A reduction in carbohydrate consumption can promote the loss of belly fat, even with little or no weight loss, according to a new study.

When paired with weight loss, however, a moderately-reduced carbohydrate diet can help achieve a reduction of total body fat.

University of Alabama researchers say that these changes could help reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, stroke and coronary artery disease, which can all be spurred by excess abdominal fat.

Lead researcher Barbara Gower, PhD, a professor of nutrition sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and her team observed 69 overweight but healthy men and women over a period of 16 weeks.

Participants either received a low-fat diet or a reduced-carb diet.  The low-fat diet contained 55 percent of calories from carbohydrates and 27 percent from fat, while the reduced-carb diet contained 43 percent calories from carbohydrates and 39 percent calories from fat.  Protein made up the remaining 18 percent of calories in each diet.

Over the course of 16 weeks, the reduced-carb diet resulted in a 15 percent greater loss of deep abdominal fat than the low-fat diet.

“A modest reduction in carbohydrate-containing foods may help [dieters] preferentially lose fat, rather than lean tissue,” Gower said in a press release. “The moderately reduced carbohydrate diet allows a variety of foods to meet personal preferences.”

The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society.

An unhealthy lifestyle could put men at risk for sexual dysfunction, according to a new study.

Several factors associated with an unhealthy lifestyle, such as weight problems, physical inactivity, high alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking and hard drugs appear to be associated with sexual dysfunctions.

Additionally, unhealthy lifestyles are more common among persons who are sexually inactive.

Danish researchers analyzed survey data from over 5,500 men and women to study the association between lifestyle factors, sexual inactivity and sexual dysfunction.

They found that unhealthy lifesty factors are associated with an increased risk of sexual inactivity by up to 78 percent in men and 91 percent in women.

Meanwhile, the risk of experiencing sexual dysfunction was up to 71 percent greater in overweight men, and more than 800 percent greater in men who used hard drugs.

The researchers also found that women who used hashish had a risk nearly three times greater of anorgasmia – not being able to reach climax during sexual activity – than non-hashish users.

“Hopefully our findings can be used in future counseling of patients with unhealthy lifestyles,” said lead researcher Professor Morten Frisch, MD, PhD, DSc, of Statens Serum Institute. “Knowing about possible negative consequences of an unhealthy lifestyle to one’s sexual health may help people quit smoking, consume less alcohol, exercise more, and lose weight.”

The study was published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine.

A new study has found that Americans are eating more and eating more often – a likely contributor to the obesity epidemic in the country.  Part of the problem, researchers say, is that we’re thinking about eating all day.  Do you suffer from constant food cravings?  Check out these 5 tips to stop them.

Eat a Protein Rich Breakfast

Starting your morning off with protein – eggs and bacon, for example – has been proven to increase satiety and reduce hunger throughout the day.  It also reduced brain signals that control food motivation and reward-driven eating behavior.  Breakfast in general is important for avoiding weight gain, but protein-heavy breakfasts seem to be the most effective for reducing appetite, according to researchers.

Eat at Regular Intervals throughout the Day

If you let yourself go too long without eating during the day, your blood sugar will plummet.  Not only will this make you feel hungrier, it will also negatively affect your self-control, according to researchers.  That means you’ll be less likely to be able to say no to those high-calorie, nutritionally-empty foods you’re usually so good at staying away from.  Try keeping a baggie of almonds or a pack of yogurt on you during the day for a healthy snack to keep you satisfied.

Picture the Sights and Smells of a Garden

According to a new study, cravings are mainly fueled by picturing a specific (usually high-cal) food in your head and imagining how it smells.  But as any multi-tasker knows, the more occupied your brain is, the more likely you are to forget something.  Same concept here – occupy the visual and olfactory parts of your brain with other sights and smells, preferably strong images and scents, like those in a garden, and your brain will have to push out the idea of food to accommodate.

Tell Yourself What You’re Eating is Indulgent

In another study, researchers gave participants the same 300 calorie shake.  However, in one group, they told the participants they were drinking an indulgent 600 cal shake, and in the other group, they told participants what they were drinking was a healthy 300 cal shake.  Guess which group felt more satisfied afterwards?  The fact is, visualizing food as an indulgent treat leaves you feeling much fuller afterwards.  So appreciate what you eat!

Surf the Web for Funny Videos

Sometimes, our strongest food cravings don’t come from hunger.  When we feel depressed or just “down”, we’re more likely to engage in emotional eating as a way of comforting ourselves.  Instead of reaching for that ice cream, pull up Youtube (or your favorite comedy website) and click on the links that’ll make you laugh and lift your mood.  Even a small lift in your mood can restore your self-control.

Whether it’s Hershey’s, Skittles or Reese’s, candy is often the bane of health-conscious parents who want to instill healthy eating habits in their children.  However, new study suggests that kids who eat candy actually weigh less and are less likely to be overweight than those who don’t.

Louisiana State researchers tracked the eating habits of more than 11,000 children aged two to 17 between the years of 1999 and 2004.  They found that children and teens who ate candy were 22 percent less likely to be overweight and 28 percent less likely to be obese.

Despite the findings, lead researcher Carol O’Neil warned that parents and children should still follow proper food guidelines and eat candy sparingly.

“The results of this study should not be construed as a hall-pass to overindulge,” O’Neil said. “Candy should not replace nutrient-dense foods in the diet; it is a special treat and should be enjoyed in moderation.”

O’Neil speculated that the children who ate candy were able to balance “calories in, calories out” over time, meaning they ate other foods that were lower in calories.

Another potential explanation was that the children who ate more candy and weighed less were more active than the children who did not eat candy and weighed more.

Overall, however, she said the whole group had very poor eating habits – a likely contributor to the U.S. obesity epidemic.  O’Neil recommended that parents not only keep tabs on their children’s candy consumption, but also on their consumption of other high fat foods, such as potato chips, and on the amount of time per day they spent being sedentary.

The study was published in the Food & Nutrition Research journal.

Recently, I read a study that claims that fat people can be just as healthy as slim people, as long as they have no chronic health problems.

The study, which followed 6,000 obese people over a 16 year period, concluded that fat can indeed by healthy based on results that indicated that the overweight people lived just as long and had less heart problems than their slim counterparts.

Personally, I wouldn’t put much weight (no pun intended) behind this study. I think it’s sending a terrible message to the public.

Ask any doctor, and they’ll tell you: health-wise, it’s not okay to be obese. Excluding cardiovascular problems, there are still many other chronic diseases associated with being overweight.

People who are overweight are at greater risk for type 2 diabetes, which can take many years to develop, or arthritis, among other problems. All of these issues can have a severely negative impact on quality of life and longevity.

The fact is, medically, it is necessary for all humans to strive to be at an ideal body weight. Sure, there are plenty of skinny, sick people out there, but their health issues would probably be compounded if they had excess body weight to deal with as well.

One good thing that the study did recommend was that obese people keep up an active lifestyle. I agree that maintaining a fitness regimen can help in many ways, including aiding with weight loss.

It’s not okay to settle for being above a healthy weight. People should all fight to reach their ideal weight. Trust me, I’m certainly familiar with that fight myself, and I hope my efforts will pay off in the end.

Learn to love your body, and the weight may fall off faster, according to a new study.

British researchers found that improving body image can enhance the effectiveness of weight loss programs based on diet and exercise.

The researchers enrolled overweight and obese women in a year-long weight loss program.  Half were given general information about good nutrition and stress management.  The other half attended weekly group sessions that focused on improving body image.

Those women who attended the sessions reported improved body image and less body shape and size concerns.  Compared to the control group, they were better able to self-regulate their eating and lost significantly more weight.

According to the researchers, this may be because body image problems tend to lead to comfort eating and more rigid eating patterns, both of which are obstacles to losing weight.  Better body image is associated with reduced anxiety and healthier eating behaviors.

“We believe that learning to relate to your body in healthier ways is an important aspect of maintaining weight loss and should be addressed in every weight control program,” the researchers advised.

The study was published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.