Grapefruit found to aid weight loss

A flavanoid found in grapefruit could aid weight loss and reduce the risk of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, new research has found.

Scientists from the Robarts Research Institute at the University of Western Ontario have discovered that naringenin, which is found in citrus and grapefruit in particular, is able to “re-programme” the liver to burn up excess fat, rather than store it.

The researchers found that naringenin also helped rebalance insulin and glucose levels, suggesting the compound could fight diabetes too.

The study, published in journal Diabetes, saw scientists give naringenin to a group of mice fed on a high-fat diet. A control group, on the same diet, were left untreated.

The team found that the untreated mice became obese and developed symptoms of metabolic syndrome, including high cholesterol and insulin resistance, which can lead to complications such as heart disease and diabetes. The treated mice did not suffer from these symptoms and did not get obese.

Lead researcher Professor Murray Huff said: “The marked obesity that develops in these mice was completely prevented by naringenin.

"What was unique about the study was that the effects were independent of caloric intake, meaning the mice ate exactly the same amount of food and the same amount of fat. There was no suppression of appetite or decreased food intake, which are often the basis of strategies to reduce weight gain and its metabolic consequences."

However, the levels of naringenin used in the study were much higher than those found naturally occurring in grapefruit.

The researchers intend to carry out further research to discover whether naringenin can be safely and effectively used in humans to combat obesity and diabetes.

Heavy snorers, sleep apnea sufferers burn more calories: study

Heavy snorers burn far more calories as they sleep than quiet types, but they may be too drowsy during the day to lose any weight, a new study reveals.

Sleepers who suffer from the worst forms of sleep apnea and breathing problems burn up to 2,000 calories a night as they toss and turn.

That's 375 calories more than quiet sleepers shed during their sleepy time - the equivalent of a half-hour workout.

"I used to joke that sleep apnea was free exercise at night," Professor John Stradling, a British sleep expert told the BBC. "It's nice to have that confirmed."

The study of 212 sleepers was conducted by researcher Dr. Eric Kezirian of the University of California, San Francisco.

It's published Tuesday in the journal Archives of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery.

Snorers may burn more energy because they rarely lapse into low-energy deep sleep or because they get a jolt of calorie-burning adrenaline each time their sleep is interupted by their breathing problems.

Researchers cautioned that the study does not indicate that nighttime snufflers will lose any weight as a result of the extra calorie loss.

In fact, other studies have shown a link between sleep problems and obesity.

That's because poor sleepers on average tend to eat too much and exercise less than deep sleepers.

"We also know that sleep deprivation increases appetite and decreases willpower," Stradling said.

Study: Extra Pounds Can Mean Early Death

A study by the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., has suggested people who are moderately overweight have an increased risk of premature death.

The institute studied 500,000 members of AARP for 10 years and found that among the 186,000 who had never smoked, those who weighed in as moderately overweight between the ages of 50 and 60 were 20 to 40 percent more likely to die within 10 years than those of average weight, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

These findings are very important, the institute's Michael Leitzmann told The Washington Post. A substantial proportion of the population in the U.S. is overweight. So if overweight is related to premature death, that's very important to public health.

Leitzmann said the findings are especially important for baby boomers, many of whom are at the age where weight gain can be critical.

What we need to do is try to encourage people to maintain a healthy weight and avoid weight gain, he said.

Source: United Press International

Social Status Linked to Weight, Study Says

CHICAGO -- Where a teenage girl sees herself on her school's social ladder may sway her future weight, a study of more than 4,000 girls finds.

Those who believed they were unpopular gained more weight over a two-year period than girls who viewed themselves as more popular.

The girls in the study were still growing -- their average age was 15 -- and all of them gained some weight. However, those who rated themselves low in popularity were 69 percent more likely than other girls to increase their body mass index by two units, the equivalent of gaining about 11 excess pounds.

Girls who put themselves on the higher rungs of popularity also gained some excess weight, but less -- about 61/2pounds.

Both groups, on average, fell within ranges considered normal. But a gain of two BMI units over two years is more than the typical weight gain for adolescent girls, the researchers said.

"How girls feel about themselves should be part of all obesity prevention strategies," said the study's lead author, Adina Lemeshow.

The research used data from an ongoing study used frequently by scientists studying childhood obesity.

Weight and height data were reported by the girls themselves rather than getting weighed and measured by doctors; that's a weakness in the study that the researchers acknowledged.

The researchers took into account the girls' weight and BMI at the start of the study, along with their diet, household income, race/ethnicity and whether they'd reached puberty -- and still found the link.

"The reason this paper is so important is it has broader implications beyond weight gain. Subjective social status is not just an uncomfortable experience you grow out of, but can have important health consequences." said Clea McNeely of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

, who was not involved in the research but wrote an accompanying editorial.

Experts know little about how to intervene in teenagers' peer groups to improve health, McNeely said, but when adults set standards in schools, students treat one another with more respect.

Teenagers may give grown-ups "bored looks," she said, but "adults are still the most important influential figures in their lives."

The study was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health.