Your weight is an especially sensitive subject after a cancer diagnosis. Everyone knows that being overweight is linked to a higher risk of cancer but after diagnosis we are also told that it’s not a good idea to lose too much weight. I have found that the science around weight and cancer is not well understood, giving rise to all sorts of unhealthy advice. So what are the facts? Continue reading
When I discovered that ‘healthy whole grain carbohydrates’ were causing my worrying weight problem I felt like I’d stumbled across the Holy Grail. That was back in 2012 when I published The Dissident Diet. I wrote it as a healthier version of the ketogenic/Atkins diet with an emphasis on losing weight. Continue reading
Suddenly the media seems full of stories about the damaging effects of sugar. The understanding that it’s at the root of our obesity epidemic is spreading, and we are gradually realising that eating fat is not the reason we’re getting fat. Continue reading
In 1971, president Richard Nixon declared war on cancer when he signed the National Cancer Act. At the time the scientific community was confident that we were no more than a decade away from a cure; their confidence based on a new understanding of DNA and the observation that cancer tumour cells all seemed to contain significant DNA, or gene, mutations. Continue reading
Fasting during Lent used to be a common practice, linked more with spiritual discipline than physiological benefit. The recent focus on fasting for weight loss has brought it back into vogue. Continue reading
If you watched Horizon: Sugar vs Fat last week you will remember that in conclusion they seemed to decide that it was neither fat nor carbs that were behind obesity but fats with carbs. Continue reading
The Horizon programme that aired last night was designed to get at the ultimate truth behind the fat vs carbs debate raging in the media at the moment. I was on the edge of my seat. But it failed to deliver for 3 major reasons: Continue reading
“We now have good evidence… If you overfeed somebody with fat you don’t increase their cancer risk at all. If you overfeed them with carbohydrates then you dramatically increase their cancer risk. And protein is half way in between”
We could hardly have got it more wrong. All these years you’ve been depriving yourself of butter on your bread when it’s the bread you should have been worrying about!
Twenty thirteen was the year when the volume of opinion in favour of low carbs for health (not just weight loss) was impossible to silence, and when the evidence started to stack up.
There’s no doubt that cancer is enjoying the 21st Century. It’s attracting lots of PR and managing to reach many more people than it used to.
Although it might sound semantic, it’s a critical difference. Your weight problem is not the result of overeating, it’s a problem with your storage mechanism. Continue reading