Agency cites contamination at Massachusetts plant where company makes ingredients used to produce various medicines  read on >

Chalk up a partial win for health influencers who tout the slimming benefits of sparkling waters. New research out of Japan affirms that carbonated water may, indeed, promote weight loss by lowering blood sugar levels, allowing cells to burn fat between meals for energy more efficiently. But don’t buy a smaller wardrobe just yet. The findings suggest that any benefit is small.  Blood sugar levels dropped only temporarily, and study author Dr. Akira Takahashi said the carbonated water would have only a small impact on calorie consumption. “Carbonated water is not a standalone solution for weight loss,” he wrote in the study, which was published Jan. 20 in the journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health. Seltzers and sparkling or carbonated waters have gained a following among health buffs for their purported effects on body mass.  Some point to a small 2017 study that found carbonated drinks stimulated appetite by increasing levels of the hunger hormone, ghrelin. But findings of that study, which involved only 20 people and male rats, have never been replicated. Takahashi’s new research, expands on a 2004 investigation of hemodialysis by his team at Tesseikai Neurosurgical Hospital in Shijonawate, Japan. He is a physician in the hospital’s kidney dialysis center. Hemodialysis is a process that occurs during kidney dialysis, when CO2 enters the blood, just as it would when carbonated water is…  read on >  read on >

A well-marbled steak is highly prized for grilling, but those sort of fat deposits in human muscles can be deadly, a new study says. People with pockets of fat hidden within their muscles have a higher risk of dying from heart-related health problems, researchers reported in a study published Jan. 20 in the European Heart Journal. For every 1% increase in fatty deposits in muscle, there was a 7% increased risk of heart-related death, heart attack or heart failure, researchers found. Even people with a healthy BMI can have these hidden fat deposits within their muscles, researchers said. (BMI is short for body mass index, an estimate of body fat based on height and weight.) In fact, the heart risk associated with fatty muscle was independent of BMI and other known heart risk factors, results show. “Knowing that intermuscular fat raises the risk of heart disease gives us another way to identify people who are at high risk, regardless of their body mass index,” senior researcher Dr. Viviany Taqueti, director of the Cardiac Stress Laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said in a news release. For the study, researchers performed imaging scans on nearly 670 patients being evaluated at Brigham and Women’s Hospital for chest pain or shortness of breath. CT scans were used to assess how well the patients’ hearts were functioning.…  read on >  read on >

It’s easy these days to see how many calories a cheeseburger will set you back, or how many added sugars are in a jar of pasta sauce. But nutrition labels haven’t been as helpful at helping people cut calories as might have been hoped, according to a new evidence review published Jan. 17 in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Labels slapped on offerings at supermarkets and restaurants lead to only a small reduction in the calories people select and purchase, according to findings gathered from 25 prior studies. The average calorie reduction was just under 2%, or about 11 calories in a 600-calorie meal – the equivalent of around two almonds, researchers said. “Our review suggests that calorie labeling leads to a modest reduction in the calories people purchase and consume,” senior investigator Gareth Hollands, a principal research fellow with the University College London Social Research Institute, said in a news release. “This may have some impact on health at the population level, but calorie labeling is certainly no silver bullet,” Hollands added. The review compiled evidence from studies involving more than 10,000 people living in high-income countries like the U.S., Canada, France and the U.K., researchers said. The studies all focused on the impact of nutrition labeling on food selection and consumption, and 16 of the 25 were conducted in real-world settings like…  read on >  read on >

Could eating more fiber be the key to a healthier gut? Research suggests the answer is yes. The findings, published recently in the journal Nature Microbiology, analyzed gut microbiomes from more than 12,000 people in 45 countries. It found that individuals with higher levels of beneficial gut bacterium called Faecalibacterium also had fewer harmful bacteria such as E.coli.  “The main takeaway from our study is that our gut microbiome plays an important role in reducing the growth of potentially harmful bacteria in our gut, and it seems this effect may be modulated through diet,” lead researcher Alexandre Almeida, a fellow at Cambridge University, told NBC News.  Faecalibacterium thrives on fiber-rich foods like vegetables, beans and whole grains. It produces short-chain fatty acids, compounds known to benefit gut health. Research has linked lower levels of these bacteria to gastrointestinal conditions like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). While the study doesn’t prove that eating more fiber directly reduces harmful bacteria, increasing fiber intake offers many health benefits, Almeida said. “There’s really solid evidence that fiber helps with diabetes, weight control and cardiovascular disease,” Dr. Walter Willett, a professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and at Harvard Medical School in Boston, said in a news release. Adults need about 30 grams of fiber daily, according to Willett, but most Americans consume about 58% of that amount.…  read on >  read on >