Cholesterol and Statins
The glycaemic index (GI) is a measure of the extent to which a food raises blood sugar. Generally speaking, the higher the GI, the unhealthier the food is. Lots of sugar generally means lots of insulin ” and excess of which can promote of a slew of unhealthy biochemical processes including increased fat-making and reduced […]
Food and Medical Politics
Earlier this month I blogged about some research which suggests that being overweight is not the dire threat to our health and longevity it is so often assumed to be. One reason why the risk of being overweight may be somewhat overstated has to do with the fact there’s a lot of money in persuading […]
Food and Medical Politics
Recently, a report published by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) made a number of recommendations designed to ward off cancer, the most trumpeted of which is the need to maintain a ‘healthy’ weight. Specifically, we are encouraged to keep our body mass index (BMI) between 21-23 […]
Food and Medical Politics
My blog last Friday questioned the wisdom of recent advice dished out to us on how to prevent cancer. The crux of this issue is that such recommendations are based on so-called ‘epidemiological’ studies which may show associations between things (e.g. obesity and cancer) but cannot be used to prove that one is causing the […]
Food and Medical Politics
Previously on drbriffa.com I have written about the limitations of the body mass index (BMI) as a marker of health. This measurement (calculated by dividing weight in Kg by the square of one’s height in metres) takes no account of body composition, nor where any addition fat is aggregated in the body. Nevertheless, we are […]
Healthy Eating
‘Eat fewer calories than you burn’ has been the weight loss mantra for decades now. The problem is, cutting back on food and taking more exercise almost inevitably makes people hungry, which can make changes quite unsustainable in the long term. In this article, I offer some practical solutions to this, by outlining several approaches […]
Exercise and Activity
Aerobic exercise (such as brisk walking and swimming) has long been recommended as part of a ‘healthy’ lifestyle, particularly with regard to heart and ‘cardiovascular’ health and weight control. However, in recent times there has been a little more focus on the role of ‘resistance’ exercise (such as weight-training) as a means to improve health, […]
Healthy Eating
While the ‘calorie principle’ has underpinned nutritional and weight loss advice over the last few decades, the fact is that different types of calorie are ‘burned’ differently in the body. What this means is that it’s not just the amount of calories we consume, but the form that they come in that dictates the impact […]
Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome
The body mass index (weight in kg divided by the square of height in metres) remains the standard way of assessing weight by the medical profession. The problem is, as I’ve pointed out previously, (for example, here and here) it is a generally useless measure as a marker for health. In previous pieces, I have […]
Healthy Eating
Earlier this month I provided a round-up of the evidence which suggests that carbohydrate control is generally more effective for the purposes of weight loss than the more traditionally-advised low-fat diet. Not long after this, on the 18th July to be precise, the research group known as the Cochrane Collaboration published its own assessment of […]