Previous research has shown that lacking Vitamin D leads to a higher concentration of fat at the expense of muscle and that if you lack calcium, the body’s great regulator “the hypothalamus” will not shut down your appetite. New research adds to the evidence supporting a role for a leaner-trimmer body by showing that increasing intakes of calcium and higher blood levels of vitamin D may boost weight loss according to the findings from a two-year clinical trial.      Average calcium intakes of 580 milligrams per day and blood levels of vitamin D of 30.2 nanograms per milliliter were associated with 5.3 kg weight loss over the two years of intervention, according to the findings.

Scientists from Oxford University said their two-year clinical trial was the largest to date into the effect of B vitamins on "mild cognitive impair-ment" - a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.      Experts commenting on the findings said they were important and called for larger, longer full-scale clinical trials to see if the safety and effectiveness of B vitamins in the prevention of neurodegenerative conditions could be confirmed. "This is a very dramatic and striking result.

In middle aged and older subjects, daily supplementation with the polyphenol Quercetin was associated with fewer sick days related to upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) and a reduction in the severity of infections, according to findings published in the journal Pharmacological Research. The researchers were led by Professor David C. Nieman at Appalachian State University.

Whey protein may offer a dietary approach to reducing blood pressure in people at risk of hypertension, suggests a new study. 70 Young adults in the early stages of developing high blood pressure (hypertension) experienced significant decreases in both systolic blood pressure (the upper figure in a blood pressure reading) of 8 points and a drop in diastolic blood pressure of 8.6 points following six weeks of drinking a whey-rich beverage every day, according to the findings. Effects were observed whether the subjects consumed hydrolyzed or non-hydrolyzed whey beverages, leading the researchers to propose that the benefits were due to a factor other than the presence of antihypertensive peptides produced during hydrolysis.

Omega-3 fatty acids such as those found in fish oils may reduce inflammation by acting on a receptor found in fat tissue and also found on inflammatory immune cells called macrophages. Omega-3 fatty acids have been long associated with anti-inflammatory effects.     Fish oils couple with receptors on a protein known as GPR120.