Nutrition Research News

June 17, 2025

Top Headlines

Brain Food Fight: Rutgers Maps the Hidden Switch That Turns Cravings on and Off

June 14, 2025 — Rutgers scientists have uncovered a tug-of-war inside the brain between hunger and satiety, revealing two newly mapped neural circuits that battle over when to eat and when to stop. These findings ...

The Hunger Switch in Your Nose: How Smells Tell Your Brain to Stop Eating

June 12, 2025 — A team of scientists has discovered a direct link between the smell of food and feelings of fullness at least in lean mice. This brain circuit, located in the medial septum and triggered by food odors, helps animals eat less by making them feel ...

Scientists Found the Brain Glitch That Makes You Think You’re Still Hungry

June 11, 2025 — A team of scientists has identified specialized neurons in the brain that store "meal memories" detailed recollections of when and what we eat. These engrams, found in the ventral hippocampus, help ...

Newly Identified Group of Nerve Cells in the Brain Regulates Bodyweight

May 30, 2025 — Obesity is a global health problem that affects many people. In recent years, very promising anti-obesity drugs have been developed. Despite these successes, there are patients who do not respond to these drugs or suffer from side effects. ...

Global Shortage of Essential Nutrient Poses Health Concern

May 29, 2025 — There is a global shortage of omega-3 partly due to environmental factors, according to new research. This is not just a healthcare issue; it is a public health and environmental ...

Different Versions of APOE Protein Have Varying Effect on Microglia in Alzheimer's Disease

May 27, 2025 — A new study suggests how APOE2 is protective while APOE4 increases disease risk by regulating the brain's immune ...

Weight Loss Linked to Nerve Cells in the Brain

May 27, 2025 — A specific group of nerve cells in the brain stem appears to control how semaglutide affects appetite and weight -- without causing ...

Exercise and Eat Your Veggies: Privileged Prescriptions Like These Don't Always Reduce Risk of Heart Disease

May 26, 2025 — A leading cardiovascular disease researcher is ringing the alarm on universal recommendations intended to improve heart health around the globe. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of ...

Thinking Peers Drink More Drives Risky Behavior

May 21, 2025 — The study explores how social influences, particularly peer pressure, impact substance use -- and misuse -- among young adults. A confidential online survey on alcohol use was given to 524 students at a large public university (not ...

After Cardiac Event, People Who Regularly Sit for Too Long Had Higher Risk of Another Event

May 19, 2025 — People who were less active, with a daily average of more than 14 hours of sedentary behavior, were more than twice as likely to have another cardiac event, including heart attack, surgery to treat ...

Sophisticated Data Analysis Uncovers How City Living Disrupts ADHD's Path to Obesity

May 19, 2025 — A hidden link between impulsivity and obesity may not be fixed in human biology but shaped by the cities we live in. Using a novel engineering-based approach, researchers found that ...

Study Reveals Impacts of Alzheimer's Disease on the Whole Body

May 17, 2025 — While Alzheimer's disease is mostly considered a disorder of the brain, emerging evidence suggests that the condition also affects other organs of the body. Working with the laboratory fruit fly, researchers provide a new understanding of how ...

Latest Headlines

updated 2:14am EDT

Study Reveals a Deep Brain Region That Links the Senses

May 16, 2025 — Humans perceive and navigate the world around us with the help of our five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. And while scientists have long known that these different senses activate ...

What Behavioral Strategies Motivate Environmental Action?

May 15, 2025 — A collaborative study tested 17 strategies in an 'intervention tournament.' Interventions targeting future thinking, such as writing a letter for a child to read in the future, are the most effective ...

Postpartum Depression and Bonding: Long-Term Effects on School-Age Children

May 14, 2025 — Postpartum maternal mental health and mother-to-infant bonding are well-established as critical factors in a child's psychosocial development. However, few studies have explored the combined impact ...

Seek Medical Advice Before Attempting Water-Only Fasting Diets, Experts Warn

May 13, 2025 — Experts are urging people, especially those with existing heart or vascular conditions, to seek medical advice before attempting to lose weight using ...

Cannabis Study: Legalization Reduces Problematic Consumption, Particularly Among Certain Individuals

May 9, 2025 — Researchers are investigating how the legal supply of cannabis affects consumption and mental health among participants. In a first academic ...

New Study Traces Sharp Regional Shifts in Ischemic Heart Disease Burden -- A Global Warning Signal

May 9, 2025 — A new study puts the spotlight on the rising burden of ischemic heart disease across Southeast Asia, East Asia and Oceania, and calls for localized, ...

Vitamin Supplements Slow Down the Progression of Glaucoma

May 8, 2025 — A vitamin supplement that improves metabolism in the eye appears to slow down damage to the optic nerve in glaucoma. The researchers behind the study have now started a clinical trial on ...

Eating Ultra Processed Foods May Speed Up Early Signs of Parkinson's Disease

May 8, 2025 — People who eat more ultra processed foods like cold breakfast cereal, cookies and hot dogs are more likely to have early signs of Parkinson's disease ...

Social Drinking Also a Well-Worn Path to Alcohol Use Disorder

May 6, 2025 — When picturing a 'typical' alcoholic, people tend to imagine a person drinking at home alone. But that focus overlooks the social origins of many serious alcohol ...

Decoding the Brainstem: A New Window Into Brain--Body--Mind Interactions

May 4, 2025 — Researchers have developed a new imaging method, D-PSCAN, which enables minimally invasive, wide-field, high-resolution imaging of the nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS) in living mice. This technique ...

Molecular Double Agent: Protein 'Eato' Plays Surprising Role in Protecting the Brain

May 1, 2025 — A team of researchers has made a discovery in fruit flies that could change the way we understand brain diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's in humans. The scientists found that Eato ...

Neuroestrogen: The Brain's Secret Weapon Against Hunger

May 1, 2025 — Estrogens are known for their role in reproduction, but a new study reveals that neuroestrogens -- estrogens produced in the brain -- play a key role in appetite regulation. These brain-made hormones ...

Mindfulness Therapy Reduces Opioid Craving and Addiction, Study Finds

Apr. 30, 2025 — Researchers found that Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) can help rewire the brain's response to natural healthy pleasure, leading to reduced opioid cravings. The findings suggest ...

Nudges Improve Food Choices and Cut Calories When Shopping for Groceries Online

Apr. 25, 2025 — A team of researchers designed and tested a new digital toolkit that helps consumers make healthier grocery choices online -- an innovation that could play a major role in the global fight against ...

Family Dynamics Shape Body Image Differently Across Cultures

Apr. 23, 2025 — Body appreciation differs between Middle-Eastern and Western societies, a new international study can reveal, highlighting how cultural and family influences shape body image and eating behaviors in ...

A Repurposed Anti-Inflammatory Drug May Help Treat Alcohol Use Disorder and Related Pain

Apr. 22, 2025 — A preclinical study finds that a drug already FDA-approved for treating inflammatory conditions may help reduce both alcohol intake and pain sensitivity -- two issues that commonly co-occur with ...

High-Fat, High-Sugar Diets Impact Cognitive Function

Apr. 21, 2025 — New research links fatty, sugary diets to impaired brain function. The findings build on a growing body of evidence showing the negative impact of high-fat, high-sugar (HFHS) diets on cognitive ...

Father's Mental Health Can Impact Children for Years

Apr. 19, 2025 — Five-year-olds exposed to paternal depression are more likely to have behavioral issues in grade school, researchers ...

Screen Time Surprise Under Grandparents' Care

Apr. 18, 2025 — New research has found that nearly half of the time American children spend with their grandparents involves interacting with or watching media on a screen. How that screen time is managed can ...

Is My Green Your Green?

Apr. 16, 2025 — 'Do we see colors the same way?' is a fundamentally human question and one of great importance in research into the human mind. While impossible to answer at present, researchers take steps ...

New Study Finds Surprising Way to Curb College-Aged Drinking Harms -- Without Cutting Alcohol

Apr. 14, 2025 — Researchers have developed and tested an intervention called Counter-Attitudinal Advocacy and compared it to to the well-established Personalized Normative Feedback (PNF) to evaluate their ...

Stress, Depression Factor Into Link Between Insomnia, Heavy Drinking

Apr. 14, 2025 — A new study suggests that perceived stress and depression factor into the relationship between insomnia and hazardous drinking -- perhaps not a surprise. But because the relationship between insomnia ...

How Mothers Adapt to the Metabolic Demands of Nursing

Apr. 10, 2025 — Nursing poses major metabolic demands on mothers, to which they respond by eating more and saving energy to sustain milk production. There are significant hormonal changes during lactation, but how ...

Eight or More Drinks Per Week Linked to Signs of Injury in the Brain

Apr. 9, 2025 — Heavy drinkers who have eight or more alcoholic drinks per week have an increased risk of brain lesions called hyaline arteriolosclerosis, signs of brain injury that are associated with memory and ...

Long-Term Effects of Obesity on Brain and Cognitive Health

Apr. 9, 2025 — With the global prevalence of obesity on the rise, it is crucial to explore the neural mechanisms linked to obesity and its influence on brain and cognitive health. However, the impact of obesity on ...

Thirst and Hunger Neurons

Apr. 3, 2025 — New research shines light on how the brain interprets nutritional and hydration needs and turns them into ...

Researchers Concerned About Rise in Nitrous Oxide Misuse, Deaths in US

Apr. 2, 2025 — Despite a recent Food and Drug Administration warning against inhaling nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, deaths due to misusing the substance are rising in the United ...

Research Highlights Urgent Need for National Strategy to Combat Rising Eating Disorders

Mar. 27, 2025 — The increasing number of people with eating disorders and a lack of national guidance for support teams has led to researchers calling for a new national strategy that includes specific guidance to ...

Scientists Discover Why Obesity Takes Away the Pleasure of Eating

Mar. 26, 2025 — Many obese people report losing pleasure in eating rich foods -- something also seen in obese mice. Scientists have now discovered the reason. Long-term high-fat diets lower levels of neurotensin in ...

C. Diff Uses Toxic Compound to Fuel Growth Advantage

Mar. 25, 2025 — The pathogen C. diff -- the most common cause of health care-associated infectious diarrhea -- can use a compound that kills the human gut's resident microbes to survive and grow, giving it a ...