Blog

Aidan is co-founder and director of the innovative health information website HealthUncut.com, the antidote to poor health advice, and an expert health contributor for The Huffington Post. Designed to tackle the extensive misinformation on health in the mainstream, Aidan’s articles are a reprieve from the onslaught of sensationalism and hyperbole. With a candid yet engaging style, these are a must read for everyone in the pursuit of exceptional heath.
The 5 Heart Healthy Reasons Drug Companies are Turning to Fish Oil

The 5 Heart Healthy Reasons Drug Companies are Turning to Fish Oil

As a pharmacist advocating a nutritional stance I am regularly a lone voice swallowed up in a sea of conventional wisdom. So it was nice to see that on the topic of omega 3 fish oil consumption, I have received unlikely support from Big Pharma. Following their public endorsement of this often derided supplement analysts now suggest that as many as one third of the adult population will be prescribed fish oils by their doctors in the next few years. And when we look at the benefits, it is clear why;
  • Inhibit Inflammation
  • Arrest Aggregation
  • Better Blood Pressure
  • Enhanced Endothelial Function
  • Lower Lipids
Read more at HealthUncut
Fish Oil – A Must for Preventing Breast Cancer

Fish Oil – A Must for Preventing Breast Cancer

Those women who consumed the highest levels of fish oil had a 14% lower rate of breast cancer.
New research has emerged to suggest that when it comes to nutrition advice for thwarting cancer, one food we have erroneously overlooked is oily fish. Published this week in the British Medical Journal was a new meta-analysis of 21 studies of almost one million participants which concluded that consumption of omega 3 fatty acids, as found in fish, produces a significant reduction in the rate of breast cancer occurrence.
Read more at HealthUncut              Read more at the Huffington Post
Pregnancy – A Look at Must Take Nutrients, and Chemicals to Restrict

Pregnancy – A Look at Must Take Nutrients, and Chemicals to Restrict

It is increasingly recognised that what we are exposed to in the womb, not only determines whether we have a complication free birth, but can affect our later health, right up to adulthood, showing just how important it is to get nutrition right in the womb. This week I give a run down on the key nutrients all mothers to be should supplement, and prevalent chemicals to limit.
  • Iodine
  • Selenium
  • Vitamin D
  • Folic Acid
  • DHA
  • Bisphenol A
  • Phthalates
 
Read more at HealthUncut
Fish Oil – Probably the Best Nutritional Supplement in the World

Fish Oil – Probably the Best Nutritional Supplement in the World

When it comes to fish oils there is simply no other nutritional supplement that carries its weight with such a consistently supportive evidence base for producing mass reductions in our rampant disease levels
Combine a world where dictating market forces seek controversy with a subject as nebulous and indefinite as health and you become privy to a myriad of sometimes false, usually dubious, claims of salubrious solutions. However amidst the dense fog of confusion lies the grounding of some basic and indisputable truths...
Read more at HealthUncut              Read more at the Huffington Post 
Don’t Stop Taking Your Vitamin D Supplements Just Yet

Don’t Stop Taking Your Vitamin D Supplements Just Yet

Claims of a need to bolster our vitamin D levels were further endorsed in the last week with the publication of new research, which adds a whole new dimension to the body of evidence supporting its essentiality for our health. In a rather small (n=8) but neat intervention trial researchers investigated the effects of vitamin D on gene expression. The researchers found that there was an extensive need for vitamin D in the body, proffering defences to
  • inflammation
  • autoimmune disease
  • heart disease
  • cancer
Read more at HealthUncut              Read more at the Huffington Post 
The Poly-problems of the Polypill

The Poly-problems of the Polypill

For those not familiar with the polypill, it is the proposal that an en mass drugging with a combination of four cardiovascular medicines (aspirin for clots, a statin for cholesterol and two blood pressure medications) will be a panacea for our cardiovascular disease woes. It will be a universal drugging of the population, the only criterion is age, and all you have to do is reach your 50th birthday to join the club. But here's the reality;
  • extreme levels of adverse effects
  • increased risk of other diseases
  • an immensely exaggerated beneficial effect in heart disease
Read more at HealthUncut                Read more at the Huffington Post
Creatine – The Champagne of Sports Supplements

Creatine – The Champagne of Sports Supplements

creatine monohydrate is the most effective ergogenic nutritional supplement currently available to athletes in terms of increasing high-intensity exercise capacity
If I was to ever open up a sports supplement shop, under performance enhancers I’d have simply two sections, one side a Starbucks for our caffeine fix, the other shelves and shelves of creatine, and that’s it. Find out more about why creatine is the ultimate and safest ergogenic aid.
Read more at HealthUncut                    Read more at the Huffington Post
The Big Lie – The Pharmaceutical and Nutritional Supplement Industry Divide

The Big Lie – The Pharmaceutical and Nutritional Supplement Industry Divide

The most recent estimate is that within 5 years the pharmaceutical industry will be producing 50% of the nutritional supplements on the market.
Let’s admit it, we revel in getting stuck into the ‘evil’ drug industry, and we take great comfort in thinking that the manufacturers of our nutritional supplements are the resistance. An altruistic cottage industry which stands for health and wellbeing first – everything the drug industry does not. Time to think again!
Read more at HealthUncut
Forget about Grapefruit – Why after 20 years are we not being told about the Beneficial Drug Nutrient Interactions?

Forget about Grapefruit – Why after 20 years are we not being told about the Beneficial Drug Nutrient Interactions?

It’s hardly a revelation that the food we eat effects the medicines we take..
The Canadian Medical Journal made international news this week with a flurry of media reports emerging to warn us of the dangerous interaction that exists between grapefruit consumption and certain prescription medicines. The amount of drugs which cause a health jeopardising interaction with grapefruit has been steadily increasing; 43 known drugs interact with the fruit – an increase of more than twofold in four years.
Read more at HealthUncut              Read more at the Huffington Post 
Glutamine and Cancer – A Complex Relationship

Glutamine and Cancer – A Complex Relationship

The consumption of the amino acid glutamine in cancer is somewhat of a conundrum. We know adequate glutamine levels are needed for;
  • ensuring nitrogen balance,
  • maintaining gut integrity,
  • and beneficially influencing our immune system.
All positive things for promoting health and wellbeing. On the other hand;
  • cancer cells are avid consumers of glutamine
  • glutamine is a pivotal driver in tumor progression,
  • glutamine contributes to essentially every core metabolic task of developing cancer cells.
Read more at HealthUncut              Read more at the Huffington Post 
It’s The Mediterranean DIET For a Reason

It’s The Mediterranean DIET For a Reason

The Mediterranean diet is characterized by;
  • a high consumption of fruit, vegetables, legumes, and whole-grains
  • a moderate consumption of fish
  • a low-to-moderate amount of red wine during meals
  • and the consumption of nuts and olive oil as the main source of fats
Increased adherence to the Mediterranean diet is linked to substantial reductions in cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disease as well as cancer. We know what works yet,  we go and ruin it all by applying reductionist science to health policy, with the end result being that all benefits are rescinded.
Read More at HealthUncut
Why Does Nutrition Not Work in the Critically Ill?

Why Does Nutrition Not Work in the Critically Ill?

Throughout life, we can learn and grow, either changing, or reaffirming our beliefs with every new insight and opinion
This week the New England Journal of Medicine published the most rigorous nutrition intervention trial performed in the critically ill to date.The results were surprising to say the least, turning prior research on its head, showing that antioxidants did not affect outcome, and glutamine, if any effect, increased mortality rates after 6 months. With its high-quality trial design, execution, and analysis it means a lot of questions have to be asked about the benefits of nutrition in the critically ill.
Read more at HealthUncut