Should you eat before you work out or not? It’s a question as old as the pursuit to get jacked, and even scientists have long debated this quandary.

And a new study has stepped up to answer the question by examining gene expression on fat tissue, according to Science Daily.

Read more: Here’s the eating schedule you should follow for optimal health

In a study to be published in the American Journal of Physiology, researchers at the University of Bath in the UK had a group of overweight males walk for 60 minutes on a maximum of 60% oxygen consumption.

First, they did so on an empty stomach. And in another run (or walk, rather), they ate a breakfast high in carbs two hours before the exercise.

To measure the distance, the researchers took multiple samples of blood and fat tissue.

Put simply, the answer to our question above is no. Fat tissue is busy responding to the meal during exercise, meaning less favourable changes to the tissue and less health benefits in the long term.

Read more: Is eating after 6pm really making you fat?

Put more complicated, the expression of two genes, PDK4 and HSL, increases after fasting and exercising and decreases after eating and exercising.

The rise in PDK4 likely indicates that stored fat was fuelling the metabolism in these men instead of the carbs. And the rise in HSL is typically indicative of fat tissue using stored energy in increased activity – like walking for 60 minutes on a maximum of 60% oxygen consumption, for example.

So, there’s your answer – for now, anyway. After all, as we’ve pointed out in the past, working out on an empty stomach doesn’t necessarily help you lose weight any faster than working out on a full stomach.

Read more: 16 totally doable weight-loss resolutions you should commit to this year

^{This article was originally published on www.mh.co.za}

^{Image credit: iStock} 

Your dishwasher may get those plates spotless, but it is also probably teeming with bacteria and fungus, a new study suggests.

Microbes – from bacteria to viruses to fungi – are everywhere, including within and on the human body. So it’s no surprise, the researchers said, that a kitchen appliance would be hosting them.

Dishwashers an ‘extreme’ habitat

So do people need to worry about getting sick from their dishwashers? No, said Erica Hartmann, an assistant professor at Northwestern University who was not involved with the study.

The study was published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

“The risk is probably in the realm of a shark attack,” she said. That is, most people face little to no risk, but there are select groups who may be at higher risk – in this case, people with conditions that weaken their immune defences.

Dishwashers are an interesting case when it comes to microbes because they are actually an “extreme” habitat, Hartmann explained.

“People don’t think of them that way. It’s just your dishwasher. But it really is an extreme environment,” said Hartmann, who studies the microbiology of the indoor environment.

‘Opportunistic’ pathogens

Dishwashers create constantly fluctuating conditions – wet to dry, high heat to cooler temperatures, low to high acidity. They also harbour mixtures of detergents and dinner scraps. So, only certain microbes will thrive.

The new study looked at which bacteria and fungi are actually dwelling there, and what factors seem to influence that microbial makeup.

Specifically, the European researchers took samples from the rubber seals of 24 household dishwashers.

Overall, they found, the most common bacteria included Pseudomonas, Escherichia and Acinetobacter – all of which have strains that are “opportunistic pathogens”. That means they are normally harmless, but can cause infections in people with a compromised immune system.

The most common types of fungus were Candida, Cryptococcus and Rhodotorula – which also include opportunistic pathogens.

A previous Health24 article indicates that washing dishes by hand very often is less effective than machine dishwashing in reducing bacterial content and that hand dishwashing is associated with increased microbial exposure.

^{Image credit: iStock}

These days it feels like there are a thousand elimination diets out there that will cure every ailment from migraines to acne. Now, the Candida Diet is taking on yeast.

Candida is a type of yeast that lives in your mouth and gut or on your skin. This yeast is a normal part of your body’s environment (particularly in the gut), but when levels get too high, candida can wreak havoc throughout your body, explains Dr Niket Sonpal, assistant clinical professor at the Touro School of Osteopathic Medicine in New York City.

Candida overgrowth has been linked to oral thrush (marked by white lesions in the mouth), sinus infections, fatigue, skin infections, UTIs, yeast infections and digestive issues such as Crohn’s, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and ulcerative colitis.

Candida overgrowth occurs when there’s an imbalance between the types of bacteria in your gut. And, while anything from your birth control to stress can throw off your body’s delicate balance of intestinal bacteria, most often, issues are due to the use of antibiotics.

After all, antibiotics are all about killing bacteria, and even if some forms of bacteria are bad, others are good – and responsible for regulating candida levels.

The question is, can altering your diet help keep candida in check? And is it even necessary?

Read more: Follow these steps to change your gut bacteria and lose weight

What’s on the menu?

The Candida Diet, developed by Lisa Richards, a health researcher and self-proclaimed candida sufferer, and Eric Wood, a naturopathic doctor (neither responded to requests for comment), stresses that treating candida overgrowth requires three elements: probiotics, antifungals and, of course, diet.

Probiotics are used reintroduce the “good” bacteria into your system and rebalance your gut, while antifungals kill excessive fungal growth.

The diet itself starts with a “cleanse” that lasts for a few days to a week in order to prepare your body for the new style of eating. During that time, you can eat non-starchy vegetables, low-sugar fruits, healthy oils, herbs and spices, and organic eggs.

Then, you start eating according to the diet’s rules. In general, the diet encourages you to avoid high-sugar fruits, refined grains, meats such as pork and lunch meat, fish such as tuna and swordfish, some dairy products, mouldy nuts and seeds, condiments with added sugars, refined and processed vegetable oils, sugars and sugar substitutes, caffeinated or sugary drinks, and alcohol.

Instead, you should focus on eating non-starchy vegetables, low-sugar fruits, non-glutinous grains, healthy fats and lean protein.

Any food that’s highly processed, high in sugar, or quickly gets processed as sugar is a no-go on this diet. If it looks familiar, that’s because at its core, this is an anti-inflammation diet, similar to the Whole30. The idea is that foods that are high in sugar or simple carbs exacerbate the problem of candida overgrowth, while processed foods directly spike inflammation.

But what about pork chops, tuna and dairy? They aren’t processed or high in sugar, right?

“Pork contains retroviruses and parasites that may survive cooking and be harmful for those with a weakened digestive system. Also, remember that pork often comes in an over-cooked form (i.e. bacon!) that is full of carcinogenic compounds. Properly-cooked pork from a reputable source may be okay, but we would recommend avoiding it during your Candida Diet,” the diet’s website says.

Tuna and swordfish should be avoided because they contain metals and “other pollutants” due to the fact that they live longer and therefore spend more time in our polluted oceans. Meanwhile, the diet also dictates that there’s too much sugar in dairy, and it should be avoided.

Read more: 9 effective ways to treat and fend off yeast infections for good

Does it work?

“It’s true that yeasts thrive on sugars and refined carbohydrates,” says Dr Sonpal. “Many theories exist on the relationship between foods and yeast, and there are more anti-candida diets than can be counted.”

There’s no doubt that the fewer processed foods and less added sugar in your diet, the better, but that doesn’t mean the diet is a cure-all, he says.

“I’ve had over a dozen patients come to me with new diets for their IBS and, sadly, some of them get relief, others don’t, and no one is cured.”

After all, just because you have IBS or a UTI, it doesn’t mean that you have a candida problem.

“It’s difficult to say if this would cause a patient harm, but I would tell the patient to ensure they are getting a balanced diet and taking vitamin supplements if they plan to proceed with something drastic,” says Dr Sonpal. “Likewise, [it’s] hard to judge if there are many benefits to the idea, as there is no clinical data to support its use. When my patients present with new diets, I ask them to bring me a sample diet schematic of their meals and sit with them to make sure they aren’t hurting themselves through this diet. I would tell all patients if they plan to try [a diet] that is not supported by evidence based medicine, to simply have their doctor look it over and make a few shorter-interval, follow-up appointments.”

Plus, registered dietitians generally advise that you avoid anything that includes the word “cleanse”, as there’s no such diet that “cleanses” your system – the body is self-cleansing.

Read more: Vaginal infections 101 – what you need to know about that itch

Your best move

Before you attack candida with everything you’ve got, talk to your doctor about any health issues that are troubling you, possible courses of treatment, and find out if candida’s even a problem for you.

For instance, if you find yourself suffering yeast infections when prescribed antibiotics, share that with your doctor and they’ll likely put you on an a probiotic regimen to combat the antibiotics’ effects.

Dr Sonpal says he typically advises these patients get four to six serving of probiotics a day, whether through food like kimchi and yogurt, or through supplements.

If you’re considering finding resolution through diet changes, it’s best to talk to your doctor about tailoring your diet to a low-FODMAP diet, which has been proven to help patients with IBS, says Dr Sonpal.

^{This article was originally published on www.womenshealthmag.com}

^{Image credit: iStock}

Your poop can tell you a lot about your health. Red in the bowl – which can signal anything from haemorrhoids to colon cancer – is a known red flag.

But what if the colour is just fine, but it doesn’t exactly sink to the bottom of the bowl like normal poop does?

Read more: The secret to losing weight might be in your poop

It’s not exactly common, but we’ve all probably experienced the floating turd. So what exactly does it mean if your stool is not sinking?

“A floating stool is simply less dense than a sinking stool,” says gastroenterologist Dr Neil Stollman.

Doctors used to think this resulted from excess fat in the faeces, but one study in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests it’s actually extra air. Dr Stollman says it could probably be either, though air is more likely.

Extra air in the stool could come from unabsorbed carbohydrates, like lactose or fibre, which ferment in the colon and release gas, says Dr Stollman.

This may be more likely to happen if you’re lactose intolerant or have just consumed a lot of dairy or fibre all at once.

Sugary alcoholic drinks and artificial sweeteners can also make your poop gassier, says gastroenterologist Dr Kenneth Brown.

And if your poop contains more air or gas than normal, it will make it lighter – thus more likely to float on top of the water than sink to the bottom of it, like denser turds do.

Read more: Here’s a one weird reason you might be struggling to poop

Still, it’s possible that extra fat in your faeces can cause it to float, too. In this case, eating more fatty food than normal is likely the culprit, says Dr Stollman.

When your intestines can’t absorb all that fat, it’s excreted through your poop.

In rarer cases, fatty, floating stools – officially known as steatorrhea – can signal that your body is unable to digest and absorb nutrients, like fat, properly. This is called malabsorption.

If there are also drops of oil in the toilet, your pancreas might not be working properly to absorb the fat you eat, says Dr Brown. And oil in the poop itself might mean the bacteria from your small intestine are growing outside it, breaking it down before you can.

Read more: If you can’t stop passing gas, you need to read this

Doctors can diagnose malabsorption through a faecal fat test, which literally measures the amount of fat excreted in your stool. If your floating poop is caused by malabsorption, you will probably have other signs as well, like frequent loose stools, extremely foul-smelling stools, abdominal cramps and gas.

That said, in most cases, floating poop on its own probably doesn’t indicate any problem.

“Very few people have consistent bowels,” says Dr Stollman.

Most changes are simply due to diet or medications. But if you notice a change for a month or more, talk to your doctor just to be safe.

^{This article was originally published on www.menshealth.com}

^{Image credit: iStock}