Are you feeding your brain the right kind of fatty diet? Dairy products such as cheese and milk are among the most reviled of foods, with many experts saying their links to heart disease and obesity mean we should shun them when possible.

But new research has caused controversy by suggesting that, in fact, dairy food could be essential for a healthy brain.

The study, by U.S. and Australian researchers, involving 1,000 adults, found those who regularly have dairy products such as milk, cheese and yoghurt score better on tests of mental ability than people who never, or rarely, consume dairy.

Although the research, published in the International Dairy Journal, needs following-up, as it did not conclusively establish the link between dairy and fatty diets and brain power, it highlights an intriguing line of research.

It follows another U.S. study, involving 104 pensioners, where scientists found older people with higher levels of beneficial fats in their blood had less brain shrinkage typical of Alzheimer's disease. These beneficial fats - omega-3 essential fats - are found in foods such as oily fish. The research, published in Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology, is key, as it measured the levels of different fats in people's blood, rather than simply relying on their reports of what they tended regularly to eat.

It's now well established from brain-tissue studies that our mental functions depend heavily on a good supply of fat.

Our brain is composed of 60 per cent fat. The brain cells are insulated by sheaths of myelin composed of 75 per cent fat. This myelin fat needs to be replaced constantly.

Myelin sheaths are vital to the cells' ability to communicate. It's thought the more myelin you have, the quicker you learn new skills.

Significantly, in a disease such as multiple sclerosis, the myelin sheaths are damaged, affecting how messages are transmitted in the brain and causing symptoms such as numbness and paralysis.

This research on the brain confronts the common view about the dangers of dietary fat. So strong is the negative message that studies show up to 40 per cent of all UK adults try to avoid fat for health reasons.

But, in fact, the benefits of avoiding fats might not be so clear-cut.

For example, a study of older people in the British Medical Journal found that those on low-cholesterol diets have a far higher rate of stroke, possibly because cholesterol seems to have a protective effect in mature brain linings.

Meanwhile, a California University study published in The Lancet reports a link between low-fat diets and increased incidence of depression among men aged over 70.

It suggests this may be because low cholesterol levels shorten the amount of time the feel-good hormone serotonin is effective.

Studies also show fat in diets may help the brain to suppress harmful behavioural impulses: monkeys have been found to become abnormally aggressive when put on low-fat diets, according to a report in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

But rather than investigating such discoveries further, the medical establishment has ignored or discredited them, for fear of confusing the 'dietary fat is bad' message.

So, which fats seem to help best?

When it comes to the benefits of dairy on the brain, more research is needed. But there's a large body of research to show that omega-3 and omega-6 fats are vital for the brain.

You might think you knew this already. And, indeed, a few years ago there was much-publicised research to suggest that omega-3 supplements were good for the brain. But that research has since been dismissed as unscientific (also, it's not supplements, but getting the fats from food that counts).

Now a number of new, more authoritative studies have shown how omega-3s help by developing and protecting myelin. Our bodies cannot make these fats, so they need to get them from diet.

An important substance in these fats is DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) which the body derives from omega-3. This helps preserve the brain's health in older age.

The best sources of DHA are oily fish, such as salmon, wholegrains and dark green, leafy vegetables.

A study published in the journal Archives of Neurology found that people with the highest levels of DHA in their blood had a 50 per cent lower risk of developing dementia from any cause.

After nine years of follow-up, they were also shown to be less likely to develop Alzheimer's.

DHA has been found to help the brains of developing babies, too.

A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found the children of women who had high levels of DHA in their red blood cells around the time they gave birth scored above average on the intelligence tests at age six.

But, interestingly, the study says this effect resulted from the mothers eating diets rich in fish and DHA, rather than supplements.

This may help to explain why studies of pregnant women taking only fish-oil supplements have often failed to provide conclusive evidence of benefits in their offspring.

The Spanish experts behind this research speculate that this might have something to do with the way our bodies absorb and process foods that feature regularly in our diet.

Sources of omega-6 fatty acids include seeds, nuts and their oil.

So, why would fats be so crucial to the human brain? Our brains grew to their present proportions a million years ago. Before that, our body-to-brain size ratio was similar to other primates. For years, scientists have puzzled over what caused this growth.

Dr David Braun, an anthropologist and archaeologist at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, has suggested the fish-eating habit of primitive humans were responsible. He says we started to eat fish about two million years ago in the Great Rift Valley in Africa, thought to be the cradle of our species, and this enabled us to grow brains that were much bigger and more efficient than rival species.

But there's another side of the coin. While omega fats seem crucial, they can be displaced from our brains by trans fats, found in baked and fried goods and fast food.

While the scientific case for omega fats' dietary benefits is growing stronger, so, too, is the argument against trans fats in our diets at all.

A study of children growing up in the Avon area, for example, has shown that a diet high in processed fats may lower IQ.

The study, following 4,000 children from birth to the age of eight-and-a-half, found those who ate diets high in processed fats showed significantly lower IQ scores at the older age than those whose diets had been high in healthy fats.

The results echo earlier research. For example, a study of children who ate margarine high in trans fats (hydrogenated vegetable oils) every day showed that they had lower IQs than those who did not.

Meanwhile, last year's study in the journal Neurology, which reported that pensioners who ate lots of omega fats were less at risk of Alzheimer's, also found the reverse effect with trans fats.

People whose blood-nutrient levels showed they had junk-food diets showed more of the brain-shrinkage associated with dementia.

Furthermore, studies on rats, by neuroscientist Lotta Granholm, have shown that trans fats impair memory and learning.

Granholm, the director of the Centre on Ageing at the Medical University of South Carolina, says trans fats seem to destroy proteins that help brain cells to communicate. 'After I did this study, I didn't eat french fries any more,' she says.

Dr Alex Richardson, a research fellow at the University of Oxford and an authority on the impact of nutrition on the brain, is particularly concerned by trans fats. 'They should have been banned years ago,' she says. 'They are toxic.'

One of the most damaging things about these fats, she adds, is that they actually stop essential fats, such as omega-3, from being absorbed in the brain.

'There's good evidence trans fats alter the signalling ability of the brain's chemical messengers. If you give these to children, you're replacing essential fats that make their bodies and brains work properly with ones that clog the machinery.'

In order to protect our brains and those of our children, it appears that we have to become fat-headed - but only with the right sort of fats.

Holi, the festival of colours and unrestrained joy is around the corner. The joyous celebrations invariably reach such frenzy that at times skin problems do occur. This is especially true if you do not come prepared for it. Instead of natural colours made from flowers and harm-free substances which were used in earlier days, what we get these days are industrial dyes, acids, heavy metals and powdered glass.

If you can manage to get natural colours to play with on Holi, nothing can be better but it is hardly possible. It becomes imperative to protect your skin so that these harmful chemicals do not cause any harm. The tips for skin care on Holi given below will surely help to protect any skin damage:

Wear clothes that can cover maximum part of the body. A swimsuit or waterproof tights under your clothes would protect your body from the harmful effects of chemicals in colours.
Apply oil or moisturiser all over your skin and allow it to be absorbed by the body for 15 minutes. Next smear waterproof sunscreen on your skin.
Soak your hair liberally with quality hair oil so that all colours slide away when you sit down to remove them after the day is over.
Other than oil, you can also apply lip balm for extra protection of your lips.
Use Vaseline for your nails. Apply it beneath the nails and also over it. This prevents permanent staining of your nails and adjacent area.
Prefer red or pink colours because they can be easily removed as compared to colours like yellow, green, orange or dark purple as they have comparatively more harmful chemicals in them.
While playing with colours, ensure that your eyes are protected all the times. If any colour happens to get into your eyes, do not take it lightly and keep washing with water till the irritation subsides. If it still persists, seek medical advice from a doctor.
Use dental caps to prevent the teeth from getting stained with coloured dyes that do not go off.
Always be vigilant when people hurl or smear colours on your face. Try to discourage such acts and if that is not possible, shut your eyes immediately.

Tips for skin care when removing colour:

For removing colour from the skin, a mild moisturizer soap with lukewarm water works best.
Avoid removers such as strong soaps, petrol and kerosene for removing colour because they can cause skin irritation.
Apply moisturiser on the entire body immediately after the bath as the skin gets dehydrated and dull after washing off the colour.
Avoid rubbing your skin with a hard and rough brush as it can cause itchiness.
To lighten the colour on your skin, rubbing lemon wedges followed by a mixture of wheat flour and oil is a good option.
For getting rid of traces of colour left, use the paste of gram flour (besan) with milk on the skin.
Those who have acne should wash their face with Cetaphil cleanser and use antibiotic gel like Clindamycin gel.
Later, apply a mixture of glycerine, sea salt and a few drops of aroma oil or almond oil on skin for healing the bad effects of chemicals in colour.

Follow these tips and keep your skin happy this Holi!

A new study has found that the number of people who have become dangerously overweight halved in the three years after the financial crisis of 2007.

The results have baffled researchers because they had expected waistlines to expand as the economic downturn affected family incomes, the Daily Mail reported.

Previous studies have found that people with less money tend to buy foods, which are cheaper but higher in calories such as takeaways and prepackaged meals which is why poorer families are more likely to gain weight.

Academics do not yet know why the most recent research appears to suggest that having less money reduces the number of people becoming fat.

But the effect was seen regardless of family income, which suggests a general trend across the population and could be a sign that the healthy-eating message is having an impact at a time when people are being more careful about how they shop.

The Arizona State University researchers used information collected from a study of 350,000 adults across the United States.
People were asked for their height and weight, which allows researchers to calculate their Body Mass Index (BMI). The World Health Organisation considers a person obese if they have a BMI score of 30 or over, and overweight if they have a score of between 25 and 30.

"In all but the poorest income group the annual increase in BMI decelerated substantially during the recession. There is little evidence that the economic downturn has exacerbated obesity by causing people to consume cheaper foods," said the researchers.

Obesity rates in the UK as in the US have been rising for 20 years. As many as a quarter of all Britons are officially classed as so overweight it threatens their health, and UK women are the fattest in Europe.

A daily vitamin pill could help prevent skin cancer - particularly among women, it has emerged.

Scientists say taking food supplements containing vitamin A can make people less likely to develop melanoma, the deadliest form of the disease.

A study found that retinol - a key component of Vitamin A - could protect against the illness.

The strongest protective effects were found in women and in sun exposed sites, suggesting retinol actually combats skin cancer.

However, there was no association between dietary intake of vitamin A, found in liver, eggs and milk, and a reduction in risk.

There was also no reduced risk seen by the intake of carotenoids, which are abundant in vegetables including carrots and tomatoes and soak up compounds that can damage the skin.

Previous research with mice has shown retinol and carotenoids can shrink melanoma tumours and improve survival.

So dermatologist Dr Maryam Asgari and colleagues analysed the disease risk in 69,635 men and women aged between 50 and 76 who consumed vitamin A through either dietary or supplementary methods.

Their findings, published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, found those who used retinol regularly were 60 per cent less likely to develop skin cancer, rising to 74 per cent among participants on the highest doses of more than 1,200 mg a day.

Dr Asgari, of the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research in Oakland, said: 'Our data suggest a possible interaction between supplemental retinol use and the anatomic site of melanoma, with sun-exposed sites showing a stronger protective effect than sun-protected sites.

'It may be that retinol's effects may be mediated by sunlight exposure. This intriguing possibility warrants further exploration in future studies.'

Retinol belongs to a class of compounds called retinoids that have been shown to stop cells dividing and spreading.

Dr Asgari said: 'In summary, our data, which are based on a large prospective cohort, suggest retinol intake from individual supplements is associated with a reduction in risk for melanoma, especially among women.

'Our findings suggest vitamin A supplementation may hold promise as a chemopreventive agent for melanoma.'

Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer among white populations, in the UK and worldwide.

Most are easy to treat and pose only a small threat to life, but melanoma is difficult to treat unless detected early.

Over the past 25 years, rates of melanoma in the UK have risen faster than any other common cancer.

About 1,800 people die from melanoma annually in the UK. Even so, nearly 80 per cent of men and over 90 per cent of women are alive at five years following treatment.

However, Dr Claire Knight, senior health information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: 'We don't recommend people start taking retinol supplements based on this study, particularly as high doses can be toxic.

'The result was based on a very small number of people with melanoma, and the authors didn't account for other important factors that influence the risk of skin cancer, such as the number of moles a person has.

"And crucially, when the authors looked at whether a particular dose was linked to risk, the link between retinol and melanoma disappeared.'

An experimental drug could protect stroke victims from brain damage. The treatment has shown very promising results in animal tests, and early results with humans are also encouraging.

There is currently only one effective treatment for stroke. Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) can dissolve the blood clots that cause a stroke.

But it has to be given very soon after symptoms appear, and doctors first have to make sure that the stroke was not caused by a ruptured blood vessel, in which case tPA can make the situation a lot worse.

Michael Tymianski and his team, at the Toronto Western Hospital Research Institute in Canada, devised a different kind of stroke treatment, a drug known as a PSD-95 inhibitor. It works by blocking a key protein in the chain reaction of events that leads to brain-cell death.

"So by inhibiting this protein, by having a drug that binds to it so the protein can't do what it usually does, we prevent the formation of a toxic free radical called nitric oxide. And as a result of that, brain cells that are treated with this drug become more resilient to a stroke," he said.

In a new scientific paper published online in Nature, Tymianski has published the results of research on macaques - primates with complex brains much like ours.

"Animals that were treated with the placebo drug got very large strokes and were very disabled from their strokes. But animals that received the drug had much smaller strokes on their MRI scans and they were neurologically much better off."

Those encouraging results have already led to human trials, and Tymianski says "the top-line results of that particular trial have already been announced at the International Stroke Conference in New Orleans in February. So we already know that when this drug is given to humans the same way that it's given to the primates and at the same doses, it reduces stroke damage in the human brain."

Tymianski says that, unlike current treatment with tPA, the PSD-95 inhibitor can help patients with hemorrhagic strokes, which are caused by a ruptured blood vessel, and it may even be useful in treating other brain injuries as well.