How the humble cabbage can stop cancers
Some vegetables including cabbage, broccoli and kale can reduce the risk of bowel cancers. It has been found that “anti-cancer chemicals were produced as the vegetables were digested”
The signs of bowel cancer include blood in the stools, changes in bowel movement frequency and stomach pain and/or discomfort. The study was observed in mice and even if the genes put them at a “very high risk” of developing cancer, and started developing tumours, when switched onto the more appropriate diet “it halted tumour progression”.
Further studies will help determine if these same effects translate to the human body, but this news is “cause for optimism”. In the meantime however, there are plenty of amazing reasons why you should eat more veggies!
Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45171651
Salt not as damaging to health as previously thought, says study
A new “controversial” study has suggested that “campaigns to persuade people to cut down [on salt intake] may only be worthwhile in countries with very high sodium consumption, such as China”.
The World Health Organization suggests no more 5g of salt a day, due to salt increasing blood pressure which can lead to strokes. Professor Andrew Mente from the Population Health Research Institute of Hamilton Health Sciences found that these health risks only occurred in high rates of consumption, stating back to China where the “liberal use of soy sauce” takes place. They also found that “very low levels” of salt actually increased the likelihood of heart attacks – suggesting “moderate salt intake may be protective”.
This research has received wide criticism, predominately through the lack of sodium measurement in people’s urine. This places question marks over this study as the question over the ideal amount of sodium to intake still remains unclear.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/aug/09/sa...
Google tracks users who turn off location history
A report from the Associated Press has suggested that up to “two billion Andriod and Apple devices which use Google for maps or search” have had their records recorded even they have asked it not to.
Google have responded stating that it provides clear descriptions of it’s “tools and how to turn them off” however, it is to be understood that users have to disable both the “Location History” and “Web & App Activity” settings.
Security researcher Graham Cluley has commented saying “you would think that telling Google that you didn’t want your location to be tracked by disabling an option called ‘location history’ would stop the internet giant from storing data about your location.”
This sort of “pretty sneaky” practice is gaining more of a spotlight in recent years after the GDPR change shave meant that organisations have a “legal duty to be open, transparent and fair with the public about how their personal data is used”.