Eating once a day

[brightcove:5522542845001 default] This article originally appeared on Time.com. Plenty of research has found that eating breakfast is important for weight maintenance, metabolism and overall good health. Now, the evidence gets even stronger: a small new randomized controlled trial finds that regularly eating a substantial morning meal directly affects how fat cells function in the body by changing the activity of genes involved in fat metabolism and insulin resistance. The findings suggest that eating breakfast every morning may help lower people’s risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, the study authors say—and that even if a morning meal increases a person’s total calorie consumption, those calories may be offset by other energy-burning benefits. In the study, published in the Journal of Physiology , researchers asked 49 people ages 21 to 60 to either eat breakfast or fast until mid-day, every day for six weeks. Those in the breakfast group were asked to eat at lea...

[brightcove:5590657975001 default] This article originally appeared on Time.com. The word “collagen” comes from the Greek word for glue, and that’s a helpful way to think about the role collagen plays in your physical health. In your skeleton, tendons, muscles, skin and even your teeth, collagen is a structural protein that binds cells and tissues together while helping them maintain shape and integrity. But your body produces less and less collagen as you age. And some supplement- and food-makers are marketing collagen products as a way to boost your body’s levels of it. “Collagen is basically the sale of amino acids,” says Dr. Mark Moyad, director of preventative and alternative medicine at the University of Michigan, and author of The Supplement Handbook . Amino acids are protein’s building blocks, and supplements and foods that have collagen contain chains of collagen-derived protein amino acids—or sometimes just the amino acids themselves, separated from their bonds, Moyad sa...

[brightcove:4411677795001 default] Thanksgiving dinner, your house: After downing a couple of helpings of turkey and stuffing, your stomach gives a firm  nuh-uh  to that slice of pumpkin pie . A voice in your head has another idea, replying, "but today’s a holiday, you have to eat it.” After you consume the last delicious bite, your stomach gets revenge in the worst way: with a monster food baby spilling over your jeans. Belly bloat is your body’s way of saying, "you stuffed me," Keri Gans, RD, a New York City nutritionist, tells Health. This can be hard to avoid during holidays, when stuffing yourself is expected. Bloating can also be triggered by eating something your stomach doesn’t agree with, chowing down too quickly, and fasting all day and then indulging in a huge meal, all of which are encouraged on Turkey Day, says Cynthia Sass, MPH, RD, Health’s cont...