Time to ditch low-fat
Time to step away from those low fat yoghurts – hallelujah. The low-carb versus low-fat debate has been going on for years, but new research has found that low-fat is no more successful than high-fat approaches to maintaining weight loss for more than one year. Randomised clinical trials prove that science does not support this approach to weight-loss. Researchers from the trial believe it's time to look for new approaches to maintaining a healthy weight that takes long-term health into account. [Source]
Bananas beat viruses
We all knew bananas rank highly in a sporty girls shopping basket but recent news from The University of Michigan has found that they also contain a protein called banana lectin. ‘BanLec’ as it’s known by the cool kids works by binding itself to chains of sugar molecules which covers viruses such as influenza and then creates a protective barrier so the immune system can easily get rid of it. Our favourite yellow fruit just became even more ap-peeling. [Source]
Celebs get behind Equality for Mental Health
It’s been a long time coming, but mental health is finally on the public agenda. The latest campaign called Equality4MentalHealth calls for 'Sustained investment in mental health services which will lead to significant returns for the Exchequer, both by reducing the burden on the NHS through the improved wellbeing of our citizens, and by helping people to stay in, or get back into work.' It's been supported by big names including: Emma Thompson, Frank Skinner, Graham Norton, Alan Rickman, Miranda Hart and many more. [Source]
Bad news for late-night chip fests
So we all new that our Friday night post-work drinks junk food binge wasn’t our healthiest habit, but new research has found it may be more damaging than we think. The report published by The FASEB Journal has found that one junk-food indulgence can trigger signs of metabolic disease, a condition that can increase risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. The report advises the negative effects of such food outweigh the short-term pleasure. But our heart keeps telling us yes… [Source]
Women are from earth, and so are men, apparently
New research by Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science has debunked the widely believed notion that the part of the brain responsible for connecting emotions to senses and creating new memories is larger in females than males. Lise Eliot, PhD, associate professor of neuroscience at the university explained that: ‘Sex differences in the brain are irresistible to those looking to explain stereotypical differences between men and women. They often make a big splash, in spite of being based on small samples. But as we explore multiple data sets and are able to coalesce very large samples of males and females, we find these differences often disappear or are trivial.’ There goes that one then… [Source]
