Science Weekly - 26082018

​This week's scientific research round-up entertains a variety of fitness and nutrition topics, including eating habits, LDL cholesterol in young adults, how parenting can affect the children's chances of developing a higher BMI, the importance of sleep t prevent weight gain and a number of studies on mice to learn more about the hormonal system. Feel free to comment your thoughts.

​Young, healthy people still vulnerable to CVD if their LDL cholesterol is high

A study of more than 36,000 people followed for over two decades revealed that healthy individuals considered 'low-risk' still died from cardiovascular disease if they had high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. Without taking into account other risk factors, people with LDL cholesterol levels in the range of 100-159 mg/dL had a 30 to 40 percent higher risk of cardiovascular disease death.

Source: American Heart Association

Found: A destructive mechanism that blocks the brain from knowing when to stop eating

Researchers have uncovered a destructive mechanism at the molecular level that causes a well-known phenomenon associated with obesity: leptin resistance. They found that mice fed a high-fat diet produce an enzyme named MMP-2 that clips receptors for the hormone leptin from the surface of neuronal cells in the hypothalamus. This blocks leptin from binding to its receptors. This in turn keeps the neurons from signaling that your stomach is full and you should stop eating.

​Source: University of California - San Diego

'One weird trick' to cut belly fat? Follow a heart-healthy diet!

​Do you wish you could decrease your waistline? Reducing abdominal obesity can lower health risks - but despite claims you may have seen on the Internet, no trending diet can help you specifically eliminate belly fat.

Source: Wolters Kluwer Health

Parents' behavior during playtime may affect toddler's weight later on

Researchers have found that toddlers who had poor self-regulation skills -- the ability to control their behaviors and emotions -- went on to have lower BMIs as preschoolers if their mothers engaged with them during playtime and then helped direct them during clean up.

Source: Penn State

​How healthy is the American diet? The Healthy Eating Index helps determine the answer

Leading nutrition experts describe and evaluate the latest version of the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), which has been issued to correspond to the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Source: Elsevier

Natural sugar defends against metabolic syndrome, in mice

New research, in mice, indicates that a natural sugar called trehalose blocks glucose from the liver and activates a gene that boosts insulin sensitivity, reducing the chance of developing diabetes. The findings suggest new possibilities for treating metabolic syndrome, a cluster of related conditions that includes obesity, diabetes and fatty liver disease.

Source: Washington University School of Medicine

​How sleep loss may contribute to adverse weight gain

​One night of sleep loss has a tissue-specific impact on the regulation of gene expression and metabolism in humans, according to researchers. This may explain how shift work and chronic sleep loss impairs our metabolism and adversely affects our body composition.

​Source: Uppsala University

​Cardio exercise and strength training affect hormones differently

Strength training and cardio exercise affect the body differently with regard to the types of hormones they release into the blood, new research shows. One of the conclusions of the study is that cardio exercise produces a far greater amount of the metabolic hormone FGF21 than strength training.

Source: University of Copenhagen The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences