How to boost your gut microbiome for a better workout
The gut biome is the ecosystem of bacteria, fungi and viruses that lives in our digestive tract and has a powerful effect on our immune system, energy and mood. Could it therefore have a significant effect on our workout performance?
Drew Price, a nutrition consultant and doctoral researcher at Reading University, points to studies that show mice with normal amounts of bacteria in their gut biomes have a third more energy than those with lower amounts. 'There's growing evidence that protecting the gut microbiome boosts the physical processes that underpin our fitness,' he says. This is how to keep your gut and body fit and firing.
Muscles are made from protein, of which meat, fish, eggs and beans are all excellent sources. But protein can
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The Independent
14 minutes ago
- The Independent
Healthcare firm Totally collapses but divisions sold
Former NHS 111 urgent care provider Totally has collapsed into administration, but said a deal to sell its main divisions will see the 'uninterrupted provision' of all its services. The Derby-based healthcare firm – which lost the NHS 111 support contract in February this year – has appointed Ernst & Young partners Tim Vance and Sam Woodward as joint administrators after failing to secure bids or strategic investors for the entire firm. It said that following the appointment, the sale of its selective care and corporate wellbeing subsidiaries, as well as the urgent care division, was completed to rival PHL Group. 'This transaction sees the continued and uninterrupted provision of all services previously delivered by the group,' Totally said. Totally employed more than 1,400 employees, according to its 2023-2024 annual report. The group added: 'PHL Group will make separate announcements shortly, including communication with the customers, suppliers and employees of the elective care and urgent care divisions, and the corporate wellbeing business, which are all continuing to provide all services as normal following the transaction.' The company's failure comes after a difficult past year, with the firm losing the NHS 111 contract worth £13 million and then revealing last month it was facing a potential medical negligence claim related to an incident in January 2018. At the time, it warned the size of the liability for the claim could be more than the £10 million claim limit on its insurance policy. It launched a strategic review to look at options, including the sale of subsidiaries 'receiving strategic investment or undertaking some other form of comparable corporate action'. Shares in the firm plummeted at the time. On June 6, it announced its intention to appoint administrators after the review had failed to see any 'solvent' offers for parent firm Totally and suspended its shares from trading on London's junior Aim market. PHL – the buyer of its trading divisions – was launched in 2009 and runs services in the UK and overseas, including integrated urgent care, urgent treatment centres, surgical insourcing, custody healthcare, ADHD services and general practice.
Telegraph
31 minutes ago
- Telegraph
How to avoid getting a slipped disc (and what to do if the worst happens)
Four weeks ago, Tom Hayes, 58, awoke in his hotel bed with his lower back in agony. 'It was pain I've never experienced,' says Tom, a TV producer, who was working in Turkey at the time. 'I've broken my leg and shattered my ankle in 10 places before and that wasn't half as bad. This pain was so much more extreme. I couldn't work out how to get out of bed and had to call a colleague a few doors down to help me.' Tom went straight to hospital where he learnt that what he was experiencing was a slipped, or 'herniated', disc. 'Knowing that it was just a really common, boring injury took the panic away,' he says. 'Until that point, I think I was in too much pain to be rational and really had no idea what it could be.' A month on, back home and off pain killers, he's feeling only 'mild discomfort' but still wonders how it happened. He hadn't done anything strenuous in the lead up, though he has suffered 'a slightly dodgy back' and intermittent pain for years. 'I'm not particularly unfit,' he adds. 'I walk and cycle but I don't do weights or yoga, or anything to make my back stronger. Am I culpable in that way?' What is a slipped disc? Around 1 to 3 per cent of people in Western industrialised countries will experience a slipped disc – they are twice as common in men than women – and most likely to occur between the age of 30 and 60. Although research teams are looking at stem cell therapy as a means of regenerating disc tissue and preventing degeneration, for now, slipped discs are primarily caused by inevitable age-related change. 'Discs are the spongy spaces between the bones in our back which act as shock absorbers and also enable us to bend,' says Mr Damian Fahy, spinal surgeon at the Fortius Clinic. They are commonly compared to jam doughnuts – with a spongy outside and a hydroscopic gel in the centre. 'After the age of 20, the material that discs are made from starts to change,' explains Fahy. 'It doesn't retain water as effectively and becomes dehydrated – like a stale crispy doughnut – and less flexible. When that happens, it could be that one awkward movement tears the outside of the disc and if it extends right into the core and the gel escapes, you've got a slipped disc. It can cause pain when the gel hits the nerve or because the gel itself contains a lot of chemicals.' In addition to age related decline, added risk factors are: Genetics: A family history can make this more likely due to genetic variations in the protein that the discs are made from. Smoking: It reduces blood flow to the discs and weakens the outer layers. Obesity: The increased load on the spine causes structural weakness. Being Sedentary: Sitting – especially slumping – for extended periods increases pressure on the discs. Certain activities: 'Heavy physical work that involves lifting, twisting and bending,' says Fahy. 'Disc injuries from certain gym exercises – like dead lifts and barbell squats – are also hugely common now. Rowing is high risk too because of the way it loads your spine while bending.' How to avoid a slipped disc 'We can't stop ageing or change our genes, but we can reduce our risk by not smoking and maintaining a healthy weight,' says Fahy. What else can we do? Avoid sitting for extended periods 'Take a break after 20 minutes,' says Fahy. 'It's not a great idea to stand all day either. If you have the option, a sit stand desk is best.' David Vaux, osteopath, healthy ageing expert and author of Stronger, recommends an ergonomic assessment for a working space if possible. 'Stretch out your glute muscles when you go to stand after being seated for a while and take a brisk walk at lunch time every day,' adds Vaux. Choose the right activities 'To prevent disc injuries, you want to build a strong core – and that includes the abdominals, the glutes and the back muscles so you have a corset going right around your body,' says Vaux. The multifidus muscle plays a key role here – a short muscle deep in the back that helps stabilise the spine. According to Vaux, the plank, the side plank and glute bridges are good core all-rounders in an exercise routine. If you're selecting an exercise class, Fahy strongly recommends Pilates. 'Pilates involves natural, functional movements that reach the deep muscles in the back,' he says. General cardiovascular fitness is important too. 'A lot of disc injuries happen when someone overexerts themselves when they're fatigued,' says Vaux. 'That's when you're going to start relying less on your muscles and more on your ligaments, tendons and joints, including the discs.' Build fitness slowly and sensibly. 'Don't sign up to hard classes or push yourself too quickly,' says Vaux. 'Spend three to six months getting generally more active – and if you're doing resistance training, use only your body weight. After you've progressed, you can move to something more challenging.' 'When building fitness, walking is good for the spine and swimming is excellent,' says Fahy. 'It doesn't load your spine and it strengthens the core and back muscles, especially front crawl and back stroke. Cycling is neutral – it doesn't help or harm your back. If you have a damaged back, running is high-risk because of the force when your feet hit the ground.' Learn to Lift ' We see a lot of disc injuries when people lift too much or use a poor technique,' says Vaux. 'Anyone who doesn't use their legs to lift is putting a lot of pressure on the discs in the lower back. Don't just bend at the hips. If you're gardening for instance, or have heavy shopping – or you're lifting weights – you should bend from both the hips and the knees so you go into a squat position.' Do the hard stuff first 'Don't do anything challenging or high risk when you're tired, recovering from a virus, or you've slept badly as you're at much higher risk of a disc injury,' says Vaux. 'If you're low on energy, do some walking or gentle stretching instead. If you're in the garden, don't dig up the big plant or load the wheel barrow at the end of the day. By then, you'll have lost your form and your posture. Do the heavy work first and end with the light weeding.' What to do if the worst happens? Most slipped discs heal over four to six weeks with rest, pain relief and gentle exercise. Over time, the slipped disc shrinks and stops putting pressure on the nerve. 'There's are no rigid rules around treatment paths as this has to be led by the patient and pain levels,' says Fahy. 'You can have a really big slipped disc that looks terrible on a scan but doesn't cause much pain and you can have a small slipped disc that's agonising. If you develop numbness or weakness, it means the nerve is being compressed and potentially damaged and that is something to take more seriously and accelerate.' In general terms though, treatment stages are: Stage 1. Take pain killers – paracetamol and ibuprofen – and rest. If it's pain like you've never experienced before, see a physiotherapist, osteopath or GP. 'Pain causes muscle spasm as a protective mechanism which is very painful so a therapist can break that pain cycle with gentle manipulation and massage,' says Fahy. Stage 2. If the pain doesn't settle, see your GP for stronger painkillers, and if after six weeks, you are not improving, see a specialist such as a spinal surgeon or pain specialist for an MRI scan. Stage 3. The first intervention would probably be a guided steroid injection, administered in an operating theatre or radiology suite. 'It doesn't make the disc normal but it takes the heat out of the situation,' says Fahy. 'It reduces the pain caused by the gel and also reduces the swelling and some of the pressure on the nerve. That enables you to do your physiotherapy exercises and manage while nature heals in the background.' Stage 4. If the injections have failed and the pain is unmanageable or you're developing progressive weakness, surgery is the next step. (The vast majority of slipped discs – 90 per cent – recover without surgery.) 'A microdiscectomy is usually done under a general anaesthetic with a small incision probably 2 or 3cm long,' says Fahy. 'The nerve that's under pressure is released and the escaped gel is removed.' Recovery depends on general fitness, age and access to rehab. 'My general advice is a half hour walk a couple of times a day for the first two weeks after surgery,' says Fahy. 'Week two to week six, if the skin has healed, you can swim, cycle and drive again and start gentle exercise ideally with a physiotherapist. After that you can start more strenuous exercise, including Pilates, with a full return to unrestricted activity in three months.' Surgery Risks Risk of nerve injury leading to weakness, numbness and pain in the lower back or one of the legs – 1 in 100 Risk of incontinence (ranging from partial and temporary to permanent) – 1 in 1000 Risk of infection from surgery – 1 to 3 per cent The disc can also slip again. The risk of this happening after surgery is 7 per cent. The risk without surgery is 9 per cent. 'If you have back pain, then experience numbness between the legs in the saddle area and difficulty with control going to toilet, that's an absolute emergency and you should go to A&E,' says Fahy. Very rarely, a slipped disc compresses the nerves that control bladder and bowel function causing Cauda Equina Syndrome. Unless they are released very quickly by a surgeon, they tend not to recover. Unfortunately, in the UK, the signs are often missed and the time from onset to surgery is in the order of weeks. By comparison, in Germany, it's in the order of hours. Five safe exercise to help you recover from a slipped disc Participating in movement that does not excessively load the spine can help us recover faster. Our focus should be on strengthening core muscles, improving flexibility, and promoting spinal mobility. Movements should be performed slowly and with control, avoiding any movements that cause excessive pain. Always get a diagnosis of your back pain from a health professional and ensure you check if you are unsure about what movements are right for your body. Considerations: Gradual progression: Aim to participate in movements once a week increasing to twice – if your pain does not worsen. Listen to your body: Some movements won't suit everyone. Avoid any movement that makes your back pain worse and stick to the ones that work for your body. Seek professional advice: If your symptoms worsen or you are unsure what movement is right for you always check with a health professional. When a health professional has told you it's ok to get a little more active, consider these movements: 1. Laying knee rolls Lying on your back with bent knees, gently drop your knees to one side and then the other, keeping your back pressed against the floor. Aiming for 5-10 rolls to each side. 2. Hip Bridge Lie on your back with bent knees, slowly lift your pelvis and back off the ground by tightening your core and glutes, front of your thighs in line with your tummy. Hold for one second and slowly return to the starting position. Repeat 5-10 times. 3. Cat – Cow Inhale deeply while curving your lower back and bringing your head up, tilting your pelvis up like a 'cow.' Exhale deeply and bring your abdomen in, arching your spine and bringing your head and pelvis down like a 'cat'. Repeat 5-10 times. 4. Laying Half Extension or Cobra Laying on your front with your hands facing the floor either side of your shoulders. Slowly push up so that your chest is off the floor, supported by your forearms and hands. Hold for one second and slowly lower to the starting position. Repeat 5-10 times. 5. Standing extension Standing with feet hip-width apart, knees slightly bent and hands placed on your lower back. Gently lean back, hold for one second and return to the starting position. Repeat 5-10 times.
Reuters
33 minutes ago
- Reuters
L'Oreal buys British skincare brand Medik8
PARIS/LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - L'Oreal ( opens new tab is to acquire British skincare brand Medik8, its owner, Britain-based private equity firm Inflexion, said on Monday, boosting the French cosmetics giant's offering in the fast-growing dermatological skincare market. The size of the deal was not disclosed. Medik8 focuses on vitamin A-based anti-ageing creams and serums. "The partnership with L'Oreal will allow Medik8 to deepen its presence in existing markets and expand globally. As part of the transaction, Inflexion will retain a minority shareholding in Medik8," the private equity firm said in a statement. L'Oreal's dermatological beauty division, which includes major brands like CeraVe, La Roche-Posay, and SkinCeuticals, has been its fastest growing in recent years, reaching revenues of 7 billion euros ($7.99 billion) last year, after growing almost 10% on the year before. The business, which also has the highest profit margin among its four divisions, has boomed on growing consumer interest in science-backed products, though growth has slowed recently due to rising competition. L'Oreal executives said this year they were pursuing acquisitions and looking to revive flagging growth. The company acquired Korean skincare brand, Dr.G, in December and also bought a minority stake in Oman-based perfume house Amourage last year. ($1 = 0.8757 euros)
