Tag: diet

What is the natural diet for humans?

What is the natural diet for humans? This is a common question but — we evolve based on behaviour and our behaviour may have a number of consequences, some beneficial and others not so much.

Giraffes have long necks, not to enable them to reach leaves high in a tree, but because males fight using the necks. Males with the longest, strongest neck wins. It does make life more awkward when eating grass or drinking from a water-hole in the evening.

Evolution is based on changes that enable us to pass on genes for future generations. If a genetic change affects cholesterol metabolism and causes an increase in heart disease this may not be relevant in evolutionary terms because heart disease usually affects people later in life.

It still may have an impact on human society because of the important influence of grandparents involved in child-minding and their importance as a repository of knowledge.
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16 November 2016
Liver Cleansing with Olive Oil

The internet has numerous pages advocating an Olive Oil – Lemon Juice Liver Cleanse or Detox. The purpose of the exercise is eliminate gallstones from your gall bladder. The instructions vary but lemon juice and olive oil are featured. Apple juice and Epsom salts are sometimes involved.

This procedure results in numerous green stones passed in the faeces in the following morning.

Unfortunately, the exercise does not remove gallstones and has the potential to cause nausea, severe abdominal pain and may even lead to surgery to remove your gall bladder. It also leads to a false sense of security, giving rise to the belief that you have solved your gallstone problem.
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13 May 2016
Polyunsaturated Fats Cause Cancer – LA Veterans Trial

The Wadsworth VA Hospital in Los Angeles operated a home where male army veterans resided. The meals were provided by one of two dining halls.

Men in dining Hall A continued their usual diet. The “saturated animal fat and hydrogenated shortening replaced with vegetable oils in the experimental diet” for the diets provided in dining Hall B. Low fat diets were not considered because such a diet required “gastronomic sacrifice”. The total fat content of the 2 diets were the same, providing 40% of the total energy. (Diets of 40% fat cannot be considered a healthy diet.)

This study is sometimes used to "prove" that a polyunsaturated fats promote cancer. A reading of papers from the trial shows that this is not the case.
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5 April 2015
Interview with Karo

Karo Tak is a wonderful, passionate yoga teacher, vegan cook, animal activist working with the "Sea Shepherd Organisation".

She visited Maitland recently to teach a vegan cooking class at "Organic Feast - East Maitland".

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21 May 2014
MRFIT Study – What did it tell us?

The Australian Broadcaster ABC televised the program Heart of the Matter Part 1 - Dietary Villains on Thursday, 24 October 2013. This program listed the MRFIT study as more evidence that cholesterol is not implicated in heart disease.

The Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial (MRFIT) was a coronary heart disease prevention trial that was conducted at 22 US clinical centres (18 cities) from 1973 to 1982. The multiple risks evaluated were elevated serum cholesterol, elevated blood pressure and cigarette smoking.

A number of popular commentators use this trial as proof that cholesterol is not implicated in heart disease.

The tobacco industry also used the results of the MRFIT study to argue that smoking is not harmful.
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30 April 2014
An Apple a Day

A study published in the British Medical Journal stated:
If everyone over the age of 50 ate an apple a day, 8,500 deaths from heart attacks and strokes could be avoided every year in the UK.

Apples give a similar decrease in the risk of heart disease as statins but do not carry any of the potential side effects.

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29 December 2013
To alkalise your body – what does it mean?

A number of books and websites tells us we need to alkalise our bodies for optimal health. What does this mean? Is alkaline water a scam or does it really have health benefits?
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2 October 2013
Kale – a super green

Kale - a super green

Kale has an extensive array of minerals and vitamins including vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, B vitamins, vitamin E, calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, and copper.

Kale is also rich in proteins and moderately rich in a linolenic acid (ALA – an essential omega 3 fatty acid).

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26 September 2013
Muesli

Dr. Maximilian Bircher-Benner was born in Switzerland in 1867. He studied medicine in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. He created muesli based on a dish he and his wife was served on one of his mountain hikes.

He operated a small private clinic and advocated a diet based on fruits, vegetables and grains. He believed that people should consume a large proportion of uncooked food.
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8 August 2013
US Department of Agriculture

The US Department of Agriculture has an extensive database of the nutrient constituents of over 8,000 foods. The amount of protein, carbohydrates, fibre and fat in food can be accessed as well as the individual fatty acids, amino acids, minerals and vitamins.

There are also many other resources including research data and information regarding the food intake of US citizens.

The US Department of Agriculture has an extensive resources regarding food and nutrition including a database of the nutrient constituents of over 8,000 foods. The amount of protein, carbohydrates, fibre and fat in food can be accessed as well as the individual fatty acids, amino acids, minerals and vitamins.
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1 July 2013