Articles matching the ‘diet’ Category

May 7th, 2017

Podcast 206: Gluten avoidance and cardiac risks

All previous editions are available at podcasts.jwatch.org. Have you prepared a dinner party recently and not heard the word “gluten” come up? Using food-frequency questionnaires, researchers followed the dietary habits of two very large cohorts of clinicians for over 25 years. Their results, just published in The BMJ suggest that, unless you have celiac disease or […]


August 16th, 2015

Podcast 182: Dietary fat studies meta-analyzed — trans fat still a bad bet

The BMJ’s meta-analysis of several large cohorts finds no association of saturated fat with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality or total coronary disease. Trans fat, on the other hand, increased risk in all those categories. The first author on the paper, Dr. Russell de Sousza, isn’t ready to give a free pass to saturated fat, though. Listen […]


August 29th, 2014

Podcast 173: Sensible Sodium Levels in View at Last

Running time: 9 minutes In the light of the New England Journal of Medicine‘s recent publication three papers on sodium intake and its implications for cardiovascular disease, blood pressure, and excess mortality, we thought we’d speak again with Dr. Jan Staessen, who surprised a lot of people 3 years ago with a paper in JAMA warning […]


March 15th, 2012

Podcast 149: High levels of white rice consumption seem linked to higher risks for type 2 diabetes

A BMJ meta-analysis suggests that people with the highest levels of white rice consumption are at increased risk for type 2 diabetes. The authors examined four studies, together comprising some 350,000 subjects. Two were done in Asian populations and two among Westerners. They found a much higher intake of white rice among Asians, and a strong […]


June 3rd, 2011

Podcast 123: Calcium’s benefits seem to peak out at about 800 mg daily

On the basis of evidence from a Swedish cohort, calcium intakes much above that country’s recommended 800 mg daily don’t have added protective value against fracture and osteoporosis. The authors of this BMJ paper suggest we’d be better off making sure those at the low end of the calcium-intake spectrum get their 800 mg, rather than […]


May 6th, 2011

Podcast 120: Pass the salt!

European researchers say they’ve got the data to show that restricting salt in the general population is a bad mistake. By implication, the U.S. dietary salt guidelines are plainly wrong. How did they do this? They followed 3700 subjects for roughly 8 years, having first measured their 24-hour urinary sodium excretion. Their data show that lower […]


Clinical Conversations

About the Podcast

Comments, suggestions, and story ideas welcome. Learn more about Clinical Conversations.

Follow us:
Follow on Apple Podcasts

Follow on Google Podcasts

Follow on Spotify