Sports drinks are good for you, truth or myth?

Sports drinks such as Lucozade, Powerade and Gatorade that claim to increase energy levels and to help you exercise better have been called into question by researchers from Oxford and Harvard Universities.

They warn that rather than being beneficial to our health, such drinks contain large amounts of sugar and calories which encourage weight gain. They also go on to accuse these companies of convincing gym-goers that they are on the verge of dehydration, and that the human thirst mechanism is not a reliable indicator for detecting and responding to dehydration.

The sports drinks market rose 10% in Britain last year to £1 billion and it is little wonder because such marketing giants as Coca-Cola, GlaxoSmithKline and Pepsico are behind these products.

This has seen them using athletes and footballers such as Wayne Rooney, Alan Shearer and Daley Thompson to endorse their products. On top of this an investigation by the British Medical Journal has found that these companies use sponsored scientists who have gone on to develop a whole area of science dedicated to hydration. These same scientists advise influential sports medicine organisations.

The advice from these organisations has filtered down to everyday health advice and has spread fear about the dangers of dehydration. The researchers warned that despite such claims there is a worrying lack of evidence to support most of these claims.

A spokesman for GlaxoSmithKline, the makers of Lucozade, said: “more than 40 years of research and 85 peer reviewed studies have supported the development of Lucozade sport and all our claims are based on scientific evidence that has been reviewed by the European Food Safety Authority”.

Likewise Coca-Cola, who makes Powerade, said sports drinks have a wealth of scientific research that can be relied on.

Actor Simon Pegg shows off thicker barnet and thinner face

The British actor Simon Pegg has made appearances at several premieres this week, promoting the fourth installment in the Mission Impossible films. The star who has appeared in many notable films such as Run, Fat Boy, Run, and Hot Fuzz, is clearly now a major player in Hollywood, starring alongside Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.

However, it seems the “Hollywood effect” has taken over the highly popular Brit as he is now much slimmer in the face and his once receding and thinning hair appears to have been replaced by a much more fuller head of hair. This follows the comedian Ricky Gervais, who famously posed in a tiny pair of gold shorts prior to him hosting the Golden Globes back in January, showing off the incredible 22lbs he had lost during 2010 from his previous portly frame. Gervais too seemed to shrink simultaneously to his career taking off across the Atlantic.

Pegg’s hair transplant follows X-Factor judge Louis Walsh recently admitting in an interview that he had undergone a similar procedure which set him back roughly £30,000 after jibes from boss Simon Cowell, ‘He came up to me and said: “You know, you’re starting to lose your hair. I said, “I am not! And anyway, you’re going grey!”

‘I could have just left it and got on with things, but with TV today, everything is in high definition, and people notice every little thing’. Even Manchester United striker and footballing superstar Wayne Rooney earlier this year announced the news of his hair transplant after an expensive trip to a Harley Street clinic, tweeting his followers on social networking site Twitter – ‘I was going bald at 25, why not? I’m delighted with the result’.

However if you are you are not feeling flush enough to warrant paying 30k for a hair transplant you could try Propecia instead.

Was Wayne Rooney’s hair transplant worth the bother?

Evidence suggests that a higher number of young males than ever are requesting follicular unit extraction (FUE), a technique in which a small round punch is used to extract units of hair follicles from an area of dense hair growth to an area of thinning hair. Each unit contains between one and four hairs.

According to truck driver Paul Hawkins, 41 from Grays, Essex – it is worth it. The married father of three underwent a similar procedure to Rooney’s and even remortgaged his house to pay for the three separate operations he underwent, which cost Mr Hawkins £6,000 for each. However, he does warn that Rooney’s probable current elation at his full head of hair, may be replaced by disappointment in the coming weeks.

“The difference straight after the procedure is very noticeable – you can see the little hairs sticking out. But within a couple of weeks they all fall out and you don’t see any more for four months. The hair actually dies and re-grows like baby hair. It takes a year, sometimes 18 months, before it’s fully matured and you see the hair you’ll end up with. It’s such a slow process but definitely worth it in the end.”

Paul started losing his hair at the early age of 17 and had lost half of his hair by the time of his late teens. “One morning I was watching TV and Shaun Williamson, who played Barry in EastEnders, was talking about his own hair transplant. I was really impressed and decided to use the same expert as him – Dr Farjo.” He further added “I had to have it done in three separate procedures. I had the second two years later. And next week I am having the final one. It’s fantastic that someone like Rooney has come out and said he’s had it done”.

Dr Bessam Farjo, the Medical Director at the Institute of Trichologists, has noted a large increase regarding enquires about FUE, from parent’s of boys as young as 16 years old. However, he has warned against having the procedure at such a young age. 

I prefer to operate on someone who is 30 or over and I’d certainly avoid anybody who’s 25 or younger. There are two main reasons. The first is the younger you are, the higher your expectations – you don’t have the maturity to look into the future and think you need to look good when you’re 40 and 50.

The second is that younger men with a strong family history of hair loss are likely to lose a lot more hair, which makes their hair loss much more unpredictable. With younger guys we encourage them to concentrate first on controlling their hair loss by using medication. Low level light therapy may slow down hair loss. There’s also Regaine, an over the counter lotion or foam, which you apply to balding areas.”

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney confirms hair transplant

Follically challenged football superstar Wayne Rooney has joined the growing list of celebrities to undergo a hair transplant operation. After being mercilessly ribbed by his team mates for his Hair loss, he took to Twitter over the weekend to reveal the news. “’Just to confirm to all my followers I have had a hair transplant. I was going bald at 25 why not. I’m delighted with the result”.



Other celebrities to have undergone a hair transplant include actor James Nesbitt, Chef Gordon Ramsey, and Dancing On Ice judge Jason Gardiner.  Rooney later revealed more to his 740,000 Twitter followers, commenting “It’s still a bit bruised and swollen when it dies down u will be first to see it. Anyone recommend any good hair gel. Haha” and “’I had it done in Harley street hair clinic London. Thanks to all the staff who looked after me.”

Not only is the procedure a painful process, as evident in Rooney’s post on the social networking site, but it is a very expensive one too. Dr Maurice Collins, of the Hair Restoration Blackrock clinic outside of Dublin, is the surgeon who performed the two operations on actor James Nesbitt.  Dr Collins charges a staggering £7.60 for each hair follicle he transplants. Therefore the procedure would cost a minimum £7,000 as the average patient would probably require between 1,000 and 4,500 follicles to be transplanted. It is rumoured that fiery Chef Gordon Ramsey, paid £30,000 for his treatment at the Alvi Armani Centre in Beverly Hills.

Dr Collins explains the process – “The hair at the back of your head is immune to the balding process, there’s always a “horseshoe”. We take little strips of skin from there, meticulously dissect each hair follicle and transplant them one by one, using microscopes. I’m pleased to say 98 per cent of the transplanted hairs go on to thrive”

Basically, a patient does not get any “extra hair”. The hair gets transported from an area it won’t be missed to an area that requires it. Usually there are a team of approximately 18 people working on a transplant, which can take roughly eight hours to perform. The technicians, nurses and surgeon need to ensure the hair is kept alive when it is deprived of oxygen outside the body, and it is vital the hair is back inside the patient’s head as quickly as possible.
Professor Andrew Messenger, a consultant dermatologist at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield and president of the Institute Of Trichologists, clearly backs the procedure – “With a good surgeon, transplants work very well,’ he says. So long as the patient ‘has got good hair density at the back of the scalp — and quite a lot of money’.