Exerc
ise Boosts Healthy Gut Bacteria
Hard training athletes, particularly those who train for physique competition, understand the importance of diet and exercise’s ability to impact performance and reshape body composition. However, without a healthy digestive system, even the most well-conceived nutritional approaches can fail to be effective. A new study published in the journal Gut has found a positive link between exercise and digestive health. The study tracked 40 professional rugby players who were asked to fill out food questionnaires in addition to giving blood and stool samples before participating. The study also included two additional groups who were also required to submit samples and questionnaires as well. One group had similar size and BMI to the rugby players, while the other group was matched in age, but had lower BMI. At the conclusion of the study researchers found that the rugby players had a wider, more diverse array of gut bacteria that included high levels of specific types of bacteria associated with reduced risk of obesity. Researchers note that this is the first study to prove that exercise does in fact play a role in the determining our gut health. This study shows the importance that lifestyle modifications such as exercise can have on our health and longevity.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/277960.php
Researchers
Discover Fat Burning On/Off Switch
For many the anxiety of starting a diet and the thought of giving up or cutting back their favorite foods leads to built in mental road blocks that can prevent them from being successful before they ever begin. People often say that they wish they had a magic wand that could just make the fat melt away. Well researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio have discovered what they’re describing as an on/off switch for fat burning according to a study published in the journal Cell Metabolism. They’ve found a molecular pathway known as mTORC1 that has the ability to turn white, metabolically inactive adipose tissue, into brown adipose tissue; also known as the fat burning fat. A protein identified as Grb10 flips the switch in mTORC1 and signals the conversion to start. Researchers are now searching for a way to take their results and translate them into a therapeutic method that could potentially treat obesity and possibly put an end to the growing epidemic.
http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=22418&Section=NUTRITION
Vitamin 
D Improves Survival Rates of Prostate Cancer
The sunshine vitamin, which is actually a steroid hormone, has been associated with playing a role in thousands of genetic and cellular processes. Among those associations has been the intriguing role that vitamin D plays in cancer prevention and cancer treatment methods as well. A new study published in the journal Military Medicine has identified a link between vitamin D deficiency and survival rates amongst prostate cancer patients. For the study blood was taken from an undisclosed number of veterans who had been previously diagnosed with prostate cancer. Samples were analyzed to determine serum vitamin D levels at the start, again at follow up visits, and at the conclusion of the five year period. After five years nearly 28% of participants had died from complications resulting from the disease, and of those who died over one third had been identified as vitamin D deficient. Researchers believe that the results show a clear picture of the way vitamin D influences cellular invasion, metastasis, and inhibition of the growth of prostate cancer cells. Researchers recommend that all prostate cancer patients supplement with 2,000 IU vitamin D3 daily, citing a separate study that found vitamin D supplementation’s ability to decrease bone pain and boost muscle strength.
Oxytocin May Prevent Ag
e Related Muscle Loss
Oxytocin, commonly referred to as the love hormone, has been associated with a number positive benefits such as having the ability to elevate mood, decreasing anxiety, social bonding, and is even released in plentiful amounts following orgasm in both men and women. Now a new study conducted by researchers at the University of California Berkeley that was recently published in the journal Nature Communications has found that giving oxytocin to aged mice slows age related muscle loss and increases muscle regeneration. For the study researchers split aged mice into two groups. Group one received oxytocin while group two received a placebo. Both groups of mice were then injected with a toxin known to cause muscle damage. Researchers found that the mice who were given oxytocin were able to regenerate new muscle tissue at an accelerated rate compared to the control group. Researchers believe that oxytocin’s ability to activate stem cells in the muscle are responsible for the new muscle growth, and believe that similar results may be able to be replicated safely in humans.
Ketogenic Diets Decrease Epileptic Seizures in Adults
Ketogenic diets have been used primarily as an effective means of weight loss and body fat reduction. However, research has shown ketogenic diets can also have positive impacts on blood glucose regulation, improving cholesterol numbers, and have even been shown to be an effective means of battling metastatic tumors as well. A recent study has found that ketogenic diets may also be an effective weapon in combatting epileptic seizures in adults. They took 29 adult patients who all suffered from regular epileptic seizures and placed them on a ketogenic diet for nine months. At the conclusion of the study 52% of the patients reported a significant reduction in seizure frequency and researchers report that the longer the duration of compliance, the better the results seemed to be experienced by the patients. Previous studies have found that treating children suffering from seizures with a ketogenic diet was an effective means of treatment, however, results as to whether or not the treatment was effective in adults was inconclusive. Researchers now believe that the ketogenic diet can be used as an effective means of treatment in adults suffering from frequent epileptic seizures.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24675110
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