One-year changes in sugar-sweetened beverage consumers’ purchases following implementation of a beverage tax: a longitudinal quasi-experiment

Article This study compared two cities to one another, Baltimore and Philadelphia, after implementation of a beverage tax in Philadelphia. They looked at receipts of all participants for a two week period at pre-tax, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. Statistically significant reductions of taxed beverage purchases at 3 and 6 months, but not…

Infants with big appetites: The role of a nonfood environment on infant appetitive traits linked to obesity

Article The researchers looked at the literature and found that infants between the ages of 9-18 months were influenced by food focused activities as well as non-food activities. These activities could help influence whether the infants would possibly become obese in the future. They suggested developing fun non-food focused activities (playing with bubbles, musical instruments) mitigated…

Blood factors transfer beneficial effects of exercise on neurogenesis and cognition to the aged brain

Article In this study, they found taking a specific enzyme produced after exercise from one mouse and placing it in another mouse was effective. The enzyme was glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-specific phospholipase D1 (Gpld1), a GPI-degrading enzyme and acts to improve age related brain degeneration and cognitive impairments. TL;DR Specific enzymes produced from exercise can be transferred from one…

Fasting-mimicking diet and hormone therapy induce breast cancer regression

Article In a mouse model, this study demonstrated that receptor positive breast cancer are affected by a fasting diet. This is effected by decreasing certain hormones (insulin, leptin, etc.). They found combined with a specific treatment (oestrogen therapy) a fasting like diet further decreased these hormones that are negatively associated in these cancers. TL;DR A…

Substituting brown rice for white rice on diabetes risk factors in India: a randomised controlled trial

Article White rice has been associated with type 2 diabetes while brown rice is inversely associated. This study looked at 166 overweight adults ages 25-65. They were placed on either a brown rice or white rice diet and the outcomes looked at were blood glucose, insulin, glycosylated Hb (HbA1c), insulin resistance, and lipids as well as high-sensitivity…

An mRNA Vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 – Preliminary Report

Article This was a phase 1 trial where they tested an mRNA vaccine on 45 patients ages 18 to 55 years old. There were 3 different dose groups, n=15. Each dose group received a total of 2 vaccinations 28 days apart. They found dose appropriate anti-SARS-CoV-2 titer increases. There were some minor side effects “fatigue, chills,…

Fish consumption and risk of incident dementia in elderly Japanese: the Ohsaki cohort 2006 study

Article The study looked at Japanese 65 years old or older and their eating habits in the city of Ohsaki City, Japan. They did a 5-7 year follow up on the incidence of dementia and found that those with the highest fish consumption had a lower risk of incident dementia. This may indicate habitual fish…

The impact of genetic polymorphisms on weight regain after successful weight loss

Link to the article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32498726/ Genetic polymorphisms are genetic variations in people. These genetic variations can manifest in different ways. In this particular paper, they found that there are certain polymorphisms in adults and children that can caused them to regain weight after an initial weight loss. TL;DR Certain genetic variations (polymorphisms) may predictive of those…

Simple Summary – Comparison of the Eating Behaviour and Dietary Consumption in Older Adults With and Without Visual Impairment

Link to the article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31791430/ The UK study looked at 96 visually impaired people above the age of 50 (control was 50 people who could see) and had them recall their diet for 3 days. The visually impaired reported eating less nutritious foods and overall lower calories. TL;DR People with visual impairment tend to be undernourished