weight-stable people with obesity

University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers have identified a potential way to battle the health effects of obesity and type 2 diabetes in women after discovering an important factor that could determine how their bodies use and store fat.

Based on their new discovery, the researchers, led by Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering Mete Civelek, PhD, were able to change whether female lab mice’s bodies stored fat subcutaneously (under the skin) or viscerally (wrapped around the organs). While visceral fat goes unseen, hidden deep inside the body, it can be particularly harmful to good health.

The researchers say their results in mice suggest that a similar approach could help treat the effects of obesity and battle metabolic diseases, such as diabetes, in women.

“There is a strong need for targeted therapies against metabolic abnormalities caused by obesity and diabetes,” said the study’s first author, Qianyi Yang, PhD, of UVA’s Center for Public Health Genomics. “We hope that increasing KLF14 abundance in fat cells of females with obesity and diabetes may provide a novel treatment option to alleviate these metabolic abnormalities.”

How We Store Fat

Men and women naturally store fat differently. Men tend to be more apple-shaped, meaning they store fat around the waist, while women tend to be more pear-shaped. This is because women store more subcutaneous fat and less visceral fat in their lower body. Civelek’s new findings help explain why.

Civelek and his team were investigating a particular gene, KLF14, that has been linked to many different metabolic problems, including type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. These health associations are more pronounced in women than men, but scientists haven’t understood the reason.

Civelek and his collaborators found that the KLF14 gene is a key regulator of how the female body uses lipids (fats). The gene makes a protein that plays a critical in how fat cells form, what type of fat they turn into and where they are stored. When Civelek’s team blocked the production of this protein in lab mice, they noticed very different effects in males and females: Females gained fat, while males lost it. The females also stored fat differently than normal, gaining more visceral fat and less subcutaneous fat. 

There were other sex-specific changes as well: The female mice suffered slower metabolic rates and faster breathing, suggesting they were relying more on carbohydrates for fuel. And their bodies became less efficient at managing triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood.

Interestingly, when the researchers amped up production of the KLF14 protein in in female mice, the mice lost weight. But male mice did not. 

Based on what they’ve found, the researchers believe that increasing production of the KLF14 protein in fat cells in women may offer a way to treat the harmful effects of obesity and type 2 diabetes. More research will be needed, but the researchers say it is promising that their mouse findings align closely with what we see in humans.

“We are now working to create a drug delivery system that will target fat cells and deliver a small molecule to increase KLF14 abundance,” Civelek said. “We hope to translate our laboratory’s findings to the clinic to help women fight the effects of obesity and diabetes.”

Posted on Obesity

Which promotes greater metabolic health, almonds or potatoes? Rigorous, randomized trial weighs in

Which promote greater metabolic health, almonds or potatoes?
Which promote greater metabolic health, almonds or potatoes?


White potatoes — especially French fries — are often described in nutrition research literature and dietary guidance statements as having associations with obesogenic diets and as increasing chronic disease risk based on observational research findings. However, there is limited evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) testing cause-and-effect relationships. Now, an RCT published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition demonstrates that adding a 300-calorie serving of French fries to one’s typical diet every day for a month does not result in differential weight gain or other biomarker changes associated with impaired blood sugar regulation compared to adding an isocaloric daily serving of almonds, generally considered a healthy snack option.

“In our School of Public Health at Indiana University-Bloomington and in my own work, we adhere to a slogan: ‘It’s About Knowing.’ Because conjecture is good, but knowing is better,” says David Allison, PhD, the study’s principal investigator. “The way we come to know is through rigorous, randomized controlled trials. Based on our RCT findings, there is no statistically significantevidence of differential effects between consuming a typical 300-calorie serving of French fries daily and a 300-calorie serving of almonds daily when it comes to weight gain or markers of type 2 diabetes risk, at least in the short term.”

Changes in body composition (i.e., body fat mass), body weight, fasting glucose and fasting insulin levels at the end of the one-month trial were comparable across the French fry and almond intervention groups and were not clinically significant. As expected, given the difference in carbohydrate content between the French fries and almonds, acute peak blood glucose and insulin levels were higher after consuming the French fries. However, these levels were not elevated beyond a normal range, and this difference did not have an apparent impact on any other glucoregulatory biomarkers.

“Our results show two food items identified previously for opposite associations with health outcomes had no differences in effects on the health outcomes we measured,” notes study co-author Daniel Smith, PhD. “Nutrition recommendations that focus primarily on single foods in isolation may be missing the mark. A more effective approach to dietary guidance is likely one that takes total diet, lifestyle and individual needs and risk factors into account.”

Study Design, Strengths, and Limitations

A group of 180 adult men and women were randomized to one of three treatment groups for 30 days, with 165 completing the study. The three arms included an additional 300 kilocalories/day from one of the three food items (below) and participants were asked to add the specific food item into their “normal daily diet.”

  • Almonds: approximately 1/3 of a cup of almonds, roasted and salted
  • Standard French fries: approximately the size of a medium serving
  • French fries with herb/spice mix: approximately the size of a medium serving, prepared with oregano, basil, garlic, onion and rosemary

Instructions were provided regarding storage and preparation methods of food items for all participants. Participants were simply asked to incorporate the specific food item into their normal daily diet. They were not instructed to compensate for these added calories in any way.

Body composition (body fat mass), body weight, blood sugar, insulin and hemoglobin A1c were measured at baseline and at study completion. A subset of five participants also completed post-meal evaluations to assess short-term blood sugar response.

The study’s strengths include its randomized controlled trial design, considered the gold standard in identifying causal relationships, as well as the standardization of the study foods’ preparation, presentation and convenience. Its limitations include the fact that it was a free-living study, limiting researchers’ control over the participants’ diets; however, such a study design also allows for real-world data collection. It also excluded participants with type 2 diabetes, limiting the application of the findings to individuals without the disease. Additionally, the study did not include an analysis of energy (calorie) intake, nor were satiety data collected, making it unclear exactly how the varied snack intakes affected calorie intake overall.

Posted on Cognitive dysfunction, Obesity

Greater body fat a risk factor for reduced thinking and memory ability

Sonia Anand


Lead author Sonia Anand is a professor of medicine of McMaster University’s Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine and a vascular medicine specialist at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS). CREDIT McMaster University

 A new study has found that greater body fat is a risk factor for reduced cognitive function, such as processing speed, in adults.

Even when the researchers took cardiovascular risk factors (such as diabetes or high blood pressure) or vascular brain injury into account, the association between body fat and lower cognitive scores remained. This suggests other not yet confirmed pathways that linked excess body fat to reduced cognitive function.

In the study, 9,166 participants were measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis to assess their total body fat.

As well, 6,733 of the participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure abdominal fat packed around the organs known as visceral fat, and the MRI also assessed vascular brain injury – areas in the brain affected by reduced blood flow to the brain.


“Our results suggest that strategies to prevent or reduce having too much body fat may preserve cognitive function,” said lead author Sonia Anand, a professor of medicine of McMaster University’s Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine and a vascular medicine specialist at Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS). She is also a senior scientist of the Population Health Research Institute of McMaster and HHS.

She added that “the effect of increased body fat persisted even after adjusting for its effect on increasing cardiovascular risk factors like diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as vascular brain injury, which should prompt researchers to investigate which other pathways may link excess fat to reduced cognitive function.”

Co-author Eric Smith, a neurologist, scientist and an associate professor of clinical neurosciences at the University of Calgary, said that “preserving cognitive function is one of the best ways to prevent dementia in old age. This study suggests that one of the ways that good nutrition and physical activity prevent dementia may be by maintaining healthy weight and body fat percentage.”

Smith is head of the brain core lab for the two population cohorts used for this new analysis– the Canadian Alliance for Healthy Hearts and Minds (CAHHM) and PURE Mind- a sub-study of the large, international Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study.

The participants were in the age range of 30 to 75 with an average age of about 58. Just over 56% were women; they all lived in either Canada or Poland. The majority were White European origin, with about 16% other ethnic backgrounds. Individuals with known cardiovascular disease were excluded.