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Podcast – 31st January 2013

Research linking vegetarianism to heart benefits doesn’t tell us what we really need to know

Yesterday, someone sent me an email alerting me to this BBC news report of a study which found that vegetarians were found to be at lower risk of heart disease compared to non-vegetarians [1]. The study looked at about 44,500 adults living in England and Scotland over an average period of about 11½ years. Hospital […]

Alcohol can disrupt sleep and how to drink less without even trying

I came across this report this week, which focuses on research (as yet, unpublished) which, apparently, finds that alcohol has the ability to disrupt ‘rapid eye movement’ (REM) sleep. REM sleep is quite shallow sleep, and is usually the predominant form of sleep in the second half of the night. REM sleep seems to be […]

The heat is turning up on sugar and the nutrition bodies connected with the sugar industry

Even if you have only a passing interest in nutrition and the subject of ‘healthy eating’, you’re likely to have picked up a change of wind in recent times regarding the dietary cause of obesity. For three or four decades, conventional wisdom has had it that dietary fat is the true villain of the peace. […]

Some reasons why yoghurt can make a good basis for breakfast

I’m a big believer in eating natural and unprocessed foods, which means basing the diets on foodstuffs such as meat, fish, eggs, nuts, vegetables and some fruit. However, I am not averse to having some dairy products in the diet, in particular full-fat plain yoghurt. With a few nuts and berries chucked in, I reckon […]

Could sugary and diet soft drinks cause depression?

In a recent blog post I wrote about research which linked consumption of artificial sweeteners and aspartame in particular with certain cancers. This sort of ‘epidemiological’ evidence cannot prove that aspartame or other artificial sweeteners cause cancer. However, as I pointed out in the blog post, we have research which shows that giving aspartame to […]

Contrary to what some may say, fruit and veg not great for filling us up

The food we eat can perform a range of functions including an ability to nourish us and bring us pleasure. However, I reckon a sometimes forgotten quality of food is to sustain us. I’m not sure what the precise definition of sustain is, but if I were to have a stab at it I’d say […]

Gluten sensitivty in the absence of coeliac disease exists. It really does.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I’m no lover of commercial bread. It is generally a food that is very disruptive to blood sugar levels, and its prime component is wheat, which in practice appears to elicit adverse symptoms in quite a significant percentage of people. Some people have wheat sensitivity because they […]

Study suggests that, for optimal fat loss, the best thing to eat before exercise is nothing at all

The night before someone runs a marathon, there’s a fair chance they’ll chow down on pasta. The carbohydrate in pasta is supposed to help stock the liver and muscles with glycogen (a form of starch) which can then be used to fuel one’s efforts the following day. Such an approach is said to reduce the […]

Podcast – 26th October 2012

More misinformation from bread manufacturers Warburtons, the French paradox is not a paradox, and simply mental tricks to enhance motivation.