ISLAMABAD - It’s known that gorging on fatty food can make you fat. Now, a new study has claimed that eating late in night can also help you pile on the kilos.
In experiments on mice, a team at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California found that eating while we stay up to browse the Internet or watch a late film is likely to be contributing to rising obesity levels.
Dr Satchidananda Panda, an associate professor who led the study, said at certain times of day the liver, intestines and muscles are at peak efficiency, while at other times they are “sleeping”.
“Every organ has a clock. Those metabolic cycles are critical. When mice or people eat through the day and night, it can throw off those normal metabolic cycles,” Dr Panda was quoted saying in the Daily Mail.
In the study, the researchers allowed a group of mice to eat only during an eight-hour period, while a second group could graze on what they wanted all day and night.
They found that even though the two groups were eating about the same amount of calories, those who ate at set times during the day did not become obese. The researchers explained that the mice that ate when they wanted gained weight because they disrupted their body clock-and the same principle may apply to humans too.
At the end of their study, the mice that ate all day and night had 70 per cent more fatty deposits than the group that was time-restricted.
Noting that eating patterns have changed in recent years as people have more reasons to stay up into the night, Dr Panda suggested that restricting meal times could help to lower obesity levels.
Commenting on the study, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum said: “There’s a pattern, which you should build up from childhood, of three set meals a day. “Anything you do to upset that opens you up to problems with the hormones that control appetite.”
High acid level in juices damaging kids’ teeth
Many parents are unwittingly egging on their kids to drink smoothies and juices, blissfully unaware that a combination of high acid levels and sugar can erode their teeth. Instead of seemingly healthy fruit juice, children should preferably be given water and a handful of chocolate buttons for the sake of their teeth, said Kathy Harley, dean of the dental faculty at the Royal College of Surgeons. Manufacturers are required to publish nutritional content of drinks on the label - but not their levels of acid, which can invite tooth decay, according to an investigation conducted by The Sunday Telegraph.
Harley said 50 percent of five-year-olds now show signs of damaged tooth enamel caused by excess acid in their diet. While health-conscious parents meant well in trying to feed their kids fruit and vegetables, the acid and sugar combo in juice meant they should be restricted to a “once a week treat”.
Tooth enamel begins to be destroyed when acid levels in the mouth drop below 5.5 on the pH scale, which has 7 as neutral and one as strong acid.
While water has a pH of 7, and milk is just below at 6.8, our investigation found that a soft drink called This Water with lemons and limes, which describes itself as a “juice drink blended with pure squeezed juices and pure spring water,” had a level of 2.7 - making it more acidic than cider vinegar, which had a level of 2.9. This Water also contains 9.5 teaspoons of sugar in a 420 ml bottle. In 2008, the company had an ad campaign banned by the Advertising Standards Authority for failing to inform consumers about the sugar content of its juice drinks.
The other fruit drinks tested, including Tropicana orange juice, Copella apple juice, Innocent smoothies, Capri Sun orange drink and Robinsons Fruit Shoot apple and blackcurrant low sugar drink all had acid levels ranging between 3.3 and 3.8.
The most acidic beverage tested was Coca Cola, with a pH level of 2.5 and 12.5 teaspoons of sugar in a 500 ml bottle. Harley said, “The only healthy drinks for teeth are milk and water. Children are having fruit drinks and smoothies several times a day, when they these should be considered as a treat, something to have once a week.”
Health benefits of olive oil
Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated ‘good’ fats and, when used daily, can bring instant and easy wellness to a family’s diet. Olive oil is universally acknowledged as the healthiest cooking medium. The greatest benefit of olive oil is that it fights coronary heart disease. Olive oil has the highest content of monounsaturated “good” fats (no less than 80 percent) amongst all edible oils, which reduce bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides.
At only 10 percent, it has amongst the lowest percentage of saturated ‘bad’ fats, which increase bad cholesterol. High MUFA content in olive oil has been found to prevent high cholesterol, fight heart disease, and help in the prevention of diabetes as well as cancer.
A rich source of antioxidants, especially vitamin E, olive oil helps minimise cancer risk. It also improves bone mineralisation and helps calcium absorption thus preventing the onset of Osteoporosis.