Browse evidence-based analysis of health-related claims and assertions
When the body is low on salt, special cells in the brainstem that detect this imbalance send a 'go' signal to the salt-craving neurons, turning them on.
Mechanistic
When mice taste salt, a different group of brain cells that use a calming chemical (GABA) gets turned on and sends a 'stop' signal to the salt-craving cells, making them quiet down.
Mice stop wanting salt almost instantly when they taste it in their mouth—even before the salt gets into their body—and this happens because a specific brain signal turns off when salt is tasted.
When mice are low on salt, a specific group of brain cells makes them desperately want to eat salt—even if it tastes bad—and these cells also make the mice feel bad, so they do things to stop the feeling.
Scientists can tell if fish have been exposed to this blue dye by checking their blood — changes in red and white blood cells are clear warning signs.
Descriptive
The blue dye makes the fish’s red blood cells shrink and get wrinkled, which probably stops them from carrying oxygen properly.
The blue dye causes harmful chemical reactions in fish cells that damage their blood, and the more damage there is, the lower the blood’s oxygen-carrying ability becomes.
Fish exposed to this blue dye show a spike in certain white blood cells and a drop in others, which means their immune system is stressed or not working normally.
When rohu fish are exposed to a low but toxic level of a blue dye used in fish farms, their blood loses a lot of its oxygen-carrying capacity, making them very weak.
At the start of frying, mixing sesame oil makes olive oil more antioxidant-rich, but after 12 hours, all oils lose their antioxidant power — extra virgin olive oil just starts higher and lasts a bit longer.
Quantitative
After frying for 12 hours, regular olive oil loses almost all its healthy compounds, but extra virgin olive oil still keeps about a third of them — adding sesame oil doesn’t help preserve them.
When you mix sesame oil with regular olive oil, it produces fewer bad-smelling, harmful compounds when you fry food.
When sesame oil is heated while frying, one of its natural compounds turns into another that temporarily helps stop the oil from breaking down.
Adding sesame oil to extra virgin olive oil doesn’t make it last longer when frying because it’s already packed with natural antioxidants.
Extra virgin olive oil lasts longer when frying than regular olive oil because it has more natural antioxidants built in.
Adding a little sesame oil to regular olive oil helps it last longer when frying food because it slows down the oil going bad.
In obese mice, turning on hunger neurons just before eating doesn’t make them eat much more—but turning them on while they’re eating does. This suggests their brain’s feeding system becomes less sensitive to normal hunger signals.
Correlational
Even when obese mice don’t feel hungry, turning on their hunger neurons with light makes them eat normally again—meaning the problem is the brain isn’t turning on the hunger signal, not that the body can’t respond to it.
Obese mice eat less after fasting than lean mice—even when given their favorite food—and this isn’t just because they’re heavier; it’s linked to higher levels of the fat hormone leptin.
Obese mice don’t get as excited (in brain terms) when they see food—but when they lose weight, this brain response comes back, unlike their response to fat or hormones.
When mice become obese, their brain’s hunger neurons don’t respond as strongly to ghrelin—the 'hunger hormone'—so they don’t eat as much even when given extra ghrelin, and this doesn’t fix itself after they lose weight.
Obese mice don't respond as well to a gut hormone (CCK) that normally tells the brain to stop eating fat—and even after they lose weight, this blunted response doesn't come back.
When mice get obese from eating lots of fat, their brain's hunger neurons stop responding as strongly to fat in the stomach—even after they lose weight—but still respond normally to sugar or protein.
Scientists think that looking at the balance between different types of broken-down fats might help tell how much oil has been used for frying.