Do low-calorie sweeteners lead people to lose—or gain—weight?
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Researchers had 277 adults with excess weight eat a low-calorie meal-replacement diet for 2 months, which led them to lose 22 pounds. For the next 10 months, they were randomly assigned to eat a healthy diet either with or without low-cal sweeteners. (Both diets got less than 10 percent of their calories from added sugars.)
By the end of the 10 months, the no-low-cal-sweetener group had regained 10 pounds, while the low-cal-sweetener group had regained only 6 pounds. (The average participant started the study at 200 pounds.) Blood pressure, blood sugar, and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol fell by roughly the same amount in both groups.
What to do
Don’t worry that using low-cal sweeteners will lead you to gain weight...or regain extra weight. But avoid aspartame, acesulfame potassium, saccharin, and sucralose, which may raise the risk of cancer. Stevia extract, monk fruit extract, and allulose are safer options.
Does drinking water instead of diet drinks lead to lower blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes?
Scientists randomly assigned 178 people with type 2 diabetes who typically drank beverages made with low-calorie sweeteners to consume 24 oz. of either diet drinks or unflavored water (sparkling or still) every day. After 24 weeks, hemoglobin A1c (a long-term measure of blood sugar) was higher in the water group (it averaged 7.44 percent) than in the diet-drink group (7.14 percent). Both groups started at about 7.20 percent.
What to do
Got type 2 diabetes? Don’t worry that diet drinks raise A1c. But stick to safe sweeteners. And don’t assume that water raises A1c. Some people in the water group might have replaced diet drinks with sweets.
A healthy DASH or Mediterranean diet is linked to a lower risk of kidney cancer
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Scientists enrolled 113,594 people aged 40 to 70 in the UK Biobank study. After 11 years, those who had most closely followed a DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet had a 33 percent lower risk of kidney cancer than those who had eaten the least DASH-like diets. Similarly, those who ate a healthy Mediterranean diet had a 29 percent lower risk than those whose diets least resembled a healthy Mediterranean diet.
What to do
This study can’t prove that a DASH or Mediterranean diet can prevent kidney cancer, since something else about people who eat them might explain their lower risk. But those diets—both rich in vegetables, fruits, fish, beans, nuts, whole grains, and healthy oils and low in red and processed meats—can protect your heart, so whaddya got to lose?
U.S. women born in the 1990s have half the risk of cervical cancer of women born in the 1970s.
Cervical cancer rates fell by a remarkable 11 percent per year starting with women born from 1987 to 1989. Those women were about 18 years old in 2006, the year vaccines for HPV (human papillomavirus) became available.
What to do
Girls and boys should get the HPV vaccine at age 9 to 12 to lower the risk of six cancers caused by HPV, say health authorities.
Do high-fat dairy foods lead to weight loss by curbing appetite, as some people claim?
In a study partly funded by the Dairy Farmers of Canada, researchers randomly assigned 74 adults with excess weight to (a) cut 500 calories and eat less than 1 serving of low-fat dairy every day, (b) cut 500 calories and replace them with a serving of whole milk at breakfast, a full-fat yogurt before lunch, and 2 full-fat cheese sticks before dinner every day, or (c) eat the same 3 full-fat dairy foods with no advice to cut calories.
After 12 weeks, the first group had lost 1.5 pounds, the second group had gained 0.8 pounds, and weight didn’t budge in the third group.
What to do
Don’t expect high-fat dairy to promote weight loss.
Is a low-fat or low-carb diet better for belly fat?
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A low-carbohydrate diet may lead to a greater loss of visceral (deep belly) fat, which is more closely linked to disease than other body fat.
The DIETFITS trial randomly assigned 449 men and premenopausal women with excess weight to either a healthy low-fat or healthy low-carb diet.
After 1 year, both groups had lost about 12 pounds. However, men on the low-carb diet lost slightly more visceral fat than those on the low-fat diet. Women lost no more visceral fat on the low-carb diet. (It’s not clear if those results would also apply to postmenopausal women, who often have more visceral fat.)
What to do
Want to cut visceral fat? Try a diet that cuts carbs and relies on non-starchy vegetables plus fish, poultry, nuts, and healthy oils.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the first-line treatment for chronic insomnia, but many people can’t find or afford a CBT therapist. Could tai chi help?
Scientists randomly assigned 200 people aged 50 or older with moderate insomnia to two 1-hour group sessions a week of either Yang-style tai chi or CBT for 3 months.
After the sessions ended, insomnia severity scores had dropped more in the CBT group (by 11 out of 28 points) than in the tai chi group (by 7 out of 28 points). But a year later, severity scores had dropped by 10 points in both groups.
Likewise, after 3 months, 83 percent of the CBT group vs. 56 percent of the tai chi group no longer had insomnia. But a year later, 63 percent of the CBT vs. 77 percent of the tai chi group no longer did (that difference wasn’t statistically significant).
What to do
Got chronic insomnia? A CBT intervention is your best bet. But over the long term, tai chi may work at least as well.
Can the antioxidant supplement lipoic acid slow the progression of multiple sclerosis, as a pilot trial suggested?
Scientists randomly assigned 115 people with MS to take 1,200 mg of lipoic acid or a placebo every day. After 2 years, the lipoic acid takers had no slower decline in walking speed and no fewer falls than the placebo takers.
What’s more, lipoic acid takers were more likely to have kidney problems (protein lost in urine and decreased glomerular filtration rate).
What to do
Unless new clinical trials demonstrate that lipoic acid is safe and effective, don’t take it to treat MS.
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