Wednesday, September 30, 2009
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS BLOG HAS MOVED >>>>
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Thursday, September 03, 2009
Breakfast stubbed out
Daily Mail. September 2, 2009.
"More than 1.2 million children begin the day by eating junk food or smoking cigarettes instead of having a proper breakfast", a survey shows.
Regular readers of this blog will know I have little regard for parents who don't give their children the most important thing they can give them - health. Being a great parent is not about being able to provide branded trainers, it's about inspiring your offspring to be the best people they can be. They can't even start to achieve in this increasingly demanding world, without basic health.
To send a child off to school without a decent breakfast inside them is negligent. On the other hand, this survey was commissioned by Kelloggs - no doubt looking to see if they can get the 30% of girls and 20% of boys, who don't have breakfast at home, to have a bowl of sugary cereal instead. This is just as bad as sending the child out for the day with an empty stomach.
Great breakfasts for children are bacon and eggs, omelettes, whole meal toast and marmite (if they love it), fruit, natural yoghurt, and/or sugar free cereals like porridge/shredded wheat (there aren't many). Frosties, Cornflakes and other sugary cereals are not the best start to the day.
The smoking bit came from the fact that many parents are giving children money to get breakfast on the way to school and some kids are getting cigarettes instead. If your child comes home smelling of ciggies, no more breakfast money!
Follow "Breakfast Stubbed Out" post at www.Zoeharcombe.com
"More than 1.2 million children begin the day by eating junk food or smoking cigarettes instead of having a proper breakfast", a survey shows.
Regular readers of this blog will know I have little regard for parents who don't give their children the most important thing they can give them - health. Being a great parent is not about being able to provide branded trainers, it's about inspiring your offspring to be the best people they can be. They can't even start to achieve in this increasingly demanding world, without basic health.
To send a child off to school without a decent breakfast inside them is negligent. On the other hand, this survey was commissioned by Kelloggs - no doubt looking to see if they can get the 30% of girls and 20% of boys, who don't have breakfast at home, to have a bowl of sugary cereal instead. This is just as bad as sending the child out for the day with an empty stomach.
Great breakfasts for children are bacon and eggs, omelettes, whole meal toast and marmite (if they love it), fruit, natural yoghurt, and/or sugar free cereals like porridge/shredded wheat (there aren't many). Frosties, Cornflakes and other sugary cereals are not the best start to the day.
The smoking bit came from the fact that many parents are giving children money to get breakfast on the way to school and some kids are getting cigarettes instead. If your child comes home smelling of ciggies, no more breakfast money!
Follow "Breakfast Stubbed Out" post at www.Zoeharcombe.com
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Slimming Drug Investigated over liver damage claim
Western Mail. 26 August, 2009.
GlaxoSmithKline are the makers of the weight loss pill "Orlistat" (known as "Xenical" on prescription or "Alli", now available over the counter).
This article noted that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reviewing 30 reports of serious liver damage, in people who have been taking the drug, 6 of which resulted in organ failure. GSK, of course, are trying to reassure users that there is no connection to liver damage.
I don't know if there is any connection between Orlistat and liver damage - I welcome the FDA review, so that this can be determined through investigation. One of the many functions of the liver, however, is to manage the removal of waste products and Orlistat does have quite an impact on waste product management...
Orlistat works on the basis that fat is not digested by the body until it reaches the colon. So Alli/Xenical tries to ensure that any fat rushes through the colon and into the toilet, before it can be digested at all. You can probably work out the key downside already – some people reportedly don’t even make it to the toilet before the tablet works! The product information advises wearing dark trousers and carrying a spare change of clothes. Nice!
It is so sad that people are so desperate to slim that they will try something with such embarrassing side effects before trying something as simple as eating real food and nothing but real food. i.e. The Harcombe Diet.
Keep an eye out for the FDA conclusions and so will I.
Follow this post over at www.zoeharcombe.com
GlaxoSmithKline are the makers of the weight loss pill "Orlistat" (known as "Xenical" on prescription or "Alli", now available over the counter).
This article noted that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reviewing 30 reports of serious liver damage, in people who have been taking the drug, 6 of which resulted in organ failure. GSK, of course, are trying to reassure users that there is no connection to liver damage.
I don't know if there is any connection between Orlistat and liver damage - I welcome the FDA review, so that this can be determined through investigation. One of the many functions of the liver, however, is to manage the removal of waste products and Orlistat does have quite an impact on waste product management...
Orlistat works on the basis that fat is not digested by the body until it reaches the colon. So Alli/Xenical tries to ensure that any fat rushes through the colon and into the toilet, before it can be digested at all. You can probably work out the key downside already – some people reportedly don’t even make it to the toilet before the tablet works! The product information advises wearing dark trousers and carrying a spare change of clothes. Nice!
It is so sad that people are so desperate to slim that they will try something with such embarrassing side effects before trying something as simple as eating real food and nothing but real food. i.e. The Harcombe Diet.
Keep an eye out for the FDA conclusions and so will I.
Follow this post over at www.zoeharcombe.com
Friday, August 28, 2009
Chocolate twice a week 'protects heart victims'
Daily Mail. August 15, 2009.
No surprise that I liked this article! As a regular consumer of 85%+ cocoa dark chocolate...
A Swedish study has shown that heart attack survivors, who eat dark (real) chocolate regularly are nearly 70% less likely to die from cardiac problems than those who rarely eat it. Even a weekly treat can help, almost halving the risk of death from heart problems.
The findings were published in the Journal of Internal Medicine. Previous studies have already shown that dark chocolate, which is rich in antioxidants, can lower the risk of blood clots, protect against bowel cancer and even help prevent premature births. Antioxidants protect the body from ageing caused by free radicals.
There were some very interesting stats in the article: Every year, 270,000 people in Britain suffer a heart attack. About a third die before reaching hospital - invariably because they delay seeking help, as that recent powerful advert was designed to illustrate.
The Swedish study involved 1,169 patients aged between 45 and 70, who had been admitted to hospital with a heart attack between 1992 and 1994. Each one was questioned on their dietary habits, including how much chocolate they ate and they were followed up for a further decade.
No surprise that I liked this article! As a regular consumer of 85%+ cocoa dark chocolate...
A Swedish study has shown that heart attack survivors, who eat dark (real) chocolate regularly are nearly 70% less likely to die from cardiac problems than those who rarely eat it. Even a weekly treat can help, almost halving the risk of death from heart problems.
The findings were published in the Journal of Internal Medicine. Previous studies have already shown that dark chocolate, which is rich in antioxidants, can lower the risk of blood clots, protect against bowel cancer and even help prevent premature births. Antioxidants protect the body from ageing caused by free radicals.
There were some very interesting stats in the article: Every year, 270,000 people in Britain suffer a heart attack. About a third die before reaching hospital - invariably because they delay seeking help, as that recent powerful advert was designed to illustrate.
The Swedish study involved 1,169 patients aged between 45 and 70, who had been admitted to hospital with a heart attack between 1992 and 1994. Each one was questioned on their dietary habits, including how much chocolate they ate and they were followed up for a further decade.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Junk Food Dummies
Daily Mail. August 14, 2009.
This article had me shaking my head in disbelief. When are we going to change our thinking about fats and carbs?!
Some scientists at Oxford University have fed a junk food diet to rats and they concluded that in just 9 days, a high fat diet damaged the rats' short term memory, made them significantly less alert and significantly decreased their ability to exercise. The scientists are now studying the effects of a short-term high fat diet on humans.
So, what's wrong with this? This is not a control experiment! The junk food fed to the rats included burgers and chips - so the team have not in fact proved anything to do with fat, as the carbs are more likely to have been the cause of any observations made. I have never seen a single study where people eating plain meat/fish/eggs/dairy products perform anything other than very well. I have seen numerous studies where people eating sugar, white flour and refined carbohydrates have carbohydrate induced stupors.
The only way to show if fat is the issue with the rats is to feed them fat and only fat! Exactly the same error occurred with the Ancel Keys "Seven Countries Study" (1956-1970). This is the source of all current views that saturated fat is bad for you and causes high cholesterol, which causes heart disease. I do not believe that there is any evidence for this and nor do many other health researchers. What Keys did was to observe the diets of 7 countries and the fat content in each and conclude that Japan has lower heart disease than America and a lower fat diet, so there is the answer! Japan also consumed (at the time) bugger all sugar and white flour and America consumed loads! What Keys more likely observed, therefore, was an association between a high refined carb diet and heart disease. Even then, an association doesn't mean a causation.
Please scientists - stop having a premise and setting out to prove it and do genuine unbiased experiments and report the results as you find them.
This article had me shaking my head in disbelief. When are we going to change our thinking about fats and carbs?!
Some scientists at Oxford University have fed a junk food diet to rats and they concluded that in just 9 days, a high fat diet damaged the rats' short term memory, made them significantly less alert and significantly decreased their ability to exercise. The scientists are now studying the effects of a short-term high fat diet on humans.
So, what's wrong with this? This is not a control experiment! The junk food fed to the rats included burgers and chips - so the team have not in fact proved anything to do with fat, as the carbs are more likely to have been the cause of any observations made. I have never seen a single study where people eating plain meat/fish/eggs/dairy products perform anything other than very well. I have seen numerous studies where people eating sugar, white flour and refined carbohydrates have carbohydrate induced stupors.
The only way to show if fat is the issue with the rats is to feed them fat and only fat! Exactly the same error occurred with the Ancel Keys "Seven Countries Study" (1956-1970). This is the source of all current views that saturated fat is bad for you and causes high cholesterol, which causes heart disease. I do not believe that there is any evidence for this and nor do many other health researchers. What Keys did was to observe the diets of 7 countries and the fat content in each and conclude that Japan has lower heart disease than America and a lower fat diet, so there is the answer! Japan also consumed (at the time) bugger all sugar and white flour and America consumed loads! What Keys more likely observed, therefore, was an association between a high refined carb diet and heart disease. Even then, an association doesn't mean a causation.
Please scientists - stop having a premise and setting out to prove it and do genuine unbiased experiments and report the results as you find them.
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