By Daily Mail Reporter Kerri Dowdswell is a trim young woman who has no trouble fitting in to her size 10 jeans… until she eats her dinner. The 23-year-old has a mystery condition which means minutes after she eats a meal her stomach becomes so bloated that strangers think she’s about to give birth. Within hours, her stomach has shrunk back to its normal size – but the problem has got so bad that Kerri now wears maternity trousers when she goes out for dinner. Read more…

Drinking water before meals can help people to lose weight, says a US study. Scientists from Virginia found that slimmers can lose an average of 5lb extra if they drink two glasses of water three times a day before meals. They tested the theory on 48 older adults, split into two groups, over 12 weeks. While drinking water can make you feel full on zero calories, say researchers, too much water can also lead to serious health problems. The researchers presented their findings at the National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston. All adults who took part in the study were aged 55 to...

By Jenny Stocks Blueberries contain more anti-oxidants than other fruit Blueberries are known as a superfood, due to their high level of anti-oxidants (molecules thought to help protect us from cancer- causing free radicals). But that does not mean they are superior to other fruits. Angela says: ‘Blueberries score highly on the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) scale, but scientists are finding foods that are even higher – including dark chocolate. ‘Even if blueberries top the scale, they are only rich in one family of anti-oxidants, anthocyanin, which is found in other...

Rebecca Ruiz Stealing a few eating tips from abroad may keep you healthy into a ripe old age. Is the American diet really so bad that it’s time to look to other countries for help? That’s the premise behind a spate of recent books and Web sites touting plant-heavy diets of various far-away places. Looking at traditional diets has become something of a fad in recent years. Numerous books, including The Jungle Effect and The China Study, have tried to document the link between diet and great health in various countries and regions. Read More…

By Deborah Kotz The advice for losing those stubborn extra pounds seems so simple: Eat less, and exercise more. But as anyone who’s ever tried to lose a few pounds knows, putting that advice into practice is very tough. Cut back on calories too much, and you’re overwhelmed by hunger and your metabolism may slow. Exercise like crazy, and the hunger pangs you feel a few hours later may trigger you to eat back all you’ve burned off—and then some. And let’s be honest, no one really wants to keep track of every bite of food. Read More…

By RON WINSLOW SAN FRANCISCO—In the long-running debate over diets—low-fat or low-carb—Stanford University researchers reported Wednesday that a genetic test can help people choose which one works best for them. In a study involving 133 overweight women, those with a genetic predisposition to benefit from a low-carbohydrate diet lost 2 1/2 times as much weight as those on the same diet without the predisposition. Similarly, women with a genetic makeup that favored a low-fat diet lost substantially more weight than women who curbed fat calories without low-fat genes. The women were followed...

Our Lifechangers, Kimberly Snyder and Liz Vaccariello answer more of your diet and exercise questions: Q: What is more important diet or exercise? Liz: Diet’s more important to take the weight off, but exercise is more important to keep it off. Balance is what’s key. You want to eat healthfully. You want to exercise so you’re keeping your energy up, and you’re also building muscle that keeps the metabolism humming which makes you burn more calories even when you’re just sitting in a chair. Read More… Read more: http://extratv.warnerbros.com/2010/02/star_diet_tips_from_extra_experts.php#ixzz0gpCQF0RC