Feb. 18: AROUND THE WORLD
- Posted by CERC India
- Posted in February
DENMARK
Your poop may predict whether you will lose weight
Why does a person not lose weight in spite of trying very hard? Danish researchers may have the answer to this agonizing question. Apparently, the type of bacteria in your gut may affect how much weight you will lose from a particular diet. In the study, published in the International Journal of Obesity, scientists calculated the ratio of two types of bacteria in the poop of 62 people who were overweight.
The researchers randomly assigned some participants to a high-fibre diet for 26 weeks and the rest to a regular diet. They found that the bacteria ratio was critical in determining how the participants responded to the two diets.
THE NETHERLANDS
China, Hong Kong top hubs for fake goods
 China and Hong Kong are the largest shipment centres for fake goods sold around the world. According to a 2015 report by Europol (European police agency), the two territories were the hubs of 86% of global counterfeiting.
Everything from shampoos, to batteries, electronics and brand-name clothing, toys, medicine and food is counterfeited and sold, often to unsuspecting customers. The top category of fake goods seized at the EU’s borders was cigarettes but intellectual property theft was also common. Counterfeiting harms the economies in Europe and can cause physical harm to consumers.
USA
Why your child craves chocolates
 Children love sweets, but some crave for them more. This could be because they need more sugar to get that same sweet taste, suggests new research.The study was published online in the journal Nursing Research.
The researchers determined the sweet taste threshold, defined as the lowest detectable level of sucrose, of 216 healthy children aged 7-14 years. Apparently, some children are 20 times better at detecting sugar than others. Less sugar-sensitive children may get less of a ‘sweet signal’ and have a harder time dealing with restrictions on sugar consumption. The study also found that sweet taste sensitivity and sugar consumption are related to a bitter receptor gene.
