Nutrition

​In many developing nations, vitamin A deficiencies are common … as are potatoes, which typically constitute much of the local diet. That's why scientists have developed a "golden potato." It's rich in provitamin A (which the body converts into vitamin A), along with vitamin E to boot.

Mushrooms can fuel batteries, inspire tiny homes, be grown in diapers and even create building "sausages," which just might help construct the homes of tomorrow. Now they can also help with weight loss, according to a new study published in the journal Appetite.

A plate of broccoli has nothing on a bowl of pasta. But before you brush them aside, science has found yet another reason why consuming vegetables is good for us. The information is compelling enough that some people might want to add more green to their plates to help protect their guts.

The East African Highland cooking banana is the major staple food in Uganda, but it has little in the way of micronutrients such as pro-vitamin A. Prof. James Dale decided to do something about it, and over the past decade has created a vitamin A-rich "golden banana."

Plain white rice is pretty nutritionally empty, so if you want something a little healthier, stick to black or red rice. But there soon may be another option after Chinese scientists genetically engineered purple rice that is rich in antioxidants and may reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease.

Adding to that burgeoning body of knowledge of nutrient-specific hunger, researchers have figured out how protein cravings work in the brains of fruit flies. What's more, they were able to switch them on and off.

Why did ancient man eat his own kind? Well, it wasn’t so much because prehistoric human flesh was tasty or they wanted to fill their bellies, suggests a new study. If anything, ancient humans were probably quite difficult to catch and kill, and not nearly as satisfying as a mammoth steak.​

Plenty of recent research has focused on how your gut bacteria can send messages to your brain controlling appetite but a recent discovery by researchers from the Columbia University Medical Centre has revealed a previously unknown appetite-regulating mechanism that is secreted by bone cells.

It appears the gases coming out of our bodies may have something more to tell us besides the world's oldest joke. Aire is a small, hand-held device that measures chemicals in your breath to help design a diet best suited to your specific digestive system.