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Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Bitter blow for diet soft drink lovers as groundbreaking Aussie research reveals what it's really doing to your body
Just one can of artificially-sweetened soft drink per day can drastically increase the chance of developing type II diabetes, a new scientific study claims. The research out of Melbourne's Monash University suggests artificial sweeteners could raise the risk of developing the disease by nearly 40 per cent. Drinks using these ingredients - which do not raise blood sugar as much as regular sucrose despite being sweeter - are often marketed as a healthier alternative to the traditional sugar-filled beverages they replace. Health agencies have been debating ways to decrease sugar intake - including a tax on the product to curb its demand - after it was linked with the obesity epidemic in the West. RMIT University teamed up with Monash University to produce the new study, led by Distinguished Professor Barbora de Courten, that followed more than 36,000 people over nearly 14 years. Professor de Courten said one of the most shocking discoveries was that even people who are a healthy weight have a significant risk of developing diabetes via sweeteners. In recent years there has been a rise of natural alterative sweeteners such as stevia and monk fruit instead of older artificial products like like the out-of-fashion aspartame and saccharin. The study did not specify between the different types of artificial sweeteners. The results of the study were adjusted based on the weight measurement of participants, which only impacted the results of the artificial sugar test group. This implied that these drinks increased the risk of illness regardless of how heavy the person was who drank them. Professor de Courten advised health professionals to be cautious about what they recommend to patients. 'Artificial sweeteners are often recommended to people at risk of diabetes as a healthier alternative, but our results suggest they may pose their own health risks,' she said. Co-author, Monash PhD student Robel Hussen Kabthymer warned, however, that the findings did not mean normal sugar drinks are suddenly any healthier. The study found regular sugary drinks increased the risk of type II diabetes by about 23 per cent and 'surprisingly' artificial sweeteners increased it by about 38 per cent. Researchers discovered adults who drank seven or more of sugar soft drinks per week had a 23 per cent higher chance of developing the disease. Those who drank the same amount of artificial sugar drinks had a 38 per cent chance of the same happening to them. Professor de Courten suggested other factors like artificial sweeteners' impact on gut bacteria might be to blame. More than 36,000 people took part in the research which was assisted by volunteers from Cancer Council Victoria. The research took place over 14 years and its final result has been published in the Diabetes & Metabolism journal. These findings follow experts having implored the Albanese government to tax sugar in order to make the country healthier. MP Michael Freelander has previously been a vocal advocate for the proposed tax which he said should come alongside a broader public education effort about the harms of excess sugar. The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has specifically proposed a new tax at a rate of 50c per 100g of added sugar for each of these drinks to be paid by beverage manufacturers. The association believes this will curb Australia's dualling diabetes and obesity epidemics. If it were to be introduced it would mean a 375mL of normal Coke with 39.8g of sugar would be hit with a tax of 19.9c. The Albanese government has rejected the idea for a new tax and has instead said it will work with manufacturers to bring sugar contents down.
The Guardian
7 hours ago
- The Guardian
‘It's tedious. It's repetitive': why life admin is awful, and how to do it anyway
Chantal Maher, a physiotherapy lecturer in Sydney, has a niggling life admin task on her mental to-do list. It has been on her mind for four years. 'I've tried to do it twice, but because I got married and changed my name I had to do a change-of-name certificate. That delayed it further. It was like a whole other hurdle,' she says. The task is combining her two superannuation (pension) accounts, so that she only pays one admin fee. 'It's too annoying. There's incentive as I'd save money, but finding time for it is another thing.' Mia Northrop, co-author of Life Admin Hacks, has encountered countless situations like this. She says people can get 'stuck' in different stages of completing a task. 'You might be really good at starting and really bad at finishing,' she says, or vice versa. 'So you need to know this about yourself so that you can overcome the challenge.' When people struggle with admin, such as tax returns or creating a will, it can stem from fear of failure, says Northrop. 'It's tedious. It's repetitive. It is often asking us to work on things that we are not particularly good at or confident about. That's where a lot of procrastination can come into it because we aren't particularly proficient, or we're not passionate about it.' 'Everyone procrastinates to some extent,' says clinical psychologist Dr Catherine Houlihan, from the University of the Sunshine Coast. 'There's a bit of stigma around it, because many people say it's laziness or poor time management, and none of those things are true. It is actually a symptom of perfectionism. 'When people have very high standards for themselves, and they worry about doing things perfectly … then, due to the standard not being met, guilt and shame and self-detrimental talk can come in.' Sign up for our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning There's another reason Maher has put off her task – it seems harder than it needs to be. 'I feel frustrated because I think [the companies] could make my life easier,' she says. 'Part of me wonders if they make it deliberately awkward so we don't do it.' Certain life admin tasks are irritating because you may only encounter them once. Associate Prof Micah Goldwater, a cognitive scientist at the University of Sydney, says we have to invest a lot of mental effort in learning new tasks. Then when we're done, it 'feels like there is very little use for it'. 'With online forms there's an initial block because … you're having to learn how to use the specific form,' he says. 'The functionality of all these forms is slightly different, and you have to be very detail-oriented and focused to work it out. Sometimes it seems like the trade-off isn't worth it.' So what can a life-admin avoider do to tick off tedious tasks? Northrop says she can't get passionate about doing her tax return, so she created a checklist for herself – she ticks off sub-tasks throughout the year. 'I have a folder where I save everything as I go so that when it comes to tax time, it's not overwhelming.' Houlihan suggests incorporating rewards as you complete each stage. 'Do one thing first and then pause and do something more enjoyable, have a break and go back to it,' she says. When Houlihan tackles an unpleasant task, she will break for 'a pastry at a cafe, spending time in nature or watching the TV show I wanted to watch … a reward can help motivate us'. Telling other people what you plan to do can be helpful, says Northrop, but Houlihan says it can be controversial too. 'You don't want people to nag you,' says Houlihan. 'That might give the tasks even more negative connotations' – which reinforces procrastination. 'But if you say to someone that loves and cares about you 'I want to do this by Friday', it can help you hold yourself accountable.' The worse you feel about your ability to do a task, the less likely you'll be to attempt it, and then the worse you'll feel for not doing it. So choose your people wisely: 'Not someone who is going to be on your back, or going to make you feel bad if you don't do it.' 'If there's a task I have to do, rather than being on a vague to-do list, I put it into my calendar,' says Goldwater. Blocking off time in your day means it's more likely to happen, he says. 'Everything is in my calendar now. If it's not on the calendar, I will most likely forget about it. Life admin tasks are one of those things.' Combining accountability buddies with blocking out time, writer and educator Tyler Alterman found a novel way to beat procrastination. On X, he posted that throwing a 'forcing party', where he and his friends got together to do life admin they'd been avoiding, was a huge success. 'A passport has been filed for, an inbox has been zero'd, a personal website has been created, & more,' he wrote. Sign up to Saved for Later Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips after newsletter promotion If your environment is working against you, it might help to remove some of that friction, says Northrop. 'Shut down distractions, turn off notifications, or listen to music that gets you in that flow state.' If you're neurodivergent, 'it's extra challenging', she adds. 'There's no silver bullet. It's often a mixture of the physical environment and our own personality … I've had clients who have multiple children or health issues they're having to accommodate, and there are only so many hours in the day.' 'If boring tasks sit at the end of your day or the end of your week, they're probably looming in the back of your mind,' says Houlihan. 'The anticipation of how unpleasant it will be grows and grows. 'One quick tip is to flip your calendar upside down – start with the most boring things first and to get them out of the way.' Some life admin is incredibly convoluted and taxing. At this point, it's worth considering engaging someone to help you navigate it, such as a social worker or solicitor. Ines Jusufspahic is an immigration lawyer in Sydney who works with individuals and companies to complete working visas and partner visas. 'We take the angst out of it as much as possible,' the principal solicitor at Rocket & Ash Immigration Law says. Jusufspahic has had clients return to Brazil, Argentina and the UK: they had avoided the paperwork for so long, there wasn't enough time to process their visas. 'This is often the biggest problem in their life, and there's often a time pressure,' she says. 'It's a process that people really dislike, and it's really confusing for some people.' Houlihan says some people are chronic procrastinators, and the first step is recognising any patterns in your behaviour. 'If you've still got that piece of paper on your table, then is that the only thing that's still lying around?' she says. If it's a widespread issue, and causing negative thoughts, a therapist can help you identify and work through the possible emotional triggers and understand why. 'That's really the key to what to do about it.' 'I think we are often just being too hard on ourselves,' says Houlihan. 'We can become trapped in a cycle of heightened stimulation and being on the go, especially if you have young children, and we can have this sense of urgency that we just apply to all tasks. 'Actually take stock and think 'Do I need to do this now?'' Houlihan has put off renewing her passport, as it's not due for months. So she simply took it off her to-do list for now. 'Because I could just do with one less thing at the moment.' Opting to take time for yourself instead can be an act of self-care, she says. Maher agrees: 'If my choice is to go for a run, read a book, see a friend or do life admin, I'm gonna choose the other three things every single day of the week.'
The Guardian
7 hours ago
- The Guardian
‘There are times I feel I hate them': how siblings can clash over end-of-life care for elderly parents
When Anna's* parents came to visit last year, she was determined to give them a relaxing holiday in her Queensland beach town. She'd been worried about them – her Mum had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and her dad had been having frequent falls. For years she'd been trying to get them to talk about whether they needed to move to aged care, to assess their financial situation and face what was coming next, but they'd dismissed her, saying they were fine. On the first day of their visit, Anna's dad fell and broke his leg, badly. 'He went into hospital and Mum came and stayed with me. I realised what they'd been covering up. Mum was so confused she was walking around the house without any pants on, which was confronting for my teenage boys. She didn't know what day it was and she couldn't read a clock. Then the hospital told me Dad was withdrawing from alcohol and had some dementia.' Anna moved her parents to a nearby aged care centre while her sister packed up the family home. The sisters had always had some issues in their relationship but the stress of seeing their parents so vulnerable, of selling the house and working through the financial situation, led to harsh words and hurtful accusations. Anna's sister told their parents they were arguing. 'They were distraught. It was awful. I had to set some boundaries, and I just stopped all communication.' Caregiving can expose cracks in families and widen them to caverns. Since I've been working in this area, I've heard many stories like Anna's and spoken to experts about how families can fall apart just when they need to come together. There's often resentment about the burden of care on one child, conflict around the pressure of making huge decisions and the horror of the 'sad-min' of form filling. Issues around money are particularly messy. And families who have had past conflict and trauma are particularly at risk. Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Research released on Thursday by online care platform Violet reveals the depth of anxiety surrounding Australia's ageing population and gives insights into families who love deeply but plan poorly. Its poll of a thousand people found more than three-quarters of Australians are concerned that caregiving will damage their relationships with family members and 70% worry about managing past family conflicts and unresolved trauma when caregiving. Previous studies have shown 45% of caregivers experience relatively serious conflict with another family member, usually because one sibling tends to carry the heaviest load. Each statistic tells a unique and personal story of relationship breakdown, resentment and real anguish. But the consequences affect us all, because the conflict often plays out in publicly funded late-stage hospital care. A study published in the British Medical Journal in 2019 found patients whose families are in conflict were nearly 10 times more likely to receive unbeneficial treatment towards the end of their life. Ken Hillman, professor of intensive care at the School of Clinical Medicine at the University of New South Wales, has been warning about the cost of misaligned care in the last moments of life since the 1980s. His most recent research in the Internal Medicine Journal cited overtreatment as a major contributor to decreased capacity of hospitals, reduced ability to conduct elective surgery, increased attendances at emergency departments and ambulance ramping. Hillman says family conflict is the biggest cause of non-beneficial treatment at the end of life. 'I'm not too sure if it's guilt or existing conflict or just not facing the problem, but one sibling will often demand life support because they want to believe in hope or a miracle.' Professor Imogen Mitchell also sees the cost of conflict in her job as an intensive care specialist at Canberra hospital. She says most families haven't even thought about whether they'd want their loved one going to intensive care and this can lead to panic. 'Often sons are more wedded to keeping them alive, saying, 'She's a fighter', whereas it's often a daughter who does more of the care who will say 'I'm not sure Mum would want all this.' Often, a new wife and the children of the patient will be in conflict – the wife wants all treatment that is possible, and the children will be more pragmatic. Meanwhile, we hold a patient in suspension while family members get on the same page.' Often this can take time because all sorts of family issues can play out. Mitchell urges people to know their loved one's wishes before they are in a hospital corridor or get a call from a specialist. Sign up to Five Great Reads Each week our editors select five of the most interesting, entertaining and thoughtful reads published by Guardian Australia and our international colleagues. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Saturday morning after newsletter promotion 'I could count on one hand families that have had this conversation ... it can bring a family together if they all know what would Mum want.' Professors Mitchell and Hillman recommend comprehensive planning for life's final years. Families need guidance to navigate complex medical decisions and care coordination. Different states have different recommendations for health directives, but clearly we need better guidance and fundamental planning tools. Parents hate it when their children fight – setting the rules around ageing with clear direction and communication may be the best gift they can give their children and themselves. Not all conflict can be avoided, but some plain old appreciation for those who do the hard work in caring is a good place to start. Sharon* in Sydney spends half her week driving her father to appointments, cooking his meals and cleaning his flat. She does it with love but concedes the lack of the slightest bit of interest from her two siblings has lessened her love for them. 'Just an acknowledgment and a pat on the back would go a long way. There are times I even feel I hate them.' Often healing old wounds in families is too difficult. But at least putting them aside or not developing new divides is the least we can do for those people who gave us life. *Names have been changed Sarah Macdonald is a writer, broadcaster, an advocate for the sandwich generation and an ambassador for Violet organisation
