Eating a big breakfast could speed weight loss: Here are some big breakfast benefits. A recent study published in the journal Obesity, found that people who ate “their largest, most caloric meal at breakfast were able to lose more weight than those who ate their largest meal later in the day.” Obese women in the study were assigned to one of two groups, which were both fed the same 1,400 calorie diet. However, one group ate the majority of their calories in the morning while the other group ate the majority at dinner. “Overall, the women who consumed their largest meal at breakfast lost 17.8 pounds and 3 inches off their waistline, while the group that consumed their largest meal at dinner lost only 7.3 pounds on average and 1.4 inches off their waistlines.” 

Two cups of hot cocoa a day sharpens seniors’ brains, study suggests: A sweet surprise for seniors seeking to avoid memory loss. A new study in Neurology showed that seniors without dementia who consumed two cups of hot cocoa daily for 30 days, “performed better on thinking and memory tests than those who didn’t.” Subjects who had deficits in blood flow to the brain at baseline saw an “8 percent boost in their brain’s blood circulation to working areas of the brain” and were able to answer memory tests an average of 51 seconds faster. Subjects with normal blood flow did not experience the same benefits. These results may serve as further evidence that blood flow to the brain and dementia may be linked. 

Walking, cycling to work may curb diabetes risk: Strap on some sneakers – walking or biking to work may reduce your risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity. A new study in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine surveyed 20,000 people in the U.K. and found that “people who cycled, walked and used public transportation were less likely to be overweight than those who drove.” Even more impressively, cyclists “were about 50 percent less likely to have diabetes compared to drivers. People who walked to work were 40 percent less likely to have diabetes and 17 percent less likely to have high blood pressure compared to those who took their cars.