We are what we eat

A song from the evergone days said to old men "you are what eat, eat well".

That statement, in nowdays, needs to be adressed to young people, specially in Great Britain.

According to a recent research, infact, young people are becoming addicted with junk food, as well as might be becoming on smoking and taking havier drugs (like heroin).

Read more by David Derbyshire
Junk food may be as addictive as heroin and tobacco, a study has shown.
Obesity researchers found fatty and sugary snacks trigger the same 'pleasure centres' in the brain that drive people into drug addiction - making them binge on unhealthy food.
The findings could partly explain the soaring obesity rates in Britain and the success of fast food outlets.

Junk: Britons are the world's biggest junk food addicts (file photo)
Experts studied rats fed on cheesecake, bacon and sausages. Soon after the experiments began the animals began to bulk up and show signs of addiction.
'It presents the most thorough and compelling evidence that drug addiction and obesity are based on the same underlying neurobiological mechanisms,' Professor Paul Kenny said.

'In the study, the animals completely lost control over their eating behaviour and continued to over-eat even when they anticipated receiving electric shocks, highlighting just how motivated they were to consume the palatable food.'
During the trial the animals were rewarded with a pleasurable electrical stimulation.
The rats could control how much of the stimulation they got by running on a wheel. Animals living on junk food ran far more - suggesting they needed more brain stimulation to feel good, the researchers found.
The scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Florida, also gave rats electric shocks on their feet when they ate high-fat food.
Rats on a normal diet quickly learned to avoid the unhealthy food. But those used to junk food refused to let the shock get in their way of their high calorie food.
'They always went for the worst types of food,' said Professor Kenny, who published his findings in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
'When we removed the junk food and tried to put them on a nutritious diet they simply refused to eat.'
The researchers found junk food altered the chemical balance in the brain's 'reward circuits' - the parts of the brain that handle the feel-good chemical dopamine.
Identical changes happen in the brains of rats given cocaine or heroin and are thought to play a key role in drug addiction.
Britons are the world's biggest junk food addicts. At the same time, the average adult eats just over three portions of fruit and vegetables a day - the recommended number is five.
We will also get through 22,000 ready meals, sandwiches and sweet Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1261463/Junk-food-addictive-heroin-cigarettes.html#ixzz0jXVLLCtl

Distrusting easy weightbust

If you want to bust your exceeding weight it's better start moving up, training or taking some advice from your own doctor. Taking pills for easy bustweight, according to a research by the EMA, can highly increase the risk on developping heart problems. It seems that Sibutramine, marketed in Great Britain as Reductil and in the USA as Meridia, raising blood pressure, can even lead to heart attack.

Read more

Heart attack and stroke fears over fat-busting wonder pill
By Jo MacfarlaneLast updated at 8:02 AM on 03rd January 2010

Overweight people who have been using Reductil could be more at risk of heart attacks and strokes
A fat-busting pill used by thousands in the UK is being investigated by medicines watchdogs over fears it could cause heart attacks and strokes.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA), which licenses the use of the drug Reductil, is looking at the results of a clinical trial which suggests that its active ingredient, sibutramine, could lead to an increased risk of developing heart problems.
Nearly 330,000 prescriptions for the drug, which tricks the brain into believing the stomach is full, were written out in 2008.
The safety data has come from an international trial of 10,000 patients carried out during the past six years.
Most of those recruited for the Sibutramine Cardiovascular Outcome Trial (SCOUT) were overweight or obese and already had cardiovascular problems.
A heart condition would normally exclude them from taking the drug because it can slightly raise blood pressure.
However, the EMA has said that, as a result of the ‘seriousness’ of the study’s concerns, it is looking at the implications for all patients offered the prescription-only drug and will release its findings later this month.
Until then, it has advised doctors to use Reductil ‘with caution’ and to monitor patients’ blood pressure and heart rate.
The UK’s medicines watchdog, The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, also confirmed it was reviewing the data.

The agency has recorded 2,094 suspected adverse reactions to Reductil since it was introduced in 2001, and 17 deaths have been linked to the drug. Six of the deaths were caused by heart problems and strokes.
Reductil works by blocking the nerve cells that release and reabsorb the hormone serotonin, a chemical neurotransmitter in the brain that affects moods and appetite.
As the level of serotonin in the body rises, people feel fuller, eat less and, as a result, lose weight.
The drug is recommended for patients who are clinically ‘obese’ – those with a Body Mass Index over 30 – or for anyone with a BMI higher than 27 who has another weight-related health problem.
A spokesman for Abbott Laboratories, which manufacturers Reductil, said: ‘Our ongoing evaluation of the SCOUT study data does not change our medical assessment of sibutramine’s risk/benefit profile when used appropriately in the approved patient population.
'Sibutramine is an important treatment for patients who are obese.Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1240147/Heart-attack-stroke-fears-fat-busting-wonder-pill.html#ixzz0bXZ1mFJp