What is a healthy level of cholesterol?

Blood cholesterol tests determine the amount of LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein) ‘bad’ cholesterol, HDL (High Density Lipoprotein) ‘good’ cholesterol) and triglycerides (other fatty substances) in your blood. They are designed to assess whether you have a high, moderate or low risk of getting cardiovascular disease (heart disease or stroke) within the next 10 years. However, … Read more

What vitamins should I take?

Dr Paul Clayton Most people consider a vitamin supplement for two reasons. First, to make sure they are not deficient in any important vitamin or mineral. The second reason is to help reduce the risk of long term health problems. Important research shows that achieving the first (preventing deficiency) does not necessarily achieve the second … Read more

Plant polyphenols against heart disease

Dr Paul Clayton’s Health Newsletter March 2014 “Why are we given so many drugs when better nutrition could make us so much healthier? The barriers to better health are no longer scientific, but political.” Increased intakes of polyphenols (from plants)appear to be highly cardio-protective, according to the results of the international PREDIMED (Prevencion con Dieta … Read more

Sugar and starch drive obesity and disease

Dr Paul Clayton’s Health Newsletter March 2014 “Added refined sugars and starches in the daily diet are undoubtedly contributing to obesity and disease.” Sugar has been getting a bad press lately, with a series of books and articles telling us how it contributes to problems with insulin, weight gain and diabetes. I go along with … Read more