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‘Primal’ diet outperforms ‘Mediterranean’ eating in study

By on 4 July 2007 in Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome, Healthy Eating, Weight Loss

My latest book The True You Diet posits that the best diet for us is essentially one based on the foods that we’ve been eating the longest in terms of our evolution ” after all, these are the foods we are going to be best adapted to. A ‘primal’ diet is one that is devoid […]

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Diabetes drug linked with adverse effects on health – again

By on 25 May 2007 in Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome, Food and Medical Politics

Back in December, I wrote a post which focused on the apparent ability of pharmaceutical companies to divert our attention away from what is really important (health) to what are often referred to as ‘surrogate’ outcomes such as blood pressure or cholesterol levels. The problem here is that while it is often assumed that, say, […]

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Resistance exercise may help to protect us from diabetes

By on 23 April 2007 in Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome, Exercise and Activity

One condition that we are warned is on dramatic rise is type 2 diabetes. This condition, is characterised by raised levels of sugar (glucose) in the bloodstream, and is usually caused by a failure of the body to make adequate amounts of insulin and/or impaired insulin function (insulin resistance). Type 2 diabetes is believed to […]

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The ‘quality’ press has the capacity to churn out ‘bad press’ too, it seems

By on 23 March 2007 in Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome, Food and Medical Politics, Unhealthy Eating!

This week I was out and about and couldn’t help noticing the headline on one of the national newspapers here in the UK proclaiming ‘Ready meals increase cancer risk in women’. My interest was piqued, so I took a look. The story reported on a study published this week in the journal Diabetes Care. This […]

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Are wholegrain breakfast cereals really good for the heart?

By on 5 March 2007 in Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome, Healthy Eating, Low-Carbohydrate, Unhealthy Eating!

One of the pieces of nutritional advice we’ve been force-fed over the last decade or three concerns the supposedly health-giving properties of wholegrains. Friday saw this message redoubled on the presentation of a study at the American Heart Association annual conference in Florida, USA, which apparently found and association between the eating of wholegrain breakfast […]

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Carbohydrate, not fat, consumption is linked with increased risk of metabolic syndrome

By on 5 January 2007 in Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome, Healthy Eating, Low-Carbohydrate, Weight Loss

In recent years there has been increasing awareness regarding a condition known a ‘metabolic syndrome’. While its precise definition varies a bit, the main feature of metabolic syndrome is excess weight around the midriff (abdominal obesity), coupled with other unwanted findings such as raised levels of sugar and/or blood fats known as triglycerides, raised blood […]

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More research shows abdominal obesity is linked with chronic disease

By on 29 December 2006 in Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome, Weight Loss

Previously in this blog I have drawn attention to the fact that the body mass index (obtained by dividing one’s weight in kg by the square of one’s height in metres) is practically useless as an indicator of health. It seems that far more useful measurements are the waist circumference or what is known as […]

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What are we going to do about the diabetes ‘timebomb’?

By on 8 December 2006 in Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome, Food and Medical Politics, Healthy Eating, Low-Carbohydrate, Specific conditions, Unhealthy Eating!

It’s been hard to miss the dire warning we’ve had about the burgeoning rates of diabetes we’re seeing in the World. Another came this week came out of Cape Town in South Africa during the World Diabetes Congress. It was announced at a news conference that by the year 2025, 380 million people will be […]

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Why I won’t be giving up my morning coffee any time soon

By on 1 December 2006 in Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome, Healthy Eating

Last week I was on the island of Malta in middle of the Mediterranean teaching a health-focused course to delegates from several European countries. At one point, I found myself having a conversation over breakfast with our course administrator – an Italian – on the topic of how to make a great espresso coffee. I […]

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Getting control of diabetes with diet

By on 17 October 2004 in Diabetes/Metabolic Syndrome, Healthy Eating, Observer Archive, Specific conditions, Unhealthy Eating!

With its incidence predicted to double over the next decade, diabetes has attracted more medical and media attention of late. Last month, for instance, reports in the press appeared after doctors recommended more regular blood sugar levels checks for diabetics. Diabetes sufferers have also been urged to have more frequent assessment of a blood component […]

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