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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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Drug company accused of ‘disguised marketing’ – and why we all need to be aware of industry funding of patient advocacy groups Food and Medical Politics

Drug company accused of ‘disguised marketing’ – and why we all need to be aware of industry funding of patient advocacy groups

Last week’s blog and newsletter featured ‘a little bit of politics’. Here, I highlighted the evidence that the pharmaceutical industry can bias the results of ‘scientific’ endeavour, and I also drew attention to the conflict of interest that exists between this drug companies the medical journals that publish and help popularise their research. All of […]

October 25, 2006· 4 min read· Dr Briffa
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Does eating white bread ’cause’ cancer? Low-Carbohydrate

Does eating white bread ’cause’ cancer?

Some of you may have been aware of the recent research that has linked the eating of white bread with an increased risk of cancer. The study, published in the International Journal of Cancer, found that individuals eating the most white bread (equivalent to five slices of bread a day) were almost twice as likely […]

October 23, 2006· 6 min read· Dr Briffa
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Effluent to be turned into drinking water? No thanks – tap water is already a health hazard as it is! Food and Medical Politics

Effluent to be turned into drinking water? No thanks – tap water is already a health hazard as it is!

Water is becoming an increasingly precious commodity. This week the Institute of Civil Engineers in the UK suggested that one way to help combat this is to recycle effluent to make drinking water. Doesn’t sound like a great idea, health-wise, does it? Actually, most of tap water is already comes from a sort of effluent […]

October 20, 2006· 4 min read· Dr Briffa
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More evidence that eating fish does more good than harm Healthy Eating

More evidence that eating fish does more good than harm

Today’s edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association publishes yet another study in the tide of research focusing on the health effects of consuming fish [1]. Researchers from the American School of Public Health discovered that eating fish once or twice a week is associated with a 36 per cent reduced risk of […]

October 18, 2006· 1 min read· Dr Briffa
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Should women eat oily fish in pregnancy – yes or no?! Brain and Behaviour

Should women eat oily fish in pregnancy – yes or no?!

The home page of drbriffa.com asks: Ever noticed how health advice, especially natural health advice, can seem to flick-flack from one extreme to another? Well, another example of the way health advice can seemingly blow in the wind came about this week when pregnant women were advised to be on ‘oily fish alert’. For some […]

October 18, 2006· 5 min read· Dr Briffa
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Exposed: the way drug companies can influence research and the medical journals that publish it Food and Medical Politics

Exposed: the way drug companies can influence research and the medical journals that publish it

One of the aims of drbriffa.com is to expose the how the food and pharmaceutical industries can sometimes act as a barrier to you getting accurate health information and advice. My experience is that industry funding and involvement can seriously bias the ‘conclusions’ drawn from scientific studies. Sound cynical? Well, researchers and scientists have in […]

October 17, 2006· 4 min read· Dr Briffa
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Yet more evidence that calcium and dairy products do little or no good for our bones Children's Health

Yet more evidence that calcium and dairy products do little or no good for our bones

Last week, one of my blogs focused on the association between cola consumption and weakened bones, and the fact that milk, contrary to popular perception, is actually not an ideal beverage for building bones click here. Further evidence for the uselessness of milk in this capacity has come from a study published in this week’s […]

October 16, 2006· 3 min read· Dr Briffa
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NICE’s decision to restrict Alzheimer’s drugs upheld, and natural treatments that offer real potential for this condition Brain and Behaviour

NICE’s decision to restrict Alzheimer’s drugs upheld, and natural treatments that offer real potential for this condition

Today’s big health story is the National Institute of Clinical Excellence’s (NICE) final decision to restrict the prescribing of drugs for Alzheimer’s disease. Basically, NICE has said that there’s not enough evidence of cost-effectiveness to support the use of such drugs in individuals in the early stages of this condition. Patient groups, including the Alzheimer’s […]

October 11, 2006· 7 min read· Dr Briffa
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Get in tune with the drbriffa.com podcasts! Food and Medical Politics

Get in tune with the drbriffa.com podcasts!

In our first, introductory podcast, John talks to Carl Munson of the drbriffa.com team about how, as a young doctor, he accidentally discovered the power of natural health principles. They also discuss some of the medical myths surrounding a range of health issues as well as the cynical politics of food. In his unique, often […]

October 10, 2006· 1 min read· Dr Briffa
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