Todays Newsbites

The longer couples stay together, the more similar their smell and taste preferences become, researchers report in Appetite. Although a number of studies have found that romantic partners become more similar in various ways over time, this is the first study to see if this compatibility effect extends to smell and taste, which help to shape food preferences.

Consumption of sodas and other sugar-sweetened beverages continues to decline, though adolescents and young adults still obtain too many calories from such drinks, according to a study in Obesity.

Remission of type 2 diabetes is possible through intensive weight management alone, according to findings from the Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial (DiRECT) reported in The Lancet.

In November 2017, The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology released new treatment guidelines that call for lowering the threshold for diagnosing high blood pressure from 140/90 to 130/80.

A small handful of nuts contains up to 200 calories, but people who eat them experience less weight gain over time, suggests a study in the European Journal of Nutrition.

Regular walking reduces the risk of death in older adults, even when they do less than the amount recommended by national guidelines, according to a study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has, for the first time, moved to revoke a past ruling that allowed food manufacturers to claim that eating foods with soy protein helps to reduce the risk of heart disease. The FDA action follows a review of study data on the association between soy protein and the risk of heart disease. The agency concluded that current evidence calls into question the association between consuming soy protein and being less at risk of heart disease.

Globally, the number of obese children and adolescents has risen sharply since 1975, according to a study in The Lancet. The study examined data on the height and weight from 200 countries and nearly 130 million people. Of the total, about 32 million were age 5 to 19.

As a result of a proposed schedule change by the FDA, shoppers will see two different types of Nutrition Facts labels on foods and dietary supplements-one old and one new-for about a year and a half. Large food makers were supposed to start using the updated design by July 2018; smaller companies had until July 2019.

The more time you spend physically inactive during the day, the greater your risk for a variety of health problems-a lot of research shows that. But a new observational study in Annals of Internal Medicine found that being sedentary is even more risky if a person is inactive for long, interrupted bouts of 30 minutes or longer.