Men with more than normal body weight from an early age (17-19 years) are at higher risk of developing severe liver disease and even liver cancer in later life. The risk is increased when such men develop diabetes. The association between body weight and higher risk of severe liver disease has become clear in a... Continue Reading →
CCMB: Can alpha chain of clusterin protein control weight, fat gain in animals?
The two chains of clusterin protein, which are normally expressed in several tissues and can be found in several body fluids, when present together tend to lower lipid levels but administration of one of its chains — alpha or beta — results in completely different outcomes. Cells treated with a recombinant beta chain tend to... Continue Reading →
Higher abdominal obesity triples breast cancer risk in Indian women
Immaterial of their menopausal and hormone receptor status, Indian women who have a high waist-to-hip ratio (central obesity) of over 0.95 have three times higher risk of breast cancer than those who have waist-to-hip ratio of less than 0.84, according to a study published on August 30 in the European Journal of Cancer. The association... Continue Reading →
Using fat tax to change food consumption behaviour
Using tax as a tool to alter consumer food preferences has been recommended by the World Health Organisation. Mexico provides us with proof that levying additional taxes on non-essential food items that are rich in fat or calories can effectively alter food choices. The country witnessed a 5.1 per cent dip in consumption levels in... Continue Reading →
Is Kerala’s fat tax a mere topping than health initiative?
In a bold step that might have a positive impact on public health, Kerala has become the first State in the country to introduce a 14.5 per cent tax on burgers, pizzas, donuts, sandwiches and pasta sold through branded restaurants. Introducing additional tax on fat-rich food products has been tried out in other countries... Continue Reading →
Sin tax reduces intake of energy-dense food in Mexico
That taxing energy-dense, unhealthy food will result in a drop in consumption levels has come out unequivocally clear in Mexico. In January 2014, Mexico introduced 8 per cent tax on foods items with energy density of over 275 kcal/100 g and one peso per litre of sugar-sweetened beverages. Data of household consumption of nonessential energy-dense... Continue Reading →
One minute of hard exercise thrice a week has great health benefits
“I don’t have the time to exercise” can no longer be an excuse. A single minute of very intense exercise per week can produce similar health benefits as 45 minutes of continuous, moderate-intensity cycling a week, a study found. Even the one minute exercise was split into three short bouts of 20 seconds separated by... Continue Reading →
Editorial: On detecting and delaying diabetes
Between 1980 and 2014, the age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes in India more than doubled among men (from 3.7 to 9.1 per cent) and increased by 80 per cent among women (4.6 to 8.3 per cent). In absolute terms, the number of diabetics in India galloped from 11.9 million to 64.5 million in the same period,... Continue Reading →
Activity equivalent calorie labelling to fight obesity
If pictorial warnings on tobacco products help in effectively conveying the harsh reality of the effects of tobacco and increase the awareness among users and potential users, there is a strong case to change the way food items are labelled too. Instead of merely stating that a particular food item has certain amount of calories,... Continue Reading →
