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.
Exercise and Activity
Over the years, I have become increasingly interested in the value of resistance exercise in maintaining or increasing muscle mass and strength, as well as its impact on general health and wellbeing. Individuals engaging in resistance exercise are often concerned that they fuel themselves adequately afterwards. A usual goal here is to supply the muscle […]
Food and Medical Politics
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US decides, among other things, which drugs should be licensed for doctors to prescribe and which should retain their license should evidence of harm emerge. In these jobs, the FDA is advised by panels made up of researchers and doctors. It makes sense for not too many […]
Brain and Behaviour
Alcohol disrupts sleep and how to drink less without trying, a little exercise goes a long way, and can drinking cold water and wearing shorts aid weight control? For RSS feeds, click on http://www.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/8966 and then the ‘RSS feeds’ button to the right. For help regarding the playing, downloading and subscribing of the podcasts, click […]
Brain and Behaviour
I was talking with someone yesterday who is generally fit and well, but has a bit of a ‘sleep issue’. He sometimes fails to get off to sleep easily. But even when he does, he tends to wake several times during the night, and can often have difficulty getting back to sleep again. It’s sometimes […]
Uncategorized
There’s a new study out, based on research from Taiwan, that shows that exercising for just 15 minutes a day (about 1.5 hours a week) is associated with a 14 per cent reduced risk of death over a the course of the study compared with being sedentary [1]. This study is wildly being reported as […]
Weight Loss
My girlfriend thinks I wear too few clothes. When it’s hot, I’m usually to be found in shorts and little else (I’m often attempting to get the sun vitamin-D boosting effects here). But when it’s cooler (even cold), I’m often to be found in shorts too. It’s for a long time been my way to […]
Podcasts
Mental illness is not ‘all in the mind’, scientists shift the scientific goalposts sometimes, walking is ‘doable’ and beneficial, and an update on the Flora pro.activ saga. For RSS feeds, click on http://www.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/8966 and then the ‘RSS feeds’ button to the right. For help regarding the playing, downloading and subscribing of the podcasts, click here.
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
I am a fan of exercise, but recognise that not everyone is. The fact is, many of us have barriers to it. One major barrier relates to some people’s belief the fact that exercise, to be beneficial, needs to be hard work. Some simply don’t relish the uncomfortable sensations that exercise can bring. Also, to […]
Brain and Behaviour
Psychiatry is a profession supposedly there to help people with mental health issues such as anxiety, depression and schizophrenia. That’s the idea anyway. I say this because, in reality, it’s not the most effective of disciplines, I think. The drugs often don’t work too well, and usually come with significant side effects too. If I […]
Cholesterol and Statins
It’s easy to believe that statins have dramatic life-saving properties. The reality is, however, that for the majority of people who take them, they don’t. In the biggest and best review published to date, statins were not found to reduce overall risk of death in individuals with no previous history of cardiovascular disease [1]. What […]