Science Weekly - 07032020

Check out what Fitness, Nutrition and Exercise Science has to offer this week! Less publications as usual but intriguing topics! Read on... 

Here are the highlights:

• Seems that sugar tax made no to little difference in Philadelphia
• There may be a cure for celiac disease
• Exercise guidelines for spinal cord injuries
• Fight sleep deprivation with prebiotics?
• The way you eat affects your microbiome scientists say
• Would you guess the solution for obesity may be oranges?

One year into 'soda tax,' researchers find law did not affect sugary-beverage consumption

Change in consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages statistically matches that of surrounding cities
One year into Philadelphia's 1.5-cents-per-ounce 'soda tax,' new findings show that the law had minimal to no influence on what Philadelphians are drinking.

Source: Drexel University

Celiac disease might be cured by restoring immune tolerance to gliadin

Celiac disease affects 0.3-2.4% of people in most countries world-wide, and approx. 2% in Finland. Celiac patients suffer from a variety of symptoms, typically intestinal complaints, such as diarrhea, but are often symptom-free. Immunologists developed and tested nanoparticles containing gliadin for the immunomodulatory treatment of celiac disease.

Source: ​University of Helsinki

Exercise advice for spinal cord injury

Researchers take the guesswork out of exercising effectively
​An expert says a major barrier to physical activity for people with a spinal cord injury is a lack of knowledge or resources about the amount and type of activity needed to achieve health and fitness benefits.

Source: University of British Columbia Okanagan campus

Can't sleep? Prebiotics could help

Dietary compounds found to influence gut metabolites, buffering stress
New research shows that animals on a prebiotic diet sleep better and are buffered from the physiological impacts of stress. The undigestible dietary compounds, found in fibrous foods and some dairy products, serve as nourishment for beneficial bacteria and influence metabolites that, in turn, impact the brain.

Source: University of Colorado at Boulder

​Not only what you eat, but how you eat, may affect your microbiome

Researchers found that post-stroke patients re-grow a healthy microbiota in their mouth and gut when they revert to normal food intake from tube feeding. These results emphasize the need to actively normalize feeding in these patients, not only to minimize the risks of tube feeding, but also because oral feeding significantly alters the microbiome of both the mouth and the gut, potentially with beneficial consequences for overall health.

Source: Tokyo Medical and Dental University

Molecule found in oranges could reduce obesity and prevent heart disease and diabetes

Researchers are studying a molecule found in sweet oranges and tangerines called nobiletin, which they have shown to drastically reduce obesity and reverse its negative side-effects. But why it works remains a mystery.

Source: University of Western Ontario