Using smartphone app for detecting bacteria in food

Researchers have developed a smartphone app that alerts users of bacteria in their food using only a microscope attachment. There are very few methods for preventing food poisoning in part because testing for harmful bacteria such as E.Coli and salmonella requires specialized equipment and can take up to two days to show results.

 New technology from researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst changes that, delivering bacteria results in minutes using a smartphone app. Current methods for identifying bacteria associated with food poisoning are time-consuming because it is challenging to collect enough material.

The most common method involves rinsing potentially risky food, collecting small amounts of bacteria from the water and giving it 24 hours to multiply so there's enough to test.The tool developed at UMass uses a chemically-coated chip that binds to even the smallest amounts of bacteria. The university created a video showing how the prototype works: They rinse a potentially contaminated product with water and then place the chip into the water. Within half an hour, the microscope, which can attach to any type of smartphone camera, reveals the bacteria on the screen.

If you don't have the app, you can prevent food poisoning by: keeping the cooking area and your hands clean. Avoiding cross-contamination-raw meat, poultry, seafood and eggs can spread germs to ready-to-eat foods if not kept separate. Use separate cutting boards and plates when handling different foods. To cook food safely, the internal temperature must be high to kill the germs that could cause food poisoning-use a food thermometer.

Store foods properly-storing food properly is essential to combating harmful bacteria, expiration dates may not be accurate for some foods-strange smell or color may indicate that the food is not safe, frozen foods should be thawed in the refrigerator, in cold water, or in the microwave.
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How liver responds to food

Minutes after eating, as nutrients rush into the bloodstream the body makes massive shifts in how it breaks down and stores fats and sugars. Within half an hour, the liver has made a complete switch  from burning fat for energy to storing as much glucose, or sugar, as possible. It's too short a time span for the liver's cells to activate genes and produce the RNA blueprints needed to assemble new proteins to guide metabolism.

Liver cells store up pre-RNA molecules involved in glucose and fat metabolism. ''The switch from fasting to feeding is a very quick switch and human physiology has to adapt to it in the right time frame," says Satchidananda Panda, a professor in the Salk Institute's Regulatory Biology Laboratory. It was known that a RNA-binding protein called NONO was implicated in regulating daily ("circadian") rhythms in the body.

Researchers analyzed levels of NONO in response to feeding and fasting in mice. After the animals ate, speckled clumps of NONO suddenly appeared in their liver cells, newly attached to RNA molecules. Within half an hour, the levels of corresponding proteins-those encoded by the NONO-bound RNA increased.

After mice eat, it looks as if NONO brings all these RNAs together and processes them so they can be used to make proteins. When mice lacked NONO, it took more than three hours for levels of the same proteins involved in processing glucose to increase. During that time lag, blood glucose levels shot up to unhealthy levels.

Since blood glucose levels are also heightened in diabetes, the researchers think that the mice without NONO may act as a model to study some forms of the disease. NONO has been found at high levels in the brain and muscle cells.
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Eating at the same time regularly may fight dementia

 Regular meals improve gene expression in the region of the brain associated with body control, which often degenerates in Huntington's disease (HD); a form of dementia. Such eating habits also boost sleep quality and heart health, which are related to HD, in mice with the condition. Researchers believe the findings will also apply to humans and may improve the quality of life for patients with such incurable diseases.

Study author Professor Christopher Colwell, from The University of California, LA, said: 'HD is a genetically caused disease with no known cure.'  Lifestyle changes does not only improve the quality of life but also delay disease progression for HD patients are greatly needed. One group of mice were given food during a six-hour period when they were most active, which is at night as the animals are nocturnal.

The remainder ate whenever they liked. The quantity of food was the same between both groups. Professor Colwell said: 'In humans, the time of food availability would be during the day when food is normally consumed while the fast would be extended past the normal night. 'Feeding schedules play a role in the treatment of Huntington's disease'. Results reveal regular meal plans improve gene expression in the region of the brain associated with body control, known as the striatum, which often degenerates in HD.

Such eating habits also improve diseased mice's ability to run on a treadmill and balance on a beam, as well as assisting their heart rate, which is a sign of cardiovascular health. After three months of treatment, when mice reached the early disease stage, they showed improvements in their locomotor activity rhythm and sleep awakening time. The eating pattern  improved their heart rate variability, suggesting their nervous system dysfunction was improved.

Treated mice exhibited improved motor performance compared to untreated controls, this suggests feeding schedules could play a role in the treatment of HD and could lead to the development of new treatment options for neurodegenerative disorders. Regular meals boost gene expression in the brain region associated with body control. HD is a genetically caused disease with no known cure.

Lifestyle changes can improve the quality of life and delay disease progression for HD patients. Lifestyle interventions have been suggested to be preventative and therapeutic for diseases associated with ageing, such as type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative disorders.
Caloric restriction can prolong life span and protect against a variety of pathological conditions.
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Spotting eating disorders

Eating disorders are conditions that negatively impact human health, emotions and ability to function in important areas of life. Common eating disorders are : anorexia, bulimia or binge-eating.

Anorexia: Weight loss is one of the most obvious signs of anorexia. But even when they're drastically underweight, anorexics may still think they're too heavy. Some people with anorexia try to hide their thinness beneath layers of baggy clothes.

They may eat just one small meal, always say they aren't hungry or avoid starchy foods or carbohydrates. They may also avoid social situations, and exercise excessively. Anorexia can lead to dizziness, concentration problems, pale or dry skin, trouble sleeping, weak muscles and thin hair. Girls and women with anorexia may also stop menstruating.

Bulimia: People with bulimia are always dieting and hiding food. They may eat to the point of discomfort but only when no one is watching. After overeating, people with bulimia force themselves to throw up, usually by putting their fingers down their throat. Marks on the back of their hands may indicate bulimia. Routinely using laxatives or going to the bathroom right after eating are also signs of bulimia.

Binge-eating: Binge-eaters consume large amounts of food very quickly, stopping only when they are uncomfortably full. When bingeing, they tend to feel out of control. Binge-eating is hard to identify because it may happen only occasionally. This behavior can continue for a long period of time before notice.
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Flame retardant exposure lowers children's IQ

Dangerous class of flame retardant chemicals commonly found in furniture and household products damages children's intelligence, leading to loss of intelligent quotient IQ points.

Exposure to Polybrominated diphenyl ethers' PBDE lowers children's intelligence.Researchers discovered that increase in a mother's PBDE levels led to a drop of IQ points in her child.

Regular exposure of pregnant woman to PBDEs a lowers her child's IQ. There is a link between PDBE exposures and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ADHD in children.

 PBDEs and common flame retardants are not chemically bonded to the foams they protect, but they are merely mixed and they leach out from the foam and into house dust, food, and human body. Dust, old furniture, and electronic equipment are common PBDEs reservoirs.
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Facts about body fat

Fat is known as adipose tissue, it is a hormonal and metabolic processes. Adipose tissue stores energy, regulates metabolism and insulin in the body.

Body fat is divided into two; essential and storage fat. Essential fat is needed for daily activities while storage is stored under the skin. 

Fat is an excess calories stored in the body, it produces hormones that human body need to function properly.

Fat loss affects metabolism; low fat in the body will leads to low levels of leptin. Less leptin reduces metabolism.
Limiting calorie intake reduces fat and decreases appetite.

 Fat can be created without food, when body needs new fat cells, stem cells will change into fat over bone or muscle cells.

Fat is stored in the body in the form of triglycerides, free fatty acid FFA.  It secretes different hormones. Too much or too little fat can increase the risk of diabetes

Excess fat can increase the risk of developing cancer; fat secret hormones that aids cancer growth. Dieting can not reduce fat cells, human body has 15 to 35 billions of fat cells.
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Facts about gullet cancer

The gullet, also known as oesophagus is the tube that carries food from mouth to stomach. Smoking, persistent acid reflux, drinking of alcohol, being overweight and obese can cause gullet cancer.

There are two types of gullet cancer – squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma. Eating foods low in fruit and vegetables can also increase the risk of developing gullet cancer.

If the disease is detected early it is possible to be cured. However, because the disease doesn’t usually cause symptoms until a later stage, it can be quite developed before it is detected.

The main symptom of gullet cancer are difficulty swallowing, heartburn, vomiting, weight loss, loss of appetite, chest pain, croaky voice, fatigue and dark poo.

Advanced stage of gullet cancer can spread to another part of the body.
Tumor that has not spread beyond the gullet can be treated with radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and surgery.

For squamous and adenocarcinoma cell cancer, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and chemoradiotherapy are recommended as the first treatment. Surgery may be used after checking the result of the chemoradiotherapy.

Bowel cancer can be prevented by avoiding smoking, eating fruits and vegetables, avoiding alcohol and seeking medical help when you have heart burn and when you experience any form of difficulty in swallowing food.
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Olive oil is safe for frying food

Olive oil is the best for frying when compared with other vegetable oils available, it has very low content of aldehyde when tested with heat.

 Other vegetable oils produced more aldehydes quickly, heating monounsaturated olive oil produced fewer aldehydes at a very high temperature.

Polyunsaturated oils have more regions ripe for chemical reaction, olive oil is the safest option if you choose to fry your food because of its chemical reaction and composition.

Keep olive oil below its smoke point while frying your food to enjoy all the good chemical it contains and this will reduce any dangerous chemical associated with frying food.
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