Healthy Eating & Nutrition News

Vegans Low Cholesterol High In Triglycerides ?

2012-01-27T14:11:00.001Z

Foods High In Triglycerides | ** The guide to triglycerides **

Gin - Vegan Mother's Ruin ?

Plantarians, Vegetarians who avoid dairy and vegans should all enjoy lower than average cholesterol levels but it seems that vegans are not necessarily immune to high trigyceride levels which can be just as damaging. Alcohol, sugary foods and a diet rich in simple carbohydrates, as well as a lack of sufficient exercise, all contribute to higher tryglyceride levels.

London Nutritionist from Foods for Life Health and Nutrition clinic in London's Harley Street and author of The UK Vegetarian Society's V Health program says "Vegetarians and Vegans should never be complacent, better than average is no guarantee of optimal health and vegans are equally bound by the rules of 'whole food not half food, slow food not fast food' like the rest of us. A diet of vegan beer, vegan wine, vegan cupcakes, vegan ice cream, veggieburgers, chips, pizzas and sugar and fat drenched Chinese food will have almost as many detrimental effects to the body as a meat eaters' equivilent diet."

"We don't have to worry about sources of vegetarian omega 3 DHA and EPA essential fatty acids anymore as these are now abundantly available made from sustainably farmed algae but supplements can never match the benefits of a good diet. Vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fibre essential fats all work in such an interactive synergystic way it's generally better to leave it up to nature, just remember variety is the spice of life."

"There's some evidence to suggest that a little red wine is less harmful than other alcohol but all alcohol is a toxin to the body and while the liver is dealing with alcohol it can't be processing fats so fats are even more likely to be stashed as body fat

Vegetarian Omega 3 DHA * Compare Fish Oil vs Algae omega 3 DHA

UK children and adults lack Vitamin D

2012-01-24T14:56:00.003Z

Yvonne Bishop-Weston Nutritionist London: 25% UK toddlers lacking Vitamin D

Lack of of Vitamin D linked to depression by Bristol University study.

Ain't no sunshine? Then she's gone! Vitamin D deficiency rocks Britain's health

The Independent - BBC News

Government advice to take supplements? I think you'll find we told you so, many times, but just in case we'll tell you again about the importance of Vitamin D...

Back in 2009 we blogged about a study linking vitamin D to increased health risks , and on numerous other occasions including this one about Nutrients Men aren't getting enough of .

We reported

Vitamin D is Great for bone health but it's so much more: A study in Circulation found that people deficient in D were up to 80 percent more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke. Ask your doctor to test your blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D. "You need to be above 30 nanograms per milliliter," said Michael Holick, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of medicine at Boston University, in the report. If you come up short, Holick recommends taking 1,400 IU of vitamin D daily from a supplement and a multivitamin.

Vitamin D is one of the most important vitamins, especially for your immune system and for building and maintaining bone health.

Meanwhile Bristol University revealed new research from the Children of the 90s study at the University of Bristol, which has been charting the health of 14,500 children since their birth in the early 1990s, shows that the link between low levels of vitamin D and depression is established in childhood and that ensuring children have a good intake of vitamin D could help reduce depression in adolescence and adulthood.

Your body makes vitamin D from sunshine - as the song goes (ish) "If there ain't no sunshine, then she's gone, there ain't no vitamin D when she goes away."

"If you spend your time playing nintendo or computer games instead of running about outside, riding in a car instead of on a bike, taking the tube / bus instead of walking through the park, thinking you look cool always wearing dark glasses or if you have dark skin to genetically protect you from a hot equatorial sun and you live in northern Europe or north America then you are going to benefit from a vitamin D supplement. A vitamin D deficiency leaves you with a greater risk of a number of different diseases not just bone problems such as rickets." says Nutritionist in London Yvonne Bishop-Weston

Vitamin D Supplement - Special Offer - Vitashine - Buy Now

Vegetarian / Vegan Omega 3 EPA DHA vs Fish Oil Supplements

2011-12-11T14:58:00.000Z

Vegetarian / Vegan Omega 3 EPA DHA vs Fish Oil Supplements « Nuique

Compare the Market - Fish Oil


Fish Oil vs omega 3 algae

A look at different long chain Omega 3 essential fatty acids on the market comparing strength per dose of DHA / EPA for popular fish oil brands compared to algae oil omega 3 DHA suitable for vegetarians and vegans

Comparison showed similar priced products but with Cod liver oil 85mg DHA per dose to Algae oil with 400mg per dose.

V Pure

Processed and Unprocessed Red Meat Consumption and Incident Type 2 Diabetes Among French Women

2011-12-02T22:18:00.000Z

Processed and Unprocessed Red Meat Consumption and Incident Type 2 Diabetes Among French Women

Martin Lajous, DSC¹,² ⇓,Laura Tondeur, MS³,Guy Fagherazzi, PHD³,⁴,Blandine de Lauzon-Guillain, PHD³,
Marie-Christine Boutron-Ruaualt, PHD³,⁴ and
Françoise Clavel-Chapelon, PHD³,⁴

+ Author Affiliations

¹Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
²Center for Research on Population Health, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca, Mexico
³INSERM, Center for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health, U1018, Institut de Cancérologie Gustave-Roussy, Villejuif, France
⁴Paris-South University, UMRS 1019, Villejuif, France

Corresponding author: Martin Lajous, mlajous(at)hsph.harvard.edu.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the relation of processed and unprocessed red meat and incident type 2 diabetes.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We conducted a prospective study among 66,118 disease-free French women with dietary information from a validated questionnaire. Between 1993 and 2007, we identified 1,369 cases of incident diabetes. Multivariate analyses were adjusted for age, education, region, smoking, BMI, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, physical activity, parental history of diabetes, menopause, hormone replacement therapy, alcohol, calories, n-3 fatty acids, carbohydrates, coffee, fiber, and fruits and vegetables.

RESULTS Comparing the highest category of processed meat intake, ≥5 servings/week (median, 48 g/day), to the lowest, <1 serving/week (median, 5 g/day), processed meat was significantly associated with incident diabetes (hazard ratio 1.30 [95% CI 1.07–1.59], P trend = 0.0007; for 1 serving/day, 1.29 [1.14–1.45]). Unprocessed red meat was not associated with diabetes.

CONCLUSION In this large prospective cohort of French women, a direct association was observed only for processed red meat and type 2 diabetes.

Received August 9, 2011.
Accepted October 15, 2011.

Yvonne Bishop-Weston Nutritionist London: Win Gift Voucher - London Nutritionist

2011-12-01T14:37:00.000Z

Yvonne Bishop-Weston Nutritionist London: Win Gift Voucher - London Nutritionist

Merry Christmas!

Tesco Caught Out in Asda Price War

2011-11-16T15:33:00.001Z

Tesco have got their wrists slapped over a Tesco TV advert earlier this year in the war against Asda who claim to put more change in your pocket in true Walmart style.

Double the difference?

The Tesco TV ad showed a range of products available at Tesco. The female voice-over stated "At Tesco, we understand times are tough, so we've lowered over 1,000 prices right across the store ... And you can now check the price of your shop at Tesco Price Check and if you find your comparable grocery shopping cheaper at Asda, we'll happily refund double the difference ..."

£20 limit

Text in the "FAQ" section of the website stated "Is there a maximum amount a voucher will be valid for? We operate a fair use policy to prevent abuse. As such the maximum value for an individual Price Check Voucher is limited to £20".

http://asa.org.uk/ASA-action/Adjudications/2011/11/Tesco-Stores-Ltd/SHP_ADJ_153233.aspx

We considered that the £20 limit was a significant restriction likely to affect the average consumer's decision to shop at Tesco during the promotional period. Because the restriction was not included in ads (a) and (c) we concluded that they were misleading. Because the restriction was only found in the fair-use policy for ad (b) we concluded that the terms and conditions contradicted rather than clarified the headline claim and therefore that ad (b) was also misleading.
Ad (a) breached BCAP Code rules 3.1 and 3.2 (Misleading advertising) and 3.10 (Qualification).
Ads (b) and (c) breached CAP Code (Edition12) rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising) and 3.9 and 3.10 (Qualification).

The Asda Price Guarantee says "If we're not 10% cheaper on your comparable grocery shopping we'll give you the difference. Guaranteed! "

£12 bn Food wasted in UK

2011-11-15T16:26:00.000Z

Wrap meeting targets but warns over food waste

The UK throws away £12bn worth of edible food per year.

Speaking at the body’s annual conference today, WRAP chief executive Liz Goodwin said that Wrap has helped keep 11m tonnes of waste out of landfill.

According to Wrap, this has avoided 5.5m tonnes of C02 equivalent emissions and generates “£2bn of benefits to the UK economy”.

Food waste has also fallen by 13% and Goodwin welcomed the fall from 8.3m tonnes in 2006/07 to 7.2m tonnes. However she said that the food wasted in the supply chain was “significant” at a time when food security was a major issue.

Are you ready for this?

2011-11-05T01:11:00.000Z

One World Day Nov 1st: One World Day - Health Sustainability - YouTube

More people than ever before are adopting a plantarian style diet..

Another Cancer alert on meat

2011-11-04T12:46:00.000Z

Express.co.uk - Home of the Daily and Sunday Express | UK News :: Cancer alert on red meat

New report suggests raw meat could be safer than cooked meat

EATING overcooked meat is twice as likely to cause cancer than previously thought, scientists warned last night.

The new alert over the hidden dangers of a roast dinner or cooked breakfast means the nation is unwittingly putting itself at serious risk of developing the deadly disease.

The dark crust formed on the outside of a well-done steak or joint of red meat more than doubles the risk of intestinal tumours, researchers have found. Frying and grilling are particularly risky because the intense heat turns the sugars and amino acids of muscle tissue into high levels of cancer-causing compounds.

French Ignore Nutrition Health Research

2011-10-17T11:53:00.002Z

Mad France Disease? Eat Meat! New Law in France!

French Government Ban Vegetarian Meals

"Whilst many health advisory organisations are suggesting we cut down on meat and eat more fruit and vegetables Nicolas Sarkozy and the French government are going against the wholegrain and have legislated that meat, fish and saturated fat rich animal products always be served." London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston revealed today

In a recent Press Release from the World Cancer Research Fund they said.

Women in the UK are 17 per cent more likely to develop cancer by the age of 75 than the European average
‘Together with other factors such as being physically active and eating a healthy plant-based diet without too much salt or red and processed meat, these changes could make a real difference to the number of women who develop cancer before the age of 75.
“Overall, we estimate about a third of the most common cancers could be prevented by eating healthily, being physically active and maintaining a healthy weight. And for breast cancer, which is the most common type of cancer, about four in 10 cases could be prevented through lifestyle changes.

http://www.wcrf-uk.org/audience/media/press_release.php?recid=160

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) was asked by the UK Department of Health to review dietary advice on meat consumption as a source of iron.
Based on that report a government committee, which included a number of doctors, said those consuming more than 100g of red or processed meats per day - the equivalent of as little as two thick cut back bacon rashers in one leading supermarket - may need to be told to cut their intake to reduce risk of colerectal cancer.

http://plantarian.blogspot.com/2011/02/sacn-iron-and-health-report-sacn.html

The EVU (European Vegetarian Union) report, in a typically defiant, fly in the face of the facts move,
the Government in France are moving in totally the opposite direction

Following a law voted last year by the French Parliament(1) The French have legislated meat must be served in schools, similar decrees will be taken shortly regarding almost all forms of catering from kindergarten to hospital, prisons and retirement homes. Vegetarianism will then have effectively been banned for a large part of the population.

A governmental order issued on October 2, 2011(2) has determined that all meals served in school canteens in France must contain animal products, and that meat and fish will be served at a certain minimum frequency. This implies that by law from now on no vegetarian can eat at any public or private school in France.

The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which is binding on member states including France, holds that: Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right includes freedom to change religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or in private, to manifest religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance.(4)

The public debate regarding animal rights and the moral status of animals is active in France as in many other countries. Citizens are entitled to choose freely where they stand on these issues, and those who believe that they cannot, in conscience, accept to eat animals must not be discriminated against.

A government cannot settle a philosophical, ethical and political debate by restricting the rights of those who disagree with its own positions. For years, the official policy of the French government has been openly hostile to vegetarianism.(5) The French agriculture minister, Bruno Lemaire, declared in January 2010 that the government's aim in determining its public nutritional policy was to defend the French agricultural model and specifically to counter initiatives such as those of Paul McCartney calling for a reduced consumption of meat.(6)

Footnotes:
1. "Law for the modernization of agriculture and fisheries", published on July 27, 2010.

2. Décret n° 2011-1227 du 30 septembre 2011; arrêté du 30 septembre 2011.
3. Position statement of the American Dietetic Association
4. Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, article 10.1
5.An example is the site mangerbouger.fr, where the only nutritional advice given to a teenager contemplating becoming a vegan is "By all means, do not follow that diet!" (www.mangerbouger.fr/pro/IMG/pdf/guide_adolescents-2.pdf, page 11).
6. http://tinyurl.com/FlashLeFigaro

http://oneworldday.blogspot.com/2011/10/french-ban-vegetarian-and-vegan-meals.html

Oooh La La ! Could this be the start of a new epidemic MFD? Mad France Disease?

Berries Beat Apples for 1st Place

2011-09-20T08:52:00.001Z

A Berry A Day Beats Apples in UK Review

Shoppers find top fruits berry nice indeed - Scotsman.com News

All the talk by nutritionists and newspapers about the benefits of 'berry good for you' antioxidants seems to have paid off. Berries have overtaken the apple as the nations favourite fruit based on sales. It's no longer An apple a Day keeps the Doctor away it's a berry a day - more like a punnet of berries.

The Scotsman reported today;

HEALTH conscious Britons have sent berries to the top of the league of the nation's most popular fruits for the first time.
The soft fruit crop, including strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, has overtaken apples as the biggest selling fruit category by value, according to the latest data from market research analysts Kantar Worldpanel.

In the past 12 months, berry sales have increased by 13.3 per cent to £764 million and now make up 18.4 per cent of fruit sales, compared with 18 per cent for apples

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston says " This is great news that the UK is buying more berries, however do be choosey about the ones you buy and give them a good wash as some of them have a lot of chemicals sprayed on them"

Vegetarian Omega 3 DHA EPA supplements sale offer

2011-09-06T23:02:00.002Z

Vegetarian Vegan omega 3 DHA EPA supplement from Algae

v pure vegetarian omega 3

V-Pure the fish free vegetarian vegan omega 3 supplement with DHA and EPA is back in stock and there is currently a 3 for 2 offer at under £30 for 3 pots ( 3 month supply) & a modest charge for postage and packing. A buy two get one free special offer sale.
V-Pure Vegetarian Omega 3 DHA EPA was launched in 2006 and meant one no longer had to eat saturated fat rich fish or fish oil to get the long chain omega 3 essential fatty acids DHian onA and EPA. At the bottom of the food-chain there is algae which has the unique ability in the plant world to be able to produce long chain omega 3's DHA and EPA and also vitamin B12 and Vitamin D3. The smaller fish eat the algae and by the time the big fish are having dinner at the top of the food chain there are high concentrations of DHA and EPA.

To avoid heavy metals and other toxicity in fish, contributing to marine eco-system collapse and to cut out the middle man it's suggested one uses a sustainable, healthy, ethical fish alternative made from organically farmed algae that is 100% fish free.

V Pure is certified by the Vegetarian and Vegan societies as 100% plant based, it's toxin free and sustainable. If you would like further reasons to choose algal oil over fish oil take a few moments to watch a film called Sea The Truth by Dos Winkel a Dutch diver and awesome underwater photographer who started the Sea First Foundation

Order vegetarian omega 3 DHA EPA From Algae now

Vegetarian Omega 3 Supplements

See more about V Pure on Facebook / V Pure Twitter@VPure and the V-Pure.com / Blog and the V Pure Video on You Tube

Nominate for The Vegan Society Awards 2011

2011-07-21T18:07:00.001Z

Nominate for The Vegan Society Awards 2011

One World Day 1st November 2011

Please vote for www.1worldday.org for

"Vegan Achievement Award for an outstanding contribution to veganism by an individual or organisation" (last category)

The Vegan Society Awards 2011

Many thanks

PCOS - Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome

2011-07-16T11:54:00.002Z

PCOS - UK

Nutritionists have many strategies for getting to the bottom of some the causes of infertility. Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome or PCOS is an increasingly common culprit in infertility problems but it's not just fertility that can concern patients but a host of other health problems too.

Ask an experienced, qualified, insured clinical nutritionist about the solutions they have to help deal with PCOS , the symptoms and how to enhance the choices offered by your doctor.

Email Nutritionists London or Nutritionist New Forest for a free video on PCOS case studies or contact leading UK nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston

Obesity, Overweight, Fat pregnancy Risks Low IQ Baby

2011-06-28T08:23:00.000Z

Despite the headlines health and nutrition consultant and fertility expert from Foods for Life, Yvonne Bishop-Weston in Harley Street London said today "It's fine for mothers to eat for two if they eat whole food rather than half food. If mother's focus on a diet rich in low GL plant foods such as vegetables, beans, fuit, berries, nuts and seeds, it's much harder to overeat and much easier to get a full complement of the fibre, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, omega 3 essential fatty acids and anti oxidants to ensure the optimum health of mother and baby. There's no maternal nutritional need in a coffee and a doughnut, your body will likely crave another in half an hour, not because "baby wants one" but because your body's requirements for nutrients are still unfulfilled"

From Daily Telegraph

Research, published in international journal Obesity Reviews, examined findings from across across the world on the impact of maternal weight on child development.

One study found that every increased unit in the pregnant woman's Body Mass Index (BMI) - calculated as her weight in kilograms divided by the square of her height in metres - was associated with a "significantly" reduced IQ in the child.

Overall, the average IQ of children of obese mothers was five points lower than those born to mothers of healthy weight, according to the study, one of 12 examined by researchers in psychiatry and behavioural neuroscience from McMaster University, in Ontario Canada.

Research from Sweden found children born of overweight mothers were more likely to suffer from attention deficit problems, while findings from Japan found every extra BMI point added in early pregnancy increased the offspring's chance of developing schizophrenia in adulthood by 24 per cent.

A study of Australian teenagers suggested their chance of having an eating disorder increased by 11 per cent for every extra BMI point gained by their mothers during the pregnancy.

Research has found that one in six women in this country are obese by the time they are three months into pregnancy - a proportion which has more than doubled in two decades, amid an obesity epidemic.

A study, led by Teeside University, found massive variations in levels of obesity among expectant mothers cross the country. In London, 13 per cent of mothers-to-be were obese, while in the West Midlands, the figure was 22 per cent. The study suggested more than 100,000 babies a year were at risk of dying or suffering serious problems because of the risks from obesity, which puts a woman's body under extra strain, when it is working to nurture new life.

Obesity in pregnancy increases the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, blood clots, miscarriages and still-births, while layers of fat can mean serious defects can be missed in scans.

Earlier this year, a study found that rates of foetal and infant death are twice as high among those born to obese mothers.The study found that 16 in 1,000 babies suffered fetal or infant death if their mothers had a BMI greater than 30 in early pregnancy, compared with 9 deaths per 1,000 babies among those with a healthy BMI.

Big babies - those weighing more than 10 lbs - are around twice as likely as other babies to end up obese as adults.

Separate studies have found increased dangers of developmental problems like spina bifida and neural tube defects in infants of obese mothers.

Jane Munro, from the Royal College of Midwives, said more research was needed to establish whether the apparent risks highlighted in the latest study were a direct result of maternal obesity.She said: "There are some clear risks from obesity that we already know about- hypertension, pre-eclampsia, larger babies, an increased risk of having a baby born by Caesarean section, and that the child is more likely to become obese. "

Nutritionist London Yvonne Bishop-Weston said "Most of the headlines are focused on too many calories, the dangers of eating for two. Whats more important is eating whole food rather than half food. It's far easier to overeat on food that has vital nutrients refined, processed and bred out of it for the sake of a longer shelf life. So much of the food that is ubiquitously available has little or no positive nutritional benefit to offer us. Mothers and babies in particular need omega 3 essential fats not highly processed vegetable and saturated animal fats. Eating processed fats, saturated animal fats and too much omega 6 found in meat and products with sunflower oil will make it much harder for the mother to process essential omega 3 fats into the DHA fats needed to build baby's brain, heart, eyes and other vital organs."

Diabetes epidemic affecting 350m

2011-06-27T08:10:00.000Z

Diabetes epidemic affecting 350m – and western fast food is to blame | Society | The Observer: "More than 350 million people in the world now have diabetes"

Nutritionist and Health Consultant in London Yvonne Bishop-Weston from Foods for Life said

"I don't mean to be cynical but this sudden media interest in Diabetes does sound like the start of a global PR campaign and I wouldn't be at all surprised if next month we hear there is a new wonder drug for sale"

"Type 2 diabetes can be quite efficiently controlled by diet, and in a number of recent studies Diabetic symptoms have been reversed, just through a high fibre, low fat , low GL plant based Plantarian or healthy vegan diet"

The article in the Guardian reveals

"Diabetes is one of the biggest causes of mortality worldwide, and our study has shown that it is becoming more common almost everywhere. It is set to become the single largest burden on world health care systems," one of the study's main authors, Professor Majid Ezzati, of Imperial College London, told the Observer. "Many nations are going to find it very difficult to cope with the consequences."
This point was backed by Martin Tobias of the ministry of health in New Zealand in an accompanying editorial for the Lancet. As he states, there is "no worldwide surveillance network for diabetes, as there is for communicable diseases such as influenza". Given the inexorable rise in case numbers that is now occurring, there was now "an urgent need" to establish proper monitoring of the disease, he added.
The study – funded by the World Health Organisation and the Gates Foundation – analysed blood from 2.7 million participants aged 25 and over from across the world over a three-year period. Doctors measured levels of glucose in their blood after they had fasted for 12 to 14 hours – blood sugar rises after a meal.

Changes in Specific Dietary Factors May Have Big Impact on Long-Term Weight Gain - June 22, 2011 -2011 Releases - Press Releases - Harvard School of Public Health

2011-06-23T20:41:00.000Z

Changes in Specific Dietary Factors May Have Big Impact on Long-Term Weight Gain - June 22, 2011 -2011 Releases - Press Releases - Harvard School of Public Health:

In a series of three separate studies looking at how changes in multiple dietary and other lifestyle factors relate to long-term weight gain, Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers found that modest changes in specific foods and beverages, physical activity, TV-watching, and sleep duration were strongly linked with long-term weight gain. Changes in diet, in particular, had the strongest associations with differences in weight gain.

London Nutritionist from Foods for Life Nutrition and Health Consultancy Yvonne Bishop-Weston said today

"It's marvelous to finally see another piece of solid research to add more scientific weight to what nutritionists have known for years but can't prove because we can't afford a double blind placebo trial of thousands of people and then subject it to meta analysis. We know because we see dramatic results in our clinics where others have failed. There needs to be more scientific study and solid research on preventative medicine to silence the whinging critics of the quackology obscessed Dr Do-Littles.

The status quo of over-simplistic rhetoric of calories in = calories out isn't even bio-chemically logical. Of course 100kcal of vegetables full of vitamins, minerals, fibre, protein, antioxidants and essential fats is going to have a different consequence on the body than 100kcal of doughnut or chips fried in partially hydrogenated trans fat. It's not rocket science, it's common sense - that's sadly something lacking in some of the high profile media vigilante nutritionist bashers.

The study appears in the June 23, 2011, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Read the study.

"For example, the foods associated with the greatest weight gain over the 20-year study period included potato chips (for each one increased daily serving, +1.69 lb more weight gain every 4 years), other potatoes (1.28 lb), sugar-sweetened beverages (1.00 lb), unprocessed meats (0.95 lb), and processed meats (0.93 lb). Of note, several foods associated with less weight gain when their consumption was actually increased, including vegetables (−0.22 lb), whole grains (−0.37 lb), fruits (−0.49 lb), nuts (−0.57 lb) and yogurt (−0.82 lb). Evaluating all changes in diet together, participants in the lower 20% of dietary changes gained nearly 4 lbs more each 4 years than those in the top 20% —an amount equivalent to the average weight gain in the population overall.

For diet, focusing only on total calories may not be the most useful way to consume fewer calories than one expends, say the researchers. Other yardsticks, such as content of total fat, energy density, or sugars, could also be misleading. Rather, they found that eating more healthful foods and beverages—focusing on overall dietary quality—was most important.

The most useful dietary metrics for preventing long-term weight gain appeared to be:

Focus on improving carbohydrate quality by eating less liquid sugars (e.g. soda) and other sweets, as well as fewer starches (e.g. potatoes) and refined grains (e.g. white bread, white rice, breakfast cereals low in fiber, other refined carbohydrates).
Focus on eating more minimally processed foods (e.g. fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, yogurt) and fewer highly processed foods (e.g. white breads, processed meats, sugary beverages).

We look forward to more studies like this such as PCRM Research on Nutrition

What The World Eats - Shocking Photos

2011-06-22T13:42:00.001Z

What The World Eats - Shocking Photos: Very interesting look in photos at typical weekly shopping for families around the world

These images are from the book 'Hungry Planet: What the World Eats' by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluision. It's an inspired idea, to better understand the human diet, explore what culturally diverse families eat for a week. Their portraits feature pictures of each family with a week's worth of food purchases. We soon learn that diet is determined by largely uncontrollable forces like poverty, conflict and globalization, which can bring change with startling speed. Thus cultures can move, sometimes in a single jump, from traditional diets to the vexed plenty of global-food production. People have more to eat and, too often, eat more of nutritionally questionable food. And their health suffers.

Experts vote Vegan Diet Best for Diabetes

2011-06-08T09:28:00.003Z

Complete Book of Vegan Cooking

A panel of 22 health experts including Doctors, registered nutritionists and specialists in diabetes, heart health, human behavior, and weight loss, reviewed detailed assessments prepared by U.S. News of 20 diets. The experts rated each diet in seven categories, including short- and long-term weight loss, ease of compliance, safety, and nutrition.

A vegan diet was voted as joint second in US News Rankings Best Diets section for Diabetes.

Presumably it fell short of first place due to compliance, despite the science, people are hooked on meat and addictive fatty cheese and are yet to discover the delicious alternatives.

Vegan Cookbook - Vegan Diets

British Heart Foundation Phoney Diet

2011-06-04T15:22:00.003Z

The British Heart Foundation have lashed out at a diet claiming to be a BHF diet. Some might say a bit rich considering the fairly non-committal dietary advice usually dished out by BHF , but this fake BHF diet is particularly bad and includes items that even the UK govt warns against eating.

BHF senior heart health dietitian, Victoria Taylor, said:

“Apart from being wholly unappetising with the likes of two frankfurters with a cup of cabbage and half a cup of carrots for a meal, this ( bogus BHF ) diet is so restrictive in terms of the range and quantity of food that it lacks a number of nutrients we need to stay healthy.
“The lack of fibre means followers could develop constipation while long-term use could also leave you deficient in calcium and iron, which can result in fragile bones and teeth and feeling constantly tired and lethargic if left unchecked.
“Most people are likely to lose largely water and some muscle, rather than the fat they really want to shed on this kind of crash diet. Over time, the muscle loss can be bad news as it means that the rate your body burns calories, whether active or resting, can actually slow down – the last thing dieters want.

Yvonne Bishop-Weston Leading UK Nutritionist and Health Consultant claims the trouble is most dieters suddenly reach a crisis point and want quick fix solutions and don't dare think about the consequences.

Yvonne says;

"Most diet products are trying to tie you in for ever in a catch 22 situation of carry on or gain weight again.
"Vary rarely is there any scientific basis for these diets, or if there is it is short term and completely forgetting that it defies the individual body's inbuilt natural instincts and can often increase risks of chronic diseases"
"Low Fat products are often full of cheap sugar or artificial sweeteners, Low Carb products are often full of cheap fat and devoid of natural soluble fibre, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants."
The Dukan diet tries to skip round the failings of The Atkins diet with spoonfuls of oatbran (hmm.. Yum Yum) but still fails to reach the eight a day portions of fruit and vegetables shown in a recent major study by Oxford University that you need to dramatically reduce the fatal risks of heart disease."

It seems the best way of achieving a long term solution for a weight loss diet that is sustainable, practical and healthy is to visit a qualified, experienced, competent nutritionist who can work out exactly what your body needs to be optimally fit and healthy and how to fit that into your normal busy working schedule.

The harsh truth there is no simple, easy, yet to be discovered, quick fix solution to years of nutritional abuse of your body, if it sounds too good to be true, that's because it is. Your body needs real food, complete food, natural food, not the latest patented gimmicks. You also need to exercise to build muscle and yes that requires protein but not the sort of protein that is processed and comes free with spoonfuls of saturated animal fat and dietary cholesterol. Most importantly you need to deal with stress and the effects of stress on your hormones and immune system a positive outlook and motivation is the first hurdle to sustained weight-loss" warns Yvonne

To book an appointment with top UK nutritionists visit Nutritionist London, Nutritionist Hampshire

Vitamins and Minerals under Attack

2011-06-02T00:15:00.000Z

Most 'wasting money on health supplements' finds NHS report - Telegraph

Be prepared to see much more of this!

The government should be be very wary about joining the pharmaceutical industry lobbiests led hypocritical war on nutritionists, supplements and herbal remedies whilst they sit by and do relatively nothing to quell the nations dependency on nutrient depleted processed foods. They clearly think people are stupid, and will trust an institution that condones catering by Burger King in Hospitals and spends an annual fortune on laxatives over and above personal recommendation and succesful personal experience. One look at hospital food is enough to verify the extent of the NHS practical expertise and competance in the field of applied nutrition.

This phoney criticism of the dangers of vitamins, minerals anti-oxidants and essential fats will eventually backfire on the perpetrators of this media onslaught as eventually, enevitably someone will ask the question of how it is that so many ineffective and detrimental drugs end up costing the taxpayer so much money for so little relief whilst so many people have experience of simple, practical and far more effective nutritional solutions to their health problems.

It's no wonder Pharmaceutical companies are running scared and on the offensive, Doctors are increasingly in charge of their own budgets so are now far less likely to be swayed by all expenses paid foreign trips and new computers in exchange for recommending expensive designer solutions for erectile dysfunction when all their patients really need are more fruit and vegetables in their diet.

Nutritionists are having the tools of their trade taken away, gagged from talking in public about what they do, have goal posts moved every few months, yet still they continue to win patient hearts on merit and by recommendation because they get practical results for so many patients who have previously only experienced failure.

Be scared big pharma, be very very scared, your lies, hypocrisy and political skuldugery are leaving the public ever distrustful of your commitment to public health and seeing your motives exposed as pure naked greed for power and money at any cost.

An apple a day keeps the Doctor away? Research

2011-04-16T12:35:00.001Z

Apple: The health fruit? | The Why Files:

“An apple a day keeps the doctor away”? That question has been on the mind of Bahram Arjmandi, professor and chair of the department of nutrition, food and exercise sciences at Florida State University.
His answer, presented at the Experimental Biology 2011 meeting in Washington this week, is that "Apples have a profound effect on total cholesterol, and also on the “good” and “bad” types of cholesterol. They caused a major reduction in inflammatory proteins that are implicated in a number of serious diseases."
Arjmandi rounded up 100 women who had just passed menopause — a time when dropping levels of estrogen lead to unhealthy changes in cholesterol levels that allow women to catch up with the male rate of cardiovascular disease.
Randomly dividing his volunteers, Arjmandi asked one group to supplement their normal diet with dried prunes. The treatment group got one-a-day packages containing 75 grams — about 2.5 ounces — of dried apple.
Arjmandi used dry apples rather than the equivalent one or two fresh apples as a way to standardize the “dose,” but he says fresh fruit is likely to be even more healthy.
If the object of these tests was a pill, the results after one year would certainly boost the stock of the drugmaker: among the apple-eaters, total cholesterol fell by 14 percent and low-density lipoprotein (LDL, the harmful fraction of cholesterol) fell 23 percent. High levels of both total cholesterol and LDL are linked to damage to blood vessels, heart attacks and strokes.
Meanwhile, the level of a protective type of cholesterol called high-density lipoprotein (HDL) rose 3 to 4 percent.

(Anti-) inflammatory results

Moving beyond cholesterol, the level of C-reactive protein fell 32 percent. “This is significant, and not just in a statistical sense but in clinical relevance,” says Arjmandi. “CRP is associated with inflammation, and is considered a marker for cardiovascular disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.”
The study was partly funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, and got no funding from the apple industry.

And the active ingredient is…

What makes apples so healthy? Although both pectin, a soluble fiber, and chemicals called polyphenols are thought to confer health benefits, Arjmandi says, “an apple is more than these compounds. I’ve been working on functional foods [which give health benefits] for 20 years, and I find it’s not good to approach whole fruit or whole vegetables like drugs. If you isolate the component chemicals and take them, you get some benefits, but you will deprive yourself of greater benefits.”

The World's Healthiest Foods www.whfoods.com tells us

The phytonutrients in apples can help you regulate your blood sugar. Recent research has shown that apple polyphenols can help prevent spikes in blood sugar through a variety of mechanisms. Flavonoids like quercetin found in apples can inhibit enzymes like alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase. Since these enzymes are involved in the breakdown of complex carbohydrates into simple sugars, your blood sugar has fewer simple sugars to deal with when these enzymes are inhibited. In addition, the polyphenols in apple have been shown to lessen absorption of glucose from the digestive tract; to stimulate the beta cells of the pancreas to secrete insulin; and to increase uptake of glucose from the blood via stimulation of insulin receptors. All of these mechanisms triggered by apple polyphenols can make it easier for you to regulate your blood sugar.

Scientists have recently shown that important health benefits of apples may stem from their impact on bacteria in the digestive tract. In studies on laboratory animals, intake of apples is now known to significantly alter amounts of two bacteria (Clostridiales and Bacteriodes) in the large intestine. As a result of these bacterial changes, metabolism in the large intestine is also changed, and many of these changes appear to provide health benefits. For example, due to bacterial changes in the large intestine, there appears to be more fuel available to the large intestine cells (in the form of butyric acid) after apple is consumed.

Puberty starting earlier for many girls: study - The Early Show - CBS News

2011-04-16T10:09:00.000Z

Puberty starting earlier for many girls: study - The Early Show - CBS News: A few recent studies point to toxins in the environment as a possible cause or at least exasperating the situation in children.

About 15 percent of American girls now begin puberty by age 7, according to a study of 1,239 girls published last year in the journal Pediatrics. One in 10 white girls begin developing breasts by that age - twice the rate seen in a 1997 study. Among black girls, 23 percent hit puberty by age 7.

Special Section: Dr. Jennifer Ashton

On "The Early Show" CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton, an OB-GYN who specializes in adolescent care, said "early puberty," also known as "precocious puberty," has risks for girls.

"Body fat generates the hormone estrogen, partially," Ashton said. "Estrogen is part of the hormones that triggers puberty. A lot more children are overweight and obese. Environmental exposures, things like BPA (Bisphenol A) that are ubiquitous in our environment can have hormone-like activity and research is ongoing as to whether that plays a role. And your family history - if your mother went through early puberty, you have a greater chance of going through early puberty, as well."

Early puberty could affect girls as they get older, Ashton said. They have an increased risk of breast cancer and uterine cancer, she said, because these girls have more time to be exposed to the estrogen hormone

Another study links Pesticides to increased risk of ADHD

Exposure to high levels of a common pesticide, found on many popular fruits and produce, could raise the odds for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, according to a study appearing in the June 2011 issue of Pediatrics.

The study on pesticides and health reports, however, that there is no evidence that organophosphate pesticide exposure can actually cause ADHD.

Pesticide Effect on Health

Pesticides effects on humans are damage to the nervous system, reproductive system and other organs, disruption of hormone function, immune dysfunction and developmental and behavioral abnormalities.

Organophosphates Widely Used

"Organophosphates are one of the most widely used pesticides in agriculture to protect crops and fruits and vegetables," according to lead author Maryse Bouchard, Ph.D., adjunct researcher, department of environmental and occupational health, University of Montreal and Sainte-Justine University Hospital Centre, Canada. "For children, the major source of exposure would be the diet -- fruits and vegetables in particular."

Organophosphate pesticides account for approximately half the insecticide use in the U.S. and are applied to many conventionally grown foods important in children’s diets.

In 2008, the USDA conducted tests that found malathion (one of the 40 organophosphate pesticides) residues in 28% of frozen blueberries, 25% of strawberries, and 19% of celery.

Previous Pesticide Exposure Research Links Pesticide Exposure During Pregnacy to Developmental Problems in Offspring

Previous research has shown an association between both prenatal and postnatal organophosphate exposure and developmental problems in young children. But most prior studies have focused on excessive rather than average exposure to organophosphates.

Pesticide – ADHD Study

The researchers analyzed data on pesticide exposure and ADHD in more than 1,100 American children aged 8 to 15.

Children with higher pesticide levels in their urine were more likely to have ADHD, according to the researchers.

"The analysis showed that the higher the level of exposure [as measured by metabolites in the urine], the higher the odds of having ADHD," said Bouchard.

Just how might pesticides harm brain development? According to the authors, high doses of organophosphates pesticides may inhibit acetylcholinesterase, a nervous system enzyme. Lower doses of organophosphates pesticides may affect different growth factors and neurotransmitters.

The findings, if replicated, may provide another clue into the causes of ADHD, a condition which affects three to seven percent of school-aged children, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

SOURCES:

Bouchard MF, Bellinger DC, Wright RO, et al. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Urinary Metabolites of Organophosphate Pesticides. Pediatrics 2010;125:e1270–e1277
Maryse Bouchard, Ph.D., adjunct researcher, department of environmental and occupational health, University of Montreal and Sainte-Justine University Hospital Centre, Canada;

Win Free Vitality Show 2011 Tickets

2011-03-22T16:24:00.001Z

Win Free Vitality Show 2011 Tickets:

Win one of four pairs of Vitality Show Tickets free - for the 2011 vitality show.

First 4 correct answers - thanks to Rice Dream

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Vitamin B12 Crying Babies & Pregnancy

2011-03-21T12:49:00.002Z

Crybabies may lack vitamin B12 mothers advised

The meat manufacturing, production, processing and industry is now clutching at straws following the UK Government's announcement that we should eat no more than the equivalent of a small lamb chop and restrict our meat consumption to the bare minimum to avoid increased risks of cancer.

Once again ignoring the facts that there are safer plant based sources of all of the handful of nutrients that are found in meat, and that meat is not only missing most anti-oxidants, fibre and many other essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals but is also implicated in thwarting our ability to attain a healthy synergistic balance of these nutrients.

Once again it's the essential vitamin B12 that meat industry lobbyists have got their blood stained mitts on.

Acording to FIGO The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics almost 3,000 pregnant women took part in the study, in which researchers in the Netherlands measured the levels of vitamin B12 in the bloodstream of the mothers-to-be.

The Dutch researchers found the women with the least amount of the vitamin B12 nutrient in their blood had babies who were eight times more prone to crying.

Leading UK Nutritionist, London Yvonne Bishop-Weston explains the implications of the new findings.

The new study (reference) has shown a link between the level of vitamin B12 in the mother and excessive infant crying (more than 3 hours a day for more than 3 days a week for more than 3 weeks). The reasons for this are not fully understood but it could be due to the fact that a lack of vitamin B12 and folic acid hinder the foetal development of the nervous system before birth and also that in the first 6 months after birth lack of these vitamins can affect the development of the protective myelin which surrounds the nerve cells and helps them communicate.

Excessive infant crying is also called infant colic and may also be due to B12 deficiency. Excessive infant crying was found to be stronger when the mother experienced high levels of psychological problems so could affect the circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm of the body controls the sleep/wake cycle, the development of which starts in the womb.It also takes about 3 months after birth to settle into a rhythm. As lack of B12 has been seen in people with sleep disorders it is suggested that lack of B12 may the infant circadian rhythm interfere with serotonin melatonin and trigger gut cramps and crying.

The developing baby relies on the mother to provide B12 and if it is deficient in her diet and her stores are too low the baby is likely to be deficient too. B12 is made by bacteria in the gut and meat, fish and eggs the usual source recommended by NHS dietitians.

Plantarians and Vegans maintain there are healthier, safer, more sustainable sources of vitamin B12 that come without the extra calories and detrimental effects of saturated animal fat and natural hormones but with essential fats and a range of useful vitamins, minerals, anti oxidants and fibre.

Yvonne seems to agree;

I would be cautious in recommending women eat more animal foods as meat and dairy comes along with saturated fats which can hinder the body's use of essential fats which are needed for the baby's brain and nervous system development. Due to the potential levels of toxicity in fish no more than 2 portions a week should be eaten in pregnancy and egg consumption tends to be lower in pregnancy as they can only be eaten fully cooked. If anything this study is a strong argument for basic nutrient testing at the start of women's pregnancies and addressing any deficiencies as well as of course more promotion of either better, more nutritious diets or the need for effective, easily absorbable prenatal supplements.

Vitamin B12 is made by mimicing the human digestive system's ability to produce B12 from yeasts and bacteria in the gut and is then added to a number of foods from breafast cereals and plant milks to fruit juice.

Unfortunately, most natural plant sources of vitamin B12 have been proven to contain biologically inactive vitamin B12 analogues (non absorbable pseudo-vitamin B12) , inadequate for human supplementation.

Algae seems to be the most reliable plant based source of true Vitamin B12 so far. Following a research study in France in 1978 (Greiko et al) scientists in Finland (Rauma et al ) and Japan (Watanabe et al) have found true vitamin B12 in Nori and Chlorella (but only non-absorbable pseudo-vitamin B12 in Spirulina) whilst Italian researchers say a strain of Klamath blue green algae appears to be, in a preliminary study, an adequate and reliable source of vitamin B12 in humans (L Baroni et al , published in The International Journal of Vitamin and Nutrition Research 2009)

Men: Five Nutrients Short of a Picnic

2011-03-17T10:52:00.000Z

Men: Five nutrients you're not getting enough of -The Independent:

According to a report in The Independent ripped from health and fitness magazine Men's Health 77 per cent of men aren't getting enough magnesium, are vitamin D deficient, and perhaps even short on vitamin B12.

What all those big steak eating macho hunks forget is that most of the vitamins and minerals we need are in plant foods - fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds - burgers, fried chicken, pizza and chicken curry just doesn't deliver guys.

Guys, next time you are throwing stones and ridiculing a Plantarian, vegetarian or vegan just be aware you could be in a nutritionally deficient greenhouse.

Here's what you need to know about what may be missing in your diet says the Independent

1. Vitamin D - Great for bone health but it's so much more: A study in Circulation found that people deficient in D were up to 80 percent more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke. Ask your doctor to test your blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D. "You need to be above 30 nanograms per milliliter," said Michael Holick, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of medicine at Boston University, in the report. If you come up short, Holick recommends taking 1,400 IU of vitamin D daily from a supplement and a multivitamin.

Nutritionist London Yvonne Bishop-Weston "Vitamin D is now considered more important than Vitamin C for a healthy immune system scientists are now finding it in plants but Sunshine is your best source, your body then makes it."

2. Magnesium - Surveys reveal that men are lacking in this mineral, consuming only about 80 percent of the recommended 400 milligrams per day. Fortify your diet with magnesium-rich foods, such as halibut and navy beans. Or supplement with a 250 mg supplement, but look for magnesium citrate, which is best absorbed by the body, states Men's Health.

Yvonne says "Magnesium is important for women too - find it in hazelnuts, good for relaxing muscles"

3. Vitamin B12 - While most men do consume their daily dose of 2.4 micrograms, some medications, such as acid-blocking drugs and diabetes medications, can interfere with the vitamin's absorption in the body. Try eating lamb, salmon or fortified cereals to be sure you're covered.

Yvonne says "many of the men I see in clinic are B12 deficient even though they eat meat, one reason may be that due to modern farming methods meat no longer contains as much B12. There is some evidence that true vitamin B12 can be found in algae such as Chlorella as well as added to various food such as Dairy free milk and cereals. We recommend a good regular multivitamin and mineral complex with B12 as health insurance as B12 is so important for heart health and Brain health"

4. Potassium - Nutrition surveys report men are eating just 60 to 70 percent of the recommended 4,700 mg a day. Fix the problem by eating half an avocado (contains about 500 mg potassium) or a banana (about 400 mg). One large russet potato contains 1,600 mg of potassium.

"Please note that's potatoes not McDonalds french fries guys!" says Yvonne "Avocado is also a good source of good fats"

5. Iodine - Think table salt is the answer? When researchers tested 88 samples of iodized table salt, they found that half contained less than the recommended amount of iodine. Try getting more iodine not from salty foods but from milk. Or eat at least one serving of eggs or yogurt a day.

"Seaweed is the best source of iodine - try some miso soup or sushi!" says Yvonne "milk has saturated animal fat in it as well as natural hormones that you probably don't need more of unless you are a calf!"

Read more here: http://www.menshealth.com/mhlists/five-essential-nutrients/

Fight Cancer With Chocolate Mousse | NBC Dallas-Fort Worth

2011-03-11T09:50:00.001Z

Fight Cancer With Chocolate Mousse | NBC Dallas-Fort Worth:

Free cooking classes promote nutrition to prevent and fight cancer

At 27 years old, Katherine Lawrence was an Iraq war veteran, but it was the battle she was facing at home that would prove to be the toughest.

"I started to have really bad pain in my abdomen, and I found out I had severe endometriosis and uterine cysts and ovarian cysts," said Lawrence.

"My doctor wanted to put me into early menopause, and then schedule me for a hysterectomy," said Lawrence.

Desperate to avoid that, she started eating a low-fat, vegan diet and in just five weeks her health problems were virtually gone.

"My doctor was amazed," said Lawrence.

Now, she teaches cooking classes to help prevent and battle cancer in conjunction with a non-profit group called The Food for Life Alliance working with the charity The Cancer Project that was set up by PCRM.

Late 2010 Katherine came over to the UK to teach 14 students and train them to deliver Cancer and Diabetes fighting Cookery workshops.

To find out more see One World Day and Saladmaster

Earth Day - One World Day Pledge

2011-03-09T17:02:00.000Z

I will eat a sustainable healthy plantarian, pure vegetarian, vegan diet: Saving the world one day at a time!

Size Zero 0 Anorexic Chic Horror of London Fashion Week

2011-02-27T12:14:00.001Z

Anorexia chic returns to the catwalk as Size Zero models return - mirror.co.uk:

"I FIND it shocking the fashion world has gone back to this look. Super-skinny models today look pale and emaciated as if they should be in a hospital ward." Says Yvonne Bishop-Weston Nutritionist London in The Sunday Mirror today

The biggest risk is to young girls, it fuels their weight obsessions adding to their delusions that this is 'normal' and healthy

The designers that choose these girls and encourage this look may just as well be putting up alcoholics swigging from a bottle of vodka or heroin addicts smoking crack up their on the catwalks - it's totally irresponsible!.

Yvonne says"I see recovering anorexic girls in my Harley street clinic and it's a nasty, vicious and spiteful disease that rob's girls of their self esteem and chances of long term health.
Young women come in with pictures of models and they say “I want to look like this.” They aspire to look like the people who are chosen to show off clothes.
A recovering anorexic would see women like these as a healthy body weight. And the tragedy, of course, is that not all anorexics recover."

Most of us could do with losing a few pounds to reduce the risks of heart disease, Diabetes, cancer, stroke, but by going to the other extreme these girls are risking all those usual chronic diseases plus osteoporosis , infertility and any chance of ever being mothers, Alzheimer's, arthritis and as soon as the bloom of youth runs out their skin will look likes it's been peeled off, screwed up and tumble dried and then stuck back on with blue tack

Lets face it there are only 4 ways to achieve a size 0 body that looks like this

Obsessively starving yourself - Anorexia or bulimia, depriving your body of nutrients
Dangerous drug abuse - depriving your body of nutrients
Obsessive exercise - Stressing the body and depriving the body of nutrients
Disease - A muscle wasting disease, parasite infestation or cancer that deprives the body of nutrients

The restrictions placed on calories mean it is very difficult to get adequate nutrients into the body for it to function properly - typically the reproductive system is first to go (as non essential) then the digestive detox system as the body goes into emergency short term crisis management mode to try and keep the brain and heart alive at least.

If the models drink alcohol, take drugs or smoke in addition to starving themselves then they are pretty much doomed despite Kate Moss's best efforts to prove otherwise.

The only way to remotely healthy on this low calorie level would be a dangerously low fat diet of vegan raw food but then only nutrient rich vegetables and no high sugar fruits such as bananas and no nuts. However without the essential fats from nuts and seeds they would still risk heart disease and hormonal problems and brain function as essential fats are needed for every cell membrane in the body. Vegans can get these from nuts, seeds and algae but these size zero models are often fat phobic so are likely to avoid essential fats along with detrimental saturated animal fats.

A Diet for Healthier Humans: SACN Iron and Health Report | SACN

2011-02-26T13:32:00.000Z

A Diet for Healthier Humans: SACN Iron and Health Report | SACN:

The widely leaked report is finally published. No more than the equivalent of one lamb chop or a bacon butty or a big mac each day if you want any chance of staying healthy.

Yvonne Bishop-Weston Nutritionist London says

"The government seems to be suggesting we should be Plantarian for at least 2 meals a day. Research confirms benefits to health really start to kick in at least 8 portions of fruit and veg a day.

There is still no safe limit for meat consumption set. This advice is just setting maximum advisory levels the inference is that less is best.

I find it quite ironic that this is advice on iron levels yet in clinic it's frequently meat eaters I find with inadequate iron levels not vegetarians"

The evidence seems to be mounting against meat as a useful part of a nutritious diet in modern society.

Plantarians Hope to Set a Record for Earth Day

2011-02-13T00:05:00.000Z

Plantarians and vegans hope to set a new world record of sustainable healthy eating by getting people to pledge on the Earth Day website.

A spokesperson from the One World Day campaign said "It's a simple concept, helping to save the planet by eating meat and dairy free on One World Day November 1st

I will eat a sustainable healthy plantarian, pure vegetarian, vegan diet | Billion Acts of Green:

Vegetarian / Vegan Diets & Depression

2011-02-03T14:01:00.002Z

Avoid Depression with Plantarian Style Diet

Bad eating can give you depression: study :

Plant based vegetarian and vegan diets are certainly healthier than average but have no automatic protection against depression. There must be a focus on a Plantarian style foods to glean the full health benefits of plant based diets says UK nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston.

Without a focus on whole foods that have natural nutritional synergy the health benefits of vegetarian and vegan diets are harder to argue.

You can be vegan or vegetarian and still have a diet laden with refined foods and foods rich in processed saturated and trans-isomer fatty acids that the body struggles to recognize and properly process.

Vegetarians and vegans should take note to include wholefoods rich in essential fatty acids
Authors of a Spanish study on mental health, from the universities of Navarra and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, followed and analyzed the diet and lifestyle of over 12,000 volunteers over six years.
At the beginning of none of the participants had been diagnosed with depression; by the end, 657 of them were new sufferers.
"Participants with an elevated consumption of trans-fats (fats present in artificial form in industrially-produced pastries and fast food...) presented up to a 48 percent increase in the risk of depression when they were compared to participants who did not consume these fats," a key study author said.
Almudena Sanchez-Villegas, associate professor of preventive medicine at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, also noted that in the event "more trans-fats were consumed, the greater the harmful effect they produced in the volunteers."
The research team found, at the same time, that after assessing the impact of polyunsaturated fats -- composed of larger amounts of fish and vegetable oils and olive oil, these products "are associated with a lower risk of suffering depression."
The report, published in the online journal PLoS ONE, noted the research was performed on a European population that enjoys a relatively low intake of trans-fats -- making up only 0.4 percent "of the total energy ingested by the volunteers."
"Despite this, we observed an increase in the risk of suffering depression of nearly 50 percent," said researcher Miguel Martinez.
"On this basis we derive the importance of taking this effect into account in countries like the US, where the percentage of energy derived from these fats is around 2.5 percent."
The report pointed out that the current number of depression sufferers in the world is around 150 million people, and has increased in recent years.
This rise is attributable, according to the authors, "to radical changes in the sources of fats consumed in Western diets, where we have substituted certain types of beneficial fats -- polyunsaturated and monounsaturated in nuts, vegetable oils and fish -- for the saturated and trans-fats found in meats, butter and other products such as mass-produced pastries and fast food."
Further fuel to add strength t the argument to include more plantarian foods in one's diet and move towards a new world record of health and sustainability for One World Day

Heart Health in Vegans and Vegetarians

2011-02-03T10:10:00.001Z

Further evidence to follow a Plantarian rather than a Vegetarian or Vegan diet for health reasons is found in a review in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry Jan 2011 *

The review summarizes the effect of a habitual vegetarian diet on clinical complications in relation to chemistry and biochemistry. Omnivores have a significantly higher cluster of cardiovascular risk factors compared with vegetarians, including increased body mass index, waist to hip ratio, blood pressure, plasma total cholesterol (TC) triacylglycerol and LDL-C levels, serum lipoprotein(a) concentration, plasma factor VII activity, ratios of TC/HDL-C, LDL-C/HDL-C and TAG/HDL-C, and serum ferritin levels.

However in the review, compared with omnivores, vegetarians, especially vegans, have lower serum vitamin B(12) concentration and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) levels in the tissue membrane phospholipids, which are associated with increased collagen and ADP stimulated ex vivo whole blood platelet aggregation, plasma 11-dehydrothromboxane B(2), and homocysteine levels and decreased plasma HDL-C.

Increased homocysteine and imbalances in HDL / LDL and omega 6 and 3 levels are factors in meat eaters that are associated with an increased thrombotic and atherosclerotic risk.

The author suggested that vegetarians, especially vegans, should increase their dietary n-3 PUFA and vitamin B(12) intakes.

Leading UK Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston from Foods for Life Health and Nutrition Consultancy says "This review will bolster the argument that vegetarian and vegan diets don't grant you automatic immunity from heart disease. Some would deem it pedantic, but to get the full health benefits of vegetarian and veganism one needs to follow a predominantly Plantarian diet based on natural, wholefood plant based principles rich in a natural synergy of vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants, fibre and essential fats."

"With recent increased availability of vegan sources of omega 3 fats in echium oil and algae there is no need for vegans, vegetarians and plantarians to miss out on high levels of essential fats and these plant based fats have the advantage of avoiding the complications of toxicity, un-sustainability and undesirable saturated fats in fish oil. Chorella is a potential source of vitamin B12 for vegans" she adds.

* Chemistry behind Vegetarianism. Li D Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Zhejiang University, China

ONE WORLD DAY - A Day of Health & Sustainability

2011-01-27T12:12:00.001Z

ONE WORLD DAY - November 1st Make a Difference!: Help make a difference to the world by encouraging people to eat more healthily and sustainably. Start now, change lives, don't keep it to yourself.

One World Day - Plantarian - The road to sustainability and health

Plantarians have taken the healthiest and most sustainable bits of vegetarian and veganism to clear a simple pathway through the jungle to a lifestyle of optimum health and sustainability. 'Harmony and Harmlessness' says 1worldday.org

New Study: 22% less Heart Disease risk

2011-01-19T20:25:00.001Z

Plantarian.org - EPIC Study: Heart Disease, 8 Fruit & Veg a Day = 22% reduced risk

Published today in the European Heart Journal

Data analysed from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Heart study has shown that people who ate at least eight portions of fruit and vegetables a day had a 22% lower risk of dying from IHD than did those who consumed fewer than three portions a day.

This study involved over 300,000 people in eight different European countries, with 1,636 deaths from IHD.

Professor Sir Michael Marmot, director of the University College London (UCL) International Institute for Society and Health, head of the UCL Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, and chairman of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health, writes separately “Such an odds ratio is of huge practical importance. Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death. A reduction of 22% is huge. But... this reduction in mortality comes with consumption of eight portions a day, or 640g. Such a high consumption was found in only 18% of the men and women in these eight cohorts. There would need to be big shift in dietary patterns to achieve this healthy consumption of eight portions a day. It is worth trying to move in that direction. Reductions in cancers of several sites, in blood pressure and stroke, would add to this reduction in fatal CHD. Moving to a diet that emphasises fruit and vegetables is of great importance to public health.”

FDA Diabetes Actos (pioglitazone) Cancer Risk

2011-01-17T14:29:00.001Z

FDA reviewing preliminary safety information on Actos (pioglitazone):

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced it has begun a safety review of the diabetes drug Actos (pioglitazone), after receiving preliminary results from a long-term observational study designed to evaluate the risk of bladder cancer associated with use of this drug.

The preliminary results are based on five-year data from an ongoing, 10-year observational study by the manufacturer, Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America Inc., San Diego. These early results showed no overall association between Actos exposure and risk of bladder cancer. However, there was an increased risk of bladder cancer in patients with the longest exposure to Actos and in those with the highest cumulative dose of the drug.
Despite this The agency has not concluded that Actos increases the risk of bladder cancer.

Meanwhile a group of Doctors in America have researched a drug free, free of dangerous side effects , way of tackling the Diabetes epidemic now the scourge of the Western World - eat real food! Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine PCRM are gathering information from ongoing research that shows a Plantarian Diet can have a dramatic effect on type 2 (and in some cases type 1) diabetes.

This is pretty much the same diet used by President Bill Clinton to lose weight and deal with his heart disease.
The Diet does come with a health warning ! The effects are so dramatic that you have to carefully watch your medication and be prepared to reduce the dose otherwise you may have an overdose.

The Food for Life Alliance has recently trained instructors in the diet principles and will soon be conducting a number of free workshops around the UK starting with Stoke , Birmingham and London.

Plantarian health NewYearHealth Challenge

2011-01-01T04:26:00.003Z

Plantarian Healthy Double One Diet Challenge:
A 11 day challenge to eat more healthily and sustainably starting on 1:11:11 www.1worldday.org

New World Record attempt for health and sustainability at www.1worldday.org

Review health professionals Diet IQ Says Nutritionist

2010-11-26T15:15:00.000Z

A number of leading human health charities seem to lag behind the current nutrition thinking based on the latest research and studies.

There is no doubt the key to success lies in dramatically increasing the amount of plant foods in our diet. A new film Planeat provides evidence that confirms this.

You don't have to call yourself vegan or vegetarian to be healthy but you should follow the plant eaters lead to dramatically reduce the amount of meat and dairy from the level that's found in the average western diet.

"We need to move from a calorie dense diet to a nutrient dense diet. Calorie counting is a smokescreen, if you focus instead on nutrients you'll find yourself feeling more satisfied and less likely to crave food that has absolutely no worthwhile nutritional advantage to offer your body" says London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston.

"We need a review of the way government and health professionals look at food and health - their ambivalence towards nutritional therapy and optimal health is costing the world billions of pounds of public funds as the world gets more obese, more diabetic, more riddled with heart disease, more cancerous"

"I would mention more infertile too but I think they honestly consider that a self limiting solution!"

Planeat the movie provides research and evidence of a plant based dairy free diet that may reverse the effects of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers

This is at odds with Cancer Research UK who allege on their website that "Strict diets such as macrobiotic or vegan diets do not contain dairy or animal products. This can stop you getting enough nutrients for your body to work properly"

Cancer research suggest that "You may become short of calories, vitamins, calcium, protein, and iron"

Planeat provides evidence to support a completely contrary statement "you may become short of life if you eat too much meat and dairy"

Planeat's evidence also contradicts dietary advice from Leading anti cholesterol related disease charity, Heart UK whose 'Best Choices' include Lean pork, ham, lamb, beef. Extra lean minced beef. Liver & kidney FH.Chicken & turkey without skin. Veal,venison, rabbit, game." should be eaten 1-2 times a day dairy should be eaten 2-3 times a day

Christmas is coming the yanks are getting fat!

2010-11-15T18:18:00.002Z

Planeat the movie - Finally the truth about food and health

Got fat?: "Annual cheese consumption in the United States has grown from 11 pounds per person in 1970 to 33 pounds per person now, which may help explain the rise in obesity and related illnesses. Dairy Management supports this troubling trend by encouraging fast-food restaurants to market new products laden with high-fat cheese. Its efforts include helping Domino's develop extra-cheese pizzas containing two-thirds of the daily recommended amount of saturated fat per slice, according to a recent story in the New York Times."

"A copy of Planeat the movie needs to be given to every member of the US Senate - at least then they can't say 'we didn't realise'" says London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston

PLANEAT Health + Nutrition Truths

2010-11-11T10:26:00.001Z

Home Page | PLANEAT:

We were invited to the premiere of a new documentary movie last night in London. Planeat features interviews with the Doctors who are behind President Bill Clinton's experimentation with a vegan / plant based diet.

Although the numbers in the study are still small the results are outstanding, they are saving peoples lives and rather than just stopping the progression of chronic disease they are repairing sick people's bodies.

Trailer linked to planeat.tv from PLANEAT on Vimeo.
Let's hope Bill Clinton's example can alert the western world that the sense of hopelessness and 'Fait de Complété' can be blamed on myths propagated by a culture of an over-reliance on drugs

If you know anyone suffering from any of the major chronic diseases that plague our modern western society we urge you to take them to see this movie

Visit www.planeat.tv or www.planeat.me to sign up for latest screenings

Weight Watchers and Slimmers at War

2010-11-03T14:28:00.001Z

As ESSEX is dubbed an obesity "time bomb" after figures revealed nearly a quarter of people are dangerously overweight.: meanwhile Rosemary Conley declares war on Weight Watchers today

"Our slimmers consistently achieve astonishing weight losses because my diets are based on calorie counting! I really question whether WeightWatchers understand the mentality of the dieter with their U-Turn on their calorie based principles." says Rosemary Conley, CBE

Claiming herself to be the UK's leading Diet and Fitness expert, Rosemary Conley, remains strong in the belief that calories are the way forward and that they are the only way dieters will lose vast amounts of weight at a sensible pace and keep it off.

WeightWatchers is meanwhile apparently discarding its famous fat and calorie-based 'Points' plan, in favour of a new points system that allows alcohol and fast food.

"Tell this to a dieter, struggling to shift the weight, and they will think that they can do it every night. Dieters don't buy into the concept that this is reserved for special occasions only. Fast foods, like burgers and beer, offer little nutritional value to someone on a health kick. In addition it encourages dieters to eat junk food instead of selecting healthier meal options."

Leading UK Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston says they are both wrong.

" The trouble is everybody is different. The jigsaw puzzle that leads to successful, sustainable weight loss has a big piece that is based on emotional wellbeing and the psychology of motivation and compliance. There's no doubt that some people do respond well to the group support of weightwatcher's approach and the dictatorial Rosemary Conley approach. Certainly exercise is another important part of the weight loss jigsaw, but for many people neither approach is perfect or sustainable" Yvonne reveals.

There are a number of underlying health problems that can either thwart sustainable weight loss or make it frustratingly much more difficult than usual to deal with - these health conditions should be ruled out first.

Calorie counting is a very simplistic way to lose weight and can lead to easier weight gain in the future. Great for weight watchers as you have less chance of ever being able to leave the club but not the best for you.

It's nutrients your body needs not calories, so the Weight Watchers change is sensible but not if they still refuse to remove nutritionally worthless foods from the basic concept and opt for quality rather than quantity.

Likewise Rosemary's 'fruit is evil' approach is equally over simplistic and based on the assumption that all dieters are stupid.

By far the most successful sustainable method of weight loss is to educate yourself about what your body really needs and why, if you felt you had to see your nutritionist every week for the rest of your life we would feel we were not doing our job.

Of course some people don't want to think for themselves but we find when people actually understand the way to eat and why it's important and then start to feel optimally healthy rather than just 'not ill' they are far more self motivated.

"We rarely need to see clients more than 3 to 4 times unless there's a serious health condition to deal with, empowering patients to be in charge of their own health is much more fruitful not just for weightloss but optimal health too." says Yvonne.

Meat-eating 'kills 45,000 each year'

2010-10-22T13:10:00.001Z

Excessive meat-eating kills 45,000 each year reports the Independent The Independent:

A Dietry Judgement Day approaches.

This time it's Oxford University who has released statistics that show it would be better for health and better for the environment if we ate less meat.

The University study reveals lowering meat consumption in the UK would prevent about 45,000 premature deaths a year.

Oxford University's heart unit analysed the health consequences of a range of diets.

It concluded that eating meat no more than three times a week would prevent 31,000 deaths from heart disease, 9,000 deaths from cancer and 5,000 deaths from strokes each year, saving the NHS £1.2bn.

Friends of the Earth, which commissioned the research for its Healthy Planet Eating report, published today, said reducing meat consumption would also help slow the rates of climate change and deforestation.

Clearly this is the sort of thing that George Osbourne needed to address in his budget to make savage cuts to save the economy.

Healthier food in schools, hospitals and government offices is long overdue, the government needs to lead by example.

Watermelon: Lowers blood pressure

2010-10-15T23:02:00.001Z

Watermelon: Eating the summertime icon could lower your blood pressure - latimes.com: "-

The LA Times reports "In a small, pilot study led by food scientists at Florida State University, researchers found that eating six grams of watermelon extract a day for six weeks lowered blood pressure in all nine middle-aged subjects with prehypertension — elevated blood pressure, but not yet considered high blood pressure.

Findings from the pilot study are described in the American Journal of Hypertension.

FSU Assistant Professor Arturo Figueroa, the lead researcher and his team tested watermelon extract because watermelon is the richest edible natural source of L-citrulline, which is closely related to L-arginine, an amino acid that's essential to the regulation of healthy blood pressure.

Once in the body, the L-citrulline is converted into L-arginine. Simply consuming L-arginine as a dietary supplement isn't an option for many hypertensive adults, said Figueroa, because it can cause nausea, gastrointestinal tract discomfort and diarrhea.

In contrast, watermelon is well tolerated. Participants in the Florida State pilot study reported no adverse effects.

Besides its vascular benefits, watermelon provides abundant vitamin A, B6, C, fiber, potassium and lycopene, a powerful antioxidant. Watermelon may even help reduce serum glucose levels, according to Professor Bahram H. Arjmandi, who also worked on the study.

"Once again fruit and vegetables are shown to be key in reducing the risk of preventable chronic disease - the nation has a choice - carry on eating less than half the minimum recommended amount of fruit and vegetables or eat more and increase chances of enjoying optimum health into elder age." says Yvonne Bishop-Weston

Nutritionist London - Nutritionist New Forest

Cloned Meat: Which? News

2010-10-04T19:37:00.001Z

Cloned Meat: Our view - October - 2010 - Which? News:

Would you eat cloned meat or dairy. You may have already - it's legal in the USA and there are no rules to label it as containing cloned genes. This is GM food at the next level.

WHICH? Discusses the pros and cons

Are there safety concerns around eating cloned food?

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has concluded that there are no new food safety issues raised by the use of clones or their offspring, compared with food from other animals. But the EFSA highlighted that there was limited data to assess the implications of cloning and could only give an opinion for cattle and pigs.

Nestlé Challenges Drugs Industry

2010-09-27T21:07:00.001Z

FT.com / Companies / Food & Beverage - Nestlé to take on drugs industry:

The Financial Times reports;

Nestlé is challenging the global drugs industry with plans to invest 500m Swiss Francs ($510m) over the next decade to support the creation of a standalone health science business to tackle obesity and chronic disease.

The Swiss food group, which announced the move on Monday, appointed Luis Cantarell, one of its most experienced executives, to “pioneer a new industry between food and pharma” that will develop products to combat diabetes, heart problems and Alzheimer’s.

Yvonne Bishop-Weston Nutritionist , London said today "This comes as no surprise to me, it was long overdue and only a matter of time before someone like Nestle spotted a new awareness about the link between nutrition, food, mood and optimal health and started taking on the Pharmaceutical Industry."

"The acid test will be whether Nestle actually come up with a nutritionists dream, some genuinely healthy nutritious products or just more highly processed, nutrient depleted, refined food with an added functional food nutritional ingredient" warned the nutritionist.

Bill Clinton vegan for heart health + weight

2010-09-20T10:55:00.002Z

Bill Clinton vegan for heart health + Weight: In an interview to promote CGI , Clinton Global Initiative, Bill Clinton reveals he's been trialling a plant based diet for weight loss and improving his heart health following trials he's seen where over 80% of the subjects have seen improvements in heart health markers.

He says the trial started in 1986 and he wants to join the "experimenters" in trialling the plant based diet to see if it can make a difference to his health. His traveling means he occasionally eats fish but he's says he is quite strict about his diet and it's vegan where ever practically possible.

Harley Street Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston says "Bill Clinton quotes statistics of an 82% success rate in improving heart health markers on the plant based diet trial. Pharmaceutical industry funded drug researchers would bite your arm off for results like that!"

"News like this puts even more pressure on government, NHS and schools to take projects such as Eat More , 5 a day, Meat Free Mondays and similar initiatives a little more seriously. Obviously it's not that simple but it's a good start to replacing nutrient depleted calorie dense refined processed food in our diet with nutrient packed fresh plant based foods"

IVF Fertility Treatment - Hello for Rod Stewart

2010-09-13T13:48:00.002Z

HELLO! Exclusive: Rod + Penny Lancaster Stewart proudly announce they're expecting a second child - hellomagazine.com:

The rich and famous are used to getting what they want when they want it. However if it's a new baby you want and fertility that's your problem you don't need to be skipping backwards and forwards over the Atlantic from New York to Los Angeles and then back to Harley Street in London.

You may not necessarily need the £1,000's of pounds need per course of IVF and even if you've decided that's your only option you can dramatically increase your chances of success and a healthy baby with or without IVF with nutrition therapy based on findings and research gathered by Foresight the Preconceptual Care charity from Universities and human trials all over the world.

Couples following the Foresight Preconceptual Care and nutrition programme enjoy success rates that exceed 75% and consultations with London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston at her Harley Street or New Forest clinic costs less than £100.

If like Penny Lancaster and Rod Stewart your problems were partly due to toxic levels of heavy metals such as mercury this would be quickly revealed with a hair mineral analysis that costs less than the price of a reasonable meal out for 2 in London, less in fact that 5 transport for London travelcards, one of many nutritionists' tools often combined with a selection of over 100 laboratory biochemical tests looking at essential fat levels, hormones, nutrient and mineral levels and a host of other metabolic pathways and functions.

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston changes peoples' lives, many couples are now happy parents of healthy sons and daughters thanks to simple, subtle adjustments to lifestyle and diet that enhance a body's reproductive potential , assist pregnancy and remove biological obstacles.

See also

London Fertility Treatment Harley St Clinic
www.foresight-preconception.org.uk
Eat Right to Conceive - Free Fertility Wheel

B Vitamins help halt Alzheimer’s

2010-09-09T19:19:00.002Z

FT.com / UK - Vitamin B claim on Alzheimer’s: Save this - as you may not hear this information again.

It's long been known amongst nutritionists of the detrimental effects of elevated homocysteine levels on heart health and the nervous system. It's also known that the solution is simple - putting back the B vitamins that are refined and processed out of the modern diet.

See this trial

Results

A total of 168 participants (85 in active treatment group; 83 receiving placebo) completed the MRI section of the trial. The mean rate of brain atrophy per year was 0.76% [95% CI, 0.63–0.90] in the active treatment group and 1.08% [0.94–1.22] in the placebo group (P = 0.001). The treatment response was related to baseline homocysteine levels: the rate of atrophy in participants with homocysteine >13 µmol/L was 53% lower in the active treatment group (P = 0.001). A greater rate of atrophy was associated with a lower final cognitive test scores. There was no difference in serious adverse events according to treatment category.

Conclusions and Significance

The accelerated rate of brain atrophy in elderly with mild cognitive impairment can be slowed by treatment with homocysteine-lowering B vitamins. Sixteen percent of those over 70 y old have mild cognitive impairment and half of these develop Alzheimer's disease. Since accelerated brain atrophy is a characteristic of subjects with mild cognitive impairment who convert to Alzheimer's disease, trials are needed to see if the same treatment will delay the development of Alzheimer's disease.

The Solution is Too Simple

“The dogma is strong (amongst Alzheimer’s research community) and there is money involved,” said Professor Smith, one of the authors. “If it is not produced by the pharmaceutical companies, you have a hard time getting funded.”

1 in 96 chance of getting pregnant says study

2010-08-23T10:04:00.001Z

The average couple has sex 96 times to get pregnant a new study by First Response has revealed.

It takes a woman just six months to conceive her first child, but is having to ‘do the deed’ over four times a week. The poll of 3000 mothers was commissioned by family planning brand First Response which also revealed that two thirds of women conceived much quicker than they expected.

One in 10 women have been so eager to get pregnant they have called their husband home from work when they were ovulating. And a further, pushy 10 per cent said they then jumped on their other half as soon as he walked through the door.

Despite this, 70 per cent of those polled said they wanted their baby to be conceived during a loving and spontaneous sex session rather than going through the mechanics. In order to woo their other half, a persistent 35 per cent of girls said they made more effort to look sexy when trying for a baby.

But it’s not all fun and games - nearly a quarter of women admitted that sex got really boring when trying to start a family, while 11 per cent of men complained at the amount of sex their wife or girlfriend was demanding and admitted to feeling completely used.

First Response said: ‘’Having sex 96 times before falling pregnant does sound rather a lot, but as they say practice makes perfect. However, for those not trying to conceive it’s very important to remember that many couples may also fall pregnant first time so if you are not trying for a baby please still use the necessary precautions.‘’Trying for a baby is a very exciting time for a couple and many try to have sex at every opportunity in order to get pregnant. Couples who are having problems conceiving can visit www.tellsyoufirst.co.uk for practical expert advice and handy tools by London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston to help set you on the right path

Some women are so eager to find out the happy news more than one in 20 women did a pregnancy test in work and four per cent used a testing kit in the public toilets at the shops.

First Response spokesperson added: ‘’It’s an extremely anxious time and many women want to find out whether they are expecting a child as soon as possible.”

The First Response Early Results Pregnancy Test is the only test in the UK that can accurately let you know if you’re pregnant up to six days before a missed period - two days before other at-home tests. This test is accurate and simple to use and the sooner you discover you are pregnant, the sooner you can begin to make the lifestyle changes required to give you the best head start to a healthy and happy pregnancy.

Another big surprise was that as much as nearly one in 10 females told their parents before telling their partner that they were expecting a child.

First Response

What Happens To Your Body Within An Hour Of Drinking A Coke | NutritionResearchCenter.org

2010-08-11T08:56:00.001Z

What Happens To Your Body Within An Hour Of Drinking A Coke | NutritionResearchCenter.org: "

New Golden Oldie Spot - If you have some nutritional Golden Oldies like this one please give us a tip off

What happens in your body when you drink a soda, particularly cola and caffeinated sugary fizzy drinks.

# In The First 10 minutes: 10 teaspoons of sugar hit your system. (100% of your recommended daily intake.) You don’t immediately vomit from the overwhelming sweetness because phosphoric acid cuts the flavor allowing you to keep it down.
# 20 minutes: Your blood sugar spikes, causing an insulin burst. Your liver responds to this by turning any sugar it can get its hands on into fat. (There’s plenty of that at this particular moment)
# 40 minutes: Caffeine absorption is complete. Your pupils dilate, your blood pressure rises, as a response your livers dumps more sugar into your bloodstream. The adenosine receptors in your brain are now blocked preventing drowsiness.
# 45 minutes: Your body ups your dopamine production stimulating the pleasure centers of your brain. This is physically the same way heroin works, by the way.
# 60 minutes: The phosphoric acid binds calcium, magnesium and zinc in your lower intestine, providing a further boost in metabolism. This is compounded by high doses of sugar and/or artificial sweeteners also increasing the urinary excretion of calcium.
# 60 Minutes: The caffeine’s diuretic properties come into play. (It makes you have to pee.) It is now assured that you’ll evacuate the bonded calcium, magnesium and zinc that was headed to your bones as well as sodium, electrolyte and water.
#60 minutes: As the rave inside of you dies down you’ll start to have a sugar crash. You may become irritable and/or sluggish. You’ve also now, literally, urinated away all the water that was in the Coke. But not before infusing it with valuable nutrients your body could have used for things like even having the ability to hydrate your system or build strong bones and teeth.

"In clinic we advise avoiding all caffeinated drinks, fizzy sugar laden drinks - If you really love coffee then drink it occasionally for pure enjoyment and savour the moment but never as tool to rehydrate yourself - if you are feeling tired your body probably needs better fuel, rich in vitamins, amino acids, antioxidants, and minerals not glucose and caffeine" says London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston

American Diet Sponsored by Coke

2010-08-10T23:29:00.002Z

ADA' s Current Corporate Sponsors: Ever wondered why things are getting worse not better?

Why diabetes, heart problems, cancer, osteoporosis, cancer, arthritis, strokes, Alzheimer's are afflicting more and more people?

The American Dietetic Association are working hard to find out why, sponsored of course by the Dairy industry, CocaCola, Mars, Hersheys, Kellogs and Pepsico et al.

Did you just put 2 and 2 together to make 5 ? tut tut

Clearly the world won't change without their say so but you have the power to change things - just vote with your shopping purse otherwise you are responsible by endorsing and condoning their actions.

They know one language and it's consumerism - they hear only 2 words - 'I want' , they see only two words - 'you buy' , they smell only one thing - 'profit'

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston says - "To be fair all of these companies are investigating healthier food and drink it's just that so far the public have been luke warm to the solutions that have been offered and even a little suspicious of 'health' products offered by these companies preferring products from companies with a track record in health food and drink instead of junk food.

*********
Nutrition Support? ProGreen - DHA EPA - Probiotics

Jamie Oliver and Nutritionists furious: Junk Food Back in Schools

2010-08-09T09:43:00.002Z

Jamie Oliver furious as ConDems allow junk food back in schools - mirror.co.uk: Education minister Nick Gibb revealed to MPs that "new academies will not be required to comply with nutritional standards for school meals. They will be free to promote healthy eating and good nutrition as they see fit.'

A Jamie Oliver spokesman said: "He hopes the new academies will take the current nutritional standards as the correct approach. Clearly it's a huge concern that the decision will be made by each academy, opening the doors to the bad old days of reclaimed meat shapes and chips every day."

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston says that "Allowing junk foods and ditching new nutritional guidelines is a much more worrying backward step by the Government than the furore over free milk. There was still more work to be done on in improving school meals so to hear that the ConDems have condemned nutrition standards in schools exposes their naivety."

Following the news that the David Cameron had embarrassed the Education Department and Minister Nick Gibb by making a U turn on free school milk the London Nutritionist told BBC Three Counties Radio "Saturated fat milk was a great way to fatten up the nation after the war but it has less relevance for today's obesity plagued nation. What's more important is teaching parents, children and teachers the importance and benefits of good nutrition, the nutrients in food that can help prevent disease and why many of the foods in the modern diet have no relevance in a healthy diet."

Nestle's Obesity Summer Swindle

2010-07-21T02:35:00.000Z

The Nestle Press Release says

"Nestlé is offering families the chance to try out one of 37 different activities for free at more than 4,600 venues. With activities ranging from martial arts, swimming, dancing, paint–balling and scuba diving, the Get Set, Go Free promotion gives families the opportunity to attend a free activity session or lesson. Since 2006, 1.6 million activity sessions have been given away. Families can take part by collecting points on a wide range of Nestlé family favourites, including Kit Kat®, Cheerios® and Nesquik® on promotional packs available in July and August"

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston says "That would all be great were it not for the fact that unsurprisingly you can only get the points by eating sweets that are full of calories but practically empty of any useful amounts of nutrients. That's the real cause of the obesity epidemic, food rich in calories rather than food rich in nutrients. It would be interesting to calculate how many nutrient depleted Nestle calories you have to consume, and the relevant extra body fat that would result in , to entitle you to an activity and then compare it with calories burnt up by the activity. I strongly suspect the nation is being duped into thinking that Nestle are trying to help and that the net result of this marketing campaign will be net weight gain and add to the childhood obesity problem not alleviate it."

EarlyBird Diabetes Trust

2010-07-21T02:07:00.001Z

EarlyBird Diabetes Trust: New research by the EarlyBird Diabetes Study claims that lack of exercise is a result of obesitynot a cause of obesity and that that physical activity has little if any role to play in the obesity epidemic among children.

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston says "This is a useful bit of data. We have manic exercisers visit us all the time in our London Harley Street clinic because they just can't lose weight no matter how hard they (allegedly) try in the gym. Of course exercise is important but unless you cleverly tweak the diet you can sometimes end up not just failing to lose weight, but facing weight gain"

"It also suggests we are being conned by the food industry who are currently trying to justify their £million advertising contribution to obesity by offering sports toys having successfully thwarted FSA attempts to educate the UK public about sugar and what it does to your body."

A review published in 2009 of all trials using physical activity to reduce childhood obesity showed weight loss amounting to just 90g (3oz) over three years, and the EarlyBird study wanted to know why the trials were so ineffective. So they challenged some popular paradigms.
It is well known that less active children are fatter, but that does not mean – as most people assume it does – that inactivity leads to fatness. It could equally well be the other way round: that obesity leads to inactivity.
And this is the question EarlyBird was uniquely placed to answer. With data collected annually over several years from a large cohort of children, it could ask the question – which comes first? Does the physical activity of the child precede changes in fatness over time, or does the fatness of the child precede changes in physical activity over time?
And the answer, published recently in Archives of Disease in Childhood, was clear. Physical activity had no impact on weight change, but weight clearly led to less activity.
The implications are profound for public health policy, because the physical activity of children (crucial to their fitness and well-being) may never improve unless the burgeoning levels of childhood obesity are first checked. If this cannot be achieved through physical activity, the focus has to be on what – and how much – children consume.
EarlyBird has already shown how the trajectory leading to obesity is established very early in life, long before children go to school, and how most childhood obesity is associated with obesity in the same-sex parent.
While portion size, calorie-dense snacks and sugary drinks are all important contributors, early feeding errors seem crucial - and physical activity is not the answer.
EarlyBird is based at the Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth, and has been observing in detail a cohort of city school children for the past 11 years. Obesity is the key factor behind diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

.:CAMELICIOUS:. healthy camel milk

2010-07-19T13:54:00.002Z

.:CAMELICIOUS:.:

Dubai is apparently about to try not to flog us a dead horse but flog us healthy camel milk.

Apparently it has half the fat of normal cows milk, up to 5 times the amount of vitamin C and more unsaturated fatty acids than cow's milk too.

The Arab Emirates company also claim it's much more digestible than normal milk and suitable for people with lactose intolerance.

Apart from the allergenic benefits it is also alleged to be free from some of the other problems that cows miolk is linked to such as aggravating ( some say cause) Chrone's disease, diabetes, rheumatoid and osteo arthritis
Camelicious also claim it's good for babies being much more similar to human breast milk than cow's milk but considering the UK and EU wouldn't even accept Goats milk Dubai are going to struggle to get Camel milk past the food industry controlled food police.

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston says "Is it healthier than normal cow's milk? - Probably! It would have to try hard not to be! There are bottles of water out there that are better for you than normal cows milk. Cow's milk is essentially saturated animal fat, sugar (lactose) , animal protein and water - there are many better forms of protein, fat, carbohydrates and water for sale than normal cow's milk.

Does camel milk taste nice? Raj in our local shop the wine spot says it's delicious but I'm not tempted to find out and I worry about the poor baby camels, what are they drinking instead? Cow's milk? Poor things! "

Calorie Counter - Easter Eggs

2010-07-18T08:33:00.000Z

Calorie Counter - Easter Eggs:

Many thanks to The Sun for their "Here's how long it will take you to walk off your Chocolate Easter Egg favourites" ...

Mars Milk Chocolate Egg with two full-size bars, 89p

1,873 calories = A walk of six hours, 25 minutes

Cadbury Cre�me Egg with two extra milk chocolate eggs, 89p

1,034 calories = A walk of three hours, 45 minutes

Smarties ... scoff

Nestle Smarties Milk Chocolate Egg with mini eggs inside, �4.15

3,096 calories = A walk of ten hours, 30 minutes

Cadbury Flake Egg with four small milk chocolate Flakes, 89p

916 calories = A walk of three hours, five minutes

Nestle Quality Street Egg with a bag of Quality Street, �2.29

2,770 calories = A walk of nine hours, 25 minutes

100,000 Americans Die Each Year from Prescription Drugs, While Pharma Companies Get Rich | News & Politics | AlterNet

2010-07-03T12:54:00.000Z

100,000 Americans Die Each Year from Prescription Drugs, While Pharma Companies Get Rich | News & Politics | AlterNet

Author Melody Petersen quotes a study that estimates more than twice as many Americans die from prescription drugs than who are killed in car accidents each day. The study looked only at deaths from known side effects. That is, those deaths didn’t happen because the doctor made a mistake and prescribed the wrong drug, or the pharmacist made a mistake in filling the prescription, or the patient accidentally took too much. So the actual figure could be much higher than 100,000 per year.

Even more worrying are the number of drugs now being prescribed for children.

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston from Foods for Life says " many of these drugs are totally unnecessary and the conditions could be sorted with simple nutrition therapy by getting the body to work more efficiently and optimally by making sure the body has enough of the raw materials it needs to do it's job properly. It's all about balance"

Free Eco Laundry Wash

2010-06-28T09:26:00.001Z

method laundry: You may remember an earlier post about 'Toxins in the home'

'In short, every room in almost every house in the United States is likely to contain at least one of these chemicals, many of which did not exist a century ago.'

Here's a chance to try out a free sample of a new laundry washing clothes wash liquid that ticks all the boxes on your environmentally friendly kinder to the planet and your health wish list.

A very easy way to cut out some of the unecessary chemicals in your home that you keep close to your skin.

Grab one now - see top right flash - Free Products

Cuts salt + fat levels in food could save 40,000 lives

2010-06-24T08:31:00.001Z

Cutting salt and fat levels in food could save thousands of lives, says NICE:

NICE ( NHS - National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) criticized European MP's for voting against the FSA (Food Standards Agency) Traffic Light labelling scheme.

Paul Lincoln, Chief Executive of the National Heart Forum and a member of the guidance group said: “There is substantial evidence to support the use of the traffic light system. It was the best reported scheme in terms of the peer-reviewed scientific evidence, and its use would not demonise foods but help people to choose healthy options. We know that this scheme will not widen health inequalities.
“However, the EU has voted to go for the guideline dietary amount scheme instead of the traffic lights. It’s regrettably that it does not include the colour coding."

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston agrees "The people of Europe have been badly let down by MEPs on this labelling issue, it was a good opportunity to educate people how to avoid joining the list of thousands of people who die from preventable chronic disease. MEPs have done nothing less than sell out to the demands of irresponsible food manufacturers who fear an educated public waking up to manufacturers cheap cheats to sell nutrient depleted processed food."

In their latest report and Press release NICE claim "Up to 40,000 deaths from heart disease and stroke could be prevented each year by reducing the levels of salt and saturated fat in our food."

Cardiovascular disease is one of the biggest killers in the UK, with nearly three million women and three million men currently living with the disease. Every year, there are 300,000 new cases of cardiovascular disease, with those living in deprived areas three times more likely to develop the disease.
But despite the prevalence of the disease, around 90 per cent of deaths are largely preventable and can be tackled by making changes to diet, giving up smoking and increasing levels of physical activity."

This latest public health guidance from NICE focuses on food production and calls for a reduction in salt intake, aiming for a maximum intake of 6g per day per adult by 2015 and 3g daily by 2025. This action alone would result in 15,000 - 20,000 fewer deaths from heart disease and stroke every year.

Health and Nutrition Questionnaire

2010-06-23T17:54:00.001Z

London Nutritionist - Health and Nutrition 5 min Questionnaire:

Are you flexible?

TEA TIME! A five minute tick box health and lifestyle questionnaire

Please make yourself a cup of tea and then fill in our 5 min nutrition and health questionnaire for a 10% discount voucher off a consultation with London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston and a chance to win a healthy dinner party for you and your friends. >> Health and Nutrition 5 min Questionnaire:

London Nutritionist - Nutritionists Jobs

2010-06-11T17:14:00.032Z

Nutritionists in London on Nutritionists' Jobs
UK Nutritionists' jobs, nutritionist qualifications, nutrition training courses, salary and other search terms such as these generate more traffic on google than searches for nutritional therapists to be healed. Perhaps by perhaps people looking for a change in career.

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston used to be one of a select few expert clinical nutritional therapists with a clinics in London.

Now there seems to be a nutritionist on every street corner in London, every health food store, every gym, every slimming club seems to think they have an expert in nutrition.

However when it becomes a professional qualification rather than just an extra module bolted on to some other discipline.there is a big difference in what can be achieved.- it's much more than weight loss diets if you are in the right hands.

Nutritional therapists typically tackle a whole range of conditions from infertility, hormonal imbalances, skin conditions, allergies, food intolerance, digestive disorders such as IBS,. low energy and performance, chronic fatigue, ME, MS, mood swings , effects of stress as well as weight management.

"It's so rewarding when you've transformed someone's life who's bee suffering with IBS for over 20 years or helped a couple to have a healthy baby when they've been diagnosed with inferility. " says Yvonne Bishop-Weston.

for more information see London Nutritionist and London Clinics

5 toxics in the Home

2010-05-31T22:25:00.001Z

5 toxics that are everywhere: Protect yourself - CNN.com

Finally the mainstream press has picked up on this story that has been bubbling for many years. Our homes are toxic - a new TV program 'Toxic America' reveals all - here on CNN who report

'A growing body of research is linking five chemicals -- among the most common in the world -- to a host of ailments, including cancer, sexual problems and behavioral issues.

We encounter them every day -- in plastic bottles, storage containers, food wrap, cans, cookware, appliances, carpets, shower curtains, clothes, personal care products, furniture, television sets, electronics, bedding, cushions and mattresses. In short, every room in almost every house in the United States is likely to contain at least one of these chemicals, many of which did not exist a century ago.

They are bisphenol A, or BPA; phthalates; PFOA; formaldehyde; and polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PDBEs. Tests reveal most of us now carry them in our bodies'

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston reveals, "This is very common knowlege amongst nutrition therapists especially those like myself who do a lot of clinical nutrition work for infertility. One example is we've been campaigning about avoiding using babies bottles and drinking water bottles with bisphenol A, or BPA for some time now. We recommend mud puppy BPA & toxin free drinking bottles made from stainless steel. We even have BPA and Toxin free stainless steel baby bottles." says the nutritionist.

Pregnant Women - 2 Fish or Not 2 Fish

2010-05-31T18:28:00.002Z

Pregnant women should be allowed to eat more fish - Telegraph

Nutritionists are arguing about the safe limits of fish during pregnancy following new research that supports the idea that too little of the long chain essential fats omega 3 DHA in pregnant women can result in and possibly cause developmental problems.

'Fish consumption among women of child bearing age and girls is currently restricted due to concerns about the presence of potentially harmful contaminants in fish such as dioxins and methylmercury. ' reports The Telegraph

'Speaking at a conference held at the Royal Society of Medicine in London last week, Professor Jack Winkler, director of the Nutrition Policy Unit at London Metropolitan University, said the benefits of fish oil far outweighed other risks.

He said: "The Food Standards Agency issued advice to women and pregnant women about fish in 2004 which was ultra conservative. Since then, there has been research which indicates that women who have eaten more fish than those recommendations suffer no harm but their child's brain performance improved.

"The evidence is beginning to show that this ultra conservative advice is effectively denying women the benefits of fish. Worryingly the current advice is scaring women off eating fish completely as the message it gives is that fish is risky."'

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston says there is a 3rd solution to the 2 fish or not 2 fish conundrum. "EPA and DHA is now available as a toxin free sustainable plant based alternative to fish and fish oil. If mother's are worried we can test their levels of DHA and if they are low they can take a combination of Echium Oil, Algae and Omega 7."

V-Pure Algae plant based EPA / DHA omega 3 fish alternative
This DHA rich Algal oil also has some EPA in it. The Algae is grown in steel tanks in a controlled environment and then the essential fats are coaxed out using a unique high tech natural process to allow the production of a concentrated omega 3 DHA rich oil

Echium Oil an omega 3 rich plant based fish oil alternative that converts well to EPA
Echium is a most amazing plant that has naturally ocurring longer chain omega 3 and omega 6 fats. The combination of these two longer chain essential fats means that in studies Echium oil converts to EPA 5 times more efficiently than flax oil.

Omega 7 - Sea Buckthorn Oil
Foods for Life Nutritionist Gareth Zeal has revealed that research suggests that omega 7 - particularly Seabuckthorn oil, which is rich in omega 7, like longer chain omega 6 helps with the conversion pathway and makes it easier for the body to convert shorter chain essential fat omega oils into longer chain essential fats such as EPA and DHA.

So the question is not just fish or less fish, now plant oils are a sustainable, economically viable, safe, effective, toxin free, alternative.

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston and other top Nutritionists in London - Foods for Life Academy of Food

2010-05-28T11:03:00.001Z

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston and other top Nutritionists in London - Foods for Life Academy of Food:

Foods for Life Health and Nutrition launches The Foods for Life Academy of Food this weekend at The Bristol Eco Veggie Fayre.

"The Kitchen Academy pulled out at the last minute leaving hundreds of school children disappointed so we stepped in to fill the gap" says London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston "The more we thought about it the more we thought what a great idea it was for adults too"

Foods for life has been helping Croydon Based Fit Unit to educate kids about healthy eating. Foods for Life now plan to roll this out and offer healthy kitchen secrets to adults with a unique cookery school model.

National Vegetarian Week is New Ice Age

2010-05-27T10:49:00.000Z

Yvonne Bishop-Weston says GET YOUR FIVE-A-DAY WITH FROZEN for National Vegetarian Week

Celebrate National Vegetarian Week this year with frozen fruit and vegetables, picked in season at their peak of quality – and frozen for your benefit and convenience.

Frozen is an easy way of including more fruit and vegetables into your daily meal plan, with little hassle and waste. Available year round, frozen vegetables are bought already peeled and chopped – no preparation necessary – and can be steamed, stir-fried, or microwaved to be ready in minutes!

Freezing is a natural process that does not involve the use of preservatives and takes place just hours after harvest, locking in freshness and nutrients. The popular frozen pea, for instance, has higher levels of vitamin C than its fresh counterpart, which lose nutritional value during transportation.* So not only is frozen as nutritious as ambient produce; buying frozen means that you can buy in bulk, sweetened with the knowledge that the products will not wither away before you have the chance to eat them.

The New Ice Age Harley Street Nutritionist, vegetarian and mom, Yvonne Bishop-Weston says, “Frozen fruit and vegetables are a great way for your family to get their five-a-day. Frozen foods are an essential component to any busy household kitchen, as they offer you year-round access to quality, good value food with an extended shelf life.”

If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to get your five-a-day, blend yourself a cool and refreshing frozen smoothie made from fruits pulled from the freezer (recipe attached). Visit www.theNewIceAge.com for recipes and further information.

*Frozen peas contain 20.2mg/100g of vitamin C compared to 14.1 in fresh peas (after two days).

Healthy

o Freezing food locks in vitamins and nutrients often lost in ‘fresh foods’ when left on the supermarket shelf

o Frozen food encourages a balanced diet (i.e. packaged for portion control)

o Freezing in a natural process not requiring preservatives

Tasty

o Food frozen within hours of harvest has a superior taste and texture

Economical / Environmental

o Frozen food reduces waste: important when average cost of food has increased by around 7% in the past year. Frozen food is good value.

o Freezing food enables people to enjoy all types of food throughout the year, regardless of season (reducing costs and carbon output caused by importation)

o It is typically less expensive to purchase a frozen ‘ready meal’ than all the ingredients required to produce the same product

Convenient

o There is a growing consumer demand for products that east the effects of their increasingly busy lifestyles and the consequent constraints on food preparation and shopping time.

Broccoli May Help Battle Breast Cancer

2010-05-25T21:20:00.001Z

Broccoli May Help Battle Breast Cancer:

"It appears if you repeat a truth often enough it becomes a fact" says expert London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston following a new study published on the benefits of broccoli

May 2010 ( Clinical Cancer Research)

A compound derived from broccoli appears to be able to kill breast cancer stem cells, which help tumors grow, according to a new study. But it's too soon to know if the compound would work in people. And the amount tested is larger than the amount people could consume in their diet.

"Tests on human breast cancer cells in the laboratory resulted in decreases in cancer stem cells" reported study co-author Duxin Sun, an associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy and Dr. Max S. Wicha, an oncology professor and director of the university's Comprehensive Cancer Center, and a study co-author.

2002

Way back in 2002 a doctor speaking at the American Institute for Cancer Research on diet and nutrition, Paul Talalay, MD, from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., said that cauliflower and broccoli contain a compound that increases an enzyme called sulforaphane in the body. This enzyme helps protect cells and prevents their genes from turning into cancer.

2000

"Men who eat plenty of green vegetables, such as cabbage and broccoli, can lower their risk of prostate cancer by 41 percent" said study co-author Jennifer Cohen, PhD, MPH, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
Dr. Cohen and her colleagues evaluated the total fruit and vegetable consumption of 1,230 men between the ages of 40 and 64 and found men who ate three or more servings of vegetables a day had a 35 percent lower risk of prostate cancer, compared with men who ate fewer than two servings per day. Of the men studied, half had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and half were randomly selected.

processed meat a real health risk

2010-05-25T18:27:00.001Z

Study suggests processed meat a real health risk | Reuters:

As National Vegetarian Week kicks off a well timed new study highlights processed meat as the culprit for ill health.

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston said today "This study was an analysis of other research called a meta-analysis, which, because of the nature of studies trying to prove an argument one way or the other, notoriously come out as you'd expect with average neutral findings. Also the study did not look at high blood pressure or cancer, which are also linked with high meat consumption. So it's interesting that although unprocessed meat escaped condemnation we are still left in no doubt no matter how you cook the books processed meat is bad for health"

"To lower risk of heart attacks and diabetes, people should consider which types of meats they are eating," said Renata Micha of the Harvard School of Public Health, the author of the study that appears in the journal 'Circulation'. "Processed meats such as bacon, salami, sausages, hot dogs and processed deli meats may be the most important to avoid," Micha said in a statement.

Based on her findings, she said people who eat one serving per week or less of processed meats have less of a risk.

She and colleagues did a systematic review of nearly 1,600 studies from around the world looking for evidence of a link between eating processed and unprocessed red meat and the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

They found that on average, each 1.8 oz (50 grams) daily serving of processed meat a day, one to two slices of processed deli meats (such as ham), or one hot dog,was associated with a 42 percent higher risk of heart disease and a 19 percent higher risk of developing diabetes.

National Vegetarian Week finishes in Bristol with a Meat Free Sunday at the Bank Holiday Weekend festival www.bristol.ecoveggiefayre.co.uk

Bank Holiday Weekend Event - Bristol Eco Veggie Fayre

2010-05-22T20:26:00.000Z

Eco Veggie Fayre - Bristol Eco Veggie Fayre:

Bristol Bank Holiday Weekend Event celebrating National Vegetarian Week, live music, family fun, shopping, food, magic, health, environment green fayre, and all the fun from past years with knobs on.

Tim from Yaoh has pulled out all the stops for this year to make it the best ever!

YouTube - Nutrition & Health: London Nutritionist

2010-05-12T22:15:00.002Z

YouTube - Nutrition & Health: Get Well Soon London Nutritionist

Irritable Bowel Syndrome - IBS - London on Vimeo

2010-04-27T23:31:00.001Z

IBS , Irritable Bowel Syndrome , Digestive disorders - London Nutritionist on Vimeo

Tyrant 0 Sore Arse? - IBS - London from foodsforlife on Vimeo.

More at London Nutritionist

Council tried to seize ‘veggie’ child

2010-04-20T11:03:00.001Z

Council tried to seize ‘veggie’ child - Times Online

It's bizarre that that in this day and age with healthy vegan heroes such as Leona Lewis proving a vegan diet is not just viable but superior to the average diet, truly bizarre that a family was criticised for avoiding meat and dairy.

Even the MRSA ridden, pill popping, Burger King hosting, constipation afflicted, dehydrated NHS admit "children can be brought up healthily on a vegan diet"

What on earth was going on in Lewisham where a family was threatened by social services and health professionals with having a child taken into care and denied legal aid for deciding not to feed their children Meat and Dairy.

The family weren't even vegetarian let alone vegan, they eat fish, to attack them for avoiding two groups of food that are consistently negatively implicated in studies about diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and some cancers is bordering on professional incompetance.

Meat and dairy is the staple diet in Croydon, we even have a Burger King selling Beef Burgers and Milkshakes in the foyer of Croydon's Mayday hospital, yet Croydon is labelled as the unhealthiest borough in London.

The children in Croydon are not getting more and more obese on too many fruit and vegetables - it's too much sugar, too much fried chicken and burgers, too many milkshakes and not enough vegetables that are making them sick coupled with not enough activities outside in the sunshine.

Annabel Karmel was on LBC radio this morning with Nick Farrari saying our children need nutrient dense food - she's right they do need nutrient dense foods NOT calorie dense food lacking vitamins and minerals.

Meat and dairy come free with lots of saturated animal fat - it's essential fats from plant foods our children need more of not saturated animal fat.

No prizes for guessing Annabel Karmel is not a qualified nutritionist or dietician - worrying that vegetables have too much fibre in them. No wonder so many kids grow up to be constipated and overweight when people like Ms Karmel are held up as children's food gurus.

There are laws against recommending fresh cows milk for babies - it doesn't have the right balance of nutrients and fats for humans. Take a look on the ingredient panel of baby formula and see the things that have to be added to make it a little more like human breast milk.

Annabel and Nick had succumbed to the myth that milk is the best source of calcium despite mounting evidence that a plant based diet is a better source of calcium

Atkins still Atkins says London Nutritionist

2010-04-14T16:47:00.001Z

Atkins-EMEA - New Atkins New You

Atkins has been rebranded with a get out of Jail free card

The 'new' Atkins diet includes the new line advising

* A daily requirement for at least five servings of high-fiber “foundation vegetables”

This is the line that will make it acceptable to scientists who were previously warning the Atkins diet was dangerous and could cause kidney problems.

But despite the new logo seemingly claiming that the sun shines out of the Atkins International backside it's still a pro meat, anti carbohydrate, high saturated fat, low antioxident, low essential fat diet fad diet says London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston.

"The marketing people have just squashed Atkins into a slightly different shaped box - it's still the same beast, it still has unpleasant side effects and it's still going to perpetuate the myth that meat is more important than a rainbow of vegetables on your plate"

"What's wrong with the Atkins diet? It's more fresh vegetables that we need in our diet not more meat. More essential fats and anti-oxidents not more factory farmed saturated animal fat" says the London Nutritionist.

Author Tony Bishop-Weston says "It's true, highly processed nutrient stripped carbohydrates are the root of all nutritional evil but we need to replace them with colourful fresh vegetables and anti-oxident rich berries not saturated fat rich dead meat"

Free Nutrition in London by Nutritionist

2010-04-14T00:59:00.001Z

London Nutritionist on Nutrition

It seems the competition for nutrition therapy is becoming fiercly fought in London after many more students have decided to study Nutrition courses to become a nutritionist and change career for a life in complementary health. As patient how do you choose which of the many Nutritionists in London to trust your health condition with?

Free Nutrition Consulations?

On price? How much will they charge? How much does a nutritionist earn? Some nutritionists now offer an initial consultation for free! Yes believe it or not, free nutrition consultations even in London. There are even free nutrition programs on line that claim to diagnose from your symptoms.

Leading UK nutritionist in London and former tutor at The Institute of Optimum Nutritionist in Richmond Yvonne Bishop-Weston says "I find people don't value free information as much as when they pay for it and are likely to be less motivated and then less likely to be compliant and thus benefit from the advice and get well"

"My most appreciative clients, apart from the people diagnosed with infertility and who've been helped to have healthy babies, are the wealthiest clients who can afford the most expensive tests. Often they've previously spent a fortune around the world and despite their wealth they are still suffering, they get referred to me, they get the answers they are looking for and become well in only 2 - 3 visits. They are by far our best ambassadors"

The most expensive tests aren't essential they just help the nutritionists to get the root cause of a problem and help to solve it far more quickly. If time is precious to you then time off work even saving one extra visit to the nutritionist can save far more than the cost of even the most expensive test.

"Sometimes what's not going wrong in a nutrition test is as important a clue as what is" says the nutritionist.

Yvonne also reveals that no matter how much you learn at University you can't beat experience. "It's hardly ever as simple as it is in the textbooks. People are often suffering from a unique individual mix of causes and experience helps you to unravel the ball of ill health and put the pieces of the jigsaw together far faster as time goes on. After many years of experience you can avoid all the trial and error and cliched mistaken identity that you have to battle with when you are newly qualified." she says.

However the London nutritionist admits you can never rest on your laurels. These days technology and understanding on health matters moves forward at an alarming rate. Registered professional Nutritional therapists are obligated by their governing body to commit to a minimum level of CPD (continued professional development) each year.

Luckily so too are dieticians now obligated to review their knowledge. Now much of the superstitious food industry sponsored fables they used to be criticised for are fading away. Old habits die hard however and some old school dieticians still seems to get locked into defense of sugar rich food, saturated fat rich dairy food and calorie counting but is massively reduced. We are now seeing dieticians begin to embrace and use nutritional therapy tools such as probiotics that nutritionists have been using for decades.

Nutritionist London Nutrition Advice

2010-04-09T18:35:00.001Z

Nutritionist London Nutrition Advice

Very simple 1st step nutrition advice from leading Nutritionist, London Yvonne Bishop-Weston from a new healthy eating DVD by WDF . Here she dicusses protein as a nutritionists tool to balance blood sugar levels and thus mood, stress, weight management and energy levels.

London's 2012 Olympic Stadium to be a Swamp

2010-03-31T23:23:00.000Z

APRIL 1st 2010 - Ministers plan to turn London's 2012 Olympic Stadium into a Swamp post 2012 Olympics

Innovative plans are to be unveiled later today to turn London's massive Olympic Stadium into an enormous algal swamp following the 2012 Olympics as part of a new nutrition, health and sustainability scheme.

Following revelations of Gordon Brown's new proposed LOHAS LAW that will make it compulsory for for schools and hospitals to adopt a healthy and sustainable Meat free Monday, other secret plans to transform the NHS and save money have come to light.

Olympic Park Legacy Company chair Margaret Ford and chief executive Andrew Altman have apparently been left 'unimpressed' by West Ham Football club's bid for the Olympic stadium. "They'd have to be Manchester United to make it work and even then the sums don't add up on less than 2 games a week" revealed an aid.

More lucrative and viable negotiations have meanwhile taken place between two London based entrepreneurial functional food development companies and Algae specialists, Water4Life and Eau+, and government health ministers to transform the Olympic stadium in London's East End into a gigantic pond when the 2012 Olympics is over.

The plan is to seal up the entrances and fill the stadium with salt water to then use it for farming a special secret type of algae that is rich in omega 3 long chain fatty acids EPA and DHA revealed contractor

Health practitioners and particularly nutritionists are convinced that part of the reason for escalating preventable chronic diseases and ill health is a lack of these essential fats in our modern diet.

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston explains "Because meat is mass produced, with animals kept in unnatural conditions and fed an unnatural diet there is a widening discrepancy between the nutrients that are assumed to be in meat and actual modern levels. We are finding high levels of saturated fat and low levels of omega 3 fats in patients diets. Meanwhile studies are finding increasing levels of toxins in fish."

"Essential fats are essential for the quality and repair of every cell membrane in the body - a lack of the optimum balance of essential fats can lead to fertility problems, mood problems, skin problems, immune system problems, cognitive dysfunction, weight issues, hormonal imbalances, digestive problems, reduced heart health, visual impairment and erectile dysfunction"

Plans are being discussed to produce millions of tons of omega 3 rich algae that can be distributed free to school children and hospital patients via seaweed and algae shakes, and added to bread, pasta and even ice cream.

Businessman and health innovator Tom Brudenell-Bruce says "We already have 90% proof DHA rich algae for enhancing functional food products but we need to start producing algae on a massive scale if we want to get the price down to a 10th of the price of fish oil so that the government can afford to give V-Pure algae away for free"

Collaborators on the film 'The End of the Line' are delighted with the news and say "this investment is long overdue fishing is unsustainable and there are increasing levels of toxins to worry about too"

Campaigners are hoping Sir Richard Branson will get involved as algae can also be used as a fuel and is said to be one of the options that Branson is considering to make Virgin Airways much more sustainable than competitor airlines.

Fish Oil under attack

2010-03-24T12:20:00.001Z

Wading into fish oil supplement safety

The health industry's love of fish, fish oil and fish oil supplements came under attack this week

In San Francisco omega 3 fish oil supplement manufacturers are being sued over toxin levels.

(From San Francisco Chronicle)
Ten over-the-counter fish oil supplements - of the at least 200 brands estimated to be on the market - were tested by Mateel and found to contain toxins called polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. The levels, not disclosed on labels, varied widely; some were far above what requires a warning label under California's Proposition 65 disclosure rules, which mandate that manufacturers list certain toxins in their products. Among those toxins are PCBs because of their carcinogenic risks as well as their link to reproductive problems. California has set an acceptable risk level for PCBs as carcinogens: a scant 90 billionths of a gram a day (90 nanograms). No acceptable risk level has been set for reproductive effects.
The tests, conducted on manufacturers' recommendations for daily dosages, which vary widely, found that three of the 10 products contained PCB levels above that benchmark for carcinogens. David Roe, an attorney for the environmental plaintiffs, says Mateel tested daily dosages because the results would yield a true measure of daily intake because most consumers follow label recommendations. The lowest level, found in Solgar's Norwegian Cod Liver Oil, was 70 times below the highest, found in Now Foods Salmon Oil. Different dosages could account for some of the variance among the products, but the tests found that concentration levels of PCBs varied as well.
Toxicity can vary widely in fish oil, depending on what kind of fish is used and the contamination in its habitat waters, scientists say. Older, bigger fish tend to build up more PCBs in their fatty tissues than smaller fish, but habitat is still key.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com

In another report resurfacing from last summer fish and fish oils are accused of increasing the risk of Type 2 diabetes by up to 22% if consumed more than 5 times a week

From www.pcrm.org
A Harvard study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition links fish and omega-3 oil consumption to type 2 diabetes. Following 195,204 adults for 14 to18 years, researchers found that the more fish or omega-3 fatty acids participants consumed, the higher their risk of developing diabetes. The risk increase was modest for occasional fish eaters, but rose to a 22 percent increased risk for women consuming five or more fish servings per week.
Prior studies have suggested that fat accumulation within muscle cells can lead to insulin resistance which, in turn, contributes to diabetes. People who eat no animal products have less fat in their cells and much less risk of developing diabetes. A low-fat vegan diet has been shown to improve type 2 diabetes.

Kaushik M, Mozaffarian D, Spiegelman D, Manson JE, Willett WC, Hu FB. Long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, fish intake, and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jul 22.

Safer , sustainable , toxin free omega 3 long chain essential fat alternatives are now being offered from EPA and DHA rich Algae oils and plant oils such as Echium oil

Seaweed fights obesity, researchers in Newcastle claim

2010-03-22T10:31:00.001Z

BBC News - Seaweed fights obesity, researchers in Newcastle claim

Great to see a bit of seaweed research hitting the news and getting national headlines for seaweed again.

As followers of this blog, London nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston and Foods for Life will be well aware we have been singing the praises of seaweed and algae for a long time now.

A seaweed and algae shake is an excellent way for busy people (as seen with Victoria Beckham and Kate Moss) to get extra nutrients into their diet.

Two of our favourites are Pro Greens and Slim Greens although just adding a little chlorella algae to a fruit smoothie could help a great deal.

BBC TV and Radio reported today that Newcastle University researchers found alginate - a fibre found in sea kelp - reduces the body's fat uptake by more than 75%. That is better than most anti-obesity treatments.

However rather than just encourage people to eat more Japanese food such as miso soups and sushi their idea is to add it to crap food that contains a lot of trans fats and saturated fats so that people can continue to eat rubbish food and not get quite so obese on it.

BBC report Dr Iain Brownlee, who co-led the Tyneside team, said: "This research suggests that if we can add the natural fibre to products commonly eaten daily, such as bread, biscuits and yoghurts, up to three quarters of the fat contained in that meal could simply pass through the body."

AAARRGGHH! Nooooo! Their logic is amazing - so we continue to take the natural fibre and nutrients out of bread and biscuits losing up to 95% of some nutrients and using adulterated fats that poison the brain and a whole ton of sugar but we add in a little weenie bit of seaweed fibre in and all the world's obesity problems will be over!

London Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston says "Yes seaweed offers some important nutrients (such as iodine) to our nutrient deficient diets but if you want to lose weight and be healthier you have to start eating food for your brain not food for your bum!"

Buy Pro Greens Seaweed & Algae Shake at discount prices

Health messages 'has had little effect'

2010-02-25T19:05:00.001Z

5 A Day Day in Croydon Campaign: Decade of spending on health messages 'has had little effect' - Health News, Health & Families

Leading UK Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston from Foods for Life says "It's a little early to be saying that the Change4Life campaign has failed but there's no doubt government needs to dramatically rethink the issue of holistic preventative health measures to save the NHS from collapsing into a black hole"

* Only 35 per cent of adults eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day

* the figure for teenagers is 15 per cent

* children’s milk consumption has fallen

* fibre remains below the Government target

* people are eating half the recommended amount of oily fish

* average biodymass has increased, making 60 per cent of adults are overweight or obese

Richard Watts of Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming said: “After 10 years of largely small, weak or voluntary initiatives, like Change4Life, we have seen little improvement in the nation's diet.

“Where the government has introduced tough rules, such as improving school food, genuine progress has been made but unless we really challenge our 'obeseogenic' culture by doing things like introducing proper protections from junk food marketing, these worrying trends will continue.”

Forks Over Knives – The Official Movie Website

2010-02-18T08:48:00.002Z

Forks Over Knives – The Official Movie Website

This could be the one. There's been lots of films in the last few years trying to tackle the issues surrounding the epidemic of Chronic Disease in the West that is now starting to take hold in the far East. Most of them have been a little too earnest for general consumption, too many excuses for Doctors to be dismissive.

This film could be different.

Here we have a clinician and a scientist jointly presenting their evidence to argue that heart disease, cancer and diabetes is more a choice than an inheritance.

The problem is how to get those most in need to realise they have a choice for optimum health.

Better diet and health is not profitable enough for global corporations - there will be no Pharmaceutical company investing millions of Dollars of PR, advertising and Lobbyists' time on this National Health Care, Welfare and Health Insurance Solution.

BBC Panorama - The hunt for healthy food for children

2010-01-27T11:44:00.001Z

BBC News - Panorama - The hunt for healthy food for children

Tremendous expose of children's food and tricks currently being used to dupe parents.

Cow & Gates excuse for the high sugar in their follow on milk was a study that showed high protein children's diets lead to obesity.

However what the study actually reveals is that too much meat and dairy can lead to obesity and certainly NOT that sugar is better than fat and protein!

The study from the Research Institute of Child Nutrition revealed

The ages of 12 months and 5-6 y were identified as critical ages at which higher total and animal, but not vegetable, protein intakes were positively related to later body fatness.

Free Weight Loss and Health Advice

2010-01-19T22:45:00.001Z

The Diet & Fitness Show

Free weight loss and optimal health advice at Olympia, London on Sunday 24th January.

Leading UK weight loss expertYvonne Bishop-Weston will be explaining her no diet, no calorie counting approach to weight loss and optimal health at Olympia in London this Sunday afternoon at 2pm

Discover her secrets to sustainable weight loss and optimal health

The commuter diet: Don't starve yourself, just eat | Health & Beauty

2010-01-07T11:18:00.002Z

The commuter diet: Don't starve yourself, just eat | Health & Beauty

More of the same from "The Food Dr", nutritionist Ian Marber - but it really is that simple. They say that if you tell a truth enough times it becomes a fact, or is a fact becomes a truth.... Whilst the voice of reason is growing louder from nutritionists like Marber and Yvonne Bishop-Weston equally the likes of Dieticians, "Doctors" such as Ben Goldacre desperately cling to Diet Culture with advice that justs leads the general public to be more overweight and getting more ill. Ian leads by example he's not genetically skinny like many of the nutritionists following in his footsteps and is a healthy living proof of the pudding that optimum nutrition works. You'd never think this handsome guy was in his late 60's would you? ;-)

bmj.com: Ben Goldacre

2010-01-06T16:09:00.001Z

bmj.com: Just found this lovely response to The Bitch Doctor from Dr John Briffa on the BMJ website ........ it's old but worth revisiting.

John P Briffa,
Doctor and health writer
Woolaston House,
25 Southwood Lane,
Highgate,
London
N6 5ED

Dr Goldacre’s opinion piece [1] takes a broad swipe at media nutritionists by focusing on some silly thinking and the ‘pseudoscience’ that undoubtedly can sometimes be found in the area. The author takes particular exception to Gillian McKeith’s claim that chlorophyll is rich in oxygen and that eating plenty of it will help to oxygenate the blood. In respect to this, Dr Goldacre comments “as any 14 year old biology student could tell you, plants only make oxygen in light: it's very dark in your bowel; and even if, to prove a point, you put a searchlight up your bottom, you probably wouldn't absorb too much oxygen through the gut wall.”
Fair enough, but I wonder how many of us (doctors included) have beliefs and, where relevant, employ clinical approaches that in their entirely would stand up to scrutiny. Take, for example, Dr Goldacre’s own suggestion to test the oxygen-producing capacity of chlorophyll in the gut by illuminating the large bowel: this hypothetical test, albeit tongue-in- cheek, is flawed because the process of digestion would render chlorophyll biologically inactive by the time it reaches the colon. On the face of it, some of Dr Goldacre’s own musings here might be regarded as nonsensical at those of McKeith.
Dr Goldacre appears to give the impression that much what media nutritionists do is unvalidated mumbo-jumbo. Yet, many nutritionists do refer to the research and scientifically reference their work. The accusations of misinterpretation, cherry-picking, inappropriate extrapolation of data and conflict of interest can be made, but these can also be levelled at the medical and scientific establishments too: The widespread promotion of statins despite there being no evidence that these are effective in reducing mortality in the primary prevention setting is a case in point [2,3].
The area of nutrition is an emerging field, and thus many nutritionists will advocate approaches that may not have been formally studied, but do seem to be of broad benefit in practice. It seems that for Dr Goldacre such clinical experience does not count for much. Is he of the mind, then, that everything health professionals do be properly studied and validated before implementation. If that’s the case, we doctors should pack up and go home now: only 15 per cent of medical practice has been proven effective, and most of what we do is of unknown effectiveness, is unlikely to be beneficial, or has been shown to be positively harmful [4].
Dr Goldacre expresses his belief that nutritionists have deliberately over-complicated their approaches and adds, “Basic, uncomplicated dietary advice is effective and promotes health.” Given his attachment to scientific rigour, it seems appropriate to ask Dr Goldacre what evidence there is for this assertion.
If anything, the evidence is to the contrary. For example, the perhaps most pervasive nutritional message that has sunk deep into the population’s psyche is certainly a simple one: that we should eat a diet low in fat and high in carbohydrate. And despite this easy-to-understand piece of advice, rates of chronic conditions such as obesity and Type 2 diabetes in the UK continue to soar.
And the evidence for the ineffectiveness of low-fat eating is not merely anecdotal. Studies show that this oft-touted ‘healthy’ way of eating is, for instance, thoroughly ineffective for the purposes of weight loss in the long term [5,6]. It is perhaps worth bearing in mind that the ‘low-fat high-carb’ dictum is not generally popularised by media nutritionists, but instead by dieticians and the professional bodies to which they are affiliated, notably the British Dietetic Association (BDA).
Other dietetic ‘gems’ that come from the dietetic establishment include the notion that plenty of calcium and dairy products in the diet are somehow ‘essential’ to bone health in children and adults [7-9], that artificial sweeteners are preferred to sugar for those seeking to lose weight (not one single randomised, placebo-controlled study assessing the effects of artificial sweeteners on weight is to be found in the scientific literature), that diabetics should make starchy carbohydrates a cornerstone of their diet (many of these release sugar relatively quickly into the bloodstream and tend to disrupt glycaemic control, and eating less of such foods has been shown to improve biochemical markers including those of glycaemic control) [10-17], and that taking dietary steps to reduce cholesterol saves lives [18].
I accept that media ‘nutritionists’ may get it wrong sometimes (myself included) and some make a tidy living from their efforts. But if Dr Goldacre’s cry is for more accountability in the area, I reckon he should put the spotlight of scrutiny less on media nutritionists, and more on dieticians and the BDA.
References:
1. Goldacre B. Tell us the truth about nutritionists. BMJ 2007;334:292
2. Abramson J, Wright JM. Are lipid-lowering guidelines evidence- based? Lancet 2007;369:168-169
3. Jauca C, Wright JM. Therapuetics letter: update on statin therapy. Int Soc Drug Bull Newsletter. 2003;17:7-9
4. http://www.clinicalevidence.com/ceweb/about/knowledge.jsp
5. Pirozzo S, et al. Advice on low-fat diets for obesity. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2002;(2):CD003640
6. Willett C, et al. Dietary fat is not a major determinant of body fat. Am J Med. 2002;113(9B):47S-59S
7. Lanou AJ, et al. Calcium, dairy products, and bone health in children and young adults: a reevaluation of the evidence. Pediatrics. 2005;115(3):736-43
8. Winzenberg T, et al. Effects of calcium supplementation on bone density in healthy children: meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. BMJ 2006;333:775-778
9. Feskanich D, et al. Calcium, vitamin D, milk consumption, and hip fractures: a prospective study among postmenopausal women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2003 77(2):504-511
10. Collier GR, et al. Low glycemic index starchy foods improve glucose control and lower serum cholesterol in diabetic children. Diabetes Nutr Metab 1988;1:11-19
11. Fontvieille AM, et al. A moderate switch from high to low glycemic-index foods for 3 weeks improves metabolic control of type I (IDDM) diabetic subjects. Diabetes Nutr Metab 1988;1:139-43
12. Jenkins DJ, et al. Low-glycemic-index starchy foods in the diabetic diet. Am J Clin Nutr 1988;48:248–54
13. Wolever TM, et al. Beneficial effect of a low glycaemic index diet in type 2 diabetes. Diabet Med 1992;9:451–8
14. Wolever TM, et al. Beneficial effect of low-glycemic index diet in overweight NIDDM subjects. Diabetes Care 1992;15:562–4
15. Brand JC, et al. Low-glycemic index foods improve long-term glycemic control in NIDDM. Diabetes Care 1991;14:95–101
16. Fontvieille AM, et al. The use of low glycaemic index foods improves metabolic control of diabetic patients over five weeks. Diabet Med 1992;9:444–50
17. Frost G, et al. Dietary advice based on the glycaemic index improves dietary profile and metabolic control in type 2 diabetic patients. Diabet Med 1994;11:397–401
18. Studer M, et al. Effect of different antilipidemic agents and diets on mortality. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2005;165:725-730
19. Email communication (available on request)
contact: john@drbriffa.com
Competing interests: I am a private-practising doctor and health writer with a special interest in nutrition

Must Have Cookbook This Christmas

2009-12-17T12:15:00.001Z

Must have addition to a cookbook shelf : Formally the domain of eccentric celebrities, now polititions, business men such as Richard Branson, and mainstream health professionals are recognising the benefits of eating less meat for both optimal health and the environment.

It's getting to the stage where you'll soon be branded a food fascist or culinary racist if you can't provide a delicious and innovative healthy vegan dish at your restaurant.

The chance of a vegan guest at your Christmas celebration or dinner party is now greater than at any time in history - there has been a massive surge in interest in vegan diets and swanky new vegan restaurants such as Saf in London have helped to destroy preconceptions about limitations on cooking with plant foods.

If you are thinking "where do I start" then this cookbook is the book for you. If your friends are frightened by cooking without meat then this is the cookbook for them.

If you you are short of a Christmas Present for someone this cookbook may bring a sigh of relief to someone with a hole on their kitchen shelf.

Alzheimer's Society + Bupa Research Funding

2009-12-08T10:57:00.001Z

Alzheimer's Society and Bupa unite to improve lives of people with dementia - Alzheimer's Society

At last! Someone looking to address the serious lack of funding into Altzheimers - let's hope as much as possible goes towards research into preventative measures and protecting the brain rather than just all gobbled up by drug companies looking for a silver bullet that doesn't exist.

Neil Hunt, Chief Executive, Alzheimer's Society said,

'One in three people over 65 will die with dementia, the aim of this partnership with Bupa is to jointly seek new, beneficial initiatives for people with dementia and their carers.'

“Dementia research is seriously under-funded. Much more needs to be invested if we are to see the same advancements in dementia care and treatment as we have seen for cancer. By delaying the onset of dementia by just five years we could halve the number of deaths from the condition, saving 30,000 lives a year, but without progress in research the economic cost of the disease is likely to rise to £27 billion by 2018.”

More information on the £1.5m fund:

The closing date for applications is 28 February 2010. Grants would be awarded in line with guidelines issued by the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC).

The topics that may be considered for funding in the areas of cause, cure, care and prevention include:

• Epidemiology of all forms of dementia
• The causes of dementia and mechanism of disease progression
• The causal relationship between genetics and lifestyle factors predisposing people to dementia
• Prevention, diagnosis and treatment of dementia
• Slowing the progress of dementia
• Developing (non-embryonic) stem cell therapies with translational benefits for people with dementia
• Evidence for dietary supplements or complementary therapies as an alternative to drugs
• Improving Quality of life for people with dementia in their own homes or care homes
• How to best train staff in all health sectors, at all levels, in communicating with, understanding the needs of, and caring for people with dementia
• Management of anxiety, agitation and other behavioral symptoms, without the use of antipsychotic drugs
• The impact of acute hospitalization of people with dementia

For details on how to apply go to: www.bupafoundation.co.uk or www.alzheimers.org.uk/research

For more information contact:

Brett Lowther
BUPA Corporate Affairs
Tel: +44 (0)20 7656 2638
Email: lowtherb@bupa.com

Notes:
• One in three people over 65 will die with dementia
• Alzheimer’s Society research shows that 700,000 people in the UK have a form of dementia, more than half have Alzheimer’s disease. In less than 20 years nearly a million people will be living with dementia. This will soar to 1.7 million people by 2051.

Spanish eggs blamed for salmonella restaurant outbreak | BigHospitality.co.uk

2009-12-03T11:24:00.000Z

Spanish eggs blamed for salmonella restaurant outbreak | BigHospitality.co.uk

Eggs poison 150 - 2 deaths

A batch of Spanish eggs linked to an outbreak of salmonella in a number of restaurants and catering establishments, has sparked the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to warn caterers to cook their eggs properly.

Almost 150 cases of salmonella across England and Wales, including five hospitalisations and two deaths, are being linked to several restaurants and cafes who may have been using eggs sourced from an ‘approved establishment’ in Spain.

Secret to Reduce Hospital Acquired Infections

2009-11-19T13:31:00.001Z

Health4Media.com -

Yet more evidence that all you need is water to vastly improve the effectiveness of the National Health Service. So many patients are left water tantalisingly out of their reach.

The trouble is that from an operational point of view the last thing they want is bed bound patients going to the toilet regularly, the irony is that the patient could be sent home earlier getting well more quickly if they practiced patient centered medicine more often.

The results of the recent study in an NHS hospital showed:

20% reduction in time spent in hospital

97% reduction in dehydration

100% reduction in hospital acquired infections

"If these results were repeated across the NHS as a whole it would show a £5 Billion saving and a major increase in patient satisfaction with their care in hospital." say the manufacturers of a new contraption that makes water more accessable to patients in hospital.

Mainstream Medicine Catches on to Nutritionists Tools

2009-11-19T13:09:00.001Z

Probiotics and health - Nutritionists have been using probiotics for many years to great effect (to relieve IBS, and other digestive problems and support the immune system) . Now mainstream medicine are finally catching on to the use of therapeutic strain probiotics as tool to treat patients digestive problems and counter the detrimental effects of anti-biotics.

Now a new scientific review by the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF), Probiotics and health – summing up the evidence, draws together complex probiotic research and shows accumulating evidence to support the health benefits of probiotics in some areas. The results of this review are a valuable tool for health professionals which will underpin consistent health advice.

The BNF has examined around 100 original research studies and reviews on probiotics and health. Sian Porter, spokeswoman for the British Dietetic Association says: “We welcome BNF’s efforts to bring together the evidence on probiotics and clear the confusion. This review is a useful, up-to-date resource for dietitians to support their evidence based advice on the use of probiotics for different health conditions, to both individuals and the public”.

A complex science
‘Probiotics’ is an extremely complex topic, and this often leads to consumers being exposed to conflicting advice. Dr Elisabeth Weichselbaum, Nutrition Scientist and author of the BNF review says: “Probiotics seem to work in a very strain specific manner - speaking about ‘probiotics’ in general may be as misleading as speaking about ‘pills’ and their effects on health. If a certain strain has been found to affect a certain health outcome, such as IBS, it would be misleading to state that ‘all probiotics’ are effective in relieving IBS symptoms.”

The BNF review shows that each single probiotic strain has to be tested for each single health outcome. To be effective, probiotics need to influence the balance of the human gut microflora. Probiotics must be able to survive their passage through the gastro-intestinal tract, be taken regularly, and in the right dose. Dr Weichselbaum adds: “Scientists are also now becoming increasingly aware that it is important to test whether the food or drink in which probiotics are given is an effective vehicle for delivering health benefits.”

Promise for irritable bowel syndrome
Between 3-25% of the population complains of the uncomfortable symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), so it is no wonder that sufferers are interested in whether probiotics can help. Professor Glenn Gibson, Professor of Food Microbiology at the University of Reading, is optimistic: “The science shows promising results for the use of probiotics in IBS. The studies have looked at many different strains of bacteria but we need more studies to find out which strains are most effective, and to make sure any benefits found are not the result of a placebo effect.”

Established benefits for diarrhoea
The potential for probiotics to help in the prevention and treatment of diarrhoea has been widely studied.

Antibiotic-associated diarrhoea
Dr Weichselbaum says: “The prevention of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea has a good science-base for some probiotic strains. Two strains called S. boulardii and L. rhamnosus GG have been shown to cut the risk of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea by more than a half.”

Dr Mary Hickson, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust adds: “Certain strains of bacteria have good evidence to show they prevent antibiotic associated diarrhoea and Clostridium difficile diarrhoea. Providing products containing these strains to hospital patients may help to reduce these detrimental side effects and so reduce healthcare costs”.

Buy Probiotics

World Diabetes Day 14th November

2009-11-11T11:16:00.001Z

A cure for Diabetes?

Take 6 people and reverse their diabetes just through Diet?

We live in a crazy world where many people consider Nutritionists to be like witch doctors - our faith in modern medicine is all consuming but "the facts", "the truth" doesn't add up to optimum health.

Drugs are killing people.

Processed food is killing people.

If you really want to get well then try this approach, if it doesn't work what have you got to lose? You'll still be on the drugs. You'll still be ill.

If it does work, with the supervision of your doctor you can gradually wean yourself off any drugs that you don't need any more.

Childrens Health and Nutrition Findings

2009-11-08T17:17:00.001Z

From the Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday

Experts agree that what children eat from birth to five years old matters even more than their diet later on in childhood. But many little ones are not getting the nutrition they need to support their rapid growth and development. Nutritional problems are common among this age group, including iron deficiency anaemia and deficiencies of vitamin A, D, B6, folate, calcium and zinc; constipation is widespread, as are dental caries.

Almost a quarter of UK pre-school children are overweight or obese, with about ten per cent underweight, according to paediatric dietician Judy More, writing in the Journal of Family Health Care.

Poor diet also has a marked effect on education. The ‘Children of the 90s’ longitudinal study by the Institute of Education at the University of Bristol, which is following more than 14,000 families with babies born between April 1991 and December 1992, showed that children who ate a diet of ‘junk’ food (high in fat and sugar, eg, crisps, sweets and fizzy drinks, highly processed food, and takeaways) at the age of three made poorer progress than average at school between the ages of six and ten.

This year, a survey of 1,000 parents by the Infant and Toddler Forum found nearly a third of under-threes eat at least one takeaway a week, and 19 per cent are given takeaways or adult ready meals every day. A staggering 20 per cent of babies aged nine to 12 months were given a takeaway once a week.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1225227/Health-notes-The-ABC-healthier-children.html#ixzz0WHxY6zTG

Before It's too late - Events, London

2009-10-22T15:44:00.001Z

Family Fun Day Ethical Health &amp Sustainability Croydon South London London events gigs nightlife

Are you really stupid enough to miss this - one day only - Fairfield Halls Nov 1st - ethical cinema, HealthZone, Kids Space, Cookery demos

Our future is at stake - our future health, our future planet, our children's future - time is running out. What's your excuse for standing by and doing nothing?

The Age Of Stupid

at the eco veggie fayre

Insurance Compaines Decieve America

2009-10-19T20:30:00.000Z

The White House - Blog Post - Weekly Address: Taking the Insurance Companies on Down the Stretch

President Obama has the Health Insurance companies in his sights and he is taking them on head on . He doesn't mince his words in his latest address and he has the backing of big business who are realising that the American insurance companies will cost businesses commercial viability if insurance giants keep screwing everyone with their doubling premiums and gross profits and bonuses.

Obama accuses insurance companies of trying to kill reform at any cost risking unleashing havoc on the American economy as premiums double again over the next 10 years. President Obama reveals Health Insurers and their agents as deceptive, dishonest, misleading the American people, willfully ignoring the truth, having asked researchers to cook the evidence, creating smoke screens' producing bogus phony studies and bending the truth in their cynical political games.

At present there is no incentive for true 'health care' the profits are all in 'sick care'.

Obama seems committed to changing that.

True health insurance lies in the hands of nutritionists. It's by far the most cost effective investment for healthier living. The choice is yours invest in future sickness insurance or invest in optimal health assurance.

See Nutritionists London

Fish Don't Protect Against Heart Attacks

2009-10-14T18:55:00.002Z

Fish Don't Protect Against Heart Attacks: Study
Intake of very long chain n-3 fatty acids from fis...[Eur J Heart Fail. 2009] - Result

In this study the author's claim no protection against heart attacks from eating fish. (Full text)

In a previous study it's claimed fish do have a protective effect on Atrial fibrillation although it differentiates between tuna, broiled or baked fish and fried fish or 'fish burgers'.

http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/110/4/368?etoc

It seems thus the key to confusion is the fat not the fish. As with studies on Flax oil, if it's pure and encapsulated it provides degrees of success - baked in muffins with fat and sugar it appears impotent.

It is logical that the high levels of saturated fats in fish, with any essential fats left to oxidise, laced with potential toxins from polluted oceans and unhealthy fats introduced through cooking may undermine any theraputic benefit of the EPA and DHA in fish.

The solution to balancing long chain essential fatty acid levels in the body which are undisputedly needed for the intergity of every cell membrane is perhaps best addressed by sustainably grown, unpolluted new strains of algae that can provide both pure EPA and DHA for theraputic use.

New plant oils such as Echium found to be far more effectively converted in the body into EPA than flax oil may also prove to be invaluable as the oceanic ecosystems are gradually destroyed by overfishing.

Echium Oil - Algae Oil - Fish Free Omega 3

Warning - Swine Flu H1N1 Vaccine Is Not Safe

2009-10-14T17:15:00.000Z

Warning - Swine Flu H1N1 Vaccine Is Not Safe

More claims from health professionals that mercury laden flu vaccines are unsafe.

Red meat again linked to cancer risk: Study

2009-10-12T11:48:00.000Z

Red meat again linked to cancer risk: Study

Writing in the American Journal of Epidemiology, researchers from the National Cancer Institute report that high intake of red meat may increase the risk of prostate cancer by 12 per cent.

Furthermore, red meat may increase the risk of advanced prostate cancer by 30 per cent, wrote the researchers, led by Dr Rashmi Sinha from the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics.

The study adds to an ever increasing list of bad news for red and processed meat, following a previous study from the NCI that reported high intakes of red and processed meats may raise the risk of lung and colorectal cancer by up to 20 per cent.

The World Cancer Research Fund published a report in 2007 that directly linked diet to cancer, with alcohol and red and processed meats posing particular risks.

Earlier this year, the same authors published similar findings from a study with half a million people, noting that that increased consumption of red and processed meat may have a modestly increased risk of death from all causes and also from cancer or heart disease (Archives of Internal Medicine, Vol 169, pp. 562-571).

Vitamin B12 Deficiencies in Meat Eaters

2009-09-29T09:58:00.000Z

A typical criticism of vegetarian diets (usually from health professionals without practical hands-on experience in nutrition practice) is that vegetarians and vegans lack sufficient vitamin B12.

However in a recent study of diabetes ( a disease linked to meat and animal fat based diets) it seems that B12 deficiency in modern diets is of general concern.

Yvonne Bishop-Weston a leading UK Nutritionist says "In UK clinic I rarely find vegetarians with significant B12 and Iron deficiencies, they tend to be more aware of failings in our modern diets. More often than not meat eaters are lulled into a false sense of security that the Standard American Diet (SAD diet) of Meat, cheese and processed carbohydrates stripped of nutrients and fibre provides them with all the vitamins and minerals that they need"

We know the general population is short on iron it's seems they are likely to be low on Vitamin B12 too.

The prevalence of vitamin B(12) deficiency in pati...[J Am Board Fam Med. 2009 Sep-Oct] - PubMed Result: "Our results found a 22% prevalence of metabolically confirmed B(12) deficiency in the primary care type 2 diabetic population. Although further research needs to be performed to determine the clinical implications of our findings, B(12) deficiency should be considered in type 2 diabetic patients, especially those taking metformin. Furthermore, a daily multivitamin may protect against B(12) deficiency."

A seperate Swedish study showed that good quality B12 supplement taken sublingually (under the tongue) is as effective as injections. A regular sublingual Vitamin B12 supplement may be good health insurance for us all. Go to your Doctor and ask for a homocysteine blood test which is the most reliable way to date of testing for vitamin B12 deficiency

World Vegan Day - Vegan News

Welcome to Peace One Day: Peace One Day – 21 September 2009

2009-09-14T17:14:00.000Z

Peace One Day: Peace One Day – 21 September 2009

Cannabinoids: potential anticancer agents.

2009-09-11T10:37:00.000Z

Cannabinoids: potential anticancer agents. [Nat Rev Cancer. 2003] - PubMed Result

Key studies suggesting that active ingredients in some varieties of hemp may successfully inhibit the growth of cancerous growths has been universally ignored and buried by the media.

It's claimed hemp does this by modulating key cell-signalling pathways, thereby inducing direct growth arrest and death of tumor cells, as well as by inhibiting the growth of blood vessels that supply the tumor.

The Guzman study is very important according to Dr. Ethan Russo , a neurologist and world authority on medical cannabis:"Cancer occurs because cells become immortalized; they fail to heed normal signals to turn off growth. A normal function of remodelling in the body requires that cells die on cue. This is called apoptosis, or programmed cell death.

That process fails to work in tumors. THC promotes its reappearance so that gliomas, leukemias, melanomas and other cell types will in fact heed the signals, stop dividing, and die."

"But, that is not all," explains Dr. Russo: "The other way that tumors grow is by ensuring that they are nourished: they send out signals to promote angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels. Cannabinoids turn off these signals as well. It is truly incredible, and elegant."

The potential of Hemp as a treatment for cancer was proven in research dating back to 1974. Researchers at the Medical College of Virginia, who had been funded by the National Institutes of Health to find evidence that marijuana damages the immune system, found instead that THC slowed the growth of three kinds of cancer - lung and breast cancer, and a virus-induced leukemia.

A large scale human study by the Natural Health Industry is called for to investigate these findings

Kate Moss Spotty Fashion

2009-09-09T18:58:00.001Z

Worse for wear Kate Moss at Men of the Year awards | Mail Online

Croydon Girl Kate Moss seems to have come out in sympathy with her home town, the unhealthiest borough in London. Wearing this party seasons latest face it looks like she could do with the same advice dished out to Croydon Councilors today - have a 5 a day day!

Nutrition London

Meat Free Day in Croydon Campaign

2009-09-08T22:23:00.001Z

Meat Free Day in Croydon Campaign

A campaign starts 09/09/09
to try to sell the notion of a weekly meat free day in Croydon

Croydon councillors, restaurants, schools, PCTs, nurses, Doctors and teachers will be targeted by organisations from all over the UK in order to vegducate them about the benefits of eating less meat.