Diet, Study | featured news

The theory that people might dramatically increase their life spans by severely restricting their food intake has been around for decades. But that theory takes a big blow from a new study that finds monkeys put on such a strict diet -- getting 30% fewer calories than usual -- live no longer than monkeys allowed a normal diet, says USA Today's Science Fair.

A new study to be published in the October issue of the journal Appetite shows just how simple cutting calories, without the hunger, can actually be. The secret is portion-controlled meal replacements.

The results run counter to the idea that more supermarkets can curb obesity in low-income neighborhoods. Better access to supermarkets — long touted as a way to curb obesity in low-income neighborhoods — doesn't improve people's diets, according to new research.

People who drank diet soda every day had a 61 percent higher risk of vascular events, including stroke and heart attack, found a new study that followed 2,500 New Yorkers for nine years.

Final data from a new study showed that the diet drug Meridia increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes in patients who already have heart disease, but offered only moderate weight loss.

Up to a third of breast cancer cases in Western countries could be avoided if women ate less and exercised more, researchers at a breast cancer conference said Thursday — comments that could ignite heated discussions among victims and advocates.