Exercise and Activity
I was in a meeting today, and the subject of weight loss came up. As some of you may know, I have previously written about how exercise tends not to be particularly effective for those wishing to shed pounds. I made the point that those wanting to lose weight would do better to, among other […]
Healthy Eating
Most of us will be all too aware of the long-standing and regularly-rammed home recommendations to eat less fat. Fat, and animal fat in particular, is often said to be at the root of many of our ills including obesity and heart disease. However often and forcibly this notion is repeated, the fact remains that […]
Children's Health
The cold winter months (many of us will be experiencing these right now�) bring with them a risk of vitamin D deficiency ” something which I have written about before (see article from 29th November 2006 pasted below). Low levels of vitamin D may predispose to a variety of conditions including seasonal affective disorder (winter […]
Healthy Eating
On 14 December my blog highlighted some research linking higher insulin levels (or, more specifically, higher levels of related a substance known as C-reactive protein) and an increased risk of breast cancer. The lead investigator of this study had recommended that women wanting to temper their insulin levels should eat a diet low in fat, […]
Food and Medical Politics
Back in October, I wrote about some recently-published research which linked the eating of a high carbohydrate (actually, high glycaemic index and load diets) with an increased risk of breast cancer. One way that fast sugar-releasing foods may promote cancerous growth is through the activity of a compound known as insulin-like growth factor (IGF), which […]
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
My dislike of many starchy carbs like bread, potato, rice, pasta and breakfast cereals is based on a body of evidence which suggests that the gluts of insulin their eating induces can speed our path to conditions such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. And, despite all this talk about their ‘nutritious’ nature, the fact […]
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
Previously, for instance here, I have attempted to point out that the conventional dietary advice so often given to diabetics is nonsensical and likely to be positively damaging to their health. Why diabetics should be advised to ‘include starch with every meal’ and therefore almost certainly ensure they’re going to get quite a shot of […]
Food and Medical Politics
My blog last Friday questioned the wisdom of recent advice dished out to us on how to prevent cancer. The crux of this issue is that such recommendations are based on so-called ‘epidemiological’ studies which may show associations between things (e.g. obesity and cancer) but cannot be used to prove that one is causing the […]
Healthy Eating
Earlier this month I focused one of my blogs on the apparently beneficial role of fish/omega-3 consumption during pregnancy [1]. The omega-3 fats found abundantly in certain fish have been linked with a variety of potential benefits including better neurological development of the foetus and reduced risk of post-natal depression. Other research has linked inadequate […]
Food and Medical Politics
Perhaps more than any other disease, breast cancer has received a helluva lot of social and political attention over the last decade. And a big part of the trust around raising awareness of the disease is the ‘need’ for women to be screened for breast cancer. The most commonly used technique for this is mammography […]