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
There’s a general view that overweight and obesity are the result of eating too much and/or not exercising enough. Essentially, the idea here is that obesity is the result of greed and/or laziness. I am sure these this may be true for some people. I am also sure that this thinking is over-simplistic and does […]
Nutrients and Supplements
Back in May, one of my blogs focused on some evidence which suggests that vitamin D has the capacity to improve a range of measures of physical function, including fitness, muscular strength, balance and reaction time. Strange though this may seem, there indeed appears to be evidence that simply sitting the sun may be all […]
Healthy Eating
A mere 10 days ago one of my posts highlighted a study which had, apparently, found that a low carb diet was found to induce increased amounts of atherosclerosis (a key underlying process in the development of cardiovascular conditions such as heart attacks and strokes) in mice. I was sceptical of this study, partly on […]
Healthy Eating
Artificial sweeteners enhance the palatability of foods but, unlike sugar, are virtually devoid of calories. The implicit promise here is consuming them, rather than sugar, is a better option for those seeking to control their weight. Now while the idea that artificial sweeteners offer advantages in weight control makes sense, you might be surprised to […]
Food and Medical Politics
While some people put a lot of faith in published scientific and medical research, there are a number of reasons why we sometimes need to be a bit sceptical about what we read in scientific journals. One fundamental issue here concerns what is known as ‘publication bias’ ” the tendency for favourable results to be […]
Nutrients and Supplements
Back in December, one of my blogs focused on research which sought to determine the intakes of vitamin D required to maintain certain concentrations of this nutrient in the body [1]. This particular study found that to maintain a vitamin D level of 80 nmol/L (32 ng/ml) about 1600 IU is required. You can read […]
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
I’ve said before that while I don’t believe any one diet is ideal for everyone, I favour diets lower in carb and higher in protein (and also fat) than the diets traditionally recommended as ‘healthy’. Such diets generally give better results for weight loss than, say, low fat diets. They also tend to be extremely […]
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
I recently mentioned in a blog that I’d tidied up my diet a bit (in conjunction with some mindful eating). Part of the ‘tidying up a bit’ meant taking out ALL foods with added sugar from my diet. I don’t consume much added sugar habitually, but I am generally no angel either. So, I won’t […]
Healthy Eating
I’m currently in Portugal, and practically all of my main meals have come in the form of meat or fish plus salad. The salads have come dressed with olive oil, and I’ve noticed here this is used quite sparingly. Part of the reason for that is that there is a common perception here that olive […]
Brain and Behaviour
I’m a huge advocate of sunlight exposure, on the basis that this mostly pleasurable endeavour is associated with wide-ranging benefits for the body. It also appears to benefit the brain. Lack of sunlight in the winter months can lead to lowering of mood and even depression that has been termed ‘seasonal affective disorder’. There is […]