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.
Weight Loss
In previous posts (such as here and here) I have written about how the impact of ‘excess’ weight on health seems to have been, well, overstated in both men and women. More evidence to this effect emerged this week on the publication of a study of nearly 7000 American men with an average age of […]
Healthy Eating
Whilst I believe that conventional medicine is less effective and more hazardous than its image suggests, I don’t shun it completely. For instance, a few months ago I saw a patients who told me that in his late 40s had developed cataracts (cloudiness in the lenses of the eyes) which had been removed and replaced […]
Exercise and Activity
When occasion arises, I use this site as an opportunity to advocate regular activity for its benefits on health and wellbeing. While exercise and activity comes in many forms, I have for some time been a big believer in walking. This form of exercise is available to almost all of us, is free, and is […]
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 […]
Brain and Behaviour
Those of us who are interested in living to a ripe old age might have at least some concern about preserving our mental faculties should we achieve our goal. Whilst some of us are seeking to ensure a decent quantity of lives or ourselves, quality of life is also important, and our ability to enjoy […]
Food and Medical Politics
Here in the UK most parts have enjoyed a hot and sunny weekend. Yesterday, I spent a good portion of the day out in the sun, and there was a distinct whiff of sunscreen in the air. But it wasn’t coming from me: For some years now, I’ve been wary of using this form of […]
Healthy Eating
This week saw the publication of my latest book The True You Diet. One of the basic premises of the book is that our nutritional needs vary from person to person. Science and a ton of clinical experience show that while someone may thrive of a diet quite rich in ‘heavy’ foods such as meat […]
Cholesterol and Statins
It is my experience that the cholesterol-reducing drugs known as ‘statins’ have been vigorously embraced by the medical profession as a largely safe and effective preventive for cardiovascular disease. Yes, the best available evidence we have is that this class of drugs have somewhat limited effectiveness. I wrote about this earlier this year. Another side […]
Healthy Eating
Perusing this week’s copy of the British Medical Journal, I came across an article about psychological approaches to irritable bowel syndrome. This condition, characterised by symptoms such as abdominal bloating and discomfort, wind and constipation and/or loose bowels is common. Yet, within the conventional medical establishment, this ill seems poorly understood. No wonder then, as […]
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
Back in December, I wrote a post which focused on the apparent ability of pharmaceutical companies to divert our attention away from what is really important (health) to what are often referred to as ‘surrogate’ outcomes such as blood pressure or cholesterol levels. The problem here is that while it is often assumed that, say, […]