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.
Women's Health
The thyroid is a gland in the neck that regulates metabolism. Low thyroid function (hypothyroidism) can lead to diverse symptoms including weight gain, fatigue, sensitivity to cold, dry skin, dry hair, hair loss and constipation. In conventional medicine, the diagnosis of low thyroid function is usually made with a blood test. Here’s the classic picture: […]
Food and Medical Politics
For some time now there has been debate in some nutritional circles about the relative merits of different ‘diets’. Certainly, there has been at least two factions here. One argues for a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet which usually includes plenty of starchy carbohydrates such as bread, potato, rice, breakfast cereals and pasta. Others (including me) argue […]
Food and Medical Politics
If you’re British you’ll likely remember the flu ‘pandemic’ of 2009/10. Government-sponsored television adverts and a media awash with stories about the perils of flu led to the dishing out of 800,000 packets of an anti-viral drug (Tamiflu) over the phone and about half the populations dutifully had their ‘flu jab. At one point, the […]
Uncategorized
‘Earthing’ or ‘grounding’ has been getting a lot of attention of late in certain communities, so about a week ago I decided to take a look. Here, in summary is what I’ve learned. What is ‘earthing’? Earthing is the practice of connecting the body with earth by touching skin to a conductive material such as […]
Sleep
Yesterday, I wrote a post about how a lack of sleep might contribute to unhealthy weight gain. Today, I’m following this up on a guide to how to get better sleep. In no particular order, here are some of the strategies which I’ve found consistent success with in terms of improving sleep quality, and most […]
Cholesterol and Statins
In the UK, the most popular ‘drugs bible’ goes by the name of the British National Formulary (BNF). Within its pages is found a wealth of information about pills and potions that are available over-the-counter and by prescription, including indications and advice of dosages. A significant proportion of the pages in the BNF are taken […]
Brain and Behaviour
The last few decades have seen a rise in rates of overweight and obesity. Average duration of sleep has declined in the Western world too. Could the two be connected? Actually, yes. There are a number of mechanisms through which reduced sleep time might be somehow contributing to the obesity ‘epidemic’, and these were summarised […]
Brain and Behaviour
Dementia is an issue many of us would rather avoid as we age, and in recent years there has been considerable interest in specific dietary strategies that might help here. Seeing as about 70 per cent of the dry weight of the brain is fat (much of it saturated), I’m inclined to think a diet […]
Cholesterol and Statins
While cholesterol remain possibly the most vilified natural and essential body constituent, and we are encouraged to put constant downward pressure on our cholesterol levels, it should perhaps not be forgotten that low levels of cholesterol are associated with enhanced risk of death. Low cholesterol is associated with an enhanced risk of specific health issues […]
Food and Medical Politics
I came across this report today, which concerns childhood vaccination against influenza. Normally, vaccines contain three strains of flu virus (trivalent vaccine). In theory, a quadrivalent (four-strain) vaccine might provide better protection again flu. In the study referred to in the report, children and adolescents were randomised to receive either a quadrivalent vaccine or one […]