Planets & Transits
New Moon in Leo August 12, 2026
The New Moon arrives in Leo August 12 at 8:36 PM UTC, and with it comes a singular...
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- Written by: Krishna Ramanujan-Cornell
Our study is the first to connect an insertion allele with vegetarian diets, and the deletion allele with a marine diet,. A genetic variation has evolved in populations that have eaten a plant-based diet over hundreds of generations, such as in India, Africa, and parts of East Asia.
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- Written by: Cynthia Lee-McGill University
A large portion of the seafood consumed in North America is farmed. But the food those fish eat increasingly includes more crop-based ingredients, like corn, soy, and wheat.
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- Written by: Lee Hamilton, Lecturer in Sport, Health and Exercise Science, University of Stirling
As a young child I recall my grandmother giving me the largest spoonfuls of cod liver oil, coaxing me with the promise of an equally large spoonful of golden syrup. It was probably a throwback to her own childhood when the post-war government sought to provide infants with a cod liver oil supplement.
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- Written by: Scott Harding, Visiting Senior Lecturer in Nutritional Sciences, King's College London
Nutritional guidelines and recommendations are constantly changing in the light of new research. It can be difficult to keep up with which foods are healthy and which aren’t. Here we look at five foods that have gone through the cycle of being the villains of nutritional science but are now, based on some old and some new science, apparently okay to eat again.
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- Written by: Stephen Euston, Professor, Heriot-Watt University
So much for the decades in which fats and oils were public enemy number one on our dinner plates. There is more and more evidence that sugar – or more precisely, carbohydrate – is behind our increasing rates of obesity and heart disease.
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- Written by: Emma Boyland, Lecturer in Appetite and Obesity, University of Liverpool
It’s fair to say that frozen food has a bit of an image problem. One in three Britons believe it is inferior to fresh food, and 43% say that nothing could persuade them to buy more frozen fare.
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- Written by: Richard Hoffman, Lecturer in Nutritional Biochemistry, University of Hertfordshire
The main aim of the UK’s new tax on sugary soft drinks is to reduce obesity in children. But, apart from causing child – and adult – obesity, too much sugar also increases the risk of many serious diseases, from cancer to heart disease. And sugar’s calories provide only part of the explanation.
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- Written by: Pablo Monsivais, Senior University Lecturer, University of Cambridge
Last month, the UK health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, called childhood obesity “a national emergency”, but the government has once again delayed publishing its strategy aimed at combating it. Obesity is much more common in people with less money and education and this socioeconomic gap is getting larger.
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- Written by: Nick Fuller, Research Fellow, Clinical Trials Development and Assessment, University of Sydney
Good news. Taking a break from your diet every so often will help you lose weight in the long term.How many times have you attempted to lose weight only to fall short and fail? For many people it is extremely challenging to stick to a strict dietary and exercise program for more than a few weeks.
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- Written by: Vincent Ho, Lecturer and clinical academic gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University
Food craving is an intense desire to consume a particular food that is difficult to resist. This is different from hunger, as consumption of any number of foods satisfies hunger. Food craving is an intense desire to consume a particular food that is difficult to resist. This is different from hunger, as consumption of any number of foods satisfies hunger.
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- Written by: Rebecca Charlotte Reynolds, Lecturer in Nutrition, UNSW Australia
Many types of red meat and red meat products are available, from farmers' markets, to supermarkets, to restaurants. The impacts of their production and consumption on human health, animal welfare and the environment are complex.
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- Written by: Matthew Solovey-Penn State University
Obesity is a major breast cancer risk factor in postmenopausal women, and scientists believe increased inflammation is an important underlying cause.
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- Written by: Amy Reichelt, Senior Research Fellow, UNSW Australia
Everyone loves a study that turns one of our favourite vices into a health benefit. This week, the news headlines tell us “eating chocolate improves brain function” and that it “could help protect against normal age-related decline”.
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- Written by: Nick Fuller, Research Fellow, Clinical Trials Development and Assessment, University of Sydney
The list of over-the-counter dietary and weight loss supplements is exhaustive, with the majority based on scant supporting evidence from studies conducted in humans to support their claims. Weight-loss products make up one of the largest growing markets in the world.
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- Written by: Richard Hoffman, Lecturer in Nutritional Biochemistry, University of Hertfordshire
Who doesn’t like a ready meal once in a while? People in the UK certainly do: consumption of ready meals and convenience meat products has increased five-fold over the last 40 years, according to the latest National Food Survey on UK food-buying habits. High levels of calories and fat in some of these products can
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- Written by: Jennie Jackson, Lecturer in Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Glasgow Caledonian University
In the film The Martian, Matt Damon’s character, Mark Watney, is stranded on the red planet with nothing to eat but spuds. Now, a 36-year-old Australian is following the same diet, voluntarily. In an attempt to lose weight and improve his relationship with food, Andrew Taylor has decided to eat nothing but potatoes for a year.
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- Written by: James Betts, Senior Lecturer in Nutrition, Metabolism and Statistics, University of Bath
In the middle of the last century, popular nutrition author Adelle Davis advised people to eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper. Her advice stuck. Recent examination of the merits of adults eating breakfast has raised the question of whether we should indeed eat like kings at breakfast or just skip it all together.
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- Written by: Margaret Morris, Professor of Pharmacology, Head of Pharmacology, UNSW Australia
We all know that cola and lemonade aren’t great for our waistline or our dental health, but our new study on rats has shed light on just how much damage sugary drinks can also do to our brain. The changes we observed to the region of the brain that controls emotional behaviour and cognitive function were more extensive than those
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- Written by: Clare Collins, Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle
Don’t limit yourself to grapefruit – increasing the amount and variety of fruit and vegetables can help you lose weight. Monday – start diet. Tuesday – break diet! Wednesday – plan to start again next Monday.
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- Written by: Rhi Willmot, PhD Researcher in Behavioural and Positive Psychology, Bangor University
Do the same rules that govern human attraction also apply to our choices of fruit and vegetables? Plenty of evidence suggests we do look for similar traits in both people and produce, and our perceptions of food are clearly affected by what
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- Written by: Holly Shive-Texas A&M
"For some individuals, this simple nutritional supplement might really help reduce the risk of developing autism spectrum disorder. Any progress on the prevention front would be welcome given the number of people affected," says Zhigang Xie.
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