Daily Rounds: Exercise As Brain Fuel; Is Gluten-Free Worthwhile?; Antibiotics May Cause Superbugs

Exercise fuels the brain by activating neurons – The New York Times (Phys Ed blog) "Brain cells seem to take up nutrients faster after running, new research suggests – at least in rats. This may explain how exercise leads to clearer thinking. The process “may be a key mechanism underlying exercise-enhanced cognitive function,” Hideaki Soya, a professor of exercise biochemistry at the University of Tsukuba and senior author of the studies, told the Phys Ed blog."

Gluten-free foods may be a waste of money for some - Boston.com (Daily Dose blog) "Many people who give up regular bread, pasta and other foods to avoid gluten may be wasting their time, according to an opinion paper in the Annals of Internal Medicine. People with celiac disease cannot digest gluten, a protein found in many of these dietary staples, but it's not yet known how many others are truly gluten sensitive, and should stick to a gluten-free diet."

Antibiotics in livestock feed give rise to antibiotic-resistant germs that can threaten humans - NPR.org (The Salt blog) "A new study shows that staph germs passed from people into pigs and – then a much more resistant strain got passed back again. "It's like watching the birth of a superbug," Lance Price of the Translational Genomics Research Institute, in Flagstaff, Ariz. told The Salt."