More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Those looking to lose weight and reduce fat may have less success with intermittent fasting than with simply reducing their calorie intake, a small new study suggests.
Intermittent fasting, in which dieters go a period of time without eating, has gained popularity in recent years despite some experts cautioning that it may not be the weight-loss solution many of its adherents are hoping for.
Researchers at the University of Bath in the United Kingdom attempted to quantify the benefits of intermittent fasting by studying the weight-related outcomes of 36 willing test subjects over three weeks.
As they detail in their report, which was published Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the subjects were divided into three groups.
One group alternated between days of fasting and days in which they consumed twice their usual amount of calories. Another group alternated between days of fasting and days of eating 1.5 times their usual intake. The third group ate every day, but always 25 per cent fewer calories than normal.
In other words, one group practised fasting without reducing overall calorie intake, one group practised fasting with a reduced calorie intake, and one group did not fast but did reduce its calorie count by the same amount as the second group.
After the three weeks were up, the researchers report, the group that did not fast lost 1.9 kilograms on average, versus 1.6 kilograms for those who did fast and reduce their intake.
That difference was bigger than it sounds, because the non-fasting group lost nearly all of their body weight from fat, while the fasting group's weight loss was almost evenly split between fat and muscle.
The other group, members of which did fast but did not reduce their calorie intake, did not experience any significant weight loss.
The researchers say that this is because their overall calorie consumption remained the same, meaning they did not need to draw on their body's fat reserves even when they were fasting.
“Intermittent fasting is no magic bullet and the findings of our experiment suggest that there is nothing special about fasting when compared with more traditional, standard diets people might follow," lead researchers James Betts, director of Bath's Centre for Nutrition, Exercise and Metabolism, said in a press release.
“Most significantly, if you are following a fasting diet it is worth thinking about whether prolonged fasting periods is actually making it harder to maintain muscle mass and physical activity levels, which are known to be very important factors for long-term health.”
All participants in the study were considered lean, with body mass index levels between 20 and 25, and normally consume a typical diet of 2,000 to 2,500 calories per day.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States, injuring at least three people.
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.