Research published this week suggests that a sweet drink allowed students to remain calmer under stressful provocation than their counterparts who had been given an artificially sweetened drink. Student volunteers performed tasks such as preparing a speech to be read to a stranger; this speech was then criticised as boring and disappointing. Those who had […]
Research to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behaviour (SSIB) has found that a prolonged high fat diet is associated with changing levels of a brain chemical called dopamine. This chemical conducts signals in the brain that control movement, emotional responses and the ability to feel pleasure […]
Researchers at the Queen Mary University of London and UCL have published a study that found that the high nitrate content of beetroot causes blood vessels to dilate, lowering blood pressure. Healthy volunteers who were given beetroot juice or nitrate tablets had their blood pressure reduced within 24 hours. Beetroot is a good source of […]
It has been known for a while that in the first three to four days after giving birth, oestrogen levls drop by up to 1000 times. A new study has identified an enzyme called monoamine oxidase A, which increases dramatically in proportion to this oestrogen loss. Monoamine oxidase A may contribute significantly to depression in new mothers because […]
Despite the recommendation of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) that trans fats should be banned, in line with current legislation in Denmark and New York City, the Government has today announced that it will neither ban the fats nor advise manufacturers to flag them up on food lables . Trans fats are hydrogenated oils that […]
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has claimed that 40 000 lives could be saved each year if the amount of saturated fat and salt in food was cut and if toxic artificial fats called trans fats were eliminated. Trans fats are added to food in order to prolong shelf life, but they […]
New research suggests that eating three or more burgers a week may put children at risk of developing asthma, whereas eating a mediterranean diet may lower the risk. Researchers writing in the journal Thorax have looked at 50 000 children from 20 countries in a 10 year study. Parents of children from wealthy and poorer […]
New research published last week in Neuropsychopharmacology shows that frequent coffee or tea drinkers who reach for their morning brew in order to stimulate themselves are merely reversing the fatigue caused by acute caffeine withdrawal. In tests on 379 individuals at the University of Bristol, Peter Rogers found that ‘…we don’t gain an advantage from consuming […]
A study published last week in Annals of Neurology has suggested that people with fat stomachs could be at greater risk of developing dementia. The research, carried out by the University School of Medicine in Boston, demonstrated that levels of visceral fat that surround the organs are associated with smaller total brain volume. Dr Susanne Sorensen, head […]
New research has found that many takeaway meals sold near London schools contain much higher levels of salt and saturated fat compared to outlets such as McDonalds and Burger King. Many children are leaving school to buy these burgers, kebabs, pies and chips for their lunch. The London Environmental Health Food Teams undertook the study on behalf […]
Please do not return samples to the laboratories that may arrive after Wednesday 27th March and up to and including Monday 2nd April.
The laboratories are closed from the 28th March – 2nd April for the Easter Holiday.
