Eating chocolate 'reduces body fat level'

Despite being high in calories, chocolate might actually encourage lower levels of body fat, according to a recent study.

Researchers at the University of Granada, Spain measured the body fat of nearly 1,500 adolescents from around Europe between the ages of 12 and 17 years.

They found that regardless of their sex, age, diet and how much they exercised, subjects who ate lots of chocolate tended to be slimmer than those who did not. According to Magdalena Cuenca-Garcia, the study's lead author, this could be down to the fact that chocolate is rich in healthy flavonoids, especially catechins.

"These compounds have important antioxidant, antithrombotic, anti-inflammatory and antihypertensive effects and can help prevent ischemic heart disease," she explained.

However, the researchers stressed that chocolate can still be unhealthy if not eaten in moderation.

"As they say, you can have too much of a good thing," they said.

Brain may play crucial role in development of type 2 diabetes

New research has found that the brain may play an essential role in glucose regulation and the development of type 2 diabetes.

In a study, researchers suggested that glucose regulation is controlled by coordinated interactions between both the brain and insulin-producing tissues in the pancreas – a theory that could eventually pave the way for new treatments for the disease.

Based on a review of both human and animal studies, the researchers speculated that while the pancreas reacts to increased levels of blood glucose by releasing more insulin, the brain is also heavily involved in helping the body maintain normal glucose levels. Type 2 diabetes occurs when both of these systems fail.

Currently, treatments for type 2 diabetes rely almost exclusively on methods that attempt to either increase insulin or regulate the body’s sensitivity to insulin. However, if the researchers are correct in their hypothesis that failures in the brain are crucial to the development of type 2 diabetes, it could lead to new, more effective methods by which to treat – or even reverse – the disease.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it is estimated that 50 percent of the population will have developed diabetes by 2050.

Drink Water, Lose Weight

One of the most familiar pieces of weight-loss advice is also among the simplest: Drink lots of water. It makes you feel fuller, for one, so you don't eat as much junk later on (and maybe you won't drink sodas or other sugar-filled drinks).

Now, a new study adds some scientific heft to that advice. People who drank more water, researchers found, stayed slimmer than those who drank less. The study followed more than 120,000 people for about two decades, checking in on their lifestyle habits and weight every four years.

Overall, people in the study gained a small amount weight during each four-year span. But each cup of water a person drank per day meant they gained, on average, nearly three-tenths of a pound less during that time. The more water they drank, the less weight they put on – a noteworthy finding for a study that, for most participants, spanned a large chunk of middle age.

Fruit juice and sugar-sweetened beverages like soda, on the other hand, made participants gain more weight; each cup per day led to half a pound and four-fifths of a pound more weight gain in four years, respectively. Subbing water for a sugary drink, then, would likely have an even bigger impact, says An Pan, a public health researcher at the National University of Singapore who helped lead the study. Swapping a 12-ounce soda for a large glass of water every day would lead to a 1.25-pound smaller weight gain over four years.
If you tire of constantly sipping plain water, the researchers found that coffee had a similar slimming effect, too – though unlike water, it's easier to drink too much joe, which can have some downsides.

New Drug May Someday Battle Obesity and Diabetes

A new diabetes drug may one day perform double duty for patients, controlling both their blood sugar levels and helping them lose weight, researchers report. In mouse trials, doctors found the drug prompted weight loss, in addition to managing blood sugar levels.

"That [weight loss] is not what this drug was designed to do, but it's a very attractive additional benefit," said study co-author Richard DiMarchi, a research chemist at Indiana University in whose lab the drug was created. The injectable medication is based on a single molecule that combines the properties of two hormones that send chemical signals to the pancreas, said DiMarchi. "They signal to the pancreas that you are taking a meal," DiMarchi said. "The pancreas then responds by secreting insulin and to synthesize additional amounts of insulin for subsequent use."

People with type 2 diabetes have lower levels of these pancreas-signaling hormones, which are known as incretins, explained Dr. John Anderson, president of medicine and science at the American Diabetes Association. "The incretin defect in type 2 diabetes is well known, and it's only within the last few years we have had agents to treat it," Anderson said.

Human and primate trials revealed that the new drug controls blood sugar with fewer side effects than other diabetes medications. Those side effects can include nausea, vomiting and stomach pain. "In this study, the degree of gastrointestinal discomfort is much more modest than is experienced in conventional drugs," DiMarchi said. "We get beneficial glycemic control with this combination drug, and it seems to be with less adverse drug effect."

The medication combines the action of the hormones GLP-1 and GIP. Current diabetes medications of this sort target GLP-1 receptors in the body; studies involving GIP have produced mixed results. GLP is known to suppress appetite, and DiMarchi said the weight loss observed in mice might be occurring because the second hormone, GIP, is somehow "turbo-charging" that appetite suppression.

In the mouse trials, a drug based on GLP-1 alone decreased body weight by an average 15 %. But the new drug combining GLP-1 and GIP decreased body weight by nearly 21 % as well as controlling blood glucose and decreasing appetite.

A six-week human trial involving 53 patients with type 2 diabetes found that the medication effectively controlled their blood sugar levels. However, the researchers did not note any change in weight during the relatively short study period. The higher potency of the combined molecule suggests it could be administered at lower doses than other incretin-based medications, reducing side effects and making the drug easier to take.

"Currently approved drugs are quite effective," DiMarchi said, "but they are insufficient in normalizing glucose, and they certainly don't cause much loss of body weight."