Objective. Dietary fiber can reduce hunger and enhance satiety, but fiber intake during hypocaloric weight loss diets typically falls short of recommended levels. We examined the nutritional effects and acceptability of two high-fiber hypocaloric diets differing in sources of fiber: (a) beans or (b) fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Methods. Subjects were 2 men, 18 women, mean age = 46.9, a...

In mammals, circadian rhythms are controlled by a master clock localized in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and entrained to 24 h by external cues. These signals are conveyed by three main afferences: the retinohypothalamic tract (RHT), the geniculohypothalamic tract (GHT) and the serotonergic tract. Photic factors during the night, leading to glutamate release from the RHT and c-Fos and cloc...

Proatrial Natriuretic Peptide Levels in Obese Patients: A Cause or Result of Hypertension? To the Editor: We read with great interest the paper by Wang et al1 indicating that obese subjects had lower brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and N-terminal proatrial natriuretic peptide (N-terminal proANP) levels than did lean subjects in a large sample population of the Framingham Heart Study. They specu...

Inadequate dietary patterns and sedentary lifestyles are believed to be important factors in predisposing people to obesity. This study analyzed the potential interaction between habitual physical activity and the carbohydrate (CHO)-fat distribution in 2 hypocaloric diets and the impact of such interplay on body composition changes. Forty healthy obese women, 20-50 years old, were randomly assi...

BACKGROUND No pharmacologic therapy has conclusively proved to be effective for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, which is characterized by insulin resistance, steatosis, and necroinflammation with or without centrilobular fibrosis. Pioglitazone is a thiazolidinedione that ameliorates insulin resistance and improves glucose and lipid metabolism in type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHOD...