"A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. "


Posts tagged with 'vegetables'

New study highlights potential value of dietary change in depression treatment

21st February 2017

At the end of last month, a fascinating new research study was published in the open access journal BMC Medicine. The article is "A randomised controlled trial of dietary improvement for adults with major depression (the ‘SMILES’ trial)" and its abstract reads "Background The possible therapeutic impact of dietary changes …

Handouts and internet resources for healthy eating

7th December 2009

Here are details of information leaflets and other excellent resources about food. "We are what we eat" is bit over-simplified, but only a bit. It's amazing how important what we eat and drink is for our psychological and physical health. This site's blog posts "New research shows diet's importance for …

New research shows diet’s importance for preventing depression

6th December 2009

You know how it is - no buses in sight, then two come along at once. It's been a bit similar for good research on diet and depression. There have been plenty of studies on individual components of diet and mood (e.g. fish, folate, other B vitamins), but very little …

NHS LifeCheck: online health checks for three age groups - babies, teens & mid-life

11th October 2009

People who have visited this blog a fair amount will know that I'm a huge fan of healthy lifestyle. It's a no-brainer. I've talked about this in Does healthy lifestyle really make a difference?, Common sense isn't common, Would you like to be 14 years younger - it's largely a …

Preventing cancer through life style choices

12th April 2009

In 2001 the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) WCRF/AICR set themselves the task of systematically assessing all good research on diet, physical activity and cancer and publishing a report that would be the largest study of its kind with conclusions that would …

Recent research: prevention & treatment of overweight with changed eating behaviours, energy density & breastfeeding

26th December 2008

Here are six studies on eating and weight. The first, by Maruyama and colleagues, demonstrates a strong association between both "eating until full" and "eating quickly" and the chances of being overweight. The linked BMJ editorial by Denney-Wilson & Campbell discusses these findings further, including suggesting that "Clinicians should encourage …

Vegged out & fruitless: lifestyle & health

18th October 2008

Last month's BMJ published another in the long line of research articles that highlight the huge importance of lifestyle choices for our health: Dam, R. M. v., T. Li, et al. (2008). "Combined impact of lifestyle factors on mortality: prospective cohort study in US women." BMJ 337(sep16_2): a1440- [Free Full …

Would you like to be 14 years younger – it’s largely a matter of choice!

3rd October 2008

Back in January I wrote a blog post entitle "Does a healthy lifestyle really make a difference? " I highlighted that it makes a hell of a lot of a difference. At around that time another major study was published that hammered this point home even more thoroughly and I've …

Eat 5 to 9 portions of fruit & veg daily

10th February 2008

There's a helpful editorial in last month's American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) - "Fruit and vegetables: think variety, go ahead, eat!" As with many journals, one doesn't have to pay anything to look at the full text of AJCN editorials. It's a good read. It comments on a paper …

Common sense isn’t common

3rd January 2008

Common sense isn’t common, at least with healthy behaviours. The vast majority of us know that we should eat sensibly, be a reasonable weight, exercise regularly, not abuse alcohol, and avoid smoking. Do you know what percentage of people actually follow all this obvious advice? A survey (Reeves and Rafferty …