This Week In Wellness

TWIW 32: NEW ‘AUSTRALIAN CHIROPRACTIC COLLEGE’ LAUNCHING

This Week In Wellness the Australian Chiropractic College (ACC) has announced it will open its doors in Adelaide’s CBD in January 2020 with a promise to deliver ‘job ready’ chiropractors.
The ACC say that they will integrate science, philosophy, hands on experience and business studies to deliver a smoother transition from classroom to clinic.
The ACC says one of the defining differences between the course offered by the College and other providers, is that the Adelaide-based course is the only chiropractic degree program in Australia with business and management courses integrated throughout the entirety of the curriculum
https://acc.sa.edu.au
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TWIW 31: Red meat back on the menu

This Week In Wellness group of papers about red meat, processed meat and human health have been released by the Annals of Internal Medicine suggesting that they are OK to eat and that they couldn’t find any links to heart disease and cancer.
Unsurprisingly given the vilification of red meat and processed meats in recent times this has created quite an uproar amongst the general population and researchers alike.
https://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20190930/controversial-studies-say-its-ok-to-eat-red-meat
https://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/2752328/unprocessed-red-meat-processed-meat-consumption-dietary-guideline-recommendations-from
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TWIW 30: Cannabis legalised

This Week In Wellness the ACT Government has voted to legalise cannabis for personal use with residents over the age of 18 allowed to possess 50 grams of cannabis and grow 2 plants. Whilst the possession and growth of cannabis would remain a federal offence and the risk of prosecution is “not entirely removed” in practice the laws will not apply.
ACT attorney-general, Gordon Ramsay, says it is time to treat drug addiction as a health issue, and that there needs to be an increase in drug and alcohol services.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/25/cannabis-set-to-be-legalised-in-australian-capital-territory-for-personal-use
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TWIW 29: CSIRO recommends low carb approach

This Week In Wellness, CSIRO (an independent Australian federal government agency responsible for scientific research) is recommending a low carbohydrate approach to help curb the obesity epidemic and reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease in a dramatic shift from the high carbohydrate, low-fat approach recommended previously.
With two in three Australians either overweight or obese, it is a timely shift and one that has come none too soon.
Professor Grant Brinkworth from CSIRO says that “For many years, we’ve had the high-carbohydrate, low-fat approach – and research shows it’s only offering people moderate benefits,”
https://7news.com.au/the-morning-show/csiro-recommends-a-low-carb-diet-for-long-term-weight-loss-goals-c-473130
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TWIW 28: High carbs for longevity?

This Week In Wellness research suggests that a diet low in protein and high in carbohydrates may be the key to living a long life, despite the fact that they led to weight gain and that previous idea on the benefits of caloric restriction may not, in fact, hold up.
Nutritional scientist Dr Samantha Solon-Biet suggests that the 2 million-plus Australians who go on a diet every year may be better off focusing less on low-carb, high-protein diets, unless their only goal is weight loss.
https://sydney.edu.au/research/research-impact/the-secret-to-healthy-ageing-is-a-low-protein-high-carb-diet.html
https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(14)00065-5
NB. In this episode, I misspoke when I suggested that historically many humans gained the majority of their energy from animal proteins. I should have said animal sources (this would have included fats and proteins even carbohydrates from dairy).
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TWIW 27: Elite fitness causes dental decay

The British Dental Journal says that half of elite athletes have rotting teeth.
352 Olympic and professional athletes were examined and showed higher than usual rates of dental problems despite the fact that they brushed and flossed more than your average person.
Researchers hypothesise that is is the high intake of sugary sports drinks, gels and bars that may be the culprit whilst the intense exercise may also cause changes to saliva and the immune system that may be related.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2019/08/23/extreme-fitness-rots-teeth-new-study-finds/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41415-019-0617-8
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TWIW 26: Childhood gluten intake linked to coeliac disease

A study in the Journal of The American Medical Association (JAMA) has shown that your risk of developing coeliac disease may be increased if you consume gluten as a child.
“Our study shows a clear association between the amount of gluten the children consumed and the risk of developing coeliac disease or pre-coeliac disease.”, says Daniel Agardh, associate professor at Lund University, and leader of the study.
Whilst the study is observational and therefore does not prove causation, the linkages were strong and matched the findings from a smaller pilot study. They showed that at the age of 2, over 2 grams of gluten a day  (the equivalent of a slice of white bread), was associated with a whopping 75% increase in the risk of coeliac disease compared to a child who has less than 2g.
https://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/article/association-between-coeliac-disease-risk-and-gluten-intake-confirmed
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2747670?guestAccessKey=eb2a6561-4de9-4408-a170-bce0393e02a5&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=081319
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TWIW 25: Cancer doctors reticent to offer lifestyle advice

This Week In Wellness Oncologists are unlikely to offer lifestyle tips that improve the health and reduce the risk of recurrence in cancer patients according to a survey conducted by the journal Cancer.
The survey of primary care physicians, specialists and oncologists from the Midwestern Health System in America showed that less than 10% of specialists and only ¼ of oncologists would recommend lifestyle changes and that when oncologists did address lifestyle factors, it was usually because the patient brought the subject up.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-cancer-survivors/cancer-doctors-dont-focus-on-lifestyle-risks-idUSKCN1VG2AT
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cncr.32410
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TWIW 24: Vegan parents sentenced for neglect

This Week In Wellness a vegan couple who fed their children on a strict and insufficient diet have had their three children removed from them after they were found to be malnourished and suffering from Rickets. The couple have avoided jail time but have been sentenced to 300 hours of community service with the judge labelling their parenting as “reckless” and stated that “the abandonment of parental responsibility cannot be excused”.
Their 20 month old daughter had been fed a strict vegan diet of just oats, bread and a few mouthfuls of vegetables and weighed in at just 4.89kg. She was malnourished, her growth was stunted, her bones brittle and her motor skills were poorly developed.
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/parents-sentenced-over-neglect-of-child-on-veganonly-diet/news-story/68bedf9fd1b86a2e04864c27349233d2
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TWIW 23: Heart health linked to dementia

This Week In Wellness a study in the British Medical Journal has found that good cardiovascular health at age 50 is associated with a lower risk of dementia later in life.
The American Heart Association’s “Life Simple 7” cardiovascular health score, initially designed for cardiovascular disease, has been put forward as a potential tool for preventing dementia. It aims to monitor 7 risk factors for heart health. smoking, diet, physical activity, BMI, fasting glucose levels, cholesterol and blood pressure. Dementia is a progressive disease that can start to develop 25 years before any symptoms develop so this study was designed to measure the cardiovascular health score at 50 and see if there is any correlation with dementia over the next 25 years.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190807190812.htm
https://www.bmj.com/content/366/bmj.l4414
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TWIW 22: Oestrogen linked to autism

This Week In Wellness high levels of Oestrogen in the womb may be linked to the likelihood of a child developing Autism.
In a recent study by a team of scientists at the University of Cambridge and the State Serum Institute in Denmark. Published in Molecular Psychology researchers collected amniotic fluid and compared the levels of sex steroid hormone oestrogen. In the 98 foetuses who later developed autism, all 4 oestrogens were significantly elevated making them more predictive of the likelihood of autism than previously suspected androgens, like testosterone. Prenatal Oestrogens can have an effect on brain growth and also masculinisation of the brain.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190729094538.htm
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-019-0454-9
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TWIW 21: Hot tea linked to cancer

This Week In Wellness drinking hot tea may increase your risk of esophageal cancer.
A study published in the International Journal of Cancer has shown that drinking tea hotter than 60 degrees Celsius was associated with a whopping 90% higher risk.
Previous studies have shown a link between hot tea drinking and risk of esophageal cancer but this is the first one to show what temperature makes the difference. The study followed 50,045 individuals aged 40 to 75 years for a median of 10 years. Of the 317 new cases of esophageal cancer identified, 285 of the were in the group that consumed 700 ml of tea per day or more at a higher temperature (60°C or higher).
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190320102028.htm
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ijc.32220
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