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Countries using high-fructose corn syrup have diabetes rates 20 percent higher than countries that do not, a new international analysis finds. High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in national food supplies around the world might help explain the rising rates of type 2 diabetes around the world, researchers at the University of Southern California and the University of Oxford report in the journal Global Public Health. After studying 42 countries, researchers found that those that use HFCS in their food supply had a 20 percent higher prevalence of diabetes than those that did not use HFCS, suggesting an association with diabetes independent...

You know those little vials of who-knows-what that TV bills as a healthier alternative to energy drinks. Turns out they might make you die. Or to be more specific, the flavored energy shot "has been mentioned in some 90 filings with the F.D.A., including more than 30 that involved serious or life-threatening injuries like heart attacks, convulsions and, in one case, a spontaneous abortion," according to a New York Times investigation. ... Don't worry, 5-Hour Energy fans, Monster Energy drink is a culprit, too. Following a review of FDA records, The Times found that 5-Hour Energy was implicated in at...

A large federal study of whether diet and weight loss can prevent heart attacks and strokes in overweight and obese people with Type 2 diabetes has ended two years ahead of schedule because the intensive program did not help. About 25 million Americans have Type 2 diabetes. Many are overweight or obese. On average, the disease increases heart disease risk by 2 to 2 1/2 times, said Dr. Ronald Kahn, chief academic officer at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. Dr. Nathan, though, said the results meant that people with diabetes might have a choice. The group assigned to diet...

As one of the country’s largest health-insurance companies, Humana regularly has a say in where its members seek care. Now it wants sway over what groceries they buy. Humana announced a new partnership with Wal-Mart on Wednesday that will give the more than 1 million members of its wellness program, HumanaVitality, a 5 percent discount on healthy groceries. The program, which will launch Oct. 15, is meant to steer customers toward healthier food choices and potentially push down health-care costs — while driving people into Wal-Mart stores. The unusual partnership between a major insurer and major retailer speaks to insurers’...

Michelle Roberts, AP writer writes in her piece San Antonio, restaurants fight fat by cooperating that San Antonio health officials, along with the help of the of our beloved Major Julian Castro, and the San Antonio Restaurant Association have decided to change the way food is consumed in this city. They are targeting local eateries and encouraging (read: threatening) them to offer healthier meal options, lest the restaurant be faced with future regulations or fines for non-compliance. The argue that the city is "getting heavier" and this is a viable options to combat that. Lest we succumb to the ravages...

Genetics and healthy diets matter more for longevity. To those who enjoy the pleasures of the dining table, the news may come as a relief: drastically cutting back on calories does not seem to lengthen lifespan in primates. The verdict, from a 25-year study in rhesus monkeys fed 30% less than control animals, represents another setback for the notion that a simple, diet-triggered switch can slow ageing. Instead, the findings, published this week in Nature1, suggest that genetics and dietary composition matter more for longevity than a simple calorie count. “To think that a simple decrease in calories caused such...

The future health of Natives may lie in the scatological remains of the past—a vanguard study of ancient excrement has offered fresh new ways of thinking about the prevalence of diabetes among Native people of the American Southwest. Karl Reinhard, a professor of forensic science and environmental archaeology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has studied the fossilized feces, or coprolites, of ancestral Pueblo people and documented typical Pueblo diets prior to European contact. He has determined that the overwhelming prevalence of diabetes among Pueblo descendants may stem from their radical departure from the healthy diets of their progenitors. According to...

Oh oh! Lady M just read What Really Makes Us Fat in the NYT: From this perspective, the trial suggests that among the bad decisions we can make to maintain our weight is exactly what the government and medical organizations like the American Heart Association have been telling us to do: eat low-fat, carbohydrate-rich diets, even if those diets include whole grains and fruits and vegetables. Wow! This is huge: if it’s right it means that Lady M’s signature No Child’s Fat Behind program is on the wrong side of medical history... ...Anyway, on another front, have you heard our...

A Canadian gym has banned slim gym rats -- and it's not the only one to do so. As anybody with a gym ID mouldering in their wallet, purse or glove compartment can tell you, there are a lot of obstacles to going to the gym regularly. There’s just not enough time in the day. Gyms are just too expensive. There’s that Real Housewives marathon on Bravo. And then there’s one of the hardest reasons to admit: what if your gym just has too many skinny, healthy people in it? For some gymgoers, a plethora of thin, peppy gym rats...

Yves Sauve and his team at University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry discovered laboratory models fed DHA did not accumulate a toxic molecule at the back of the eyes. The toxin normally builds up in the retina with age and causes vision loss, Sauve said.

THE first time I questioned the conventional wisdom on the nature of a healthy diet, I was in my salad days, almost 40 years ago, and the subject was salt. Researchers were claiming that salt supplementation was unnecessary after strenuous exercise, and this advice was being passed on by health reporters. When I spent the better part of a year researching the state of the salt science back in 1998 — already a quarter century into the eat-less-salt recommendations — journal editors and public health administrators were still remarkably candid in their assessment of how flimsy the evidence was implicating...

Cooksey v. Futrell, et al. Can the government throw you in jail for offering advice on the Internet about what food people should buy at the grocery store? That is exactly the claim made by the North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition. In December 2011, diabetic blogger Steve Cooksey started a Dear Abby-style advice column on his popular blog (www.diabetes-warrior.net) to answer reader questions. One month later, the State Board informed Steve that he could not give readers advice on diet, whether for free or for compensation, because doing so constituted the unlicensed, and thus criminal, practice of dietetics. The State...

Have you heard the saying “strong is the new skinny”? What if you could have both? It may be as easy as taking a fresh look at the past. The Paleo Diet, or the caveman diet, means eating and acting like a caveman. To sustain the diet, you can only eat things you gather, hunt or pick. Pinecrest resident Thad Foot, 38, said the diet gives him strength to do stand up paddle boarding. “I want to get stronger,” he said. Tara Grant, 37, did the same diet for a different reason. “I had polycystic ovarian syndrome,” said Grant. “Now,...

It was a big week for John Besh, even by his eventful standards.... Apparently, several attendees of the “workshop” took Besh to task for lecturing about healthy eating on one hand while serving high calorie food at his restaurants on the other. “I went on to address a complex issue in very simple terms only to only be heckled by those that feel we can regulate restaurants to the point that our children will be happy and healthy,” Besh writes in his blog, which appears on epicurious.com. “In response to these suggestions, I pointed to a variety of other options...

First Lady Michelle Obama got rock-star treatment Friday night as she visited a Central Florida family on a tour celebrating the second anniversary of her Let's Move! diet-and-exercise campaign. Neighbors of the Halls family, who hosted Obama at their home, lined up to catch a glimpse of the first lady. Cheers erupted from the crowd as Obama left about 8:15 p.m. and waved before being whisked away in a waiting sport utility vehicle. (snip) In the next leg of her Orlando-area tour, Obama will speak Saturday morning at Northland, A Church Distributed in Longwood with representatives of religious groups from...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Hold the mystery meat: Military bases will soon be serving more fruits, vegetables and low-fat dishes under the first program in 20 years to improve nutrition standards across the armed services. First lady Michelle Obama and Pentagon officials planned to announce the effort Thursday during a visit to Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas, where the military has been experimenting with the idea through a pilot program designed to improve the quality and variety of foods served on base. It's not just about giving members of the armed services a more svelte profile.

[snip] Bread and rolls are the No. 1 source of salt in the American diet, accounting for more than twice as much sodium as salty junk food like potato chips. That surprising finding comes in a government report released Tuesday that includes a list of the top 10 sources of sodium. Salty snacks actually came in at the bottom of the list compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Potato chips, pretzels, and popcorn - which we think of as the saltiest foods in our diet - are only No. 10," said CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden. Breads...

They say there is mounting research that it is the type of oil used, and whether or not it has been used before, that really matters. The latest study, published in the British Medical Journal, found no association between the frequency of fried food consumption in Spain - where olive and sunflower oils are mostly used - and the incidence of serious heart disease.

Editor's note: Andrew Weil is the director of the integrative medicine program at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, and professor of Medicine and Public Health, author of "Eight Weeks to Optimum Health," "Healthy Aging," "Spontaneous Happiness" and the forthcoming "True Food." (CNN) -- "I'm just gonna put a little more butter in there, y'all," she said as she plopped a large chunk into the skillet. "Oh my," she added, "I've gone and put a whole stick in by now." I was watching Paula Deen on the Food Network, whipping up a shrimp sauté to go over pasta. I...

Gwyneth Paltrow released her GOOP newsletter, Jan. 5, promoting her GOOP cleanse kit, which costs $425, but doctors interviewed by HollywoodLife say cleanses have ‘no scientific proven’ value and are ‘complete bunk’! Don’t spend your money or your effort subjecting yourself to actress Gwyneth Paltrow‘s “cleanse” or anyone else’s, say top NYC doctors. “‘Cleansing’ is the equivalent of ’snake oil,’” says NYC internist, Dr. Robert Bos. He adds that “there is no scientific proof” that a cleanse will help give your digestive system a break, eliminate toxins, rebuild beneficial bacteria or give you more energy, as Gwyneth promises in her...