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Articles on Health Check

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Undue emphasis on individual nutrients rather than on the diet as a whole leads to an unhealthy reductionism that has no scientific basis. U.S. Department of Agriculture/Flickr

Health Check: eat food, not (blockbuster) nutrients

Turmeric is said to be the latest “blockbuster nutrient”, helpful for “everything from heart disease to Alzheimers, asthma to arthritis.” But is there any scientific evidence behind this claim, or is it…
They may not cure your cold but they’ll will help you forget your miseries. Drew Leavy/Flickr

Health Check: a hot toddy for the winter chill

Feeling miserable? Is your nose blocked and your throat sore? If not, it will be sometime this winter, probably at least a couple of times. And then someone will probably say at your low ebb that “you…
It’s been suggested that fish oil is the snake oil of our generation. exoimperator/Flickr

Health Check: fish oil, anyone?

An estimated one in four Australians currently take fish oil supplements daily because of its perceived benefits. There are suggestions that fish oil is good for a range of health conditions including…
About 40% of people produce smelly gas because of a certain bacteria in their bowels. HyoJung Kim

Health Check: the ins and outs of burping and farting

To understand why we fart, you need to know something about the volume of gases produced in the bowels first. Imagine how much space 25 litres of gas would occupy – about one third of the interior of a…
Eating is clearly more than just about getting the right nutrition. Brianna Lehman/Flickr

Health Check: how food affects mood and mood affects food

Eating good food promotes overall health and well-being, but what you eat may also impact how you feel. Research suggests that not only can the food you eat affect your mood, but that your mood may influence…
As they transport blood against the force of gravity, veins require special mechanisms to ensure that blood doesn’t flow backwards. Colin Davis/Flickr

Health Check: what you should know about varicose veins

Veins are part of the body’s extensive network of blood vessels, returning blood back to the heart to maintain a continuous circulation. And when things go wrong with them, you can end up with varicose…
Only around 10% of the codeine dose will give you analgesia, but 100% of it will give you side effects. Andrzej Wilusz

Health Check: how do you choose strong painkillers?

Commonly used over-the-counter painkillers such as paracetamol, aspirin and ibuprofen will usually be strong enough to alleviate common aches and pains. But if you’re suffering from acute pain from dental…
Healthy or harmful? Matthew Rogers

Health Check: does alcohol have medicinal properties?

Since the late Stone Age, people have been drinking alcohol to help them feel better. For the most part, this has been in order to “remember their misery no more” (Proverbs 31:6-7). But it’s widely believed…
You are what you eat: these five foods are proven to improve your health. bikeriderlondon/Shutterstock

Health Check: five must-have foods for your shopping trolley

If you eat to improve your health, here are five foods to put in your supermarket trolley every week. All pack a proven punch in terms of health gains if you have them regularly. 1. Oats Oats are a wholegrain…
Unfortunately, nothing really works – or works that well – to prevent or treat colds. Jacob Spencer

Health Check: can you treat the common cold?

With symptoms including a runny nose, sore throat, sneezing, cough, headaches and fever, the common cold can leave you feeling rotten for up to two weeks. As the name suggests, they’re annoyingly common…
Practices such as listening to the heart and lungs with a stethoscope, which are part of general health checks, don’t have evidence of benefit. Bart/Flickr

Health Check: should you get general health check-ups?

The publication of a meta-analysis earlier this year showing annual health checks are useful has revived a long-running debate about the worthiness of the practice. General health checks started in the…
Adults usually get around three colds per year. Sergio Alvarez

Health Check: when is ‘the flu’ really a cold?

Most people who think they have the flu, don’t. And some people who think they have a cold, really have the flu. So what is the difference between a cold and the flu? And does it matter? A cold is a mild…
Increasing portion size makes an offering more attractive, but when everyone does this in order to be competitive, all available offerings become large. Penn State/Flickr

Health check: do bigger portion sizes make you eat more?

Faced with a portion of food twice as big as what you normally consume will lead you to eat about a third more food than usual. This portion-size effect helps explain how growing serving sizes may be contributing…
Many adults missed out on vaccines that are routinely given to children today. Shutterstock

Health Check: when do adults need to be immunised?

Most of us will receive the majority of our vaccinations in childhood. But Australian adults still die and become disabled from vaccine-preventable diseases. Immunisations are therefore an important preventive…
No one really knows whether taking large amounts of vitamins in tablet form is even the best way delivering them to the body. Shannon Kringen/Flickr

Health Check: four myths about vitamin supplements

People take vitamin supplements for all kinds of reasons, from maintaining general health to preventing cancer. But there’s no convincing evidence that vitamin supplementation benefits people who don’t…
Find a healthy eating regime you can stick to. foshydog/Flickr

Health Check: what’s the best diet for weight loss?

When it comes to weight loss, there are no magic tricks that guarantee success. What works for you is likely to be different to what works for your partner, neighbour or workmate. The best advice is to…
Buying fresh and cooking from scratch is a struggle for some. Shutterstock/sunlover

Health Check: is fresh food always the best choice?

When it comes to food, we’re told to eat what’s in season, buy locally and avoid “food miles” – for good reason. But not everyone has access to grower’s markets, or the time and resources to source and…
People failing to lose weight frequently blame themselves but their physiology is working against them. TipsTimesAdmin/Flickr

Health Check: why diets fail

Almost everyone who has tried to lose weight has tasted the bitter pill of failure. That feeling you get when, despite all your desires to be healthier, to fit into sassier clothes or to shimmy through…
Sometimes vegetables end up everywhere except where they’d do most good. Evan Long/Flickr

Health Check: why kids don’t like vegies and how to change it

So little Harry won’t eat his vegetables? Well, he’s not alone. Poor Harry is just protecting himself from the danger of alkaloid toxins – although he doesn’t actually know this. At the tender age of four…
Keep your high heel-wearing to less than three days a week. Ed L/Flickr

Health Check: how high heels harm and how to make it better

High-heeled shoes are thought to characterise femininity and beauty, making the wearer feel self-assured and elegant. But they also alter alignment of the feet, legs, and back, and can have long-term effects…

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