Watch this when you have a spare 44 minutes. It could add years and a lot of quality to your life:

 

 

I skimmed through, listened to a couple of snippets and the last 3 minutes, I definitely will set aside the time.

 

I am dissapointed though, I was expecting some georgeous creature speaking with a captivating accent wearing very little skin tight clothing doing Yoga poses, if it wasn't you that posted one before then I apologise for confusing you with someone else, suffice to say had it been I would still be behind the computer in 45 minutes time

You might be thinking of this one, which I think  probably posted a few years back. A mere 12 minutes? 

 

Dr Unwin's is much more important, incomparably  so; sorry Ms Ekhart.

 

I wish everyone in the world would watch it.  In another of his he points out that obesity and Type 2 Diabetes are an ongoing pandemic that kills far more people than Covid. And largely avoidable, and often reversible without drugs.

 

 

 

 

The type 2 diabetes/obesity correlation seems to have become very fashionable lately which is all a bit odd as I remember reading about it more than 40 years ago so I thought it was common knowledge like smoking and lung cancer (and the million other ailments).

 

Coincidentally I recently watched a newly released Michael Mosely 3 part program called "Australian's Health Revolution" (or something like that) where he picked up on the terrible pandemic of diabetes and related issues in our Australian aboriginal community resulting from their adoption of the worst of western food culture and habits 

Basically he and an aboriginal health advocate picked 8 people suffering from pre and actual diabetic conditions and introduced them to a low carb ketosis (fat burning) inducing diet and exercise. The results for those who persevered over the two month ( I think?) program were remarkable with some subjects coming off many prescribed medications including insulin and delighting their family doctors who were part of the monitoring process.

 

My personal favourite source for good health information with up-to-date accurate appraisals of medical advances, studies, treatments etc both domestic Australian and international is an Australian Broadcasting Corporation program called "The Health Report" which is hosted by an ex-pat Scotsman called Dr. Norman Swann.

Quite simply the best of its type I have come across and extremely well regarded by many health practitioners.

It is produced weekly in podcast format:

Health Report - ABC Radio National

 

My BMI is about 21 so my diet is necessarily fairly high carbohydrate, mainly (not wholly) vegetarian wholefoods, with high fibre, low sugar and low salt. Olive oil, herbs and quite a few spices keep it interesting. Make our own wholemeal bread (commercial bread has far too much salt), even our biscuits are homemade (wholemeal flour, rolled oats, chopped dates and apricots and our own hive's honey). I'm not saying we will never get sick but it has got to improve the odds.

@Gerrycan have you watched/listened to the Unwin video?

 

I'm confused by your last paragraph because it seems to fly in the face of what Unwin is saying.

51 minutes ago, Gerrycan said:

My BMI is about 21 so my diet is necessarily fairly high carbohydrate

High carbohydrate means high sugar, because the former is almost instantly converted into the latter. This is unnecessarily difficult for the body to deal with compared to protein and fat as nutrients.

So you are seemingly doing the opposite of what is being recommended here?  Your BMI is fine, isn't it? Waist circumference is felt to be a better thing to measure though, I think, lately

11 hours ago, Wino said:

@Gerrycan have you watched/listened to the Unwin video?

 

I'm confused by your last paragraph because it seems to fly in the face of what Unwin is saying.

High carbohydrate means high sugar, because the former is almost instantly converted into the latter. This is unnecessarily difficult for the body to deal with compared to protein and fat as nutrients.

So you are seemingly doing the opposite of what is being recommended here?  Your BMI is fine, isn't it? Waist circumference is felt to be a better thing to measure though, I think, lately

Good questions.

BMI does need context for relevance. While I'm basically skinny, if I put on weight it can go to my midriff and that certainly happened in the summer of 1976 where I drank far too much beer during the then record breaking high temperatures. A beer belly (abdominal visceral) fat on a skinny person is not pretty and certainly not healthy even when young. I caught sight of myself in a mirror and vowed never again. Pure vanity for sure, but hey whatever works and so I currently run about 10% body fat and minimal amounts around the waistline.

 

You have got to remember that Unwin is mainly dealing with either potentially or actually really sick people, they are overweight and still malnourished, with consequent issues with cholesterol, blood pressure and incipient or actual diabetes with their potentially fatal knock on effects for all vital organs.

Unwin's dietary advice is spot on for them as it prioritises weight loss and nutrition but when a person achieves their weight and health goals then there has a to be subtle diet alteration to maintain a healthy weight otherwise they end up like victims of bulimia nervosa.

The reason you were confused by my last paragraph was due to my missing out the word "complex" before carbohydrate. Sorry it was getting late.

I need about 2200 calories a day or I lose weight and then my stamina suffers so I include complex carbohydrates to meet my nutritional and energy requirements.

I try to minimise my consumption of white flour, white rice, sugar or plain pasta as they are highly processed foods containing largely empty calories with little nutrition or fibre.

After all I am not just eating for me but also the one kilogram (plus) of my gut microbiome. 

 

I've been experimenting on my body for years and been up a few blind alleys, got lost a couple of times, but I'm pretty happy with where I am now.

I try to keep it simple, find an appropriate personal balance, ignore hype and marketing but recognise good science (with supporting peer reviewed research) for any beneficial lifestyle adjustments

 

Edited 12 November, 20214 yr by Gerrycan

Sounds like you look after yourself pretty well. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've Just tried to establish and maintain good life habits. I'll let you know how it works out in thirty years time  

Should be easy and taught at schools but the corporate behemoths whose marketing you are subjected to incessantly through life are determined to profit from killing you sloooowly and painfully. 

21 minutes ago, Gerrycan said:

I'll let you know how it works out in thirty years time

Only if I'm still around to hear it!  😁

 

23 minutes ago, Gerrycan said:

the corporate behemoths whose marketing you are subjected to incessantly through life are determined to profit from killing you sloooowly and painfully. 

Indeed. Both the food producers and the drug companies would much rather we remained ignorant about the dangers of a high carb diet.

 

It's refreshing to hear a humble sounding doctor stand up to the establishment (with extremely valuable support from his wife acknowledged) and not be afraid of telling the truth.

Another one I can't resist posting:

 

@Pete_Ex-Wino, does the name change reflect your adoption of a more healthy lifestyle?

Yes mate, cut down massively in a few stages.  Almost within gov guidelines now! 😆

 

Weight continues to drop nicely, but more and more slowly as I run out of body fat to dump. Currently at about 13%, my target possibly a touch less but not much.

 

Difficult to know how much of the weight loss is because of the booze reduction, and how much the other carbs; almost certainly a bit of both.

 

Another video I can thoroughly recommend: 

 

 

Also recently enjoyed: Amazon.co.uk : drink david nutt

 

 

I think you can be really proud of your achievements, brilliant!

 

Regular over consumption of alcohol was a large part of the social scene of my pre-marital years in the UK I'm afraid.

It took my now brother-in-law's absolutely fantastic stag night about 35 years ago to finally prompt me to say "never again" to anymore benders.

I'm certainly not teatotal and will drink a beer, wine, or spirit as befits the occasion, but just the one drink. These days that is literally all it takes for me to feel the effects.

 

Here is a brand new edition from my favourite source of health information and it is about the secrets to longevity.

The lowdown on longevity - Health Report - ABC Radio National

 

Much of the information is already presented in other sources in this thread but it is supported with evidence sourced by scientific method (you know the double-blind, peer-reviewed stuff).

 

Basically it touts the widely known benefits of restricted calorie diets and exercise.

The main feature, of the excellent content, for me was the importance of a good quality food based on the 'Mediterranean Diet' which is high in nutrition, fibre and minimal refined processed food and high calorie products.

What was very interesting was that while Michael Moseley's promotion of the 5/2 diet (just two days of low calorie intake in a week and eat what they wanted on the other days) did achieve weight loss (reduced visceral fat), the biometric markers of improving health were not as good as those achieved by those who just had better diets and similar weight loss.

 

In fact those wholly on the 'Mediterranean Diet' foods could not help but lose weight eating normally and some had to eat wildly excessive amounts to try to maintain weights for the the experiment. The purpose of maintaining the weight was to prove the better biometric markers with the diet were not just due to weight loss.

 

A problem with many scientific studies is that they tend to be very focussed on one particular aspect and in this case I think it ignores the probable link that the diet almost certainly promotes excellent gut health which contributes and may even be the main reason for the biomarker improvement.

None-the-less I think this is an interesting and well presented broadcast well worth the near half hour it takes to listen.

 

Edited 25 April, 20224 yr by Gerrycan

I have a new favourite. Everyone should watch this.

 

 

Thanks for that Pete, it came at a good time for me and explains where I am after the enforced confinement of the last couple of years, it also gives me confidence that the hard work I am undertaking will show benefits but i must augment it by starting running and cycling again.

 

I have had a few falls recently and each time could not understand how they happened without analysis, not helped by my banging my head each time, I had concluded that it was loss of muscle strength and the fast twitch reaction force & not loss of balance, the headbanging as well, I have had my fair share of falls in my time but in the past my neck muscles have always stopped my head short of the ground.

The claims in the video are very seductive but I'm wary when a charismatic American presents a 'Do this once simple thing....' type promotion of his book/gym/etc.

Ever watched the old Hollywood musical 'The Music Man'?

I'm not keen on the paleo diet he mentions, sure it's better than processed food but many nutritionists are critical of its basis and dietary recommendations.

I doubt the incredibly fit looking 72 yo man does less than 30 minutes exercise a week. Maybe only that in the gym but I suspect he does not have a sedentary life in between.

The CT scan of the 70 tear old triathlete, yes it is remarkable but having done some triathlons in the past myself (at a low performance level) the training for the three disciplines is very time consuming, even for just Olympic distance (1km swim, 40km cycle, 10km run). And he won't be as fast as the 40 yo triathlete.

 

100% agree there are massive health benefits from exercise, and particularly resistive training, but in isolation the benefits for many are not going to be as great as claimed unless it is integrated with a good diet and healthy lifestyle habits.

 

18 minutes ago, Gerrycan said:

100% agree there are massive health benefits from exercise, and particularly resistive training,

Better to lead with that, than the negative/doubting stuff, I would have thought, if you agree that wholeheartedly?

The thing I do not like is the 'hard sell' that a few minutes of weight training is the answer to everything. Quite frankly that is ridiculous.

A a grossly fat 140kg man standing up from a chair is achieving something I simply could not do (with an equivalent 70kg weight on my back), and in essence is performing daily resistive weight training, but is he fit? Hell no!

A poor diet and bad habits will overcome any benefits from a weight training programme. I know because I have lost a couple of friends to medical conditions who apparently thought that going to the gym was enough.

His audience were senior citizens seeking the 'fountain of youth' and from his comments they were already in better condition than your average Joe and in that context what he was suggesting for them would almost certainly offer supplementary benefits to what they were already doing, but let's keep the claims within reason.

 

Edited 19 May, 20224 yr by Gerrycan

9 minutes ago, Gerrycan said:

The thing I do not like is the 'hard sell' that a few minutes of weight training is the answer to everything

That wasn't really what I 'heard' when I listened/watched (twice).

Just that it's incredibly important to keep your skeletal musculature strong throughout life.

Sometimes it's surely better to encourage people to do something important that they may not currently be doing by whatever means might grab their attention?

 

 

 

Your last two points are very valid.

 

I'll have to watch again. Being follically challenged myself maybe I was too jealous of his head of hair to take him seriously  

A new favourite as of today. It's a long listen, but apart from the two product placements within it, is all very worthwhile: (it's about ultra-processed foods)

 

I got about 3 minutes in and decided that it was too long to view on a subject I am already reasonably knowledgeable on, and in agreement with anyway, and have been for decades, which is well before the presenters were even born.

 

The simple truth is we are subject to incessant marketing of addictive processed foods, high in sugar/fat/salt, low in nutrition/fibre which are good for their profits and bad for our health.

I've always thought that if there is a Satan on earth, then he is probably a marketing executive.

Actually getting the message of the benefits of a healthy diet across to those who really need to know about it and apply it, is another problem.

 

I reckon my 89-year-old mother-in-law consumes a big cup of sugar a day (600ml packaged egg-nogg with the equivalent of 10 teaspoons, 2 teaspoons in each and numerous coffees, flavoured yoghurts, chocolates, cakes etc) but only has a small breakfast and her small main evening meal may occasionally have a couple of vegetables (because for some reason she is not hungry).

She is overweight, her joints are overloaded and painful but amazingly her main organs are performing well, and it is a tribute to her doctor and the incredible number of medications she takes.

Naturally she ignores all nutritional advice, from her daughters, one of whom is a recently retired but highly credentialled nurse.

 

 

Just seen another interesting one, after watching this guy on the subject of farmer's inheritance tax, which is also a good listen.