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.
Des Spence is a UK general practitioner (family physician) who writes a weekly column in the British Medical Journal. Dr Spence does not shy away from pointing out what he feel is wrong with conventional medical practice. He regularly, it seems to me, has the independence of mind and balls to take a swipe at [...]
In one of my blog posts last week I reported on a study which suggested that obesity is a potential cause of vitamin D deficiency, but that vitamin D deficiency is unlikely to have a big role in driving obesity. However, even if this conclusion is utterly correct, it does not mean that boosting vitamin [...]
I believe I eat a generally healthy diet, but I’m no angel. One of my weaknesses is my ‘speed eating’ – a tendency to consume food too quickly and a failure to savour it properly. One of the risks of eating this way is that it can bypass some of the body’s natural cues regarding [...]
I got an interesting email over the weekend from a 56-year-old type 2 diabetic. He was diagnosed at age 42. He initially managed this as he was advised: with a high carbohydrate, low fat diet. He moved to ‘healthy’ grains that were ‘less refined’ and ate sourdough bread. In his own words: “And despite all [...]
Baroness Barbara Young is the chief executive of the charity Diabetes UK, the UK’s largest and most prominent diabetes charity, and an organisation which encourages diabetics to eat at every meal foods which are known to be disruptive to blood sugar levels and therefore be bad for diabetics (go figure). You can read more about [...]
A fundamental problem with diabetes is the usually-elevated levels of blood sugar (glucose) that go with it. These glucose molecules can react with proteins in the body, damaging them. This process – known as ‘glycation’ – is at the heart of diabetic complications such as cataracts, nerve damage, kidney disease and circulatory problems. There is [...]
Steve Cooksey is a regular guy. Awhile back, he was taken sick and was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. He decided to take matters into his own hands by educating himself about how best to help himself, and ended up eating a low-carbohydrate/paleo/primal diet (meat, fish, nuts and veggies, mainly) and taking more exercise. While [...]
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 [...]
While coffee does not enjoy the healthiest of reputations, it has been consistently linked with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes in the scientific literature. Back in February, for instance, a German study was published which found that individuals drinking 4 or more cups of caffeinated coffee each day had a 23 per cent [...]
Baroness Barbara Young is the chief executive of the UK’s largest diabetes charity – Diabetes UK. She’s been on the warpath recently, calling the UK Government out on a ‘lack of political will’ to do something about substandard testing and care of those with diabetes. Baroness Young has this week performed something of a media [...]
New post: Why won't drug companies give up their data on flu medications? drbriffa.com/2013/05/23/why…
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New post: Avoiding evening eating found to promote weight loss drbriffa.com/2013/05/24/avo…
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New post: Can B-vitamins stave off Alzheimer's disease? tinyurl.com/pebd3xu
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New post: Is pot-smoking healthy? drbriffa.com/2013/05/17/is-…
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New post: Low-carb diets can help maintain the metabolism after weight loss drbriffa.com/2013/05/15/low…
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Link to article in USA Today: Are psychiatrists inventing conditions that are actually normal human behaviour? usatoday.com/story/news/nat…
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Do low-carb diets really make people sleepy? Are you kiddin' me?! drbriffa.com/2013/05/09/do-…
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