Scientists have found that strong beers may have the gut-friendly bacteria just like yogurt.

Until a few years ago, scientists thought that alcohol was bad for our intestines. One study showed that regular alcohol drinkers had several gastrointestinal problems. However, today's scientists are coming back on this topic and even praising the beneficial side of strong beers on our gut microbiota.

FERMENTATION AND YEAST THAT KILL THE BAD BACTERIA

Scientists say some beers can be "very healthy". They would have a more beneficial side to our intestines, thanks to the bacteria they contain.

This is what Professor Eric Claassen asserts. At an event organized by Yakult, manufacturer of probiotic drinks, the professor from the University of Amsterdam presented his point of view on the issue.

While most beers undergo only one fermentation process, Belgian beers undergo a fermentation twice. During this second fermentation, the use of yeasts produces toxic acids. These acids are toxic only for bacteria that are bad for the human intestines.

CONSUME IN MODERATION

Whenever a person drinks a strong Belgian beer, such as a Hoegaarden, Westmalle Tripel or Echt Kriekenbier, it strengthens its intestinal flora. Acids in beer eliminate harmful bacteria in the intestines. However, for this to be truly beneficial, Eric Claassen says you have to drink in moderation. A strong beer a day, no more.

"In high concentrations, alcohol is of course bad for the intestine. But if you only drink one of these (strong) beers each day, it could be good for you", he says.

The high dose of alcohol produces large intestinal problems. But, according to Eric Claassen, a strong beer a day produces the same effect as a yogurt on your intestines. The good news is, it won’t be the only benefit that beer has for our body.

Comic book film-makers race for a popular actor.

Recently celebrated his 55th birthday, actor Keanu Reeves has been a struggle between two major comic universes on the planet. It turns out that DC is trying to discourage everyone from their eternal competitors, Marvel.

Marvel Star Appears in New Mission Impossible Franchise

Earlier it was reported that negotiations with the aim of luring Keanu into his epic cinematic universe Marvel are ongoing. At the same time, according to the sad admission of Marvel Studios president Kevin Feigi, for many years they have been calling Reeves to themselves, but to no avail. However, the Marvel bosses do not lose hope to get the actor in the cast of "Eternal" - in the company of Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie, who, incidentally, will play for the first time in the movie comic.

And Keanu, by the way, had previously played in film comics, having made DC happy. True, the film "Constantine: Lord of Darkness" was released already in 2005. However, now DC along with colleagues from Warner Bros. don't mind filming a sequel, reports We Got This Covered, of course, with Reeves in the title role.

Meanwhile, the actor already has something to do – he will play in the sequel to The Matrix along with Carrie-Anne Moss.

There was also information that Reeves could play an antagonist in the next Fast & Furious spin-off.

In 2019, Keanu Reeves became the most beloved actor on the Internet. Soon his popularity will continue to grow as the star is going to shine in the fourth part of the film “The Matrix”. Amidst all this, it is not surprising that the two largest film comics studios - Marvel Studios and DC Films - want to get it for themselves to embody a new character. 55-year-old Keanu will make any movie box office.

Kevin Feigi said earlier that he is discussing with Reeves almost every project that his company is preparing, and so far, they simply haven’t found a suitable role. It can be Wolverine, Namor Submariner, Silver Surfer, Mr. Fantasy, Shan Chi or Adam Warlock. According to the American portal We got this covered, there were rumors on the Web that Warner Bros was shooting "Matrix 4" only to prevent Kean from starring in any Marvel movie.

“Now we just need to wait and see what happens. But if something is completely clear, then it is that everyone in Hollywood wants to work with Reeves,” the source said.

Keanu Reeves has risen to legendary status on the Internet, and after 35 years in the industry, you cannot say that he does not deserve it.

After the success of John Wick 3, which is one of the best blockbusters of the year, as well as his role in the animated film Toy Story 4, it seems that the 55-year-old is not going to stop. Reeves will return to Leo in the fourth part of the Matrix franchise, but this is far from the limit.

The actor is struggling Marvel Studios and DC Films, and the two studios are desperately trying to get him. Earlier it became known that DC and Warner Bros. were interested in returning Reeves to the role of Constantine, almost 15 years after he played the character. If the studio really intends to enter into a contract with Reeves, this may cause some problems with Marvel.

Victims of climate change, dying coral reefs can be revived with the simple help of speakers installed at the bottom of the sea.

This is stated by a group of scientists from the United Kingdom and Australia, in a study published last week by the British journal Nature Communications.

The team of experts from the University of Exeter and the University of Bristol, in the United Kingdom, installed underwater speakers in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia – its ecosystem has been suffering for many years the effects of climate change, marine pollution and overfishing.

The goal was to reproduce sounds that had been recorded in healthy corals on dying reefs to try to attract young fish.

And the experiment worked perfectly: scientists now argue that "acoustic enrichment" can help resurrect dying coral reefs.

The massive coral bleaching seen in the Great Barrier Reef of Australia between 2016 and 2017 caused young corals to decrease by 89%.

The lead study author and professor at Exeter University Steve Simpson in a press release published a few days ago explains that “the grunts and squeals of the fish contributes to create a dazzling biological sound landscape."

"Juvenile fish approach these sounds when they are looking for a place to settle, " he adds.

The study, which was carried out for six weeks in 2017, showed that the number of fish visits in the reefs where the "healthy" sounds were reproduced was 50% higher than those in which no sound was reproduced.

Restoring the sound landscape

Among the fish that came to the "call" include all kinds of fish: herbivores, predators and even scavengers – the most remarkable thing is that they made the dying reef their new home.

Simpson also explains that as the reefs degrade, they become "ghostly silent". But using loudspeakers "this lost sound landscape is restored", which helps to attract young fish again.

Although the reintroduction of fish in a coral reef is not enough to completely regenerate its ecosystem, it is a factor that significantly helps its recovery at first, as the fish clean the place and create spaces for coral reproduction.

According to scientists, the Great Barrier Reef of Australia is dying and some of its species could become extinct in the coming years.

In the same press release, Andy Radford, who is co-author of the study and professor at the University of Bristol, says that this practice, combined with "other conservation measures", can accelerate the recovery of ecosystems.

And it could be a key tool to start reliving coral reefs around the world.

"Fish are crucial for coral reefs to function as healthy ecosystems", said Timothy Gordon of Exeter University.

The marine biologist sees underwater speakers as a way to counteract the damage suffered by many coral reefs due to climate change.

The coral reef of Colombia that gives hope to the world after surviving against all odds.

According to a study published earlier this year by the journal Nature, the "baby corals" in the Great Barrier Reef of Australia have decreased by 89% due to the massive bleaching of coral that was seen between 2016 and 2017.

The damage caused to the Great Barrier would have been so great that scientists believed it would never be possible to recover it.

Scientists have found that obesity can cause inflammation in the brain in adolescents. The results of the study were published as abstracts for the report at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

Obesity in young people and adolescents every year is becoming an increasingly serious problem in developed countries. According to the World Health Organization, in 1990 there were 32 million children under the age of five overweight or obese in the world, and in 2016, already 41 million. In the United States, the percentage of obese children and adolescents has more than tripled since the 1970s.

Usually, obesity is associated with the development of cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Scientists have identified another risk associated with overweight.

They used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), a type of MRI that monitors the diffusion of water along the brain tracts of white matter, to study the brains of 59 obese teenagers aged 12 to 16, and compared the images with 61 healthy teenagers from the control group.

The DTI method allowed researchers to evaluate the level of fractional anisotropy (FA) for various regions of the brain, a biochemical parameter that indicates the state of white matter: the lower it is, the wider the damage, the cause of which, as a rule, is inflammation.

The results showed a decrease in the FA values ​​in adolescents with obesity in areas located in the corpus callosum, the bundle of nerve fibers that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain, as well as in the middle orbitofrontal gyrus, the area of ​​the brain responsible for emotional control and reward patterns. In no area of ​​the brain in patients with obesity have an increased level of FA.

“Brain changes found in adolescent obesity are associated with important regions responsible for controlling appetite, emotion, and cognitive function”, explained the first author of the study.

Scientists have found that changes correlate with a marker of inflammation such as leptin, a hormone produced by fat cells that helps regulate energy levels and fat stores. In some obese people, the brain does not respond to leptin, and they continue to eat, despite a sufficient or already excess supply of fat. This condition, known as leptin resistance, causes fat cells to produce even more leptin.

The deterioration of the white matter was also associated with the level of insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas that helps regulate blood sugar levels. Obese people often suffer from insulin resistance. A condition in which the body is resistant to the effects of the hormone leads to the development of type 2 diabetes.

Elon Musk, one of the top 50 richest people in the world, complained about the lack of liquid assets. He made a confession in court at the suit of the British, demanding compensation from the billionaire for defamation, the size of which is not yet known.

Elon Musk testified on Wednesday in a Los Angeles court as part of a libel trial. During the testimony, the plaintiff's lawyer asked Musk to evaluate his net worth.

The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX replied that he had approximately $20 billion (Forbes estimated $23.6 billion). But Musk added that his liquid assets are relatively small: “Some people think that I have a lot of money. Not really".

This recognition increases interest in litigation. If the jury renders the Mask a verdict with a large amount of foreclosure, it is likely that the billionaire will have to sell part of his stake in Tesla or SpaceX.

According to Forbes, 99% of Mask’s fortunes are securities of both companies, which perfectly explains his lack of cash. For example, in 2018, the lion's share of his compensation in Tesla was issued in the form of stock options. Meanwhile, he refused his basic salary of $ 56,380.

It is important to note that, according to financial documents released this year, the debts of a 48-year-old businessman exceed $ 500 million. This amount includes $ 208.9 million of debt to Morgan Stanley Bank, as well as $213 million that Musk borrowed from a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs. As collateral for these loans, the billionaire indicated almost half of his stake in Tesla.

The entrepreneurial journey Mask began about 20 years ago. He made his first fortune by selling Zip2, a software developer who, in 1999, was bought by Compaq, a computer maker, for $ 300 million. Three years later, the eBay online auction bought out PayPal, a payment startup founded by Musk and other entrepreneurs. The deal amounted to $1.4 billion.

The businessman founded SpaceX in 2002, and Tesla in 2004. According to the biography of Mask published in 2015, the funds received from the sale of PayPal soon almost completely went to new enterprises.

However, Musk claims that more than 250,000 people have already pre-ordered a pickup. However, on Twitter, he also wrote: “Haha! Probably, before the start of production, something else will need to be corrected.”

British neurophysiologists did not find any special differences in the level of intelligence of dogs and their closest relatives, which refutes the generally accepted notion that "human best friends" are smarter than other animals. Conclusions are presented in Learning & Behavior.

Scientists from Carroll University in the United States conducted a study in which they subjected about 600 respondents who called themselves dog or cat lovers to various tests. “Many of our colleagues, it seems, are not just studying the intelligence of dogs, but trying to prove how smart they are. They are often compared in a positive way to chimpanzees and say that they have some unique traits. However, it always turns out that many other species also have these abilities, "said Stephen Lea of ​​the University of Exeter (UK).

Recently, neurophysiologists have found that dogs can understand the intonations and meaning of the words of their owners. They communicate with people not for food but for attention and positive emotions, and that they can recognize emotions on the faces of friends and strangers. In addition, the dogs were able to memorize “unnecessary” information and use it later when communicating with the owner.

Dogs use facial expressions to communicate with people, scientists say. Such discoveries, as noted by Lee and his colleagues, make many neurophysiologists and zoo-psychologists believe that dogs are noticeably superior in intelligence to wolves, other predators, and sometimes higher primates. This is often associated with how the process of taming the dogs goes.

British researchers decided to check whether this is true. They analyzed the findings of over three hundred studies on animal intelligence and tried to understand how dogs differ from other mammals and “advanced” birds, such as New Caledonian crows.

It turned out that the intellectual abilities of dogs were very often overestimated by experimenters. For example, many scientists noticed that dogs were unusually good at solving simple physical puzzles, sometimes surpassing monkeys. At the same time, according to Lee, they did not pay attention to the fact that raccoons, hyenas, and some other relatives of dogs were no worse at coping with these tests.

Similarly, wolves, especially young individuals, coped with imitating human actions no worse than dogs; and dolphins, chimpanzees and some other animals surpassed them in this regard.

“We don’t help our pets in any way by overstating their abilities and expecting too much from them. The dog will always remain a dog, and we must understand what they can do and what they need in order to really treat them well,” concludes scientist.

A recent study published by Swiss researchers shows that a nap is good for the heart. This is another benefit added to the many others already discovered.

According to a scientific article published in the medical journal, napping would be beneficial for the heart. The article by four researchers at the University Hospital in Lausanne, Switzerland, says that one to two naps a week would reduce the risk of heart problems and stroke.

Their work is based on a recent study of 3,500 Swiss adults who provided a wealth of data on their nap and sleep habits.

In the sample, 155 people had a heart problem in the years following the study. The results indicate that the risk of cardiovascular disease is reduced by 48% among those who reported taking one to two naps a week, compared to those who do not take nap time.

Although the study does not confirm that napping promotes good heart health, it does provide additional information on the proven benefits of this brief sleep time.

Compensate for a lack of sleep

In 2015, a study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, showed that even short naps were beneficial to health.

The study, conducted on men who slept only two hours in the night, shows that a lack of sleep affects the levels of interleukin-6, a protein with antiviral properties and contained in saliva. "This hormone had fallen sharply after a very short night, but had returned to normal levels after a nap. This result is all the more telling when we know that it can help you keep up with your sleep deprived routine.

Fights stress and restores your immune system

In the same study, scientists also observed that napping time restores the levels of hormones and proteins needed in the body to combat stress and restore the immune system to function properly. “Just a thirty-minute nap can reverse the bad impacts of sleep deprivation, such as compromised immunity and stress" stated one of the authors of the study.

Exercising one's memory

In 2013, the German researchers demonstrated that napping supports memory consolidation.

To carry out the study, twenty-four volunteers had to memorize fifteen pairs of cards with symbols on them. A second series to memorize was then presented forty minutes later to half of the subjects who were kept awake, and twelve other volunteers who took a short nap. Results? They remembered on average 85% of the cards, against only 60% for those who remained awake.

The nap would make it easier to "download" the memories in an area of ​​the brain where "they could no longer be scrambled by the new information processed in the hippocampus," said Susanne Diekelmann, head of the study.

Improve your work performance

Still taboo in the US, napping at work would undoubtedly improve work performance. "Ten to thirty minutes of napping can enhance performance, decrease fatigue, and help improve alertness" according to Jamie Gruman, professor of behavioral organization at the University of Guelph (Canada) in an article. "Many companies, like Ben & Jerry's, Zappos and Nike, allow employees to take a nap at work," says the specialist, who finds that the practice is still absent in the US companies – in Japan and China, the professional benefits of taking a nap are really considered and recognized.

When you don’t put something to use for a long time, it eventually loses the ability to work. Same goes for your body – it has to adapt. Your body adapts just like your muscles do – if you exercise, they get stronger.

Cold therapy or Cryotherapy has recently gained popularity and has become an alternative to sauna. In the US, spas that offer this effective cold therapy is becoming more fashionable than saunas.

If we don’t expose our body to temperature variations, it could turn our immune system into a weak, no-good mechanism – that’s why nature has different seasons throughout the year for us to benefit from these changes. As we are warm blooded beings, temperature is something that regulates every single chemical reaction in our body.

Cold therapy aids in improving immunity

There are many advantages of cold therapy. It boosts immunity by activating the lymph nodes. Cold water contracts the lymph nodes – as a result, lymphocytes flow out from them throughout our body, clearing the vessels off of any harmful toxins. In a study, volunteers who were told to spend two hours in a chamber at 5 degrees after exercise or a hot bath. The researchers monitored these participants and noted that the number of "killer cells", that protect us from diseases, increased in the blood.

Prevent DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness)

Ever wondered why athletes love bathing in a tub full of ice? It’s because the extreme cold helps in lowering the temperature of the damaged and constricts the blood vessels. It reduces inflammation and brings immediate relief to the over worked muscles.

Testimonial that cold therapy is effective

Wim Hof, a 58-year-old energetic Dutchman, traveled to the North Pole to beat the world record by holding his breath under the ice for six minutes and 20 seconds. He argues that we are not made for comfort. Our ancestors were hungry, cold and suffered during long walks outdoors, but they lived longer. Today, while we spend each day living in a perfect temperature, our immune system runs out of work to do – as a result, it goes crazy sometimes, attacking our healthy tissues with autoimmune diseases and chronic inflammation.

Good news for coffee addicts! According to a recent study, their favorite drink would reduce their risk of developing the metabolic syndrome (type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, stroke). Drinking up to 4 cups of coffee a day would reduce the risk of having type 2 diabetes by 26%.

According to another study, there would be a link between coffee consumption and metabolic syndrome that increases the risk of cardiovascular problems, heart attacks, and long-term strokes. The antioxidant-filled polyphenols that coffee contains cuts down the risk of having this syndrome.

Researchers have discovered that coffee helps reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and even heart diseases. After examining several cases, they found that for each additional cup of coffee (up to six or eight cups a day), the risk of suffering from this type of illness decreases (up to 25%) despite what previous studies had concluded.

According to the authors, people drinking between 3 or 4 cups of coffee a day would see their risk of developing type 2 diabetes drop by 26% compared to those who drink less than two coffees a day. Also, they found this protective link between the drink and the reduced risks of metabolic syndrome in both men and women.

Coffee: beneficial effects up to 4 cups of coffee per day

This protective effect, presented at the 13th European Nutrition Conference organized by the Federation of European Nutrition Societies (FENS) in Dublin, would also be observed among decaffeinated drinkers.

Coffee and diabetes: polyphenols could be the cause of protective effects

After studying Polish and Italian cohort data, Professor Giuseppe Grosso of the University of Catania (Italy) considers that the polyphenols and antioxidants contained in coffee play a role in the prevention of the metabolic syndrome. It mainly puts forward phenolic acids and flavonoids.

The reviewed work also allows the scientist to make a connection between moderate consumption of coffee and reduced risk of developing cardiovascular disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes.

Long-term coffee consumption is also associated with a lower risk of hypertension.

Several studies show that moderate coffee consumption is associated with reduced risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. In short, drinking caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee is beneficial to health.

Currently, Iceland occupies the first place in the European countries for adolescents with a healthy lifestyle. The percentage of boys between 15 and 16 who had taken a binge the previous month plummeted from 42% in 1998 to 4% in 2019. The percentage of teens using cannabis has ever decreased from 17% to 7%, and that of daily cigarette smokers has fallen from 23% to just 3%.

The country has managed to change the trend in a radical and empirical way, but it has been based largely on what we might call nothing short of a miracle. "It's the most extraordinarily intense and profound study of the stress in teenagers' lives I've ever seen", praises Milkman, a PhD in medical science. "I am very impressed with how well it works".

If adopted in other countries, he argues, the Icelandic model could be beneficial for the general, psychological and physical well-being of millions of young people.

“In the early 1970s, when I was working as a resident at the Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital in New York, LSD was already in vogue, and many people smoked marijuana; there was a great interest in why people took certain drugs”. Only recently, people started shifting from these extremely dangerous drugs to relatively safer alternatives, such as CBD Oil.

Milkman's doctoral thesis concluded that people chose heroin or amphetamines depending on how they wanted to deal with stress. Heroin users preferred to numb themselves, while people taking amphetamines preferred to actively confront it. When his work was published, Milkman joined a group of researchers recruited by the National Institute on Drug Abuse in the United States to answer questions such as why people start using drugs, why do they keep doing it, when it reaches the threshold of abuse, when they stop using them and when do they fall.

“Any kid of the faculty could answer the question of why it starts, and it’s that drugs are easy to get and young people like taking the risk. There is also isolation and maybe some depression playing a part”, he says. “But why do they continue to consume?”.

At Denver State Metropolitan University, Milkman developed the idea that the origin of addictions was in brain chemistry. The "combative" children were looking for something to get "high," and could get them by stealing hubcaps, radios, and later, cars. Of course, alcohol also alters brain chemistry. It is a sedative, but the first thing that it gets is the control of the brain, which can reduce anxiety at limited doses.

"People can become addicted to drinking, cars, money, sex, calories, cocaine ... anything," says Milkman. "The idea of ​​behavioral addiction became our hallmark."

In 1992, his Denver team had obtained a grant of $1.2 million from the Government to create the Self-Discovery Project, which offered teenagers natural ways to get high that are alternative to drugs and crime. They asked the teachers, as well as the nurses and therapists of the schools, to send them students who had problems with drugs or misdemeanors. This program helped them turn their lives around and it soon took over the entire country, fixing thousands of young people.