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Yahoo
7 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Omega-3 is vital for your health. These are the signs you're deficient
From reducing your risk of heart disease and staving off dementia to easing joint pain, omega-3 – typically found in oily fish such as salmon and sardines – is often said to have huge health benefits. The latest research to spotlight the power of omega-3 is the Do-Health clinical trial which set out to establish how we can extend our 'healthspan' (our healthy active life). Do-Health recruited more than 2,000 healthy people over 70 from five European countries and measured the impact of various interventions. It had already found that a daily omega-3 supplement reduced participants' rate of infection by 13 per cent and falls by 10 per cent. This month, in a new paper, the research team also concluded that those taking omega-3 for three years had aged three months less than others on the trial, as measured by biological markers According to Parveen Yaqoob, an expert in omega-3 and professor of nutritional physiology at Reading University, our interest in these fatty acids stretches back to the 1950s, when researchers travelled to Greenland to study the Inuit diet. 'They ate huge amounts of whale and seal meat which was extremely rich in omega-3, and the first observation was that the Inuits had a very long bleeding time if they cut their skin,' says Prof Yaqoob. 'It suggested they had quite thin blood. The second observation was that even though whale and seal meat was really high in fat, the presence of cardiovascular disease was really low.' Somehow, this fatty diet was not causing the obesity-related chronic diseases we see here. Despite much evidence of benefit, there is still no recommended intake, and available supplements have wildly different concentrations. NHS guidelines suggest eating two pieces of fish a week, one of which should be oily fish (rich in omega-3). 'Unfortunately, 70 per cent of people in the UK eat no oily fish at all,' says Prof Yaqoob. So what are we missing? And how much do we need? 'They are a particularly unusual family of fatty acids,' says Prof Yaqoob. 'The three main omega-3s are ALA, DHA and EPA, and it's widely believed – though not conclusive – that DHA is more important for brain function, while EPA plays a greater role in cardiovascular health. You really only find EPA and DHA in oily fish.' We need a balance of fats in our diet, and humans evolved on the edges of land masses, eating fish, but the switch to agriculture has meant our diet now contains far more omega-6 fats (which come from vegetable oils). 'The ideal omega-6 to omega-3 ratio should be 3:1,' says Nicola Shubrook, a nutritionist with Urban Wellness. 'Some estimates suggest most people in the UK have a ratio of between 10:1 and even 50:1.' 'It's vital for the grey matter in your brain – every cell in your body has omega-3 in its membrane,' says Geoff Mullan, the chief medical officer at Human People, a longevity specialist healthcare provider. It can play a role in the regulation of blood clotting and also our inflammatory responses. 'That makes it important for the heart, skin, brain, joints and pretty much every system in the body.' The signs are: Dry, brittle skin – rough skin (keratosis pilaris) around the upper arms is a common early sign Dry eyes Joint pain – stiffness and slow recovery after exercise Low mood Cardiovascular: reduces risk of clotting, lowers triglycerides (a type of blood fat) Reduces inflammation – may improve many inflammation-related conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, eczema, psoriasis and dry eye disease Improves mood and cognitive function Reduces all-cause mortality EPA and DHA omega-3s are critical to the development of the foetal brain and retina. This is why infant formula – and breast feeding supplements – contain DHA. There's evidence that omega-3 can ease some of the psychiatric symptoms such as depression, anxiety and lack of concentration. 'Eating whole foods rather than supplements is always going to be better because of all the other nutrients that come with it,' says Nicola Shubrook, a nutritionist with Urban Wellness. 'A piece of salmon doesn't just contain omega-3; it has vitamins and minerals, all that protein, the amino acids.' Oily fish are the best – in some cases, the only omega-3-rich foods. These are the fish that store fat all over their body. How much you need to eat is a grey area. The participants in the Do-Health trial were taking omega-3 supplements of 1g per day. So how much oily fish equates to this? White fish store fat in their liver – not their flesh – so cod liver oil is another source. 'The generations that grew up taking cod liver oil absolutely swear that it has a beneficial effect, especially on keeping their joints supple,' says Prof Yaqoob. One tablespoon (14g) = 1.7g of omega-3 ALA is found in dark green vegetables, walnuts, flaxseed, chia seeds, hempseed and soybeans – all of which are packed with other nutrients too. However, they are not a useful source of EPA or DHA, which the human body needs. 'Humans can only convert 5 to 10 per cent of these, so it's a bit naughty of the food industry to say, 'Get your omega-3 eating flaxseeds'. Actually, you can't,' says Mullan. The only vegetarian source is omega-3 supplements which are derived from algae. 'It's really a nice way to get it,' says Mullan. 'Fish don't make omega-3 either. They eat it from plankton and then store it. The algae supplements are a step farther back, so you're not risking contaminants. You avoid the fishy taste too.' Anyone on blood thinners should speak to their doctor before taking an omega-3 supplement. Unfortunately, there is no agreed answer. The NHS simply advises eating at least one meal of oily fish a week, although the American Heart Association advises on eating two, and adds in a 1g daily supplement for heart disease patients. The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM) recommends higher therapeutic doses (2-4g of omega-3 a day) to improve inflammation and autoimmune conditions, while the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recommends daily supplements that have a breakdown of 250mg of EPA and DHA for general health, and a higher dose 2-4g per day for triglyceride reduction. There are lots of reasons for belly fat, and omega-3 is no magic solution, but it can play a role in mitigating some of the harms by reducing levels of inflammation and harmful free radicals. Levels of omega-3 tend to be lower in overweight people. Yes. 'It's very strongly anti-inflammatory, it helps maintain a healthy skin barrier and helps with keratin production,' says Mullan. It can regulate oil production, improve hydration, soothe irritation and improve skin conditions such as eczema, acne, rosacea, psoriasis and keratosis pilaris. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. 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The Herald Scotland
22-05-2025
- Climate
- The Herald Scotland
Is Scotland's future on fire - and how can we stop it?
Is there any realistic chance of stopping them or is this what Scotland's future holds? This week Culbin forest near Forres has been alight; a month ago it was Glen Rosa on Arran; a week prior to that it was Galloway. By the end of April, more of the UK had been burnt by wildfires than the total for any year in more than a decade, according to the Global Wildfire Information System. The impacts on wildlife and cost to landowners can be pretty devastating. 'We've lost 10 years of conservation work and effort,' said one Arran ranger in the wake of the Glen Rosa fire. 'We just have to start again.' Read More: True, it's been an unusually dry spring, but the worrying long-term Scottish trend is for more intense, harder-to-handle fires that often begin on moorland and spread into forests. California suffered a deep collective trauma in January when a series of huge blazes broke out due to a combination of conditions – a period of high rainfall promoting vegetation growth, followed by drought, followed by high winds. At least 30 people died and more than 18,000 homes were destroyed. Scotland may not be a high hazard location for destructive wildfires like the western US, but the so-called 'hydroclimate whiplash' effect – a wet period followed by an intense dry period – is being more frequently observed in locations around the world including Scotland, creating the conditions for more frequent and troublesome wildfires. So do we just have to endure them? Yes and no, is the somewhat sad reality. Wildfires will continue and worsen, say the researchers, but we can manage them better. 'As long as climate change keeps happening, this effect keeps increasing,' says Theo Keeping of Reading University, an expert in wildfire risk modelling. The old postcard on the difference between Scotland's winter and summer weather, showing a rain-lashed figure cowering under an umbrella in both cases, once seemed to represent Scotland's best protection against wildfires: near-constant rain. That has changed. With a warming atmosphere able to absorb ever more moisture from the land, we still get plenty of rain, but in between times we are seeing longer settled spells when the ground is sucked dry of moisture. Scotland has started experiencing wildfires in areas which were not traditionally susceptible to them, and instead of being contained in spring, devouring dead vegetation leftover from the previous year, wildfires are occurring into summer and even late summer. 'They're certainly becoming more difficult to suppress and tend to have higher fuel loads – the amount of vegetation available for burning – which gives them greater intensity,' says Group Commander Niall MacLennan of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), based in Inverness. Heather that's above knee height, for instance, contains a lot of energy. Land management is part of the wildfire risk, says the SFRS. Changes to the way farms and estates use land, particularly where vegetation increases as a result, can have an impact. So can't fires be prevented in the first place? Some but not all. That would require a policy that is literally foolproof and no one has come up with one yet. Social media right now is full of pleas from rangers begging people not to flick away fag ends, light campfires and BBQs or leave glass bottles around that could magnify the sun (thought to be the cause of Glen Rosa's fire). Yet it's also full of exasperated posts from people who have found smouldering campfires set on tinder-dry moorland or under trees among dessicated pine needles. Clearly either the message isn't getting through, or some people are deliberately ignoring it. Probably both. Education is still crucial and there's more focus on it in Scotland than ever before. In other countries, like Portugal, it's helped reduce the number of fires. But as Keeping says 'it's almost impossible' to exclude all ignitions. That's why much effort has focused on finding ways of containing fires and putting them out pronto. Regenerating landscapes to better retain water; creating fire breaks (where vegetation is burnt or cut away); giving greater consideration to what we grow and where; creating lochans as water sources for firefighters: strategies such as this will just become more and more important. The Scottish Parliament has just passed legislation requiring anyone using 'prescribed burning', for firebreaks or muirburn, to hold a license and have training. Evacuation plans also have to be up to date in case of wildfires getting out of control. At the edge of towns and villages, householders might have to start giving more attention to reducing fire risk. MacLennan says he is concerned when he sees large-scale vegetation like gorse close to houses in rural areas because of the real risk the buildings could catch fire. If we can't stop fires igniting, we need to be able to extinguish them quickly. SFRS is focusing on a 'smarter' strategy for tackling wildfires, with specially trained firefighters in certain fire stations equipped with specific PPE and equipment, to manage and suppress fires in an agile way. A helicopter, like that used over Culbin forest, might deposit around 800litres of water over the fires – about eight baths-worth – which is highly effective. Civilian helicopters aren't always available for these operations though. Even ground vehicles suitable for the local terrain can be hard to come by and sometimes firefighters still have to walk to fire sites dressed in PPE and carrying water. That's one way land managers and locals can help out, offering lifts and vehicles. And perhaps that's the point: that we all have a role to play in this – individuals, government, fire service and communities. More intense wildfires, a consequences of unchecked climate change, are part of our collective future. It looks like it will take a collective effort to fight them. Rebecca McQuillan is a journalist specialising in politics and Scottish affairs. She can be found on Bluesky at @ and on X at @BecMcQ
Times
12-05-2025
- Health
- Times
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
Sky News
15-04-2025
- Climate
- Sky News
'Tropical nights' in European holiday hotspots are soaring
'Tropical nights' might sound like a beach-side party, or a refreshing cocktail, but the reality is less entertaining. In fact, tropical nights - when temperatures don't dip below 20C - have become an increasingly common, sweaty fixture in Europe since the 1980s, and it's disrupting both lives and holidays in unexpected ways. Last year, southern European summer destinations - including the sun-drenched shores of southern Italy, Croatia, Turkey and Greece - sweltered through a record-breaking 23 tropical nights, according to new data. That's nearly three times the average of just eight, and far above the previous record of 16 in 2012, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service said. Tropical nights mean a sleepless, sticky time in bed, when sweaty sheets cling to skin and opening windows brings no respite. Dann Mitchell from the UK's Met Office said nighttime temperatures are "really important for our health" because it's the part of each day when we recover. And if it can't do that, it brings a "whole host of issues", he warned. These sweltering figures came in what was the hottest year ever in Europe. But they aren't a one-off. Climate change is making the atmosphere warmer, bringing 'heat stress' in the day as well as at night. Last year there were also 66 days of 'strong heat stress' across southern Europe - when daily temperatures reach a 'feels-like' temperature of 32°C or higher - far surpassing the average of 29 days. The price of sleepless nights Soaring daytime highs paired with sultry nights are pushing the limits of human comfort - and health. Madeleine Thomson, Head of Climate Impacts & Adaptation at health research foundation Wellcome, said: "Europe is heating up, and we're not prepared for the toll this will take on our health." "Deaths from heat stress are the most visible impact. But extreme heat doesn't just kill - it also increases the risk of heart disease, pregnancy complications, and poor mental health." In Britain's scorching summer of 2022, an extra 2,800 people aged over 65 are estimated to have died from heat-related reasons. Children are especially vulnerable because they are small and so warm up faster. Pregnant women, whose bodies already struggle with temperature regulation, are also at risk. While air conditioning "helps us to survive", it is energy intensive, increasingly unaffordable, and can lead to power blackouts when the system is overloaded, said Ilan Kelman, professor of disasters and health from Reading University. Earth, wine and fire But it's not just tourists who are feeling the heat. "The economic consequences are profound," said Dr Hannah Cloke, a hydrologist at Reading University, including for farmers grappling with withering crops and crusty soils. Wine harvests were down last year, variously described by the industry as "dismal" and "horrible". Meanwhile while olive trees were parched by heat and drought, pavements in Italy melted, and a fire near Athens burned almost 11,000 hectares (110 km2). Holiday company Intrepid Travel said it has "definitely seen an increase in the severity and frequency of extreme weather events impacting our trips in Europe". It is adapting to this "new reality" by scrapping hiking holidays in Turkey in July and August and running new summer trips to Scandinavia - with bookings from Brits up 40% last year. Google told Sky News it had detected a new, rapidly growing trend for searches like "summer holiday in Europe not too hot" and "what summer holiday destinations do not have risk of wildfires in July". A hotter future The record-breaking summer of 2024 may have been extreme, but it's part of a long term shift, said Copernicus. Europe is the fastest-warming continent, warming twice as fast as the global average - partly due to its overlap with the Arctic. The weather still varies wildly, so scientists can't predict the exact number of tropical nights or heat waves this year, but they are confident in the trend. Madeleine Thomson, head of climate impacts at Wellcome, said: "We urgently need to cut emissions and adapt our cities. Simple changes, like adding green spaces and waterways, can help cool urban areas and protect public health."
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Powerful solar winds squish Jupiter's magnetic field 'like a giant squash ball'
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A massive solar windstorm in 2017 compressed Jupiter's magnetosphere "like a giant squash ball," a new study reports. The discovery stemmed from an unusual temperature pattern scientists observed in Jupiter's atmosphere using the Keck Observatory in Hawai'i. Normally, Jupiter's powerful polar auroras inject significant heat into the gas giant's upper atmosphere near the poles. These spectacular lights resemble those seen on Earth, where they're generated when energetic particles interact with our planet's magnetic field, but Jupiter's auroras are believed to proceed through a different mechanism and are far more intense and energetic. When scientists from Reading University in England detected unexpectedly high temperatures stretching across half of Jupiter's circumference — reaching over 930 degrees Fahrenheit (500 degrees Celsius), significantly higher than the typical atmospheric background temperature of 660 degrees F (350 degrees C) — they were baffled. Related: Solar wind: What is it and how does it affect Earth? "Typically, temperatures decrease gradually toward the equator, reflecting how auroral energy is redistributed across the planet," the team wrote in their paper, which was published today (April 3) in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. As "there are no known heating mechanisms capable of producing a feature with these temperatures outside of the auroral region," the team proposed that the superheated region was likely "launched" toward the equator from the poles. To figure out how this might have occurred, the researchers combined ground-based observations from the Keck telescope with data from NASA's Juno spacecraft, which has been exploring Jupiter and its moons since 2016. They traced the cause of this sudden heat displacement to a dense burst of solar wind that compressed Jupiter's enormous magnetosphere — a magnetic bubble surrounding the planet, shaped by its own magnetic field. (Earth has one, too! In fact, life would not be possible without it.) "We have never captured Jupiter's response to solar wind before — and the way it changed the planet's atmosphere was very unexpected," study lead author James O'Donoghue of the University of Reading said in a statement. "This is the first time we've ever seen a thing like this on any outer world." The compression of the magnetosphere by the solar wind appears to have intensified auroral heating at Jupiter's poles, causing the upper atmosphere to expand and spill hot gas typically confined to the poles down toward the equator, team members said. "The solar wind squished Jupiter's magnetic shield like a giant squash ball," O'Donoghue said. "This created a super-hot region that spans half the planet. Jupiter's diameter is 11 times larger than Earth's, meaning this heated region is enormous." And such solar wind events are believed to hit Jupiter two to three times per month! Related Stories: — Jupiter's auroras arise from a magnetic 'tug-of-war' with volcanic eruptions on its moon Io — Space weather: What is it and how is it predicted? — Jupiter's storms and its 'potato' moon Amalthea stun in new NASA Juno probe images Scientists had previously thought that Jupiter's fast rotation would shield it from such effects, keeping auroral heating confined to the polar regions due to barriers created by the planet's strong winds. However, the new findings challenge that assumption, revealing that even the solar system's largest planet is at the sun's mercy. "We've studied Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus in increasing detail over the past decade. These giant planets are not as resistant to the sun's influence as we thought — they're vulnerable, like Earth," O'Donoghue said in the statement. "Jupiter acts like a laboratory, allowing us to study how the sun affects planets in general," he added. "By watching what happens there, we can better predict and understand the effects of solar storms which might disrupt GPS, communications and power grids on Earth."
