Science Weekly - 23092018

Scientists once again had a very busy week publishing papers, the below snippets are just the highlights of what'd been going on. Research topics are around the connection between the gut, our brain, obesity and metabolic deseases. Did you know for certain animal research they use the fruit flies? They seem to be the most sensitive exerimental system to monitor diet induced cellular changes, likely the closest science can get to how mammals would react. Mindblowing. 

Eating foods with low nutritional quality ratings linked to cancer risk in large European cohort

The consumption of foods with higher scores on the British Food Standards Agency nutrient profiling system (FSAm-NPS), reflecting a lower nutritional quality, is associated with an increased risk of developing cancer.

​Source: PLOS Medicine

Anti-inflammatory protein promotes healthy gut bacteria to curb obesity

Scientists have discovered that the anti-inflammatory protein NLRP12 normally helps protect mice against obesity and insulin resistance when they are fed a high-fat diet. The researchers also reported that the NLRP12 gene is underactive in people who are obese, making it a potential therapeutic target for treating obesity and diabetes, both of which are risk factors for cardiovascular disease and other serious conditions.

Source: University of North Carolina Health Care

Strength-based exercises could help child obesity fight, study finds

Encouraging young people to do strength-based exercises -- such as squats, push ups and lunges -- could play a key role in tackling child obesity, research suggests.

Source: University of Edinburgh

Gut sense: Neural superhighway conveys messages from gut to brain in milliseconds

Searching for a more direct connection between the gut and the brain, researchers were shocked to see that distance spanned by a single synapse, relaying the signal in less than 100 milliseconds, less than the blink of an eye. The finding has profound implications for the understanding of appetite and appetite suppressants, most of which target slow-acting hormones rather than fast-acting synapses.

Source: Duke University

Intestines modify their cellular structure in response to diet

Body organs such as the intestine and ovaries undergo structural changes in response to dietary nutrients that can have lasting impacts on metabolism, as well as cancer susceptibility.

Source: Carnegie Institution for Science

Crunched for time? High-intensity exercise gives same cell benefits in fewer minutes

A few minutes of high-intensity interval or sprinting exercise may be as effective as much longer exercise sessions in spurring beneficial improvements in mitochondrial function, according to new research.

​Source: ​American Physiological Society

Mediterranean-style diet may lower women's stroke risk

Following a Mediterranean-style diet (high in fish, fruits and nuts, vegetables and beans and lower in meat and dairy) reduced stroke risk in women over 40, but not in men. The Mediterranean-style diet reduced stroke risk among white adults who were at high risk of cardiovascular disease.

Source: American Heart Association