There has been a lot of interest in the latest diet craze of intermittent fasting, whereby people eat all they want for a few days, followed by a short period of a very low calorie intake. A study from a team at Harvard Medical School has now looked at this way of eating in greater detail. Participants on the study were asked to eat 25 per cent of their optimal daily calorie intake for one day, and follow this with…
Until recently, much of the medical community has insisted chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), to be a psychological disorder. A research team from Columbia University in America has recently published findings showing that there are distinct immune system changes happening for people suffering from ME. The team looked at the pattern of certain immune system biomarkers, and found that there are distinct phases of the condition, as levels change depending on how long a person has…
The nicotine hit for smokers is usually highlighted as one of the key reasons for why they find it hard to give up the health-destroying habit. However, new research has now suggested it is the power of belief that may have a stronger pull on an individual, rather than the nicotine itself. The research involved asking smokers to smoke a cigarette while undergoing a brain scan, to see which areas of the brain were activated. A group of the smokers…
A new review paper of 37 studies has concluded that yoga is highly beneficial for managing and improving risk factors associated with heart disease. The investigation into the benefits of the ancient mind-body practice was conducted in the Netherlands and USA, and has been published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. The analysis aimed to look at the increasing evidence that yoga reduces the risk of heart attacks and stroke and compare it against regular cardiovascular exercise. The results…
More and more people are shunning gluten from their diet, due to the personal realisation that it simply doesn’t agree with them. However, without the medical diagnosis of coeliac disease, their choice to have a gluten-free diet is often greeted with scepticism, both by doctors and their family and friends around them. A new rigorous study conducted at the National Institute of Health in America has now added valuable evidence that non-coeliac gluten sensitivity is a genuine condition, and requires…