Frozen assets plus other Health and Beauty snippets

CONTRARY to popular belief, frozen fruit is as good for you as newly-bought fresh produce.

Professor Gunter Kuhnle, a nutrition expert from the University of Reading, explained that levels of vitamin C in fruit, which is essential for maintaining healthy skin and bones, fall by 50 per cent in just a couple of days.

The interval between picking and consuming fruit is usually even longer, he pointed out, while natural enzymes found in fruit can also cause nutrient levels to drop, resulting in loss of colour and flavour.

Freezing, in contrast, can preserve nutrients almost immediately, Professor Kuhnle said.

First, the fruit is blanched by briefly exposing it to boiling water or steam, which inactivates these enzymes, preventing nutrient loss.

To eat or not to eat? SOME mouldy foods needn’t be discarded although it’s wiser to steer clear of others.

Food hygiene consultant Sylvia Anderson explained that firm fruit and vegetables can be eaten if you cut away the mouldy part, because moulds cannot penetrate deep into them.

The same thing goes for hard cheese, hard salami and chorizo, as they have a low moisture content.

Soft fruit, soft vegetables like tomatoes, bread, yoghourt, creme fraiche, soft cheeses and ready-made sauces like pesto are a different matter and should be thrown away.  However, jams and marmalades can be salvaged by removing the inch below the mould.

That giddy feeling THERE is a reason for the fleeting dizziness experienced on looking upwards.

Doctors explain that this is not a medical condition in itself but usually a symptom of inner ear problems.

This type of giddiness, which also occurs when changing the angle of the head, is known as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, the most common type of vertigo and often seen in the over-50s.

It happens when crystals within the inner ear, which help the brain sense the rotation of the head, are dislodged and float free.

Doctors recommend antihistamines to help with vertigo episodes together with what are known as Brandt-Daroff exercises with instructions available on the NHS website.

Fat chance AN Edinburgh University study found that women aged over 45 who reduced calories for a month lost 10 per cent of their body fat.

Younger women following the same diet lost 8 per cent, while males aged under 45 lost more than the females.

The difference between sexes disappeared after 45, prompting the Edinburgh team to conclude that men found it harder to lose belly fat with age, hence their “beer bellies.”

Women, whose oestrogen levels steadily decline, probably lost more fat because they no longer needed to support a possible pregnancy, the research suggested.

Sleep tight MELATONIN, a hormone which is released by the brain as night falls to makes us sleepy, is a prescription medication in the UK.

Nevertheless, although serotonin supplements are available in Spain without a prescription, experts recommended that people consult their doctor before taking it.

The supplement does not address underlying health problems, like anxiety and sleep apnea, that may disrupt sleep and require treatment. Lifestyle changes including a cut-down on alcohol and regular exercise are more efficient at helping people to sleep better, they said.

Wrong message A TOP nutritionist criticised the NHS’s “soup and shake” diet hailed by experts for reversing Type 2 diabetes.

Professor Tim Spector told the UK media that the extreme 800 calories per day diet would assist “’a very small number of highly-motivated individuals” in reversing their diabetes.

It sent the wrong message to tell people desperately trying to lose weight that they could do so with ultra-processed substitutes, Professor Spector said.

To-do list DR RICHARD RESTAK, an American neurologist and neuro-psychiatrist, maintains that dementia can be kept at bay.

Sleep a siesta to supercharge the memory, he said, eat more chocolate – dark for preference – and read a novel, not non-fiction.

Drink less alcohol, or preferably none, get on your feet and start moving.

Keep your mind on the move too, he advised, meet up with friends to reminisce and keep your memory sharp.