Todays Newsbites

Do foods like cake, cookies and potato chips seem to call your name when you're on a weight-loss diet? It may help to cut out such foods completely, say the authors of a new study in the journal Obesity.

The FDA has announced that it is extending the date by which manufacturers must implement changes to the Nutrition Facts label. The original deadline was July 2018 (or July 2019 for small companies).

Eating fried potatoes (such as French fries, potato chips and hash browns) two or more times a week was associated with twice the risk of dying prematurely, compared to eating fried spuds no more than once a month, showed a new observational study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

A new observational study in the Journal of Hepatology suggests regularly drinking coffee or herbal tea may help protect against liver fibrosis (hardening due to scar tissue). That's assessed by measuring liver stiffness with a scan.

A dog may provide the nudge you need to be more physically active as you get older, suggests a new study in BioMed Central Public Health.

Improving your eating pattern and sticking to these changes for the long haul may have a big impact on reducing your risk of dying prematurely. Those were the findings of a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Swapping 30 minutes of daily TV or home computer use (leisure screen time) with activities like leisurely walking, gardening, home improvement projects or formal exercise was associated with a 3 to 13% decreased risk of premature death.

Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with increased diabetes risk. But, the few published small trials of vitamin D supplementation havent shown a benefit on insulin function, which is important in blood sugar control. Included in this list is a new trial in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

For older adults struggling with obesity, its a bit of a catch-22 that weight loss may speed up age-related loss of muscle and bone mass (lean tissue). That could worsen physical ability and contribute to frailty. The solution? "Exercise is important to help preserve muscle and bone mass during weight loss and to further improve physical function," says Dennis T. Villareal, MD, at Baylor College of Medicine and lead author of a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Grandkids or kids at home? Note new advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The group revised its stance from no juice before 6 months old to no juice before one year old.