Health News

Energise and the Alkaline Diet gets another celebrity endorsement. One of the hosts of the new Gladiators wrote in the Daily Mirror about how she uses Green drinks. She swears by them to “help shift fat, purify the blood, cleanse the digestive system and kick-start the metabolism.” Click Here for the full article.

{ 0 comments }

I know this has been about for a while (I think it tipped after Beyonce’s Dreamgirls publicity) but it is really starting to pop up everywhere in mainstream Australia now, and I’m sure it is in the UK too - but I really cannot understand the logic behind the lemon detox diet (Master Cleanse).

I can see how people are attracted to it - lots of celebs and celeb magazines banging on about losing weight but in reality, have any actual, unbiased, uninvolved nutritionists come out and said that this is a good idea? I would doubt it.

{ 66 comments }

An article on bbc.co.uk this morning reports on a claim being made by researchers at Department of Public Health at Oxford University which states that 3,000 lives could be saved every year in the UK if VAT was added to fatty, sugary and salty foods.

They claim that by taxing these foods there would be less fatal heart attacks and strokes.

That’s good, right?

Well, in an idealistic world, yes I guess it is. But it raises the debate again on how much involvement the government should be playing in our day-to-day lives, particularly where health is concerned.

{ 2 comments }

A recent study has found that a chemical that is found in chocolate, tea, grapes and blueberries can help to improve memory.

Hilariously tested on mice with Mars choccy, the study has found that epicatechin improves their memory and may well work on humans. Pleasingly the study didn’t only focus on chocolate, thus fuelling more and more chocolate is good for you stories. Without digressing too much that really is one of my pet hates. I just can no longer abide the whole ‘red wine and chocolate is good for your health, don’t you know’ claim. Isn’t it more that there is are particular nutrients within red wine and chocolate that are good for you? Don’t you think these chemicals might be found elsewhere? Don’t you think you might be able to find them in a form that isn’t wrapped in alcohol or saturated milky fuelled fat?

{ 0 comments }

Every day we slap a load of chemicals on our skin…

…but do we ever think about it like that - or do we just want to look clean and smell nice?

I’ve gotta be honest, I’ve never really given it that much thought. When it comes to my health, I thought more about what I put in my mouth rather than what I put on my skin. But having just read a short article about the new Lynx (Axe if you’re in the States or mainland Europe) antiperspirant in Wired I started thinking a lot more seriously about the potentially harmful effects of some of the products I use on a daily basis. Which is funny really, ‘cos the article had nothing to do with that.

{ 6 comments }

I have been troubled by the constantly recurring soy debate for quite a while now. But whenever you try to research it you quickly notice that you are entering into a hot topic zone because the majority of things you read (articles, blog posts, forum posts etc.) are so over-the-top and biased that it is difficult to come to any real conclusion without feeling slightly misinformed.

Well, from having a browse through my mybloglog community I found a nice site that has a very well written, and very pragmatic view on the debate which I think mirrors my feelings exactly.

{ 13 comments }

Research, published today by the British Psychological Society, has shown that owning a dog is great for your mental and physical health.

In a strange way, the research has led to a kind of league table of pets, with dogs finishing top of the pile - above the main contender - cats. While most people just have a general preference and are either a cat person or a dog person, for those who might be more methodical about their pet purchasing decision this could be a big factor!

{ 5 comments }

According to NewsTarget, UK train companies are considering the use of a colloidal silver spray to disinfect communter trains and stations.

The spray - a non-toxic disinfectant, called nano silver-titanium dioxide coating (NSTDC) - is currently used in the Hong Kong metro system. It is sprayed on ticket machines, hand rails, escalators and elevators and is helping the country to fight flu viruses and other illnesses that are passed between passengers. The MTR in Hong Kong who administer the silver spray stated that:

{ 1 comment }

The Cornell Medical Centre in New York, has released a report showing that the popular anti-depressant drug, Prozac, could be damaging male fertility. Although the Medical Centre only identified the problem in two of their patients - the reaction was so severe (their sperm count was reduced to almost zero) that they fear that this problem could easily be widespread.

Now, there have been many, many articles written about the ability to fight depression and other mental disorders with nutrition and alternative approaches (see here, here, here, here, here, and here) - as well as many articles highlighting the problems associated with using chemicals to treat mental disorders (just see here, there are lots of articles listed there).

{ 3 comments }