Health Capsules

Red meat ups chances of bowel disease in men

Men beware! Six servings a week of red meat, particularly the unprocessed variety, is said to heighten the risk of developing common inflammatory bowel condition in men, warns a new study.

The findings, published online in journal Gut, indicated that the highest level of red meat intake was associated with a 58 per cent heightened risk of developing diverticulitis, with each daily serving associated with an 18 percent increased risk. However, risk peaked at six servings a week.

The association was the strongest for unprocessed red meat and substituting one daily portion of this with fish or poultry was associated with a 20 per cent lowered risk.

Diverticulitis occurs when the small pockets or bulges lining the intestine (diverticula) become inflamed. The research team assessed the potential impact of total dietary red meat, poultry and fish intake on the risk of developing diverticulitis in nearly 46,500 men, aged 40 to 75.

They joined the study between 1986 and 2012 and, after every four years, they were asked to state how often, on average, they had eaten standard size portions of red meat, including processed meat, poultry, and fish, over the preceding year.

They were given nine options, ranging from ‘never’ or ‘less than once a month,’ to ‘six or more times a day.’ During the 26 year monitoring period, some 764 men developed diverticulitis. But after taking account of these potentially influential factors, total red meat intake was associated with heightened diverticulitis risk.

But higher red meat consumption has been linked to the presence of inflammatory chemicals, such as C reactive protein and ferritin, as well as heart disease/stroke and diabetes, the researchers explained.

And the higher cooking temperatures involved for unprocessed meat, which was more strongly associated with diverticulitis, may influence bacterial composition or inflammatory activity, venture the researchers.

“Our findings may provide practical dietary guidance for patients at risk of diverticulitis, a common disease of huge economic and clinical burden,” the researchers concluded. 

Here’s why binge-drinking causes binge-eating

Scientists have found that the brain cells in mice that stimulate the urge to eat can be activated by alcohol as well as by hunger — a discovery that could help explain why binge drinking often leads to binge eating.

In an experiment, mice subjected to a three-day “alcoholic weekend” were found to eat significantly more food than mice that stayed sober.

The results, published in the journal Nature Communications on Tuesday, show that major components of the brain’s feeding circuits are activated by alcohol, the researchers said. “Our data suggest that alcohol sustains fundamental appetite signals, (and does) not just disinhibit their behavioural manifestation,” wrote Denis Burdakov, who led the study at the Francis Crick Institute in London.

Consumption of alcohol has previously been linked to overeating in humans, but the underlying causes were unclear — particularly since alcohol is high in calories, and calorie intake usually suppresses brain appetite signals. Burdakov said his study found that specific hunger-promoting brain cells known as Agrp neurons, which form part of the feeding circuit in mouse brains, are activated by alcohol.

To test the validity of their findings, Burdakov’s team were able to block activity of these neurons in some mice, and they found that this eliminated alcohol-induced overeating. They said this shows “that the alcohol-associated activity of Agrp neurons... is the critical step in alcohol-induced overeating.”

Obesity and heavy drinking are major causes of heart disease, diabetes and other chronic health problems affecting millions of people worldwide. Public Health England said last month that eight out of 10 middle-aged adults in Britain either weigh too much, drink too much or exercise too little. — Agencies