Nutrition and lifestyle are the keys to longevity
A blog by Michael Butler
Articles and opinions for my family & friends about how I am living a healthier life informed by scientific research undertaken since being diagnosed with heart disease. Starting with the principle that each of us is biologically unique, everyone can use nutrition and lifestyle to achieve their greatest potential.
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- Agriculture 1
- Biology 1
- Book list 5
- Book review 3
- Carbohydrate 8
- Carnivore diet 1
- Chronic disease 17
- Chronic inflammation 1
- Circadian rhythm 1
- Dietary guidance 1
- Electrolyte 1
- Environment 1
- Evolutionary mismatch 6
- Exercise 2
- Fat 1
- Fermented food 7
- Fibre 2
- Food 4
- Fruit juice 1
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- Genetics 1
- Heart disease 9
- Holobiont 1
- Human Metabolism 14
- Human development 1
- Human evolution 11
- Human health and disease 15
- Human microbiome 8
- Human nutrition 12
- Immune suppression 1
- Immune system 1
- Industrially processed ingredients 3
- Inspiring stories 1
- Insulin resistance 3
- Ketogenic diet 8
- Low carbohydrate diet 1
- Macronutrient 5
- Meat-based diet 1
- Medicine 1
- Mental health 7
- Microbiome 9
- Microbiota 9
- Microbiota diversity 1
- Micronutrient 4
- Mountain biking 3
- Multiple sclerosis 1
- Nature 2
- Nutrient density 9
- Nutrition 19
- Paper review 8
The garden - 2024 October
A summary of what is happening in the vegetable garden in October…with a reminder of why I’m now doing this monthly…and a picture showing the source of this month’s organic mulch
We evolved to consume every kind of fat
When we consume real food, we consume fat and every type of fat. There are no exceptions.
Poor mental health may be another symptom of malnutrition
Have you noticed that mental illnesses such as depression and Alzheimer’s are on the rise in the same was as things like heart disease and type 2 diabetes? Well, they are. I recently attended a conference in which a compelling case was made for high carbohydrate diets causing mental illness in the same was as they do so-called chronic diseases. This article presents that case and describes a solution.
First Annual Keto Brain Health Conference
If you’re interested in mental illness causes and remedies this is a conference you might consider. It was packed with interesting speakers, their inspirational stories of recovery and how a ketogenic diet helped them.
The garden - 2024 September
A summary of what is happening in the vegetable garden in September
Where does all the sugar come from?
Everyday foods like fruit juice, bread, croissants, pasta, potatoes, and rice are readily turned into blood sugar when we consume them. Much of that sugar is then turned into body fat. Eating these things all day and everyday goes a long way to explain why so many of us struggle with our weight. I explain how this happens here.
Light is good for the microbes on our skin and in our gut
Maybe we shouldn't be surprised that light and microbes are good for us. They are two of the most influential evolutionary influences on human biology
The garden - 2024 August
A summary of what is happening in the vegetable garden this month
The importance of sunlight
Did you know that sunlight reaches deep into our bodies, especially in babies and young children? I didn't. Sunlight has benefited all life on earth since the very beginning. Humans harvest sunlight just as we use the nutrition in our food.
Cookbooks we use regularly
My wife and I initially struggled with how to eat more healthily. These 11 cookbooks gave us the confidence to get rid of the seed oils, sugars and starches, and grains that formed the basis of our unhealthy eating habits and the roadmap to adopt a new, healthy lifestyle. Eating healthily can be cheap, easy, quick, and delicious. No matter what we’re in the mood for, there are tasty recipes available.
Regenerative gardening - as nature intended
Three years of garden creation captured in pictures. Regenerative gardening prioritises soil health to grow tastier fruit and vegetables, as nature intended. Healthy soil is literally full of life that cross-talks constantly with the plants rooted in it. This article explains those concepts and describes how we created our regenerative garden.
An electrolyte mix I like
This is not a product endorsement, just a heads-up to an electrolyte mix I like.
Gut fungi are not as numerous as bacteria but their influence is likely larger
If, like me, you are interested in how gut microbiota affect human health, read on. Long under-investigated and poorly understood gut fungi appear to affect health much more than their small numbers suggest and likely influence what happens to the much more numerous bacteria each of us have in our gut.
Public Health Collaboration Annual Meeting 2024
Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) was the main topic of a recent conference I attended. I learned a lot about the cause, detection and treatment of T2D and wrote this article to summarise what I saw and heard.
Nature - it is beautiful, and we know why
Ever wondered why you can stare at natural scenes for ever? There’s a reason for that, and we know what it is. We can also mimic nature’s beauty in our daily lives when we want to.
Supplements that eliminated my allergies and keep me healthy
I eliminated life-long allergies with a handful of supplements and I rarely catch colds and the flu. I share my list of supplements here.
Reversing multiple sclerosis: the inspiring story of Dr. Terry Wahls
“Food is the bedrock of health. Our food choices can either lead to disease or create health and vitality.” I defy you to read this story and not be inspired by one woman’s story of how she reversed the debilitating symptoms of multiple sclerosis with food. She now leads a healthy, relatively normal life
Book Review - How Life Works: A user’s guide to the new biology
This is one of the most fascinating biology books I’ve ever read. This book challenged my long-held assumptions and offers a new way of thinking about how life emerges and works in a world of infinite influences.