Obesity – Page 2 – Verners' Views

161. More Reflections on the Cape Town Low Carb Summit: Old Mutual Shows the Way Forward

March 6, 2015

If anyone had doubts about why the current official dietary recommendations which emphasise the benefits of a diet low fat and high carbohydrates are fundamentally flawed, they should have been at the recent Low Carb Summit in Cape Town. When all the available scientific evidence is collected together it is abundantly obvious that the existing […]

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127. Beware of Fructose!

October 24, 2014

The original work of Ancel Keys which eventually led to the dietary guidelines recommending a reduction in total fat and particularly saturated fat (SFA) was based on epidemiological studies which related the national fat data to the incidence of heart disease (1). However almost invariably countries which have a high intake of fat also have

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BLOG 2014 125. Rubbish on NHS Choices Website

October 8, 2014

I have just been looking at a section of the NHS Choices website entitled “The Truth about Carbs” (1). I just cannot believe the utter rubbish that is presented here about carbohydrates. Here are some extracts: “Carbs” has become a dirty word in recent times, especially in the weight loss world, due in no small

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106. Bad Science and Big Business Responsible for Obesity Epidemic

August 5, 2014

Dr David Diamond is a neuroscientist who was overweight with high values for his blood cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides, which indicated that he was a prime candidate for heart disease. He was therefore typical of those who are recommended to be prescribed statins on the grounds that this treatment will lower the TC and therefore

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61. Yet More Nonsense on Obesity!

January 13, 2014

“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

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60. A Public Health Catastrophe

October 27, 2013

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

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56. Changing Patterns of Food Consumption

September 11, 2013

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

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50. Reflections on the previous 49 Blogs

July 15, 2013

As this is Blog 50, I thought it would be instructive to look back over some of the earlier blogs and attempt to highlight some of the key message that have emerged. It is now over 30 years since official guidelines on diet were first issued by health professionals and usually endorsed by governments. Prior

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42. American Doctors Decide that Obesity is a Disease

July 1, 2013

Obesity is now classed as a disease according to a recent decision taken by the American Medical Association (AMA)which is the official body representing the medical profession in the USA. This decision was reached despite the fact that the AMA’s own Council on Science and Public Health had concluded that: “Without a single, clear, authoritative,

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39. Sugar Sweetened Soft Drinks

June 28, 2013

Over the years there has been a huge increase in the amount of Sugar Sweetened Soft Beverages(SSSBs) and there is mounting evidence that this a critical factor contributing to the increasing incidence of Metabolic Syndrome. In the USA there has been a 5-fold increase in the volume of soft drinks between 1950 and 2000(1).

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