JULY – 15: SNIPPETS
Nuts a healthy choice for diabetics
A study published in Diabetes Care, 2011 concludes that replacing carbohydrate foods with plant-based sources of fat is beneficial for diabetes patients.
The study found that a group of volunteers consuming nuts instead of carbohydrate foods recorded improvement in long-term blood sugar control and a considerable reduction in LDL-cholesterol (bad cholesterol). Nuts are high in monosaturated fats. Their regular consumption might help control body weight and lower heart disease risk as well.
Antibiotics might make you fat
Excessive consumption of antibiotics might lead to obesity, found a study by the microbiologists at New York University, according to Daily Mail, UK.
Researchers fed infant mice with low doses of penicillin. After 30 weeks, penicillin-fed mice were 10-15 % bigger than and twice as fat as drug-free mice. The study also showed that low doses of antibiotics shifted the balance of certain gut microbes, reducing the variety of good bacteria, which is our best protection against cancer.
Wind turbines can increase local temperatures
Wind turbines that pull the warmer air towards the surface and push the cooler air up in the atmosphere, push up the overall temperature of the region, according to a study. Researchers from University at Albany in the US analysed the surface temperature data of west-central Texas between 2003 and 2011. The region has the world’s four largest wind farms.
Results of the study reflected an upwards trend in temperatures during the nine years, corresponding to the increasing number of operational wind turbines. The study was published in Nature Climate Change.
Food waste may make good detergents
Food waste like ice cream and chocolate could be a key ingredient for making bio-plastics, laundry detergents and similar products for day-to-day use, scientists at the City University of Hong Kong have found.
According to them, these wasted food items contain lecithin, which along with cellulose can create oil dispersants and can help clean oil spills and stains easily. The research findings were presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society.
Eating vegetables? Happy eating!
Gone are the days when vegetables were associated only with the health factor – a new study associates them with happiness too. Researchers found a considerable improvement in the mental well-being of British citizens, who ate around seven servings of fruits and vegetables every day, according to www.washingtonpost.com.
The study, conducted at the University of Dartmouth, found that eating vegetables and fruits in ample amounts boosts your tryptophan levels. Tryptophan is the key ingredient in synthesizing the body’s ‘feel good’ neurotransmitter serotonin, which makes you feel happier.
More worried, more intelligent
Frequent worrying and anxiety are considered to be negative traits. However, a study published in Frontiers in Evolutionary Neuroscience, found that the more you exhibit tendencies to worry, the more intelligent you are. Worry and high intelligence – both deplete the same nutrient in the brain’s white matter – suggesting they evolve at the same time.
Research revealed that in a control group of normal volunteers, people with high IQ worried less. But, the study also found that for those diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), higher IQ was associated with a greater degree of worry.
