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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2012
health & science
Can exercise detoxify body? Experts skeptical NEW YORK: The word “detoxification” is flung around the fitness community as frequently as kettlebells are swung. Yoga teachers regularly speak of detoxifying twists, aerobics instructors of detoxifying sweat, dieters of detoxifying fasts. But health professionals are skeptical. “If you start talking about exercising to detoxify, there’s no scientific data,” said Dr. Elizabeth Matzkin, chief of women’s sports medicine at Harvard Medical School. “The human body is designed to get rid of what we don’t need.” The same applies to fasting. “No good scientific data supports any of those cleanses, where you drink juice, or (only) water for a week,” she said. Exercise is important, Matzkin added, because it enables our body to do what it is made to do, but the kidneys and colon get rid of waste. The role of exercise in that process is unclear. “In general exercise helps our lungs; kidneys get rid of things that can cause us onset of disease,” she said. A healthy
lifestyle - eating healthy, drinking plenty of water and exercising - is important to detoxifying because it enables our body to do what is intended to do.
squeeze the organs, which push the blood out so fresh blood can rush in. “Better circulation equals better health,” said Archer, who is based in
“As for specific yoga moves, I’m not so sure,” she said. Yoga instructor and fitness expert Shirley Archer, an author and spokeswoman for the American Council on Exercise (ACE) said the theory behind the effectiveness of detoxifying twists in yoga is that they
Florida. “If detox means to eliminate from the body what it no longer needs, then certain yogic practices can help.” She said yogic deep breathing with strong exhalations can empty the lungs of unneeded carbon dioxide and
allow for a fresh breath of more oxygenated air. “This nourishes all of our cells,” she said. “It is also a method of cleansing because better circulation equals better health.” Meditative movement practices, such as yoga and tai chi, she added, can detox your attitude because they require staying in the present moment and discourage dwelling on the past. Last summer, celebrity trainer Tracy Anderson began taking groups of 40odd women on what she calls Detox Weeks, which involve at least three hours of workouts each day, as well as lectures on fitness and nutrition aimed mainly at encouraging lifestyle changes. Similar weeks in other cities are planned for 2013. “Women work out and think ‘Why can’t my love handles, muffin tops go away’?” said Anderson, creator of the Tracy Anderson Method and a co-owner, with actress Gwyneth Paltrow, of fitness centers in Los Angeles and New York. “The most important thing is if
Arctic town eyes future as Europe’s gateway to space Commercial space flights to take off soon KIRUNA, Sweden: Sweden’s small Arctic town of Kiruna has a surprisingly international airport with regular flights to London and Tokyo, but it has even bigger plans: to offer commercial space flights. Spaceport Sweden, a company founded in 2007, hopes to be able to provide the first flights
would take off for a maximum two-hour trip into space aboard futuristic spacecraft currently undergoing testing, which resemble a cross between an airplane and a space shuttle and which can carry between one and six passengers. The sub-orbital flights will send
area. The wide-open spaces within Sweden’s borders also mean no bureaucratic red-tape to be resolved with other countries. Kiruna also has 60 years experience of space research to its credit. IRF was founded in 1957 and the Swedish space research and rocket centre Esrange, located in
This handout picture shows an artist’s impression depicting an international space airport in Kiruna. Kiruna, the northernmost city in Sweden, hopes to develop space tourism in ten years by building an international space airport. —AFP within a decade from Kiruna’s airport. “We’re working on establishing commercial flights from Sweden to space for tourism and research, and to create a launching pad at the airport,” explained the company’s enthusiastic director, Karin Nilsdotter, seated in her office at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF). The idea is that space tourists
passengers 100 kilometres (60 miles) above Earth and allow them to experience five minutes of weightlessness. Kiruna’s location in the far north of Sweden, and Europe, makes it a prime location for space flights, Nilsdotter said. The space flights would not be disturbed by heavy air traffic, nor is the region a densely populated
the town, was founded in 1966. “We have to use this knowledge to create a unique adventure with global impact: space travel,” Nilsdotter insisted. “Even if it’s too early to give any figures, market studies show there is potential for 14,000 travellers after 10 years of business,” she added. Spaceport Sweden is not build-
ing its own spacecraft, but will instead collaborate with a company that is doing so, she says, refusing to disclose how many spacecraft it will operate nor the identity of its partner. In the United States, several companies are already developing aircraft capable of carrying space tourists, such as Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic. “ The technology isn’t fully developed yet,” Nilsdotter said, adding that the companies were currently carrying out test flights in the United States. The first commercial space flights are expected to take place in the United States in 2014 and a few years after that in Sweden. The head of the Esrange space research and rocket site, Lennart Poromaa, is meanwhile more measured in his enthusiasm for the project. “In a few years there may be commercial space flights, but it will take longer than people think,” he said. Esrange pulled out of the project “because we’re not about creating adventure”, he explained. But “we could help them if they need help in the field of research, possibly”, the aerospace engineer said. According to Nilsdotter, space flights could take off four times a day. Esrange meanwhile launches four rockets a year. “Researchers who want to test their experiments in microgravity may be able to fly with us and then adjust their projects,” she said. In the United States, more than 1,000 tickets for space flights have already been reserved, at around $200,000 (153,000 euros) apiece. For adventure-seekers who can’t wait to visit space, Spaceport Sweden already offers flights from Kiruna airport to view the northern lights, a spectacular phenomenon of colorful lights that streak across the night sky, for the tidy sum of 6,990 kronor (810 euros, $1,059). —AFP
Diet Pepsi quietly changes sweetener NEW YORK: Diet Pepsi is quietly changing its sweetener ahead of a major rebranding of the soft drink set for next month. The change comes as PepsiCo Inc. looks to reinvigorate its namesake brands after losing market share to Coca-Cola Co. in recent years. Cans of Diet Pepsi around the country now list a mix of two artificial sweeteners, a pairing that is commonly found in newer diet sodas. Previously, Diet Pepsi used only aspartame, which is sensitive to heat and breaks down more easily. This summer, PepsiCo had declined to say whether it would go ahead with such a change after reports surfaced that it was testing the new sweeteners. Although the switch is only intended to help prevent the taste from degrading over time, companies are often sensitive to public perceptions that they might be tinkering with major brands. PepsiCo executives likely don’t want to call any attention to the use of artificial sweeteners in the drink either. When reached for comment Sunday, PepsiCo spokeswoman Andrea Canabal said that Diet Pepsi using the new sweetener mix started hitting shelves in early December. She said the new mix will be more widely available in the coming weeks. “It’s not like a light switch. It’ll start appearing as shelf space clears,” she said. In January, Canabal said the company is planning a major ad campaign that will include a new logo with a heart and the theme “Love Every Sip.”
The sweetener change will not be explicitly communicated in the ads, which will feature actress Sofia Vergara. In addition to aspartame, cans of Diet Pepsi found in New York, Omaha, Neb., and the Bay Area now list acesulfame potassium as an ingredient. The ingredient is often used in combination with other artificial sweeteners and can be found in a wide range of foods including baked goods, chewing gum and gelatin desserts. John Sicher, editor and publisher of the industry tracker Beverage Digest, said the synergistic effect of mixing the two sweeteners is intended to help keep the drink’s sweetening power at a constant level, making it taste fresh longer. “A change in sweetener does not change the flavor,” he noted. PepsiCo said in a statement Sunday that it was adding a “very small amount” of acesulfame potassium “to ensure consistency with every sip.” The sweeteners used in Diet Pepsi vary depending on the region of the world. The move to improve Diet Pepsi comes amid a broader push by PepsiCo to boost sales of its flagship soda. Under pressure from investors, CEO Indra Nooyi earlier this year announced the company would step up investment in its flagship brands. Already this year, PepsiCo has made several splashy moves including a wide-ranging partnership with singer Beyonce and a multiyear deal with the National Football League to sponsor the Super Bowl
halftime show. TV ads for Pepsi have also featured singer Nicki Minaj, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, the boy band One Direction and international soccer stars including Lionel Messi. Whether the efforts will pay off with increased sales remains to be seen. In the latest quarter, PepsiCo said its soda volume in North America fell 2 percent, reflecting the broader decline in soft drink consumption that has plagued the industry since 1998. But the company noted that its share of the market had improved. For now, Diet Pepsi remains the No. 7 carbonated soft drink with 4.9 percent of the market, according to Beverage Digest. That’s down from 5.3 percent in 2000. Meanwhile, Diet Coke’s share has increased in that time from 8.7 percent to 9.6 percent. Diet Coke, which still only uses aspartame, overtook regular Pepsi to become the No. 2 soda brand in 2010. Coke remains No 1 and Pepsi is No 3. Still, Diet Pepsi rakes in roughly $5 billion in a year in revenue and remains one of PepsiCo’s biggest moneymakers. The company, based in Purchase, NY, also makes Frito-Lay snacks, Tropicana juices and Quaker oatmeal. It’s not the first time a soda company is tweaking the sweeteners in its drinks; PepsiCo made a similar move with Diet Mountain Dew in 2006, while Coca-Cola did the same with Diet Sprite in 2000. —AP
you can become a consistent exerciser.” “A good workout is not five to 10 yoga poses,” she explained. “You have to learn to scale up your endurance. If you can only jump for five minutes straight, we’ll go to 10 minutes, then 20 minutes.” Anderson said she uses the term detoxification broadly to include everything from working up a good sweat to clearing the mind of destructive thoughts. “Detoxification is a big topic,” she said. Nancy Clark, a registered dietitian in Boston, Massachusetts and a member of the American College of Sports Medicine, said the body generally does a fine job of detoxifying itself through the liver and kidneys. Sweating has nothing to do with it. “ When you sweat you really don’t detoxify anything,” she explained. “If someone goes on a crash diet, then maybe toxins are released but then the body would take care of them. When you sweat you lose sodium.” —Reuters
IVF twin pregnancies riskier than singletons: Study STOCKHOLM: Having twins as a results of in vitro fertilization (IVF) carries higher risks of complications for both mother and babies than having two single babies from separate IVF procedures, according to a Swedish study. The extra concerns that come with multiple births are nothing new. Btu even as many fertility clinics have stopped regularly transferring more than one embryo, debate has continued over whether having twins through IVF is really a bad thing for couples desperate for children. “The neonatal and maternal outcomes were dramatically better for women undergoing two IVF singleton pregnancies compared with one IVF twin pregnancy after double-embryo transfer,” wrote lead researcher Antonina Sazonova in the journal Fertility and Sterility. “ These results suppor t single embryo transfer to minimize the risks associated with twin pregnancies,” added Sazonova of Sahlgrensk a University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden. The researchers analyzed data from fresh and frozen embryo transfers done at Swedish IVF clinics between 2002 and 2006. Those records included 991 women who ultimately gave birth to twins after a double embr yo transfer and 921 mothers with two children born through separate rounds of IVF. Almost 47 percent of twin babies were born prematurely and 39 percent were considered low bir th weight, the team reported. That compared to the seven percent of single-
ton babies that were preemies and less than five percent born small. Twins were also more likely to have breathing complications, sepsis or jaundice. Their mothers had two to three times more preeclampsia - high blood pressure and protein in the urine - and were four times more likely to need a C-section than women who had two single births. However, there was no difference in the babies’ chances of having severe malformations and other lifethreatening health problems. “A lot of patients, when they’ve had infertility for a long time, think that it’s a bonus to get two,” said Lynn Westphal, a women’s health and fertility specialist at Stanford University Medical Center in Palo Alto, California. “We know it’s always safest to have one child at a time,” added Westphal, who wasn’t involved in the new study, adding that she and her colleagues have been counseling more and more women to have a single embryo transferred, especially the younger and healthier patients. Some data suggest women are just as likely to get pregnant if they have a single embryo transfer, versus more than one. But the findings have been inconsistent, Westphal said. “A lot of patients are focusing just on getting pregnant, they’re not looking at the whole pregnancy and looking at the outcome of twins,” she said. “They’re just thinking if they transfer more, they’re more likely to get pregnant. And they’re thinking if they have twins, they’re just getting everything done at one time.” —Reuters
Daylight savings tied to bump in heart attack rates: Study Setting the clock ahead for daylight savings time may set the scene for a small increase in heart attacks the next day, according to a US study - which suggests that sleep deprivation may be to blame. Researchers at two hospitals in the US state of Michigan, whose findings appeared in the American Journal of Cardiology, reviewed six years of records and found that they treated an average of 23 heart attacks on the Sunday when the United States switched to daylight savings time. That compared to 13 on a typical Sunday. “Nowadays, people are looking for how they can reduce their risk of heart disease and other ailments,” said Monica Jiddou, the study’s lead author and a cardiologist at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak. “Sleep is something we can potentially control. There are plenty of studies that show sleep can affect a person’s health.” A 2008 Swedish report, for instance, found that the chance of a heart attack increased in the first three weekdays after the switch to daylight savings time, and decreased the Monday after the clocks returned to standard time in the autumn. Jiddou told Reuters Health that her team wanted to see if their respective hospitals experienced the same increase and decrease in heart attacks seen in the Swedish study. For the new study, she and her colleagues reviewed records for the 328 patients who were diagnosed with a heart attack during the week after a time change between 2006 and 2012, and for the 607 heart attack patients who were treated two weeks before and after the time shifts.
They found that except for the small increase on the Sunday that daylight savings time kicked in, there were no significant differences in heart attack rates in the first week after the spring clock change or in the fall, when people set clocks back. The authors note, however, that the small trends they observed suggest shifts to and from daylight savings time may be linked with small increases in heart attacks in the spring, and small decreases in the fall. They speculate that sleep deprivation resulting from the time changes could raise levels of stress hormones and inflammatory chemicals just enough to trigger a heart attack, especially in those already at high risk. Though the slight increase in heart attacks in the days following time shifts were so small they could have been due to chance, Jiddou told Reuters Health that she believes the problem was the size of the study population. “ The numbers weren’t necessarily striking, but the trends make you stop and think,” she said. But Steven Nissen, a cardiologist who is chair of the Robert and Suzanne Tomsich Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, said that people should be carefully interpreting the findings. “We haven’t generally thought that missing an hour of sleep causes heart attacks. This may or may not hold up,” Nissen said. He added that while the study looks at a good question and he applauds the researchers’ efforts, but stressed the limitations of the results and noted that the size of the effect is not huge. —Reuters