#21 Caloric restriction, Organic matter on Mars and Overweight linked to cancer
Discover 3 recent science news in our #PeerusWhatsNew, now on Medium.
1 An American study shows the benefits of caloric restriction in healthy adults who reduced their intakes by 15% over two years. Caloric restriction slows metabolism and reduces oxidative stress, which promotes aging and age-related diseases.
Researchers worked with 53 healthy people, aged 21 to 50, who were of normal weight or overweight; 19 participants served as witnesses, while the remaining 34 had to eat less for two years.
While the witnesses took between 1 and 2 kg, people who decreased their calories lost between 8 and 9 kg on average over two year. In addition, their energy expenditure has decreased.
“Restricting calories can slow down your basal metabolism, and if byproducts of metabolism accelerate aging processes, maintaining caloric restriction for several years can help lower the risk of chronic disease and prolong life.”
2 Curiosity has detected several times organic matter on the surface of Mars. For researchers, these ingredients that can be the source of life would come in large amounts of space.
According to their research, the equivalent of eight trucks of organic matter is dumped on Mars each year, about 192 tons.
The main hypothesis is that of the interplanetary dust that sprinkles the planet. These dusts are solid particles, a mixture of asteroids crumbled by collisions and debris of comets.
3 Overweight and obesity could become the first preventable causes of cancer in font of smoking, according to a study released by a British research institute.
The study shows that tobacco was responsible for more than 54,000 cancer cases in the UK in 2015 (latest available figures), or 15% of cases, followed by overweight, causing 22,800 cancers, or 6, 3% of cases. Obesity and overweight can cause various types of cancer, including bowel, breast, uterine or kidney cancers.
“If we’re not careful, obesity could supplant tobacco,” says Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK’s managing director.
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