The most useful fruit in the spring

Dr. Veronika Gusakova, a Russian nutritionist, announced that in the spring, the fruits of the new crop should be eaten. Because it contains a higher percentage of vitamins and mineral elements.

The expert indicated in an interview with Газете.Ru that the seasonal fruits go through a natural ripening cycle and achieve maximum benefit for the body. However, when stored over a long period of time, it loses much of its biological value. That is, last year's apples contain fewer nutrients than current year's apples.

She says, "Most fruits come in winter and spring fresh from the countries where they were collected. These products are transported under special conditions in order to preserve the largest percentage of the nutrients they contain. These fruits are more beneficial to the body in the spring."

And Dr. Anna Kireeva, a specialist in preventive medicine, had previously recommended the need to eat citrus fruits, bananas and pineapples in the spring, because they are the main source of vitamins.

Why do men lose twice as much fat as women when dieting?

A new study found that males who followed a reduced-calorie diet showed greater fat loss and improvement in blood sugar levels than females.

University of Edinburgh scientists say estrogen - one of the main female sex hormones - makes it more difficult for women to lose weight by cutting calories.

This is likely because estrogen promotes fat storage for fertility, since pregnancy requires a lot of energy. It appears that men's bodies are able to maintain a higher metabolic rate even when they have fewer calories, the researchers report in the journal eLife.

Reducing calories while maintaining levels of essential nutrients is associated with preventing conditions such as obesity, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes and increasing life expectancy.

The research team looked at the impact of a reduced-calorie diet on the health of mice and humans.

The six-week study involved 96 rats whose daily caloric intake was 30 percent less than normal and 85 rats fed a normal diet.

The team found that a low-calorie diet lowered blood sugar by 22% in young males, compared to only 16% in young females.

The effects on body fat were even more striking, with males reducing fat mass by nearly 70%, while females did not lose any fat at all.

The study found that female rats resisted losing fat because, compared to males, they had less breakdown of body fat, expended less energy and increased fat production after meals.

When the diet was initiated at an older age, there was no significant difference in fat loss between the sexes. Female mice lost about half of their body fat, a similar level to males.

A small human weight loss study of 42 overweight or obese men and women confirmed that differences based on age and sex also occur in humans.

During the four weeks of the study, men under the age of 45 lost more than 16% of their body fat, while women in the same age group lost only 8%, half of what men lost.

Men were limited to 2,000 calories a day and women 1,500 calories, compared to the recommended intake of 2,500 calories for men and 2,000 calories for women.

There was no difference in fat loss between males and females over 45 years old, as both sexes lost about 10% of body fat.

The human study was not originally designed to test the effect of age and gender on dieting, but the researchers were able to analyze the data retrospectively to address this.

Experts say a larger human study investigating the effect of age and gender is needed to confirm these findings.

Dr William Cawthorne, Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) at the University of Edinburgh's Center for Cardiovascular Sciences, and study leader, explains: "Low-calorie diets have many health benefits and may promote healthy aging. Some previous research has indicated that the effectiveness of these diets may vary. between males and females, but our study is the first to show that these gender differences largely disappear when dieting begins at an older age. This could help us devise improved dietary strategies to prevent disease and promote healthy aging."