heart healthy

A study of more than 111,000 people has shown that overweight people have heart attacks on average 12 years earlier than "normal weight" individuals. This makes obesity worse for the heart than smoking, according to this study. Let's pick through the data, the findings and the controversies surrounding the topic of weight and health.

If we know something is good for us - why don't we do it?

Two large studies show that physical activity will add years to our lives. A number of other factors will help too. What are they?

Why does it seem that so many healthy athletes suddenly die of a heart attacks - while their overweight peers outlive them? Or is it a case of complete anecdotal blindness?

A saying in the news business goes,” If it bleeds, it leads!” As a private pilot, I’m very familiar with the bold headline of a small plane crash, even if it happened half a world away! The rare death of the so-called healthy athlete, being so shocking, is always front page news. It’s not surprising that we would think it is a common event, or even that being active would engender a degree of danger.

Let’s look at the data:

Diet books endorse processed foods. State health authorities endorse fast food. Welcome to the confusing and incoherent world of "healthy food".

McDonald's Australia have "persuaded" the National Heart Foundation to place the healthy tick on 9 of its meals.

A fascinating study has appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine making some interesting conclusions about heart disease:

The American Heart Association (AHA) has issued new diet guidelines.

Bewilderment and confusion strikes again. The NY Times reports that a low-fat diet has no effect on reducing cancer and heart disease risk. The study is the largest ever conducted (49,000 women followed for 8 years). The results, the study investigators agreed, do not justify recommending low-fat diets to the public to reduce their heart disease and cancer risk. Given the lack of benefit found in the study, many medical researchers said that the best dietary advice, for now, was to follow federal guidelines for healthy eating, with less saturated and trans fats, more grains, and more fruits and vegetables.