Dieting and Weight Control News

December 11, 2025

Top Headlines

Why Ultra-processed Foods Make Teens Eat More When They Aren’t Hungry

Dec. 10, 2025 A Virginia Tech study shows that ultra-processed foods may influence adolescents differently from slightly older young adults. Participants aged 18 to 21 ate more at a buffet and snacked even when not hungry after two weeks on an ultra-processed ...

Most of the World Isn’t Getting Enough Omega-3

Dec. 9, 2025 Most people worldwide aren’t getting enough omega-3, leaving a major gap between scientific recommendations and daily diets. Researchers emphasize the critical role of EPA and DHA across all life stages and point out that food alone often can’t ...

Her Food Cravings Vanished on Mounjaro Then Roared Back

Dec. 8, 2025 Deep-brain recordings showed that Mounjaro and Zepbound briefly shut down the craving circuits linked to food noise in a patient with severe obesity. Her obsessive thoughts about food disappeared as the medication quieted the nucleus accumbens, the ...

A Common Nutrient Deficiency May Be Silently Harming Young Brains

Nov. 27, 2025 Scientists studying young adults with obesity discovered early indicators of brain stress that resemble patterns seen in cognitive impairment. The group showed higher inflammation, signs of liver strain and elevated neurofilament light chain, a ...

Why Ultra-processed Foods Aren’t the Real Villain Behind Overeating

Oct. 5, 2025 Researchers from Leeds found that overeating is driven more by what people believe about food than by its actual ingredients or level of processing. Foods perceived as fatty, sweet, or highly processed were more likely to trigger indulgence. ...

Cocoa Supplements Show Surprising Anti-aging Potential

Sep. 27, 2025 Daily cocoa extract supplements reduced key inflammation markers in older adults, pointing to a role in protecting the heart. The findings reinforce the value of flavanol-rich, plant-based foods for healthier ...

Scientists Reveal How Breakfast Timing May Predict How Long You Live

Sep. 4, 2025 Meal timing shifts with age, and researchers found that eating breakfast later is tied to depression, fatigue, sleep problems, and an increased risk of death. Monitoring when meals are eaten could provide an easy health marker for aging ...

Your Brain Works Overtime at Night to Burn Fat and Prevent Sugar Crashes

Aug. 24, 2025 Researchers uncovered that hypothalamic neurons safeguard blood sugar overnight by directing fat breakdown, preventing hypoglycemia during early sleep. This subtle control system may explain abnormal metabolism in ...

Cutting Sugar Won’t Curb Your Sweet Tooth, Scientists Say

Aug. 12, 2025 A six-month randomized trial challenges the idea that eating more sweet foods increases a person’s preference for sweetness. Participants on diets with high, low, or mixed sweetness levels showed no changes in their sweet taste preferences, energy ...

Scientists Found the Brain Glitch That Makes You Think You’re Still Hungry

June 11, 2025 A team of scientists has identified specialized neurons in the brain that store "meal memories" detailed recollections of when and what we eat. These engrams, found in the ventral hippocampus, help ...

Adulting Is Hard on the Heart: Teen to Young Adulthood Is a Critical Time to Address Risk

Mar. 26, 2025 Many youth have heart disease risk factors by their late teens, and preventing or addressing these risks early may reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular disease in the future, according to a ...

Scientists Discover Why Obesity Takes Away the Pleasure of Eating

Mar. 26, 2025 Why do some people lose the joy of eating, even when surrounded by irresistible foods? UC Berkeley researchers have uncovered a surprising brain mechanism that explains this paradox. They found that a high-fat diet lowers levels of a peptide called ...

Latest Headlines

updated 1:40pm EST

Why Gen X Women Can’t Stop Eating Ultra-Processed Foods

Sep. 29, 2025 Researchers found that middle-aged adults, especially women, are far more likely to be addicted to ultra-processed foods than older generations. Marketing of diet-focused processed foods in the 1980s ...

Research Highlights Urgent Need for National Strategy to Combat Rising Eating Disorders

Mar. 28, 2025 Over a million people in the UK are living with eating disorders, yet England still has no national strategy to address the crisis. Researchers are ...

Memory Is Impaired in Aged Rats After 3 Days of High-Fat Eating

Mar. 6, 2025 Just a few days of eating a diet high in saturated fat could be enough to cause memory problems and related brain inflammation in older adults, a new study in rats ...

Biological Clock Plays Critical Role in Driving Teens' Late-Day Eating Habits

Feb. 18, 2025 The causes of obesity are complex and influenced by many factors. While research has highlighted connections between sleep, eating patterns and ...

Carbohydrate Cravings in Depression

Feb. 5, 2025 Depression affects 280 million people worldwide. The mental illness has been proven to lead to changes in eating behavior. Researchers have discovered that although patients with depression generally ...

Calorie Labels on Menus Could Make Eating Disorders Worse

Jan. 29, 2025 Calorie labels on restaurant menus are negatively impacting people with eating disorders, according to a new study. The review found that individuals who have been diagnosed with an eating disorder ...

Weight Loss App That Tracks Fiber, Protein Content in Meals

Jan. 24, 2025 Many people struggle to maintain a healthy weight, and choosing the optimal meals for weight loss can be challenging. A research team has developed a weight management program that helps individuals ...

Memory Systems in the Brain Drive Food Cravings That Could Influence Body Weight

Jan. 15, 2025 A research team identified the brain's food-specific memory system and its direct role in overeating and diet-induced obesity. They found a specific ...

More Calories -- More Consumption: Individuals With and Without Obesity Both Prefer High-Calories Food, Study Finds

Dec. 18, 2024 Higher calorie foods were preferred among individuals with and without obesity despite similar taste and texture, according to a new ...

Researchers Suggest Stress Hormones Explain How Obesity Causes Diabetes

Nov. 12, 2024 Obesity causes insulin resistance by increasing activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the release of the stress hormone norepinephrine, according to a new ...

Consistent Bedtime Linked With Better Child Emotion and Behavior Regulation

Nov. 11, 2024 A consistent bedtime may be more important to a child's ability to control their emotions and behavior than the duration or quality of their sleep, according to a new ...

How COVID-19 Transformed Family Dinners

Oct. 31, 2024 While the lockdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic led many families to eat more meals at home, they had an additional benefit: an increase in the quality of family time during those dinners, ...

The Decision to Eat May Come Down to These Three Neurons

Oct. 23, 2024 Manipulating a newly identified neural circuit can curb appetite -- or spur massive ...

An Unexpected Involvement of Sodium Transport in Mitochondrial Energy Generation

Sep. 19, 2024 A new study offers a fresh perspective on the role of sodium in mitochondrial physiology and points the way to future research into the relationship between complex I disorders and a host of neuronal ...

Calorie Labels on Alcohol Might Help Some Drinkers Maintain a Healthier Weight

Sep. 19, 2024 Just over half of heavier drinkers in England say they would make changes to their drinking if calorie labels for alcohol were introduced, according to a new ...

Sport or Snack? How Our Brain Decides

Aug. 6, 2024 The brain chemical orexin is crucial when we choose between sport and the tasty temptations that beckon everywhere we turn. This research finding could also help people who find it difficult to ...

New Study on Children and Food: Fruit Chunks in Yogurt Are a Turn Off for One Age Group in Particular

July 3, 2024 It's no secret that kids aren't crazy about having too many seeds, pulp or chunks in their food. But six-year-olds in particular definitely can't stand lumps, according to a new study. ...

Emotional Overeating Fed by Temperament, Caregivers' Reactions to Children's Emotions

June 27, 2024 A research team tracked children from infancy through age 3 to explore the roots of emotional overeating. Parents/caregivers were surveyed about the children's temperaments and whether they ...

Bedtime Battles: 1 in 4 Parents Say Their Child Can't Go to Sleep Because They're Worried or Anxious

June 17, 2024 One in four parents describe getting their young child to bed as difficult -- and these parents are less likely to have a bedtime routine, more likely to leave on a video or TV show, and more likely ...

Eating More Ultra-Processed Foods Tied to Cognitive Decline, Stroke, According to Study

May 22, 2024 People who eat more ultra-processed foods like soft drinks, chips and cookies may have a higher risk of having memory and thinking problems and having a stroke than those who eat fewer processed ...

Significant Gaps Between Science of Obesity and the Care Patients Receive

May 20, 2024 More than 40% of adults in the United States live with obesity, and the percentage of people living with obesity continues to increase dramatically. While experts have learned a great deal about the ...

New Immunosuppressive Mechanism Found in Brain Cancer

May 3, 2024 Scientists have discovered how glioblastoma evades the immune system by inducing pro-tumor macrophages via a glucose based epigenetic ...

Blended Antioxidant Supplement Improves Cognition and Memory in Aged Mice

Apr. 2, 2024 Cell damage from oxidative stress is a major underlying cause of age-related cognitive and muscle strength decline. Antioxidants can reduce oxidative stress and prevent age-related health decline. A ...

Pilot Study Shows Ketogenic Diet Improves Severe Mental Illness

Apr. 1, 2024 A small clinical trial found that the metabolic effects of a ketogenic diet may help stabilize the ...

How the Brain Translates Motivation Into Goal-Oriented Behavior, According to New Study

Mar. 15, 2024 Hunger can drive a motivational state that leads an animal to a successful pursuit of a goal -- foraging for and finding food. In a highly novel study, researchers describe how two major neuronal ...

Consuming Refined Carbs Might Be Linked to Perceived Facial Attractiveness

Mar. 6, 2024 In a new study, participants' levels of consumption of refined carbohydrates were statistically linked with their facial attractiveness as rated by heterosexual volunteers of the opposite ...

Living Near Pubs, Bars and Fast-Food Restaurants Could Be Bad for Heart Health

Feb. 27, 2024 Exposure to more ready-to-eat food outlets linked to a higher risk of heart failure, in a new ...

Avid Appetite in Childhood Linked to Later Eating Disorder Symptoms

Feb. 20, 2024 The study looked at survey data from 3,670 young people in the UK and the Netherlands to investigate how appetite traits in early childhood might relate to the likelihood of developing eating ...

Could Ultra-Processed Foods Be the New 'Silent' Killer?

Feb. 20, 2024 Ultra-processed foods, crammed with synthetic additives and stripped of natural nutrients, are quietly wreaking havoc on American health. With consumption rates skyrocketing, especially among kids, ...

Protein-Rich Breakfast Boosts Satiety and Concentration

Feb. 15, 2024 A new study has explored the link between diet and cognitive function, and the results reveal that a protein-rich breakfast can increase satiety and improve concentration. This is important knowledge ...