IN PRAISE OF BACTERIA

Just as a brief follow-up to my last post on metabolism boosters, I thought it worth mentioning some research in support of another high-profile food supplement – probiotics.

You’re probably familiar with the marketing claims of yoghurt drinks such as Yakult, Activia etc., promising to maintain a healthy gut through a daily dose of ‘good’ bacteria.  Less well known is that a lot of the research behind these claims was conducted in nice little petri dishes in labs.

Beyond the 'they break down stuff we can't' theory of symbiosis, scientists actually have very little idea of how supplementing our bodies with these miraculous microorganisms can actually benefit our intestines.    

BURN BABY BURN

On an unashamedly superficial and consumerist whim, I decided to take a look at the current product du jour in the metabolism boosting market. Coats are being shed, skin is being bared, and quite frankly, revving up our sluggish winter metabolisms doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.

So what’s on offer for those hoping the way to a bikini-bod is via the health store rather than the gym? The latest miracle-in-a-bottle in this bewilderingly crowded market is Aspire, a calorie burning soft drink “proven to burn over 200 calories“.

Aspire was launched at the end of 2010 to an eager national media, excited by its claim that... wait for it... a scientific study proved it actually worked! Gasp. Faint. But what exactly do they mean when they say the drink ‘works’?   

FEELING BLUE

As numerous Facebook statuses will attest, we've been out enjoying the first tantalising glimpses of the great British summer. Long, sunny days spent lazing in the park with a beer in hand are bound to have elicited a mood-boosting effect for most of us. 

bulldogza

Bathing in high-intensity ambient light is well known for its positive effect on mood – light therapy is a pretty standard treatment for seasonal affective disorder and also has a positive (albeit modest) effect on non-seasonal depressive disorders, such as bipolar (1). Conversely, sitting indoors under the glare of standard electric light can be a sapping experience (attributed in part to the lower intensity of light at the blue end of the spectrum emitted by incandescent bulbs compared to sunlight).

Mood is generally a prolonged emotional state, something that manifests itself slowly and ebbs away equally slowly. Clearly the environment has time to play a role in this facet of our mental health. But what about our emotions - feelings that are much more transient and specific? Could they also be influenced by light quality?

THE SINS OF THE FATHER (AND MOTHER...)

So how’s today looking diet-wise, skipped lunch and now snacking on biscuits?  Or already on your second packet of fags?  That’s a shame.  Not just for you but for your kids and grandkids too.  Yep, those descendants who perhaps don’t yet exist may be affected by the health choices you make today. 

S Vuono

Hang on.  This sounds a little inflammatory, akin to the type of claims I was criticising only yesterday? Admittedly it’s still early days, but this one may actually stack up...

To understand why, we need to look at the molecular origin of 'why we are the way we are'.  I’m talking about DNA and specifically a field of research catchily entitled ‘epigenetics’.

KICK-OFF!

“Alcohol more harmful than heroin”

“Top London restaurant launches collagen beauty menu”

“Coffee halts multiple sclerosis”

“Using mobile phones for 10 years doubles brain cancer risk”

A quick glance across any newsagent’s shelf ensures a bombardment of health-related headlines – scares and cures, advice and warnings - all loudly vying for our attention. As a predominantly non-expert audience, we undoubtedly lap it up. Health clearly sells.

Why so? In an increasingly self-aware and consumerist society, perhaps our own body is the ultimate possession. But with conflicting messages and sensationalist reporting, the human body has become a battleground. To combat the attritional efforts of dodgy doctorate-touting health experts, fitness gurus and snake-oil salesmen, shouldn’t we arm ourselves with actual data and reclaim our bodies? Stripping back their claims to the raw, unabashed scientific facts: bodies laid bare.

Personally, I care about the latest breakthrough in the fight against cancer, but I also care about staving off cellulite or finding the perfect anti-aging cream (to replace the twenty pots currently languishing on my bathroom shelf).

I care about what we put on and into ourselves. The human body is a phenomenal consumer of environmental influences and it is clear that those inputs, such as food, drugs and chemicals, can have a huge impact on how we function. They affect how we look and feel, how we battle disease and how long before we’re pushing up daisies.

I want to highlight some of the scientific research that is helping to explain the amazing entity that is the human body. Actual research, not the made-up, pseudo-stuff.

I hope you'll find it interesting. Here goes…