Note to medical journalists: correlation does not prove causation
Some nice person sent me a link to this article earlier this week which appears in the UK’s broadsheet newspaper The Telegraph. I mention the fact that this publication is a ‘broadsheet’ because these larger format newspapers generally have a reputation of higher quality reporting compared to the ‘tabloids’. Whether that true or not, I [...]
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Diabetics appear to be very interested in low-carb eating
Back in March I was invited as a guest on the BBC Radio 4 consumer affairs programme You and Yours to discuss diabetes. Up against me was a spokesperson/dietician from Diabetes UK (the UK’s largest diabetes charity). My issue is that Diabetes UK gives diabetics incomplete and misleading information that is likely to make their [...]
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Statins for healthy people? Hang on a minute…
I’ve had a few emails today alerting me to reports of a study concerning the use of statins in healthy individuals. The study in question is a meta-analysis (grouping together of similar studies) of statin trials [1]. Part of this meta-analysis involved assessing the impact of statin therapy in individuals deemed to be at relatively [...]
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Wheat: opiate of the masses?
Last week I was aboard a cruise liner in the Caribbean. I had a lot of fun but was primarily there to participate in a kinda conference organised by low-carb advocate Jimmy Moore. I was privileged to share the stage with some very lovely and inspiration speakers, among them the US cardiologist Dr William (Bill) [...]
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Mouse study provides support for the concept of intermittent fasting
The need for regular meals are a regularly-occurring feature in healthy eating and weight loss advice. I used to believe this myself. But in the last year or two I’ve had to reconsider my thinking on this on this on the basis of my own personal experience as well as people I’ve worked with clinically. [...]
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Power to the people
Gary Taubes is a name probably familiar to you. If not, he’s a writer and author of Good Calories, Bad Calories (The Diet Delusion in the UK) and Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It. While we’re clearly not twins separated at birth, I have traditionally had a lot of time for [...]
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Another reason to avoid sunscreens
One of my last posts pointed to the hazards associated with the use of sunscreens, including some propensity to increased skin cancer risk. Some people have commented that chemicals found in sunscreens might have a direct toxic and cancer-inducing effect in the body. I don’t disagree with this idea at all – it’s certainly plausible. [...]
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Study suggests that insulin may drive weight gain after stopping smoking
I am away at the moment and have limited time and internet access. So this post, as well as anything else I write this week is going to be short and sweet. I saw this story today which is concerned with the weight gain that often comes after stopping smoking. In this particular study, 3 [...]
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Getting more sleep could make it easier to control our weight
One could argue that our health is the product of factors that can be genetic (inherited) or environmental (including diet and activity). Body weight, for instance, will usually ultimately determined by these two major factors. There is no doubt that some people inherit more of a tendency to be heavier than others. Some people do [...]
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Prominent cardiologist reveals some of the the flaws in conventional cholesterol wisdom
Harlan Krumholz is a professor of medicine and cardiologist at the at Yale University School of Medicine. He recently co-authored an open letter which appeared in the journal circulation (pdf here). The letter was written to the Adult Treatment Panel – a group of ‘experts’ charged with setting cholesterol guidelines for the American public. The [...]
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