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A team has discovered that a diet containing wheat can increase the severity of multiple sclerosis (MS). This is due to the amylase trypsin inhibitors (ATI), natural proteins in wheat, while the gluten proteins did not influence the inflammatory reaction. The studies confirm that diet and gut health can influence the course of chronic inflammatory diseases, including MS. What is special, is that a specific ingredient can promote this inflammation. Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. Amylase trypsin inhibitors (ATI) are natural proteins found in cereals such as wheat, barley and rye. As the scientists...

It is amazing what has happened to our wheat products in a few short decades. In efforts to increase yield, improve shelf life, and enhance our appetites, modern food producers have taken a staple of our diet (breads and grains) that humans have consumed for millennia with little or no health issues, and turned it into a "Frankenfood". Bread, which was a cheap, nutritious way to fill our stomachs for thousands of years, is now potentially the cause of obesity and a variety of inflammatory diseases. A look at the processes we use to grow, harvest, mill, refine, enrich, and...

Is the hype of the plant-based burger craze and laboratory-grown beef already outstripping the reality? I’ve seen varying taste test reports on the Impossible Whopper and similar offerings, ranging from the ecstatic to the disgusted, but even the real fans aren’t saying that it’s better than a finely grilled burger. At most, they say it’s hard to tell the difference. But now we’re hearing from some of the scientists looking into these experimental monstrosities and they’re claiming that in the very near future, plant-based or lab-cultured “meat” is going to taste better than actual beef. What does that even...

Middle-aged people who get roughly half their daily calories from carbohydrates live several years longer on average than those with meat-heavy low-carb diets, researchers reported Friday. The findings, published in The Lancet medical journal, challenge a trend in Europe and North America toward so-called Paleo diets that shun carbohydrates in favour of animal protein and fat. Proponents of these "Stone Age" diets argue that the rapid shift 10,000 years ago -- with the advent of agriculture -- to grains, dairy and legumes has not allowed the human body enough time to adapt to these high-carb foods. For the study, receiving...

An impressive array of brainpower —“Fat? Blame your genes, say doctors” —“Overweight? Maybe you really can blame your genes” —“Blame your genes for obesity” Headlines such as these have become a staple of science and health journalism. Are they right? Are obese people really helpless victims of their genes? Let us begin by distinguishing between “monogenic” obesity and what scientists call “common” obesity. Monogenic obesity, as the name implies, is caused by a mutation in a single gene, which is inherited in a Mendelian fashion, just as conditions such as sickle-cell anemia and cystic fibrosis are. In the case of...

The operation to remove hundreds of tiny stones took doctors around two hours Doctors in China have removed 420 kidney stones from a man's body, blaming an excessive amount of tofu in his daily diet. Mr He from Zhejiang Province in eastern China, checked into the Dongyang People's Hospital complaining of intense pain in his abdomen last month. A CT scan revealed that his left kidney was packed full of stones, most of them tiny. Doctors operated on Friday in an agonising procedure that lasted about two hours. Mr He said he had a history of suffering from kidney stones....