Australian Men’s Fitness – September 2019

22 MEN’SFITNESS SEPTEMBER 2019

Health
Breakthroughs

Disruptions to our

“body clock” may

be a factor behind

the global diabetes,

obesity and heart

disease epidemics.

Paul Zimmet,

professor of diabetes

at Monash University,

says studies suggest

circadian disturbance

may be a feature of

the cluster of heart

disease risk factors –

obesity and high blood

pressure, blood sugar

and blood cholesterol

• collectively called
  metabolic syndrome.
  As an example, shift
  workers who have
  deranged time
  clocks are much
  more likely to develop
  diabetes and high
  blood pressure.

A 10% tax on sugary drinks has

cut purchase and consumption

of sugary drinks by an average

of 10% in places it’s been introduced,

a review has found. Researchers from

the University of Otago, NZ, combined

evidence from settings where a sugary

drinks tax had been applied and

evaluated it into a meta-analysis. “This

review presents compelling evidence

that sugary drink taxes result in

decreased sales, purchasing or

dietary intake of taxed beverages,”

says lead author Dr Andrea Teng. “It

shows taxes on sugary drinks are an

effective tool to reduce consumption.”

It’s known that the high consumption

of sugary drinks increases the risk

of obesity and diabetes, and Dr Teng

says there’s also evidence that sugary

drinks may contribute to heart disease,

cancer and premature death.

Tax is the ticket

■Newresearchfrom

theUniofSouth

Australiarevealsthat

drinkingsixormore

coffeesa daycan

increaseyourriskof

heartdiseasebyupto

22%.Investigatingthe

associationoflong-

termcoffeedrinking

andcardiovascular

disease,UniSA

researchersDrAng

ZhouandProfessor

ElinaHyppönen

saytheirresearch

confirmsthepointat

whichexcesscaffeine

cancausehighblood

Cap your cups

pressure, a precursor

to heart disease. This

is the first time an

upper limit has been

placed on safe coffee

consumption and

heart health. “In order

to maintain a healthy

heart and a healthy

blood pressure, people

must limit their

coffees to fewer than

six cups a day,” says

Professor Hyppönen.

“Based on our data, six

was the tipping point

where caffeine started

to negatively affect

cardiovascular risk.”

■Researchhasfound

thatcannnabidiol–

themainnon-

psychoactive

chemicalcompound

extractedfrom

cannabis– is active

againstgram-positive

bacteria,including

thoseresponsible

forseriousinfections

likeStaphyloccocus

aureusand

Streptococcus

pneumoniae, with

potencysimilarto

thatofestablished

antibiotics.

Cannabidiolis already

beinginvestigated

fora numberofother

medicalconditions,

includinganxiety,

pain and

inflammation,

but until now

the drug had not

been thoroughly

investigated for

its potential as an

Gone to pot

antibiotic. Research

at the University of

Queensland found

that cannabidiol was

remarkably effective

at killing a wide range

of gram-positive

bacteria, including

bacteria that have

become resistant to

other antibiotics.

Importantly, the drug

retained its activity

against bacteria that

have become highly

resistant to other

common antibiotics,

even under extended

exposure conditions.

Joint

venture.

The data is in: a tax on soft

drink is an effective way

to get people to cut down.

CLOCKING

OFF