Diet News and Research

RSS

New DNA Tests Expose Spice Fraud Across Popular Herbs and Spices

Researchers interlaboratory-validated 13 DNA-based qPCR methods to quantify selected plant adulterants in paprika/chilli, saffron, turmeric, cumin, oregano, and black pepper. The methods showed strong repeatability, reproducibility, and trueness, supporting their use as confirmatory tools in official spice authenticity testing.

28 Apr 2026

Obesity Leaves Persistent Epigenetic Marks on Immune Cells

People who live with obesity are 'tagging' a memory of being overweight on a key part of the immune system - leaving people with ongoing risk of obesity-related conditions years after losing weight, according to a 10 year-long study published in EMBO Reports.

28 Apr 2026

New Genetic Pathways Linked to Cardiometabolic Disease Identified

A study published today in PLOS Medicine has identified two new genetic pathways that contribute to cardiometabolic disease, which includes heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

24 Apr 2026

Is Fast Food Harming the Gut Health of Seagulls? We Could be About to Find Out

A brand new study looking at the impact of fast food on the gut health of seagulls has just won funding from the Royal Society.

22 Apr 2026

Study Reveals How Neurons Sense Bacterial Signals in Nematodes

Neural interaction with bacteria, e.g. in the gut microbiome, has important effects on brains of animals from worms to people.

21 Apr 2026

"Zombie" Macrophages Accumulate in Aging Tissues and Diseased Livers

UCLA researchers have identified a rogue population of immune cells that quietly accumulates in aging tissues and in the livers of people with fatty liver disease. Clearing these cells, they found, dramatically reduced inflammation and reversed liver damage in mice - even while the animals remained on an unhealthy diet.

16 Apr 2026

Early Epigenetic Changes and Gut Microbiome Interact to Shape Neurodevelopment

The gut microbiome and epigenetics-molecular switches that turn genes on or off-are intertwined, and both contribute to neurodevelopment, finds a study publishing April 10 in the Cell Press journal Cell Press Blue.

13 Apr 2026

3D Microfluidic Tumor Model Reveals How High-Fat Diets Promote Invasive Cancer

Princeton researchers have revealed new links between high-fat diets and aggressive breast cancer, demonstrating the important role fat plays in making some cancers more invasive.

7 Apr 2026

Lab Studies Validate Non-Animal Methods for Protein Quality Assessment

Nine labs have coordinated a set of studies that support new alternatives to animal-based digestibility testing when protein quality measures are required for labeling food.

17 Mar 2026

Microbiome Changes Reveal Hidden Stress Responses in Songbirds

Every animal carries a microscopic community of bacteria, fungi and other microbes that play a critical role in health.

16 Mar 2026

TMC Proteins Found to Regulate Membrane Lipids in the Ears

Proteins long known to be essential for hearing have been hiding a talent: they also act as gatekeepers that shuffle fatty molecules across cell membranes.

24 Feb 2026

Small RNAs in the Sperm Guide the Earliest Stages of Embryonic Development

Mounting evidence from research on nematodes to mice indicate that a father's environment, such as what he eats or if he is exposed to stress or toxicants, can lead to metabolic and behavioral disorders in his offspring.

20 Feb 2026

Early Brain Development May Predispose Some People to Obesity

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have revealed that a critical developmental process in the brain's hypothalamus might influence an individual's vulnerability to obesity.

18 Feb 2026

Controlled Oxidative Burst Promotes Brain Repair

Oxidative stress is a direct consequence of an excess in the body of so-called "free radicals" – reactive, unstable molecules that contain oxygen.

12 Feb 2026

Gut Microbial Metabolite Hippuric Acid Amplifies Immune Responses

Scientists at The Wistar Institute have identified a previously overlooked mediator in the body's response to life-threatening infections: hippuric acid, a metabolite produced when gut bacteria break down polyphenols from berries, tea, and other plant-based foods.

31 Jan 2026

Climate Change Shifts Animal Timing But Fails To Predict Population Survival

Climate-driven shifts in reproduction and migration timing impact vertebrate populations, highlighting the need for context-specific conservation strategies.

29 Jan 2026

Hidden Sperm RNA Remodeling With Age May Impact Next Generation

Increasing paternal age has been linked to elevated health risks for the next generation, including higher risks of obesity and stillbirth. But what drives this increased risk remains unknown.

21 Jan 2026

Marsupial Gut Microbiomes Show Diet Adaptations, Antibiotic Resistance Risks

Marsupials are a group of mammals that encompass many of Australia's most iconic animals, unique because of their geographically isolated evolution.

14 Jan 2026

Loss of Vitamin C Synthesis Protects Animals From Schistosomiasis

Researchers at the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) have found an advantage to vitamin C deficiency: defense against a significant parasitic disease.

31 Dec 2025

Fungal Detoxification Pathway Enables Infestation of Bark Beetle Pests

Spruce bark is rich in phenolic compounds that protect trees from pathogenic fungi. A research team at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena investigated how these plant defenses function within the food web, particularly in spruce bark beetles (Ips typographus), which ingest the compounds through their diet. Could the beetles use substances from the spruce's defenses to protect themselves against pathogenic fungi?

30 Dec 2025