Diet & Nutrition News and Research

Latest Diet & Nutrition News and Research

Cutting ultra-processed foods may improve symptoms of depression

A preliminary study led by UC San Francisco adds to growing evidence that reducing ultra-processed food may improve symptoms of depression.

23 Sep 2026

Dietary changes can prevent Hirschsprung disease symptoms

A multi-institutional study led by researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) discovered for the first time that dietary interventions might prevent inflammatory symptoms associated with Hirschsprung disease, a bowel motility disorder.

23 Sep 2026

What links smoking, body fat, mental health, genes, and heart risk? Inflammation may be part of the answer

In a large UK Biobank study, higher levels of the chronic inflammation marker GlycA were associated with smaller heart chambers, thicker heart walls, impaired diastolic function, reduced stroke volume, and a 43% higher risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in the highest versus lowest GlycA group. Genetic susceptibility also modified the associations between environmental exposures, inflammation, and cardiovascular risk, while inflammatory proteins in the IL-1, TNF, and IL-6 pathways statistically mediated several of these associations.

23 Sep 2026

Higher BMI linked to brain differences in preschool children

Children as young as 4 with a higher body mass index (BMI) showed differences in several brain regions involved in reward, taste and hunger, according to a new study from Florida International University.

22 Sep 2026

Loneliness and social isolation cost people years of healthy life

The numbers paint a grim picture. Roughly half of all U.S. adults are lonely, according to a 2023 report, and nearly as many feel socially isolated.

22 Sep 2026

Aging population drives rise in smoking-related mortality risks

Smoking kills. But why does smoking seem more likely to kill now than a few decades ago? In 1987, a smoker had a 3.4% chance of dying within five years. By 2013, a smoker had a 4.9% chance of drying within five years.

22 Sep 2026

Waist-to-height ratio reliably detects chronic liver disease risk in children

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is now the most common chronic liver disease in children and adolescents, closely mirroring the global rise in childhood obesity.

22 Sep 2026

Brain Health WA resource aims to reduce dementia risk

With Western Australia projected to record the nation's fastest growth in dementia cases, a new Curtin University-led resource aims to help people protect their brain health and reduce their risk.

22 Sep 2026

Children who ate healthier plant foods had slightly lower blood pressure later

Researchers followed 3,990 Dutch children for an average of 1.6 years and found that higher healthful plant-based diet scores were associated with modestly lower blood pressure and total cholesterol. Children with higher unhealthful plant-based diet scores had lower estimated food costs and distinct metabolite profiles, while healthful scores showed no clear cost association.

22 Sep 2026

New roadmap integrates arts into global health and wellbeing

Researchers have developed a roadmap for integrating the arts across health and wellbeing systems globally, from population health and prevention to community pathways and clinical care.

21 Sep 2026

Experimental RNA therapy enhances weight loss while preserving lean muscle

GLP-1 drugs have revolutionized obesity treatment, but they can lead people to lose muscle mass along with fat. And when patients stop treatment, they often regain their weight - primarily as fat.

21 Sep 2026

Several cups of coffee a day showed no clear diabetes link over 10 years

Researchers followed 1,158 adults in Italy for 10 years, comparing those who drank at least two to three cups of coffee daily with those who drank none. They found no statistically significant difference in new cases of impaired fasting glucose or type 2 diabetes, but the small non-consumer group limits how confidently the study can rule out a difference in risk.

21 Sep 2026

Maldives meets UN target for reducing premature chronic disease deaths

The Maldives has become the only country in the World Health Organization's South East Asia region to meet the UN target for reducing premature deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases, cancers and diabetes.

21 Sep 2026

Early life sugar exposure linked to higher adult anxiety risk

Exposure to sugar in the first 1,000 days of a child's life increases the risk of developing anxiety in adulthood, a new study from the University of Surrey reports.

21 Sep 2026

Stalled gut microbiome development triples risk for type 1 diabetes in children

Type 1 diabetes affects more than 9 million people worldwide, including 1.8 million children and adolescents.

21 Sep 2026

Sugary drinks stood out in this stomach cancer study, but diet drinks did not

In two large US prospective cohorts, consuming more than one sugar-sweetened beverage a day was associated with higher gastric cancer incidence compared with consuming less than one serving a month. Artificially sweetened beverages were not associated with gastric cancer incidence, and the authors called for further studies to confirm the findings and clarify possible biological mechanisms.

21 Sep 2026

Older adults with higher polyphenol intake were less likely to have mild cognitive impairment

In a cross-sectional study of 92 older Italian memory-clinic patients, higher habitual intake of total dietary (poly)phenols and several specific subclasses was associated with a lower likelihood of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Total (poly)phenol intake was not associated with cognitive test performance or circulating inflammatory biomarkers, and the authors cautioned that the small observational study cannot establish causality.

20 Sep 2026

Study identifies brain mechanism behind pregnancy-related food cravings

Why do food cravings become so strong during pregnancy? Researchers at LSU's Pennington Biomedical Research Center, in collaboration with colleagues, have identified a brain mechanism that may help explain how pregnancy changes the motivation to seek certain highly palatable foods.

18 Sep 2026

Scientists discover metabolite fueling aggressive brain tumor growth

Virtually all high-grade, aggressive gliomas in adults accumulate massive amounts of a metabolite called guanidinoacetate (GAA) that overstimulates nearby neurons and promotes tumor growth, according to new research from scientists at Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) published in Cell.

18 Sep 2026

Some food manufacturers could capture major nutrition and environmental gains by changing surprisingly few products

Researchers assessed the nutritional quality and environmental impacts of product portfolios from 44 major UK food and beverage manufacturers, covering 51.5% of the retail market. Their modelling showed that targeted changes to existing product lines could capture a substantial share of the potential nutrition and environmental gains for some manufacturers, although broader food-system changes would still be required to meet national and societal targets.

18 Sep 2026