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| HEALTH & FITNESS |
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Health-giving foods only, please
Genetic factor in depression
eYESIGHT
Ayurveda & you
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Health-giving foods only, please
Market research shows that a sharp divide has opened up between the sales of healthy and unhealthy foods. Amid growing concern about obesity, the market research firm AC Nielsen’s barcode data from 83,000 shops in the UK revealed sales of crisps, chocolate, fizzy drinks and other treat products are haemorrhaging. The trend appears to be a vindication of a government-sponsored public information campaign on healthy eating, frequently criticised as evidence of an overly intrusive “nanny state”. In a new initiative, government advisers have recommended that chocolates, sweets and fizzy drinks should be outlawed from all schools, truck shops and vending machines. Instead, the schools should stock up on fromage frais, yoghurts and healthier foods to avoid childhood obesity “spiraling out of control”. The recommendations come from the School Food Trust, set up by ministers after Jamie Ollyer’s Channel 4 series about school dinners last year, to promote healthy eating among youngsters. Research published by the Food Standards Agency showed 12 million more adults are aware of the need to eat at least five portions of fresh fruit and vegetables a day than five years ago. The Consumer Attitude to Food survey of 3,000 Britons paints a picture of rising consumption of fresh produce, more home cooking and a return to family meals. Far more people are totally avoiding ready meals, which tends to be loaded with salt, fat, sugar and additives. Fourteen million adults now claim never to eat them — a leap of 65 per cent in a year. Such deep changes are ensuring strong demand for fresh produce, nuts, beans and fruit juices and the shunning of burgers, cakes and frozen pizzas. Where once people may have munched crisps, they now snack on dried fruit. Britvic appears to be the latest corporate casualty of the national health drive. It has stated that the market for its sugary, fizzy drinks is “very difficult and challenging”. The trend appears to be accelerating. McDonald’s was another casualty when it revealed falling UK sales had damaged global profits and announced the closure of 25 UK restaurants. The fast-food giant’s demise comes despite the introduction of salads and a market relaunch with the slogan “We’re loving it”. With makers of unhealthy foods losing tens of millions of pounds, a scramble has begun in the food industry to reformulate products to appeal to health-conscious shoppers. Cadbury has launched a chocolate bar with just 99 calories, Walkers has cut fat in its crisps, fizzy and drinks makers are buying up ater and juice companies. By the same token, new products are marketed for their healthiness rather than taste. Probiotic drinks and spreads that lower cholesterol — as well as Omega Britain’s biggest grocer, Tesco, has reported buoyant sales of fresh produce, particularly brightly-coloured vegetables with high vitamin content. A spokeswoman said: “People are becoming more adventurous in the fruits and vegetables they choose and how they eat them — for example, using fruit to whiz up into a smotthie.” It is, however, too early to say whether the changes will improve health — a recent survey week showed obesity had risen to affect one in seven child by 2003. But the healthy eating drive does, emphatically, appear to be underway. — The Independent
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Genetic factor in depression
They recently compared their DNA profiles with their lifetime history of major stress, such as a relationship breakdown or death of a parent, to find out whether a particular gene interacted with the environment to bring on depression. The researchers found the influence of adverse life events on the onset of depression was significantly greater for those who inherited a short version of the serotonin transporter gene, known as 5-HTTLPR, from both parents. “This is a risk gene. It’s not a disease gene,” Prof Philip Mitchell, from the brain sciences unit of the UNSW, said. “What it does it is increases your risk of depression if you are exposed to a series of stressful life events. Researchers say it is too early to offer a genetic test for depression. Instead, they are working to find the best ways for those at risk to develop good coping skills. Marital tiffs can be fatal
WASHINGTON: An unhealthy relationship with your spouse may make you more susceptible to heart disease. Hardening of the coronary arteries is more likely in wives when they and their husbands express hostility during marital disagreements, and more common in husbands when either they or their wives act in a controlling manner. “Women who are hostile are more likely to have athero-sclerosis (hardening of the coronary arteries), especially if their husbands are hostile too,” Smith said. “The levels of dominance or control in women or their husbands are not related to women’s heart health. In men, the hostility, their own or their wives, hostility during the interaction — wasn’t related to atherosclerosis. But their dominance or controlling behaviour — or their wives, dominance — was related to athero-sclerosis in husbands,” he added. The more hostile the wives’ comments during the discussion, the greater the extent of calcification or hardening of the arteries. And “particularly high levels of calcification were found in “women who behaved in a hostile and unfriendly way and who were interacting with husbands who were also hostile and unfriendly.”
— ANI
Brown rice can lower blood pressure
Washington: A new study has revealed that rice bran lowers blood pressure in rats, as scientists in Japan have shown that this waste product of rice processing, called rice bran, significantly lowers blood pressure in rats whose hypertension resembles that of humans. The team reports their findings in the March 8 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, published by the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society. A commonly prescribed class of drugs called ACE inhibitors dilates the arteries of hypertensive patients and thus decreases their risk of stroke, heart attack and kidney disease. But the drugs can also carry side effects chronic cough, allergic reactions, dizziness, even kidney problems. What if some component of our diet could work in similar fashion, with few or no side effects? Researchers at Tohoku University and Japan’s National Research Institute of Brewing demonstrated that adding rice bran to the diets of hypertensive, stroke-prone rats lowered the animals’ systolic blood pressure by about 20 percent and, via the same mechanism, inhibited angiotensin-1 converting enzyme, or ACE.
— ANI
Vitamin E can be a double-edged sword
Washington: Vitamin E, one of the most powerful antioxidants, is truly a double-edged sword, say researchers at Ohio State University who studied how two of its forms act once they are inside animal cells. In the past couple of decades, studies have looked at the benefits of vitamin E and other antioxidants. While a considerable amount of this research touts the advantages of consuming antioxidants, some of the studies have found that in certain cases, antioxidants, including vitamin E, may actually increase the potential for developing heart disease, cancer and a host of other health problems. This study provides clues as to why this could happen, say Jiyan Ma, an assistant professor of molecular and cellular biochemistry, and his colleague David Cornwell, an emeritus professor of molecular and cellular biochemistry, both at Ohio State. While the study doesn’t get into the possible effects on health, the researchers raise the point that there is still a great deal that isn’t known about how antioxidants act in the body. In order to get to that point, scientists must study how antioxidants and cells interact on their most fundamental levels. —
ANI
Chocolate milk could be key to longevity
Auckland: An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but as a new study is trying to show that the best way to keep declining muscle function at bay in elderly people could be by drinking a glass of chocolate milk after a nice stroll. The study is being carried out on a group of elderly Kiwis by a team of researchers led by Dr Benjamin Miller at the University of Auckland s Faculty of Science. The new research aims to develop a non-pharmaceutical means to maintain muscle function and quality of life in older individuals. As a part of the study, elderly Kiwis were asked to perform two identical sessions of aerobic exercise on a stationary bike. After one session the participants were asked to drink a mixture of protein and carbohydrate (e.g. sweetened milk) and after the other just carbohydrates. Dr Miller said that the study was specifically meant to target the powerhouse of the cells — the mitochondria — for they are a cause of age-related decreases in muscle function, and that the researchers are trying to determine whether aerobic exercise can also increase the synthesis of mitochondrial proteins which affect the ability to make energy and play a large role in mortality
— ANI
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eYESIGHT
Some say the eyes are the window to the soul, but recent research shows that they are the window to the heart and beyond. Several large-scale studies prove that abnormalities in the blood vessels in the retina can be used to predict a patient’s risk for diabetes, hypertension (or high blood pressure), stroke and heart disease. These four disorders are some of the most common causes of death, hospitalisation and disability. But the ability to predict them is limited. The retina is a membrane that forms the innermost layer of the eyeball and receives light from the lens and converts it into signals that reach the brain and result in vision Analysing a patient’s retinas and studying them to find narrowing or ballooning of the small blood vessels can provide a clue to the systemic condition of a human being. Systemic diseases, mainly those that affect several organs or the whole body such as hypertension, diabetes, AIDS, graves’ disease, lupus, atherosclerosis, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and sickle cell anaemia often cause changes in the eye that can show up as red dots or small blood clots. All these changes can predict to what an extent the systemic disease has affected the body. Blood vessels of the eyes are so predictive because they are a part of the brain’s vascular system, so they share anatomical features and respond similarly to stress and disease. Apart from the retina, there are other signs related to different parts of the eye like conjunctival nodules, scleritis/episcleritis, iris nodules which provide a clue to the systemic disease. A thyroid condition can be detected during a routine eye examination by the prominent bulge of the affected eyeball. Similarly, examining the conjunctiva can confirm jaundice, inflammation of the eye and suggest rheumatoid arthritis and retinal examination. Such an examination can lead to the detection of anaemia and leukemia. In fact, eyes are so transparent compared to the rest of the body that they are the only organ that allows physicians to directly see blood vessels. The digital photography of the retina is done to maintain a record and, as this approach is non-invasive (no blood is taken, no incisions are made, no probes are put), it is very convenient for the patients. It has been shown that retinal abnormalities are a good predictor of whether a patient will develop high blood pressure or develop cardiac disease in the next 10 years. Getting an eye examination done routinely can definitely help in diagnosing diseases that may not be apparent otherwise. Eyes, though small, can give a definite clue to big diseases. We feel that the health of the eye is more important than the vision. We want you to see well, but we want you to be healthy first. —
The writer is Chairman and Medical Director, Centre for Sight, New Delhi. |
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Ayurveda & you
Though there are many causes of constipation, old age is generally seen as an epoch when due to the reduced commotion of other body humors, there is a gradual decline in body functions, including that relating to
digestion. Constipation in old people may be caused by a number of factors. Of the dietary reasons, lack of the fibrous matter in food and drinking less water —- which may sometimes be due to the fear of passing urine frequently — are responsible for constipation. Various drugs like pain-killers, antacids, diuretics, sleeping pills, anti-depressants, anti-hypertensive agents and many of the health supplements also interfere with the normal functioning of the bowels. Constipation may also result due to a faulty lifestyle which includes lack of adequate exercise or restricted mobility occurring due to general weakness, arthritis or heart disease commonly associated with the elderly people. Certain other conditions such as loss of teeth or poor adoption of dentures, improper digestion, Parkinson’s disease, depression, piles and anal fissures also in their own way slow down the smooth and regular passage of stool. Constipation is more frequent and problematic for seriously ill and bedridden aged patients. Occasional constipation should not be a cause for concern, but its chronic form may lead to certain complications. Straining while passing stool can make the existing piles to bleed or may lead to rectal prolapse. It also poses risk for cardiac patients, and the raised intra-abdominal pressure could lead to hernia. Sometimes hard stool may cause fissures in anal tissues resulting in pain and bleeding. A distended rectum often aggravates problems faced by the patients who have an enlarged prostate. Many times an irregular or delayed bowel movement in elderly persons initiates episodes of anxiety and irritability. Most of such patients, by overreacting to the situation, start taking hard laxatives or purgatives leading to extreme conditions like diarrhoea and rebound constipation. Due to the excessive loss of fluid and the ensuing electrolyte imbalance, such patients additionally present symptoms of loss of appetite, weakness, apathy and general lassitude. —
The writer is a Ludhiana-based senior ayurvedic physician.
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On the shop shelves, in canteens and, most importantly, in our homes, a quiet revolution is taking place. We are eating more healthily and starting to avoid foods that lead to obesity and illness.
The signs of a profound shift in our shopping and eating habits are growing apace. Evidence has abounded of a decisive move away from a fatty, sugary diet.
Sydney: