Tag: University of Exeter

Beetroot Juice Gives Stamina a Boost

Post author By Mukul
Post date February 24, 2010
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Drinking beetroot juice boosts your stamina, concludes a new study, which adds that the magical drink can help you exercise for up to 16 percent longer.

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The University of Exeter led-study has for the first time shown how the nitrate contained in beetroot juice leads to a reduction in oxygen uptake, making exercise less tiring.

The study reveals that drinking beetroot juice reduces oxygen uptake to an extent that cannot be achieved by any other known means, including training.

To reach the conclusion, research team conducted their study with eight men aged between 19 and 38. They were given 500ml per day of organic beetroot juice for six consecutive days before completing a series of tests, involving cycling on an exercise bike. On another occasion, they were given a placebo of blackcurrant cordial for six consecutive days before completing the same cycling tests.

After drinking beetroot juice the group was able to cycle for an average of 11.25 minutes, which is 92 seconds longer than when they were given the placebo. This would translate into an approximate 2 percent reduction in the time taken to cover a set distance. The group that had consumed the beetroot juice also had lower resting blood pressure.

The researchers are not yet sure of the exact mechanism that causes the nitrate in the beetroot juice to boost stamina. However, they suspect it could be a result of the nitrate turning into nitric oxide in the body, reducing the oxygen cost of exercise.

Source :The research has been published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

Tags Aerobic exercise, Beetroot, Blood pressure, Curiosity (rover), Cycling, Gale (crater), Health, Mars, Nasa, Nitric Oxide, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Research, Sample Analysis at Mars, University of Exeter

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Beetroot Juice for Boosting Stamina

Post author By Mukul
Post date August 9, 2009
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A regular beetroot drink allows you to exercise for longer without tiring
Forget punishing gym workouts and jogging miles uphill.

The key to boosting stamina could be as simple as a glass of beetroot juice.
A daily dose apparently allows us to exercise for longer before tiring.
Just under a pint of beetroot juice a day also lowers blood pressure, boosting heart health.
With some of the benefits even surpassing those gained from the strict training routines followed by professional sportsmen, the researchers admit to being stunned by the results.
And they say that while the earthy tang of the juice might not be to everyone’s taste, it could have a big impact on everyone from athletes training for big events to pensioners who lack the energy to walk to the shops.

The researchers, from the University of Exeter and the Peninsula Medical School, in the same city, recruited eight healthy young men to complete a series of cycling tests.
They took them twice – after drinking beetroot juice once a day for six days and after drinking blackcurrant cordial.
When tasked with cycling at an easy pace, the men used less oxygen after drinking beetroot juice, the Journal of Applied Physiology reports.
This indicates that their muscles were able to do the same amount of work while spending less energy. When they were asked to cycle for as long as they could before stopping, the beetroot juice allowed them to pedal an extra minute-and-a-half before running out of energy.
This 16 per cent increase in endurance means that someone who normally runs out of steam after jogging for hour would be able to keep going for an extra ten minutes.
Alternatively, they could cover the same distance but more quickly.
Researcher Andy Jones said: ‘We were amazed by the effects of beetroot juice on oxygen uptake because these effects cannot be achieved by any other known means, including training.
‘Obviously you get fitter with training but your oxygen uptake stays fixed.
‘You could take a Tour de France cyclist and a man in the street and their oxygen uptake at the same work rate would be exactly the same.’

The benefits are likely to be due to the high levels of nitrate in beetroot juice, which costs around £2 a pint in health food shops.
The chemical is also found in green leafy vegetables such as lettuce and spinach but is especially concentrated in juices.
It is thought that it undergoes a series of changes in the body which lead to the blood vessels widening, improving oxygen supply to the muscles.
Although the study used shop-bought beetroot juice, the researchers said that homemade versions should also be beneficial.
But drinking beetroot juice is likely to have another unexpected consequence – purple urine, or ‘beeturia’ as it is known to scientists.

Source: MailOnline. 9Th.Aug.2009

Tags Andy Jones, Blood pressure, Cycling, France, Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry, Sport, Tour de France, University of Exeter

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Mother’s Diet Linked to Baby’s Sex

Post author By Mukul
Post date April 28, 2008
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Oysters may excite the libido, but there is nothing like a hearty breakfast laced with sugar to boost a woman’s chances of conceiving a son, according to a study released.

Likewise, a low-energy diet that skimps on calories, minerals and nutrients is more likely to yield a female of the human species, says the study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Britain’s de facto academy of sciences. Fiona Mathews of the University of Exeter in Britain and colleagues wanted to find out if a woman’s diet has an impact on the sex of her offspring. So they asked 740 first-time mothers who did not know if their unborn foetuses were male or female to provide detailed records of eating habits before and after they became pregnant. The women were split into three groups according to the number calories they consumed per day around the time of conception. Fifty-six per cent of the women in the group with the highest energy intake had sons, compared to 45 per cent in the least-well fed cohort. Besides racking up a higher calorie count, the group who produced more males were also more likely to have eaten a wider range of nutrients, including potassium, calcium and vitamins C, E and B12. The odds of an XY, or male outcome to a pregnancy also went up sharply “for women who consumed at least one bowl of breakfast cereal daily compared with those who ate less than or equal to one bowl of week,” the study reported.

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These surprising findings are consistent with a very gradual shift in favour of girls over the last four decades in the sex ratio of newborns, according to the researchers. Previous research has shown — despite the rising epidemic in obesity — a reduction in the average energy uptake in advanced economies. The number of adults who skip breakfast has also increased substantially. “This research may help to explain why in developed countries, where many young women choose low calorie diets, the proportion of boys is falling,” Mathews said.

The study’s findings, she added, could point to a “natural mechanism” for gender selection. The link between a rich diet and male children may have an evolutionary explanation. For most species, the number of offspring a male can father exceeds the number a female can give birth to. But only if conditions are favourable — poor quality male specimens may fail to breed at all, whereas females reproduce more consistently. “If a mother has plentiful resources, then it can make sense to invest in producing a son because he is likely to produce more grandchildren than would a daughter,” thus contributing to the survival of the species, explains Mathews. “However, in leaner times having a daughter is a safer bet.” While the mechanism is not yet understood, it is known from in vitro fertilisation research that higher levels of glucose, or sugar, encourage the growth and development of male embryos while inhibiting female embryos.

Click to see also:->

Low-fat dairy infertility warning

Beef diet ‘damages sons’ sperm’

High-calorie diet linked to boys

. Sources: The Times Of India

Tags 11:14, Academic degree, Advertising, Agence France-Presse, Antibacterial, Antibiotic resistance, Physical exercise, PLOS ONE, United Kingdom, University of Exeter

Healthy Tips

Walking is a very good exercise

Post author By Mukul
Post date July 11, 2006
2 Comments on Walking is a very good exercise

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Walking is a very good exercise…. this advice should be given to those who are above 30 years old or who may have some heart problem or other physical problems or are totally unable to do other exercises .But some times I find young people specially, young girls taking brisk walk in the park instead of playing in the field. They might think that they are doing lot of exercises by walking a long distances.According to me, walking is definitely good, it is refreshing,soothing and pleasant but it is not at all a full exercise for young people.They should rather play in the field, or swim or do other form of exercise which will really burn the required calories to be burnt by exercises.

But it is the best form of exercise for the people who doesnot get proper time or interest for doing any other exercise to keep the body fit.

BENEFITS OF WALKING:

5 surprising benefits of walking:
The next time you have a check-up, don’t be surprised if your doctor hands you a prescription to walk. Yes, this simple activity that you’ve been doing since you were about a year old is now being touted as “the closest thing we have to a wonder drug,” in the words of Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Of course, you probably know that any physical activity, including walking, is a boon to your overall health. But walking in particular comes with a host of benefits. Here’s a list of five that may surprise you.

1. It counteracts the effects of weight-promoting genes. Harvard researchers looked at 32 obesity-promoting genes in over 12,000 people to determine how much these genes actually contribute to body weight. They then discovered that, among the study participants who walked briskly for about an hour a day, the effects of those genes were cut in half.

2. It helps tame a sweet tooth. A pair of studies from the University of Exeter found that a 15-minute walk can curb cravings for chocolate and even reduce the amount of chocolate you eat in stressful situations. And the latest research confirms that walking can reduce cravings and intake of a variety of sugary snacks.

3. It reduces the risk of developing breast cancer. Researchers already know that any kind of physical activity blunts the risk of breast cancer. But an American Cancer Society study that zeroed in on walking found that women who walked seven or more hours a week had a 14% lower risk of breast cancer than those who walked three hours or fewer per week. And walking provided this protection even for the women with breast cancer risk factors, such as being overweight or using supplemental hormones.

4. It eases joint pain. Several studies have found that walking reduces arthritis-related pain, and that walking five to six miles a week can even prevent arthritis from forming in the first place. Walking protects the joints — especially the knees and hips, which are most susceptible to osteoarthritis — by lubricating them and strengthening the muscles that support them.

5. It boosts immune function. Walking can help protect you during cold and flu season. A study of over 1,000 men and women found that those who walked at least 20 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week, had 43% fewer sick days than those who exercised once a week or less. And if they did get sick, it was for a shorter duration, and their symptoms were milder.

To learn more about the numerous benefits of walking, as well as easy ways to incorporate a walk into your daily routine, buy Walking for Health, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School

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You carry your own body weight when you walk. This is sometimes called weight bearingâ exercise. Some of the benefits include:

Increased cardiovascular and pulmonary (heart and lung) fitness
Reduced risk of heart disease and stroke
Improved management of conditions such as hypertension (high blood pressure), high cholesterol, joint and muscular pain or stiffness, and diabetes
Stronger bones and improved balance
Increased muscle strength and endurance
Reduced body fat.

WALK 30 MINUTES A DAY

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To get the health benefits, try to walk for at least 30 minutes as briskly as you can most days of the week. ˜Brisk means that you can still talk but not sing, and you may be puffing slightly. Moderate activities such as walking pose little health risk but, if you have a medical condition, check with your doctor before starting any new exercise program of physical activity.

BUILD PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN YOUR LIFE ALSO

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If it’s too difficult to walk for 30 minutes at one time, do regular small bouts (10 minutes) three times per day. If you want to lose weight, you will need to do physical activity for longer than 30 minutes each day. You can achieve this by starting with smaller bouts of activity throughout the day, as suggested above, and eventually building up to sessions of more than 30 minutes.

Physical activity built into a daily lifestyle plan is also one of the most effective ways to assist with weight loss and keep weight off once itâ€™s lost. Here are some ways to build walking into your daily routine: