The Wellness Journal · Blog

Author: Dr Briffa

Blog posts from the drbriffa.com archive — same writing, same categories, on the same domain.

Archive

Author: Dr Briffa

Newspaper takes money from food company to promote cholesterol-reducing food via journalist who doesn’t seem to exist Cholesterol and Statins

Newspaper takes money from food company to promote cholesterol-reducing food via journalist who doesn’t seem to exist

Have you heard the adage ‘don’t believe what you read’? In the area of health I believe this is generally good advice. Trawling through newspapers has convinced me that much of what is written about how best to manage our health is based more on science fiction rather than fact. I believe this applies as […]

July 18, 2011· 3 min read
Podcast – 15th July 2011 Podcasts

Podcast – 15th July 2011

Conventional dietary advice on fat is just plain wrong, obesity charity allegedly takes money secretly from Coco Cola, and why do doctors sometimes ignore scientific evidence? For RSS feeds, click on http://www.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/8966 and then the ‘RSS feeds’ button to the right. For help regarding the playing, downloading and subscribing of the podcasts, click here.

July 15, 2011· 1 min read
Obesity charity allegedly secretly takes money to promote artificial sweeteners Food and Medical Politics

Obesity charity allegedly secretly takes money to promote artificial sweeteners

The National Obesity Forum is a charity dedicated, it claims, to raising awareness about the hazards of obesity and produce guidelines regarding its management. When one hears the name ‘National Obesity Forum’ and learns it was started by health professionals, it’s natural to imagine that this organisation is an independent body with genuine concerns about […]

July 14, 2011· 5 min read
Why do doctors sometimes ignore medical evidence? Food and Medical Politics

Why do doctors sometimes ignore medical evidence?

We doctors like to think (or at least claim) that the treatments we recommend and give to our patients are ‘evidence-based’. I’ve lost count of the number of doctors I’ve spoken to who have bandied around this term as a justification for how they treat their patients. That’s all fine, but of course just saying […]

July 12, 2011· 4 min read
Massive review shows conventional advice to reduce or change fat intake does not prevent disease or save lives Food and Medical Politics

Massive review shows conventional advice to reduce or change fat intake does not prevent disease or save lives

If you have any interest in health at all, you’ll be familiar with the concept of altering fat intake to reduce risk of disease and premature death. One central theme here is that certain types of fat (e.g. saturated fat) increases risk of ‘cardiovascular’ diseases such as heart disease and stroke, while others (e.g. polyunsaturated […]

July 12, 2011· 4 min read
Podcast – 8th July 2011 Brain and Behaviour

Podcast – 8th July 2011

Dehydration messes up brain function, high cholesterol associated with reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease, and what Britain’s number 1 tennis player has to learn about nutrition from the World’s number 1. For RSS feeds, click on http://www.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/8966 and then the ‘RSS feeds’ button to the right. For help regarding the playing, downloading and […]

July 8, 2011· 1 min read
Dehydration really can disrupt brain function Healthy Eating

Dehydration really can disrupt brain function

I often advise individuals to avoid dehydration at least in part because I’ve noticed how it can provoke lethargy, particularly mental lethargy. There is some evidence which supports this observation, in the form of studies in which individuals have been made dehydrated through exercise, sometimes in heat. Such studies have generally found brain function is […]

July 8, 2011· 3 min read
Higher cholesterol levels associated with lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease in Japan Cholesterol and Statins

Higher cholesterol levels associated with lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease in Japan

We’re constantly reminded that having a ‘raised’ cholesterol level puts us in mortal danger of cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease and stroke. Several times I have covered evidence which strongly suggests that cholesterol is not the killer it’s made out to be. One major line of evidence here is the fact that reducing cholesterol […]

July 8, 2011· 5 min read
Podcast – 1st July 2011 Food and Medical Politics

Podcast – 1st July 2011

Low-carb beats low fat for loss of toxic ‘visceral’ fat, ezetimibe trial that tells us nothing about ezetimibe, I made low-carb pizza (by mistake). For RSS feeds, click on http://www.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/8966 and then the ‘RSS feeds’ button to the right. For help regarding the playing, downloading and subscribing of the podcasts, click here.

July 1, 2011· 1 min read