Preliminary evaluation of the Healthy Savings Program: a novel health insurance-based wellness programme to encourage healthy food purchases.

Objective: To examine level of participation and satisfaction with the Healthy Savings Program (HSP), a programme that provides price discounts on healthier foods.

Design: For Study 1, a survey was distributed to a random sample of adults who were invited to participate in a version of the HSP that provided a discount for the purchase of fresh produce and discounts on other healthier foods. In Study 2, interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of adults invited to participate in a version of the HSP that provided price discounts on specific products only (no fresh produce discount).

Trends in fatty acid intake of adults in the Minneapolis-St Paul, MN Metropolitan Area, 1980-1982 through 2007-2009.

Background: Intake of dietary fatty acids has been linked to cardiovascular disease risk. However, data available to evaluate trends in fatty acid intake in the US population are limited, particularly with regard to trans fatty acids, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA).

Methods And Results: The present analysis examined trends in fatty acid intake from 1980-1982 through 2007-2009 and compared levels of intake to those recommended in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and by the American Heart Association.

Diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance spur tumor growth and cancer cachexia in rats bearing the Yoshida sarcoma.

Obesity and insulin resistance are associated with increased risk of cancer and cancer mortality. However, it is currently unknown whether they contribute to the development of cancer cachexia, a syndrome that contributes significantly to morbidity and mortality in individuals with cancer. The present experiment addresses the question of whether preexisting obesity and insulin resistance alter tumor growth and cancer cachexia symptoms in Yoshida sarcoma bearing male rats.

Chronic exendin-4 treatment prevents the development of cancer cachexia symptoms in male rats bearing the Yoshida sarcoma.

Cancer cachexia is the syndrome of weight loss, loss of appetite, and wasting of skeletal muscle and adipose tissue experienced by many individuals with cancer. Currently, few effective treatment and prevention strategies are available for these patients, due in part to a poor understanding of the mechanisms contributing to cachexia. Insulin resistance has been associated with cancer cachexia in epidemiological, human, and animal research.

Characterization of the Yoshida sarcoma: a model of cancer cachexia.

Purpose: Cancer cachexia contributes significantly to morbidity and mortality in individuals with cancer. Currently, the mechanisms contributing to the development of cachexia are largely unknown, leading to a paucity of treatment and prevention options. Animal models are necessary in determining causal mechanisms and in testing potential treatments.

The role of insulin resistance in the development of muscle wasting during cancer cachexia.

Background: Cancer cachexia is a complex syndrome associated with multiple metabolic abnormalities. Insulin resistance is present in many cancer patients and may be one mechanism through which muscle wasting occurs.

Methods And Results: The present review examines evidence in support of a role for insulin resistance in the development of muscle wasting during cancer cachexia and identifies areas for future research.

Glucose tolerance in response to a high-fat diet is improved by a high-protein diet.

Consumption of a high-fat (HF) diet results in insulin resistance and glucose intolerance. Weight loss is often recommended to reverse these metabolic alterations and the use of a high-protein (HP), low-carbohydrate diet is encouraged. In lean rats, consumption of a HP diet improves glycemic control.

Sensitivity to the anorectic effects of leptin is retained in rats maintained on a ketogenic diet despite increased adiposity.

Background: Rats maintained on a ketogenic diet (KD; 80% fat, 15% protein, 5% carbohydrate) have increased adiposity and leptin as compared to chow-fed controls (CH; 16% fat, 19% protein, 65% carbohydrate), although body weights and daily caloric intakes do not differ.

Methods: Rats maintained on a KD or CH were assessed for responsivity to intraperitoneal (i.p.

Insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance are altered by maintenance on a ketogenic diet.

Low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diets (KD) are frequently implemented in efforts to reduce or maintain body weight, although the metabolic effects of long-term exposure to this type of diet remain controversial. This study assessed the responsivity to peripheral and central insulin, glucose tolerance, and meal-induced effects of consuming a KD in the rat. After 8 wk of consuming chow or KD, caloric intake after peripheral or central insulin and insulin and glucose levels after a glucose challenge were assessed.

Effects of consuming a high carbohydrate diet after eight weeks of exposure to a ketogenic diet.

Background: Ketogenic diets have been utilized for weight loss and improvement in metabolic parameters. The present experiments examined the effects of returning to a chow diet after prolonged ingestion of a ketogenic diet.

Methods: Rats were maintained on chow (CH) or a ketogenic diet (KD) for 8 weeks, after which the KD rats were given access to chow only (KD:CH) for 8 additional weeks.

Binge-type eating attenuates corticosterone and hypophagic responses to restraint stress.

Binge eating has been associated with stress responses. Data in rats suggest that activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is suppressed by consumption of a high sucrose diet, and is increased with exposure to a high fat diet. Additionally, the choice to consume a highly palatable food following exposure to a stressor results in reduced corticosterone levels.