When it comes to hunger signals, there’s one hormone called ghrelin that dominates the rest, and being able to regulate it more efficiently is key to reducing belly fat. How can you send it spiking the right way? By losing weight, according to a new study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Researchers looked at nearly 300 participants who were in the obese classification of body mass index. All had lower fasting ghrelin levels compared to those in the normal weight classification, which is common among those carrying excess weight. Lower ghrelin is associated with high blood pressure and a larger amount of belly fat, as well as a higher body fat percentage overall.

RELATED: Intermittent Fasting Can Lead to Significant Weight Loss, New Research Says

Participants were split into three groups that had different diet approaches, but all combined that with regular physical activity. All three groups resulted in weight loss, no matter which diet was used, and participants saw a significant increase in their ghrelin levels. This led to lower abdominal fat and, subsequently, improved insulin sensitivity. Those who followed a Mediterranean diet that included leafy green vegetables and green tea—and avoided red meat—saw the biggest ghrelin surge.

“These results suggest that weight loss in itself can change ghrelin levels in a positive way and that decreases health risks like developing diabetes or other metabolic diseases,” the study’s senior author, Iris Shai, Ph.D., adjunct professor of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health told Eat This, Not That! She adds that they also noted benefits in terms of gut health and reduced liver fat, which are also crucial for lowering chronic disease risk.

If you’ve lost weight, how do you know if your ghrelin is on track without getting a hormone test? Better awareness of hunger and fullness.

Sometimes called the “hunger hormone,” ghrelin tells you when to eat and it’s produced by the cells in the stomach as a signal to the brain. Throughout the day, the hormone rises and falls, sometimes dramatically, and usually is at its lowest level after eating.

Its compatriot hormone, leptin, is the one that produces feelings of satiety and sends signals to stop eating and to start burning calories. Perhaps counterintuitively, when you have obesity, leptin tends to be high and ghrelin is low, which seems like it would be a beneficial arrangement—except that it impairs appetite regulation.

When both are on track after weight loss, you tend to have better control of these processes, and that improves metabolism overall, says Shai.

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The conversation around dieting is gradually changing. You might agree that it’s positive to see the world embracing healthier notions about weight loss, such as Adele’s recent stance that losing weight should be a byproduct of overall good self-care. Now, a new study seems to support this milder, more modern attitude toward getting trimmer—because, as the researchers’ experiment has shown, aggressive food restriction might cause some dieters to become more susceptible to catching illnesses.

Keep reading to learn more about the findings—and, for more on the link between eating and your health, check out The #1 Food Putting You At Risk of Heart Disease, Says Science.

A new Iranian study published in the American Journal of Translational Research aimed to evaluate whether significant calorie restriction would affect the immune system. To achieve this, a team of doctorate clinicians specializing in nutrition and public health gathered 29 female participants who were overweight, with body mass index greater than 30 kg/m² (which is the benchmark the American Heart Association considers obese).

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The researchers divided the 29 women into two groups. The experimental group went on medication for weight loss, in addition to going on a diet that called for them to consume 600 fewer calories per day than the standard caloric requirement.

The other group of participants were able to eat freely.

RELATED: Eating This One Type of Food Could Slash Your Alzheimer’s Risk, New Study Finds

Both at the start of the experiment and after the experimental group had lost 10% of their body weight, the researchers measured the number of lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell that supports the body’s immune function) in each of the participants.

They state that for women who underwent calorie restriction and medication to lose 10% of their body weight, their “natural killer cells”—cells that are key to the body’s immune system—decreased.

Meanwhile, for the control group that ate freely, the researchers report that no significant changes were observed in the immune markers that were measured.

RELATED: The Verdict on Taking Vitamin D Supplements for Your Immunity

Of their findings, the researchers conclude: “Caloric restriction-induced weight loss might independently weaken the antiviral immune defense.” They note that further clinical trials on the subject are warranted.

You should always talk with your licensed healthcare provider before starting out on a new wellness plan. But for the purpose of this report, this study shouldn’t discourage you from losing weight to reach a size that’s healthier for you.

However, minding both nutrition and physical activity are jointly important focuses in your weight loss journey. And perhaps most importantly, as this study may be interpreted to convey, eating fewer calories than experts suggest are healthy may help you slim down… but in other ways, it could prove detrimental to your health.

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We’ve all got days we’re lethargic, maybe even cranky—when suddenly, the thought of an indulgent snack seems like the perfect way to brighten the mood. A candy bar or bag of chips may be an OK pick-me-up on occasion. However, new research suggests that lazy feeling may be associated with your calorie consumption in a way you never realized. The good news is, you might be able to fix it.

We all know that too much snacking can lead to weight gain and even obesity in the long-term, but to kick a snacking habit is usually easier said than done. The problem seems to affect a lot of people, as a recent survey concluded that seven in 10 Americans never leave the house without a snack. Similarly, another poll found that just under half of surveyed Americans (48%) routinely keep a “snack stash” hidden away from even their closest loved ones for covert munching.

If you’ve been working to establish healthier habits, new research at the Ohio State University that was just published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics may interest you. Read on to learn more about the surprising connection between sleep patterns and snacking. Also, don’t miss This New Study Just Discovered The #1 Weight Loss Lie About Eating Nuts.

The research team at OSU reports that failing to attain at least seven hours of sleep per night is associated with eating more snacks that are high in carbohydrates, added fats, sugar, and caffeine.

So why does neglecting sleep lead to more snacking? The study’s authors explain that when we stay up late, we give ourselves more opportunities to carelessly chow down. It’s a simple equation: If you’re sleeping, you can’t be snacking!

Moreover, this research finds that pretty much everyone, regardless of sleep habits, prefers salty or sugary foods and non-alcoholic soft drinks when it’s snack time. This is one more reason people with poor sleep patterns end up ingesting more unhealthy calories on a daily basis.

It’s universally recommended that adults sleep for at least seven hours per night in order to maintain ideal health and wellbeing, and lack of sleep has long been linked to a long list of health issues like increased risk of heart disease and obesity. Still, this study takes things a step further by drawing a straight line from lack of sleep to more unhealthy snacking. “We know lack of sleep is linked to obesity from a broader scale, but it’s all these little behaviors that are anchored around how that happens,” said senior study author Christopher Taylor, professor of medical dietetics in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at The Ohio State University.

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The study analyzed data on nearly 20,000 American adults between the ages of 20 and 60 years old. All that information had originally been collected between 2007 and 2018 for the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a health poll led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Each participant had filled out a series of dietary surveys asking about their daily eating and sleeping habits.

Using that data, the research team separated subjects into various categories based on the amount of sleep they were getting, the nutrition value of their usual snacks, and the usual time of day in which said snacking occurred.

A subsequent analysis produced a number of revelations. To start, most participants (95.5%) said they habitually ate at least one snack per day. Over 50% of all snacking calories among all participants came from—you guessed it—not-so-healthy foods and beverages such as soda, energy drinks, chips, cookies, and pastries.

Notably, in comparison to adults who routinely slept seven or more hours per night, those with less-than-ideal sleep patterns were more likely to eat a morning snack. They also consumed more snacks with little to no nutritional value in general.

This finding regarding morning snacking is important because it shows not all snacking occurs in the evening. One possible explanation for this is that those who don’t sleep enough requiring more caloric energy to get going in the A.M. (due to inadequate sleep).

RELATED: The #1 Best Supplement for Sleep, Says Dietitian

Another important element of these findings is the observation that nighttime snacking has particular consequences, since many people avoid workouts or strenuous activities.

The end result is that those extra calories go to bed with you, instead of being burned off with activity.

“At night, we’re drinking our calories and eating a lot of convenience foods,” Taylor explained. “Not only are we not sleeping when we stay up late, but we’re doing all these obesity-related behaviors: lack of physical activity, increased screen time, food choices that we’re consuming as snacks and not as meals. So it creates this bigger impact of meeting or not meeting sleep recommendations.”

RELATED: This Is the #1 Worst Nighttime Snack for Your Waistline, Says an Expert

There are plenty of reasons to prioritize sleep, but researchers hope their findings encourage at least a few readers to hit the hay earlier. Besides just keeping you refreshed, a steady sleep schedule also promotes cleaner eating.

Meeting sleep recommendations is also tied to not doing the things that can harm health, Taylor concluded. “The longer we’re awake, the more opportunities we have to eat. And at night, those calories are coming from snacks and sweets. Every time we make those decisions, we’re introducing calories and items related to increased risk for chronic disease, and we’re not getting whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

“Even if you’re in bed and trying to fall asleep, at least you’re not in the kitchen eating,” Taylor said, “so if you can get yourself to bed, that’s a starting point.”

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Summer picnics and outings with pals sometimes suggest that the world could be divided into two groups of people: Those who adore spicy foods, and those who don’t. If you’re someone who’s not wild about spice but you’ve been eating it to rev up your metabolism—or even if you love spice and are convinced that it’s helping you get slim—well… it might be time to set down that saucy little Tabasco bottle, and listen up.

If you’ve ever downed a spicy cuisine like Mexican or Indian (or even put a few drops of hot sauce in your coffee—it’s a thing) and thought to yourself, I am totally making my metabolism faster with these foods!, well, you’re sort of right… except, not exactly.

RELATED: The One Vitamin Doctors Are Urging Everyone To Take Right Now

According to Jillian Kubala, MS, RD via Medical News Today, it’s true that chili peppers contain capsaicin, which is the compound that gives a hot pepper its kick. Capsaicin can help heat up metabolism, Kubala says, but not in the way you might have imagined. “…[T]he capsaicin in chili peppers can increase metabolic rate when taken in concentrated supplements,” Kubala explains. “But the amount of this compound in a typical dish containing chili peppers is unlikely to significantly [affect] metabolism.”

Indeed, researchers in a 2017 study cited an earlier project which had concluded that a 135-milligram capsaicin supplement led to a “significant increase in resting energy expenditure” when it was taken over a three-month period. With cayenne pepper as a common active ingredient in capsaicin supplements (which can often be found in nutrition stores), research has also suggested that turbo-amounts of capsaicin may help fight cancer, inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis, and even dementia. The science says you just need that seriously concentrated dose to make it worth your while.

Hey, props for seeking out ways to keep your metabolism active, even when you’re not. But, the next time you order a meal extra-spicy, keep in mind that of all the things that might burn after you take a bite, a ton of calories may not be on the list.

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It’s the most-sipped beverage in the world next to water, and it’s no wonder so many of us love it: That’s right, it’s coffee. In addition to the recent discovery of the link between coffee and liver health, and the even newer study that suggests coffee may help prevent COVID-19, now a dietitian is giving us one more reason to pour that beautiful brew. If you’ve been curious about whether coffee can help you lose weight, you’ve been right. A dietitian for the Mayo Clinic is revealing how it happens.

Katherine Zeratsky, RD, LD is a registered dietitian at the Mayo Clinic. Zeratsky recently took to the renowned health system’s blog to reveal several ways coffee may play a role in boosting your weight-loss efforts. Keep reading to understand how coffee can support weight loss, and don’t miss One Secret Fitness Trick That Can Add Years to Your Life, Says Top Trainer.

Though we don’t suggest that the healthiest way to lose weight is to stop eating, you might find that quieting your appetite slightly when it’s growling can help you from overdoing it next time you sit down to a meal. Zeratsky says: “Caffeine may reduce feelings of hunger and your desire to eat for a brief time.”

RELATED: This Is the Best Coffee for Weight Loss, Says an Expert

Especially for those of us who work in some activity most every day, we all need a little rest on occasion. Thanks to its impact on the body’s thermogenesis process (more on that here), coffee can help your metabolism stay active when you do. Check out other ways you can help your body burn fat even while you’re taking it easy.

It’s true: As Zeratsky explains, just by definition, caffeine’s role as a stimulant can bring greater efficiency to the body’s calorie-burning capacity.

RELATED: The Most Surprising Drink for Weight Loss, Says Dietitian

You might be inspired to brew a fresh cup now… but, as you consider any habit that could impact your health—coffee-drinking and losing weight included—it’s always best to talk with your healthcare provider to choose the routine that’s right for you.

For more like this, get the Eat This, Not That! newsletter and read up on The 3 Best Drinks to Speed Up Your Metabolism, According to Experts.

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With summer in full swing, nothing feels more tempting than jumpstarting your weight loss goals and achieving a perfectly flat stomach anyone could get jealous of. While diet and exercise can help shave off stomach flab, taking fat-burning supplements feels like an easy way to reach your goal. But are they even healthy for you to take?

Activated charcoal and probiotics claim to reduce bloating and fight water weight, leading to a slimmer waistline, while enzymes and synbiotics guarantee to burn off fat around your waist. While a ton of these supplements have flooded the market, many of these quick shortcuts to flat bellies hide one common side effect that could get anyone thinking twice before putting these items into their body.

“Among several side effects of fat-burning supplements, the most dangerous one is high blood pressure and heart rate that puts your heart under great stress,” says Amber O’Brien, RD from Mango Clinic. “These supplements work after heating up your body, boosting the metabolism and causing the burning of fat at a higher resting rate to promote weight loss. But unfortunately, in doing so, increased heart rate and blood pressure result in poor blood circulation, which can put your life in danger by increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.”

“Fat-burning supplements contain several unregulated ingredients that are fatal for [your] health,” says O’Brien. “Moreover, weight loss supplements can interact with other medications therefore it is highly recommended to consult your doctor before choosing any product from the market.”

All in all, it’s important to note that taking these supplements may help with debloating and weight loss efforts, but they aren’t a magical pill—meaning you need to be careful with your dosage.

“In order to avoid potential side effects, it’s important to consider all the precautions while taking fat-burning supplements,” says O’Brien. “If you have started taking the supplements, do not exceed the recommended dosage mentioned on the label. Besides, do not expect rapid results from these supplements if you are not working on your diet and lifestyle choices.”

Can fat-burning supplements even help with weight loss?

While fat-burning supplements have the potential to cause cardiac damage through raised blood pressure, some supplements can still help you on your weight loss journey.

“I would recommend going for natural fat burners that are very less likely to cause side effects,” says O’Brien.

Items like green tea extract or ginseng can help speed up your metabolism, resulting in a flatter stomach. You can even turn to hibiscus and berberine to supercharge your fat-burning goals. While these natural items pose less of a danger, they can’t beat diet and exercise.

“However, remember that the most effective and healthier way to burn fat is to perform exercises that target fat and avoid foods that are high in calorie count,” O’Brien continued. “If you’re looking for shortcuts to lose your fat, even supplements can’t work effectively if you are not working out and choosing the right diet plan.”

When it comes to slimming down, don’t rely on any shortcuts. With the help of diet and exercise, you can achieve every body sculpting goal you put your mind to (like following these 20 Healthy Eating Habits to Lose Weight Right Now). If you opt to include some fat-burning supplements in your diet, make sure to keep a keen eye on their side effects and avoid putting your heart at risk for the sake of your stomach.

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For many people trying to lose weight, counting—and cutting—calories is a tried-and-true method of shedding pounds without having to adhere to a specialized diet. However, new research suggests that it’s not just your weight that may change when you stick to a calorie-restricted eating plan.

According to a June 2021 study published in the journal Nature, calorie restriction can have a significant effect on a person’s gut microbiome, as well. To conduct their study, a group led by researchers from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) monitored a group of 80 overweight and obese women over a 16-week period. During this time, half of the study population went on a liquid diet consisting of 800 calories a day, while the other half of the study subjects maintained their weight.

RELATED: 20 Foods That Relieve Your Gut Problems, Say Dietitians

Among the group adhering to the 800-calorie diet, researchers found that “this very-low-calorie diet profoundly altered the gut microbiome, including an overall decrease in gut bacteria,” explained Peter Turnbaugh, Ph.D., an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at UCSF and a senior author on the study, in a statement.

Fecal samples from study subjects were then transplanted into mice raised in sterile conditions. What researchers discovered was that the mice whose transplants included samples of dieter’s post-calorie-restriction fecal bacteria lost weight. The main difference between the gut bacteria of those on the diet and those who weren’t? The amount of C. difficile, a bacterium that is associated with diarrhea and inflammation of the digestive tract.

“Ordinarily we would predict increased inflammation or even colitis following an increase in C. difficile,” explained Turnbaugh. In this case, however, the mice with increased C. difficile counts showed only a mild increase in inflammation.

While Turnbaugh explained that the study’s findings in no way suggest that the voluntary introduction of C. difficile should become a go-to strategy for weight loss, he noted that the surprising findings certainly merit further study.

“We want to better understand how common weight loss diets might impact and the microbiome and what the downstream consequences are for health and disease,” said Turnbaugh of the study’s results.

If you want to improve your wellbeing, check out The 7 Healthiest Foods to Eat Right Now, and for more health and weight loss news delivered to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter!

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With summer and swimsuit season rolling in, you might be in search of some easy ways to make your everyday diet choices help you feel your best. Well, here’s some sunny news: According to a dietitian at a weight loss clinic in one of Florida’s hottest beach cities, your metabolism ramps up as soon as you take your first sip of coffee, which can set you up to eat healthier, burn more calories, and even lose weight.

Keep reading to find out how coffee helps you burn fat, even when you’re not moving. And for more, make sure to check out Making This One Change to Your Diet Could “Reprogram” Your Metabolism, New Study Says.

Donald Mankie is a registered dietitian at the Sarasota Memorial Bariatric and Metabolism Center who just spoke to Sarasota Magazine to answer the burning question about whether coffee fuels metabolism. Mankie told the local outlet: “The stimulating effect is definitely there.” (In fact, this has been demonstrated in a number of great studies.)

Related: Sign up for our newsletter for the latest healthy eating and weight loss news.

Mankie said that in the simplest sense, coffee helps your metabolism because its caffeine gives you more energy. He noted that “caffeine can reduce the perception of fatigue” during exercise, which might simply give you that extra “oomph” to power through your workout to maximize your output.

RELATED: Eva Longoria Reveals the Exact At-Home Workout She Uses to Stay Fit

According to Mankie, coffee can also keep your metabolism raised even when you’re not hard at work, thanks to “thermogenesis,” which is the body’s process for producing heat.

As Katherine Zeratsky, a registered dietitian at the Mayo Clinic, has said, caffeine amps up the amount of energy your body uses even when you’re inactive… and this translates to the burning of a greater number of calories than baseline rest levels. (Read more about thermogenesis, and another drink that drives it, here.)

Anyone who’s ever hit pause on their exercise routine, whether for illness or any reason, might know how amazing it feels to complete that first workout after a break. Part of that is from the endorphins—mood-boosting chemicals—that the body produces during exercise.

Mankie said that similarly, coffee increases endorphin production, which can “produce an increased feeling of wellness and excitability,” as well as “improve concentration, energy levels, and mood.”

RELATED: Are You Unhappy? Walk This Far Before Breakfast, Says Science

These days, there are a lot of cool ways people are maxing out their coffee routine to make it work for their nutrition and well-being goals—like this creative coffee/protein shake combo.

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Intermittent fasting has recently become the talk of the weight loss world, gaining countless devotees and being heralded as a simple weight loss plan that can help even those who’ve struggled to shed weight in the past. However, a new study suggests that it may be more than just pounds you lose when you adopt an intermittent fasting plan.

According to a study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine on June 16, 2021, researchers who participated in intermittent fasting during a control trial actually lost fewer pounds than those who followed a diet that didn’t incorporate time-restricted eating. Perhaps even more surprisingly, this was true even though adherents to both diets consumed the same number of total calories.

To reach their conclusion, researchers from the University of Bath’s Centre for Nutrition, Exercise & Metabolism had study participants break into three groups: group one fasted on alternate days and ate 50% more than usual on the day after a fast, group two reduced the number of total calories they consumed by 25% across meals with no fasting, and group three fasted every other day, but ate 100% more than usual on the day following their fast day. All groups consumed between 2,000 and 2,500 calories at the beginning of the three-week study period, with groups one and two reducing their overall calorie intake to between 1,500 and 2,000 calories a day, and group three fasting but not reducing their total caloric intake.

RELATED: 20 Best Foods to Eat While Intermittent Fasting

Researchers found that individuals in group two shed just over four pounds, on average, over a three-week period, virtually all of which was fat loss. Group one, which consumed the same number of calories as group two, but incorporated fasting, lost slightly less weight—3.5 pounds on average—but the pounds lost were approximately half fat, half muscle mass. Among the third group, the total weight loss was not significant.

“Intermittent fasting is no magic bullet and the findings of our experiment suggest that there is nothing special about fasting when compared with more traditional, standard diets people might follow,” said James Betts, PhD, the study’s lead author and director of the Centre for Nutrition, Exercise & Metabolism, said in a statement.

What’s more, Betts explained that the loss of muscle mass might make it more difficult for individuals to stay physically active or maintain their muscle mass, which burns more calories at rest than fat mass. So, while sticking to an intermittent fasting plan may help you shed a few pounds, that weight loss may come at a cost to your other health and fitness goals.

For some simple ways to shed those extra pounds, check out how Making This One Change to Your Diet Could “Reprogram” Your Metabolism, New Study Says, and for more health and weight loss news delivered to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter!

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If a little extra weight around your middle has left you feeling less than your best, now may be time to take a look at trimming that torso. A groundbreaking new study has revealed that abdominal obesity may be a contributing factor behind the second most common cancer in American men (and the first for guys in Canada).

You might already be aware that in recent years, “belly fat” has been linked to endocrinological disorders like diabetes, as well as other health issues such as cardiovascular problems. Now, a new Canadian study has honed in on another serious problem for men with abdominal obesity: prostate cancer. (RELATED: 15 Underrated Weight Loss Tips That Actually Work)

But there’s a glimmer of hope—researchers say the findings create an opportunity for doctors to work preventively with patients. Read on to learn about this link between being overweight and cancer. Also, don’t miss the Best Supplements for a Longer Life, According to Dietitians.

Published in April in the peer-reviewed journal, Cancer Causes & Control, the study was led by five public health and epidemiology researchers from Canada’s Institut national de la recherche scientifique (National Institute of Scientific Research) with support from the Canadian Cancer Society.

Knowing that obesity had previously been linked to prostate cancer, the team sought to understand whether the distribution of excess weight throughout the body played a role cancer development.

The researchers examined data collected from more than 1,900 adult male participants with a maximum age of 75 between 2005 and 2012. Researchers took measurements of the participants’ waists and hips, as well as interviewed them about their height, weight, and other statistics to determine their body mass index (BMI).

RELATED: This 7-Minute Walking Trick Could Add Years to Your Life, Says Study

After running the data, the researchers discovered that “abdominal obesity appears to be associated with a greater risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer.” They also found that as BMI increased, so did the chance of developing advanced prostate cancer.

Getting more granular, they added that a waist circumference of 40 inches or higher was associated with an even more elevated risk of aggressive advanced prostate cancer.

Interestingly, the researchers found that general obesity was not in and of itself a cause of prostate cancer. Instead, it’s specifically belly fat that they believe can lead to the proliferation of prostate cancer cells.

“Abdominal obesity causes hormonal and metabolic variations that can promote the growth of hormone-dependent cancer cells,” Éric Vallières, a doctoral student at the University of Montreal who served as the study’s main author, said. “Abdominal obesity is believed to be associated with a decrease in testosterone, as well as a state of chronic inflammation linked to the development of aggressive tumors.”

RELATED: 40 Best Weight Loss Tips If You’re Over 40

According to Marie-Elise Parent, the study’s lead researcher, the revelations from this study create an opportunity for doctors to work preventively with patients.

“Pinpointing the risk factors for aggressive cancer is a big step forward in health research because it’s the hardest to treat,” Parent stated. “This data creates an opportunity to work preventively, by monitoring men with this risk factor more closely.”

Don’t forget to check out the 50 Best Foods That Lower Your Cancer Risk and sign up for the Eat This, Not That! newsletter to get all of the health and nutrition news you need.

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