West 12 Health Centre

19/08/2020

Reposted from .nut MULTIVITAMINS 💊
💊 Multivitamins are nutritional supplements containing vitamins, minerals & sometimes other products like herbal extracts. The range & quantity (i.e. dose) of vitamins & minerals can differ hugely from product to product as there are currently no set regulations.
🤔 CAN THEY PREVENT DISEASE?
Studies have shown that currently there is *not* enough high-quality evidence to suggest taking multivitamins to help prevent medical conditions like heart disease, heart attacks, stroke, type 2 diabetes or cancer.
🤔 DO WE NEED THEM?
Most people can meet their daily requirements of vits & minerals if they spend some time in the sun (for some vitamin D) & eat a varied & balanced diet, including:
- 🥕 A variety of fruit & veg (aiming for 5-a-day)
- 🍞 Starchy carbohydrates (bread, potatoes, pasta, rice)
- 🧀 Some milk/dairy foods or fortified dairy-free alternatives
- 🍳 A variety of protein-rich foods like beans, pulses, fish, meat, eggs
- 🍪 Limiting foods high in fat, salt & sugar.
However, there are a few instances where it's recommended for UK groups to take a supplement:
- 🤰Folic acid in pregnancy
- ☀️ Vitamin D in autumn & winter for all
- 👶 Vitamins A, C & D for children aged 6 months-5 years.
Supplements can also be beneficial in certain groups who are at risk of deficiencies, e.g. vegetarian or vegan diets.
❌ BUT they are *not a replacement* for a balanced diet.
❗Before taking a supplement, check with a dietitian or your GP if you actually need it & if it is safe. Some supplements can interact with medications or aren't recommended for people with certain medical conditions.
🤔 SO, WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR IN A MULTIVIT?
1) Read the label - look for one that does *not* exceed 100% of the daily requirements for each vitamin & mineral.

High doses can be harmful, especially of fat-soluble vitamins, such as vitamins A, D, E & K, which your body will store. Water-soluble vitamins like B vits and vitamin C in high doses are not stored so just = expensive p*e!
2) Buy from a reputable source (e.g. pharmacy or supermarket), not an unknown seller on the internet!
Look out for part II focusing on supplements & veg

16/08/2020

Reposted from It's interesting that soleus muscle often forgotten in running performance, while this muscle is powerful and contribute most significantly to vertical support forces.
Please read the fulltext for detail 📄 Dorn et al. Muscular strategy shift in human running: dependence of running sp*ed on hip and ankle muscle performance. JEB. 2012@West12Health

17/07/2020

26/06/2020

Reposted from Hardly any musculoskeletal topic has received as much media coverage as herniated discs and probably every person knows some family member or neighbor who has had one. At the same time, a lot of misconceptions have been spread about the topic and a lot of patients suffering from low back pain fear that they herniated a disk. We’ve decided to aggregate the research surrounding lumbar disc herniations to seperate facts from fiction:

16/05/2020

Reposted from Howdy friends. I’m regularly asked about oil so I thought this oil pyramid may be handy. The oils down the bottom next to the shade of green are what I recommend using if you use oils (bottom two levels of the pyramid. Oil choice depending on cooking temperature, pricing and availability). While I recommend using all oils sparingly to prevent displacing too many whole foods, I am also not worried about a small amount of oil within the context of a healthy dietary pattern. Particularly for kids who have much higher fat requirements than adults. My only caveat to this would be for people who categorically notice improvements in their health when they go oil-free or those trying to lose weight - it’s worth being mindful that oils are very calorie dense (e.g 1 tbsp of olive oil is approx 120 calories). Doesn’t mean if weight loss is your goal you cannot consume oils and still lose weight but it does lower the nutrient density of your diet - so if you’re eating a diet that’s already low in calories this isn’t such a great idea (basically it’s displacing more nutrient dense foods you could otherwise be eating). And of course if you prefer to eat an oil-free diet then that’s great option too, but it should be done within the context of a healthy dietary pattern that still consists of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats from whole foods. After all fats not the enemy - it’s the type that matters most. A principle I’ve written about at length in my book (p.s lots of information like this pyramid in the book that I have expanded on). Hope this helps 🙏🏼
@ West 12 Health Centre

18/03/2020

Reposted from The most sobering COVID19 paper to date.
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Expert epidemiologists and infectious disease specialists from around the globe in conjunction with the World Health Organization published the Imperial College paper with the most thorough epidemiological modeling we have for . My heart sunk reading what experts from around the globe predict our next 18 months will look like.
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I highly recommend you read the paper in its entirety, but I have shared if you swipe ➡️an excellent summary of the paper as well by Jeremy C. Young. To everyone reading this, I am so sorry we all have to go through this. Again this is MODELING from expert epidemiologists. We can’t predict the future. Maybe things will go better than anticipated, which is what I’m praying for 🙏The next 18 months will be a challenge, but we are all in this together 🙏.
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“Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce COVID- 19 mortality and healthcare demand”
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On behalf of the Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team, WHO Collaborating Center for Infectious Disease Modeling, MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Abdul Latif Jameel Institute for Disease and Emergency Analytics Imperial College London
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Correspondence: neil.ferguson@imperial.ac.uk
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Imperial-College-COVID19-NPI-modelling-16-03-2020.pdf@West12Health" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/sph/ide/gida-fellowships/Imperial-College-COVID19-NPI-modelling-16-03-2020.pdf@West12Health - @ West 12 Health Centre

13/02/2020

MILK AND HEALTH: So pleased to see this topic being covered in a high impact medical journal. There are so many myths surrounding non-human milk consumption propagated by the dairy industry. This article summaries the scientific data on dairy consumption. Here are some of the conclusions..
Normal growth and development can be obtained throughout childhood without diary products..
Overall evidence does not support a benefit of higher dairy consumption for prevention of fractures. Milk consumption in adolescence does not prevent fractures in later life and may even contribute to high incidence of fractures in countries with the greatest milk consumption. .
Studies so not support the theory that milk consumption in children or adults helps maintain a healthy weight..
Milk consumption is not associated with better heart health. The effect depends on what dairy is compared to. Dairy consumption is better for heart health than red meat but less beneficial than fish and nut consumption..
Dairy consumption does not lower the risk of type 2 diabetes..
Milk consumption is associated with higher risk of prostate cancer, esp aggressive and more fatal forms. Also increased risk of endometrial cancer in women. BUT lower risk of colorectal cancer due to the calcium content..
Lactose intolerance is common worldwide. Cows milk consumption may predispose to allergies, asthma and eczema and may precipitate asthma exacerbations in adults..
No evidence to suggest organic dairy consumption negates the health concerns related to non-organic milk consumption..
Industrial dairy consumption is a major contributor to greenhouse gas production, climate change, water use and pollutants antibiotic resistance..
In Western high income countries, all nutrients found in milk can be obtained from plant sources and therefore no requirement for humans to consume dairy for health and there is potential for harm. In low income countries, if the diet is of low quality, diary can be a source of nutrients..
Reposted from

11/02/2020

Reposted from WOULD YOU OR WOULD YOU NOT?
For low back pain...Simple question. Watch the video! Comments welcome. -

22/01/2020

Reposted from () - People who drink just 1-7 drinks per week have smaller brains than nondrinkers, according to a 2008 study at Johns Hopkins that appeared in Archives of Neurology. This same research found that people have 2 or more drinks per day have even more brain shrinkage. Research on adolescents and alcohol consumption showed that those who became heavy drinkers between the ages of 12-17 compared to those who did not drink alcohol started out with less brain volume and lost even more brain volume over time. When it comes to the brain, size matters!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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The brain scans of heavy drinkers show reduced overall blood flow to the brain. The brain uses 20% of the blood flow in your body and it is critical for healthy brain function. When levels are low it can lead to a laundry list of problems—brain fog, poor decision-making, trouble concentrating, impulsivity, and more. It’s especially important to know that low blood flow in the brain is the #1 predictor of future memory problems and Alzheimer’s disease.

24/12/2019

This one is for all the coffee lovers...may not be what you wanted to read though.

Reposted from () - COFFEE - GOOD OR BAD? There isn’t a straight forward answer to this question in my view. I had the pleasure of listening to live in Iceland recently. His protocol for reversing heart disease includes avoiding caffeinated coffee? Why is this ? Because studies have shown that caffeinated coffee damages the endothelium, the single cell protective layer lining blood vessels. This has been shown by measuring flow mediated dilatation after drinking coffee, and it’s impaired. For the reversal of atherosclerosis, all substances that damage the endothelium are removed from the diet. Interestingly, decaffeinated coffee does not appear to have a detrimental effect on endothelial function and green tea (despite containing caffeine) has a beneficial effect. 🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱
The data on endothelial function is at odds with population or prospective cohort studies in which several studies show that coffee consumption is either neutral or may have beneficial effects. There are data suggesting a reduced risk of liver and endometrial cancer with coffee consumption. The answer to these differential effects may be down to genetics variations, with some gene variants predicting for a less favorable effect of coffee consumption. I don’t think we have all the answers yet. 🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱
My view? if you are well and without health problems and coffee does not cause any adverse symptoms then its probably fine to drink 3-4 cups a day. However, if you have cardiovascular disease and are trying to reverse this with a nutritional approach then best to avoid caffeinated coffee because Dr Esselstyn’s protocol works and no other dietary approach has been shown to reverse heart disease. 🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱 -

@ West 12 Health Centre