Category: Food and Medical Politics

Questions asked about the value and effectiveness of modern medicine

I was talking with a colleague last night whose wife is a doctor. He bemoaned the fact that there is a trend in the UK for closure of hospitals. The automatic reaction many of us have to the cutting of health services is that it’s a bad thing, and that people will lose out as […]

Are we soon to see a relaxing in cholesterol guidelines?

What is deemed a desirable cholesterol level in the mind of many health professionals has a lot to do with the opinion of panels of ‘experts’ who, essentially, tell doctors what to think and how to manage their patients. One such endeavour in the US is known as the Adult Treatment Protocol (ATP), which itself […]

Confused about dietary fats? My advice is to steer clear of the British Nutrition Foundation

I don’t believe bread, as we commonly eat it, is a healthy or wholesome food (far from it). And last year I was surprised to read a ‘review’ lauding the nutritious attributes of bread and lamenting the fact that, here in the UK, bread consumption is declining. The review was authored by a scientist connected […]

Industry-funded researchers put positive spin on yet more research which shows artificial sweeteners do not promote weight loss

I noticed yesterday that a certain study [1] concerning artificial sweeteners had got some press. In the study, overweight and obese adults were randomized to one of three dietary interventions: 1. advice to replace more than 200 calories a day of calorific beverages (softs drinks/soda) with water 2. advice to replace more than 200 calories […]

New data from old study reveals that reducing saturated fat in favour of ‘vegetable’ oils increases risk of heart attack and can have fatal consequences

Conventional nutritional ‘wisdom’ has it that saturated fat (found in foods such meat, eggs, dairy products, coconut and palm oil) is bad for heart health, while ‘polyunsaturated’ fats (including ‘vegetable’ oils) are good. These concepts emerged decades ago and were mostly based on the impact of these fats on cholesterol levels. There’s a big potential […]

Podcast – 31st January 2013

Research linking vegetarianism to heart benefits doesn’t tell us what we really need to know

Yesterday, someone sent me an email alerting me to this BBC news report of a study which found that vegetarians were found to be at lower risk of heart disease compared to non-vegetarians [1]. The study looked at about 44,500 adults living in England and Scotland over an average period of about 11½ years. Hospital […]

Still no evidence that the Swedes are killing themselves with low-carb diets

I’ve had a few emails this week about a study which appeared in the British Medical Journal last year [1]. In short, it purported to show that Swedish women eating a ‘low-carbohydrate, high-protein’ diet over a period of 16 years had greater risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks or stroke. I was well […]

Even low doses of the artificial sweetener aspartame are toxic to the brains of animals

I don’t hide the fact that I am not a fan of the artificial sweetener aspartame. It’s widespread use in processed foods and drinks gives me cause for concern, seeing as there’s a considerable body of evidence that links it with everything from weight gain to cancer. Some of the most incriminating evidence comes from […]

Why good communication between doctor and patient may be bad for patient ‘compliance’

Good communication is, I think, the bedrock of a good relationship between a doctor and a patient. One thing that frustrates some doctors is when their patients do not take their advice. A major gripe can be the failure to take medications as prescribed. In a recent study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, […]