Dr John Briffa's blog, A Good Look at Good Health — writing on food, cholesterol, weight, energy and the science behind everyday health, from the drbriffa.com archive. Filter by topic, browse by category, or search the library.
Cholesterol and Statins
I got a press release today from the consumer advocacy group Which? informing me that “Misleading health claims to be banned at last”. Apparently, European Union Member States today voted to adopt a list of scientifically proven health claims that can be made about food and drink products. Claims for green tea and glucosamine (regarding […]
Cholesterol and Statins
Low-carb diets seem to be good for cancer, aspirin largely ineffective for heart disease prevention (just like statins), questions raised over role of HDL-cholesterol in cardiovascular disease. For RSS feeds, click on http://www.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/8966 and then the ‘RSS feeds’ button to the right. For help regarding the playing, downloading and subscribing of the podcasts, click here.
Healthy Eating
In general terms, I recommend a diet lower in carbohydrate than conventional guidelines say is healthy. At least part of my thinking is based on abundant evidence linking a relatively carbohydrate controlled diet with benefits in terms of body weight and disease markers for conditions such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes. However, I […]
Cholesterol and Statins
How often should we eat, one way to prevent flu is to catch flu, FDA swallows drug company hype without thinking. For RSS feeds, click on http://www.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/8966 and then the ‘RSS feeds’ button to the right. For help regarding the playing, downloading and subscribing of the podcasts, click here.
Healthy Eating
I came across an interesting study recently, which assessed the frequency of eating in individuals of ‘normal weight’, or who had lost weight and were maintaining that weight loss, or were ‘overweight’. The number of meals eaten in the day was essentially the same across the groups. However, for snacks it was different: Overall, those […]
Food and Medical Politics
Water does not prevent dehydration (according to the EU), why a diet that does not cause weight gain is not necessarily healthy, mammography very unlikely to save a woman’s life. For RSS feeds, click on http://www.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/8966 and then the ‘RSS feeds’ button to the right. For help regarding the playing, downloading and subscribing of the […]
Food and Medical Politics
I came across this story this morning. In short, it tells us that EU bureaucrats have forbidden companies that sell bottled water from claiming that water can prevent dehydration. I’ve not read the ruling, just the report I link to. But it seems, on the surface, to be a decision which has taken considerable time […]
Healthy Eating
Because many of us are very weight-conscious, it’s natural to judge the impact of our diet almost entirely on how it registers on the scales. This commonly manifests as someone who eats a not-so-good diet (and knowing that is the case) believing that they are ‘getting away with it’ as long as they are not […]
Brain and Behaviour
Omega-3 fats for Alzheimer’s, calorie labelling a bad idea, medicine regulatory agencies seem to act in the interests of the industry rather than the people. For RSS feeds, click on http://www.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/8966 and then the ‘RSS feeds’ button to the right. For help regarding the playing, downloading and subscribing of the podcasts, click here.
Food and Medical Politics
I have a friend who until recently managed a hotel in the West of England. The restaurant at the hotel is Michelin-starred. My friend talked with me some months ago about calls for restaurants to post the calorie-counts of meals on the menu. He’s not keen on the idea, telling me (I paraphrase): “People don’t […]