Tag Archive: diet


A cure for depression

Filed Under: Healthcare News by Kirsty — Leave a comment
October 26, 2009

It is already a widely accepted theory that the Mediterranean diet, protects against heart disease and cancer. However spanish researchers have found that it may also help to prevent depression. Their findings showed that depression was less likely to develop in those who have a diet high in fruit, vegetables and cereals and low red meat. The study was carried out over 4 and half years.

The findings showed that those who were adhered to the diet were exsmokers, those who were married and older idividuals.They were more physically active and showed higher energy intake.

This study seems to show that healthy eating is good for your mental health which would make sense as if you have a healthy lifestyle it will boost your energy and also if you’re more active there is increase in the endorphines in your bloodstream which improve your mood. However it is thought that a larger study may be needed to further prove this theory.

The question is how long before there is a theory that disproves this one?

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Hidden Diabetes Warning

Filed Under: Healthcare News by Kirsty — Leave a comment
October 15, 2009

A recent study has shown that some people with type 2 diabetes are suffering needlessly from regular low blood sugar attacks. The study showed that out of 2,000 people all of which had type 2 diabetes 50% of them reported having symptoms of a hypoglycaemic episoded in the last 2 weeks. GPs claim that this is partly due to the increasing pressure to control their blood sugar makes it worse.

One of the key components of treatment is to ensure blood sugar levels don’t get too high, as this can lead to severe complications. Worryingly it is thought that the some people are on the wrong medication and that in some cases the medication may be causing the hypoglycaemia.

Knowing several people who are diabetic, yes the medication is there to help but it is important to recognise the early warning signs of a hypoglycaemic episode so that you can do something about it before it destroys your day. Also it is worth pointing out that even if you are on medication diet is very important. I know it sounds cheesy but why let diabetes control you when you can control it?

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Link between fat parents & fat kids

Filed Under: The NHS and Healthcare by Kirsty — Leave a comment
August 6, 2009

If their mothers are obese the statistics show that the daughters are 10 times more likely to be overweight; with sons the chance is 6 times more likely that they will be overweight if their father is overweight.

These results came from a study into whether childhood obesity was linked to environmental influences instead of genetic ones. The study involved looking at BMI’s for 226 five-year-olds and their parents. The researchers noted a relationship between the BMI of the children and the same sex parent. However no link was found between the children and the parent of the opposite sex. This suggests that the link is environmental as if it was genetic it would be unlikely to be gender selective.

These findings are not really surprising as it is a logical step that the parents eating habits and lifestyle would influence the child but what is surprising is that it seems to be gender specific. One possible explanation for the relationship between children and same sex parents is that the children use their parents as role models and so model their behaviour on the parent of the same sex.

If this is the case you would have thought that the parents would ensure that they are a positive role model for their children. Also they should take into consideration that the “fat kids” are usually singled out by bullies and are more prone to health problems such as diabetes and heart problems, add into the mix the psychological problems such as low self esteem. It is also worth pointing out that your eating habits can be passed down through the generations so not only are your children affected but your grandkids and great….grandkids.

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Get your anti-cancer boost from whole carrots

Filed Under: Healthcare News by Kirsty — Leave a comment
June 17, 2009

Scientists have found that the anti-cancer properties of carrots are more potent if they are not cut up before cooking. It is estimated that carrots that are boiled before they are cut contain approximately 25% more falcarinol, which is and anti-cancer compound. Dr Kirsten Brandt, from Newcastle University claims that: “Chopping up your carrots increases the surface area so more of the nutrients leach out into the water while they are cooked. By keeping them whole and chopping them up afterwards you are locking in nutrients and the taste, so the carrot is better for you all round.” The latest findings indicate that when carrots are heated the cells lose the ability to hold water inside them thus increasing the falcarinol concentration.

Studies show that in blind taste studies the whole carrots also tasted much better, eight of ten people favoured the whole vegetables over those that were pre-chopped. The reason for this is because the naturally occurring sugars which are responsible for giving the carrot its distinctive flavour were found in higher concentrations in the carrot that had been cooked whole.

Dr Kat Arney, from Cancer Research UK, remains unconvinced that keeping carrots whole would have any impact on cancer risk arguing that: “When it comes to eating, we know that a healthy balanced diet – rich in a range of fruit and vegetables – plays an important part in reducing the risk of many types of cancer, rather than any one specific food.”

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Obesity Drug – Good or Bad?

Filed Under: Healthcare News, The NHS and Healthcare by Kirsty — Leave a comment
March 30, 2009

We’ve all heard about the growing rates of obesity in Britain and the USA. With the increasing number of bizarre diets and diet pills it was only a matter of time before somebody invented a pill that could apparently cure obesity. The company that invented the drug called Lorcaserin saw a 20% decline in shares after it announced that the 2 year trial period on 3,000 patients at over 100 sites throughout the US had fallen short of the benchmark sought by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The results of the trial were:

  • 47.5% of Lorcaserin patients lost 5% or more of their body weight, compared to 20.3% in the placebo group in 12 month.
  • In the first 12 months the Lorcaserin group lost on average 5.8% of body weight (12.7 pounds), compared to 2.2% (4.7 pounds) in the placebo group.
  • In total 22.6% of Lorcaserin patients lost 10% or more of their body weight compared to 7.7 % in the placebo group.

It seems that there are also reports the results are more than good enough to meet the FDA requirement for approval, the Arena claims that the drug has met all its primary endpoints, and shows significantly greater weight loss compared to placebo.

It is already accepted that obesity is a widespread disease, so having an effective therapy that can be used by the majority of patients who need to reduce their weight that could also be beneficial for conditions, such as diabetes, lipid disorders, and cardiovascular disease, Lorcaserin is the first in a new class of selective serotonin 2C receptor agonists; the serotonin 2C receptor is in the hypothalamus and other parts of the brain and helps to control of appetite and metabolism. This could potentially save the NHS millions of pounds as instead of paying for patients to have procedures such as stomach stapling and liposuction, a simple course of tablets can be just as effective.

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