September 2018

www.theasianindependent.co.uk
HEALTH
September 2018
13
Intake of low-carb diet or
high-carb diet can increase
risk of an early death
It was deduced that
for a healthy lifespan, a
moderate amount of
carbohydrate is imperative.
Less than 40 per
cent or more than 70
per cent of calories
from carbohydrates
increases the risk of
mortality.
Cutting down carb intake and eating
it in moderation is what dieticians and
nutritionists generally advise. A recent
study has shown that the intake of both
high-carb diet or a low one can increase
the risk of an early death.
The research published in the Lancet
public health journal took into consideration
results of eight studies. It was
deduced that for a healthy lifespan, a
moderate amount of carbohydrate is
imperative. Less than 40 per cent or
more than 70 per cent of calories from
carbohydrates increases the risk of mortality.
A report in The Guardian cautions
that not all low-carb diets are similar.
Those who eat more meat like chicken,
lamb and less carbohydrates, their mortality
risk tend to be higher than those
who get their protein from foods such
like avocados, nuts and legumes.
"Low-carb diets that replace carbohydrates
with protein or fat are gaining
widespread popularity as a health and
weight loss strategy," Dr Sara
Seidelmann said as quoted in the report.
"However, our data suggests that animal-based
low-carbohydrate diets,
which are prevalent in North America
and Europe, might be associated with
shorter overall life span and should be
discouraged. Instead, if one chooses to
follow a low-carbohydrate diet, then
exchanging carbohydrates for more
plant-based fats and proteins might
actually promote healthy ageing in the
long term." Seidelmann, who also led
the research, added. She also said that
instead pf presenting a single picture,
her team has tried to "thoroughly
answer a question".
"Nutrition is high up on everybody's
mind but there is such confusion about
what we should eat. One day, a study is
coming out telling us high carb is better,
another day a study is telling us low
carb is better."
Eat strawberries,
improve gut health
Eating strawberries at a dose
equivalent to as low as three
quarters of a cup may reduce
colonic inflammation and
improve gut health, a study has
found.
Inflammatory bowel disease
(IBD) is a set of painful conditions
that can cause severe diarrhoea
and fatigue and the treatment
can include medications
and surgery.
The findings suggest that the
dietary consumption of whole
strawberries, significantly suppressed
symptoms like weight
loss and bloody diarrhoea in
mice with inflammatory bowel
disease (IBD).
"The sedentary lifestyle and
dietary habits of many people in
this country-high-sugar, highanimal
fat, but low-fibre dietsmay
promote colonic inflammation
and increase the risk of
IBD," said lead author Hang
Xiao from the University of
Massachusetts Amherst in the
US.
The study, to be presented at
the 256th National Meeting and
Exposition of the American
Chemical Society (ACS), also
found that strawberry treatments
diminished inflammatory
responses in the mice colonic
issue.
To establish an effective and
practical approach to decrease
colonic inflammation in both
IBD patients and the general
population, the team focused on
strawberries due to their wide
consumption.
For the study, the researchers
used four groups of mice-a
group of healthy mice consuming
a regular diet, and three
groups of mice with IBD consuming
a regular diet which had
2.5 per cent whole strawberry
powder or a diet with five per
cent whole strawberry powder.
They tried to feed the mice
doses of strawberries that would
be in line with what a human
could reasonably consume.
The team found that along
with decreased inflammation, a
reversal of the unhealthy microbiota
pathways in the IBD mice
was also observed-which in turn
could lead to the decreased
colonic inflammation.
Although drinking cold water
is effective in increasing blood
circulation levels, according to
researchers, the number of calories
that are burned by drinking
cold water is too little to even
make a difference.
Contrary to popular belief,
drinking cold water for weight
loss is just a myth. Although it is
effective in increasing blood circulation
levels, according to
researchers, the number of calories
that are burned by drinking
cold water is too little to even
make a difference. A study conducted
by ScienceDirect states
how they asked participants to
drink 5 ml, 10 ml, 15 ml and 20
Does drinking cold water actually
help in weight loss? Let's find out
ml of water in the morning or
before lunch to see if it helps in
weight loss. But the researchers
found that drinking even 20 ml
of water reduced very less number
of calories.
The main aim should be to
drink enough water, be it cold or
If you have a higher body mass index
(BMI) then there are chances that you may
have increased blood pressure (BP) too, a
new study has found.
The findings, published in the journal
JAMA Network Open, showed a strong correlation
between the degree of obesity and
high blood pressure. Uncontrolled high
blood pressure can lead to several cardiovascular
diseases such as heart attack, stroke
and heart failure. For the study, the research
team involved 1.7 million Chinese men and
women aged between 35 and 80 years and
recorded the participants' blood pressure
from September 2014 to June 2017. They
observed an increase of 0.8 to 1.7 mm Hg
(kg/m2) in blood pressure per additional unit
of BMI in individuals who were not taking
warm, to keep yourself from
getting dehydrated. Did you
know that drinking cold water
during exercise helps in reducing
dehydration, in turn making
you feel less tired? Also, intake
of around two to four liters of
water every day will increase
metabolism and flush out toxins
from the body.
According to a study by the
University of Washington,
drinking 10 cups of ice water
helps burn about 80 extra calories.
But it can be "easily gained
back by eating one stick of
string cheese, one hard-boiled
egg, or one medium chocolatechip
cookie. Drinking cold
water makes such a small dent
in the calorie balance that it will
not help you lose weight if your
eating and exercise pattern stay
the same."
Higher BMI may increase your BP as well
anti-hypertensive medication. Overall, the
population had a mean BMI of 24.7 and a
mean systolic blood pressure of 136.5, which
qualifies as stage-I hypertension, according
to American Heart Association guidelines.
"If trends in overweight and obesity continue
in China, the implication of our study is
that hypertension, already a major risk factor,
is likely to become even more important,"
said senior author Harlan Krumholz
from Yale University in the US.
"This paper is ringing the bell that the
time is now to focus on these risk factors,"
he added. "The enormous size of the dataset
-- the result of an unprecedented effort in
China -- allows us to characterise this relationship
between BMI and blood pressure
across tens of thousands of subgroups,
which simply would not be possible in a
smaller study," said author George
Linderman from the varsity. This research
has been supported by grants from the
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences
Innovation Fund for Medical Science, the
Ministry of Finance of China and the
National Health and Family Planning
Commission of China to name a few.