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0:04

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0:06

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0:08

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0:10

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0:13

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0:15

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0:32

7 or 2? The naked scientist.

0:35

Dr. Chris, good to be

0:37

with you this morning. Good morning.

0:39

How are you? Yeah, I'm very,

0:41

very well. We're going to stick

0:43

with the cannabis theme just

0:46

for a second. Solly asking

0:48

a very, very interesting question,

0:50

which is, hi S. Jason,

0:53

that you're talking about cannabis.

0:55

Can you ask, Dr. Chris,

0:57

why edibles seem to hit

0:59

so much harder? a

1:13

little something in a marijuana cigarette,

1:15

Dr. Chris? Well, the first thing I

1:17

can say is I don't know that

1:19

that is true. I've not seen anyone

1:21

do a clinical trial where they've compared

1:23

that. That doesn't mean it's not true.

1:25

Let's assume, though, for the purposes of

1:27

answering this question, it might be true.

1:29

Well, why might it be true? Well,

1:31

if any drug has an effect... the

1:33

reason any drug has an effect is

1:35

because of the dose of that drug,

1:37

how much of it gets into your

1:39

system and gets onto the parts of

1:41

the body that it needs to hit

1:43

in order to produce the effect. So

1:46

if someone's saying this produces a

1:48

much greater effect, then the chemical

1:50

that's making the effect happen must

1:52

be reaching the parts of the

1:54

nervous system in greater amounts

1:57

at a faster rate via one route

1:59

than the other route. Smoke something, usually

2:01

this is a very efficient way of

2:03

getting drugs into the body. If you

2:05

inhale things like general anesthetic agents, the

2:07

reason we maintain general anesthesia in an

2:10

operating theatre with an inhalable is because

2:12

it's a really good way of getting

2:14

gases into your bloodstream. That's how oxygen

2:16

gets in, that's how we stay alive.

2:18

Your lungs are built to push things

2:21

from the air into your bloodstream, so

2:23

inhaling stuff is usually an extremely efficient

2:25

way to deliver drugs into the body.

2:27

Eating things does usually take usually take

2:29

longer. and the reason it takes longer

2:31

is because it's got to be eaten,

2:34

it's got to go through the stomach,

2:36

which doesn't absorb anything, it just breaks

2:38

stuff up, then it's got to leave

2:40

the stomach, get into the small intestine,

2:42

get across the wall of the small

2:44

intestine, get through the liver, which breaks

2:47

stuff down that shouldn't be there, and

2:49

then into the bloodstream, and then into

2:51

the target part of the body. So

2:53

if it does produce a more profound

2:55

effect, that would argue then that perhaps

2:58

people are not doing a like-for-for-like-for-for-like comparison.

3:00

than they're smoking. And that would mean

3:02

perhaps that they're just basically not smoking

3:04

enough to produce the same effect that

3:06

they would if they were eating it.

3:08

and that would account for the disparity

3:11

but as I say I don't know

3:13

that's the case and I wouldn't advocate

3:15

anyone goes anywhere near cannabis to be

3:17

perfectly honest with you. I have seen

3:19

so many people who end up in

3:22

trouble because of it and it has

3:24

a benign reputation that's ill-deserved and it

3:26

is a harmful agent and it is

3:28

a gateway to other people going down

3:30

other paths that perhaps they shouldn't. Now

3:32

this is personal choice, this is not

3:35

me moralising, this is just me saying

3:37

there are... outcomes I've seen in patients

3:39

that are not good ones and they

3:41

disclose various forms of mental illness and

3:43

they accelerate various forms and exaggerate various

3:45

forms of mental illness and they can

3:48

lead people down a path which is

3:50

very destructive for their life and if

3:52

a person can if at all possible

3:54

not to go near this stuff they're

3:56

much better off for it honestly. Thanks

3:59

for that Dr. Kristen. Thanks very much

4:01

indeed for the question. Zickey is on

4:03

the line now from Blob with a

4:05

question for Dr. Chris. Morning, Zooki. Hi,

4:07

I say, hi, Dr. Chris. Okay, so

4:09

I love my sparkling water, right? And

4:12

I've noticed that there's variations of different

4:14

brands in terms of the size of

4:16

the bubbles and also the intensity on

4:18

your tongue. So I want to know

4:20

what determines that. And also, is there

4:22

a way to prolong this as long

4:25

as possible? I love that, Zooki. Yeah,

4:27

I mean, you're absolutely right. are carbon

4:29

dioxide which is dissolved in the liquid

4:31

but when they come out of the

4:33

liquid and form a bubble the bubbles

4:36

do vary in size and when they

4:38

get into your mouth the reason we

4:40

like that is because the when the

4:42

fizzy drink hits our mouth It's not

4:44

the bubbles that have already formed, it's

4:46

the bubbles still in the drink yet

4:49

to form that produce the sensation because

4:51

what they're doing is hitting rough patches

4:53

all around your mouth, on your teeth,

4:55

on your tongue, on your lips, and

4:57

the rough patches form what we call

4:59

a nucleation site. This is a rough

5:02

surface or a small discontinuity in a

5:04

surface where bubbles find it far easier

5:06

to form because the surface tension, the

5:08

stickiness of the water around them makes

5:10

it hard for bubbles to form. If

5:13

there is an area that's... an irregularity,

5:15

it disturbs the normal structure and fabric

5:17

of the fluid, the water, and makes

5:19

a bubble's existence there easier. And so

5:21

that's why when you put the stuff

5:23

into your mouth, you get this explosion

5:26

of sensation because the bubbles form and

5:28

then they pop and that is producing

5:30

stimulation into your nervous system. which augments

5:32

our taste experience. And we know that

5:34

foods that have that additional function do

5:37

tend to taste more exciting to us.

5:39

Curry, for example, we are excited by

5:41

the flavor of curry because the spices

5:43

and things make it taste very nice,

5:45

but the spiciness, the extra, the pain

5:47

or the burning sensation, that is not

5:50

a taste. That is a stimulation to

5:52

your sensory nervous system in the same

5:54

way that the dizziness in the drinks

5:56

is. That's why we like it. Now

5:58

the bubbles will therefore mainly be produced

6:00

in your mouth and therefore the size

6:03

of those, it's really going to come

6:05

down to how much gas is dissolved

6:07

in the liquid. So not relevant what's

6:09

happening in the glass. If the glass

6:11

has got a rough surface, it's going

6:14

to look fizzier than if it's got

6:16

a smooth surface. A very fizzy drink

6:18

won't produce many bubbles in a really

6:20

smooth glass. for exactly this reason. So

6:22

really it comes down to how much

6:24

gas did the manufacturer put into the

6:27

drink in the first place. To get

6:29

the gas in they push CO2 through

6:31

the liquid at really high pressure and

6:33

this forces the gas molecules to dissolve

6:35

in between the water molecules. And when

6:37

you take the lid off you remove

6:40

the pressure and some gas starts to

6:42

come out but again it's when you

6:44

put it in your mouth. that's when

6:46

you get most of the rush because

6:48

that's when it sees the rough surface

6:51

that can get the gas out. So

6:53

the fizzier it is because the more

6:55

CO2 there is dissolved in there the

6:57

different and more intense that burst of

6:59

bubbles will be in your mouth. That

7:01

is a really great question Zucky. Thank

7:04

you very much indeed from that. But

7:06

on that Dr Chris we're always told

7:08

you know you must be drinking your

7:10

eight glasses of water a day but

7:12

does that... Can that include carbonated water?

7:14

And if not, why not? Well, it

7:17

can. I mean, liquids are liquids. The

7:19

average person, there's no prescribed amount that

7:21

you should drink, apart from to say

7:23

you should replace what you're losing. Humans

7:25

are exceptionally good at maintaining the right

7:28

amount of water in their body and

7:30

maintaining our body temperature appropriately. We only

7:32

need a couple of litres of water

7:34

per day. And that's to replace what

7:36

we call insensible losses. What are those?

7:38

They're liquid that you can't avoid throwing

7:41

away. You have to throw away half

7:43

a litre or so of water from

7:45

your kidneys to get rid of the

7:47

extra salts and waste from the body.

7:49

You lose about the same amount from

7:52

the other part of your excretion system.

7:54

What goes down the loo number two?

7:56

You have to lose some digestive water

7:58

that way. You have to breathe. So

8:00

you lose a half a litre or

8:02

so of water. in an average climate

8:05

from breathing because of the dampness and

8:07

moisture imparted when you breathe in and

8:09

out. You lose about another half a

8:11

litre or so from sweating and just

8:13

loss of water from the wet surfaces

8:15

on your body. So we all have

8:18

insensible losses we have to replace, but

8:20

there's no prescribed amount beyond that that's

8:22

healthier to drink unless you have some

8:24

predefined metabolic syndrome. Now whether you get

8:26

that water as... just still water, as

8:29

fizzy water, as fizzy water, cups of

8:31

tea, cups of coffee, that doesn't matter.

8:33

As long as that is the volume

8:35

of water that's going in to replace

8:37

the amount of water your body is

8:39

obligatorily having to throw away or lose,

8:41

you will be absolutely fine. Be cautious

8:43

though because fizzy water does contain a

8:45

lot of CO2. When this goes down

8:47

into your stomach it will produce even

8:49

more gas down there and there will

8:51

be consequences. It's also acidic because

8:53

the dissolving of CO2 in the water... does

8:55

produce an acid, carbonic acid and if you're

8:58

putting a lot of that in your mouth

9:00

it will have an effect on your teeth

9:02

in the long term. Not as much as

9:04

eating loads of apples for example which are

9:06

extremely acidic and not as much as drinking

9:09

Coca-Cola or things like that which are also

9:11

extremely acidic but it is acidic and it

9:13

will have an erosive effect on your teeth

9:15

if you do it a lot. Be

9:17

warned. I remember a biology

9:19

teacher of mine, Mr. Westerby,

9:22

once saying, if you've got

9:24

a little sibling, we were

9:26

sort of in our teams,

9:28

if you've got a sibling

9:30

in there, a little sibling

9:32

in there, tooth falls out,

9:34

put it in a glass

9:36

of coke overnight and when

9:38

you go and get it

9:40

the next morning it will be

9:42

gone. I don't know how much truth

9:45

there is to that. or truth.

9:47

No, I mean, I've never done the

9:49

experiment, but it's, although it

9:51

might be a bit hyperbolic

9:53

to say that, it's certainly

9:55

true that the pH, how

9:57

acidic, these fizzy drinks are,

10:00

is not to be exaggerated. And it's

10:02

not just Coca-Cola. There are many, many

10:04

brands of fizzy drinks. It's not just

10:06

that brand. There are many, many drinks

10:08

of fizzy drinks that have a very

10:10

low pH because of what they put

10:12

in them to give them the flavor

10:15

profile. There are lots of phosphoric acids

10:17

and things like that in there. And

10:19

they are... about the same as stomach

10:21

acid to be perfectly honest with you

10:23

in terms of how acidic they are.

10:25

Some people say they are quite effective

10:27

paint strippers. I've never tried that for

10:30

myself. Maybe someone would like to do

10:32

the experiment and report back. But yes

10:34

they are very low pH and if

10:36

you if you drink a lot of

10:38

them it's not just the sugar that

10:40

would do in your teeth that will

10:43

too because that will feed bacteria that

10:45

will feed bacteria that will feed bacteria

10:47

that will also make even more acid

10:49

in your mouth. into acid and the

10:51

acid attacks your teeth. Well some of

10:53

these drinks are so acidic they're doing

10:55

that directly so there's a double whammy

10:58

for your teeth and this is why

11:00

they're bad. Okay let's add sugar and

11:02

cannabis to the list of things we

11:04

ought to be doing. Michelle is on

11:06

the line, morning Michelle what's your question

11:08

for Dr Chris? Good morning, good morning

11:11

thank you for this informative program. Well

11:13

I'm subject of kind of dissolving advice.

11:15

sort of the layman's medical advice to

11:17

put elemental magnesium tablets into water and

11:19

I think my understanding was that it's

11:21

going to create hydrogen water I'm not

11:23

sorry I like an explanation and also

11:26

whether that's good and then I know

11:28

it's not elemental but if some salts

11:30

is I think magnesium sulfate if one

11:32

can't get hold of the proper poles

11:34

put it that way can one use

11:36

that as an alternative would it be

11:38

as effective? And thank you so much

11:41

for answering this question. Thanks, Michelle. Okay,

11:43

great. Dr. Chris, over to you. The

11:45

lime broke up a little tiny bit,

11:47

but I got the gist, and you

11:49

should be very careful about this, because

11:51

there's an enormous amount of quackery out

11:54

there. Magnesium sulfate, otherwise known as Epsom

11:56

salts, is a very effective laxative, because

11:58

it has an... motic effect it goes

12:00

into your big bowel and it pulls

12:02

water out of you and out of

12:04

you and into the lumen the lining

12:06

of your gut and will accelerate the

12:09

process in that department. So be very

12:11

cautious what you do with that stuff,

12:13

it will see you off to the

12:15

loo if you're not careful. And again,

12:17

just be very careful about eating stuff

12:19

just because it sounds scientific. The advertising

12:22

agency know this very well and the

12:24

hair and beauty products industry is absolutely

12:26

replete with bullshit. full of all this

12:28

kind of stuff, loads and loads of

12:30

medical and pseudo-scientific terms to make it

12:32

sound sexy and seduce us into thinking

12:34

it must have all these amazing effects.

12:37

Really, we've been on this planet as

12:39

human beings for millions of years or

12:41

our ancestors haven't turned into us and

12:43

we have evolved over that time to

12:45

do very well and very nicely thank

12:47

you by just... living on the things

12:49

that are around for us to eat.

12:52

We've evolved to do very well with

12:54

food. This is what food is for.

12:56

So most people will do very well

12:58

and do not need any other supplements.

13:00

It's just a way of turning your

13:02

wallet contents into expensive urine. Do not

13:05

spend money on supplements and all that

13:07

kind of thing. They do not help

13:09

you. unless you have a predefined or

13:11

diagnosed deficiency, in which case they can

13:13

be extremely beneficial. But for the average

13:15

person eating a good diet who's otherwise

13:17

in good health, you will do very

13:20

well thank you and even better in

13:22

fact, if you avoid these things and

13:24

spend the money on extra fruit and

13:26

vegetables and eat a good diet that

13:28

way. Okay, that's a great, and on

13:30

that, we seem to be, a lot

13:32

of our questions are focused with things

13:35

that we are consuming and the next

13:37

question is no different. And folks, you've

13:39

still got a few minutes if you

13:41

want to get a question in for

13:43

Dr. Chris who's with us that the

13:45

naked scientist put your questions to him

13:48

this morning. Somebody asking, why do we

13:50

crave certain foods and what happens in

13:52

our brains when we eat sugar? Right,

13:54

well there's two slightly different questions there,

13:56

but when we eat sugar, let's deal

13:58

with that first. When you eat sugar,

14:00

this is sensed from the minute you...

14:03

put it in your mouth. The nervous

14:05

system has sweet receptors and we love

14:07

the stuff because the sweet receptors are

14:09

wired up to your brain saying energy

14:11

is coming. The stomach, the small intestine

14:13

also have receptors for this and can

14:16

tell that you've put sweet things in

14:18

because they know there is an instant

14:20

energy reward associated with eating sweet things.

14:22

At the same time though those sweet

14:24

rewards Having triggered the hormone insulin to

14:26

say anticipate there's sugar coming, which helps

14:28

keep your blood glucose under control, signals

14:31

also go into the brain to say

14:33

there's a big energy burden coming, you

14:35

should reign in your appetite a bit

14:37

because now the energy is coming, you

14:39

can stop eating. We know that sweeteners,

14:41

which are not sugar, but taste like

14:43

sugar, can fool this system and they

14:45

can detune that system, making you want

14:47

to eat even more sugar, than you

14:49

should do because they rewire the brain's

14:51

understanding of how sweetness relates to energy

14:53

and they detune it. So the next

14:55

time you have something that's really sugar,

14:57

the brain says, well, last time I

14:59

had something sweet like that, I didn't

15:02

get any energy, so I'm going

15:04

to carry on eating and they

15:06

encourage us to overeat. So sugar

15:08

is wired up in our brain

15:10

to be linked to appetite and

15:12

we anticipate how much energy is

15:14

coming in from how sweet things

15:16

are and we turn our appetite

15:18

down in anticipation of that. At

15:20

the same time the brain is

15:22

effectively counting calories in other ways

15:24

and also counting nutrients. There are

15:26

various chemicals which the brain uses

15:28

to measure when things are in

15:30

short supply or in... overabundance and

15:32

it can affect our behavior and

15:35

our eating behavior accordingly. And women

15:37

when they're pregnant sometimes say they

15:39

get cravings for things. Now one

15:41

argument is that this is because

15:43

the brain knows that the baby

15:45

is the developing baby is exerting

15:48

big metabolic demand on mum and

15:50

using lots of certain micro nutrients. So

15:52

one explanation for this is that mum's

15:54

brain says well I'm running a bit

15:56

low on X, Y or Z and

15:58

it encourages sensations... of Opposits

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19:12

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19:14

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19:17

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19:19

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19:21

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19:23

Why choose a sleep number smartbed? So

19:25

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19:27

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19:30

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