Not So Juicy

Moneylife Digital Team 31 July 2017

What is common between Selma Hayek, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jessica Alba? They all swear by juicing because of the belief that a few days of fruit and vegetable juice can eliminate toxins from your body. There is, as yet, no scientific evidence of this, says Mayo Clinic. Maybe not much research has been done, after all. Biologically speaking, for healthy individuals, liver, kidney and colon automatically remove toxins from the body. If they don’t, having fruits and vegetable juices will not help. That apart, blenders (or mixers) used for juicing, kill nutrients. A laboratory test done in December 2013 at the Australian government’s National Measurement Institute showed that juice from a juice extractor contains up to twice the concentration of key nutrients than is obtained from blenders.

Guts & Glory

Ayurveda has always regarded our digestive system as the source of health. Now, the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) provides a link between gut colonisation and the progress of heart failure. The researchers found that a significantly lower proportion of different bacteria is found in the gut in patients with heart failure than in the guts of healthy individuals. It is still unclear whether the gut flora is altered as a result of heart failure or whether it may be a trigger for this disease. One of the main reasons for altered gut flora is, of course, improper diet and medication.

Are Sweeteners Bad?

If you think you are trying to control weight by shifting to artificial sweeteners, you may like to think again. According to a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, sweeteners such as aspartame and sucralose may be associated with long-term weight gain and increased risk of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. Researchers from the University of Manitoba’s George & Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation reviewed 37 studies that tracked 400,000 people for 10 years on average. The studies did not show a consistent effect of artificial sweeteners on weight loss, while the longer studies showed a link between artificial sweeteners and higher risks of weight gain and obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, etc. Of course, only seven of 37 studies were randomised controlled trials, the gold standard in clinical research.

Eat Less, Live Longer

Some solid long-term research points to the fact that eating nutritious food of slightly lesser quantity than what makes you full is the key to delayed ageing and healthier life. In the late-1980s, two independent long-term trials were started on ageing. One of them was at the National Institute for Ageing (NIA) and the other at the University of Wisconsin. Both the studies put Rhesus monkeys through a calorie-restricted diet. Why Rhesus monkeys? Because we share 93% of our DNA with them and we age in the same way. In the two studies, 76 monkeys at Wisconsin and 121 at NIA were fed with food tailored to their age, weight and natural appetite, containing the nutrients that their bodies need. Except that half of the monkeys were given 30% less. One of monkeys from this lot, named Sherman, is 43 years old, has been on a calorie-restricted diet since he was 16. He happens to be the oldest Rhesus monkey ever recorded—nearly 20 years older than the average lifespan for his species in captivity. The same is true for the rest of the primates who were on calorie-restricted diet. They looked younger, with less sag and more brown hair, and recorded lower incidence of diabetes and cancer. Overall, only 13% of the monkeys in the calorie-restricted group had died of age-related causes in 20 years. In the other group, the figure was 37%. So, eat nutritious foods and eat less. We normally do the opposite.

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