Fitness Factoids: Volume 30
Watching Your Team
Lose May Cause Weight Gain
A new study conducted by the INSEAD Business School in France has found that watching your favorite football team may be elevating more than your stress level. According to the study, people who watch their football team lose have been shown to consume nearly 28% more saturated fat after the defeat. Conversely, watching your favorite team win can have just the opposite effect on your diet. The data shows that people who live in cities in which their team wins have been shown to eat approximately 16% less saturated fat. Unfortunately, if you’re a fan of the Jacksonville Jaguars, this season may lead to a disastrous expansion of your waistline.
Scientists Develop Method of Identifying Location of Brown Fat
Not all adipose tissue is created equal. In our bodies we have two types of fat; brown adi
pose tissue (BAT), which generates heat and raises internal temperature, and white adipose tissue, which is used to store our excess energy as bodyfat. Scientists at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston have created a way of identifying the exact location of BAT in an animal model. The team of researchers created a peptide, that once administered intravenously, emits small amounts of light that can be detected by specialized cameras. By identifying the location of BAT, scientists hope to find ways to stimulate the metabolically active tissue and develop an effective method of combating obesity.
https://www.uth.edu/media/story.htm?id=1d37a8b0-4cef-478b-b21a-20a30de12928
Carbonatio
n Tricks Your Brain
According to a new study published in the journal Gastroenterology, consuming sugar-free carbonated beverages that contain artificial sweeteners makes it difficult for the brain to determine the difference between real sugar and artificial sweeteners. In the study researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging the monitor the brain while participants consumed sugar-free carbonated beverages. The findings indicated that the carbonated beverages tricked the brain into consuming a sugar laden drink, and that the signals that normally alert gastric emptiness became distorted. Previous studies have that drinks containing aspartame and Sucralose actually do stimulate the release of insulin in the body which ultimately disables the body’s fat burning mechanisms.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-09/aga-cat091713.php
Diet and Exercise Reverses Aging in Cells
A small study that was released by the journal The Lancet 
Oncology was able the show that diet modifications in combination with exercise has the ability to lengthen telomeres. A telomere is essentially a protective cap on the end of our genes. If the cap comes off, or the telomeres become damaged and shorten, genetic damage that results in accelerated aging and disease can occur. In the study scientists used 35 men that had been diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer and assigned them to a vegetarian diet with regular exercise, and a second group served as a control. After five years scientists found that the group who dieted and exercised had increased their telomere length by about 10%, making cells healthier and younger. The control group, which did not undergo any lifestyle changes, actually saw their telomere length shrink by 3%, a sign of accelerated cellular aging.
Bottled Water Disrupts E
ndocrine Function
Do you think your bottled water is safer to drink than your tap water? A new German study might make you reconsider. A team of researchers from the University of Frankfurt tested 18 different brands of bottled water to see if they contained harmful chemicals that disrupted the endocrine system. Much to their horror, the team identified 24, 520 different chemicals in the tested water! Thirteen out of the eighteen different brands of water contained an endocrine disruptor known as di furmurate (DEHF). DEHF is a chemical that is known to produce anti-estrogen like effects once ingested. In addition to DEHF, the team found 16 out of the 18 samples contained hazardous chemicals that inhibit the androgen receptor by as much as 90%! This study does raise questions such as; if tap water is unsafe to drink, and so is bottled water, what can we safely drink?
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