WEIRD STUFF: Cavemen had better sex

Cavemen and women had better sex

New research has found that Brits who switched from a traditional diet to the 'paleo' diet -- also known as the caveman or Stone Age diet -- saw a huge surge in their libido.

The paleo diet was common thousands of years ago and includes foods such as berries, seeds, veg, fish, fruit, eggs and meats such as rabbit, quail and deer.

A 2,000-strong poll conducted by the recipe box firm Green Chef reported a 48 per cent rise in a person's "active" love life after changing diets.

Richard Butterman switched to a paleo diet last year and has noticed an "obvious increase" in his sex drive.

The 44-year-old said: "I decided to lose weight, but liked the idea of eating like a caveman. After less than a month I noticed I was definitely more interested in my wife."

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Cutting the grass could save your life

A new study has revealed that one in 10 early deaths could be prevented if inactive people spent just 11 minutes a day mowing the lawn.

The team at the University of Cambridge says that 75 minutes of moderate exercise per week -- just half of the recommended amount -- could reduce the risk of early death, heart disease and cancer.

Boffins analysed 196 research articles about the health benefits of exercise involving over 30 million adults and the risk of early death and disease decreased the more somebody exercised.

Britain's National Health Service recommends at least 2.5 hours of exercise per week but the study found that this figure gave only minimal benefit.

Soren Brage, one of the authors of the study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, said: "If you are someone who finds the idea of 2.5 hours of activity a week daunting, then our findings should be good news."

Gum disease could trigger dementia

Researchers have explained how poor oral health can cause changes in cells that protect the brain from amyloid plaque -- a type of protein associated with decline in people with Alzheimer's disease.

Dr Alpdogan Kantarci, of Boston University in the US, said: "If you don't take care of oral inflammation and infection, you cannot really prevent systemic diseases like Alzheimer's.

"We knew from one of our previous studies that inflammation associated with gum disease activates an inflammatory response in the brain.

"In this study, we were asking the question, can oral bacteria cause a change in the brain cells?"

Gum disease causes lesions to develop between the gums and teeth and places other areas of the body at risk.

Kantarci added: "The mouth is part of the body and if you don't take care of oral inflammation and infection, you cannot really prevent systemic diseases, like Alzheimer's, in a reproducible way."