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Dr. Konrád Szallós-Farkas - International Page, Livezeni (2025)

14/05/2024

Yesterday we had a good lesson on how to make healthy breakfasts...one of the favourites was buckwheat with chestnut sauce.

Breakfast is an important meal, which many people skip, but is necessary for healthy body weight and energy during the day. Having a healthy, hearty breakfast that provides whole grains, fruits, nuts and seeds is an important step towards a healthy body.

If you want a healthy mind, a healthy spirit and a healthy body, make sure you're putting quality things inside.

15/04/2024

We had a great atmosphere at the Hungarian-language vegan cooking class organised by A Növényi Konyha Művészete tonight in Târgu Mureș. People were interested in the delicious recipes as well as the scientific explanations explaining why cooking healthier with certain foods is worth it.

11/02/2024

This weekend in Mezőfele, next to Marosvásárhely, I held a 2-part lecture that discussed the 9 lifestyle points that we discovered from the Blue Zones studies that contribute to a longer life and better health.

To book an online or in person presentation, contact me via Messenger or WhatsApp.

07/11/2023

As evidence has been mounting about , a new study (Daviet et al, Nat Commun, 2022) on roughly 36,500 people from the UK Biobank shows that even having on average 1-2 drinks per day reduces grey matter and white matter volume in the brain. Grey matter is the part of the brain that we "think" with, allowing us to control movement, thoughts, emotions, ideas, etc. White matter is the part of the brain that transports electrical signals between brain regions and from brain cells towards our organs. A drop in the volume of grey and white matter is a real problem because it means less and less brain cells. Brain atrophy, in time, leads to dementia. Bad news everyone: that glass of red wine (which is meant to be good for your heart) or beer at dinner is not that harmless afterall. Please rethink your drinking habits. I no longer drink any alcoholic bevarages, and after seeing more and more evidence against alcohol consumption in the past years, I don't think I could ever go back to drinking. I am also beginning to see more and more of my health professional colleagues starting to choose to ditch the drink after seeing the mounting evidence. Just because it's a legal drug, doesn't make it any less of a drug. It's carcinogenic (see the IARC monograph on alcoholic bevarages from 1988), contributes to more impulsive behaviour, increases baseline anxiety levels (between drinks), causes brain cells to die even at small amounts (1-2 drinks a day), is cardiotoxic, hepatotoxic and contributes a tremendous amount to social, familial and health problems. It wouldn't be the first time in history when something that was common to the majority was wrong...remember that time they thought the earth was flat or that diseases came from miasmas? I encourage you to find ways of learning to have fun and relaxing without relying on mind altering chemicals.

13/10/2023

More movement, less cancer. How you integrate movement into your daily life is important because it affects your cancer risk. The Power 9 of the Blue Zones studies says "move naturally". The word "naturally" is added because people in the Blue Zones integrate natural movement into their daily routines. This means doing things like walking, gardening, yard work, cycling, hiking, etc.

This data corrobartes well with recommendations from the American Institute for Cancer Research, which released this very useful infographic showing how cancer risk changes depending on movement level. If you look at the example of Ann, she does no extra movement besides the minimum. necessary to get through her day. She sits a lot, uses her car and spends evening watching TV. Mike is already doing better - he integrates movement into his day, taking breaks at work to walk, go to the water fountain and also having a session of moderate/vigorous exercise. However, his risk isn't lowered the best it could be. We look at Kim, who has moderate/vigorous exercise, includes a lot of natural movement into her life throughout her workday: walking to work, walking during breaks, going to the water fountain, standing and walking during telephone calls, as well as taking a walk in the evening. Her risk is smaller yet, however, the lowest risk is that Joe's. He walks to work, works at a standing desk, takes breaks and walks, goes to the water fountain, talks on the phone while walking around, walks home from work, has a bout of moderate/vigorous exercise in the afternoon and only spends some time being sedentary in the evening.

As can be seen from this infographic, moderate/vigorous exercise is definitely good and needed, but being a weekend warrior or sitting most of the day and having a session of more intense exercise once a day doesn't give you the lowest cancer risk. Lowest cancer risk comes exactly as we see from the Blue Zones - move naturally. Have a lot of natural movement integrated into your entire day.

How do we translate this into real life advice: walk to work, take the stairs, not the lift, walk and stand at work, do physical work in your garden, have regular sessions of moderate/vigorous exercise, park your car farther from work so you have to walk longer to go there. Be creative and find ways to move more if you know you need to.

12/10/2023

💪💪 The stronger your muscles are, the longer you live. Yep, it’s true. Movement is part of the Power 9 – 9 lifestyle habits emerging from the study of the longest lived populations on earth. This makes sense, because if we look at research we see that movement is a very important component of the longevity formula for many reasons. There is more and more evidence that muscle strength is an indicator of health, with suggestions already appearing in the scientific literature that a measure of muscle strength (the grip strength test) may be useful to be included as a vital sign. This is due to the fact that more and more studies show that muscle weakness is associated with increased risk for numerous diseases and death (Celis-Morales et al, BMJ, 2018). A grip strength of

11/10/2023

A few days ago I posted on the fact that between genetics and lifestyle, lifestyle plays a much stronger role in deciding longevity. This is great because it means you can choose to life healthier and longer.

So what kind of lifestyle factors contribute to having a longer life according to the Blue Zones studies? Let's check the Power 9 because that summarises very well what factors contribute to longevity:

1. Move naturally
2. Purpose
3. Downshift
4. 80% rule
5. Plant slant
6. Wine at 5 (with further research in the last 20 years, this one is probably more correct as "red grapes at 5" in order to avoid exposure to ethyl alcohol, which leads to cancer causing acetyl aldehyde forming)
7. Belong
8. Loved ones first
9. Right tribe

So what do all these mean? Let's explore that in upcoming posts. Follow me for more if you want to live a happier, healthier and more meaningful life.

09/10/2023

What do the to***co business and food business have in common? More than you think actually. I would love for you to go on a journey of discovery with me to find out how deep some of this goes, but let's just stay at a few facts that will help you get a glimpse.

As you may (or may not) have known, smoking was a practice that was promoted by doctors some 100 years ago, with many believing it was a healthy practice. As evidence started emerging clearer and clearer in the middle of last century that there was a link between lung cancer and smoking, the to***co companies couldn't hide the evidence, so a planned and intentional effort was made to create doubt and confusion in the minds of the general public around smoking. Why do that? Because when someone gets confused about the facts, they stop being open to listen to either of the two sides who are presenting their arguments.

Well, that's exactly what to***co companies did, and it worked well because it bought them extra years, until even more research came out making the link practically impossible to deny. As the evidence became clearer, legislation changed and to***co was put into the correct light.

What's all this got to do with food? Well, the techniques used by to***co companies to create doubt and confusion decades ago are being used by food companies which sell unheathy hyperpallatable foods (foods high in fat, sugar, salt and/or simple carbohydrates - basically, a lot of modern junk food, processed food, snacks, etc) in order to delay a shift in legislation to a healthier diet and the outlawing of certain foods.

Hyperpallatable foods should be included in a higher tax band, making them ever more expensive in order to discourage people to eat them. How is this ever going to happen if people continue to believe that certain foods are healthy, when then are not.

This is what happened around sugar, for example. Some decades ago there was already clear evidence that we need to move away from processed sugar. The sugar industry in America fought this, trying to manipulate American government recommendations and successfully doing so for at least 20 years. There was counter science presented, the possible dangers of sugar were downplayed by certain scientists, and so there was enough confusion created to avoid sugar profits falling. As more and more research came out about sugar and the link between sugar and bad health became clearer, recommendations finally started to change too.

Unfortunately, the same techniques that to***co companies used more than half a century ago are now being used by the food industry to create confusion and doubt around certain foods in order for interest groups to maximise their profits. This is happening around foods like meat, a wholefoods plant-based diet, dairy, eggs, sugar, alcohol, processed foods, sweets, sugar sweetened bevarages, and more. The only way you can protect yourself against confusion is by getting more information. You need to read, study, deepen your understanding of the facts so that you can take an informed decision on what health choices you need to take in order to live a long and happy life.

In the comments below I will include a link to a short video that presents some of the evidence for how the sugar business manipulated public policy. Thank you Dr. Michael Greger for the good work you do to keep us well informed.

06/10/2023

You were probably told that milk leads to healthy bones...does it really? Well, a big scale meta-analysis recently published (Suruchi Mishra et al. J Nutr Sci. 2023) showed that compared to those who consumed no milk, those who consumed 200 g/day had a 7% higher risk of hip fracture. Those who consumed 400 g/day had a 15% higher risk. Now, keep in mind that this was not some small scale study but a meta-analysis that included almost 487,000 people in it... we're talking some strong statistical power there. If you want strong bones, don't rely on milk, rather lean on dark green leafy vegetables, white and black sesame seeds.

The study showed a reduction in hip fracture risk from the consumption of yoghurt and cheese. Even though the study seemed to show protective effects with these products, I still wouldn't recommend them too much due to saturated fat content and animal protein content, both of which can contribute to various lifestyle diseases. Still better to get your calcium through leaves and sesame, which reduce the risk of lifestyle diseases.

05/10/2023

When it comes to longevity, what do you think has a bigger influence on how long you live: genetics or lifestyle?

We need not wonder anymore, because results from the Danish Twin Studies show that genes are responsible for between 20-30% of our lifespan, with results gravitating more somewhere around the 20-25%, rather than the higher end of the scale (30%). If you think about it, that doesn't even make a third of the influence.

This is good news because it means that lifestyle is a much stronger factor in how long you live than what you inherited from your parents. Take healthy lifestyle choices, it means you get to live longer.

15/09/2023

A small but interesting study (Devries et al, Int J Dis Rev Prev. 2021) took 123 cardiologists and analysed how many of them send their patients to see a dietitian. 59% of the "cardiologists endorsed the belief that dietary interventions can improve outcomes to an equal or greater degree than pharmacologic therapy". In other words, almost 2/3 of cardiologists questioned said that diet can help at least as much as, if not more, than medication in conditions of the cardiovascular system, however, of the 71% of cardiologists in the study who reported sending patients to a dietitian, they only referred up to 10% of their patients to a dietitian.

Why send so few patients being referred if so many believe it is useful? There are a number of reason I can think of:
- There is just too little patient/doctor time in order for the doctor to have a discussion on this topic and reffer the patient.
- The doctor is too tired to take a step out of the status quo.
- The doctor feels the patient is not interested in or motivated to make lifestyle changes.

I'm sure there are other possible reasons I did not mention here, but what is the bottom line? As a patient, you can also help your doctor, by suggesting to them the possibility of seeing a dietitian. Ask your doctor if you would benefit from seeing a dietitian, especially if you have heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol levels, high blood lipid levels, etc.

14/09/2023

In dietetics, many Asian countries were known to have a healthier diet and thus fewer diseases of civilization than Europe, North America, Australia and other developed regions of the world. A recent study (Fang et al, Lancet, 2023) out of China which looked at changes in diet in China between 2002-2018 found that consumption of whole grains, soybeans, nuts, vegetables, fruits, red meat, and sugar-sweetened beverages increased in this period, however, the increase in the healthy foods (whole grains, soybeans, nuts, vegetables and fruits) wasn't sufficient to reach national dietary guideline recommendations. As a result, "Inadequate fruit, whole grain, and vegetables intake were the leading dietary risk factors for [ischemic heart disease], [ischemic stroke], [hemorrhage and other stroke] in China".

This is something that is the case in many countries in the world, including Europe: we just don't eat enough whole grains, fruits, veg, nuts, seeds and legumes. The body of evidence in the scientific literature showing that these whole plant foods are the key to robust and lasting health is very heavy. Don't think that it's inevitable for you to get heart disease, type 2 diabetes or cancer just because someone in your family had it. Eating a healthy whole foods plant-based diet goes a long way to help reduce the risks.

13/09/2023

A few days back I posted on the "EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems". Here is an interesting summary of the dietary changes that we would need to make as a planet in order to make our diets sustainable by 2050. More and more of the science says that the clock is ticking and we are getting closer and closer to certain ecological deadlines that we need to make changes by or things will not be promising for the future.

Let's look at what what Europe (or replace Europe with "we, Europeans,") needs to reduce according to the research, and then let's see what we need to increase (because we need to compensate for the calories/nutrients due to reductions in certain categories):
1. Reduce red meat consumption by more than 70%.
2. Reduce starcy vegetable consumption by more than 70% - this probably refers mainly to potatoes for us. I guess we never thought that our chips/crisps are damaging the planet.
3. Reduce eggs consumption by about 50%.
4. Reduce poultry consumption by about 10%.
5. Reduce total dairy consumption by about 10%.
6. With fish consumption Europeans are doing ok....consumption is just slightly below the cut-off.
7. Increase vegetable consumption by about 20%.
8. Increase fruit consumption by about 80%.
9. Increase legume consumption by about 500%.
10. Increase whole grain consumption by about 700%.
11. Increase nut consumption by about 1000%.

So what's the next step: I think it's pretty obvious...start searching online for recipes that use lots of veg, fruit, whole grains, legumes and nuts (funnily enough, it's the exact ingredients needed in the lifestyle I talk about so much: a whole foods plant-based diet).

Conclusion: Search for whole foods plant-based recipes and start eating a more sustainable diet - healthier for you and healthier for the planet.

11/09/2023

Have you heard of the "EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems"? It is an interesting report of what our diets need to change to be like if to be sustainable for all people on our planet. Prof. Walter Willett, MD of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health says "Transformation to healthy diets by 2050 will require substantial dietary shifts. Global consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes will have to double, and consumption of foods such as red meat and sugar will have to be reduced by more than 50%. A diet rich in plant-based foods and with fewer animal source foods confers both improved health and environmental benefits." (Summary report, p.3). These words probably conjour up mixed feelings in many - "How can I eat more nuts and legumes? I get bloated from beans (legumes)." "How to reduce sugar intake when it's in everything?", "But I like myself a good steak!" And much more.

However, the science is clear on the general direction that we need to take, and the thing is that we don't have much time to do it in. As Prof. Willet says above, we need to make a substantial dietary shift, it's not just about a small change. The truth is that, at this point in history, "Food is the single strongest lever to optimize human health and environmental sustainability on Earth." (Summary report, p.5). Think about that last sentece: Single. Strongest. Lever. As a doctor and dietetian, as someone who has had 11 years of scientific university education just to be allowed to start working in my professions, I must say that I agree with this and it makes a lot of sense if you understand the science. The problem is that our societies are wholly unprepared in terms of life skills and understanding to make some of the shifts needed. We don't teach enough about what's truly important. Instead, we numb our minds with endless scrolling, short videos and aimless entertainment - the stupider or more shocking the video, the more visualisations it gets. I challenge you to bring some firm decisions - be assertive with yourself. Chose to disconnect from mindless activities in exchange for personal growth activities (and try to do a portion of them in ways that don't involve a screen): learn to cook healthier, start watching health presentations from top experts, learn about financial systems and the economy, learn how to appreciate the fine arts, music, and sculpture, learn biology, anatomy, physiology, go back and freshen up your secondary school physics and chemistry. When you start deepening your understanding of truly important things in life, you start understanding more of the the situation we're in. Ignorance is not always bliss - like of knowledge and understanding can lead to great pain. I work with that pain daily. Many patients could have avoided a lot of their suffering had they known what health choices to take. Don't be like one of my patients - don't get sick due to lack of knowledge. While all aspects of lifestyle are important to learn about, don't forget that "Unhealthy diets now pose a greater risk to morbidity and mortality than unsafe s*x, alcohol, drug and to***co use combined." (Summary report, p.5).

An important question is: what comprises a healthy diet? It is a diet that provides that the greatest longevity possible with as little sickness and chronic medicine use as possible. Do we have any studies that would suggest what lifestyle provides this combination? Yes! The Blue Zones studies (done on the populations that live the longest in the world) clearly show that a plant-based diet is part of the secret (check out the info graphic attached). Go as plant-strong as you can, with fully whole foods plant-based for the maximal benefits.

07/09/2023

Eating plant-based is cheaper than eating an omnivorous diet! Many people say they can't eat healthily because it's expensive. Well, "you don't know until you put it to the test" (using Dr. Michael Greger's words). That's right, there was a study (Kahleova et al, JAMA Netw Open, Sept 2023) recently published that analysed the cost of a low-fat vegan diet, and the findings may be suprising to some and expected for others. Namely, a low-fat vegan diet reduces food costs by about 16%. This is to be expected for the following reasons:

1. A healthy vegan diet is based on whole plant foods. If you look at the price of rice as compared to cheese, you can buy a lot more rice than cheese, for example (cost/calorie). Or try buying dried beans as compared to beef. How about 1 kg of carrots as compared to a burger. Basically, staple plant ingredients are generally cheap when it comes to cost/calorie.
2. A vegan diet is expensive when you buy a lot of processed vegan foods. However, those foods are often not so healthy anyway, so by leaving them out and focusing on staples and home cooking, you reduce costs.
3. Quality animal products are also expensive, so when you go vegan, the money you would have spent on those products now remains available to buy plant-based products like cashews, almonds and tofu.
4. A vegan diet becomes expensive when you think you have to buy everything organic. While there may be some advantages to buying organic, overall the science is clear that it's better to eat fruits and vegetables, grains and legumes, nuts and seeds, even if these are not organic. The problems the pesticides can cause are not as big as the problems that a lack of of nutrients can cause due to pesticide fear based avoidance.

Still scepticle....that's ok. That means you need to "put it to the test". I challenge you to try 3 months on a whole-foods plant based diet with few processed vegan foods. See how it works out. In the comments below I will share some recipe books and and resources you can use to make your new journey easier.

06/09/2023

Maybe you've heard of the world famous Framingham Heart Study. It is a study that started in 1948 in Framingham, Massachussets and is currently on it's third generation and still going.

More interesting results are being published from the Framingham study. A few months back a study (Zhang et al, Alzheimer's & Dementia, Jan 2023) was published which showed that having higher cholesterol levels and blood sugar levels in middle age increases your risk for Alzeihmer's disease in later life. If you have metabolic problems, like high blood cholesterol levels and high blood sugar levels and you are only in your 40s or 50s, I'd highly recommend taking things into your hands and starting to make a lasting change.

What can you do concretely?
Watch "The Game Changers" documentary and read "How Not to Diet" (Author: Michael Greger). Once you've done that, start cooking based on the "How Not to Die Cookbook" and the "How Not to Diet Cookbook". If you do the things you learn there, you'll be on your way to reversing your cholesterol and blood sugar problems.

05/09/2023

So as time has passed I've seen more and more evidence for a link between rheumatoid arthritis and diet. Another small study published last year (Bernard et al, Am J Lifestyle Med, 2022) has shown that doing a step by step elimination style diet, with a plant-based diet at the foundation, can help reduce DAS28 score, meaning less pain and thus better arthritis control. Probably one of the reasons this works is that a whole foods plant-based diet is an anti-inflammatory diet which doesn't include arachidonic acid (among other pro-inflammatory molecules), and thus reduces pain. Arachidonic acid is only contained in meat, fish and eggs, and it's elimination by avoiding these products been shown to improve arthritis (Olaf et al, Rheumatology International, 2003). Top sources of arachidonic acid in the American diet , for example, are chicken and eggs (Identification of Top Food Sources of Various Dietary Components, National Institutes of Health), making up almost 45% of arachidonic acid intake.

Now, the study that was published last year wasn't very big, but the results correlate well with the results of other similar small studies done in the past.

If you have rheumatoid arthritis, you probably have nothing to lose by trying a while foods plant-based diet, combined with an elimination diet to find your food triggers.

04/09/2023

Good news! A healthy lifestyle gives you more Alzheimer's free years according to a BMJ study. The healthy lifestyle habits you adopt, the greater your chances at healthy years.

"A healthy lifestyle was associated with a longer life expectancy among men and women, and they lived a larger proportion of their remaining years without Alzheimer’s dementia." Klodian et al, BMJ 2022, 377

When it comes to what constitutes a healthy diet in a healthy lifestyle, the general recommendation I would make is to go for a whole foods plant-based diet. Plants give the best robust health. Search for WFPBD recipes online to expand your plant kitchen.

Dr. Konrád Szallós-Farkas - International Page