Healthy Eating
I am not a fan of refined sugar, generally speaking. But I’m most certainly not a fan of the ‘healthy’ alternatives ” artificial sweeteners ” either. One cause of concern is their safety. For example, aspartame (Nutrasweet, Equal, Canderel) has quite a body of research which demonstrates it has real potential to have adverse effects […]
Healthy Eating
There is generally unbridled enthusiasm in the medical establishment for cholesterol-reducing drugs known as statins. While they do have the ability to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes, they don’t appear to reduce overall risk of death in individuals who have no history of cardiovascular disease when they start […]
Exercise and Activity
Anyone familiar with my health ‘philosophy’ will know that I am a big believer in using our ancient past to inform our modern-day dietary and lifestyle habits. Logic dictates that, say, the foods we’ve eaten for longest in terms of our time on this planet are the foods that we’re generally going to be the […]
Cholesterol and Statins
BBC Radio 4 this morning had a brief item about margarine. The item focused on the fact that margarine manufacturers can trumpet the presence of ‘heart-healthy’ omega-3 fats on the label. Professor Jack Winkler, Professor of Nutrition Policy at London Metropolitan University made the claim that such labelling is misleading. It seems that margarine manufacturers […]
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
Last month, one of my blogs focused on a paper from the American Heart Association which warned of the hazards of eating sugar on cardiovascular health. It put at least some focus on the sugar fructose, which makes up half of table sugar (sucrose), as well as being found in fruit and vegetables, honey and […]
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
When carbohydrate is eaten, blood sugar (glucose) levels usually rise. The speed and extent to which blood sugar releases into the bloodstream has important implications for health. For example, the greater the level of blood sugar disruption, the more insulin will tend to be secreted by a functioning pancreas in response. High levels of this […]
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
The obvious answer to this question is ‘yes’, seeing as many wheat-based foods are very disruptive to blood sugar (they have high glycaemic index), particularly when eaten in quantity (meaning they have high glycaemic load too). As a result, the pancreas will generally need to pump out plenty of insulin. This, in time, can lead […]
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 […]
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 […]