Diet News and Research

Latest Diet News and Research

Why do we turn to comfort food? A survey of 1,203 adults offers clues

A cross-sectional study of 1,203 UK adults found that stronger expectations of positive emotions from high-fat, salt and/or sugar foods were weakly associated with poorer diet quality and more frequent comfort eating. Negative emotional expectations about many foods also tracked with comfort eating, but the study did not establish whether eating these foods actually changed mood.

29 Oct 2026

Discarded fruit and vegetable parts offer overlooked fiber benefits

Most of us routinely discard the peels, skins, stalks, and seeds of fruits and vegetables at mealtime. But new research from King's College London suggests these scraps could be a valuable – and overlooked – source of dietary fiber, offering potential benefits for both public health and the environment.

29 Oct 2026

Brief dietary changes may prime the immune system for inflammation

Scientists have long known that diet shapes the immune system. Now, a UC San Francisco team has found that even a brief dietary change can substantially change how the body responds to skin irritation, at least in mice.

29 Oct 2026

Worried nuts will cause weight gain? A large review puts that concern in perspective

A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials found that eating nuts modestly reduced body fat and improved cholesterol levels without significantly changing body weight. The review did not establish that nuts rich in monounsaturated fats offered greater body-composition benefits than those rich in polyunsaturated fats.

29 Oct 2026

Can broccoli sprouts help with insulin resistance? New review offers clues

A review published in the British Journal of Nutrition examines how carotenoids and bioactive compounds in Brassicaceae microgreens may influence obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes through metabolic and inflammatory pathways. Small human trials involving broccoli sprouts have reported improvements in selected metabolic markers, but larger, longer-term studies are needed to establish their clinical benefits.

29 Oct 2026

Fish, shellfish or seaweed? A Korean study found striking differences in chemical exposure

A national study of 4,279 Korean adults found that higher finfish consumption was associated with increased blood concentrations of PFAS, PCBs, and mercury, while shellfish showed narrower associations with three PFAS. Persistent chemical mixtures were also associated with modest increases in liver health biomarkers, and mediation analysis identified a positive PFAS-related pathway, although finfish intake was not significantly associated with GGT overall.

29 Oct 2026

New study reveals why colorectal cancer is more aggressive in youth

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers, along with Mass General Brigham researchers from the Gene Lay Institute of Immunology and Inflammation, and the Broad Institute, have uncovered biological clues to why colorectal cancer can behave more aggressively in younger people.

29 Oct 2026

Limited app use adds a twist to a nurse-led dementia risk trial

A cluster-randomized trial involving 403 Australian adults aged 45–65 found that a 12-month nurse-led behavioral intervention supported by a mobile app modestly improved estimated dementia risk scores compared with brief counseling and usual care. The study found no significant improvements in cognitive performance or other secondary outcomes, leaving its long-term effects on dementia prevention uncertain.

28 Oct 2026

High-fat diets in mouse parents alter offspring brain development

Researchers fed breeding pairs of mice five diets with different fat and sugar contents to examine how parental nutrition affects offspring brain development. High-fat diets, alone or combined with high sugar, delayed early motor development and altered brain structure in young adult offspring, while the high-sugar-only diet produced no significant changes in individual brain regions after correction for multiple comparisons.

28 Oct 2026

Ketones may change sleep patterns, but not always for the better

Researchers reviewed animal and human studies and found that ketone bodies may affect sleep stages through energy metabolism and cellular signaling, with the clearest direct evidence involving acetoacetate in mice. They reported mixed human findings and called for controlled studies to separate ketone-specific effects from changes linked to diet, disease, circadian timing, and physiological stress.

28 Oct 2026

Plant and animal proteins show opposite effects on testosterone levels

Higher animal protein intake was associated with lower blood testosterone levels, while higher plant protein intake was associated with higher levels, according to a new study from the University of Eastern Finland.

28 Oct 2026

Ulcerative colitis burden across 7MM to exceed 2.36 million cases by 2035, forecasts GlobalData

The diagnosed prevalent cases of ulcerative colitis (UC) in the seven major markets (7MM) are projected to reach over 2.36 million by 2035.

28 Oct 2026

Climate change intensifies global health risks, Lancet Countdown report warns

The 2026 Report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change finds that many of the health risks and harms of climate change grew faster in the decade since the Paris Agreement was introduced (2016–2025) than in the decade before it (2006–2015).

27 Oct 2026

Low vitamin B12 is linked to heart disease. Supplements tell a different story

A narrative review published in Nutrition Journal examines how vitamin B12 deficiency may contribute to cardiovascular disease through elevated homocysteine, endothelial dysfunction, oxidative stress and altered methylation. The authors found that B12 supplementation has not consistently prevented heart attacks or cardiovascular deaths in clinical trials, although combined B-vitamin therapy may modestly reduce stroke risk, particularly in populations without folic acid fortification.

27 Oct 2026

CT scans linked vitamin D levels to fat within muscles after bariatric surgery

Researchers followed 113 adults for one year after bariatric surgery and found that those with higher postoperative vitamin D concentrations had less fat infiltration within certain muscles and lower visceral adiposity. They found no significant association between increases in vitamin D and changes in body composition after correction for multiple comparisons, while preoperative vitamin D levels did not independently predict postoperative body composition.

27 Oct 2026

Amyloid fibers help sperm deliver RNA to mouse embryos

Researchers identified RNA-associated amyloid fibrils in human seminal fluid and demonstrated that synthetic PAP fibrils could enter mammalian sperm. In mouse IVF experiments, these fibrils helped sperm deliver RNA to embryos, where the detected reporter-protein signal was at least tenfold higher than without fibril exposure.

27 Oct 2026

Non-drug and non-surgical low back pain treatments are highly cost-effective options

Non-drug and non-surgical treatments for low back pain, including psychological support, exercise and self-management strategies are cost-effective interventions, according to a study published October 27th in the open access journal PLOS Medicine by Manuela Loureiro Ferreira from the George Institute for Global Health, Australia, and colleagues.

27 Oct 2026

Endometrial cancer rates rise sharply among younger South Texas women

An Upper-South region of Texas including San Antonio and Bexar County had the state's highest hysterectomy-corrected incidence of endometrial cancer and the largest increase over time, a study led by scientists at The University of Texas at San Antonio Health Science Center and the National Cancer Institute showed.

27 Oct 2026

High intake of saturated fat can promote favorable changes in cardiovascular risk markers

New analyses from the Norwegian randomized controlled trial CARBFUNC show that more than doubling saturated fat intake over a two-year period can promote favorable changes in several cardiovascular risk markers, without increasing apoB, the main suspected risk factor.

27 Oct 2026

Could a few days of annual extreme heat raise dementia risk?

Extreme outdoor heat is associated with higher dementia risk, especially in socially vulnerable areas, emphasizing the need for targeted community strategies.

27 Oct 2026