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Business News/ Mint-lounge / Features/  A weight loss weapon: A bottle of water before a meal
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A weight loss weapon: A bottle of water before a meal

Incense smoke may cause same health effects as cigarettes, and feel good exercise hormone irisin is for realresearch and studies for a healthier you

Drinking 500ml of tap water half an hour before eating main meals may help reduce weight. Photo: iStockPremium
Drinking 500ml of tap water half an hour before eating main meals may help reduce weight. Photo: iStock

Feel-good exercise hormone irisin is for real

Scientists in the US have found that a feel-good exercise hormone called irisin does indeed exist in humans, putting to bed long-disputed claims that it is a myth. The research team, led by Bruce Spiegelman from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, used mass spectrometry to look for irisin in blood samples of individuals after exercise, finding that these people had released the exercise hormone from their body, which activates fat cells to increase energy turnover. The research was published in the journal Cell Metabolism. “Concentrations are present in sedentary individuals and are significantly increased in individuals undergoing aerobic interval training," the researchers said in the paper. Read more here.

A bottle of water before meal could help lose weight

Drinking 500ml of tap water half an hour before eating main meals may help reduce weight, according to researchers from the University of Birmingham. They believe that the simple intervention could be hugely beneficial and be easily promoted by healthcare professionals and through public health campaigns. The study, published in the journal Obesity, showed encouraging initial results for the trial and the team hope that the findings will inform further research into the benefits of water preloading before meals. According to a release from the university, obese adult participants were recruited from general practices and monitored over a 12-week period. Each of the participants, all adults with obesity, were given a weight management consultation where they were advised on how to adapt their lifestyle and improve their diet and levels of physical activity. 41 of those recruited were asked to preload with water and 43 were advised to imagine that they had a full stomach before eating. Those in the group who were instructed to ‘preload’ with water lost, on average 1.3 kg more than those in the control group. Those who reported preloading before all three main meals in the day reported a loss of 4.3 kg over 12 weeks, whereas those who only preloaded once, or not at all, only lost an average of 0.8 kg. Read more here.

Can’t count sheep? You could have aphantasia

If counting sheep is an abstract concept, or you are unable to visualise the faces of loved ones, you could have aphantasia, a newly defined condition to describe people who are born without a “mind’s eye". Some people report a significant impact on their lives from being unable to visualise memories of their partners, or departed relatives. Others say that descriptive writing is meaningless to them, and careers such as architecture or design are closed to them, as they would not be able to visualise an end product. Cognitive neurologist Professor Adam Zeman, at the University of Exeter Medical School, has revisited the concept of people who cannot visualise, which was first identified by Sir Francis Galton in 1880. A 20th century survey suggested that this may be true of 2.5% of the population, yet until now, this phenomenon has remained largely unexplored. Read more here.

Pilates linked to better balance in older women with back pain

Older women with lower back pain who add pilates to their physical therapy routine may see improvements in balance and reductions in fear of falling that don’t result from other types of exercise, a Spanish study suggests. Researchers followed about 100 women aged 65 and older, offering all of them physiotherapy twice a week with 40 minutes of nerve stimulation and 20 minutes of massage and stretching exercises. Half the women also received hour-long pilates sessions twice a week. After six weeks, the women who did pilates reported a reduced fear of falling, while the other women didn’t. Pilates was also linked to greater improvements in balance and reductions in back pain. “Pilates exercises focus not only on physical but also on psychological development, and mind-body interaction is the main principal of the method," lead author Dr. Fidel Hita-Contreras of the University of Jaen in Spain said by email. Read more here.

Incense smoke may cause same health effects as cigarettes

Incense smoke contains chemical properties that could potentially change genetic material such as DNA and therefore cause mutations, a new study has claimed. The burning of incense might need to come with a health warning, researchers said. This follows the first study evaluating the health risks associated with its indoor use. The research, led by Rong Zhou of the South China University of Technology and the China Tobacco Guangdong Industrial Company in China, compared the effects of incense and cigarette smoke. Incense burning is a traditional and common practice in many families and in most temples in Asia. It is not only used for religious purposes, but also because of its pleasant smell. During the burning process, particle matter is released into the air. This can be breathed in and trapped in the lungs, and is known to cause an inflammatory reaction. Not much research has been done on incense as a source of air pollution, although it has been linked to the development of lung cancer, childhood leukaemia and brain tumours, researchers said. The study was published in the journal Environmental Chemistry Letters. Read more here.

Compiled by Pooja Chaturvedi

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Published: 27 Aug 2015, 12:26 PM IST
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