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The image looks like a slice of highly marbled flesh, reminiscent of a high-end steak with abundant fine-grained streaks of fat. But that’s not dinner. It’s an MRI scan of the thigh of a 62-year-old woman who obtained 87% of her annual calories from ultraprocessed food. (LaMotte, 4/14)

More on nutrition and weight loss —

Updated for the first time in six years, clinical guidelines for screening and managing cholesterol now recommend earlier screenings — as young as 9 years old — for those with a family history of heart disease, among other standards of care. (Hille, 4/14)

Weight management is often treated as a "middle-age" problem, but new research suggests that the pounds you pack on in your 20s may be the most dangerous of your life. A massive study of more than 620,000 individuals found that the damage from early weight gain is disproportionately high and surprisingly permanent. According to the findings, the younger someone is when obesity sets in, the higher the risk of early mortality. (Quill, 4/14)

For the majority of people who start using GLP-1 medicines with the hope of losing weight, the drugs can feel almost miraculous: Cravings are quieted. Exercise can become easier and more fun. Pounds that stubbornly remained for years finally dissipate. But for a smaller subset of people, the medicines don’t help with weight loss. (Tirrell, 4/14)

It's quite common for people to start on GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Zepbound, especially as the diabetes and obesity treatments become more ubiquitous. They're designed to treat chronic conditions, so the medicines are intended for lifelong use; yet a high percentage of people who start them also quit. "We found that fewer than one in four patients remained on a GLP-1 medication after a year," says Dr. Jaime Almandoz, an obesity medicine specialist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. (Noguchi, 4/15)

The Food and Drug Administration is asking Eli Lilly to gather more safety data on its new weight loss pill, Foundayo, including whether it could be linked to liver and heart problems, according to the approval letter published online Tuesday. Foundayo won FDA approval this month under the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher, a pilot program intended to fast-track drug reviews. (Lovelace Jr., 4/14)

A major new review found that the timing of exercise can, in some instances, meaningfully influence how that exercise affects us. (Reynolds, 4/16)

More health and wellness news —

As more states legalize recreational marijuana use, here’s what the research says about what cannabis is really doing to your brain. (Klein, 4/14)

If you’re avoiding small talk or casual chats because you think they’ll be boring, you may be missing out on meaningful connections, new research finds. People consistently underestimate how interesting and enjoyable these conversations will be, said Elizabeth Trinh, the study’s lead author and a doctoral student in management and organization at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. (Mantel, 4/13)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has classified a nationwide recall of multiple cough drop products as a Class II recall, which means they could pose a moderate risk to consumers. According to the FDA’s latest Enforcement Report, the recall falls under a Class II classification, meaning use of the affected products may cause “temporary or medically reversible adverse health effects,” though the likelihood of serious harm is considered relatively low. (Greenwood, 4/14)