The Food Phoenix Blog

A recent German epidemiological study (https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/advance-article/doi/10.1093/eurheartj/ehy694/5195184) suggests that there may be no benefit to treating people with stage 1 hypertension (systolic blood pressure between 130-139 and diastolic blood pressure of 80-89) with antihypertensives for anyone apart from the drug companies who could almost double their patient populations by having almost 2 thirds of adults diagnosed with elevated blood pressure. Not only is there no benefit, but there is a potential risk of great harm. This German study, where more than 11 000 mostly middle aged men and women were followed up over a 10 year period, revealed that cardiovascular mortality rates were pretty much identical for people told they have normal blood pressure. The study was part of the MONICA trial, and was done from 1984-1995, so rather a long time ago now. Perhaps this explains the very high prevalence in cigarette smoking of 1 in 4 to 1 in 5 people. Al...

By Dr Catriona Walsh Gadolinium is a toxic heavy metal used in MRI contrast tests. Although it has been injected into millions of people, there are as yet no good quality trials to assess for toxicity in people with normal renal function. Concerns about gadolinium toxicity were first raised when a new, often fatal, chronic, untreatable, excruciatingly painful condition with no cure was described in patients in renal failure following the use of gadolinium contrast. Renal patients were identified to be at increased risk of this condition, called nephrogenic systemic fibrosis or NSF, because they were unable to eliminate the gadolinium contrasts in their urine. Gadolinium retention was recognized to result in mitochondrial damage, calcium channel blockade, high blood pressure, chronic inflammation, multi-organ failure, connective tissue destruction, increased risk of heart attack and other problems. Since then it has been recognized that gadolinium contrast agents are also not compl...

Image by  Matthieu Joannon By Dr Catriona Walsh This excellent question was asked in a group that I moderate. I love it because it's actually not all that straight forward to answer. Essentially, I would say it depends on a lot of variables. Anyway, here are my thoughts on it. Smoked sausage is actually a traditional food, which has a long history of consumption throughout recorded human history. Traditional cultures around the globe have found ways to grind up bits of leftover meat, herbs, spices, some filler, like rusks, oats or corn, and preserve them in casings, which were often just lengths of cleaned out intestines and bladder. Sometimes blood or offal is added as well. They may have used salt and added probiotic cultures to cure the meat as it dried, in order to reduce the risk of pathogenic microbes growing. Alternatively, smoking the sausage was another way to reduce the risk of the meat being contaminated with bacteria which would spoil it. In this way, whatever ...

By Dr Catriona Walsh Photo by  Christopher Flowers  on  Unsplash A recent survey of European GPs indicates that they are not confident in managing obesity, and are too short of time during sessions with patients to go into any detail anyway, with only 10 minutes spent on each patient on average. GPs recognise that obesity is a complex issue, but are overwhelmed by their workload. Ironically much of this is obesity, diet and lifestyle related, and therefore much of it is largely preventable.  GPs are calling for more training on obesity, but also feel that the public needs more education on the causes and consequences of it. 97% of U.K. GPs felt that there should be more education of the public on these topics. I wonder what the remaining 3% were thinking? There is a feeling amongst European GPs that people are becoming more complacent about the negative health effects of obesity. This is probably largely due to the fact that it has become so normal and ...

By Dr Catriona Walsh Image by  unsplash-logo rawpixel There is growing awareness that the drug industry uses financial incentives to get doctors and institutions to change their practices in such a way as to favour prescription of their drug. This practice has been going on behind the scenes for decades, but more attention has been brought to the problem over the past few years.  Patients are consumers of what is often a profit-driven business. In a conflict of interests, doctors and institutions are being paid , not only to provide patient care, but also to promote certain drugs, treatments, medical devices and investigations. There is plenty of evidence that shows that, even when people realise that payments are being made to influence their behaviours (in this case prescribing habits) the majority of people believe that they can remain objective. But they are usually wrong. Pharmaceutical influence has been proven to alter prescribing patterns. Sponsorship...

By Dr Catriona Walsh Image by  Katherine Chase We had always assumed that osteoarthritis is a “wear and tear” problem that happens as we get older, unlike autoimmune arthritises like rheumatoid and psoriatic, which are caused by the body attacking itself. However, recently some studies have linked inflammation and diet with osteoarthritis. This latest study suggests that the gut microbiome might play a role in its development. This is just a mechanistic study done on mice, so we need to exercise caution when interpreting it. Human studies will be necessary to confirm these findings.  However, this study suggests that feeding obese mice a prebiotic supplement, called oligofructose, altered their gut microbiome in such a way that the amounts of beneficial Bifidobacteria in the gut were  increased. The obese mice fed the prebiotics didn’t lose weight either, so their joints were under the same wear and tear type of strain as the obese mice not fed the prebioti...

by Dr Catriona Walsh What is all the fuss about cassoulet? You might have heard of a dish that hails from the south of France called cassoulet. Described as a simple peasants' dish, it is actually a labour of love that can require days of preparation, even though the ingredients are essentially beans, onions, tomato, some herbs, sausage, and a lot of meat. What makes cassoulet so special is that it is a dish resplendent with connective tissue. Skin and joints really elevate this simple casserole to the ultimate gelatine-rich comfort food and, like so many casseroles, cassoulet actually improves if you allow it to sit in the fridge for a few days allowing the flavours to meld. Some people swear that the secret to a good cassoulet is to add extra pork rind, but I make do with the trotters, the skin of the pork knuckle, the bacon rind and the duck skin. Also it really has an obscene amount of garlic. It's just as well it gets cooked for such a long time. Cassoulet really d...