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.
When I was medical school, I noticed one of my friends had lost a bit of weight (intentionally). Even though I was not really interested in things like weight control and diet in those days, my curiosity got the better of me and I asked him how he did it. Had he cut back on [...]
Conventional nutritional ‘wisdom’ has it that saturated fat (found in foods such meat, eggs, dairy products, coconut and palm oil) is bad for heart health, while ‘polyunsaturated’ fats (including ‘vegetable’ oils) are good. These concepts emerged decades ago and were mostly based on the impact of these fats on cholesterol levels. There’s a big potential [...]
I’ve noticed a general trend over recent years for increasing scepticism regarding statin drugs. There have been murmurings within the medical community, but where this shift is most readily observable is in the general public. It wasn’t so long ago that it was generally difficult for members of the public to access scientific and medical [...]
There has been some recent interest, even in the mainstream media, in the practice of ‘intermittent fasting’. Essentially, this means going for extended periods of time without food. It comes in many different guises. Skipping of significantly delaying breakfast is one approach. Contracting the ‘window’ available for eating each day to, say, 6 or 8 [...]
Last Saturday The Times newspaper featured ‘male dieting’, and included a piece from me in which I highlighted the role of leptin in weight control. The Times has a paywall, so unless you have a subscription, you can’t read it. So I’ve stuck it up here. Many men can find their excess fat to be [...]
Why the state of Dr Robert Atkins’ coronary arteries and general health when he died are irrelevant, thorough chewing food can help curb a tendency to overeat, scientific evidence appears to be getting steadily more unreliable. For RSS feeds, click on http://www.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/8966 and then the ‘RSS feeds’ button to the right. For help regarding the [...]
I’m a huge advocate of sleep. There is a mass of evidence which bears testament to the importance of sleep’s role in physical and psychological wellbeing. The other thing is – it’s free. In recent years there has been growing interest in the scientific community regarding the relationship sleep has with risk of obesity. Generally, [...]
In my life and work I commonly come across men who are keen on being stronger and more muscular, and will ask about the sort of diet that might help them achieve their ends. Perhaps not surprisingly, I recommend a diet relatively rich in protein, seeing as protein is a major component in muscle. For [...]
