Adventure Ausrama Blog

Why do people put up with their sugar craving when there is something that can stop it in its tracks? Sweetness is one of the things that the tongue detects very well indeed. We love to consume sugary food and the enjoyment is never satiated. Two thousand years ago Gymnema Sylvestre,  a woody vine, was used to treat "honey urine" (diabetes). It is bitter to taste but it is very effective. Once taken, no sweetness is tasted anymore. it disappears. The craving stops. The gymnema is potent. Acids numb the sweet receptors on the tongue. Molecules in the acids are similar to receptors that register sweetness. They block sweet detecting taste buds. A lot of research has been done and it really works. The product has been put into lozenges sold in the United States. They are called Sweet Defeat. Plans are in train to export the supplement to other countries. It is not dangerous in any way so it does not have to pass tests done for drugs by the FDA. ◆  ANTHROPOLOGY   ◆ Tys ...

Biology: monitoring of levels of polluted in the air is needed. Want to lose weight? Just stop breathing. It is as easy as that. Pregnant rats in China got fat because they breathed in polluted air.  People face the same problem.  Babies being born fatter may be desired.  However, it could indicate a lifetime of illness for those living in polluted regions. The rat's cholesterol went through the roof. They also became insulin resistant with diabetes just a short way down the track. Livers and lungs were inflamed. The longer they breathed the bad air, the fatter they got. Baby rats from the pregnant females were much sicker. Inflammation per se is directly related to obesity which is a precursor to diabetes, or even synonymous with it. Cancer, stroke and heart attacks are related to bad air. Poor health from polluted air is not just a Chinese problem. Western countries do not monitor bad air very intensely. A case in point is Brisbane in Australia where...

A revolutionary diet pill has been developed by US and Chinese scientists. However, there is no hope for men - it only works on women. The critical ingredient in the pill comes from the South American primula tree. It works very will indeed on mice. Let us hope trials on humans are just as successful. Apparently, women will be able to eat with impunity and the calories will still be burnt off. Side effects are not known at present. Some promising products in the past had issues.   Chronic diarrhoea was the major problem . The primula molecule mimics the effects of exercise which produces BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). Some diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntingdon’s could also probably be treated with the new molecule as BDNF is low in sufferers. Though the pill works effectively on females, for males it is toxic. Male mice got even fatter and became diabetic. If the new molecule is used to treat diseases in men, maybe they will have to put up with weig...

Capitalism is a good thing - or so we believe. The world is getting more obese. Large international companies that produce high-sugar, high-fat products are buying out local distribution firms in developing countries to dominate the market. More than a Quarter of China's population is obese. Twenty years ago each Chinese person consumed only two teaspoons of sugar a day. Currently, China keeps a sugar bank, The government is terrified that a sugar shortage will lead to social unrest. Mexico is becoming fatter than any other nation on Earth. Coca Cola practises price segmentation. In cities where income is higher, coke costs more than average. Poor rural regions get coca cola at a much cheaper price. Young children suffer from malnutrition while their parents are overweight. Sugar and fat consumed regularly is a killer. Diabetes is increasing at a rapid rate. In developing countries medical care is poor, so diabetes goes untreated and people die. There can only be one...

A hormone has been identified that makes a person feel full. This "anti-eating" hormone can be taken orally. It easily gets into the bloodstream. The discovery has been made by a combined team from Murdock University Australia, and Syracuse University in the US. Obese people have less PYY hormone. The treatment is so effective that even naturally thin subjects lost weight. Normally, PYY is absorbed in the stomach. Researches have found a way of attaching the hormone to vitamin B12 that carries PYY through the stomach into the bloodstream. Some is lost but a significant amount gets through. The medication will be made available in tablet form and chewing gum. Patients will have to stay on the treatment for a target period: the PYY dose takes up to four hours to get into the system and begin to have an effect. This would mean that patients will have to take a tablet directly after a meal, lunch for example, for it to suppress appetite at tea or dinner. http://www.advent...

For many years it was believed that pork was fatty and if eaten regularly would lead to weight gain. A new study has shown the opposite to be true. Overweight people were split into two groups. One group was given 1050g of lean pork each week. The other group was provided with 750g a week. Even with this little difference in pork intake, after six months there was a noticeable change in the high-intake group. Those eating more pork actually lost fat from their abdomens. Waists were narrower. Body composition improved over the whole body. So weight can be lost without dieting if you eat more pork. A further benefit from eating more pork is the high thiamine level. Many overweight people have type 2 diabetes which can lead to thiamine deficiency. Tests are now being done with chicken and beef to compare with pork. It could be that the high-protein diet due to eating the pork was beneficial. Maybe similar results in regard to weight loss will eventuate from eating more chicken...

A new method of treating asthma has been discovered. Formoterol is a synthetic form of catecholamine. This is a hormone that regulates metabolism, heart rate and breathing. It increases metabolism without raising the heart rate. Tests on animals have been promising. The drug is selective in that receptors in the lungs take on the catecholamine but receptors in the heart do not. A positive side effect it that it burns fat from the body. Eight men without asthma were given the medication for a week. Their energy metabolism increased by 10 per cent. Fat was burned off by 25 per cent. Protein only fell by 15 per cent. This means people can do more with leaner bodies. We may be entering a new age where obese people no longer have to suffer. They can have healthy bodies in the normal weight range. Tests on those with asthma will set the stage for this. Subjects will be closely monitored to determine long term effects. Hopefully they will all be beneficial. http://www.adventure-...

It seems we can't win. New findings show if you are underweight or overweight dementia is on the horizon. Being skinny or fat from the age of 40 gives a high risk of dementia after the age of 60. The very high danger group are the obese. Considering most people in the West are overweight wouldn't this finding seem logical? If arteries can become clogged with fatty cholesterol so can the blood vessels in the brain. Obviously, hardly anyone in the scientific community has made this observation. No medical literature has ever made this bold statement. "Hey stop eating that jam donut you'll lose your mind!" Let's be rational. Medical research is good. It can highlight changes that people should make to their lives, but adding 2 and 3 to make 5 does not always show a causal relationship. http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/ http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/ http://www.feeds.feedburner.com/AdventureAustralia http://www.technorati.com/blogs/http://advent...

While I agree with Dr Jennifer O'Dea's view that a tax on take away food is useless in reducing obesity, I strongly disagree that obesity is exaggerated. Look around; there are overweight children and adults at every turn. She admits that children from low income families have twice the rate of obesity of those from middle and upper income families. The reason why this is so should be ascertained. It is hard to believe that small income families spend more on junk food in real and proportional terms. Dr O'Dea says we should not become emotional about the issue because that is unscientific. Perhaps we do need to be more emotional. The scientific approach is not doing much good. It is true that the problem should be tackled from the top - down. It is parents who can impress upon their children to eat better. Today, high sugar food is so readily available. In the 1960s and before many families didn't have a refrigerator. When children wanted a sugar fix they had...