Longer lives with taurine and more Health and Beauty snippets

LABORATORY mice given taurine, an ingredient added to energy drinks, lived an extra three to four months.

Columbia University scientists in the US also found that taurine slowed the ageing process, helping the mice to ward off age-related issues.

An essential amino acid considered vital for maintaining muscle function, eyesight and metabolism, research suggests that taurine supports the nervous and immune systems.

It is produced naturally in the body and is present in meat, seafood, dairy products and eggs.

Although the study did not demonstrate that taurine could improve human lifespans,  the researchers said hat they believed it had “potential.”

Run for fun MARTINUS EVANS started running after a doctor told the 36-year-old New Yorker that he was fat.

“Lose weight or die,” he warned

Evans, who then weighed 300 pounds (136 kilos) told a New York Times interviewer that he immediately went out and bought a pair of trainers.

Although he lost 90 pounds (40.8 kilos), he realised that he wasn’t 90 pounds happier, and decided to stop counting calories and run for fun.

He as since founded the Slow AF Run Club whose first rule is that members may not talk about their weight or weight loss.

Runners move forward however they can, Evans said, even if it requires “delusional self-belief.”

Radical solution THE NHS recommends between seven and nine hours of sleep each night for adults.

Nevertheless, stress and worry, a bedroom that was too hot or too cold, loud snoring, external noise or an uncomfortable bed meant that many Britons were sleep deprived, The Sleep Charity found.

For those who believe that snoring ought to top the list, Russell Foster, professor of Circadian Neuroscience at Brasenose College in Oxford suggested that couples could try getting rid of the ear plugs in favour of sleeping in separate bedrooms.

“Couples should see the move into different rooms as the exciting beginning of a new relationship,” the professor recommended.

Crisps are king A SALT tooth does exist.

A recent YouGov poll found that 40 per cent Britons preferred crisps to chocolate, which could explain why the British Heart Foundation recommended following the World Health Organisation’s salt limit of five grammes a day by 2030.

“The result would be up to 1.4 million fewer new cases of high blood pressure and 135,000 fewer new cases of coronary heart disease,” the foundation said.

“There would also be up to 49,000 fewer new cases of stroke and more than 450,000 extra years in good health.”

Flipflops are flops FLIPFLOP weather is here, but a podiatrist advised against wearing them.

Paul Macauley, a medical professional who treats of disorders of the feet and ankles, explained that on putting your foot through a flipflop’s loops, you have to grip the sole with your toes.

“This can cause claw-toeing, when the joints in the toe bend like a claw and become inflexible,” he said.

“Constantly wearing flip flops can also lead to tendonitis which occurs when a tendon swells and becomes inflamed, causing pain and stiffness.”

Natural selection NATURAL deodorants without aluminium are supposedly safer than those we have been using for decades.

Dermatologists, skin microbiome experts and even an oncologist said there was no definitive evidence linking regular deodorants or antiperspirants to Alzheimer’s disease or breast cancer.

Neither do they destroy “good” bacteria living under your arms or prevent armpits from eliminating “harmful toxins” that build up in lymph nodes as was once claimed.

And natural deodorants can still contain problematic ingredients or substances that irritate your skin, the experts pointed out.

Early start IF you want to target ultra-processed foods, breakfast is the best time to start.

Eliminating habitual favourites like croissants, cereal and white toast, together with sweetened drinks, fruit juice or flavoured yoghourts, could cut your daily intake by more than a third, food expert Professor Tim Spector from King’s College London said.

“Substitute them with natural yoghourt and mixed nuts, mixed beans or mushrooms on sourdough bread, or make a spinach and cheese omelette,” the professor advised in a podcast.

Give it up FOLLOWING Australian research which concluded that moderate drinking wasn’t so bad after all, comes a warning that alcohol increases the risk of 60 diseases.

An Oxford University investigation,which analysed data from 500,000 Chinese males, pinpointed 33 illnesses not previously linked to alcohol, including cataracts, tuberculosis, gastric ulcers and certain fractures.

Some of those links were apparent for low amounts of alcohol, even below the NHS guidelines, the researchers found.