Healthy Eating
Celiac disease is a condition that is characterised by intolerance to the protein gluten found in grains such as wheat, oats, rye and barley. Sensitivity to gluten can cause ‘flattening’ of the finger-like projections in the bowel, which essentially reduce its surface area. The dramatically reduced surface area caused by the condition tends to cause […]
Brain and Behaviour
Alzheimer’s disease (a form of dementia) is characterized by the build-up in the brain of a protein known as ‘amyloid-beta’. Not surprisingly, amyloid-beta has been ‘targeted’ by drug companies, including Eli Lilli who produced the drug Semagacestat which did a nice job of retarding amyloid-beta synthesis. However, in trials, Semagacestat accelerated decline in brain function […]
Healthy Eating
I’m a big believer that if individuals want to eat healthily easily, it makes sense not to let the appetite run out of control. Once we get ravenously hungry the desire to eat rubbish can be overwhelming. One of the strategies I have generally advocated to achieve good appetite control is to eat the right […]
Exercise and Activity
Healthy Eating
‘Trans-fatty acids’ can be formed in the processing of fats. They usually start out life as a vegetable oil, which is then treated in a multi-stage process to, say, solidify it and extend its shelf life. The word ‘trans’ refers to the chemical shape of these molecules. In general terms, these fats are a different […]
Brain and Behaviour
I’ve written before about the fact that many people in the area of obesity research have the opinion that obesity is simply the result of eating more calories than the body burns through metabolism and activity. My position, and that of a growing number of researchers, is that there’s more to obesity than calorie balance, […]
Healthy Eating
If I were to try and condense what I regard as good nutritional advice into a soundbite, I’d say ‘Eat like a caveman (or cavewoman)’. The idea here being to emulate the diet we as a species evolved on, and are best adapted to. There is, I think, abundant research that strongly supports this as […]
Healthy Eating
Yesterday my blog focused on some recent research which showed cholesterol levels had little or no relationship with what is known as ‘ischaemic stroke’ – essentially ‘heart attacks of the brain’. On the other hand, a strong relationship was found between this most common form of stroke and levels of blood fats known as triglycerides. […]
Brain and Behaviour
We’ll probably all be familiar with the idea that raised cholesterol levels cause heart disease. The idea here is that high levels of cholesterol cause fatty deposits on the inside of the arteries around the heart. If one or more of vessels should block off completely, the heart muscle is starved of blood and, if […]
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
Previously in this blog I have covered some of the evidence linking vitamin D with positive health outcomes, including a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and several forms of cancer. Vitamin D has also been linked with diabetes, in that some studies have found those with higher levels of vitamin D to be a reduced […]