What Your Gut Bacteria Say About You

https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/what-your-gut-bacteria-say-your-health#1

For years, we thought of bacteria as organisms to avoid. It turns out our bodies are already loaded with trillions of bacteria. They help digest food and play an important role in your well-being.

Research suggests your gut bacteria are tied to your probability of things like diabetes, obesity, depression, and colon cancer.

What Are Gut Bacteria?

Living inside of your gut are 300 to 500 different kinds of bacteria containing nearly 2 million genes. Paired with other tiny organisms like viruses and fungi, they make what’s known as the microbiota, or the microbiome.

Like a fingerprint, each person's microbiota is unique: The mix of bacteria in your body is different from everyone else's mix. It’s determined partly by your mother’s microbiota -- the environment that you’re exposed to at birth -- and partly from your diet and lifestyle.

The bacteria live throughout your body, but the ones in your gut may have the biggest impact on your well-being. They line your entire digestive system. Most live in your intestines and colon. They affect everything from your metabolism to your mood to your immune system.

Gut Bacteria and Disease

Research suggests the gut bacteria in healthy people are different from those with certain diseases. People who are sick may have too little or too much of a certain type. Or they may lack a wide variety of bacteria. It’s thought some kinds may protect against ailments, while others may raise the risk.

Scientists have begun to draw links between the following illnesses and the bacteria in your gut:

Obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease: Your gut bacteria affect your body’s metabolism. They determine things like how many calories you get from food and what kinds of nutrients you draw from it. Too much gut bacteria can make you turn fiber into fatty acids. This may cause fat deposits in your liver, which can lead to something called “metabolic syndrome” -- a condition that often leads to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity.

Inflammatory bowel diseases, including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis: People with these conditions are believed to have lower levels of certain anti-inflammatory gut bacteria. The exact connection is still unclear. But it’s thought that some bacteria may make your body attack your intestines and set the stage for these diseases.

HPV discovery raises hope for new cervical cancer treatments

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181218100404.htm

HPV is responsible for nearly all cases of cervical cancer and 95 percent of anal cancers. It is the most common sexually transmitted disease, infecting more than 79 million Americans. Most have no idea that are infected or that they could be spreading it.

"Human papillomavirus causes a lot of cancers. Literally thousands upon thousands of people get cervical cancer and die from it all over the world. Cancers of the mouth and anal cancers are also caused by human papillomaviruses," said UVA researcher Anindya Dutta, PhD, of the UVA Cancer Center. "Now there's a vaccine for HPV, so we're hopeful the incidences will decrease. But that vaccine is not available all around the world, and because of religious sensitivity, not everybody is taking it. The vaccine is expensive, so I think the human papillomavirus cancers are here to stay. They're not going to disappear. So we need new therapies."

HPV and Cancer

HPV has been a stubborn foe for scientists, even though researchers have a solid grasp of how it causes cancer: by producing proteins that shut down healthy cells' natural ability to prevent tumors. Blocking one of those proteins, called oncoprotein E6, seemed like an obvious solution, but decades of attempts to do so have proved unsuccessful.

Dutta and his colleagues, however, have found a new way forward. They have determined that the virus takes the help of a protein present in our cells, an enzyme called USP46, which becomes essential for HPV-induced tumor formation and growth. And USP46 enzyme promises to be very susceptible to drugs. Dutta calls it "eminently druggable."

"It's an enzyme, and because it's an enzyme, it has a small pocket essential for its activity, and because drug companies are very good at producing small chemicals that will jam that pocket and make enzymes like USP46 inactive," said Dutta, chairman of UVA's Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics. "So we are very excited by this possibility that by inactivating USP46 we'll have a way to treat HPV-caused cancers."

Curiously, HPV uses USP46 for an activity that is opposite to what the oncoprotein E6 was known to do. E6 has been known for more than two decades to recruit another cellular enzyme to degrade the cell's tumor suppressor, while Dutta's new finding shows that E6 uses USP46 to stabilize other cellular proteins and prevent them from being degraded. Both activities of E6 are critical to the growth of cancer.

The researchers note that enzyme USP46 is specific to HPV strains that cause cancer. It is not used by other strains of HPV that do not cause cancer, they report.

Findings Published

The researchers have published their findings in the scientific journal Molecular Cell. The team included Shashi Kiran, Ashraf Dar, Samarendra K. Singh, Kyung Yong Lee and Dutta. All are from UVA's Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics.

The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, grant R01 GM084465.

Materials provided by University of Virginia Health System. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

What Are the Best Foods to Eat After an Intense Workout?

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/what-are-the-best-foods-to-eat-after-an-intense-workout

Eating the right foods after exercise can help you recover, build muscle, and prepare for your next regimen.

The new year is finally here and it’s time to start on your new exercise goals.

But before you get too far into January, keep in mind that your workout doesn’t end when you leave the gym or finish that final lap on the track.

Choosing the right foods after your workout can help you recover more quickly, build muscle, and get ready for your next workout.

Here’s a quick guide to making the most of your post-workout nutrition.

When you work out, your muscles use their glycogen energy stores. Some of the muscle proteins also get damaged, especially during strength workouts.

Vanessa Voltolina, a registered dietitian in the greater New York City area, says “eating the right combination of carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, and minerals helps speed the process of rebuilding the used glycogen stores, as well as repairing muscle proteins.”

People also shouldn’t shy away from including some healthy fats in their diet.

“I think most people are in need of more healthy fats to help take in the fat-soluble vitamins,” said Adam Kelinson, a New York City-based private chef and nutritional consultant for athletes, celebrities, and executives.

What you eat after a workout depends on the duration and intensity of exercise. The type of exercise is also important.

“Higher carbohydrate meals are most beneficial after endurance activities — such as running or cycling — lasting more than an hour,” Voltolina told Healthline. “Following strength training, it’s important to consume protein in combination with moderate carbohydrate.”

Timing also matters, but you have more wiggle room than you might think.

“The ideal timing for consuming a post-workout snack is within 45 minutes,” said Voltolina, “but benefits can be seen up to 2 hours after training.”

Keeping it in perspective

Karina Inkster, a vegan fitness and nutrition coach based in Vancouver, British Columbia, said unless you’re an athlete or work out a lot, post-workout nutrition is not as important as other factors — such as your overall macronutrients (protein, carbs, fats), eating mainly whole foods, and your overall calorie intake.

So, when deciding what to eat after your workout, you have to keep in mind how the whole day fits your exercise goals.

“You want your 24-hour period to look great,” said Inkster. “If that means amping up your protein content, then by default, your post-workout nutrition meal or snack is probably going to be a little higher in protein.”

Vegans and vegetarians, though, need to eat protein from a variety of sources throughout the day to make sure they’re getting enough of the essential amino acids.

Kelinson said you should also be honest about how much of your workout is actually moderate or high intensity.

“Ultimately, you may spend just 30 or 40 minutes out of an hour working out,” Kelinson explained to Healthline. “You move from one thing to the next, you talk a little bit, you get some water, you take your breaks. We’re not talking high-exertion efforts here.”

So be careful about overdoing the packaged post-workout snacks, many of which have added sugars.

“Just because you move your body a little bit, it is not a license to overconsume,” said Kelinson.

You can also probably get away with following your workout with one of your regular meals or snacks, rather than adding another meal to your day.

“People who train really early in the morning will often have something really small before their workout, just for a bit of energy,” said Inkster. “And then their breakfast, which they would normally have anyway, becomes their so-called post-workout nutrition.”

Don’t forget to hydrate

Drinking enough water before, during, and after your workout can help with recovery and your next day’s performance.

Professional athletes sometimes measure their body weight before and after a workout to know how much water they need to replace. 

But you can probably get away with keeping an eye on the color of your urine — pale yellow is where you want it.

Depending on the intensity of your workout and the temperature of the environment, you may also need an electrolyte drink to replenish sodium and potassium lost in your sweat.

Post-workout foods

When choosing foods to eat after your workout, look for foods that are easily digested to speed up nutrient absorption.

You should also lean toward whole foods that are packed with other micronutrients.

Here are a few options.

Carbohydrates

• chia seed pudding

• crackers

• fruit (berries, apple, bananas, etc.)

• oatmeal

• quinoa

• rice cakes

• sweet potatoes

• whole grain bread

• whole grain cereal

Protein

• chocolate milk

• cottage cheese

• eggs

• Greek yogurt

• turkey or chicken

• salmon or tuna

• peanut butter

• protein shake (plant- or animal-based)

• tofu scramble

Healthy fats

• avocado

• coconut oil

• flax seeds

• nut butters

• nuts