AND the quest for the holy grail that is slimness continues. Now it appears that if you're a meat eater who wants to be svelte, your greatest chance of doing so is by switching to a vegetarian diet. When scientists for Cancer Research UK tracked the weight gains of 22,000 meat and fish eaters, vegetarians and vegans over a five-year period, it was revealed that on average, people gained two kilos but those who'd swapped the meat for a veggie diet gained less.

Professor Tim Key of Cancer Research UK said: "Contrary to the current popular views that a diet low in carbohydrates and high in proteins keeps weight down, we found that the lowest weight-gain came in people with high intake of carbohydrate and low intake of protein."

Old age gets older

IT'S now thought that modern medicine is going to allow us to live to an unprecedented age, and well beyond the current upper limit, which is 120 years. A group of scientist who met recently at Oxford University believe that life expectancy is going to grow significantly and that there is no innate limit on longevity, as was previously thought. One study shows that the life span of rats could be extended by 40% just by limited calorie consumption. For humans, this would mean that average life expectancy would rise from 80 to 112 years, and beyond. The group called for greater investment into the biology of ageing and said that current policies for extended life expectancy will be proven inadequate.

Feet first

PEOPLE who visit the doctor complaining of a painful heel should get their cholesterol levels checked. Researchers in the UK say a painful Achilles tendon could be indicative of an inherited tendency to have high cholesterol. The team at the Manchester Royal Infirmary said that wider recognition of the link between Achilles tendon pain and so-called 'heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia' . . .or HeFH . . . could lead to earlier diagnosis of this disorder, which leads to heart disease if untreated. High cholesterol is is deposited in arteries but also at certain sites in tendons, which leads to painful Achilles heel. Principal investigator Dr Paul N Durrington said that patients with HeFH frequently seek medical advice about Achilles inflammation many years before they are found to have raised cholesterol.