The production of ethanol from corn and other crops for fuel could drive up food prices.

Products containing beneficial bacteria might help people fight the ill effects of some gut microbes in diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome.

Products containing beneficial bacteria might help people fight the ill effects of some gut microbes in diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome.

Consuming flavonoid-rich dark chocolate could not only lower blood pressure and cholesterol but also improve the body's processing of sugar.

While walking, obese people alter their gait to minimize both energy expenditure and the stress on their knee joints.

While walking, obese people alter their gait to minimize both energy expenditure and the stress on their knee joints.

Unsuccessful weight watchers are well aware that the winter holiday season can bestow, besides gifts, a few extra pounds. But according to Barry M. Popkin of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, people seem to approach every weekend as a holiday: They eat and drink too much.For the average adult in the United States, excessive eating and drinking on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays might translate into 5 or 6 pounds (about 2.5 kilograms) of weight gain over the course of a year, says Popkin, who studies nutritional epidemiology."Two thirds of Americans are gaining weight, and a lot ...

The fast-food chain McDonald's announced on June 19 that it will stop its farms under contract from feeding chicken, cattle, and pigs certain antibiotics intended to accelerate the animals' growth. That step might slow or reverse the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria that can infect people, scientists say."I'm delighted," says Stuart B. Levy of the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. "This move by McDonald's . . . puts a stamp of credibility" on the idea that antibiotics are not needed to promote growth in farm animals, he says. "I expect other companies will follow suit."McDona...

People assume that the ideal meal schedule spreads calorie intake over the course of the day: Never skip breakfast, keep your blood sugar on an even keel, and all that. But Mark Mattson, a neuroscientist at the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore, suspects that conventional wisdom may be due for an overhaul.While many doctors encourage people to eat three square meals a day, there aren't data to indicate that it's important, he says.In fact, says Mattson, "it may be healthy to have reduced meal frequency." In other words, skipping some meals—or occasionally fasting for the day—might be be...

Dangerous bacteria often take refuge deep inside people’s noses, where they can remain dormant until they find an opportunity to invade other parts of the body. Perhaps the most important of these stowaway nasal microbes is Staphylococcus aureus, which can spread to wounds and surgical incisions and cause life-threatening blood infections. As many as a quarter of U.S. residents may harbor S. aureus in their noses, say epidemiologists.Fortunately, help could be on the way in the form of an improbable tactic: Taking a daily swig of a beverage that’s swimming with live, friendly bacteria. For abo...