Dr Briffa's Blog - A Good Look at Good Health
A health-focused blog that makes sense of science, and offers accurate, trustworthy and practical advice about all aspects of healthy living.
The success of The Darkness and the return of Starsky and Hutch and the Chopper bike have made me quite nostalgic for the seventies. Mind you, not everything about this era was good. These were the days, after all, when a glass of fruit juice or half a grapefruit might be found as starter options [...]
This month has seen a flurry of jabs and jibes aimed at Dr Andrew Wakefield – the lead author of the study published in 1998 that first suggested a link between MMR vaccination and autism. An alleged conflict of interest has instigated a call for Dr Wakefield’s work to be disregarded, on the back of [...]
In an effort to contain the ever-expanding levels of obesity in the UK, the Government is considering levying a tax on unhealthy foods such as those rich in fat. Perhaps not surprisingly, the so-called ‘fat tax’ has attracted some criticism from those keen to stay out of the clutches of the nanny state. Also, some [...]
Requests for sponsorship from individuals planning to run the London marathon have made me aware that this sporting spectacular is not too far down the road. While I am enthusiastic about the health benefits of physical exercise, endurance activities such as marathon running are, however, not without risk. For instance, while competitors in such events [...]
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) here in the UK recently published a report which stressed the role of psychological therapies in the treatment of eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia nervosa. However, while conventional wisdom has been that these conditions are essentially mental disorders for which a head-first approach should prevail, mounting [...]
Despite some commitment to not watching bollocks telly, I recently found myself seduced into witnessing the glamour model Jordan and ex-Kitten Kerry McFadden make a right meal out of an assortment of creepy crawlies on ‘I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here!’ Watching these bosom pals’ theatrical attempts at downing some very unappetising cockroaches [...]
According to official statistics, 1 in 3 women and 1 in 12 men are set to feel the ageing process in their bones as a result of the skeleton-thinning condition known as osteoporosis. The bone-weakening effect of osteoporosis is estimated to responsible for 200,000 fractures in the UK each year, and is a cause of [...]
My line of work inevitably brings me face-to-face with individuals who feel a fair proportion of their weight is surplus to requirements and are thoroughly fed up with living it large. I have known many would-be slimmers who, keen to force themselves into calorie deficit, are tempted to subsist on very slim pickings for breakfast [...]
We British do seem to have an insatiable appetite for foreign cuisine, and one country whose traditional fare seems to have made a successful migration to these shores is Japan. While taste and fashion are likely to be driving forces in the rising popularity of Japanese food in these parts, my suspicion is that another [...]
Nutritional science seems to churn out a perennial crop of research demonstrating the health benefits to be had by consuming a decent daily quota of vegetables. Certain vegetables on which particular praise has been heaped by researchers are those of the brassica class, such as broccoli and cabbage. Research suggests that one specific constituent of [...]
