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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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.
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
The importance of Vitamin D
There is good evidence that many, if not most, of us are deficient in Vitamin D. We’ve known for a long time that this can cause rickets, an easily identified symptom. It is now becoming evident that lack of Vitamin D may result in frequent infections and things like cancer and osteoporosis. There are ways to get enough Vitamin D, read on if you’re interested.
Managing age-related muscle loss
As we age, we lose muscle mass unless we train for strength, eat enough real food and get enough sleep. Each of these can be achieved with a little effort and attention. We can preserve muscle mass and strength with things like yoga, calisthenics, and weight lifting. Those exercises must be accompanied by eating enough protein from real food. The third component, sleep, is often overlooked but it is vital because our body builds muscle as we sleep.
The most nutritious food
What are the best food sources of things like protein, vitamins, and minerals? As someone I used to work with might say, that depends. It depends upon whether you mean total or bioavailable. It also depends on your dietary preferences. I’m interested in the most bioavailable real food irrespective of the source. In this post, I present data from the academic literature showing that animal-based foods are the most suited to our human digestion and metabolism.
Food is not medicine - It is so much more important
Have you ever heard the term “food is medicine”? The first time I heard it my gut reaction was positive…of course that makes sense plus it’s snappy and easy to remember. Turns out I was wrong. Real food is so much more important than medicine and eating what’s good for us can stop us from needing medicine. Read on for more
The importance of magnesium
What happens when many people around the world don’t get enough of an essential micronutrient? It turns out that blood tests for magnesium aren’t very useful and we may be able to correct for a lack of magnesium in the short-term at the expense of our long-term health. The good news is that there are things that can be done to correct a deficiency. Read on if you want to learn more.
Nutrients in our food are decreasing
One of the great achievements of modern agriculture has been the increase in yields since the 1960s that have allowed us to feed a growing population. However, this increase in yield has come at a price. The micronutrient content of many fruits, veg, meats and dairy has decreased considerably since our grandparents’ days. This decline is as high as 50% for certain micronutrients and it affects product from much of Europe and USA. We need to take care to consume a diverse range of real foods in order to satisfy our short- and long-term nutritional needs.
Nutrient density in my food
Have you ever suffered from a lack of certain things like vitamins in your body? I have and I realised decades ago that when I supplemented with lysine, magnesium, vitamin D3, and quercetin, to name a few, I felt much better. After I started to believe that my health is largely driven by the nature of what I eat, it wasn’t long before I started to consider cutting down on the supplements I take every day and trying to get them from a more natural source. This post describes what I’ve discovered.