Author: Dr Briffa

Specific conditions

Just because someone doesn’t have coeliac disease, doesn’t mean they don’t have a problem with gluten

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), sometimes referred to a ‘functional bowl disorder’ (FBD) is characterised by symptoms such as abdominal bloating and discomfort, and constipation and/or diarrhoea. Its cause is often said to be unknown. However, in practice I find two approaches to be generally effective in combating the symptoms of IBS. These are: 1. Identification […]

July 28, 2009· 4 min read

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Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome

Does the Atkins diet cause heart disease?

I’m an advocate of diets relatively rich in protein and low in carbohydrate. Not uncommonly when I addressing an audience regarding this, someone will ask me about the Atkins’ diet and my opinion of it. Digging a bit it usually turns out that the individual is thinking that I’m advocating an Atkins-like diet, and we […]

July 24, 2009· 4 min read

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Brain and Behaviour

High glycaemic load diet associated with increased risk of depressive symptoms

On Monday my blog focused on the just one of the hazards associated with eating a high-carbohydrate diet, namely changes in markers of cardiovascular disease risk that would signal an increase in the likelihood of developing this condition. Other evidence exists which links diets of high glycaemic index (GI) and glycaemic load (GL) and an […]

July 22, 2009· 3 min read

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Healthy Eating

Study demonstrates health hazards associated with a low-fat, high carbohydrate diet

For about 30 years we’ve had our Governments, health agencies, doctors and dieticians urging us to eat less fat and more carbohydrate. Yet, we now know that many of the fats in the diet, including saturated fat, appear harmless as worst. Some, including the omega-3 fats found in oily fish, look positively beneficial. And on […]

July 20, 2009· 3 min read

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Healthy Eating

Indigestion drugs can cause the symptoms they are designed to treat

There’s an interesting editorial in the BMJ today about the treatment of chronic (long-term) heartburn/reflux (gastro-oesophageal reflux disease) [1]. The piece makes the point that surgery has some merit here, are starting with a relatively lukewarm appraisal of the usual medical management of this condition. The mainstay drugs here are the ‘proton pump inhibitors’ which […]

July 17, 2009· 7 min read

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Food and Medical Politics

My vitamin D results are in…

Over the last couple of years or so I have developed quite an interest in vitamin D. It seems like a week doesn’t go by when some study or other has unearthed a potential new benefit for this substance, or some research turns up results that strengthen and support previous work. The evidence as it […]

July 16, 2009· 4 min read

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Healthy Eating

High carb diets again linked to increased risk of breast cancer

Previously on this site (for example see here) I have written about the role that certain carbohydrate foods appear to have in the development of breast cancer. Foods that are disruptive to blood sugar (high glycaemic index) foods have been implicated here. Also when high GI foods are eaten in quantity, they tend to have […]

July 13, 2009· 3 min read

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Food and Medical Politics

More evidence that the ‘overweight’ are at the lowest risk of death

The standard way of assessing weight as it relates to health is the body mass index (BMI) – calculated by dividing an individual’s weight in kilograms by the square of their height in metres. According to conventional wisdom, a BMI of 18.5 ” 24.9 is to be regarded as ‘healthy’, while BMIs of 25.0-29.9 are […]

July 10, 2009· 4 min read

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Specific conditions

Lower vitamin D levels linked to higher risk of death

Here in the UK, until very recently, we’ve had something of a heat-wave. The sun has been shining brightly on most days and this is good news for me, as I’ve been able to take advantage of the opportunity to boost my vitamin D levels. Why is this important? Because higher vitamin D levels are […]

July 8, 2009· 4 min read

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Healthy Eating

Lower GI diets found to boost levels of appetite-sating hormone

There are a number of ways of tackling excess weight, one of which is to eat less. What is important here is that food intake is cut without inducing much in the way of hunger. Why? Because for most of us, hunger is not something we will wilfully put up with in the long term. […]

July 6, 2009· 3 min read

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