oh please!...the science behind celebrity issue 1
A Planet Science EXCLUSIVE publication.
july issue contents:
detoxing
TV’s smartest smartypants Lisanne Martin attributes her slim-line look, peachy skin and seemingly boundless energy to her detox diet and drinking loads of water "fasting has never tasted so good!" (available as a DVD for only £15.99). We hope her mystery lunch partner isn’t the type who eats!
There is no scientific evidence that these diets ‘get rid of toxins’ or even any evidence that that we become overloaded with toxins in the first place! Your body is incredibly efficient at removing toxins itself, providing your kidneys and liver are working properly.
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Everyday we are exposed to toxins - pesticides, preservatives, food colouring and exhaust fumes to name just a few. Advocates of detox diets claim that these toxins build up in our bodies but by following a specific "detox diet" you can cleanse your body, leaving you feeling infinitely more healthy, with more energy and a clearer skin.
There are many different detox diets, most of them involve giving up any foods that contain these toxins and drinking lots of water. A lot of them begin with a fast and then gradually reintroduce certain food groups into your diet.
There is no scientific evidence to suggest that these diets get rid of toxins and there is even no scientific evidence to suggest that we are overloaded with toxins in the first place! Your body is incredibly efficient at removing toxins providing your kidneys and your liver are working properly.
The majority of these diets are low in fat, high in fibre and encourage you to drink lots of water - so it is not surprising that you feel more energetic after going on a detox diet. However, this is more likely to be because you are carrying less body weight around and you are fully hydrated rather than because you have got rid of toxins.
For most people going on a detox diet for a few days probably won't do any harm - but if it's any longer than a few days you need to make sure that you're getting all the nutrients and calories you need. Detox diets should be avoided if you are diabetic, suffering from an eating disorder, pregnant, recovering from an illness, underweight or taking part in strenuous exercise. Also remember that before starting any diet you should talk to your GP.
drinking tons of water
After a sweaty workout gulping down ice cold water replaces some of the body fluid you have lost by sweating. But you can drink too much, causing water intoxication.
what is water intoxication?
Water intoxication normally occurs when lost sweat (water and salt) is replaced by ingested water (no salt). This results in a low concentration of sodium (salt) in the blood causing water to flow from the blood into the cells upsetting their osmotic balance. Symptoms are similar to being drunk - disorientation, confusion, slurred speech, nausea and muscle cramps. More severe water intoxication causes an increase in pressure on the brain, which can result in epileptic seizures and even death.
The people most at risk are amateur marathon runners who drink too much water trying to avoid dehydration. Drinking isotonic sport drinks instead can help prevent water intoxication as they contain sodium, which prevents the blood concentration from falling to low.
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touch up
Joanna Edwards has beaten a lot of top models to the job of being the face of L’Airbruché cosmetics and skin care. She says her flawless complexion is due to her skin care routine (L’Airbruché products natch!) but don’t feel too jealous, she admitted that in 2002 she did have a spot on her nose, which meant she couldn’t leave her house for the whole of November!
Next time you look at an image of a celeb or model and you’re impressed look really hard – if you can’t see a single flaw and their face resembles a blank canvass chances are they’ve been ‘touched up’ by a digital expert! Click through to see the real Jo!
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When it comes to celebrities, we love them to behave outrageously but they must look perfect. Even with makeup it can be hard to disguise the effects of a late night party at an early morning photoshoot. The photographer can always retouch the pictures to get rid of any bags under the eyes, wrinkles, or spare inches around the tummy.
Image-conscious celebrities used to have to rely on airbrushing to smooth out imperfections in their photos. An airbrush is a mechanical device that mixes compressed air with paint to deliver a fine spray of paint particles. With skill, patience and careful colour matching, a retoucher paints over parts of the photograph to make the desired changes.
Nowadays a lot of retouching is done digitally on a computer. This is a very powerful technique because the individual pixels that make up the image can be manipulated, making precise alterations. Professional software programs also include lots of shortcuts; for example they can copy skin from one area to another, so it only takes a matter of minutes to remove spots or blotchy skin.
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all about breasts
Rumours abound as top US funny lady Fiona Manning is spotted in London with two new friends!
The tabloids leapt on the photos and in front page stories accused 24 year old Fiona of selling out to get on the front page of the tabloids. But of course Oh Please! knows Fiona better than that – the whole thing was a stunt to publicise her new show!
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What are breasts and why do we have them?
All mammals have mammary glands (breasts). They are merely modified sweat glands that produce milk that they use to feed their young.
Mammary glands do not need to be big to breastfeed – cats, rabbits and chimps have barely more than a nipple. So why do women have quite large breasts in comparison?
Evolutionary scientists once believed that humans' relatively large breasts are a signal that a woman is fertile because they develop during puberty. But other cultures are not so breast obsessed, for example they are not considered erotic in cultures where women bear their chest.
A more recent theory is that our ancestors' breast size increased as the jaw retracted. Our jaws and mouths do no stick out like other primates’, so if we had to breastfeed off a flat chest we could suffocate because our noses would get buried. But with a rounder and larger breast the problem disappears.
Why do breasts grow? Why are there so many different sizes?
When we are born our mammary glands are poorly developed. Boys and girls look the same until puberty when the different hormones that determine our secondary sexual characteristics kick in. Oestrogen and progesterone influence the development of breasts in females. Higher levels of these hormones increase breast size. Genetics and the environment influence these levels so pregnancy, breastfeeding or taking the pill can all have an effect.
Breasts also have layers of fat or adipose tissue so the size can change when you lose or gain weight.
If men are given the hormones oestrogen and progesterone they can develop breasts too! Although they don’t need breasts they have all the structures in place to grow them. All embryos whether male or female develop in the same way for the first 10 – 12 weeks in the womb. It is only after this period that the sex hormones start to circulate and the foetus develops into a boy or a girl. But by that time the tissue that forms the nipples is already there so boys get them too, although they will never be used to deliver milk.
breast augmentation surgery
Breasts and cleavages receive quite a lot of attention: small ‘n’ saggy is considered undesirable so a snip and a nip of a surgeon’s knife is becoming increasingly common. Reducing breast size tends to be done for medical reasons, as large breasts can cause back problems.
Breast implants consist of a silicone rubber shell filled with either silicone gel or sterile saline (salty water). A surgeon will place the implant behind the breast tissue or under the chest muscle through a small incision made under the breast, armpit, around the nipple or even the belly button!
It is possible to breastfeed with implants, as long as the milk ducts and main nerves are not damaged.
saline vs silicone
Silicone implants have a more natural feel but the saline ones are safer. If the implant ruptures or leaks the saline is harmless and the body just absorbs it. It is also easy to spot because the breast deflates. The body cannot absorb leaked silicone and it just sits in the surrounding tissue.
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suntanning
After he was spotted on the fire escape of his production company with the silver foil under his chiselled chin, lottery lovey Max Blackler admitted "I don’t know why I do it…maybe because I was teased at school about being pale and called Max Factor 25, kids can be really cruel can’t they? Ever since then I’ve always been a sun freak! Any opportunity to take a foreign holiday (especially if a TV company is paying for it!) I’ve been out there catching the rays. I just think I look better like this – don’t you?"
UV damages the mechanism for repairing cell damage. This mechanism normally instructs damaged cells to commit suicide, which is why you peel when you get sunburnt. If cells don’t die when they become damaged, further exposure to UV can trigger the cells to lose their normal control mechanisms and go into unregulated growth. In other words, the cells become cancerous. There is no such thing as a safe suntan, unless it’s out of a bottle.
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Ever since Coco Chanel returned from holiday with a golden suntan the summer's most sought after fashion accessory has been the suntan. A suntan generally makes you look a lot healthier since it reduces the appearance of blemishes, dark circles and varicose veins. But is there such a thing as a safe suntan?
Sunlight is made up of three forms of electromagnetic radiation: infrared (heat), visible light and ultraviolet (UV) light. It is exposure UV light that is responsible both for suntans and skin cancer. At sea level we are exposed to two forms UV from the sun – UVA and UVB. Exposure to UVA causes tanning and overexposure to UVB causes sunburn. But exposure to both UVA and UVB is thought to damage the skin and cause skin cancer.
So no, there is no such thing as a safe suntan. The only way of safely getting a golden tan is out of a bottle.
why do you get a suntan?
Long-term exposure to UV light causes the outer layer of skin, the epidermis, to thicken and stimulates pigment producing cells in the skin called melanocytes to produce melanin. Melanin gives skin its colour and absorbs ultraviolet light, preventing it from penetrating deeper into the body. Melanin production doesn't happen quickly and depending on your skin it can take many days of short-periods of exposure to UV light to develop the protective level of melanin better known as a suntan.
how does UV light cause skin cancer?
UV damages the mechanism for repairing cell damage. This mechanism normally instructs damaged cells to commit suicide, which is why you peel when you get sunburnt. If cells don’t die when they become damaged, further exposure to UV can trigger the cells to lose their normal control mechanisms and go into unregulated growth. In other words, the cells become cancerous.
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shades
I was surprised to find how friendly and normal Yasmine was when she scurried, a respectable five minutes late and full of apologies, into the foyer of Scardino’s Hotel in Mayfair. She didn’t even swear when she tripped over the rug by the reception desk. She claimed her Specs-R-Us sunnies were so glamorous that she didn’t mind not being able to see in dimly lit rooms!
However glamorous they make you look, any shades you choose should have an ultraviolet coating which prevents all ultraviolet light from entering and damaging the eye. This is very important because the pupil is generally very dilated, or open, when wearing sunglasses, allowing lots of ultraviolet light to enter if there is not a filter.
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Sunglasses work quite simply by reducing the amount of light that enters the eye. Too much light can give you a headache, damage your eyes and, worst of all, make you screw up you eyes causing wrinkles!
Really effective sunglasses are made of a number of different substances which all perform different jobs. The colour of the lens is important for reducing the amount of visible light entering the eye. Glass of a certain colour will only transmit that colour of light - the rest is absorbed by the material. For example, red glass only transmits red light and absorbs all green and blue light, so the amount of light entering the eye is reduced. The more grey the tint, the more natural the world will look as this type of lens cuts out a small amount of each colour. Brown tints make the world look yellowy brown as they cut out mostly blue light but they also absorb some ultraviolet light.
Sunglasses should also have an ultraviolet coating which prevents all ultraviolet light from entering and damaging the eye. This is very important because the pupil is generally very dilated, or open, when wearing sunglasses allowing lots of ultraviolet light to enter if there is not a filter.
Light is an electromagnetic wave which can vibrate in any direction. But when light hits a surface, such as water, only light vibrating in one direction is reflected, the rest is absorbed. The light becomes polarised and glaring. This glare can make driving difficult, particularly on a sunny day when the road is wet but it is possible to reduce the glare by using a polaroid filter. The polaroid filter stops the reflected, polarised light but unreflected light is unaffected so you can still see where you are going.
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