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
Back in March one of my blog posts focused on the effects of green tea constituents known as catechins had on the metabolism of fat in the body. A recent study has found that green tea catechins stimulated fat-burning in the body, something which is an obvious boon to individuals seeking to attain or maintain […]
Nutrients and Supplements
Osteoarthritis is a condition characterised by degeneration of joint cartilage. It typically affects weight-bearing joints such as the knees and hips, and is a very common cause of pain and disability, particularly in the elderly. The conventional medical management of osteoarthritis is centred on the use of analgesic (painkilling) drugs. Ultimately, though, joint condition may […]
Children's Health
Short-sightedness (the medical term for which is ‘myopia’) is a common condition in industrialised countries. This condition probably has many potential underlying causes. Some of these were reviewed in a recent paper published in the journal Optometry and Vision Science [1]. One quite clear finding from this review was that spending time outdoors is linked […]
Brain and Behaviour
For a beverage that doesn’t enjoy the healthiest of reputations, coffee has been the subject of quite a few studies that link its consumption with benefits for health. Specifically, there has been several studies now that link coffee drinking with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease (e.g. heart disease) or diabetes. Now there is some […]
Healthy Eating
I make no secret of the fact that I favour protein-rich diets, particularly where weight loss and weight maintenance is concerned. Only last month I highlighted a study which found that a protein-rich diet was better for maintaining weight loss than a diet rich in carbohydrate. In this particular study, the protein-rich diet had been […]
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
Most people understand and appreciate that physical activity is generally a good thing for health and wellbeing. The reality is, though, that many of us are quite sedentary. And a big reason for this relates to time, and specifically our sometimes perception that that there are, really, not enough hours in the day. However, there […]
Brain and Behaviour
Women who are in the throes of menopause can experience a range of debilitating symptoms which can be psychological (e.g. anxiety and/or depression) and/or physical (e.g. hot flushes and night sweats) in nature. Standard conventional medical treatment for the menopause is centred around hormone replacement therapy (HRT). However, concerns about the safety of HRT (it’s
Cholesterol and Statins
You don’t have to wait too long before yet another study is published which is used to persuade us that cholesterol is a killer and cholesterol-reducing drugs are essential for keeping us from the mortal spectre of heart disease. The focus, for some time, has been on controlling so-called ‘low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol’ ” […]
Healthy Eating
Of the many different dietary strategies that can be used to lose weight, I favour a relatively low-carbohydrate, protein-rich diet. Some of the rationale about the low-carb element of such a regime is that carbohydrate (say from sugary and starchy foods) is the dietary element that most disrupts blood sugar, which tends to knock on […]
Healthy Eating
I was out of the UK two weeks of January, but if I’d been here I have a feeling I’d have witnessed a fair few magazines touting healthy regimes for the New Year on the ‘detox’ theme. A key element of such regimes is usually a good intake of water. This, it is often said, […]