Imagine reading a page in a book and then feeling like you have to start over as you have no memory of what you’ve just read or driving home from work and suddenly forgetting where you live. Instances like these can be the hallmarks of cognitive decline that leads to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

In a previous post I introduced the small scale study that claims, for the first time, to have reversed the cognitive decline in early stage Alzheimer’s sufferers.  In this post I want to take a look at the how they went about doing this and look at the reasoning behind each intervention. Continue reading Reversing Cognitive Decline Through Diet and Lifestyle Part 1 →

Do you worry about α-(5,6-dimethylbenzimidazolyl)cobamidcyanide and how much of it is in your food? What about (2S)-2-[(4-{[(2-amino-4-hydroxypteridin-6-yl)methyl]amino}phenyl)formamido]pentanedioic acid or even (3β,5Z,7E)-9,10-secocholesta-5,7,10(19)-trien-3-ol? It’s something that often crosses my mind. And if you’re living in Europe (and a few other countries) you have a whole raft of E numbers to deal with, too. What about E100 or the ubiquitous E300? Though, no doubt, each country comes with its own list of chemicals and additives.

Continue reading The Chemicals in Your Food →

The thought of stomach acid, for many, no doubt evokes memories of spicy meals or having eaten too much. Maybe the occasional episode of heart burn and for many the terms acid reflux and GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) will come to mind. Another word that tends to crop up time and time again is ‘excess’. It’s easy to see why.  Walk into any pharmacy or supermarket and you can easily find scores of over-the-counter medicines and remedies to help soothe away or block excess stomach acid. TV commercials promoting such products are rife, so it’s little wonder that the assumption that digestive issues are all to do with excess acid is a commonly held belief. But what about low stomach acid? Never heard of it? You’re not alone.  Surprisingly, low stomach acid (hypochlorhydria) is a common occurrence, much more common in fact than excess stomach acid. Indeed, it may be that the vast majority of people who believe they are suffering from ‘excess’ stomach acid are really actually suffering from the opposite. This, at first, might seem hard to swallow but let’s take a look at the evidence.
Continue reading The Importance of Stomach Acid →

Once is all it takes. At least that’s what a new study from the University of Massachusetts Medical School on binge drinking suggests.

The study published online in PLOS ONE suggests that a single binge drinking event, where blood alcohol concentration rises to 0.08g/dL or above, can bring about an immune response that could potentially impact on the health of an otherwise healthy individual.

Continue reading Binge Drinking – A single episode can adversely affect health →