Science Weekly - 30th July 2021

It looks like that the science world slows down for summer just like all other areas of life. However, there were still a handful of papers released this past week concerning fitness, nutrition and exercise science.

Fruit fly offers lessons in good taste

Study shows food choice decisions require taste input
The fruit fly has multiple taste organs throughout its body to detect chemicals, called tastants, that signal whether a food is palatable or harmful. It is still unclear, however, how individual neurons in each taste organ act to control feeding. To explore this question, a team used the fly pharynx as a model to study whether taste information regulates sugar and amino acid consumption at the cellular level.

Source: University of California - Riverside

Eating for hunger or pleasure? Regulating these feeding behaviors involves different brain circuits

Researchers discovered that although the brain regulates feeding for pleasure and for hunger through serotonin-producing neurons in the midbrain, each type of feeding is wired by its own independent circuit that does not influence the other type of feeding.

Source: Baylor College of Medicine

New dietary treatment for epilepsy well tolerated and reduced seizures, study finds

A clinical trial of a new dietary treatment for children and adults with severe forms of epilepsy based on the ketogenic diet has been successfully completed.

Source: University College London

Patients report long-term favorable effects of weight loss surgery in their daily lives

Significant weight loss and insulin independence drive improvement in general health measures for patients with type 2 diabetes
A new study shows that over the course of five years, patients who had bariatric and metabolic surgery to treat uncontrolled type 2 diabetes reported greater physical health, more energy, less body pain, and less negative effects of diabetes in their daily lives, compared with patients who had medical therapy alone for their diabetes.

Source: Cleveland Clinic

Black American women with vitamin D insufficiency more likely to test positive for COVID-19, study finds

In a recent study of Black American women, low levels of vitamin D appeared to be related to increased incidence of COVID-19 infection.

Source: Boston University School of Medicine

Postmenopausal women can dance their way to better health

Women often struggle with managing their weight and other health risk factors, such as high cholesterol, once they transition through menopause. A new study suggests that dancing may effectively lower cholesterol levels, improve fitness and body composition and in the process, improve self-esteem.

Source: The North American Menopause Society (NAMS)

Exercise may boost kids’ vocabulary growth

New study suggests exercise can boost kids’ vocabulary growth
Swimming a few laps likely won't turn your child into the next Katie Ledecky or Michael Phelps, but it just might help them become the next J.K. Rowling or Stephen King. A recent study suggests aerobic exercise, such as swimming, can boost kids' vocabulary growth.

Source: University of Delaware