Wellness

A new study from Harvard Medical School indicates that reducing carbs and increasing fats is good for your cardiovascular health–and it’s one of the largest, most rigorous trials on this topic. The group that got 21% of their calories from saturated fats (twice the government guidelines) saw no negative impact on cholesterol levels, a 15% reduction in fatty particles in the blood linked to heart disease/strokes, and lower risk measures…

A new study from the Institute for Systems Biology compared people who lost 1% or more of their weight each month on a weight loss diet, compared with those whose weight didn’t budge–finding that the groups had different microbial DNA and bacteria in their microbiome. Those that lost weight had microbial DNA that allowed bacteria (especially Prevotella) to grow fast (these bacteria ate more sugar/nutrients before the body could absorb them), while the weight-loss-resistant group had…

A new study from Stanford University tested the impact that a diet high in fermented foods (yogurt, sauerkraut, kombucha, etc.) versus a diet high in fiber-rich plant foods would have on the gut and immune system. After ten weeks, the fermented food group saw significant reductions in 19 different inflammatory compounds and harbored a more diverse array of microbes in their guts–while the high-fiber group did not. This represents some…

It’s widely believed that people put on weight in middle age because their metabolisms slow down and that women have slower metabolisms than men, and menopause makes things worse (which is why women struggle with weight issues). A large, new study (6,500 people) indicates that those assumptions are flat-out wrong. Rather than metabolism slowing in middle age, there are four distinct phases of metabolic change:…