By Solarina Ho TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada’s main stock index was little changed in thin Easter holiday trading on Monday with drops in Barrick Gold Corp and TransCanada Corp , which was hit by another delay for its Keystone XL pipeline project, offsetting gains in other groups. TransCanada was the biggest drag on the index, closing down 3.7 percent at C$49.38 after the Obama administration again delayed a decision on whether to approve the Keystone project. The TSX index’s energy group, of which TransCanada is a part, was off 0.05 percent. The heavily weighted materials group, home to gold miners, was down 0.4 percent, hurt by Barrick, which fell 3.9 percent to C$19.03.

By Dorene Internicola NEW YORK (Reuters) – Strength training, traditionally favored by body builders seeking to bulk up, has become the go-to regimen for athletes, weekend warriors and exercise enthusiasts determined to slim down. Fitness experts say metabolic strength training, a high-intensity, full-body interval workout, can add definition to the shape of runners, cyclists and other cardio devotees willing to put some muscle into it. Florida-based trainer Nick Tumminello believes strength training should be the primary form of exercise for everyone except beginners. “If you’re looking to lose fat, go with strength training,” said Tumminello, author of “Strength Training for Fat Loss.” “Watch your diet to reveal your shape, and strength train to improve that shape.” It is not your grandfather’s body-building program.

Experts say that dieters who include apps in their weight-loss efforts score greater success than those who don’t. We asked three Health readers to each test a leading digital diet and report back.

By Kathryn Doyle NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – For people recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, eating lots of olive oil, fish and whole grains slows progression of the disease more than restricting fat, according to a new analysis. In a trial that followed participants for more than eight years, those following a so-called Mediterranean diet went significantly longer before needing diabetes medication and more of them had their diabetes go into remission, compared to those on a low-fat diet. “There’s been lots of epidemiology suggesting that a Mediterranean diet was beneficial with metabolic syndrome and diabetes,” Dr. Leanne Olansky told Reuters Health. “But this was a randomized controlled trial, so we know it really was the diet causing the results,” she said.

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss BOSTON (Reuters) – Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office said on Thursday it is investigating Herbalife, joining other state and federal probes of allegations that the weight loss and nutrition company is running a pyramid scheme. Madigan’s office was urged to look into the company months ago by civil rights groups, which claimed it was a pyramid scheme targeting minorities. Hedge fund manager William Ackman was the first to call Herbalife a fraud and placed a $1 billion bet against the company in 2012. The company denies the allegations, and high-profile investors such as Carl Icahn, George Soros and Dan Loeb have supported the company in the past by taking stakes.

Jacques Servier, founder and president of France’s second-largest drugmaker, has died before his trial over Mediator, a weight-loss pill at the center of the country’s biggest public health scandal in years. Servier died of old age, a company spokeswoman said on Thursday. Officials have blamed at least 500 deaths on Mediator, which was marketed to overweight diabetics but often prescribed for weight loss. Servier posted revenue of 4.2 billion euros ($5.8 billion) in 2013, making it France’s second-biggest drugmaker by sales behind Sanofi.

New research, partially funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the USA Rice Federation, shows that consumers can improve their diets simply by enjoying white or brown rice as part of their…

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Women who are carrying extra weight before pregnancy or early in gestation are at heightened risk of having their infants die shortly before or after birth, according to a new analysis of past research. The risk was greatest among the most obese women, the authors write in The Journal of the American Medical Association. “The main message of the study is that maternal overweight and obesity increases the risk of fetal death, stillbirth and infant death,” said Dagfinn Aune, the study’s lead author, from Imperial College London. “Since excess weight is a potentially modifiable risk factor, further studies should assess whether lifestyle and weight changes modifies the risk of fetal and infant death,” he told Reuters Health in an email.

(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved GlaxoSmithKline Plc’s Tanzeum injection for treating adults with type 2 diabetes, in combination with diet and exercise. Tanzeum will carry a warning on its label that tumors of the thyroid gland were observed in rodent studies with some drugs belonging to the same class. However, it is unknown whether Tanzeum causes thyroid C-cell tumors, the FDA said on its website. It also asked the company to identify any increase in medullary thyroid cancer cases related to Tanzeum.