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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.

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BMJ editorial highlights the evidence that food additives can have adverse effects in children, and questions the decision by official bodies to be unmoved by this research Brain and Behaviour

BMJ editorial highlights the evidence that food additives can have adverse effects in children, and questions the decision by official bodies to be unmoved by this research

Back in September of last year I reported on a study which found that certain food additives (specific colourings and the food preservative sodium benzoate) had been found to have a statistically significant adverse effect on children’s behaviour and attention [1]. This study (sometimes referred to as the ‘Southampton study’) was actually performed in ‘normal’ […]

May 26, 2008· 6 min read· Dr Briffa
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What can we learn from a man who undergoes an operation without anaesthetic? Brain and Behaviour

What can we learn from a man who undergoes an operation without anaesthetic?

When I was growing up, I was very interested in ‘unexplained’ phenomena like spontaneous human combustion and hypnosis. My interest in the former has waned somewhat, but my interest in the latter remains with me to this day. More than 20 years ago I went to see a stage hypnotism act while on holiday in […]

April 23, 2008· 4 min read· Dr Briffa
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More evidence that insulin plays a role in the development of dementia Brain and Behaviour

More evidence that insulin plays a role in the development of dementia

Last month one of my posts was devoted to some research which found a link between weight accumulation around the mid-riff (abdominal obesity) and an increased risk of dementia. In this post, I also explored some of the mechanisms which might explain this association. At the heart of these suggested mechanisms is the hormone insulin. […]

April 11, 2008· 4 min read· Dr Briffa
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Omega-3 fats found to help depressive symptoms during and after pregnancy Brain and Behaviour

Omega-3 fats found to help depressive symptoms during and after pregnancy

The so-called omega-3 fats (found plentifully in ‘oily’ fish such as sardines, salmon and trout) have been said to have the potential to enhance health in a number of areas, including mental health. There is a fair body of evidence now that suggests that omega-3 fats are important in the functioning of the brain, including […]

April 7, 2008· 2 min read· Dr Briffa
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New review catalogues the myriad of ways aspartame can mess up your body and brain Brain and Behaviour

New review catalogues the myriad of ways aspartame can mess up your body and brain

Back in October I wrote about the artificial sweetener aspartame. This food ingredient is perhaps the most controversial of all: its manufacturers and official bodies claim it’s safe, but a stack of anecdotal evidence and a fair degree of science says it’s not. Tellingly, whether a study finds for or against aspartame seems to be […]

April 2, 2008· 4 min read· Dr Briffa
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Why big bellies could mean big trouble for brain function in later life Brain and Behaviour

Why big bellies could mean big trouble for brain function in later life

Previously on this site I have presented evidence that the traditional way of assessing body weight ” the body mass index (BMI) ” is pretty useless as a marker for health. Part of the explanation for this lies in the fact that the BMI tells us nothing about the composition of the body. Neither does […]

March 28, 2008· 4 min read· Dr Briffa
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More evidence that artificial sweeteners don’t help weight loss Brain and Behaviour

More evidence that artificial sweeteners don’t help weight loss

When it comes to healthy living, my tendency is to favour as natural a course as possible. The word ‘natural’ means different things to different people, but in the context of our diet I take it to mean food that is close as possible to the way it found in nature. This does not guarantee […]

February 11, 2008· 7 min read· Dr Briffa
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Feeling fat may be worse for you than actually being fat Brain and Behaviour

Feeling fat may be worse for you than actually being fat

News broke in the UK this week that prescriptions for obesity drugs topped 1 million in 2006 ” an eight-fold increase in just seven years. No doubt some of this increase has come about as a result of the increasing dire statistics about the burgeoning rates of obesity. However, as I revealed here and here, […]

February 1, 2008· 5 min read· Dr Briffa
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Are criminals ‘bad’ or just malnourished? Brain and Behaviour

Are criminals ‘bad’ or just malnourished?

Just like overweight individuals are often seen as greedy or lazy (that’s not a view I hold myself, I should add), prison inmates and young delinquents are generally seen as ‘bad’. But are they? Could, for instance, their errant behaviour and criminal ways be related to something more physiological than social or psychological? Say if […]

January 30, 2008· 3 min read· Dr Briffa
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