What is HbA1c? HbA1c stands for Hemoglobin A1c, which is a specific type of protein that glucose becomes attached to. Glucose is a simple sugar that is absorbed into the bloodstream when your body breaks down carbohydrate foods. When glucose is absorbed, some of it becomes attached to the...
Keeping our brain’s structure and neural network healthy may seem like a mystery at times, but often the best advice is simple: ‘use it or lose it!’ The exercise and stimulation your brain gets from an active physical, social and intellectual lifestyle is vital to keeping it healthy. Just...
We now know that today’s diet, lacking in brain-friendly fats and other nutrients, yet high in sugar and ultra-processed food, is likely to be shrinking our brains, dumbing us down and triggering a big increase in mental health problems. But it isn’t just nutrition that is creating the...
----- By Patrick Holford Life is a balancing act between making energy by combusting glucose or ketones with oxygen, which generates ‘oxidant’ exhaust fumes and dealing with these 'oxidant fumes' which harm the body. Skin goes crinkly, age spots develop all due to oxidation. That’s...
Is coffee good or bad for you? On the one hand is contains polyphenols that act like antioxidants, but on the other hand even two coffees a day raises markers of inflammation, including homocysteine which is an established indicator of dementia risk. A major study involving almost...
Autism is one disease where there is a very high ‘inherited’ component. In studies with genetically identical twins, if one twin has it, the odds of another having a diagnosis is about 60%. But it's not in the ‘in the genes’ since we share the same ‘environment’ as our...
Research Professor Tommy Wood from the University of Washington, explains Most of us have two types of elderly relatives. One of them is old – they have trouble walking, they’re in and out of the doctor’s office, and they always seem to repeat the same stories. The other type seems...
