Food and Medical Politics
It’s a basic nutritional belief of mine that eating healthily means, at least in part, not eating too much in the way of foods that disrupt blood sugar and insulin levels. Gluts of insulin are known to have the capacity to cause fat accumulation in the body, and likely increase the risk of chronic conditions […]
Brain and Behaviour
One of the burgeoning fields in nutrition concerns the influence that maternal diet can have on the health and development of her unborn child. Every baby starts out as an egg and a sperm, and ends up, say, 6 or 7 pounds in weight. The vast majority of a baby is composed of what the […]
Exercise and Activity
Aerobic exercise (such as brisk walking and swimming) has long been recommended as part of a ‘healthy’ lifestyle, particularly with regard to heart and ‘cardiovascular’ health and weight control. However, in recent times there has been a little more focus on the role of ‘resistance’ exercise (such as weight-training) as a means to improve health, […]
Healthy Eating
While the ‘calorie principle’ has underpinned nutritional and weight loss advice over the last few decades, the fact is that different types of calorie are ‘burned’ differently in the body. What this means is that it’s not just the amount of calories we consume, but the form that they come in that dictates the impact […]
Nutrients and Supplements
On Monday, I wrote about sunscreen, and in particular the apparent hazards associated with their use. One potential effect associated with sunscreen use if the blocking of vitamin D production in the skin. This is a shame, as this nutrient has a number of health-promoting properties, including relative protection from several forms of cancer. I […]
Herbal Medicine
Pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) is a term used to describe a combination of various physical and mental symptoms that may occur in the week or two prior to menstruation. Typical features of PMS include irritability, depression, tearfulness, fatigue, food cravings, abdominal bloating, breast tenderness, fluid retention and weight gain. The condition is highly individual, with the […]
Healthy Eating
Moderate drinking is often advocated for its health ‘benefits’, specifically with regard to its apparent ability to reduce the risk of cardiovascular conditions such as heart attacks and stroke. However, whatever benefits alcohol may have with respect to cardiovascular disease can be diluted through its ability to increase the risk of other conditions such as […]
Healthy Eating
This week’s hot nutrition news in the UK concerns a study which assessed the relationship between meat-eating and breast cancer. ‘Red meat ups breast cancer risk’ was, essentially, the way this study was headlined in the media. The brevity of such titles will usually not tell the full story, so I decided to take a […]
Brain and Behaviour
While medical practice generally turns a blind eye to the value of nutrition in health, it has at least embraced the importance of certain specific nutrients including iron. Iron is important for the manufacture of haemoglobin ” the protein in the red blood cells responsible for carrying oxygen around the body and delivering it to […]
Healthy Eating
Today sees the publication of a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association in which the effectiveness of four diets were assessed over a year-long period [1]. Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine ascribed women to eat either the Atkins’ diet (low carb), Zone diet (carb, protein and fat in the ratio […]