OH! Magazine - Australian Version June 2014 (Australian Version) | Page 4
( OH MY! )
OH MY!
Facts, stats and random ‘stuff’ to help keep you motivated, inspired and/or
informed during your journey to achieving and maintaining optimum health.
All hail perfect pins
According to a poll of over 1,000 Australians commissioned by
leading razor brand Venus and Olay SugarBerry, the world’s
most perfect pins belong to:
Australia’s Top Legs
Jennifer Hawkins – 27%
Miranda Kerr – 24%
Megan Gale – 14%
Hollywood’s Sexiest Legs
Cameron Diaz – 15%
Jennifer Aniston – 14%
Beyonce Knowles – 14%
Sport’s Perfect Pins
Maria Sharapova – 26%
Tatiana Grigorieva – 13%
Sally Fitzgibbons – 11%
Musical Limbs
Katy Perry – 29%
Rihanna – 12%
Nicole Scherzinger – 9%
Foods for brain health
severely lacking on Aussie
dinner plates
The recently released Australian
Brain
Health
Survey,
commissioned by Souvenaid,
found that when it comes to
ageing and health, dementia is
our top concern (37%),
surpassing cancer (19%) and
loss of mobility (13%).
The study revealed that essential brain super foods sit too low
on our daily menu for brain health – fish (7 per cent), broccoli
(11 per cent) and red meat (13 per cent). Interestingly, 48 per
cent of Australians were found to be eating carbohydrates on a
daily basis, thinking (mistakenly) that this would enhance their
brain health.
This lack of nutritional effort is concerning with half of the
respondents aged 50 years or older admitting they are starting
to struggle with their mental agility, saying that their brain
faculties aren’t as good as when they were in their 20s.
Information sourced from Galaxy Research, Brain Health, Survey. 9 April 2014
and Alzheimer’s Australia. Understanding Dementia Statistics, available at
www.fightdementia.org.au
Organics shown to reduce pesticide intake
A small study
by RMIT’s Dr
Liza
Oates
r e c e n t l y
compared a
week of eating
conventional
food with a
week of eating predominately certified
organic food. And it found that when the
participants lived on an organic diet, the
levels of organophosphate pesticides in
their urine dropped by 89 per cent. The
peer-reviewed
study
was
recently
published in the Environmental Research
journal.
Dr Oates says, ‘Conventional food
production
commonly
uses
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JUNE 2014 ( OH! MAGAZINE )
organophosphate pesticides which are
neurotoxins that act on the nervous
system of insects – and humans – by
blocking an important enzyme. Our
results show that people who switch to
eating mainly organic food for just one
week, can dramatically reduce their
exposure to pesticides.’
During the research urinary levels of six
metabolites
of
organophosphate
pesticides (known as dialkylphosphates
or DAPs) were analysed on the eighth day
of each phase. The mean level of total
DAP metabolites after eating a diet of at
least 80 per cent organic food was 89 per
cent lower than the levels after eating
conventional food. Dr Monk says,
‘Reading the results of this study was like
a ‘Mrs Marsh’ moment for me. Remember
the toothpaste commercial that features a
teacher breaking a piece of chalk dipped
in liquid in front of students and they say
‘Ooh it really does get in!’? This study
reminds us that the stuff that’s sprayed on
our food does make its way into our body.’
Australian Organic is concerned that
children are more at risk of agricultural
chemicals than adults, given their weight
and growing patterns. “This is only a small
study but it’s enough to prompt further
research in Australia and it’s great to see
that it’s finally happening.” Dr Monk says.
Australian Organic is funding a follow up
study.
Australian Organic is funding a follow up study. For more
information go to www.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=e3hoqm8befvj1