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.
Healthy Eating
I came across this report here of a study recently published in the British Medical Journal [1]. It concerns a device known as a ‘Mandometer’ ” which has been developed as an aid to weight loss. The Mandometer, a Swedish invention, is essentially a set of weighing scales connected to a small computer. A plate […]
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
I came across this on-line news story. It concerns a study done in individuals with ‘impaired glucose tolerance’ (essentially, individuals who do not handle glucose well in the body but are not impaired enough to be classed a diabetic. The report (and other reports) say the study was published today (4th January) in the journal […]
Brain and Behaviour
I believe that sleep is a much under-rated past-time. Two years ago, I wrote a blog post which punted getting more sleep as a worthwhile New Year resolution. And my recent post of 10 potential New Year resolutions also included one on getting adequate sleep. So, I was interested to see a recent study getting […]
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
My last post here detailed just a few relatively easy-to-apply lifestyle changes that might make good New Year resolutions. One of them, was to eat a ‘primal’ diet ” essentially a diet based on the foods we’ve been eating the longest in terms of our time on this planet. The record suggests that for the […]
Exercise and Activity
I read a report in the last week regarding New Year resolutions, the thrust of which was that setting the bar too high is more likely to lead to us not keeping to whatever resolutions we have made. In other words, opting for smaller, more manageable changes might be a better long-term strategy. I agree […]
Food and Medical Politics
A couple of weeks back I was talking with a close family member, and he mentioned that for many years he had been getting digestive discomfort that tended to come after meals. When I asked to point to where his pain was, he indicated that it was in the middle of the abdomen just at […]
Uncategorized
This blog is primarily about health. Pretty much everything I write in it is designed to help individuals make more informed choices about how to improve the quality and quantity of their lives (should they so wish). However, I recognise that not all of live is about health. And so today’s post is a bit […]
Brain and Behaviour
Those of us who are now in the depths of winter may be suffering not just from the cold, but the relative lack of light too. Shortened days have the ability to depress the mood and precipitate ‘seasonal affective disorder’ (SAD) or ‘winter blues’. Back in October I wrote about this condition, and in particular […]
Healthy Eating
At this time of year many of us will come across messages which warn of the hazards of consuming excessive quantities of food and drink. For example, a week or so ago I read a report which maintained that children can get through 6000-odd calories on Christmas day. And last week I wrote a piece […]
Healthy Eating
I came across a video today (posted below). It’s an Associated Press news report regarding an anti-soft-drink/soda video made by the New York City Department of Health. It portrays a man drinking the contents of a soda-can. Except that the contents aren’t the fizzy, sugary liquid one is anticipating, but what looks likes globs of […]