Science Weekly - 30th October 2020

This week's papers bring a variety of topics that are pretty intriguing for personal trainers and clients alike. From disease prevention through exercise links with cancer to sports science, everybody can find something they will find interesting.

Let's see the highlights:

• Bacterial metabolism of dietary soy may lower risk factor for dementia
  
• Obesity and disease tied to dramatic dietary changes
• Artificially sweetened drinks may not be heart healthier than sugary drinks
• Hard physical work may significantly increase the risk of dementia
• How exercise stalls cancer growth through the immune system
• Exercising one arm has twice the benefits
• Judges' decisions in sport focus more on vigor than skill
• World's first agreed guidance for people with diabetes to exercise safely
• Black soldier fly larvae as protein alternative for hungry humans
• High-sugar diet can damage the gut, intensifying risk for colitis
• Social isolation puts women at higher risk of hypertension

Bacterial metabolism of dietary soy may lower risk factor for dementia

A metabolite produced following consumption of dietary soy may decrease a key risk factor for dementia - with the help of the right bacteria, according to a new discovery.

Source: University of Pittsburgh

Obesity and disease tied to dramatic dietary changes

The 'mismatch hypothesis' argues that our bodies evolved to digest the foods that our ancestors ate, and that human bodies will struggle and largely fail to metabolize a radically new set of foods. This intuitive idea is hard to test directly, but the Turkana, a pastoralist population in remote Kenya, present a natural experiment: genetically homogenous populations whose diets stretch across a lifestyle gradient from relatively 'matched' to extremely 'mismatched' with their recent evolutionary history.

Source: Princeton University

Artificially sweetened drinks may not be heart healthier than sugary drinks

Research shows high consumption of both types of beverages associated with higher risk of heart disease
Sugary drinks and artificially sweetened beverages are associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, which suggests artificially sweetened beverages may not be the healthy alternative they are often claimed to be, according to a research letter.

Source: American College of Cardiology

Hard physical work may significantly increase the risk of dementia

Men in jobs with hard physical work have a higher risk of developing dementia compared to men doing sedentary work, new research reveals. The researchers therefore urge the health authorities to make their recommendations concerning physical activity more specific.

Source: University of Copenhagen The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

How exercise stalls cancer growth through the immune system

People with cancer who exercise generally have a better prognosis than inactive patients. Now, researchers have found a likely explanation of why exercise helps slow down cancer growth in mice: Physical activity changes the metabolism of the immune system's cytotoxic T cells and thereby improves their ability to attack cancer cells.

Source: Karolinska Institutet

Exercising one arm has twice the benefits

New research has revealed that training one arm can improve strength and decrease muscle loss in the other arm -- without even moving it. The findings could help to address the muscle wastage and loss of strength often experienced in an immobilized arm, such as after injury, by using eccentric exercise on the opposing arm.

Source: Edith Cowan University

Judges' decisions in sport focus more on vigor than skill

Researchers analyzed almost 550 men's and women's mixed martial arts contests, using data collated for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and found the rate at which competitors fight is more likely to result in judges awarding victory than the skill with which they attack their opponents.

Source: University of Plymouth

World's first agreed guidance for people with diabetes to exercise safely

An academic has helped draw up a landmark agreement amongst international experts, setting out the world's first standard guidance on how people with diabetes can use modern glucose monitoring devices to help them exercise safely. The guidance will be a crucial resource for healthcare professionals around the world, so they can help people with type 1 diabetes.

Source: Swansea University

Black soldier fly larvae as protein alternative for hungry humans

Black soldier fly larvae contains more zinc and iron than lean meat and its calcium content is higher than milk. Less than half a hectare of black soldier fly larvae can produce more protein than cattle grazing on around 1200 hectares, or 52 hectares of soybeans. New research has identified the barriers for introducing fly protein into Western human diets as a sustainable, healthy alternative to both meat and plant proteins.

Source: University of Queensland

High-sugar diet can damage the gut, intensifying risk for colitis

Mice fed diets high in sugar developed worse colitis, a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and researchers examining their large intestines found more of the bacteria that can damage the gut's protective mucus layer.

Source: UT Southwestern Medical Center

Social isolation puts women at higher risk of hypertension

Researchers are discovering that social isolation affects the health of men and women in different ways -- including placing women at higher risk of high blood pressure.

Source: University of British Columbia