The Wellness Journal · Blog

Category: Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome

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

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Category: Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome

Exercise shown to produce benefits in the absence of weight loss Children's Health

Exercise shown to produce benefits in the absence of weight loss

Last month one of my blogs focused on the evidence which shows that exercise is, generally speaking, really quite ineffective for the purposes of weight loss. That is not to say that there’s nothing to be said for exercise. It is, for example, linked with a reduced risk of chronic and potentially fatal conditions such […]

September 14, 2009· 2 min read
Why human, not mice, studies are the most appropriate for judging the effects of diet on human health Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome

Why human, not mice, studies are the most appropriate for judging the effects of diet on human health

I’ve said before that while I don’t believe any one diet is ideal for everyone, I favour diets lower in carb and higher in protein (and also fat) than the diets traditionally recommended as ‘healthy’. Such diets generally give better results for weight loss than, say, low fat diets. They also tend to be extremely […]

August 28, 2009· 4 min read
Does the Atkins diet cause heart disease? 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
Why nuts are a great food for diabetics Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome

Why nuts are a great food for diabetics

Conventional wisdom and advice regarding the dietary control of diabetes is that meals should contain a good amount of starchy carbohydrate. I am vigorously opposed to this notion of two main counts. Firstly, science shows that reducing carbohydrate intake is generally highly beneficial in the management of diabetes (see here for some more detail on […]

June 29, 2009· 4 min read
Low GI diet halves need for insulin in pregnancy-related diabetes Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome

Low GI diet halves need for insulin in pregnancy-related diabetes

Gestational diabetes is diabetes that occurs during pregnancy in women who were not previously diabetic. If left uncontrolled, it can have adverse effects on the developing foetus. Its treatment depends on the severity of the condition, with diet, oral medication and insulin being the three mainstay options. Insulin therapy is generally seen as the last […]

June 8, 2009· 2 min read
Another study attests to the value of low-carb eating in diabetes Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome

Another study attests to the value of low-carb eating in diabetes

While diabetics are often advised to eat a diet rich in carbohydrate, common sense dictates that this is not likely to be the best dietary approach for managing their condition (seeing as diabetes is primarily a problem with carbohydrate regulation, specifically a tendency to raised blood sugar levels). In type 2 diabetes, the underlying issue […]

May 16, 2009· 3 min read
Low vitamin D levels linked with raised risk of metabolic syndrome Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome

Low vitamin D levels linked with raised risk of metabolic syndrome

Vitamin D used to be a nutrient that was believed to be important for bone health and little else. But in recent years, it has grown to be associated with an increasing number of conditions including cardiovascular disease, cancer, multiple sclerosis, improved mood and enhanced immunity. New research suggests that another condition that might be […]

May 14, 2009· 3 min read
Study demonstrates the key role insulin plays in obesity Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome

Study demonstrates the key role insulin plays in obesity

Our experience of health and disease will always be the result of an interplay between our genes and ‘environmental’ factors such as diet, exercise and exposure to potential toxins or health hazards. We hear a lot about the role of specific genes in specific conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. However, as Professor Steve […]

May 7, 2009· 5 min read