The so-called “cholesterol/diet/heart disease” theory is based on the belief that the risks of death due to heart disease are associated with the concentration of cholesterol in the blood (TC). In other words if you have a high TC you can lower your chances of developing heart disease by reducing the TC level. It is […]
65. Do you really want to lower your Cholesterol? Read More »
Foodswitch UK is an app which has just been launched in the UK with the objective of assisting consumers to identify the healthier options of specific food types (1). The recommendations are based on an evaluation of the nutrition information, which can be accessed via the app by scanning the barcode. Details are presented for
Sugar is definitely in the news these days. The “Action on Sugar” campaign has certainly hit the airwaves but has been challenged by The Grocer with various articles including one with the headline “Action on Sugar Case is ‘pretty weak’ “. Hence there is great interest in the forthcoming report from the Scientific Advisory Committee
In the USA the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just announced that it intends to take action that would reduce the amount of Trans Fatty Acids (TFAs) in foods to a minimum (1). It has been estimated that this would prevent 7,000 deaths from heart disease and as many as 20,000 heart attacks every
“State of the Nation’s Waistline” is the title of a report prepared by the National Obesity Forum which makes the usual dire predictions about how obesity is getting worse and the failure of individuals, health professionals and the government to tackle the issue (1). Here is selection of some of the points made in the
60. A Public Health Catastrophe The UK government is currently gung ho about the “Responsibility Deal” in which various food companies have agreed to reduce saturated fat levels in a range of products in order to comply with the following pledge: “Recognising the role of over-consumption of saturated fat in the risk of premature avoidable mortality from
It is widely assumed that we should be eating plenty of fruit and vegetables…..hence the recommendation “Five a Day”. In this Blog I will consider some of the relevant evidence. There is little doubt that some fruit and vegetables should be included in a healthy diet but does it follow that more is better? Obviously
One of the most significant findings about cancer was made by the German biochemist Otto Warburg. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1931 for his discovery of the oxygen-transferring enzyme of cell respiration. Here is an extract from a lecture he presented in 1966 (1). “Cancer, above all other diseases, has countless
In a recent paper a research project based at the University of Utah has shown that comparatively low levels of sugar added to the diet can have substantial negative effects on mouse survival, competitive ability, and reproduction. In particular it was found that when mice ate a diet of 25% extra sugar – the mouse
Epidemiological studies into changing patterns of food consumption and disease statistics can provide valuable insights into the relationships between diet and health. In Great Britain data from national statistics show that amount of fat consumed has fallen from 120gm/day in 1969 to 74gm/day in 2000. When expressed as a proportion of energy consumed the fat