Regular exercise can improve cognitive function.

This 2012 Canadian paper looked at a group of sedentary individuals and got the moving. 4 months of twice weekly exercise bike and intensive weight training made a difference. Cognitive function improved as well as their waist lines.

When will the bureaucrats and politicians wake up – may be after the next election or the one after that of the one after that ….

The USA produces 3800 calories of food per day for the population.

That’s on the increase over time. You can discuss what the average requirement is with women generally being less than men but let’s be ‘generous’ and say 2000 calories per person on average. The slide refers to 2200 – 2500 but I think that’s too high.

That leaves a massive 1600 calories of food excess – temptation – availability – wastage that plays a role in the obesity epidemic in the USA and is likely to be similar here in Australia.

That figure has apparently gone up since the introduction of super-sized meals. It is association evidence only and it is likely that sugar consumption increased in the same time frame. All processed food product consumption has done the same.

The USA has 100 million people now eligible for weight loss surgery. That’s 100 million people in a population of about 320 million. That is just so completely unsustainable and unfathomable.

My maths puts that at $1 trillion dollars of surgery to sort it out. That’s never going to happen so let’s get back to what costs nothing in comparison. JERF –just eating real food.

Throw in a few hundred thousand preventable deaths from weight related issues. And this is a disaster right now. No need to work out what the prognosis is from here on.

Cutting back on sugar, refined carbs and polyunsaturated oils is another no brainer.

Time to take some not so extreme measures and eat real food. JERF LCHF

These figures were presented last week by Dr Ashish Sinha of the University College of Medicine in Philadelphia at the 2015 American Society of Anesthesiologists in San Diego.  Thanks Michael for sending them on and thinking of me.

A day of talks and conversations can be full on but it recharges our batteries as speakers.

One of the best things about meetings such as last weekend’s Brisbane Low Carb Down Under meeting is the opportunity to catch up with old friends and make new ones

I caught up with many people in Brisbane and their stories of how LCHF has changed their lives. I heard about weight loss, control of their cancers, improvement in autoimmune processes, control of diabetes to allow ‘normal’ lives and life expectancy as well as a general buzz in the air.

The general feel was of healthy or healthier people there for more information and to spread the message of LCHF. Real people at the grass roots trying to make a difference.

This was in stark contrast to the food industry sponsored event that I witnessed on the Friday before in Sydney at the ILSI – “Sugar in the diet: Is there a sweet spot?” meeting. I found the day quite disturbing and the presentations aside from Professor Luc Tappy pretty well devoid of science and statistical analysis.

The comments I heard from the speakers about Professor Robert Lustig MD , Chef Pete Evans, Sarah Wilson and Damon Gameau That Sugar Film were derogatory and almost juvenile.

The fact that a whole lecture was effectively allocated to the media presence of cutting back on sugar makes the ‘self-proclaimed’ experts and food industry look worried. The personal character assassinations were pretty low and unsubstantiated. The clapping and occasional cheers from the audience left me with concerns. I have spoken with another person who attended the meeting whom made similar observations.

If this is the ‘opposition’ to the truth behind sugar, then their arguments are pretty thin on the ground.

Brisbane was a contrast. No one was bagging out individuals. No one was making malicious comments about peak bodies. There were still comments about why advisory bodies are still ignoring LCHF but they had a tone of incredulity rather than vindictiveness.

The more I go down this path of LCHF the happier I am and the more I want to distance myself from the food industry. Seems obvious.

Fruit has been ‘advertised’ to us as being good for us.

It is marketed accordingly to us in nature and by the food industry.

Is it really good for us or are we just succumbing to fruit and the food industry for their benefit, not ours?

How much of the goodness have we been told to believe?

Green leafy vegetables smash fruit gram for gram for fibre, nutrients, minerals and vitamins without the sugar! And they are available all year round.

Listen with an open mind and make your own conclusion. The fruitarians are not going to be happy. I am just presenting the science. See how you go.

This talk was my side of a 2015 Science Week debate for the Royal Australian Chemical Institute.

10 years of sugar free in this Auckland school from the lowest socioeconomic level has transformed it. It is an inspiring story.

“Like many school tuckshops, sadly, financial profit was prioritised over children’s well-being and we wondered why we had learning and behavioural problems.”