30, August 2014

Is the poultry industry misleading Indians about antibiotics use?

The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) Thursday rubbished claims made by the poultry industry that antibiotic residues found in Indian chicken were lower than the EU standard and accused it of ‘misleading’ the people. The CSE reiterated its earlier stand that large-scale use of antibiotics in the poultry industry has led to antibiotic resistance in Indians who are falling prey to many otherwise curable ailments. ’The poultry industry is misleading the public by saying that residues found in Indian chicken are lower than the EU standards,’ the CSE said in a statement.

‘The EU does not allow antibiotic use as growth promoters in poultry,’ it added. The CSE said that in India, non-therapeutic antibiotic use, for promoting growth of chicken and to prevent disease even in the absence of it was large-scale. In such cases, all the chicken in a poultry farm were exposed to a low dose of antibiotics for their entire life span. ’We need to stop non-therapeutic use to prevent emergence and spread resistant bacteria,’ it said. The study found that 40 percent of the samples tested positive and residues of more than one antibiotic were found in 17 percent of the samples. India currently has no regulations to control antibiotic use in the poultry industry or to control sales of antibiotics to the industry.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

30.08.2014

Revealed — how junk food ‘controls’ you!

Junk food not only makes you pile on the pounds, it may also suppress your appetite for a balanced diet. Australian researchers found that a diet of junk food in rats reduces their appetite for novel foods, a preference that normally drives them to seek a balanced diet. The findings help to explain how excessive consumption of junk food can change behaviour, weaken self-control and lead to overeating and obesity.

The team of researchers, led by Professor Margaret Morris, Head of Pharmacology from the School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Australia, taught young male rats to associate each of two different sound cues with a particular flavour of sugar water – cherry and grape.

Healthy rats, raised on a healthy diet, stopped responding to cues linked to a flavour in which they have recently overindulged. This inborn mechanism, widespread in animals, protects against overeating and promotes a healthy, balanced diet.

But after two weeks on a diet that included daily access to cafeteria foods, including pie, dumplings, cookies, and cake – with 150 per cent more calories – the rats’ weight increased by 10 per cent and their behaviour changed dramatically. They became indifferent in their food choices and no longer avoided the sound advertising the overfamiliar taste. This indicated that they had lost their natural preference for novelty. The change even lasted for some time after the rats returned to a healthy diet.

The researchers believe that a junk diet causes lasting changes in the reward circuit parts of the rats’ brain, for example, the orbitofrontal cortex, an area of the brain responsible for decision-making. They said these results may have implications for people’s ability to limit their intake of certain kinds of foods, because the brain’s reward circuitry is similar in all mammals. ‘The interesting thing about this finding is that if the same thing happens in humans, eating junk food may change our responses to signals associated with food rewards,’ said Morris. ‘It’s like you’ve just had ice cream for lunch, yet you still go and eat more when you hear the ice cream van come by,’ Morris added.

Source: www.thehealthsite.com

30.08.2014

Being honest may not get you a lot of friends but it’ll always get you the right ones