Don’t drink warm water in plastic bottles

Plastic water bottles are made from polyethylene terephthalate. When heated, the material releases the chemicals antimony and bisphenol A, commonly called BPA. Antimony is considered a carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization. UF soil and water science professor Lena Ma led a research team that studied chemicals released in 16 brands of bottled water kept at 158 degrees Fahrenheit for four weeks, what researchers deemed a “worst-case scenario” for human consumption. The UF scientist warned against leaving plastic bottled water in a hot garage for weeks in your car all day during the summer. More attention should be given to other drinks packaged with polyethylene terephthalate plastic, such as milk, coffee and acidic juice.

Ref: Ying-Ying Fan, Jian-Lun Zheng, Jing-Hua Ren, Jun Luo, Xin-Yi Cui, Lena Q. Ma. Effects of storage temperature and duration on release of antimony and bisphenol A from polyethylene terephthalate drinking water bottles of China. Environmental Pollution, 2014; 192: 113.

DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2014.05.012

Scientists synthesise novel low-calorie fats

Scientists have developed novel low-calorie fats based on edible oils like sunflower that provide 5.2 K cals/g as against 9 K cals/g by the vegetable oils; they have shown promising health benefits in studies conducted in rats and rabbits. Ethyl behenic acid was incorporated into refined sunflower and soybean oils after about 25 per cent of fatty acids was removed. The fats have shown to lower serum, liver cholesterol and triglycerides in rats and reduce fat accumulation in arteries in rabbits. 

Source: Dr. R.B.N. Prasad, Head of Centre for Lipid Research, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad.

Antibiotics in most honey brands

Scientists found high levels of six harmful antibiotics in 11 samples including  those made by Indian companies such as Dabur, Himalaya, Patanjali, Baidyanath and Khadi as well as by two foreign companies based in Switzerland and Australia except only the Indian Hitkari brand coming out clean.

The contamination begins when antibiotics are fed to bees to prevent disease which, promote growth and increase honey production to meet commercial targets. These substances could damage the blood, kidneys, liver, bones and teeth. More importantly, they create resistance in the body to prescribed antibiotics when you really do fall ill.

Dabur Honey, which has captured 75 per cent of the Indian market had the antibiotic Oxytetracycline at nine times the level that is permitted for exported honey. It also had significant amounts of two other drugs completely banned for use in honey. If the sample was placed for export to the United States or the European Union, it would have been rejected.

Nectaflor Natural Blossom Honey, made by Narimpex of Switzerland, had the largest number five of the six antibiotics that it was tested for, including the highest levels of ampicillin and erythromycin, both of which are not permitted for beekeeping in any country. It would be illegal to sell it even in Switzerland itself. Similarly, the Australian brand, Capilano Pure & Natural Honey, which is sold in 40 countries, violated standards set in its home country.

It is clear that foreign companies are taking advantage of the lack of regulations in India. After all, if our government does not care about the health of its people, why should these companies care? said CSE director, Sunita Narain.

Source: Sunita Narain, Director, Pollution Monitoring Laboratory, Centre for Science and Environment

What Are We Eating?

Genetically Modified corn has been engineered in a laboratory to produce pesticides in its own tissue. GMO Corn is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency as an Insecticide, but is sold unlabeled. Unlike the strict safety evaluations required for the approval of new drugs, the safety of genetically engineered foods for human consumption is not adequately tested. The World Health Organization’s ultra-cautious International Agency for Research on Cancer recently classified 2,4-D as a “possible human carcinogen” and glyphosate as a “probable human carcinogen.” Both herbicides were linked to increases in malignant tumors at multiple sites in animals. Glyphosate was also linked to an increased incidence of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in humans.

Action Alert! 

All GMO foods should be labeled

Ref: Philip J. Landrigan et al. 2015, NEJM

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Diabetic women at 34 percent higher risk of heart attack than men

Diabetic women are at a 34 per cent higher risk of heart attack and other related complications than diabetic men as they age. With respect to acute heart attack (acute myocardial infarction or AMI), diabetic women are more disadvantaged compared to diabetic men, with a gender driven “risk window” for women which mostly opens around menopausal age (45 years onwards). Authors pooled data from all Tuscan hospitals over the period 2005 to 2012 and a dataset containing the registry of all known diabetic patients from Tuscany. The effect of diabetes was separately measured in men and in women across this entire eight year period. After adjustments for several factors, the hazard ratio was found to be significantly higher in women than in men hospitalised for acute heart attack 2.63 times increased risk for women compared to 1.96 times for men giving a relative increased risk of 34 percent in women.

Source: Giuseppe Seghieri, 2015, Regional Health Agency, Florence, Italy.

Growing up on a farm provides protection against asthma and allergies

Researchers have successfully established a causal relationship between exposure to farm dust and endotoxin give protection against asthma and allergies. the mechanism behind this: farm dust makes the mucous membrane inside the respiratory tracts react less severely to allergens such as house dust mite. This effect is created by the A20 protein, which the body produces upon contact with farm dust. When we inactivate the A20 protein in the mucous membrane of the lungs, farm dust is no longer able to reduce an allergic or asthmatic reaction. The results showed that people suffering from allergies and asthma have a deficiency in the protective protein A20. This breakthrough discovery is a major step forward towards the development of an asthma vaccine.

Source: VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology)

Ref: M. J. Schuijs et al., 2015, Science

DOI: 10.1126/science.aac6623

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Eating eggs for breakfast cuts calorie consumption

Eating eggs for breakfast everyday can reduce hunger and decreases calorie consumption at lunch and throughout the day. Eating eggs for breakfast as part of a reduced-calorie diet helped overweight dieters lose 65 percent more weight and feel more energetic than dieters who ate a bagel breakfast of equal calories and volume. “Starting the day with a high-quality protein breakfast like eggs is a great tool to promote long-lasting fullness and reduced calorie consumption. For only 70 calories, eggs are a compact, nutrient-rich source of high-quality protein, and nearly half of an egg’s protein, along with many other nutrients, is found in the yolk, so I always encourage eating the whole egg,” said Helenbeth Reynolds, registered dietitian and nutrition consultant.

Source: Dr. Maria Luz Fernandez, 2015, Department of nutritional sciences at the University of Connecticut

Marijuana use linked to prediabetes

Marijuana users are more likely to have prediabetes the state of poor blood sugar control that can progress to Type-2 diabetes than those who have never used the drug. The findings suggest that marijuana use may adversely affect a person’s metabolic health in the long term.

Source: Mike Bancks, 2015, University of Minnesota, School of Public Health in Minneapolis, US.

Smoking and alcohol use are linked to premature aging

Cigarette smoking and heavy alcohol use cause epigenetic changes to DNA that reflect accelerated biological aging in distinct, measurable ways. Patterns of DNA methylation, a molecular modification to DNA that affects when and how strongly a gene is expressed. Methylation patterns change in predictable ways as people age, as well as in response to environmental exposures, such as cigarette smoke and alcohol. Dr. Philibert's laboratory identified two specific locations in the genome, base pairs cg05575921 on the AHRR gene and cg23193759 on chromosome 10, at which methylation levels were highly associated with smoking and alcohol consumption, respectively. They estimated each person's biological age using a previously validated epigenetic "clock" based on methylation levels at 71 locations in the genome, as measured by the widely used Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip. Then, they calculated the difference between biological age and chronological age, and assessed the relationship between tobacco and alcohol use and premature aging. Interestingly, moderate alcohol use about one to two drinks per day was correlated with the healthiest aging, while very low and high consumption were linked to accelerated aging.

Source: American Society of Human Genetics

Workaholism linked to psychiatric disorders

Workaholism frequently co-occurs with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety, and depression.

Workaholics score higher on all clinical states

The study showed that workaholics scored higher on all the psychiatric symptoms than non-workaholics. Among workaholics, the main findings were that:

• 32.7 per cent met ADHD criteria (12.7 per cent among non-workaholics).
• 25.6 per cent OCD criteria (8.7 per cent among non-workaholics).
• 33.8 per cent met anxiety criteria (11.9 per cent among non-workaholics).
• 8.9 per cent met depression criteria (2.6 per cent among non-workaholics).
  
  
  
  
  Seven diagnostic criteria for workaholism

• You think of how you can free up more time to work.
• You spend much more time working than initially intended.
• You work in order to reduce feelings of guilt, anxiety, helplessness or depression.
• You have been told by others to cut down on work without listening to them.
• You become stressed if you are prohibited from working.
• You deprioritize hobbies, leisure activities, and/or exercise because of your work.
• You work so much that it has negatively influenced your health.

Scoring 1 (never) 4 (often) or 5 (always) - four or more criteria identify a workaholic.

These findings highlight the importance of further investigating neurobiological deviations related to workaholic behaviour.

Ref: Cecilie Schou Andreassen et al, The Relationships between Workaholism and Symptoms of Psychiatric Disorders: A Large-Scale Cross-Sectional Study. PLOS ONE, 2016; 11 (5): e0152978.

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India has 3 diabetic friendly rice varieties

The Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRI), Hyderabad which is the part of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) system has identified three rice varieties with low glycemic index (GI) values which are considered suitable for diabetic patients. Any variety of rice with ≤ 55 glycemic index (GI) is considered as diabetic friendly. The 3 rice varieties are: Lalat (GI=53.17), BPT 5204 (GI=51.42) and Sampada (GI=51). Presently, these varieties are under cultivation in different states of India. 

Source: The minister of state for agriculture, Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan in Rajya Sabha (Upper house of Parliament) on July 31, 2015.

Eating carbohydrates made humans smarter

Dr. Karen Hardy and her team bring together archaeological, anthropological, genetic, physiological and anatomical data to argue that carbohydrate consumption, particularly in the form of starch, was critical for the accelerated expansion of the human brain over the last million years. Eating meat may have kick-started the evolution of bigger brains, but cooked starchy foods together with more salivary amylase genes made us smarter still. 

Ref: Karen Hardy, 2015, The Quarterly Review of Biology

DOI:10.1086/682587

Spinach can cut down on food craving especially in men

A concentrated extract of thylakoids of Spinach stimulates the release of satiety hormone, helps in controlling hunger. It is also useful for people with high blood pressure and associated weight problems.

Ref: L. Frank, 2015, Journal of the American College of Nutrition.