Giving Calcium supplements to obese people who are low in Calcium could produce weight loss of up to six kilograms (over 13 pounds), says a new study from Canada. The researchers from the Universit Laval report that additional Calcium from a supplement affected appetite by improving satiety in obese women with average daily Calcium intakes of less than 600 milligrams. “Our hypothesis is that the brain can detect the lack of calcium and seeks to compensate by spurring food intake, which obviously works against the goals of any weight loss program,” said lead researcher Angelo Tremblay.

Gout is a disease caused by a disturbance in uric acid metabolism. During a gout attack uric acid builds up in the smaller joints of the body (such as in the big toe) creating painful urate crystal deposits known as tophi that cause tremendous inflammation in the affected joints. Gout is usually caused by over-consumption of particular foods and many people have a genetic predisposition.

Increased intakes of calcium and vitamin D may improve the regulation of insulin levels, and offer protection against diabetes, independent of dairy intake, suggests a new Harvard study. The new study specifically looked at a protein in the blood called C-Peptide because C-peptide is found in the blood in amounts equal to the level of insulin in the blood. Insulin is released from your pancreas and is used by the body to control blood sugar levels.

Researchers at East Texas Medical Center and Trinity Mother Francis Hospital in Texas note that supplementation with traditional Coenzyme Q10 fails to raise the bodys level of Coenzyme Q10 to adequate levels even when the heart failure patient is supplemented with 900mg a day. These patients often have plasma total CoQ10 levels of less than 2.5 mcg/ml and have limited clinical improvement. It is postulated that the intestinal edema in these critically ill patients may impair CoQ10 absorption.

Before becoming pregnant, women need to get enough vitamin B12 in addition to folic acid to cut their risk of having a baby with a serious birth defect of the brain and spinal cord, researchers said on Monday. Irish women with the lowest vitamin B12 levels were five times more likely to have a baby with a neural tube defect than those with the highest levels, the researchers report. Neural tube defects can lead to lifelong disability or death.