Adjusting for poor health, things such as asthma, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, etc, did NOT explain the increased risk of death associated with sleeping pills.
"Control of selective prescription of hypnotics for patients in poor health did not explain the observed excess mortality," the paper notes.
Later they say, "neither the level of individual health nor the presence of particular [health problems such as asthma or cardiovascular disease or kidney disease, etc] explains the bulk of the hazard associated with the use of hypnotic medications." Read the entire article | Email this article

Women lose twice as much weight -- 18.7 lbs vs 8.6 lbs -- and twice as much body fat -- 10.6 lbs vs 4.4 lbs -- on a low-carbohydrate diet as a low-fat diet according to a recent study. Read the entire article | Email this article

Men and women eating raw foods and avoiding animal products and processed foods weighed 35-37 pounds less than those eating a typical Western diet according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Read the entire article | Email this article

Women on a low carbohydrate lost an additional 7 pounds of body weight and 12 pounds of body fat in four months compared to women on a low calorie, low fat diet according to a recent study. Read the entire article | Email this article

The rule of thumb for weight loss is that to lose one pound you need to reduce your calorie intake or increase the calories you burn by 3500 calories.

This is approximately true for people who are obese, but people who have less body fat to start with will lose more than one pound when reducing calorie intake by 3500 calories according to a paper by Dr. Kevin D. Hall from the US's National Institutes of Health.

For example, a person with 44 pounds of body fat only needs to reduce calorie intake by an estimated 2685 calories to lose one pound of weight according to Hall.

"These data indicate that... in people with less than [ 55 pounds ] of initial body fat [ the number of calories to lose one pound of weight ] is indeed significantly lower than the [ 3500 calories per pound ] rule of thumb," Hall notes. Read the entire article | Email this article

People eating a low-calorie, low-fat diet that contained sugar, to make it more palatable, lost an average of 5.2 percent of their bodyweight in three months according to a new study from England. Read the entire article | Email this article

ALTHOUGH A LOW-CALORIE DIET IS BEST for losing weight, a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet is better for maintaining that weight loss according to a one study (Toubro et al, 1997). (Note that this study did not include comparison to a low-carbohydrate diet.) Read the entire article | Email this article

A REDUCED CALORIE DIET, whether high in fat or high in carbohydrates, causes a similar amount of weight loss according to a 1996 study. Read the entire article | Email this article

"Both caloric intake and [body weight]... are related to lifespan," conclude researchers of a new study performed on rats. Read the entire article | Email this article