Daily Archives: June 18, 2012

Rosie Joining the Cast of Mad Max

People say looks don’t get you everywhere, but in this case that statement is false. Somehow, someone somewhere was given permission to cast Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in the new Mad Max movie. Given her horrific performance in Transformers, I can only assume that it’s her looks that got her that part because it cannot have been based on her acting abilities, well, lack of. She’s supposedly playing one of the wives so her part should be relatively small (fingers crossed), come on though, how can you put her in the same film as Oscar winner Charlize Theron? Someone needs to be cut from that casting team pronto. Stick to the modelling Rosie, I don’t want any more films I’m excited about to become tainted with bad acting.

Sugar makes you look older

New research has recently confirmed what others have thought for a long time – sugar ages you.

The research, carried out by scientists from Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands and Unilever in the UK measured the blood sugar levels of 600 men and women aged between 50 and 70 and compared this to their perceived ages.

They showed images of the study participants to a panel of 60 independent assessors who were asked to judge their age. It was seen that, even when other factors such as smoking were taken into account, the higher the person’s blood sugar levels the older they looked.

On average it was seen that for every 1mm/liter increase in blood sugar levels there was an increase in the perceived age of the person by five months.

Whilst this appears to be bad news for all of us who ‘suffer’ from a sweet tooth, there is a silver lining. Scientists from Finland have found that a natural sugar alternative appears to have exactly the opposite effect on our skin than sugar.

Xylitol, which is made from birch wood, may look, taste and feel just like sugar, but Finnish researchers have found that short-term (three month) supplementation with xylitol can increase skin collagen synthesis, and as collagen is thought to help skin keeps its shape and prevent wrinkles, this could have a positive effect on the aging of skin. They also found that xylitol reduced the glycation of collagen (the binding of glucose molecules to collagen which prevent it doing its job and the mechanism through which sugar is thought to age skin).

So the message is simple, for younger looking skin you may have to cut out sugar, but if you replace it with xylitol (available in stores under the brand name Total Sweet) you can still enjoy youthful looks and sweet foods.

New Images From The Host

We may have been enjoying one series of Stephenie Meyer’s novels adapted for the big screen but in 2013 we will also be treated to The Host.

Yes it seems like Hollywood can’t get enough of the writer’s work and Andrew Niccol has adapted the novel as well as directed the movie.

Saoirse Ronan is set to take on the central role of Melanie Stryder while Diane Kruger, William Hurt, Boyd Holbrook, Jake Abel and Max Iron are all also on board.

The Host is a riveting story about the survival of love and the human spirit in a time of war. Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy.

Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact. Most of humanity has succumbed. When Melanie (Saoirse Ronan), one of the few remaining “wild” humans, is captured, she is certain it is her end.

Wanderer, the invading “soul” who has been given Melanie’s body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too-vivid memories.

But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn’t expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.

The Host is released 29th March 2013.

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