Obesity News and Research

Latest Obesity News and Research

Hypothalamic neurons help maintain blood sugar during daily activities

The brain controls the release of glucose in a wide range of stressful circumstances, including fasting and low blood sugar levels.

21 Aug 2025

Edible microbeads trap fat to support weight loss

Weight-loss interventions, including gastric bypass surgery and drugs that prevent dietary fat absorption, can be invasive or have negative side effects.

21 Aug 2025

Gut bacteria and insomnia influence each other in small but significant ways, study shows

Scientists used Mendelian randomisation to explore the two-way relationship between gut microbiota and insomnia, analyzing GWAS data from over 386,000 individuals and two major microbiome cohorts. The study found only limited taxa surviving strict correction, suggesting small but causal links that highlight the gut–brain axis in sleep health.

21 Aug 2025

Can AI help you eat healthier?

Researchers developed and validated an AI-based nutrition recommendation system (AINR) that generates weekly Mediterranean meal plans tailored to individual needs and dietary restrictions. Tested on 4,000 simulated users, the system achieved high accuracy in calorie and nutrient targets but struggled with profiles involving milk and nut allergies.

21 Aug 2025

Less education associated with faster aging and health inequality

A new study by USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology researchers shows that Americans with less education are aging faster than their peers with more schooling, and the gap has grown over the last 30 years.

21 Aug 2025

Scientists rank the healthiest grains using new nutrition scores

Two new scoring systems reveal that Americans who eat more nutrient-dense grains, whether whole or fortified, have better diets, lower obesity rates, and improved metabolic health. The cross-sectional analysis of NHANES data shows that these “healthy grains” are also affordable and widely available.

20 Aug 2025

New genetic study reveals why people age differently

It's a fact of life: Some people age better than others. Some ease into their 90s with mind and body intact, while others battle diabetes, Alzheimer's or mobility issues decades earlier.

20 Aug 2025

Ciliary Hedgehog signaling controls the fate of fat precursor cells

Too much fat can be unhealthy: how fat cells, so-called adipocytes, develop, is crucial for the function of the fat tissue.

20 Aug 2025

Low FODMAP diet increases GLP-1 and relieves IBS symptoms

This study reveals that a low FODMAP diet alleviates IBS symptoms and increases GLP-1 levels, suggesting new avenues for dietary interventions in gut health.

20 Aug 2025

Could chlorophyll become the next antidiabetic therapy?

Research highlights chlorophyll's role in blood sugar regulation and insulin mimicry, though safety risks and lack of human trials warrant caution.

20 Aug 2025

Seven blood metabolites associated with excessive daytime sleepiness

Mass General Brigham researchers identified seven molecules in the blood linked to excessive daytime sleepiness, including factors related to diet and hormones.

20 Aug 2025

Study clarifies how amylin receptors respond to drugs

Amylin, a hormone that controls appetite and blood sugar by activating three different receptors in the brain, could be the basis for the next blockbuster obesity drugs.

19 Aug 2025

SNAP25 identified as key to sour taste perception and cell survival

The tongue contains numerous taste buds-tiny sensory organs responsible for detecting taste. Taste buds consist of specialized cells that translate chemical stimuli into neural signals.

19 Aug 2025

Early puberty and childbirth tied to accelerated aging and higher disease risk

Reproductive timing matters when it comes to aging and age-related disease. In a study now online at eLife¸ Buck researchers determine that girls who go through puberty (the onset of menstruation) before the age of 11 or women who give birth before the age of 21 have double the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart failure and obesity and quadruple the risk of developing severe metabolic disorders.

18 Aug 2025

Ultra-processed foods undermine diet quality in Mediterranean youth, study shows

A large study across five Mediterranean countries found that children and adolescents who consumed more unhealthy ultra-processed foods (UPFs) had significantly poorer diet quality. Daily UPF intake was especially linked to lower adherence to the Mediterranean diet and reduced compliance with dietary guidelines.

18 Aug 2025

Fasting does not have the same effect on all body types, study suggests

While fasting has become a popular trend, particularly for people who hope to lose weight, new UBC Okanagan research suggests fasting does not have the same effect on all body types.

18 Aug 2025

Scientists urge shift in medicine to target the biology of aging

The most recent issue of Journal of the American Medical Association includes a landmark review highlighting innovative strategies to slow the biological aging process, an emerging approach with significant potential to prevent or delay multiple chronic diseases at once, one of the most pressing challenges in modern medicine today.

18 Aug 2025

Irregular sleep patterns linked to higher mortality risk

Researchers in Korea followed over 9,600 adults for 15 years and found that both short and long sleep durations, especially when irregular, were linked to higher risk of death. The study highlights that 7–8 hours of regular sleep may be optimal for longevity.

18 Aug 2025

Using AI to enhance the design of nanoparticles for RNA therapies

Using artificial intelligence, MIT researchers have come up with a new way to design nanoparticles that can more efficiently deliver RNA vaccines and other types of RNA therapies.

18 Aug 2025

Detecting diabetes risk by analyzing household data

New research to be presented at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Vienna, Austria (September 15-19, 2025) shows that early detection of individuals at risk for diabetes is possible by analyzing the electronic records of people living within the same household for risk factors. The study is led by Dr Tainayah Thomas, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA, and colleagues.

18 Aug 2025