obesity tagged posts

Defensive whine: The tight-fitting shirts may be a little too tight for Baltimore Ravens (left to right) Terrence Cody (62), nose tackle Maake Kemoeatu (96) and Haloti Ngata (92)

New research suggests being bigger doesn’t mean being better – or healthier. In American football, there is a stigma that players need to increase their overall body size to make an impact on the field. Exercise scientists set out to determine how body size has changed in college and professional football players over the past 70 yrs. “We started to take a look at providing the information that sports medicine personnel need to be aware of in order to effectively protect the health of the players under their care,”Prof.Potteiger said. “In football, the most at-risk athletes are the offensive and defensive linemen...

Father feeding child (stock image). Credit: © YakobchukOlena / Fotolia

A new study sheds light on how. Researchers in Associate Professor Romain Barrès’ laboratory compared sperm cells from 13 lean men and 10 obese men and discovered that the sperm cells in lean and obese men, respectively, possess different epigenetic marks that could alter the next generation’s appetite, as reported in the medical journal Cell Metabolism.

A second major discovery was made as researchers followed 6 men before and 1 year after gastric-bypass surgery to find out how the surgery affected the epigenetic information contained in their sperm cells. The researchers observed an average of 4,000 structural changes to sperm cell DNA from the time before surgery, directly after, and 1 year later.

“We certainly nee...

Getting up earlier on work days may harm metabolic health, according to researchers.

The piercing tone of the alarm clock alerts us in the most unsubtle way that we have to get up for work. But this early awakening is more than just bothersome; a new study finds it may actually be harmful to health. Published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, the study found that routine sleep changes – such as waking up early on weekdays – may increase the risk for metabolic conditions, such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Previous research has already established that sleep disruption can pose negative health implications. Eg shift workers – whose circadian rhythms are frequently disrupted due to irregular working hours – are at greater risk for poor metabolic health.

Howeve...

Mild cold and exercise stimulate creation of “beige fat” in white adipose tissue

It triggers a surprising metabolic mechanism: white fat cells are transformed into cells similar to brown fat ( ‘beige fat’), that protects the body against excess weight and its damaging consequences. In healthy humans, white adipose tissue constitutes ~25% of body mass. However, when in excess, white fat contributes to insulin resistance and diabetes. Conversely, brown fat improves insulin sensitivity and is reversely correlated to obesity.

In response to cold or exercise, cells similar to brown fat – the beige fat – can appear within the white fat, a phenomenon known as “browning...