December 2017 – News by Nature

Water Diet: The ‘Most Dangerous Weight Loss Regime Ever’

26Dec

By CatherineNo Comments

Diet

Water Diet: The ‘Most Dangerous Weight Loss Regime Ever’

AS desperate dieters go to extreme lengths to shed the Christmas kilos and slim down for summer, experts have taken aim at a deadly new diet that bans everything but water, tea, and coffee. With the so-called #waterfast diet becoming a potentially fatal fad via social media, body image and eating disorder advocate Mia Findlay warned “starving” your body was the “most dangerous” way to lose weight. “There are a lot of people who do reviews on these so-called diets, and they say they felt so clear-headed, and they felt like they were reaching this state of nirvana, and the reason that is happening is that their bodies are going into starvation mode,” Ms. Findlay said. Meanwhile, eating disorder expert Joanne Labiner said “water fasting” pushed the body to an anorexia-like state, ri...

Cold And Flu Remedies That Actually Work

22Dec

By CatherineNo Comments

Remedies

Cold And Flu Remedies That Actually Work

Cold weather doesn’t literally make you sick, but the winter season does indeed make you more prone to catching a bad cold. Chilly conditions mean you spend more time indoors, where bacteria and viruses are more likely to linger in the air and on surfaces you touch, and the drop in temperature leaves your mucous membranes dry, irritated, and more vulnerable to infection. The holiday season can be particularly rough on the ol’ immune system, what with all the traveling and hanging out with far-flung relatives and their exotic germs. And let’s be honest, you’re probably not taking the best care of yourself either—drinking, eating lots of unhealthy food, staying up late. Actually, take a break! The simplest remedy is also the most effective, and probably the most disappointing. If yo...

Gene Editing Could Rewrite the GMO Debate

19Dec

By CatherineNo Comments

Genetically Modified Foods

Gene Editing Could Rewrite the GMO Debate

Decades of fretting over the safety and virtue of genetically modified organisms have led to a perverse outcome. Plant scientists in academia and startup companies have largely shied away from creating new GM crop varieties because it takes, on average, more than a hundred million dollars and over a decade to get such a plant approved by regulators in the United States, and also because the idea of GMO food has elicited public outrage. As a result, a few large agricultural and chemical producers like Monsanto—or MonSatan, if you prefer—dominate the GM industry, making a killing off herbicide- and insect-resistant corn and soybeans. New gene-editing tools, either CRISPR or the slightly older TALEN, don’t insert a foreign gene into the plant to create a new trait (as typically happens...

Wellness For Men: 4 Tips For Healthier Skin

19Dec

By CatherineNo Comments

Wellness

Wellness For Men: 4 Tips For Healthier Skin

Everybody wants glowing skin – be it a man or a woman. Now, everyone is not blessed with healthy skin, and some of us are constantly on the look-out for measures to make our skin not only look better but also feel better. To help you tackle this, and ensure your skin looks healthier than ever, here are 4 points that will surely be of some help. • Cleanse your skin • Moisturise to energize • Hydrate • A good night’s sleep Read the full article at GQ India

Can A GM Banana Solve Uganda’s Hunger Crisis?

17Dec

By CatherineNo Comments

Genetically Modified Foods

Can A GM Banana Solve Uganda’s Hunger Crisis?

Trials for a GM banana variety, which is resistant to wilt and contains vitamin A, have been ongoing since 2004 in an effort to improve production. The law will mean this crop can be released to the public. “Now that the law has been passed, we’re able to go for open-field trials [of the technologies] before releasing them to the public,” says Priver Namanya Bwesigye, a plant biotechnologist at the National Agricultural Research Organisation. She adds that GM bananas could be released for public use in 2021. Other GM trials include developing cassava resistant to brown streak, drought-resistant maize, and bollworm-resistant cotton. Critics say GM crops will make farmers beholden to big agribusiness by having to buy seeds every season. Farmers in Uganda produce between 80% and 85% ...

12Dec

By CatherineNo Comments

Diet

Want More Brain Energy? Try this Diet!

What doesn’t kill brain cells might make them stronger. The brain cells of mice who regularly fast may grow more than usual once they get food again, according to research presented at the Society for Neuroscience’s annual meeting in November and first reported by New Scientist. One particular protein may be behind the growth: brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). In humans, BDNF may be involved in learning and memory. Levels of this protein tend to decline as a person gets older, especially if someone is diagnosed with a disease that can affect cognitive functions like Alzheimer’s. However, levels of this protein increase in mice that have been fasting by up to 50 percent. In theory, Mattson said, BDNF might be stimulating cells to produce more mitochondria. Mitochondria are oft...

Popularity of Botanical in the U.S. Market

6Dec

By CatherineNo Comments

Botanicals

Popularity of Botanical in the U.S. Market

Botanical dietary supplements continue to be popular in the United States. The American Botanical Council (ABC) recently published the Herb Market Report 2016, which listed a number of reasons behind the current interest by consumers. Botanicals that are believed to be beneficial for overall health—rather than a specific health condition—showed greater increases in sales. In alignment with this is the uptick in sales of a number of adaptogens--substances that allow the body to better resist various stress factors. Plants in this category include ashwagandha, Asian ginseng, mushrooms and Rhodiola. The increased interest in herbs used in Ayurvedic medicine has also been obvious by the fact that Boswellia, turmeric, and fenugreek posted some of the largest gains in 2016. But the success...