Not so sweet: explaining the impact of sugar substitutes on the environment
"As consumers ourselves, we can think twice when we are trying to purchase a product. I know artificial sweeteners can sound very tempting if you're trying to control your blood sugar level, your body weight. But the question is, do we really understand them well enough? If not, maybe the conventional sugary stuff will be a better solution."
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News.com.au
5 hours ago
- News.com.au
Why does everyone get sick so often in winter?
Welcome to Ask Doctor Zac, a weekly column from This week, Dr Zac Turner explores why so many people get sick in the winter. QUESTION: Hi Dr Zac, Every winter like clockwork, my sharehouse becomes a snotty, coughing mess. I always assumed it was just because me and my flatties are inside more, but I read something about viruses surviving longer in colder temperatures. Is that true? And does the lack of sun during winter actually mess with our immune systems? – Matt, 29, Ballarat VIC ANSWER: Thanks for the question, Matt – and condolences to your household's sinuses. Winter really does bring with it a revolving door of colds, flus and respiratory infections. It's not your imagination. And while yes, spending more time indoors definitely helps viruses spread, the science of why we get sicker in winter runs a bit deeper – and chillier – than that. Let's start with the temperature. Many common viruses, including rhinoviruses (the ones behind most colds) and influenza, actually survive longer and replicate more effectively in colder, drier conditions. One study from the Journal of Virology found that some viruses become more stable and infectious in lower temperatures because the cold preserves the viral envelope – essentially giving them a longer shelf life while they search for their next victim (you). Add in the fact that we're all breathing the same stale air indoors, and it's a perfect storm: less ventilation, more close contact, and viruses that are thriving in the cold. Now, let's talk about vitamin D. This isn't some wellness influencer's pet obsession – it's genuinely important for your immune function. Vitamin D helps regulate immune responses, and deficiency has been linked to increased susceptibility to infections, particularly respiratory ones. In winter, shorter daylight hours and less skin exposure to UVB rays means your body produces less vitamin D naturally. In fact, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows nearly one in four Aussies have insufficient vitamin D during the colder months – especially in southern regions like Victoria and Tasmania. So yes, Matt: cold temperatures, indoor living, and low vitamin D levels all team up to make winter a bit of a microbial minefield. What can you do about it? • Maximise ventilation: Even cracking a window makes a difference. Let your house breathe. Get outside during daylight hours: A lunchtime walk could help top up your vitamin D – just 10–15 minutes of sun exposure to arms and face can help. • Eat immune-supporting foods: Fatty fish, eggs, mushrooms and fortified milks are great sources of vitamin D. And yes, supplements are helpful if you're deficient – but check with your GP before starting. • Practice good hygiene: Wash hands, cover coughs, and maybe don't share that water bottle with your sniffling housemate. A few smart habits can help make your winter less snotty – and keep your immune system in fighting form until the sun comes back. Stay warm, Dr Zac Dr Zac Turner is a medical practitioner specialising in preventative health and wellness. He has four health/medical degrees – Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery at the University of Sydney, Bachelor of Nursing at Central Queensland University, and Bachelor of Biomedical Science at the University of the Sunshine Coast. He is a registrar for the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, and is completing a PhD in Biomedical Engineering (UNSW). Dr Zac is the medical director for his own holistic wellness medical clinics throughout Australia, Concierge Doctors.
Daily Telegraph
10 hours ago
- Daily Telegraph
Shelly Horton on the dark truth about perimenopause
Don't miss out on the headlines from Celebrity Life. Followed categories will be added to My News. When Shelly Horton found herself in hospital with heavy bleeding in 2020, it never crossed her mind that her symptoms might have been due to perimenopause. The TV journalist hadn't even heard the word before, so she didn't connect it with the raft of physical and mental changes she had been experiencing at the time, including heart palpitations, heightened body temperature, brain fog and debilitating depression. Instead, the now 51-year-old had been told by doctors that she might have cancer, and was sent for an ultrasound – which revealed nothing. 'They said, 'Great news, you haven't got cancer. You must be stressed, and maybe you should take up a hobby,'' Horton recalls. 'I drove home in tears, blaming myself. I didn't go and see another doctor for nine months.' Media personality Shelly Horton has opened up about her health journey through perimenopause. Picture: Daniel Nadel for Stellar It was only when she spoke to her friend, menopause expert Dr Ginni Mansberg – who she first met while appearing on the Seven Network's breakfast show Sunrise in 2008 – that Horton was able to make sense of her suffering. Before that defining conversation, she hadn't considered herself in the target market. 'I thought menopause was for women in their late 50s, [when] their period stopped and they got hot flushes,' she recalls. 'I had that stereotype in my brain of grey-haired old ladies clutching their pearls and fanning themselves. 'I was like, 'I'm a fox. I'm way too young and fabulous.' 'I didn't understand that perimenopause can last for 10 years so, in fact, I was right in the average age group.' 'I didn't understand why anyone cared about my uterus and what I did with it.' Picture: Daniel Nadel for Stellar Once she got the right help and started to feel better, Horton got mad. Specifically about the menopause cone of silence, which perpetuates the poor treatment options and dearth of knowledge for women. 'We've been taught by our mothers and past generations that it's just women's problems so you keep it to yourself,' she tells Stellar. 'A heads-up would have been nice. I felt like the sisterhood had let me down. Secret women's business holds women back. This whole 'soldier on' of the Boomer generation, I'm like, 'No, I'm Gen X. We're going to get loud about this.'' In 2023, Horton shared her experience at the first parliamentary roundtable on menopause, alongside respected experts, in what was the first time 'menopause' had been mentioned inside the Parliament of Australia. It sparked a Senate inquiry, and Horton inadvertently became a spokesperson on the subject. Listen to a new episode of the Stellar podcast Something To Talk About below, featuring US author and podcaster Glennon Doyle: The Today Extra panellist reveals how she got through 'dark times' and rebuilt herself. Picture: Supplied It wasn't the first time that Horton had found herself leading the charge on destigmatising taboo topics for women. In 2013, when she wrote about her decision to stay child free, she copped a pile-on from dissenters and was trolled on social media. But she takes heart in knowing her words started a national conversation. 'I had comments like, 'A woman who doesn't want kids is not a real woman. She's a waste of a uterus.' It was awful,' she recalls. 'I didn't understand why anyone cared about my uterus and what I did with it.' As the TV presenter sees it, one of the many upsides of being child-free is having the freedom and funds to travel as she wishes. She and her husband Darren Robinson – who she met 'the old-fashioned way' in a bar in 2012 – renew their vows in every country they visit. In 10 years of marriage, that's 25 vow renewals. 'Sometimes it's been incredibly romantic, like in the Maldives with the sunset. Then we nearly forgot in Iceland and did it on the plane as we were taking off,' she says, laughing. The couple also run a production company together, Robinson behind the camera ('the workhorse') and Horton in front ('the show pony'). They share their home with rescue dogs Mr Barkley and Maui, whom Horton describes as a salve during her three years of depression. 'My wonderful husband would put me to bed and hand me a puppy.' Adhering to her own motto of 'adapt or die', Horton's career trajectory has been, as she puts it, eclectic. She was a producer for Entertainment Tonight in the US, a crime then health reporter for the ABC, a Sydney gossip columnist, a panellist on Today Extra, and host of Married At First Sight's spin-off TV show Talking Married. It's all a long way from home for the girl from Kingaroy in regional Queensland. Or, as she puts it, 'From the red soil to the red carpet.' Now she can add author to the list since she has documented her harrowing menopause experience – along with evidence-based advice from experts – in a book to support other women going through it. Despite enduring all the turmoils of menopause, Horton says the experience has also helped her. 'I wish I could just say, 'Slap on some HRT [hormone replacement therapy], you'll be fine,' but it's not as simple as that,' she explains. 'I had to do the work. I'd treated my body as a rental. I had to have the appointments with the psychiatrist. I had to change my lifestyle, improve my sleep, increase my exercise. I'm living proof that you can go through dark times and come out. Perimenopause broke me, but then I rebuilt me.' I'm Your Peri Godmother by Shelly Horton (Murdoch Books, $34.99) is out Tuesday. For more from Stellar and the podcast, Something To Talk About, click here.
News.com.au
14 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘Death trap': Owner stuck in defective Melbourne home after developer collapsed
Rebecca Welsh thought she'd found her dream home. The two-bedroom townhouse in the beachside suburb of Edithvale, Melbourne, appeared to tick all the boxes when Ms Welsh bought it at auction for $795,000 in early 2021. 'I thought it was great location - it was close to my daughter's school, close to public transport, close to the beach,' the 52-year-old told 'It just had everything. I wasn't any the wiser.' Ms Welsh was eager to move straight in and did not get a building inspection, a decision she has come to regret. The following year, she began to notice major issues with the property - and her health. Water was leaking into the kitchen in multiple areas, including through the window, rangehood and ceiling. The house was humid and had a constant damp smell. Ms Welsh was horrified when she discovered the wall cavities were damp and riddled with black mould. On-top of the stress of trying to repair the house, she was also dealing with breathing problems and skin rashes. She arranged an environmental assessment report which found the house was damaged, mouldy and damp due to water ingress - particularly a lack of waterproofing around the floor slab and inadequate drainage. The level of mould was 'likely to have significant health effects to occupants,' the report said, estimating the cost of mould remediation works to be more than $130,000. Ms Welsh later also arranged a building report, which concluded the property had a long list of defects, including poor waterproofing at the floor slab level, non-compliant roof pitch, sarking, and flashings, and incorrectly installed external cladding. The report estimated the cost of repairs - after the mould remediation work - to be more than $200,000. 'This place is a death trap,' Ms Welsh said. Do you know more about Arrow Building Group? Email Ms Welsh said she was unable to cover the repair costs herself and nobody else would take responsibility. When she contacted the developer, Arrow Building Group, the company initially told Ms Welsh that its homes came with a three month defect liability period that had already concluded. It later agreed to send a builder to carry out repairs, but Ms Welsh said it only intended to 'patch up' the problem rather than address the root causes. She said she had not received any assistance from the strata manager, appointed by Arrow Building Group, and the body corporate's insurer had told her that it does not cover defects. Having run out of options, Ms Welsh said she was effectively stuck in her defective home, with no end to her ordeal in sight. 'What do you do? Where do you go and live? 'I can't sell, because I wouldn't get a cent for it. It would have to be bulldozed. Either way, for my own mental sanity, I've got to get the place repaired.' The Melbourne-based Arrow Building Group collapsed into voluntary administration in April. has contacted the company and its administrator for comment. A country-wide problem Research shows Ms Welsh is one of millions of Australians who are living in defective homes. Last year, a report from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute revealed 70 per cent of the estimated 10.9 million homes across the country have some kind of major building defect. They range from plumbing and waterproofing issues, some of which can cause hazardous mould such as in Ms Welsh's case, through to serious structural faults and foundation cracking. Associate Professor Lyrian Daniel from the University of South Australia, an architectural expert and lead author of the research, said the findings smashed the old perception that homes in this country are built to stand the test of time. 'For many years in Australia, we've had a fairly laissez-faire approach to regulation in the construction sector when it comes the quality of our housing,' Dr Daniel said. 'The notion that the free market will demand a certain level of quality - it will lead to high standards - simply doesn't ring true. We need national leadership in this area - a strategy that ensures housing stock, whether it's new, existing, owned or private rental, is of a good standard.'
