Benefits of Fast Walking, Fermentable Fibres, a Japanese Diet and more

New Dirt on Dirt

Researchers at McMaster University in Canada and the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered a chemical in soil that can kill bacteria, including several that are resistant to existing antibiotics. The use of antibiotics over decades has allowed some organisms to mutate so that the drugs can’t kill them. The new chemical—a peptide called lariocidin—might be able to fight some of the drug-­resistant ­bacterial infections ­responsible for more than one million deaths worldwide every year.

Speed It Up!

Walking is great exercise, but people always want to know how far and how fast they should walk. If you’re concerned about cardiac health, a new study in the journal Heart found that brisk walking was associated with a lower risk of heart rhythm abnormalities like atrial fibrillation, compared to walking at a slower pace. How fast is fast enough? The study found that walking faster than 4.8 kph can reduce the risk by 35 per cent, and walking faster than 6.4 kph can reduce the risk by 43 per cent.

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Don’t Search the Side Effects

You’ve probably heard of the placebo effect, which describes how people sometimes feel better even when the pill they’re swallowing is just a sugar pill. Scientists have now identified the placebo effect’s opposite: the ‘nocebo effect’. This effect happens when people hear or read about negative effects from a medication or treatment, and are then much more likely to think they’re experiencing those side effects. One study, for instance, found out that when men were specifically told that a drug for heart disease could cause erectile dysfunction, they were more likely to experience that side effect. In another study, Australian researchers found that “the more severe the personal recounts of post-COVID-19 vaccination side effects participants were exposed to on social media, the more severe their own post-vaccination side effects were.” The ‘cure’ for the nocebo effect is easy: Step away from the keyboard!

Fermentable Fibre Works Like A Natural Ozempic

Eating more fermentable fibre, found in barley, oats, rye, beans and lentils, could suppress appetite in the same way weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy do, without the potential side effects. According to US researchers, the drugs’ active ingredient, semaglutide, mimics GLP-1, one of the hormones the body releases when it digests food, suppressing hunger signals. Fermentable fibre, the kind that can be digested, or fermented, by gut bacteria, triggers an additional release of GLP-1 once it reaches the colon (roughly four to 10 hours after a meal) and bacteria in the large intestine begin to break it down. This boost helps to temper cravings between meals and may impact how much you eat at your next meal.

Walking Trackers Perform Well

One of the appeals of walking as exercise is that you don’t need any special equipment to do it. But there’s one piece of gear that might be worth a try, according to a study in the journal BMC Geriatrics. Researchers examined data from a variety of walking programmes for older adults and found that programmes that used pedometers or other fitness trackers to set goals and measure steps were more effective at lowering the risk factors for stroke. Participants were more likely to reduce their blood sugar and systolic blood pressure, and increase their activity.

Japanese Diet For Longevity

A recent study published in Frontiers in Nutrition compared a group of men who ate a Western-style dietary pattern (lots of red meat, processed meats, eggs and mayonnaise-based dressings) with men who followed a healthy Japanese dietary pattern (lots of vegetables, fruits, seafood and soy products). When the researchers calculated participants’ biological age, they found the men who followed the Japanese diet showed signs of slower ageing, even after accounting for factors such as weight, smoking, drinking and exercise habits.

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