Nutrients and Supplements
I was giving a talk last week to a group that was exclusively female (well, apart from the ‘sound man’). In addition to talking about some general nutritional principles designed to enhance health and energy, I thought I’d talk about some things that tend affect women more than men. Naturally, it occurred to me to […]
Food and Medical Politics
It’s almost a year to the day that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the planet was in the throes of an influenza ‘pandemic’. The advice was delivered by Dr Margaret Chan, the director general of the WHO. Her announcement triggered large-scale ‘panic-buying’ of flu vaccines and anti-viral drugs such as oseltamivir (Tamiflu) and […]
Cholesterol and Statins
A study published last week in the British Medical Journal has linked irregular toothbrushing with an increased risk of heart disease: individuals who rarely or never brushed their teeth were found to be at a 70 per cent increased risk of ‘cardiovascular events’ (e.g. heart attacks and strokes) compared to regular brushers [1]. Why? Well, […]
Uncategorized
Crohn’s disease is what is known as an ‘inflammatory bowel disorder’ (the other major inflammatory bowel disorder is ulcerative colitis). The inflammation in Crohn’s can affect any part of the gut (from the lips to the anus), and common symptoms include abdominal pain, bloating and diarrhoea which can be bloody. The conventional approach to this […]
Brain and Behaviour
My girlfriend and I have had a guest staying this week. He is Swiss and is in London for an exam which has something to do with international tax law (it’s all a bit above my head, I’m afraid). Last night the three of us were eating together – our last supper before our guest […]
Brain and Behaviour
While I am fan of certain aspects of orthodox medicine, I think overall it’s less effective and more hazardous than we generally imagine. As I wrote recently here, there is some thought that less medicine can result in improved outcomes. There is certainly some evidence that less can be more, where conventional medical care is […]
Exercise and Activity
Despite repeated calls for us to be more active in order to counter rising rates of overweight and obesity, the evidence suggests that activity has, generally speaking, very modest effects on body weight. I wrote quite recently about this here and here. Generally, two main reasons for why exercise does not promote significant weight loss […]
Brain and Behaviour
The body is mainly water, and I believe maintaining hydration is an important component of optimal health. I wrote most recently about this back in February (see here). This blog piece details some of the major roles that water has in the body (e.g. as a temperature regulator, carrier and building material). In practice, I […]
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a condition characterised by multiples cysts in the ovaries, but also other symptoms such as hirsutism (abnormal hairiness) and acne that may result from higher than normal levels of androgens (‘male’ hormones) in the female body. I wrote about this condition back in 2003 (see here), where I made the […]
Food and Medical Politics
There was a nice piece in The Times here in the UK on Saturday about my latest book Waist Disposal (see here). This piece, and a small piece that ran in another publication did seem to have some impact: Waist Disposal ended up rocketing up the amazon.co.uk ranking and spent a couple of days in […]