Taste of beer is enough to get brain chemicals flowing

For most of us, beer is a convivial drink, but for some, it can be addicting. Alcoholism is an affliction in which a person has become physically dependent on an alcohol-containing drink, of which beer is an example. To understand alcoholism, one has to study the brain and its chemistry. For those that have become addicted to beer, the release of a brain chemical known as dopamine plays a large role in creating a physical dependency. Scientists from the Indiana University have studied what happens to the brain if people drink alcohol, and found that the act of drinking by itself is enough to trigger the release of dopamine.

Olive oil helps to keep the blood flowing

Olive oil is popular for cooking, as it is supposedly the most healthy when it comes to oils. While scientific evidence has shown beneficial effects of olive oil consumption, there is a lot of work left to be done to investigate whether the health claims are actually valid. A recent study conducted by the University of Messina revealed that a certain compound that is present in olive oil may help prevent damage to the organs caused by faulty blood supply.

Eating tomatoes associated with lower risk for stroke

Everybody knows eating vegetables and fruit is healthy. But not my many long-term studies are performed to see what the actual health effects are of regularly eating a certain type of green. We know it is healthy, but to what extent? And how much do we actually need to eat to reasonably lower the risk of undesirable health outcomes? A study performed by Finnish scientists gives an interesting example regarding the analysis of health effects due to fruit or vegetable consumption, by linking tomatoes to a reduced risk of stroke.

Energy drinks improve heart function

Energy drinks have become increasingly popular in the last decade. They promise a quick boost of energy and are therefore used a lot by those of us not getting enough sleep, for example. However, everything comes at a price, which in the case of energy drinks means that such temporary boosts are not good for your health. This is common knowledge, but a recent study from the University of Siena points in a different direction. Scientists argue that energy drinks actually improve your heart function.

Cheese reduces the chance of developing diabetes

Food is important for our survival, but our dietary pattern also tells us something about chances of developing nasty diseases. Eating a lot of fat, for example, does not bode well for your heart and blood vessels. When it comes to food, recent studies have shown that chocolate has all kinds of beneficial effects. Now, a study conducted by a large European consortium of researchers revealed that eating cheese and other fermented dairy products helps to prevent diabetes.

Alcohol can reduce risk of rheumatoid arthritis

Not all effects of alcohol are bad, as scientists recently proved by showing that it reduces the risk of asthma and improves social behaviour in a group. Now, a group of researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden have shown that alcohol consumption can also reduce the risk of acquiring rheumatoid arthritis. This disease is marked by hyperactivity of the immune system, predominantly leading to damaged joints, skin and sometimes also several organs. Because it is a painful, disabling condition to which no cure is available, discovering ways to prevent it is highly necessary. The discovered effects of alcohol are therefore very welcome, albeit a bit odd.

Binge eating may be stopped by blocking a receptor

Eating disorders are on the list of 'modern' diseases, and are rarely taken seriously. A lot of people think it is simply a state of mind, and not a real thing that deserves treatment. However, the body has various mechanisms to regulate appetite, and, by proxy, food intake. Sometimes, biological intervention is possible, as is the case with something called a binge eating disorder. Scientists from Boston University School of Medicine discovered that by blocking a certain protein, that serves as a receptor for incoming signals, binge eating behaviour can be reduced.

Sleep deprivation makes you want unhealthy food

Despite the fact that we have not quite figured out yet why it is that complex organisms need sleep in order to function properly, we do know it has to be very important. We all know that awful feeling of being sleep-deprived, even though it is still unknown what consequences it has on the long term. Previous research has revealed that a lack of sleep increases food craving, because it activates brain areas involved with appetite. Now, a different study shows that it also increases desire for eating junk food. Altogether, these studies show that sleep deprivation is not only unhealthy by itself, it also leads to unhealthy behaviour.

Chocolate consumption as a medical treatment

Several studies have pointed out that consumption of dark chocolate can induce health benefits. A large data analysis revealed that it can reduce cardiovascular disease, while another study showed that it functions by restoring 'energy factories' inside our cells. Researchers at the Monash University in Australia asked themselves whether chocolate could be used as an actual medical treatment to prevent a heart attack or stroke, and found that this would indeed be cost-effective. Therefore it may be that doctors will be ordering their patients to eat chocolate in the near future.

Brain suffers from eating 'bad' fat

With food, it is important to know what you eat. Not everything is equally healthy, and sometimes good and bad forms of a particular food component can be distinguished. Such is the case with fat: it comes in good and bad shapes. They are better known as unsaturated and saturated fats, the latter being the unhealthy one. Saturated variants have been associated with increased risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease, even though this is still being debated. A recent study from Brigham and Women's Hospital revealed that which type of fat you consume also matters for the brain. Changing your diet could therefore help you perform better.

High sugar consumption reduces intelligence

Eating and drinking a lot of sugary stuff is known to cause diabetes, as the sudden spike in blood sugar level it induces is not very healthy. It causes increased insulin production needed to rid the body of blood sugar levels that are too high, eventually causing insulin insensitivity due to prolonged exposure. Now, scientists from the University of California in Los Angeles have discovered that sugary foods and drinks also affect your brain. Specifically, consuming a lot of sweet stuff affects your intelligence.

Fat metabolism aided evolution of the human brain

Our brains are arguably one of the most wondrous results of billions of years of evolution, which is why scientists are devoting a lot of resources to uncover how our capabilities of thought have developed. A recent study performed by Uppsala University revealed that the way we metabolize certain fats has in the past aided the way our brains evolved our extraordinary features. A previous study, performed by universities in Manchester and Barcelona, already showed how our skull shape contributed to brain evolution.

Diet can significantly reduce risk of Parkinson's disease

It is important to eat healthy, and scientists from Harvard University have just found an additional reason to keep an eye on your diet. It appears that a particular substance found, among others, in berries and wine, can reduce the risk of developing Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative disorder that slowly renders you unable to properly control your muscles. The compounds, known as flavonoids have already been shown to have beneficial effects.

Computer chip analyses effect of food on intestines

Processing the components from our food is quite a stressful event for our intestines. Various enzymes are needed to break down whatever it is we eat, and all the useful pieces need to be absorbed in the gut and find their way into the blood to be redistributed where needed. Tissues can become strained from all the work, and then send out distress signals which enable the immune system. In turn, this causes inflammation. Because processing food is naturally stressful, a little inflammation is normal. However, when food components continuously stress the intestines, inflammation can become chronic, and that is when trouble starts. To uncover which food components are more likely to cause stress in the intestines, French scientists developed a piece of computer hardware. Their chip is supposed to mimic our gut and tell us something about what individual food components do.

Chocolate restores 'energy factories' in the body

Patients suffering from type II diabetes or advanced heart failure often have trouble finding the energy for exercise. It is a result from their disease, which impairs the function of mitochondria, which are the energy factories inside cells. Especially muscle cells rely greatly on these cellular structures because of their energy requirement. Scientists from the University of California in San Diego have discovered a way to increase functionality of the mitochondria: a compound found in dark chocolate helps revive these energy facilities.

A lack of sleep increases food cravings

Many complex organisms need sleep, including us humans. Why many animals opt for a temporary loss of consciousness is not fully understood, but it seems to be necessary to restore certain bodily functions, and perhaps to reset the brain. It is known that not getting enough sleep is not quite beneficial for your feeling of well being. Scientists from the University of Uppsala have discovered an additional effect of a lack of sleep: it makes you more hungry.

Tongue probably contains taste buds for fat

It is well known that humans have an affinity for fatty foods. Because of the wealthy abundance of food in the Western world, obesity is rapidly becoming one of the biggest (literally) problems. One explanation for our cravings of food containing high amounts of fat, is evolution favouring the intake of a lot of energy-dense food. After all, in the era of the cave man, you never knew when your next meal was going to be. Though thousands of years have gone by, we still possess those genes. Now, scientists from the University of Washington have discovered that a human tongue probably contains receptors that are able to make us taste fat.

Red wine decreases risk of breast cancer

After years of study, beneficial health effects of red wine consumption are still disputed. A recent study provides new fuel for the already lengthy discussion about its effects, by claiming that drinking red wine can cut the risk of breast cancer. Consumption can adjust hormone levels, which is beneficial for preventing breast cancer. Though, white wine lacked this effect.

Active nervous system predicts effective weight loss

Surprisingly, scientists have found a correlation between activity of the nervous system and someone's success in losing weight. They showed that increased activity of the autonomous nervous system during rest affects the rate at which the body's metabolises, and the rate at which calories derived from food are being used up. According to the researchers, working at an institute in Melbourne, Australia, the measured activity can accurately predict obesity, which is a helpful tool in analysing one's change on losing weight.

Probiotics affect body without populating intestines

Lots of claims have been made about probiotics; dairy products that contain a set of bacteria that are supposed to improve our gut flora. It is claimed, mostly by the companies that produce them, that they improve our digestion and metabolism, but none of these effects have ever been properly shown in a scientific study. However, a recent study shows that there might be beneficial effect of probiotic products. While the ingested bacteria do not seem to stick in the gut, where a lot of other human populating bacteria are, the metabolism of people who consume yoghurt with micro-organisms may be altered. While the implications of this study are yet to be unraveled, it could be that probiotics have a beneficial effect after all, even though it might be small.