October 10, 2026 · Sports, Health & Nutrition Daily Digest
A roundup of exercise, health, and nutrition developments compiled for October 10, 2026, with summaries, links, and commentary.
I. Nutrition & Diet
1. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition: adults 55 and older gained muscle on both a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet and an omnivorous diet during 12 weeks of lifting, and noninferiority for muscle mass was not shown (Nutrition)
Summary:
On October 10, ScienceAlert reported the IMPACT randomized noninferiority trial by Sophie L. van Oppenraaij, Peter J. M. Weijs, and Sjors Verlaan at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. The paper was published online September 21 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2026.101533). One hundred eight community-dwelling adults (median age 66 years, interquartile range 62–69; 58% women; BMI 25.7) were assigned to a self-selected lacto-ovo vegetarian or omnivorous diet, with counseling and resistance training three times a week for 12 weeks. The protein target was at least 1.2 g/kg/day, with at least 60% from plants in the vegetarian arm and at least 60% from animal foods in the omnivorous arm. The vegetarian group reached 1.24 g/kg/day (95% CI 1.14–1.35) and 76% plant protein; the omnivorous group reached 1.58 g/kg/day (1.48–1.69) and 67% animal protein. Appendicular muscle mass rose by 0.38 kg (0.12–0.64) and 0.66 kg (0.40–0.93), respectively. The between-group difference was −0.33 kg (−0.69 to 0.03), so the 0.25 kg noninferiority margin was not met. Leg-press strength and the chair-stand test improved in both groups, with no between-group difference. The trial was not blinded. Registry NCT06172725.
Links:
- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition — IMPACT lacto-ovo vegetarian versus omnivorous diet plus resistance training
- ScienceAlert — October 10 report
Commentary:
Adults 55 and older who want less meat can aim for at least 1.2 g of protein per kilogram and keep three weekly strength sessions; leg strength matched the omnivorous arm here, while equal appendicular muscle mass was not demonstrated, and eggs and dairy were allowed.
2. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition: in a target-trial emulation of 64,406 Swedish adults, a healthy Nordic diet corresponded to lower 24-year all-cause mortality, without a clear drop in serious liver disease (Nutrition)
Summary:
On October 10, Medical Xpress reported a target-trial emulation led by Michael Fridén at Aarhus University, published online September 16 (doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2026.101526). The Cohort of Swedish Men and the Swedish Mammography Cohort together included 64,406 adults with diet measured in 1997, 2008/2009, and 2019. Using the parametric g-formula, the authors estimated 24-year risks under sustained adherence to a population-adapted healthy Nordic diet, the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023, or no intervention. Estimated risks of major adverse liver outcomes were 0.53% (95% CI 0.38–0.73), 0.70% (0.57–0.90), and 0.64% (0.56–0.77). The healthy Nordic diet versus no intervention differed by −0.11 percentage points (−0.27 to 0.07), and the interval crossed zero. For all-cause mortality, the risk difference was −2.67 percentage points versus no intervention (−3.51 to −1.85) and −1.68 points versus the 2023 recommendations (−2.75 to −0.62). The authors state that the estimates depend on strong assumptions of no unmeasured confounding, selection bias, or measurement error.
Links:
- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition — Nordic diets and major adverse liver outcomes
- Medical Xpress — October 10 report
Commentary:
A pattern built around berries, whole grains, rapeseed oil, and fatty fish lined up here with a lower modeled risk of death, and it did not show a clear reduction in cirrhosis or liver cancer; people who already have fatty liver still need medical care for alcohol, weight, and glucose.
3. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition: peanuts shifted a blood-lipid signature in young adults, and that signature tracked with lower diabetes risk, about 89% of which BMI could explain (Nutrition)
Summary:
Inés Domínguez-López, Fabian Eichelmann, Matthias B. Schulze, and colleagues published an intervention plus case-cohort analysis online on September 17 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2026.101527); Knowridge carried it in October. ARISTOTLE randomized 63 healthy adults aged 18–33 to 25 g/day of skin-roasted peanuts, 32 g/day of peanut butter, or 32 g/day of a control butter made with peanut oil for six months. The intervention changed 51 within-class fatty-acid sums, mainly very-long-chain saturated fatty acids and especially sphingolipids. The authors built a peanut lipidomic signature in EPIC-Potsdam, which contributed 774 type 2 diabetes cases and 547 cardiovascular cases in the case-cohort samples. Each standard-deviation increase in the signature had a diabetes hazard ratio of 0.89 (95% CI 0.80–0.99) and a cardiovascular hazard ratio of 1.01 (0.90–1.15). Adding body mass index accounted for 89% of the diabetes association (57%–100%). Registry NCT04324749.
Links:
Commentary:
A small daily handful of skin-on peanuts can fit inside the day's energy budget; this analysis does not show that peanuts prevent diabetes, it found no cardiovascular-risk association, and most of the diabetes link traveled with body weight.
4. Science: across three randomized trials in low-resource settings, supplementation during lactation consistently raised B vitamins in milk, while macronutrients were mostly buffered (Nutrition)
Summary:
Trenton Dailey-Chwalibóg, Andrew Mertens, Meghan B. Azad, and colleagues published a harmonized analysis in Science on October 8 (doi: 10.1126/science.aee9284). MISAME-III in Burkina Faso, Mumta-LW in Pakistan, and ELICIT in Tanzania contributed 640 mother-infant dyads and 1,545 milk samples. Balanced energy-protein supplements or nicotinamide during lactation raised milk B vitamins. In Tanzania, nicotinamide increased total vitamin B3 by 183.7% (3,306 μg/L; 95% CI 2,783–3,829). In the more undernourished Pakistani cohort, energy, fat, and protein were 11.6%, 18.0%, and 11.1% higher at 1.5 months, and those macronutrient effects were gone at 2 months. Protein, lactose, and energy were otherwise largely stable. Human milk oligosaccharides and targeted bioactive proteins did not change significantly. Growth benefits from postnatal supplementation appeared mainly in the more undernourished Pakistani subset; in Burkina Faso, growth benefits came mainly from prenatal supplementation.
Links:
Commentary:
Where undernutrition is common, lactation supplementation in these trials looked more like a way to raise B vitamins in milk than a general increase in milk energy and protein; growth gains were not uniform, and prenatal nutrition plus infection control remain part of the same pathway.
5. Oregon Health & Science University: among nearly 200,000 people in the Nurses' Health Studies and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, eating after dinner or after bedtime tracked with about 20%–30% more reported fatty liver disease and cirrhosis (Nutrition)
Summary:
On October 9, Oregon Health & Science University described an analysis by Robert Wilechansky, Andrew McHill, and colleagues, later reported by Medical Xpress, in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology (doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2026.09.047). The team used self-reported diet and lifestyle data from nearly 200,000 participants in the Nurses' Health Study, Nurses' Health Study II, and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Late-night eating was defined as eating after dinner or after bedtime. People who reported that pattern had about 20%–30% more of all forms of liver disease studied, including metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and cirrhosis, than those who did not. The authors describe the work as observational and based on broadly defined self-report, and they note that only a small fraction of fatty liver disease progresses to cirrhosis. OHSU is recruiting a follow-up that will monitor eating directly and test whether earlier eating improves clinical measures of fatty liver. Support included American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Foundation award CTORA24-179910.
Links:
- OHSU News — October 9: late-night eating and liver disease
- Medical Xpress — late-night eating, fatty liver, and cirrhosis
Commentary:
Keeping the day's calories several hours before bedtime is a timing change these observational data support trying; they do not show that moving meals earlier reverses fatty liver, and night-shift work or diagnosed liver disease needs its own medical plan.
II. Exercise & Training Science
6. International Journal of Strength and Conditioning: in 10 trained men, acute cardiovascular strain followed intensity, with no significant difference between circuit and traditional structures (Training)
Summary:
Behzad Taati, Paulo H. Marchetti, and colleagues published a randomized crossover study on October 9 in the International Journal of Strength and Conditioning. Ten resistance-trained men (25.8±4.3 years, BMI 24±2.3, 4.3±2.5 years of training) completed four protocols: high-intensity circuit, moderate-intensity circuit, high-intensity traditional sets, and moderate-intensity traditional sets. Each protocol was performed twice, once for muscular performance and once for cardiovascular assessment. Sessions were two sets of bench press and two sets of leg press at 80% or 60% of one-repetition maximum. Systolic blood pressure, heart rate, and rate-pressure product rose after exercise in every condition and were still elevated at 10 minutes, with no post-exercise hypotension. Moderate intensity produced more maximum repetitions and more total load, with lower fatigue ratings. Circuit and traditional structures did not differ significantly.
Links:
Commentary:
To lower the blood-pressure and heart-rate load of a single lifting session, dropping the load from 80% to 60% of one-repetition maximum fits this 10-person acute trial better than switching the session to a circuit; it does not say how muscle mass would differ after several weeks.
III. Sleep & Mental Health
7. BMC Public Health: among 18,664 Chinese adults aged 45 and older, short sleep combined with insufficient activity had the highest odds of multimorbidity (Sleep)
Summary:
Lianhua Liu, Weixia Li, Bo Bi, and colleagues at Hainan Medical University published a cross-sectional analysis in BMC Public Health on October 8. The 2020 wave of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study contributed 18,664 adults aged 45 and older. Multimorbidity meant at least two of 15 assessed chronic diseases. In fully adjusted models, short sleep had an odds ratio of 1.640 (95% CI 1.505–1.788), insufficient physical activity 1.187 (1.060–1.329), and both together 2.148 (1.818–2.539). In unadjusted association-rule mining, the highest-support disease clusters in every subgroup centered on cardiometabolic and osteoarticular-digestive conditions, with hypertension as the hub. Insufficient activity plus short sleep produced the densest network, with 54 rules, against 8 rules for sufficient activity plus optimal sleep. A rule from asthma to chronic lung disease appeared only in the short-sleep or insufficient-activity subgroups. Ethics approval was Peking University IRB00001052-11015. The associations are from one point in time.
Links:
Commentary:
For adults 45 and older, the highest multimorbidity odds in this cross-section sat with short sleep and low activity together; improving both matches the joint association better than changing only one, and the design does not show which behavior came first.
8. Translational Psychiatry: 24 hours after ketamine in 71 people with treatment-resistant depression, the insomnia improvement did not track the changes in depression or anxiety (Sleep)
Summary:
Nadia S. Hejazi, Carlos A. Zarate Jr., and colleagues published an analysis in Translational Psychiatry on October 6 (doi: 10.1038/s41398-026-04443-2). Seventy-one patients with treatment-resistant depression were assessed at baseline and 24 hours after a single intravenous dose of ketamine, 0.5 mg/kg. Depression was measured with the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale, anxiety with the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, and insomnia with insomnia items from the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. All three domains fell: depression β = −11.72, anxiety β = −7.87, and insomnia β = −0.89, each P < 0.001. Change in anxiety correlated with change in depression (Spearman ρ = 0.61); change in insomnia was not significantly associated with change in either domain. More severe baseline insomnia was associated with a larger absolute drop in the insomnia score. Exploratory polysomnography suggested short-term increases in total sleep time, slow-wave sleep, and sleep efficiency, and a shorter sleep latency. Registry NCT00088699.
Links:
Commentary:
This was a single hospital infusion for treatment-resistant depression, observed for 24 hours, so it is not a self-treatment for insomnia; a better mood did not mean the sleep problem had moved in step, and sleep still needs its own follow-up.
IV. Public Health & Disease Prevention
9. The U.S. CDC is sending states $100 million for measles response, and the director restated protection from two MMR doses (Public health)
Summary:
On October 10, The Columbian carried reporting by Apoorva Mandavilli and Dani Blum of The New York Times: in recent weeks the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided states with $100 million, in two $50 million tranches in August and September, for immunization, testing, and surveillance, including severe cases and cases in pregnant women and infants. The report said the United States had nearly 4,000 cases as of October 2, about a quarter of them in Pennsylvania, where state officials said five people with the virus had died, two of them thought to have resulted from infection at birth. Alabama state health officer Scott Harris said the state received $300,000 for immunization programs and $600,000 for surveillance and diagnosis. CIDRAP reported the same funding and said the CDC's updated confirmed total was 4,080, with 95% unvaccinated or of unknown vaccination status, and that two doses of measles-mumps-rubella vaccine are 97% effective; Minnesota received $864,000 for immunization and more than $1.6 million for surveillance and response. CIDRAP also quoted the CDC director, at a Wall Street Journal event, calling the MMR vaccine "absolutely safe, absolutely effective," and noting that coverage in some places is below the 95% level needed to stop spread.
Links:
Commentary:
The new money changes states' capacity to buy vaccine, test, and trace cases; the practical step is still two doses of measles-containing vaccine on schedule, checked before travel, school, or time in a community with an outbreak.
Today's Summary
- Diet: adults 55 and older who reached at least 1.2 g of protein per kilogram and lifted for 12 weeks gained muscle and strength on a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet, while noninferiority for appendicular muscle mass was not shown; a healthy Nordic diet corresponded to lower 24-year mortality in a model, without a clear drop in serious liver disease.
- Mechanisms: a peanut-related blood-lipid signature tracked with lower diabetes risk, and about 89% of that association could be explained by body mass index; across three randomized trials, lactation supplements consistently raised B vitamins in milk, while macronutrients were mostly buffered.
- Timing: self-reported late-night eating tracked with about 20%–30% more fatty liver disease and cirrhosis; the blood-pressure and heart-rate load of one lifting session followed whether the load was 60% or 80%, with no extra difference from a circuit structure. Among Chinese adults 45 and older, short sleep plus low activity had the highest multimorbidity odds.
- Public health: the United States allocated $100 million to states for measles immunization, testing, and surveillance; confirmed cases stand at 4,080, and about 95% lack a documented two-dose record.
Daily Framing:
Today in the sports, health, and nutrition cycle was a "protein and meal-timing" day: adults 55 and older can pair a protein target with strength training, keep calories several hours before bedtime, and measles protection still depends on two vaccine doses.
This digest is compiled from real-time search results and is for reference only.