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Elderberry juice may be a potent tool for weight management and enhancing metabolic health, according to a recent study. A clinical trial found that drinking 12 ounces of elderberry juice daily for a week causes positive changes in the gut microbiome and improves glucose tolerance and fat oxidation. Elderberry, a small dark purple berry found on elder trees native to Europe, is commonly used as a medicinal plant and supplement to promote immune function. The researchers tested the effects of elderberry on metabolic health in a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial with 18 overweight adults. Participants consumed either elderberry juice or...

Fat people have less than thin people. Older people have less than younger people. Men have less than younger women. It is brown fat, actually brown in color, and its great appeal is that it burns calories like a furnace... --snip-- The brown fat also kept its subjects warm. The more brown fat a man had, the colder he could get before he started to shiver. Brown fat, Dr. Carpentier and Jan Nedergaard, Dr. Cannon’s husband, wrote in an accompanying editorial, “is on fire.” On average, Dr. Carpentier said, the brown fat burned about 250 calories over three hours. But...

Chokeberry bushes have for centuries been residents of eastern deciduous forests where their bright red and dark purple fruits continue to be favorite snacks of local bird species. Native Americans have also traditionally eaten dried chokeberries and prepared teas from parts of the plant, and several domesticated varieties now grace contemporary lawns and gardens from coast to coast. However, the chokeberry (Aronia) is enjoying a new claim-to-fame as a potentially powerful antioxidant, and can now be found for sale in the dietary supplement and "health food" aisles of your local pharmacies and grocery stores. What makes the humble chokeberry so...

Scientists have found intriguing evidence that one major reason so many people are overweight these days may be as close as the seat of their pants. Literally. According to the researchers, most of us sit too much. In most cases, exercise alone, according to a team of scientists at the University of Missouri, isn't enough to take off those added pounds. The problem, they say, is that all the stuff we've heard the last few years about weight control left one key factor out of the equation. When we sit, the researchers found, the enzymes that are responsible for burning...

A new advertisement being distributed throughout Sweden is raising fat people's hopes that they can lose weight through their feet. Not, however, by running with them. According to the Swedish Consumer Agency, the miracle comes in bandage form, is to be placed on the skin on the bottom of the foot and is to be worn at night. It is supposed to "suck out fat like a vacuum sucks up dirt - up to 44 kilograms of fat straight from the body," according to Doctor Charles Kingston in the advertisement for the company Lipo-Slim Laboratories. The multi-page ad recommends consumers...

Two new diabetes medications have helped some patients control their weight. Barbara Oster has had diabetes for 15 years, and her medication wasn't working so well, reported WBAL-TV in Baltimore. "It just blows you up, makes you feel like you're gaining all this weight," she said. The Food and Drug Administration recently approved two new diabetes drugs -- Byetta and Symlin -- that studies have proved help patients control their illness and cut back their eating. "One of the lovely side effects of both drugs is people tend to lose weight," said Dr. Paula Yutzy, a diabetes educator at Baltimore's...