People that know me well know that good food is essential to me. I even chose my daughters’ school based on the food they offered. It is the same with my patients. My patients know that I am very interested in what they are eating. I have a food first approach when it comes to […]
diet
Can eating mushrooms reduce dementia risk and save your brain?
The number of people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease is expected to rise at an alarming rate. Currently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) believes there are 50 million people around the world with dementia. But this number is expected to triple in the next thirty years. Yet scientists believe that we can reduce our risk […]
What to eat on the Mediterranean diet
As I have discussed before scientific studies suggest that the Mediterranean diet is the healthiest way to eat. There are hundreds if not thousands of studies that support the use of this way of eating for improving health as well as reducing the risk of developing a chronic disease, potentially reversing chronic disease and for […]
Should you eat more whole grains?
In the news last week we saw many articles similar to this one from the BBC website. These articles relate to a World Health Organisation (WHO) funded review in the Lancet that looked at the amount of dietary fibre people eat and how it relates to their health and risk of disease. The general impression of the […]
Are detox plans worth doing?
Detox plans are all the rage at this time of year. A New Year – a new you! I get it. And especially after a period of overindulgence over the Christmas holidays, many people are ready to tone it back and get on track. Eat more healthily. exercise more, drink more water and so on… […]
Why a low fat diet is not the way to go
It’s not surprising that sometimes people get confused about the healthiest way to eat, whether it’s a low fat diet or low carb or something else. There are far too many contradictory messages in the media about the healthiest type of diet. But, as I’ve been telling my patients for quite some time, nobody […]
Alzheimers disease and iron intake
Alzheimer’s disease was first described in 1906. It was little known at the time and did not even enter medical textbooks until decades later. So, how come this disease is at epidemic proportions and now a leading cause of death in the UK? We know that certain genes can predispose some people to have an […]
Is your statin increasing your risk of diabetes?
Statins are a group of pharmaceutical drugs that reduce the level of LDL cholesterol in the blood. Your doctor might recommend you take a statin if you suffer from, or might develop cardiovascular disease in the future. Yet, this study found that some statins can increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 46%. This […]
Alzheimer’s disease – is fibre good for the brain?
Dementia is now the leading cause of death in England, ahead of cancer and heart disease. Yet, while many people might know someone that has survived cancer, how many people with Alzheimer’s disease do you know that have got better, or even improved? Currently conventional medicine has no treatment for Alzheimers disease that does anything […]
Simple strategies for preventing a common cold
Are you one of the lucky ones that never seems to catch a cold? If not then you might want to read on. This article is for those people who want to know about some evidence based strategies for preventing a common cold. Of course there are plenty of remedies for reducing the symptoms and […]
Some reasons a low FODMAP diet may not work for IBS
Research shows that if you have irritable bowel syndrome, eating a diet low in FODMAPs is likely to reduce your symptoms. I discuss what FODMAPs are and how they help IBS here. Briefly a low FODMAP diet restricts foods that contain certain types of carbohydrates, specifically fermentable carbohydrates. However, though a low FODMAP diet is […]
Food as medicine to prevent chronic disease
Given the regularity of food related news headlines, and especially those that seem to contradict ‘last week’s news’, it’s perhaps not surprising that many people are unsure about what they should believe. What should we eat to improve our health or even prevent chronic disease? Low fat or low carb? What about grains or gluten? […]
Reduce your IBS symptoms with a low FODMAPs diet
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common condition of the gastrointestinal tract, and many people say that food either triggers or exacerbate their IBS symptoms. Yet, there is considerable evidence that making a change to a diet low in FODMAPs can help to reduce these symptoms. IBS is a functional condition, meaning that there are […]
Can dietary change reduce bone loss in osteoporosis?
The Mediterranean diet is widely considered the healthiest diet and is recommended for the prevention of chronic disease. In this new study, in which over a thousand elderly Europeans took part, researchers wanted to know if eating a Mediterranean diet made a difference to markers of inflammation in elderly people. They also checked if a […]
Are you happy with your current irritable bowel syndrome treatment?
If you have irritable bowel syndrome and are currently receiving treatment, the chances are, that your answer to this question will be no. In fact, research demonstrates that less than 40% of patients are satisfied with their current irritable bowel syndrome treatment. Which means that in the UK, where an estimated 6.5 to 13 million […]
Is all processed food unhealthy?
The extent to which a food is processed is a major determinant in how healthy that food is. The Western diet includes many processed foods and even some ultra-processed foods. Researchers now think that this processing may have a large role in what makes the typical Western diet unhealthy. Food processing includes food preparation methods […]
How to prevent migraines during pregnancy
The good news is that more than half of women report improvements in their migraines during pregnancy. Unfortunately, you won’t know if you are one of the lucky ones until you’re pregnant. Since migraine medication can be harmful to an unborn child, ideally it should be avoided in pregnancy. Yet, being without your migraine medications […]
Cholesterol and the over 60s
For decades people have been told to reduce their intake of cholesterol. Yet, this fatty substance has many important functions in the human body. In fact, scientists say that it is vital for good health. Yet your doctor may say that having high total cholesterol is not healthy. And, it may be a main cause of […]
How to get rid of bloating
This is the second part in a series of posts. The first article covered What causes bloating, and this one follows up with how to get rid of bloating. Though relieving the symptom of bloating is important, as with many chronic health concerns to make a permanent improvement, it is necessary to find the underlying […]
What causes bloating?
A lot of people know the feeling of having a bloated tummy. That uncomfortable, unpleasantly full feeling, similar to the sensation of having eaten too much over the festive season for example. Yet, up to 25% of healthy people report having bloating frequently, and for some people bloating can be a daily occurrence. This is the […]
