Kevin Witham Blog » Health

Watch the Research

admin — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 22:49:38 +0000

The British Medical Journal has again raised concerns recently that some drug test results go unreported and are deliberately hidden allowing companies to make unfounded claims. Data can often be unpublished, missing or is extremely slow to be published. This says the BMJ could put patients at risk. Indeed, one US study from Yale university found that fewer than half the 635 National Institutes Of Health funded trials were published in a peer-reviewed medical journal in 30 months. Peer reviewed work is considered essential to ensure mistakes are not made. Furthermore, a lot of research goes out of its way to prove an hypothesis rather then trying to disprove it- the latter provides more information and positive bias can be a problem in the design of many studies. There have been a number of drugs over the years which have been withdrawn and many have been found to have increased toxicity compared to the original test results.

Don’t assume all things you buy are vigorously tested or indeed safe.

Kevin, 16 February 2012

Sugar and all that Fizzy

admin — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:06:46 +0000

Many of you will have heard me say that sugar is the main culprit which causes us to get fat, not fat in itself. This is why I steer away from low fat products, sold as healthy but often having sugar- a carbohydrate added. In the Journal Nature scientists have declared sugar as toxic and although a little is not a problem ‘a lot kills slowly’ and causes around 35 million deaths a year worldwide according to the research. They say sugar contributes to obesity, heart disease, cancer and liver damage. The latter mirrors the damage caused by excess alcohol consumption itself made from sugar. The authors also state that sugar affects metabolism and raises blood pressure. Sugar releases insulin in to the boby which in itself is a potent fat storing hormone essentially converting the excess sugar in to fat. This can lead to a build up of fat especially around the abdominal area depressing metabolism and increasing the risk of cardiovascular problems including diabetes. Sugar consumption has tripled in the last 50 years and is often high in so called healthy low fat foods such as fizzy drinks, cereals, chocolate bars and muffins- essentially junk food!

This is also on the back of recent research released from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine suggesting that regular consumption of soft drinks even one a day can increase heart attacks and strokes by 43% and can lead to serious liver damage. There is now ten years of research that drinking soft drinks even diet drinks causes people to eat more and therefore gain more weight.

Reduce the sugar and processed junk food and increase healthy fats in your diet which boost metabolism and help control your blood sugar levels. Avoid low fat diets and concentrate on the quality of what you eat.

Kevin, 13 February 2012

Want to lose weight?

admin — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:44:58 +0000

Always at this time of year many people are looking at ways to reduce weight and improve fitness. Unfortunately, it is also that time of year when many foolish diets and detox plans are released. You will have heard me say how important it is for your health to focus on the quality of the food that you eat rather then quantity or calorie counting. Now the Harvard School of Public Health has found that the biggest impact on people losing weight is indeed to focus on the quality of what you eat, especially the carbohydrates, rather then how much you consume. It was found in this study that the biggest factor was to reduce sweetened drinks, refined grains, white bread and rice and low fibre cereals. Increasing natural foods such as whole grains, vegetables, nuts, yoghurt and avoiding processed foods was seen to lower weight. Furthermore, those who slept between 6-8 hours a night gained less weight compared to those sleeping less than 6 hours or over 8 hours. This study tracked 100,000 people over 20 years. Losing weight- well you know, eat well and move often.

Science is also clear that you can’t detox the body through faddy diets and products- this is reviewed this month in the British Society of Biology. Of course, the best way is to reduce the numbers of toxins going in and exercise and sleep well!

Kevin, 20 December 2011