body

Drinking coffee in the morning has very positive consequences for someone unexpected in your body: the microbiota

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For millions of people, the day doesn’t begin until the first cup of coffee hits their table. Something that makes a lot of sense because of how coffee affects our brain. so we can wake up and improve concentrationbut the reality is that it has many more effects further down the brain. We talk about the intestinewhere it passes and has a great involvement in the microbiota. The microbiota. There is more and more research that is focused on the microbiotathe bacteria we have in our digestive system and that have an increasingly relevant role in our daily lives. In this case, taking care of these bacteria inside us is a priority to be able to have good health, even to avoid major diseases. Now science is beginning to glimpse that Coffee is much more than a vehicle for caffeineand that has an important implication in the modulation of the intestinal microbiota. Beyond caffeine. We tend to think that coffee is nothing more than “caffeinated water”, unless you add a little sugar to remove its bitterness. But the reality is that we have a large ‘soup’ of bioactive compounds. Science is seeing how coffee is key due to its intestinal impact thanks to two of its components: polyphenols and dietary fiber. This is something that is currently being analyzed through studies. in the laboratory and in animal models where they have seen that a large part of these compounds reach the colon intact without digesting. There they act as ‘food’ for the bacteria that are there, such as dihydroferulic acid, which has local anti-inflammatory effects. That is, it acts like something similar to a prebiotic. The ‘planter’ effect. If we treat the intestine like a garden, coffee seems to work as a selective fertilizer. Although the evidence in humans is still heterogeneous, several patterns are repeated in the scientific literature, such as an intervention study in humans that showed that three cups of coffee daily for three weeks increased abundance of Bifidobacteriuma genre classically associated with intestinal health. But it does not stop there, since another large population metagenomic study associated the consumption of beverages rich in polyphenols such as coffee, tea or red wine with greater alpha diversity. This is something that within this world is associated with greater resilience and health in the microbiota. The recent discovery. Published in Nature in 2024science found a very specific association: those who regularly consume coffee have a much greater presence of the bacteria Lawsonibacter asaccharolyticu. A bacteria that is not just any bacteria, but helps digestion and also offers the colon the necessary elements for it to have much more energy and even prevents inflammation. That is why having this bacteria in large numbers in our intestine is actually very beneficial. Have metabolic health. Keeping the bacteria in our intestine ‘happy’ is essential as we have seen. The main hypothesis that supports all of this focuses on the ability of bacteria to ferment fiber and polyphenols of coffee producing short chain fatty acids such as butyrate. These compounds are the favorite fuel of colon cells and have systemic anti-inflammatory properties. This could explain, at least partially, why epidemiological studies often associate moderate coffee consumption with better metabolic and cardiovascular health. The small print. Before you rush for your fifth cup, you need to put on the brakes and look at the limitations of current studies, since not everything is rosy. And science, despite offering these benefits, indicates that robust clinical evidence is lacking. It must be taken into account here that not all coffees are the same, since soluble coffee, an espresso or using a filter in a coffee maker are not the same. And furthermore, not all people respond the same because each microbiota is literally a different world in each organism. Big tests are missing. Although in the laboratory and on paper everything may sound great, we must keep in mind that there are still many studies that demonstrate that coffee causes a direct improvement in diseases through the microbiota. And although coffee feeds your Bifidobacteria It does not eliminate the fact that excess caffeine causes insomnia, anxiety or tachycardia in sensitive people. Furthermore, the benefits observed in the microbiota are associated with black coffee or coffee with little milk. If your “coffee” is a smoothie loaded with sugar, cream and syrups, the negative impact of ultra-processed foods on your intestine will probably cancel out any benefits of polyphenols. Images | Nathan Dumlao CDC In Xataka | Having a cup of coffee as soon as you wake up seems like a great idea. Science has something to say about it

We have accepted that sport is “medicine” for the body. Now science is discovering its side effects

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Physical exercise can be prescribed as a drug in doctors’ offices, even though it is not packaged in a simple pill that we take. This is because the evidence behind it has made it more than clear that playing sports can prevent a large number of chronic diseasesI know even have a very good old age. But behind all this, too There is a negative part behind doing physical exercise. Its side effects. If we accept exercise as a drugwe must also accept that every drug has a leaflet, specific doses and of course some adverse effects. That is why as a society we have the problem of having begun to sell the fact of “exercising” in a generic way, ignoring the fine print that this task has, as recognized by the Spanish Heart Foundation itself. And it has a very simple solution: personalizing physical exercises per patient. The problem of metaphor. The slogan “exercise as medicine” is undoubtedly an excellent marketing campaign within the world of public health, but for science there are several important flaws. As different scientific studies point out, exercise does not act like a classic drugsince it does not have a predictable response in a patient as if it occurs as a pill. This forces us to always think that the effect can be very different for each person. In this way, by calling exercise a drug we can make invisible the diversity of individual responses. And there is no universal “squat pill”, since doing this exercise in a specific person can be very beneficial, but in another it can be be the origin of a pathology due to overload. And all because we throw ourselves into exercise without planning how to do it, since we find it very easy to pick up some weights and start building biceps. The damage numbers. We often hear that it is a great danger to stay sitting on the couch, and it is true because they are many diseases related to a sedentary lifestyle. But according to different studies done in the United States, people who meet or exceed the recommendations for moderate or vigorous exercise They have a 44 to 66% chance of developing musculoskeletal injuries. than subjects who remain inactive. In addition to this, although cardiovascular health improves with physical exercise because the heart reduces its heart rate, for example, the “maintenance cost” of the physical body increases dramatically with the amount of exercise done. A question of biases. Without a doubt, this is one of the most critical points that scientific literature reveals regarding the lack of transparency in clinical trials related to exercise. This is something that was seen in an analysis that included 103 trials on knee osteoarthritis, where it was found that 6% of the participants suffered direct damage from this exercise. But the most worrying thing is not the number, but the low information: many patients who abandon studies due to pain or discomfort are not classified as “victims of adverse effects”, which generates an artificially high perception of safety. This problem is repeated in oncology, where the motto “exercise is medicine in oncology” live with non-trivial adverse events which have forced us to propose much stricter monitoring systems to protect patients. We pass each other sometimes. The underlying problem in this case is undoubtedly recommending intensive or complex programs without a clear benefit/harm relationship compared to an alternative that is much simpler. But, on the other hand, we also fall into the phenomenon of “quaternary prevention” making medicine focus on avoiding harm from its own interventions. by overmedicalizingnullifying the benefits of physical exercise. The necessary consensus. In this way, the authors who popularized the concept of ‘exercise as medicine’ explicitly recognize that exercise is not without risks. Even the WHO itself In its guides it maintains that inactivity is the greatest population risk, but there is fine print that must be taken into account: Exercise should be ‘prescribed’ starting with a low intensity, and not opt ​​for maximum intensity from the first day. This causes a person who has spent years on a couch to begin to carry a lot of weight, for example, and end up injured. Pain is not always bad, and the patient must be educated so that they see that fatigue from the gym does not have to be medicalized with pills. Patients with cardiac risk must be evaluated to prevent uncontrolled exercise from aggravating the situation. Be supervised. The conclusion in this case is that exercise is obviously necessary and without a doubt it is one of the practices that can prevent the appearance of many diseases. But we always have to be aware of what we do. Loading the body with a large amount of exercise from minute 0 can cause significant injuries or the aggravation of diseases that are already present. In this way, the possibility of being in a gym with trainers who can advise on the progression curve that should be followed can be an interesting idea to have the benefit of exercise without the consequences of doing it aggressively. Images | Jonathan Borba In Xataka | Doing cardio or strength training: for science there is no debate about which is the ideal exercise after 50

There are people obsessed with doing a post-Christmas “detox” based on juices. Your body has something to say about it

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In the era of scroll infinite, the TikTok algorithm seems to have found the potion of eternal youth in 250 milliliter format. One day is the water with lemonother apple cider vinegar and, more recently, the beet shots either beet shots. Under labels like #detox or #guthealth, influencers with millions of followers promise to “cleanse” the body, flatten belly and speed up metabolism with a simple morning gesture. However, behind the careful aesthetics and pseudoscientific jargon, the medicine is forceful: your body is not a room that needs a three-day “cleaning spree”, but a complex system that already knows how to take care of itself if we do not hinder it. The viralization of deception. Behind the fascination with miracle cures operates a multi-billion dollar industry that capitalizes on consumer vulnerability. after the excesses, according to a report in The Washington Post. However, the phenomenon transcends conventional marketing to establish itself on social networks with alarming data: an analysis of Eating Behaviors Magazine on content on TikTok revealed that 97% of videos promoting supplements and dietary products lack any scientific basis. “Microbiota“. This gap between digital popularity and medical evidence evidences a public health problem where misinformation is monetized on a large scale. According to this same study93.6% of content creators do not mention their credentials, and the vast majority of promotions (95.7%) do not even clarify whether they are sponsored by brands. We are literally entrusting our metabolic health to strangers who they use terms as “microbiota” or “low-grade inflammation” to construct an illusion of rigor that sells much more than the boring reality of eating whole vegetables. The “detox” myth. Why do we feel “better” after a juice program? According to expertsit is not because of the mystical properties of celery or cayenne, but because we have stopped consuming ultra-processed foods, added sugars and alcohol for a few days. However, the concept of “detoxifying” the body with fluids is, biologically, nonsense. Dr. Tinsay Woreta maintains that the human body It operates with a highly efficient natural filtration system, where lungs, intestines and kidneys constantly eliminate toxins and pathogens. In tune, Mayo Clinic highlights the lack of scientific evidence on the alleged accumulation of waste requiring external “washing”; On the contrary, the institution warns that extreme cleansing, such as colon cleansing, poses an unnecessary danger that can lead to dehydration, infections or even rectal perforations. What science says (and TikTok remains silent). Far from being harmless, these diets can be counterproductive. According to a study from Northwestern Universityeliminating fiber to consume only juices—even for just three days—drastically alters the oral and fecal microbiome, increasing bacteria linked to inflammation and cognitive decline. Fiber is food for “good” bacteria that produce anti-inflammatory compounds; Without it, sugar-loving bacteria multiply. Even the “king” of home remedies, apple cider vinegar, has fallen from its pedestal. The famous study that supported its benefits for losing weight was retracted due to inconsistencies in the data and statistical errors. The reality is that taking it on an empty stomach can irritate the esophagus and permanently damage the enamel of your teeth. What is the real alternative? If the goal is longevity and liver health, science proposes replacing the “shot” with sustainable habits: Fruit is eaten, not drunk: Longevity expert Peter Diamandis a vital advice: If you like oranges, eat them whole. By juicing, you destroy fiber, which worsens satiety and triggers sugar absorption. Look North: As we obsess over supplements, the “new Nordic diet” is winning the battle to the Mediterranean in some studies. This pattern (based on canola oil, whole grains like rye, and berries) reduces the risk of fatty liver by a staggering 58%. Strength versus fragility: Walking is great for the heart, but to age with autonomythe body needs weights or elastic bands. Strength exercise is the only way to stop sarcopenia (muscle loss) and release myokines, proteins that protect the brain against Alzheimer’s. Be careful with him Protein Chic: The trend of adding protein to everything (coffees, yogurts, bars) is often an unnecessary expense. Dr. Stuart Phillips points out that excess protein It doesn’t build muscle on its own—training does that—and can unnecessarily strain the kidneys and liver. Health has no shortcuts. In short, science suggests that the best “cleanse” is one that is not done intermittently. As the experts consulted by The Washington Post concludea week-long juicing regimen cannot undo the damage of a sedentary lifestyle or a regular poor diet. The next time you watch a video with a magenta liquid promising miracles, remember: your liver is already working at full capacity while you sleep. What he really needs is not a trendy juice, but rather that you give him three days of weekly alcohol rest, a diet rich in fiber and, perhaps, that you stop searching on your cell phone for what can only be found in the market and in the gym. Image | freepik Xataka | We have been obsessed with the Mediterranean diet for decades. Turns out the Nordics had a much better solution

If you want your body to be biologically eight years younger, science has a recipe for you: vegan diet

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We humans have many desire to appear as young as possiblealways seeking eternal youth. This has meant that its search has ceased to be the exclusive terrain of the alchemy to become one of the hottest fields in biotechnology, with many treatments that seek to literally make us younger or even extend our lives. Now, the vegan diet It is at the center of supposed iron health, and science has wanted to verify whether consuming it leads to an increase in the years of life. The twin experiment. Traditionally, doing research on how a person ages has been a problem because of genetics. And comparing two therapies between two people to see if they age more or less quickly makes us wonder if the result is due to the treatment or diet or because one of the members has very good genetics. To eliminate this variable from genetics, science has found the best way to work: use identical twins. In this way, their genetics will be exactly the same and the effect of the intervention we perform will be directly related. The study. They recruited a total of 21 pairs of healthy adult identical twins. One of each pair was assigned a healthy omnivorous diet; on the other, a strict vegan diet. In total, for eight weeks the impact was measured using epigenetic clocks with algorithmic tools that estimate biological age based on in DNA methylation. Methylation is the process by which small chemical groups called methyls are added to certain parts of DNA with the aim of being able to ‘turn genes on or off’, causing some instructions to be read and others not. Something that is related to agingsince it changes over time. The results. In this case, what the researchers saw was very interesting, because despite the short time the diet was maintained, it was found that the vegan group showed significant reductions in estimated biological age. This is something that was seen in decreased DNA methylation in pathways related to inflammation and metabolism. All of this adds up to improvements in fasting insulin and a reduction in LDL cholesterol, leading to better old age. But although everything seems very good, caution was already requested with these results. Because. It’s okay that the vegan diet seems to offer good results, but the big question is why this happens. And the summary tells us that it was not just because they left meat aside, but because they stopped eating in general. This is the most important point, because the vegan group consumed fewer calories simply because the calorie density, and therefore the calorie restriction in the end It is one of the few methods which has been proven to extend life in animal models. This also adds up to weight loss, as the vegan participants lost more weight than their omnivorous counterparts. Critics point out that rapid weight loss can alter epigenetic markers on its own, regardless of the food source. The problem. Although the fact of being on this diet for such a short time and under the study means that longitudinal research is still needed to know if this translates into years of real life gained. And although the biological clock slowed down in this case, researchers warn about the long-term risks of having a poorly planned vegan diet. One of the consequences is the vitamin B12 deficiencyalthough today the supplementation that is done in foods makes this a minor problem. Added sugar. The other culprit of aging and to which we pay less attention. A study published in 2024 I was quite clear about the consequences of its consumption, in some cases without knowing it because we did not read the labels of the foods we consumed. In this case, a study with 242 middle-aged women used epigenetic clocks to measure cellular damage to correlate it with their consumption. The results in this case were quite clear: each extra gram of sugar added was associated with an increase in epigenetic age. However, there is a brake that we find in our Mediterranean diet, which is rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. That is why eliminating up to 10 grams of added sugar per day could reverse the biological clock in approximately 2.4 months. The lesson. Scientific literature points out in this case that what matters in food is quality, not just the label. This is why a varied diet with fruits, vegetables or legumes is directly associated with lower mortality and a decrease in chronic diseases. On the contrary, a vegan diet that is based on ultra-processed foods (even if it has very little meat) can be really harmful in the end. Images | Anna Pelzer In Xataka | The truth about intermittent fasting to lose weight: deciding whether its benefits have a scientific basis or are pure hype

The biggest barrier to improving your running times is not your body: it is your worn-out shoes.

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I don’t want to put pressure on anyone, but there are 24 days left until the Valencia Trinidad Alfonso Zurich 2025 Marathon. It is, probably, the most important event of the year for marathoners on the national scene. Valencia has become a reference inside and outside our borders for the most advanced runners. But it has also become the perfect showcase to continue gaining followers in a world where groups of runners for all levels multiply, specialty coffee shops with running clubs and, phone in handthe new followers of a religion that seems not to reach its ceiling. New faithful who are bombarded with new training plans, with the benefits of the Norwegian methodclothing brands that have understood the concept with a clear turn towards design and fashion or with YouTube channels in which the latest shoe, the latest revolutionary foam and the most complex carbon plate are analyzed. And among numbers that already exceed three figures, the next generation GPS watch and the t-shirt that weighs 35 grams, sometimes we forget that running, which is running, is run with our feet. And what we wear is key to avoiding injuries. This is what Marta Molina, a doctor in traumatology, maintains, who in statements to ABC warns: we must change shoes every 700 kilometers. A big “it depends” “Each runner has different biomechanics. Detecting imbalances or poor support technique can prevent future injuries (…) The most frequent injuries that we see in consultation during these weeks (prior to the Valencian appointment) are Achilles tendinopathies, overloads in calves, plantar fasciitis or discomfort in the knee and hip derived from excessive training or inappropriate footwear” As a runner with a decade under my belt, I will say that I have gone through each and every one of those concepts at some point. In the form of injuries or discomfort, but I have not missed any of those diagnoses along the way. And what’s worse, I have the feeling that most of those who start in this sport go through some type of discomfort of this type. It shouldn’t be like this but usually we don’t realize the mistake until we have hit the wall. Molina talks about inappropriate footwear and change it after 700 kilometers. And yes, it is a common problem. Either for investing little initial money or for wanting to stretch the gum of a product (that of running shoes) whose RRP has settled above 150 euros in a good part of the market. Dani Navarro, a worker at Bikilaone of the most renowned stores in the country. “Our feedback from customers is that training shoes usually last between 700 and 900 kilometers. There can always be exceptions due to pure biomechanics, runners who do not reach that mileage or who, due to having a very refined technique, far exceed them.” In Runneaa media specialized in this sport, echoed a study in which they pointed out that training shoes began to lose part of their properties and effectiveness after 400 kilometers but that runners did not perceive the decrease in performance until 640 kilometers. The problem is that the first warning is usually discomfort. Navarro also points out two important details. The first thing is that it talks about “training shoes”. The second thing is that it puts the focus on the foams. “The mileage could be extended a little if the shoes are rotated, especially for those who run daily. This way the materials don’t wear out as much and they don’t crush the materials as much.” These two points are key, especially with the arrival of the new foams that offer a much softer and more reactive touch but whose useful life is also in question. The so-called “training shoes” are recommended for people who are starting out in sports because they are the ones that protect the muscles the most and are the most comfortable for going at slow paces. They are also used by experienced runners when they want to accumulate kilometers in preparation. The lower the weight and the better the technique, the more kilometers you can get out of the shoes. The catalog is very wide and varied, from the classic Saucony Triumph or Brooks Glycerin with a slightly firmer feel to the ubiquitous and very soft Nike Invincible, which have earned a place in hearts for their endless padding. But both Molina and Navarro agree on the same point: exceed mileage of shoes increases the risk of injury. The shoe is more likely to become more unstable and the joints and muscles will face a greater challenge. In addition, you have to take into account what you buy and why. Navarro remembers that there are “mixed sneakers” designed to run a little faster, face training plans with series or changes of pace (the famous fartleck). These shoes are predicted to have an average useful life of about 600 kilometers. Sneakers among which we find classics such as the Adidas Adizero Boston, the legendary Nike Pegasus or the more modern New Balance Fuelcell Rebel. At the higher end in price and muscular demand are “competition shoes”, items designed to perform to the maximum of our possibilities but with a very short useful life “of 300 or 400 kilometers” estimates the Bikila expert. The maximum representative of this last option were the Adidas Adizero Pro EVOsneakers weighing 138 grams with which Tigst Assefa breaks the women’s marathon world record and that the German company itself warned of a useful life of a single competition and the prior filming for the adaptation of the runner. Starting price: 500 euros and limited units. A category that was previously dominated by aggressive flyers with half-toe midsole and where now foams of wild sizes reign and carbon plates, a new trend that was inaugurated by the Nike Vaporfly and that competitors have replicated with the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro, the Saucony Endorphin Elite or the most striking Hoka Cielo X or the galactic Puma Fast R Nitro Elite. … Read more

hormone disruptors that trick your body

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The gesture is automatic for millions of people who get up in the morning: take a coffee capsule, put it in the coffee maker and press the button to have hot coffee in a few seconds. However, this convenience can have a hidden cost to our health. This is something to what Nicolás Olea concludesprofessor emeritus at the University of Granada, who has issued an alert about the high exposure we face in endocrine disruptors. What are disruptors? After all, they are chemical substances that are actually present in a large number of products that we consume on a daily basis. As their name indicates, they have a direct relationship with the endocrine system. by altering its functioning. Specifically, its objective is hormones, those substances that They act as messengers within the body to give messages between cells, and that with these disruptors you can end up giving signals that are not true. They are present in many products. food products, bottles and plastic cups, tea bagsmicrowave popcorn, the containers or even the sun creams They have this type of substances that are the order of the day right now and that directly attack our body. The consequences. For the professor, the effects are clear: they alter the thyroid, promote obesity, diet or even infertility. All this documented with different essays in which it is directly pointed out that the lack of fertility in Europe It could be due precisely to this poor quality of semen or ovarian reserve as a result of the high combination of different endocrine disruptors that we have in our body. And precisely women can be more affected due to the great variability of hormones that they have in their body throughout their lives, since the hormonal cycle in a teenager is not the same as in a pregnancy. The coffee problem. Once we have all this clear, we return to the classic coffee capsule that we use every morning. In this case we prepare it with high pressure and high temperature to obtain a good result. The problem is that with this high temperature the plastic from which the capsule is made can melt and end up with a coffee riddled with microplastics that contribute to exposure to endocrine disruptors. A plastic that is usually polystyrene and epoxy resin that acts as glue. But it is not something that is limited to the consumption of coffee capsules, it can also happen with plastic cups if a very hot liquid is poured or in plastic bottles that are reused. Why are they allowed? If it is so bad to consume this type of product, the question is obligatory. In this case, the professor points out that right now there is no clear regulation on endocrine disruptors. Where much emphasis is placed is whether a particular chemical compound is categorized as carcinogenic, where a quick ban is applied. But if we talk about disruptors, the truth is that there are more legal loopholes, unless it is decreed as toxic for reproduction where you can choose to limit it in the market. The cocktail effect. Although the industry argues that the quantities released by a single capsule are minimal and within the law, experts like Olea warn of two key problems: accumulation and the “cocktail effect.” And the effects of these substances are seen above all in the long term in the body and with chronic exposure. That is why it points out that current legislation does not take into account this combined effect of all sources of exposure to apply regulation. Because not only is it a coffee capsule in isolation, but the pesticides that a food may have, the chemicals in the cosmetics that we put on our faces or even the plastic of the container where we heat up the macaroni to eat. Other dangerous situations. Because indeed, the coffee capsule is not the most striking thing that the expert has commented on in this case, since the interior of a brand new car is also dangerous for our body. Although many people love the smell that remains in the cabin when it is new, the reality is that it is loaded with different chemicals such as phthalates, phosphorus or bisphenols. Very volatile substances that appear especially when the car has been in the sun for a long time and that can end up in our body. Images | Jisu Han Robina Weermeijer In Xataka | It’s not gluttony: there are foods that literally hijack your brain

Europe has seen that Gen Z is full of militarism, body worship and a desire to party and has told them: go to the front

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First there were technical shoes, then sports watchesand now the military backpacks: khaki, resistant, full of patches and straps. Europe dresses usefully, as if preparing for war were just another aesthetic trend. In the gyms, more than in the barracks, a new type of citizenship is trained: bodies ready, gazes focused, backpacks ready for something that we still don’t know if it is a fad or a calling. Those who wear them seem to embody a new European trend: the return of the body as a patriotic symbol. A few weeks ago, the US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, declared: “It’s tiring to see obese troops.” His comment—as provocative as it was political—coincided with an unexpected finding: Generation Z, the same one that grew up among screens and anxiety, is recovering the cult of the body, the taste for action and, in some cases, a renewed curiosity for the idea of ​​serving or protecting something bigger than oneself. Europe has taken note. Atasila ne aniram? In a chapter of The SimpsonsBart and his friends formed a music group with subliminal lyrics to encourage young people to join the navy. A joke that, with the passage of time, has become another pop prophecy fulfilled. In a Financial Times column have started to unravel the new military movement. European armies have detected an unexpected change: young people who previously fled from conscription now sign up for military or civilian volunteering. In Germany, applications for voluntary military service They have grown 15% in a year; In Finland, the Government has announced his intention to increase to one million reservists in 2031, For its part, Sweden, with its “total defense” system (Totalförsvaret), already integrates 380,000 citizens into radio, transport or dog training associations that support the Army without holding weapons. According to official data from the Swedish governmentdue to the War in Ukraine, registrations skyrocketed: in a few months they received as many volunteers as in a normal year. Meanwhile, in the Baltic countries—Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania—they are also reinforcing their “civil militarism.” The three states prepare plans mass evacuation and citizen response to a possible Russian attack. The maneuvers include everything from logistics volunteers to farmers who learn to drive light armored vehicles. Furthermore, Estonia has created units of cybervolunteers to protect digital infrastructures and Lithuania just launched a program to train 22,000 drone operators. Europe is not raising massive armies: it is cultivating available, disciplined and functional bodies. A low-intensity militarism that mixes gym, volunteering and “healthy patriotism.” But why Gen Z? The simplest answer is because it is shaped by the mirror, but there is much more to it than that. Currently, we live in the era of protein chicof spiked shakes, sculpted bodies and extreme routines. The psychologist Sara Bolo warned that “Many apparently healthy behaviors hide disorders disguised as fitness culture.” But beyond the excesses, the cult of the body has become an ethic: physical self-discipline as a sense of purpose. And behind it there is something else: 36% of European Gen Z exercise regularly and another 50% want to start. However, the most revealing fact is not that, but the void it fills. Sociologist Robert Putnam already diagnosed that “we stopped bowling together.” Today, the gym replaces the social club, the bootcamp the summer camp, the weight routine the collective ritual. In other words, Generation Z isn’t just looking for muscle: it’s looking to belong. In a Europe where 13% of citizens and 20% of young people say they feel alone “most of the time”, according to Eurostatcivil defense appears as a new type of functional community: a gymnasium with anthem and purpose. The body as a political border. This cult of the body, born in gyms and amplified by networks, has also filtered into institutional discourse. What was once individual well-being, today takes on a collective, even patriotic tone. On the other side of the Atlantic, body obsession has acquired ideological overtones. Hegseth himself gathered hundreds of top brass to reprimand them: “No more beards. Let’s trim the hair, shave the beards and go back to standards.” His speech was more focused on appearance than performance, more on the image of the ideal soldier than on his operational capacity. Europe observes with caution, but the impulse is the same: the body once again becomes a metaphor for the nation, a space where the moral and physical health of the State is projected. Trained, vigilant, prepared. Recruit with algorithms. For now, the old continent is strengthening its network of civil associations. But if you look to the United States, you could find a more aggressive recruiting model. The US Army has hired e-girls and influencers like Hailey Lujan, an employee of the psychological operations division (PSYOP), who combines uniforms and beauty filters to attract new recruits. On the other hand, the Pentagon He also tried video games: America’s Armya shooter free launched in 2002 so that players wanted to get ready after playing. It worked for two decades as the first major gamified recruiting tool. For now, the European version of digital recruitment is more sober – campaigns about volunteering and civil protection – but the logic is identical: convince Generation Z that the uniform can also be a lifestyle. Fragility disguised as strength. On the margins of the gym where discipline and self-improvement are preached, a digital manosphere thrives that turns fragility into ideological fuel. On TikTok and YouTube, figures like Andrew Tate or anonymous accounts with a military aesthetic promote a masculinity “based on strength and control.” fitness has become in a gateway to the digital extreme right, where the body symbolizes purity and the enemy is always the weak. Cases like that of the Spanish influencer Llados, who combines coaching physical with discourses about “traditional masculinity”, illustrate that blurred border between personal improvement and emotional manipulation. The risk is not only the militarization of the body, but also its ideological instrumentalization. The gym, a space of redemption, can become soft indoctrination campwhere loneliness and … Read more

In 1995 some researchers discovered the “peaceful gene” of our body. Today their finding has earned them a Nobel

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The Nobel Committee at the Karolinska Institute of Stockholm has done it again. He has rewarded one of those investigations that, for years, seemed like a page note in textbooks, but today are the basis of revolutionary treatments. He Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine of 2025 He has been granted jointly to Japanese Shimon Sakaguchi and Americans Mary E. Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell for “their discoveries about Regulatory T cells And the role of Foxp3 gene In the immune function “ The beginning. Already in the previous decade, Sakaguchi had identified a subset of T lymphocytes that did not attack, but did the opposite: they suppressed the activity of other T lymphocytes. They were pacifying cells, a kind of riot police of the immune system. In 1995, He published a job Key that characterized these cells, today known as regulatory T cells (TREGS). The finding was transcendental. Sakaguchi showed that without these tregs, The immune system went crazy and began to attack the tissues of the body itself, causing devastating autoimmune diseases. He had discovered the natural mechanism of the body to maintain tolerance and avoid self -destruction. But the key piece of the puzzle was missing: what made a T cell become a peacemaker and not a soldier? Brunkow and Ramsdell. Although this discovery was transcendental, the reality is that there was a lot of skeptic that he did not believe in his theory. But the answer to the big question that stayed in the air came in 2001 (still far from the year 2025 and the delivery of this award). Here, on the one hand, Mary E. Brunkow’s team investigated a rare and deadly disease Autoimmune in children called IPEX syndrome. The investigation pointed to a gene as a cause of this disease: Foxp3. On the other hand, Fred Ramsdell’s team was studying a mouse model with very similar symptoms and reached the same conclusion: The defective gene was Foxp3. The connection. The connection was immediate and explosive: Foxp3 was the “master switch”. It is the gene that, when activated in a T lymphocyte, gives you the instructions to become a TREG. Without functional FOXP3, there are no regulatory T cells, and the immune system is uncontrolled. Sakaguchi’s discovery finally found his genetic explanation and already gave him enough weight so that the scientific community saw that he had sat a great precedent. A revolution. This double discovery, Sakaguchi’s cell phone and Brunkow and Ramsdell’s genetic, has completely changed the immunology paradigm and has opened two great therapeutic pathways with immense potential. On the one hand, the door opens up to the fight against autoimmune diseases since with the lack of tregs the body attacks itself. The solution in this case is to increase this type of cells, and there are already different clinical trials to extract patient T cells, “convert” them into the laboratory and re -inject them to the patient. Something we now know as ‘immunotherapy’. But it also serves for the fight against cancer. In these cases it has been seen how tumors are ‘intelligent’ and surround themselves with tregs to protect themselves to the immune system that tries to end these cells. These pacifying cells prevent “soldier” T lymphocytes from attacking cancer. The new immunotherapies seek precisely to temporarily deactivate these tregs or block the action of Foxp3 in the tumor environment, eliminating the protective coat of cancer so that the immune system can destroy it. This has been especially promising in tumors such as lymphoma. Time has passed. The most surprising of all this is the large amount of time between the initial discovery and recognition with a Nobel. If it is true that it has been expected to have a crucial relevance within the clinical aspect, with trials that give very good results for diseases that are really serious. Images | Wikipedia (2, 3) In Xataka | A Spanish team has taken a giant step in a hopeful cancer treatment: chemoinmunotherapy

The body warns of Alzheimer’s long before the brain. The track is in the intestine

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Keep ‘healthy’ The bacteria we have in the intestine It is more important than we can think. During the last decade there are many voices that have arisen pointing to the relationship between our microbiota and other parts of our body. Now, a study has given light on the amazing connection that exists between digestive and metabolic health and the risk of developing diseases neurodegenerative as Alzheimer’s either Parkinson. A study that has used data of all kinds. Research, published in Science Advances, Not only identifies specific disorders that increase the risk of these diseases, but also demonstrates that these signals can be detected up to 15 years before neurological diagnosis, opening a new and promising via for Early detection and prevention. The work, which analyzed the clinical, genetic and proteomic data of hundreds of thousands of biobancos such as the UK Biobank, Finngen and Sail, is the most extensive of its kind and reinforces the importance of called intestine-corebro axisthe complex communication network that connects our digestive system with the central nervous. Digestive disorders and Alzheimer’s. The researchers analyzed the association of 155 digestive, endocrine, metabolic and nutritional disorders with the future risk of Alzheimer and Parkinson. The results are revealing. For Alzheimer’s, it was found that previous diagnoses of the following conditions significantly increased the risk: Gastritis and duodenitis Esophageal reflux disease (esophagitis) Diabetes (all types) Vitamin D deficiency Electrolyte disorders and acid-base balance Functional intestinal disorders (such as irritable intestine syndrome) There are also warning signs for Parkinson. A disease that is also neurodegenerative and is iconicly characterized with a constant tremor, among many other signs. In this case, the pathologies that could be an alert sign to generate this disease were: Dyspepsia (indigestion) Diabetes (dependent and independent of insulin) Functional intestinal disorders The importance of being a stratified study. This means that the data were divided into windows from 1 to 5, 5 to 10 and 10 to 15 years before diagnosis. This is something really important, since researchers could confirm the theory that the increase in risk is not something that happens just after the appearance of the first neurological symptoms, but it is a process that is created over more than a decade. For example, a diagnosis of non -insulin -dependent diabetes between 10 and 15 years before was associated with a 71% greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s. The importance of an early diagnosis. And it is that diagnosing a neurodegenerative disease so in advance is the best asset we have to avoid its most unwanted effects. Right now Alzheimer is an incurable disease, but There are drugs that stop the disease. From here lies the importance of having an early diagnosis, since the sooner the timely treatment begins, the more difficult it will be to progress to the worst stages. It also has protection functions. Curiously, it has been seen that a hemorrhoid diagnosis was associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s. The authors speculate that this could be due to a survival bias: the serious conditions that are sometimes associated with hemorrhoids could have a higher mortality rate, which would reduce the probability that these patients live enough to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Genetics or lifestyle? One of the most counterintuitive findings in the study has to do with genetics. The researchers calculated the polygenic risk scores (PRS), which is a measure of genetic predisposition to a disease, and compared them. They discovered that patients who developed Alzheimer’s or Parkinson and also had one of these digestive or metabolic disorders, on average, had a lower genetic risk score than those who developed the neurological disease in isolation. Inheritance does not matter so much. These results can translate into that the person with intestinal comorbidity, environmental and lifestyle factors They play a much more decisive role in the development of Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s than the genetic inheritance itself. It is the evidence that we needed to reinforce the idea that the disease is not only in our genetic material, but that the environment and our decisions can intervene in its development. Towards a multimodal predictive model. The true qualitative leap of the study is the creation of a multimodal prediction model. Instead of based on a single type of data, scientists combined four pillars of information: clinical, genetic, proteomic data (with the analysis of 1,463 biomarkers) and demographic. The result was a model with a predictive capacity much higher than that of any individual paradigm. For Alzheimer’s, the combined model reached a 0.90 precision (AUC), a very high level for this type of predictions. It is interesting to note that the model that excluded clinical data, but maintained genetics, proteomics and demography, obtained almost identical precision (0.89), which suggests that blood biomarkers already capture much of the biological information that underlies clinical diagnoses. A diagnosis based on an analytical. Among the most influential biomarkers were found GLIAL FIBRARRARARY ACID PREIIN (GFAP) and the light chain neurofilament (NFL), both known as indicators of neuronal damage, which validates the biological robustness of the model. This approach demonstrates that the integration of different “omics” (genomic, proteomic) with clinical data is the way to follow for truly early and personalized detection, long before cognitive symptoms or irreversible motors appear. The team has even developed an interactive web platform so that other researchers can explore the results, promoting transparency and reproducibility. Images | Weermeijer Robina Julien Tromeur In Xataka | We have a new “theory of all” to understand Alzheimer’s. Your key is in small granules

Our body is full of almost indestructible “eternal chemicals.” It turns out that we have the solution in the intestine

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“Eternal chemicals” is a name with great loudness. They are practically indestructible molecules, and the problem is that they are really harmful for both nature and us. In recent years we are taking it seriously and we have sought Remove them with guns with electron beams. Also through forms of break their molecular bondsand now a bacterium can become an ally to end these eternal chemicals. And it will be as easy as taking a capsule. A slow poison. The perfluoroalquiladas and the polyfluoroalquiladas, known as PFASThey are a relative of about 4,700 synthetic molecules that have great resistance due to the unions between fluorine and carbon atoms. They are very useful for that resistance, since the molecular union is very stable and does not react to external agents. The problem is that they are used in many products (hygiene, textiles, pesticides, containers or Even in the wine), they accumulate in nature by not being destroyed and, potentially, also in our body. PFAS and their derivatives, such as trifluoacetic acid, are related to soil contamination and water sources. And the prolonged exposure to certain PFAS has been related With a higher risk of kidney cancer and testicles, alterations in the immune system, changes in cholesterol, fertility problems and increased blood pressure in pregnancy. Intestinal bacteria. That is why we commented on some lines: we are looking for how to end them. It is difficult, but researchers from the University of Cambridge have TOP With an unexpected ally: human intestinal bacteria. Specifically, the Faecalibacterium prausnitziian intestinal bacterium that, together with others found in our body, has proven to be very effective absorbing pfas. In experiments, and as they point out in Natureresearchers have found about 38 bacterial strains that absorb these eternal chemicals. Basically, they quickly accumulate great concentrations of PFAS minutes after exposure to them. How do they do it? Catching toxic compounds within cell groups, protecting both themselves and the host. Come on, putting the pfa in quarantine. Swallowing more and more. To test it, the toxicology unit of the University of Cambridge experienced with mice that had ingested PFAS. They introduced nine bacterial strains in their organism and observed that these bacteria quickly trapped the PFAS and then were naturally expelled through the feces. The interesting thing is that bacteria work more intensely at greater concentration, with constant elimination rates of between 25% and 74% of the PFAS present in the body. Horizon. Studies are constantly published in which they tell us how they have discovered the potential of something to improve our life, but usually, the conclusion is usually a “we need more evidence and we will see.” In the case of bacteria that engulf eternal chemicals, researchers have something clearer what the road map is after those first experiments in mice. In the next steps, they will explore the development of Probiotics specifically aimed at improving our defenses against PFAS, and they have it so clear that they have founded a startup of biotechnology To develop these products. The objective is that the first is ready by 2026 and what these specialized probiotics will do will be to capture chemicals before they are reabsorbed in the intestine and “encapsulate them” for excretion through the digestive system. Images | Cambridge University In Xataka | Some bacteria can “feel” the acid in their surroundings. And his way of adapting is mutating

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