MedicalToday

Sunlight

University of California researchers found vitamin D from sunlight stimulates the production of proteins that help protect you from flu. They found 20 minutes of midday sun delivers 20,000 units of vitamin D. A pint of milk contains 100 units.

Circumcision

A Yale study claims, men who are circumcised are half as likely to contract HIV from an infected partner, than uncircumcised men. The foreskin contains cell receptors that act as targets for the virus, which is why transmission rates are higher among men who are uncircumcised.

Wake up and smell the coffee

According to a study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, drinking one to two cups of the black stuff halves your risk of liver cancer. UK research also found medium-roasted coffee has higher antioxidant activity than dark-roasted.

Learn from lager lovers

Milk thistle capsules, loaded with silymarin, help patch up liver damage.

Know how to take a jab

Dumping pasta and bread from your diet could help relieve indigestion, according to a new study from the University of North Carolina. Scientists report that within four days of initiating a low-carb diet, patients experienced a 44% reduction in the severity of heartburn. What’s more, the painful acid in each subject’s esophagus decreased by 60%.

Don’t believe the hype

You’ll have been told probiotics – anything that puts “friendly” bacteria into the gut – can perform all manner of digestive tricks. Many of these claims aren’t substantiated and they depend on the amount, quality and in what form they’re consumed. Low dose liquid probiotics, for example, will be neutralized by stomach acids. So take capsules – the shell will dissolve but not the bacteria inside.

Handy on the runs

Braving the murky swirls of your local pool could strengthen your colon as well as your lungs.

Scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre, Seattle found men who started CV training experienced a 13% fall in “colon crypt cell proliferation height”, a marker of colon-cancer risk, compared with those whose idea of a workout was reaching for the remote.