Diabetes

• Several studies backed by multinational food and sugar companies have claimed sugar isn't that bad for us.

• These studies incorrectly suggested that eating fat is responsible for weight gain and obesity instead.
• New research is revealing how these studies were bankrolled by the sugar industry.

The slight increase in risk of developing type 2 diabetes during statin treatment may actually be a consequence of having lowered cholesterol, rather than a direct effect of the drug, according to research funded by the British Heart Foundation. The genetic study found that people with genes predisposing them to having lower levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, had a decreased risk of heart disease and an increased risk of diabetes.

Your habits, surroundings and diet choices could all be driving your insatiable appetite.

Too little sleep and too much stress can make you hungry. Watching TV can make you hungry. Your hormones and mood and even the wrong-sized fork can make you hungry.

“Hunger is not as simple as needing food to meet physical needs,” says Aner Tal, a research associate at Cornell University’s Food & Brand Lab. “There are many different psychological and biological and environmental factors that affect hunger.”

Walking briskly on a regular basis may be more effective than vigorous jogging for improving glucose control in individuals with pre-diabetes, according to research from Duke Health.

The findings, published online in the journal Diabetologia, are the result of a randomized, six-month study of 150 participants, each of whom was designated as having pre-diabetes based on elevated fasting glucose levels.

Habitual cycling, whether as transportation to work or as a recreational activity, is associated with lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D), according to a study published this week in PLOS Medicine. This cohort study, conducted by Martin Rasmussen of the University of Southern Denmark, and colleagues, included 24,623 men and 27,890 women from Denmark, recruited between the ages of 50 and 65, and compared the association between self-reported recreational and commuter cycling habits with T2D incidence measured in the Danish National Diabetes Registry.

People who take some of the newest weight-loss prescription medications on the market typically lose about 5 percent of their body weight over one year, a new review of studies suggests.

Even some of the most fit, athletic people in the world face cravings for unhealthy foods from time to time.

That's the take-away of a fun story from ESPN's Jackie MacMullan on the nutritional struggles of NBA players and how they learn to eat healthy and deal with those cravings.

MacMullan spoke to Dr. Mike Roussell, a nutritionist who has worked with several professional athletes, including Los Angeles Lakers center Roy Hibbert.

It seems logical to think that eating a high-fat diet would tip the scale upward, but a new study suggests that might not be the case. What's more, eating more of certain types of fats may help move the scale in the other direction.

Men and women in the study who followed a high-fat, Mediterranean diet that was rich in either olive oil or nuts lost more weight and reduced their waist circumference more than the people in the study who were simply instructed to reduce their fat intake, according to the study.