Brain and Behaviour
Aspartame is an artificial sweetener which, once consumed, breaks down into three components ” aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol. Aspartame has been passed as fit to consume by more than 100 countries around the World, but there is evidence that each of aspartame’s chemical components can have toxic effects on health. See here and here […]
Healthy Eating
Cardiovascular conditions such as heart disease and stroke are a major cause of disability and death. For years we’ve been led to believe that fat is the major dietary offender here, but in reality the science shows that naturally occurring fats are not the issue. In fact, some fats (principally so-called omega-3 fats) actually help […]
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
I’m an advocate of diets relatively rich in protein and low in carbohydrate. Not uncommonly when I addressing an audience regarding this, someone will ask me about the Atkins’ diet and my opinion of it. Digging a bit it usually turns out that the individual is thinking that I’m advocating an Atkins-like diet, and we […]
Brain and Behaviour
On Monday my blog focused on the just one of the hazards associated with eating a high-carbohydrate diet, namely changes in markers of cardiovascular disease risk that would signal an increase in the likelihood of developing this condition. Other evidence exists which links diets of high glycaemic index (GI) and glycaemic load (GL) and an […]
Healthy Eating
For about 30 years we’ve had our Governments, health agencies, doctors and dieticians urging us to eat less fat and more carbohydrate. Yet, we now know that many of the fats in the diet, including saturated fat, appear harmless as worst. Some, including the omega-3 fats found in oily fish, look positively beneficial. And on […]
Healthy Eating
Previously on this site (for example see here) I have written about the role that certain carbohydrate foods appear to have in the development of breast cancer. Foods that are disruptive to blood sugar (high glycaemic index) foods have been implicated here. Also when high GI foods are eaten in quantity, they tend to have […]
Healthy Eating
There are a number of ways of tackling excess weight, one of which is to eat less. What is important here is that food intake is cut without inducing much in the way of hunger. Why? Because for most of us, hunger is not something we will wilfully put up with in the long term. […]
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
On Monday, my blog looked at why nuts were generally such a good food for diabetics. And part of their attraction is that they are a food rich in protein and fat and low in carbohydrate. These nutritional qualities mean that nuts will liberate sugar in a tempered fashion into the blood stream (they have […]
Healthy Eating
A key underlying factor in cardiovascular conditions such as heart disease and stroke is a process known as atherosclerosis (also known as arteriosclerosis), which is essentially a furring up of arteries with a fatty ‘plaque’. For decades now, we’ve had it instilled in us that the chief dietary factor influencing atherosclerosis is fat, which saturated […]
Brain and Behaviour
Yesterday in practice I saw a female patient who, among other things, was troubled by the fact that she craved sugar like you wouldn’t believe. It is my experience in practice that many individuals with sugar cravings view it as a sign of weakness on their part. However, food can have powerful addictive qualities, and […]