The prestigious and excellent-for-a-laugh International Journal of Obesity reported today that fatness and stupidity are actually linked at a physiological level. Cortisol, a hormone released in moments of stress and as a result of obesity, causes a decline in cognitive performance.
In this experiment, they decided to induce stress by making their test subjects go skydiving! [...]

You might think from all the stories I’m reporting on that have to do with fatness that I’m some kind of fat fetishist, and that my pejorative tone betrays some deep psychological problem with fat people. Allow me to clarify – this blog reports on scientific progress as it relates to the quest for human [...]

Researchers at the University of Exeter have discovered that a sudden brisk walk can reduce cravings for chocolate, adding to their list of vices curbed by a jolly stroll.
Self-confessed chocaholics were subjected to three days of forced abstinence, then tempted with the chocolate they craved so much. However, instead of getting the chocolate, they had [...]

A study in the aptly-named journal Apetite has revealed that fat chicks just can’t control themselves in the same way that skinny chicks can.
Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Psychology have performed an interesting study on that very telling attribute of one’s personality: the ability to delay gratification.
Even pigeons can learn [...]

A article published in the Annals of Internal Medicine by the University of Virginia Health System reports that a single daily dose of an experimental drug going by the name of MK-677 beefed-up the arms and legs of a bunch of seniors.
Very interestingly, MK-677 restored the levels of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor [...]

This is slightly old news, but I wanted to include it anyway because any information that makes vegetarianism sound like a bad choice is worth reporting on. The European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology has issued a press release telling us that the consumption of soy-based foods has the effect of lowering sperm count.
I [...]

The results of a large prospective study today claimed that consuming caffeine at any time during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of fetal growth restriction (FGR – low birth weight).
Even small amounts of caffeine were reported to affect the ultimate weight of the neonates, and the strength of the FGR effect was proportional [...]

Well, it seems that female fatness is the topic du jour, as we have some further information on the non-genetic hereditary aspects of obesity.
Followers of science will remember some recent breakthroughs that claimed firstly that obesity and overweight weren’t so much chromosomal traits inherited irrespective of the environment, but that the tendency to become fat [...]