I’ve discussed in a previous article how studies on multiple different species of animal show that protein is the primary factor determining body weight. Put a mouse, a cockroach, or a monkey on a high protein diet (i.e. one where a high percentage of calories comes from protein), and it becomes lean. Switch it to a low protein diet, and it becomes obese.
Since this … Read more
David Raubenheimer and Stephen Simpson are biologists who have dedicated their careers to trying to understand how animals decide how much to eat and what to eat. They started with insects, and then moved on to small mammals, and ended up looking at humans, and they’ve chronicled their research in their book “Eat like the animals”.
What they’ve discovered is that most animals, including … Read more
I’ve written previously about how salt (sodium) only marginally raises blood pressure, and how the evidence that there is any benefit to reducing salt intake in the diet is weak at best. Now it’s time to look at that other salt, potassium. While sodium raises blood pressure, potassium supposedly lowers blood pressure, and many people have been given the recommendation to replace their table … Read more
I have a confession to make. For at least the last ten years, I’ve taken an omega-3 supplement every day. Religiously. Why? I literally have no idea. I don’t remember exactly when or why I started taking it. Presumably I read somewhere that it was a good idea. This was before I started studying medicine, and the decision certainly wasn’t based on any thorough evaluation … Read more
For the last couple of decades we have been bombarded with messages to eat more fruit and vegetables. One of the main arguments for this, and indeed the entire motivation behind the “5-a-day” campaign that started in the early 90’s, is that fruit and vegetables protect against cancer. But do they really?
The European Prospective Investigation in to Cancer and Nutrition, otherwise known as the … Read more
Traditional diet advice over the last fifty years, still espoused by most health authorities around the world, holds that if you want to lose weight, you need to cut down your fat intake. In the last few decades, a number of alternative diets have sprung up claiming that you should instead be cutting down your carbohydrate intake. These include the LCHF, Atkins, paleo, and more … Read more
