Diet News and Research

Latest Diet News and Research

Cocoa looks promising for mood, but the brain benefits come with a catch

A review of clinical and preclinical studies suggests cocoa polyphenols may support mood, neuroplasticity, cerebral blood flow, and gut-brain signaling through pathways involving BDNF/CREB, inflammation, and oxidative stress.

17 Aug 2026

What 720,000 adults reveal about artificial sweeteners and diabetes risk

A meta-analysis of six prospective cohort studies involving 721,003 adults found that higher artificial sweetener intake was associated with a 31% greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The evidence was rated low certainty because of substantial heterogeneity, observational study designs, and potential residual confounding, meaning the findings do not establish causation.

16 Aug 2026

What happens to body fat when people follow the Eatwell Guide?

Higher adherence to the UK Eatwell Guide was associated with lower BMI, waist circumference, total body fat, and trunk fat in more than 156,000 UK Biobank participants. The associations persisted prospectively across demographic, physical activity, and genetic-risk groups, supporting the role of diet quality in weight management.

16 Aug 2026

Britons embrace DIY health checks

Most people in the UK already monitor their own health and wellbeing, and an overwhelming majority would be happy to do more if advised by the NHS, according to a new University of Manchester led study.

14 Aug 2026

A 30-year study found a surprising link between alcohol, survival and heart attack risk

In a 30-year study of 973 middle-aged Swedish male automotive workers, alcohol consumption was associated with lower all-cause mortality and longer estimated time to death, while beer consumption was linked to a higher likelihood of myocardial infarction. No significant association was found between alcohol consumption and stroke, and the authors cautioned that socioeconomic differences, self-reported intake, and other unmeasured factors may have influenced the findings.

14 Aug 2026

Survey: Most U.S. adults believe brain health habits should begin before age 40

A new national survey commissioned by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center finds most U.S. adults believe brain health habits should begin before age 40.

12 Aug 2026

Laboratory chemical exposure and poor diet increase odds of health symptoms in young scientists

Young scientists who frequently handle laboratory chemicals and consume relatively few antioxidant-rich foods may be more likely to report symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, pallor, and easy bruising, according to a new study of university students in Nigeria.

12 Aug 2026

The coffee advice given to atrial fibrillation patients may deserve a rethink

The DECAF randomized trial found that adults with persistent atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter assigned to drink at least one cup of caffeinated coffee daily had a 39% lower hazard of recurrent clinically detected AF or flutter than those assigned to avoid coffee and caffeine. The findings challenge longstanding advice to routinely restrict caffeinated coffee in people with AF, while further research is needed to determine whether coffee itself provides a protective effect.

12 Aug 2026

Waist size predicts heart disease risk better than body mass index

The size of a person's midsection is a better indicator of cardiovascular disease risk when compared to their body mass index (BMI) alone, according to a study published in JACC, the flagship journal of the American College of Cardiology.

11 Aug 2026

One cognitive ability stood out in a study of Western diets and Alzheimer’s risk genes

A Western dietary pattern was associated with faster attention decline among older adults carrying the APOE ε4 allele, while no significant cognitive associations emerged for a Prudent dietary pattern. However, the Western diet association lost statistical significance after excluding participants with possible baseline cognitive impairment, making the finding exploratory.

11 Aug 2026

Why pulses could play a bigger role in healthy and sustainable diets

A narrative review finds that pulses may support gut and metabolic health through their fiber, protein, phytochemicals, and interactions with the gut microbiota, while offering a lower environmental footprint than many animal protein sources. Human evidence is strongest for selected cardiometabolic outcomes, while many microbiome and fermentation-related benefits remain supported mainly by animal and laboratory studies.

9 Aug 2026

Fruit fly gut cells track hunger using internal cell viscosity

Researchers led by Sa Kan Yoo at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR) in Japan have discovered that the natural turnover of gut cells in the fruit fly depends on how much food the flies get, rather than any specific nutrient.

7 Aug 2026

Low-fat vegan diet helps people lose weight without cutting back on food

A low-fat vegan diet lowers the energy density of the foods people eat by roughly 30%, allowing them to eat satisfying amounts of food while taking in fewer calories and losing weight-without deliberately restricting calories-according to new research published in JAMA Network Open.

7 Aug 2026

New research highlights carbohydrate role in early human brain development

Fruit, honey and other naturally sweet foods may have helped fuel the evolution of the human brain, according to new research from the University of Sydney and the University of Glasgow.

7 Aug 2026

Genetic analysis of 1 million people points to FNIP1 as a promising metabolic target

Mega-scale exome sequencing of 1,032,116 people identified 59 independent genes linked to the TG:HDL ratio, including 44 rare-coding associations not detected in the previous largest analysis. Ultra-rare FNIP1 loss-of-function variants were associated with favorable fat distribution, lower liver fat and glycemia, and around 60% lower odds of a composite cardiometabolic disease outcome.

7 Aug 2026

D-serine promotes gastric cancer growth by suppressing tumor immunity

Researchers from Keio University have found that D-serine increases the growth of gastric cancer by creating an immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory tumor microenvironment.

6 Aug 2026

Nighttime light linked to conflicting signs of biological aging

Higher residential nighttime light exposure was associated with contrasting biological aging patterns in nearly 300,000 UK Biobank participants, depending on the aging algorithm used. PhenoAge and homeostatic dysregulation suggested a potentially adverse aging pattern, while KDM-BA showed the opposite association, underscoring uncertainty about how nighttime light relates to biological aging.

6 Aug 2026

Swiss flagship project harnesses AI and sensors for diabetes prevention

Type 2 diabetes generates high healthcare costs in Switzerland and causes significant suffering for those affected.

6 Aug 2026

First-trimester protein intake linked to lower odds of small-for-gestational-age birth

A secondary analysis of 7,067 nulliparous participants found that first-trimester protein intake of 0.8 to less than 1.1 g/kg/day was associated with 22% lower adjusted odds of delivering an SGA infant than intake of at least 1.1 g/kg/day. The association was exploratory, with no dose-response pattern and no confirmation in sensitivity analyses.

6 Aug 2026

Mouse study shows how liraglutide briefly rewires gut bacterial communities

Researchers treated male high-fat-fed mice with liraglutide for 14 days, then tracked fecal bacterial communities after a 7-day washout using 16S rRNA sequencing. Liraglutide shifted the microbiome toward Lactobacillus- and Leptogranulimonas-related taxa while reducing several fermentative taxa, but most changes moved back toward baseline after treatment stopped.

4 Aug 2026