It's time to start working out as a new study claims that even a little weekly physical activity curbs the risk of death among those above 60 years of age.

In the study, the researchers searched databases for studies which assessed risk of death according to weekly physical activity for those aged 60 and above. Physical activity was measured in Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET) minutes, which express the amount of energy (calories) expended per minute of physical activity.

The study involved a total of 1,22, 417 participants, who were monitored for an average of around 10 years.

Pooled analysis of the data showed that clocking up less than 500 weekly MET minutes of physical activity was still associated with a 22 percent lowered risk of death compared with those who were inactive.

The more physical activity an individual engaged in, the greater the health benefit, reaching a 28 percent lower risk of death for those fulfilling the recommended weekly tally of MET minutes, while more than 1000 MET minutes was associated with a 35 percent lower risk.

The greatest benefit seemed to be among those who went from doing nothing or only a minimal amount of physical activity to doing more.

The data showed that a weekly tally of 250 MET minutes, which corresponds to 75 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity-or 15 minutes a day-was associated with health benefits, added to which the first 15 minutes of physical activity seemed to have the greatest impact.

The researchers suggested that this could be a reasonable target dose.

The researchers concluded that the target for physical activity in the current recommendations might be too high for older adults and may discourage some of them. The fact that any effort will be worthwhile may help convince those 60 percent of participants over 60 years of age, who do not practice any regular physical activity, to become active.

The study is published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

A new study has claimed that eating oily fish may help keeping nasal allergies at bay for kids.

Diana Di Fabio of the Cleveland Clinic Children said that it is possible that fish consumption might help prevent the development of rhinitis. A healthy diet complete with a variety of items from all food groups may have a similar effect in promoting general wellbeing.

Fabio said that fish consumption at the age of eight may simply serve as an indicator of high dietary quality, the Fox News reported.

She added that children, who were likelier to consume those foods, also had a more adventurous palate and were likelier to consume a balanced diet.

In the study, parents and kids completed questionnaires detailing how often the children consumed 98 foods and beverages common in Sweden and for fish; they were asked specifically about oily varieties such as herring, mackerel and salmon, as well as less oily alternatives like codfish, Pollock, pike, tuna and fish fingers.

Nineteen percent of the children did have symptoms of rhinitis, such as sneezing or runny nose or eye symptoms in contact with furry pets or pollens after age four.

Twenty-one percent of them developed allergic rhinitis and 15 percent developed non-allergic rhinitis by age 16, among the 1,590 children who didn't have rhinitis symptoms at age eight.

The study revealed that eating oily fish was linked to a drop in risk of allergic rhinitis by roughly half.

Heading out for a booze-fuelled night out? Drink pear juice to avoid a hangover!

Drinking Asian pear juice before consuming alcohol can prevent hangover symptoms, scientists have found.

Researchers at Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) led by Professor Manny Noakes found that drinking the juice of Asian pear, also known as Korean pear, can prevent hangovers as well as lower blood alcohol levels.

Researchers measured hangover severity in study subjects using a 14-item hangover symptom scale.

They found that those given 220 ml of Asian pear juice reported reduced overall hangover symptoms compared to those in the placebo group, with the most pronounced improvement reported in the area of "trouble concentrating."

The hangover was only avoided if the pear juice was consumed before the alcohol, 'Gizmag' reported.

While the study involved pear juice, the researchers believe consuming whole pears would produce similar effects.

Further research is needed to determine whether the hangover-preventing capabilities extend to other pear varieties as the studies have so far only involved the Asian pear, which is known to have a number of compositional differences to Western pear varieties.

While the mechanism responsible for Asian pear's protective effects against a hangover is not completely understood, the researchers said that factors in Asian pears have an effect on key enzymes, alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), which accelerate the metabolism of alcohol and inhibit its absorption in the body.

Specifically, blood acetaldehyde levels, which is the toxic metabolic thought to be responsible for hangover symptoms, were reduced after consuming pear juice.

Noakes noted that the research was only a preliminary scoping study but the team plans to deliver a comprehensive review of the scientific literature regarding pears, pear components and relevant health measures in the future.

A compound found in spinach can slow down fat digestion, leading to reduced hunger and food craving especially in men, a study says.

A concentrated extract of thylakoids encourage the release of satiety hormones, which is very beneficial in controlling hunger.

"The reduction in hunger and the desire for salty food that we saw might make thylakoids particularly useful for people with high blood pressure and associated weight problems," said study co-author Frank. L. Greenway from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana.

The researchers examined the effect of consuming a single dose of concentrated extract of thylakoids from spinach on satiety, food intake, lipids, and glucose compared to a placebo.

Sixty people (30 men and 30 women) classified as overweight or obese consumed either the spinach extract or a placebo in random order at least a week apart.

The results showed that the spinach extract containing thylakoids increased satiety over a two-hour period compared to a placebo.

There were no differences in plasma lipids and energy intake at dinner but men showed a trend toward decreased energy intake.

"Thylakoid consumption may influence gender-specific food craving," the authors said.

A previous study had found that in women, a reduced urge for sweets was significant after a single dose of the spinach extract and the reduced urge for sweets was sustained throughout the study.

The article was published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition.