Gluten-free diets have been popular lately with gluten being blamed for being overweight and causing bloating but experts warn that partaking in a gluten-free diet when not suffering from celiac disease could do more harm than good.

The popular diet that is used by many celebrities, propelling it into the mainstream, involves cutting out all foods containing grains like wheat, barley and rye, such as bread and pasta.

The study published in the Journal of Pediatrics warns that alternative foods contain a higher amount of sugar and fat and have almost no nutritional value. Lead author of the study, Dr Norelle Reilly, of Columbia University Medical Centre in New York,  states there is no evidence that gluten causes weight gain and toxicity, according to CBS News.

“There is no evidence that processed gluten free foods are healthier nor have there been proven health or nutritional benefits of a gluten free diet. There are no data to support the theory of intrinsically toxic properties of gluten in otherwise healthy adults and children. Gluten free packaged foods frequently contain a greater density of fat and sugar than their gluten-containing counterparts.”

“Obesity, overweight and new-onset insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome have been identified after initiation of a gluten-free diet.

“It also may lead to deficiencies in B vitamins, folate, and iron, given a lack of nutrient fortification of many gluten-free products.”

The hereditary autoimmune condition, celiac disease is treated by eliminating gluten from the diet but only a handful of people suffer from this. The amount of gluten-free products has increased sparking people to believe going gluten-free will have many benefits.

Worryingly, children suffer the most on a gluten-free diet with many parents believing they are bringing up their kids healthily but in fact they are prohibiting them from the nutrients they need to grow.

“Gluten-free diets are appropriate for some individuals but certainly not for all,” Reilly said. “Guidance from an experienced physician or dietitian can really go a long way to sort through the abundance of information available regarding this diet.”

It’s been long known that regular chocolate can be poisonous to dogs but now the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned that an artificial sweetener could potentially kill dogs.

Xylitol, which is found in many foods and products from toothpaste and peanut butter to sugar-free chewing gum, has found to have devastating consequences if ingested by dogs.

The FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine has encountered an increase in dogs being poisoned by the sweetener – even resulting in death. They issued a warning this week to the public urging people to keep products out of reach of their pets.

Although completely safe for humans, when ingested by a dog they experience a sudden rush of insulin which causes their blood sugar levels to become dangerously low. Symptoms could include vomiting and seizures that manifest within 24 hours.

“In people, xylitol does not stimulate the release of insulin from the pancreas,” the FDA statement says. “However, it’s different in canines: When dogs eat something containing xylitol, the xylitol is more quickly absorbed into the bloodstream, and may result in a potent release of insulin from the pancreas.”

The FDA advise to check any food labels for Xylitol before feeding your dog anything other than dog food to lessen the chance of an incident.

“If you’re concerned about your dog eating a food or product with xylitol in it, check the label of ingredients,” Martine Hartogensis, a veterinarian at FDA, said. “If it does, indeed, say that it contains xylitol, make sure your pet can’t get to it.”

A new study has found that the side windows of our cars don’t protect us from harmful UV rays and is likely to be causing us problems such as skin cancer and cataracts.

The study, recently published in JAMA Ophthalmology, found an increase in the amount of skin cancer and cataracts developing in Americans primarily on the left side of the face – the driver’s side.

Looking into the amount of UV protection car windows provide, Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler, of the Boxer Wachler Vision Institute in Beverly Hills, who led the research, analyzed 29 cars from 15 different automobile manufacturers. He found that the windsheild tended to offer high UV protection at 96 percent, however on average, side windows only blocked out around 71 percent. Around 14 percent of the manufactured cars blocked a higher percentage of UV rays from their side windows.

The 71 percent statistic may seem high but with the increasing daily amount of driving by the average American, this can present more risk to our skin and eyes and some of the cars tested only blocked out as low as 50 percent.

“It had no correlation at all with the cost of the car, high-end car or low-end car,” said Boxer Wachler.

A dermatologist and skin cancer expert at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, Dr. Doris Day says that this is potentially dangerous and describes ultraviolet rays as “carcinogens”.

“While UV-B is a shorter wavelength of light and is blocked by glass, UV-A is longer and goes deeper into the skin — causing both skin cancer and premature aging as it breaks down collagen,” she explained. “UV-A also goes through glass, making it a potential issue for those who have daily commutes or spend extended periods in the car.”

Many dermatologists suggest to wear sunscreen or invest in UV filters that can be added to your car windows. Hopefully this information will be enough for car manufacturers to start improving UV filters in cars windows as standard.

 

A study conducted over 20 years has indicated the top five fruit and vegetables that could potentially ward off breast cancer.

The research was carried out at the Harvard School of Public Health in the U.S. and tracked 90,000 women aged 27 to 44 who enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study and focused on their diets as teenagers from the ages of 13 to 18. The women were tested for breast cancer every two years and the researchers found five foods in particular that contributed to lowering the risk of developing breast cancer in women. These were apples, bananas, grapes, oranges and kale.

The amount was also important with three daily servings of these fruits linking to a 25 percent drop in risk by middle age, compared with consuming just a half-serving per day.

The team involved in the study believe that the results show that increasing the amount of these foods in women’s diets could potentially slash the number of breast cancer sufferers.

“If this apparent risk reduction is applied to a lifetime risk of breast cancer, the absolute number of breast cancers that could potentially be prevented by higher intake of fruits would be substantial.”

Although still unknown how these fruit and vegetables influence breast cancer, it clearly shows that what we eat as teenagers greatly effects our health in later life. However, everyone would benefit from a greater increase in fruit and vegetables in their diet to help counteract diseases.

Experts say that although the findings are positive, more evidence through further study is needed. Catherine Priestley, of Breast Cancer Care stated that, “a link between eating specific fruits during teenage years to help lower breast cancer risk is a long way from being fact.”

The findings were published in the British Medical Journal.

A small study has been conducted by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital that has shown repeated small doses of Ketamine could lessen the suicidal thoughts of people suffering from severe depression.

Low doses of ketamine were administered repeatedly to 14 patients through an intravenous drip who had been experiencing thoughts of suicide over the previous three months. Most of the group showed a decrease in suicidal thoughts while seven of them found to have no such thoughts at all during and after the treatment as reported in Medical Daily.

Lead author of the study and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Dawn Ionescu, stated that this study was unique as no previous research had involved using Ketamine on patients currently dealing with suicidal thoughts and says that the results are promising in developing treatment for those suffering from life-threatening depression.

“We only studied intravenous ketamine, but this result opens the possibility for studying oral and intranasal doses, which may ease administration for patients in suicidal crises.”

The participants knew they were getting doses of Ketamine so the team are currently finishing up a second study that involves Ketamine and a placebo to further discover its role in the treatment. Ionescu hopes that the new findings will help towards a better understanding of the brain and how to target it for treatment in depression and potentially create better and more effective drugs.

“Looking towards the future, studies that aim to understand the mechanism by which ketamine and its metabolites work for people with suicidal thinking and depression may help us discover areas of the brain to target with new, even better therapeutic drugs.”

The study was published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

 

 

Carrots have always been synonymous with its bright orange color and now scientists know why.

Researchers have discovered a gene in the carrot after a complete decoding of its genome sequence. The gene named DCAR_032551, is responsible for carotenoids – a source of vitamin A and the pigment that gives fruit and vegetables a bright orange, yellow or red color as reported in Discovery News.

Philipp Simon who is a research geneticist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Wisconsin, led the study and has been researching carrots for 35 years. The question of how carrots obtain their bright orange color from carotenoids which is a source of healthy vitamin A for humans, has been unanswered until now.

“The accumulation of orange pigments is an accumulation that normally wouldn’t happen,” says Simon, “Now, we know what the genes are and what they do. The carrot has a good reputation as a crop and we know it’s a significant source of nutrition — vitamin A, in particular. Now, we have the chance to dig deeper and it’s a nice addition to the toolbox for improving the crop.”

The scientists involved in the study compared 37 common varieties to wild carrots that are usually white in color. Interestingly, the first carrots were a purple and yellow color back in Asia over 1000 years ago and the more common orange carrot did not appear until the 16th century in Europe. The researchers believe that carrot farmers selected the more colorful orange carrots to differentiate between crops and in doing so unknowingly cultivated the amount of vitamin A in the new orange carrot crops.

Global crop production has boomed over the past 40 years with most countries eating the root vegetable and contain 50 percent more carotene thanks to carrot breeding.

The study was published this week in Nature Genetics.

 

Crosswords and sudoku have often been the answer to improving memory and sharpening the brain but a new study has found that regular meditation and yoga practice could ward off Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia in older people.

Neuroscientists from UCLA studied 25 people in their mid-fifties who had signs of mild cognitive impairment such as memory and thinking problems. They were separated into two groups with one assigned 12 weeks of meditation and yoga practice while the other group had scientifically-proven memory training such as strategies for improving forgetfulness, according to The Daily Mail.

The results showed that while both groups showed signs of improvement in verbal memory which involves remembering words such as names and lists, the meditation group showed improvements in visual spacial memory and benefited from reduced stress and depression as well.

“When you have memory loss, you can get quite anxious about that and it can lead to depression,” stated the study’s lead author, Helen Lavretsky. While fellow lead researcher, Harris Eyre says “historically and anecdotally, yoga has been thought to be beneficial in ageing well, but this is the scientific demonstration of that benefit.”

Although only a small pilot study, the results are promising and show, together with many recent studies into meditation, that the practice can benefit those suffering from depression and anxiety. Those suffering from dementia can experience periods of immense worry that practicing meditation can help to curb.

However, Lavretsky also thinks that the improvements in visual spacial memory will also have great benefits to dementia sufferers as MRI scans showed the connectivity of brain networks were marginally improved. Although carried out in older people, the researchers believe that this could also benefit those of all ages who have temporary memory issues and the anxiety that comes with it.

The study was recently published in the journal Alzheimer’s Disease.