One in three Australians has metabolic syndrome, the stage before diabetes and heart disease. Large studies link a daily sugar-sweetened drink to up to 83% higher type 2 diabetes risk, though one study found none. The advice is simple: do not drink SSBs.
Chronic kidney disease affects 13% of people and causes one in seven hospital admissions. You can lose 95% of kidney function before symptoms appear. Rat studies link high fructose to kidney damage, so the author advises keeping fructose very low.
Free radicals are not simply evil. Big trials of antioxidant pills found no benefit, and some raised death rates. Fruit and vegetables help, probably as part of a diet low in sugar. Save your money and eat more greens.
A 2013 study linked high blood omega-3 levels to a 43% higher prostate cancer risk. Critics say it shows association, not cause. Fish oil also failed to protect memory. The evidence is inconclusive, so eat fish and greens, and test supplements on your own symptoms.
We need vitamins, but most of us get enough from food. Large reviews found multivitamins and antioxidant pills ineffective or harmful for preventing chronic disease. Supplement makers disagree. One in three people take them, and sales keep growing.
Obesity is both a medical measure and a political battleground, with personal responsibility on one side and the food environment on the other. A large 2013 review found overweight people did not die sooner than normal-weight people. The author doubts that result.
Obesity is the giraffe: big, visible and dominant. It hides the smaller animals, such as metabolic syndrome, kidney disease and diabetes, that cause much of the health damage. Look at the whole picture, not the headline number.
Educated people are less likely to be obese, but education programs do not stop weight gain, even for parents of young children. Most people diagnosed with serious illness do not change their lifestyle either. Knowing is not the same as changing.
A Harvard review links sugar-sweetened drinks to weight gain, type 2 diabetes and heart disease, independent of obesity. Fruit juice is as bad or worse. The author says drink no more than one a month, and treat diet drinks like nicotine patches.
Global obesity doubled between 1980 and 2008. Over half a billion people are obese, and obesity now costs more than many nations earn. About 20% of normal-weight people also show metabolic syndrome, so excess weight is not the only driver.
