In episode 254, James and Mike finish of their dietary podcast buffet. We tackle weight loss and then look at all the best available evidence around overall nutrition and it comes up looking pretty good for the Mediterranean diet – or something similar. We hope at the end of this trilogy on nutrition all our listeners enjoyed each course and that you will stay tuned for more BS Medicine podcasts – or as we refer to them – dessert with a cherry and whipped cream on the top.

Show notes

1) Weight loss

N Engl J Med 2008;359:229-41

Food & Nutrition Research 2012,56:19103

PLOS ONE 2014;9:e100652

Ann Intern Med 2014;161:309-318

JAMA 2014;312:923-33

N Engl J Med 2009;360:859-73

2) RCT of dietary impacts on cardiovascular disease

Lancet 1994;343:1454-9

JAMA 2006;295:629-642, 643-54, 655-66

Lancet 2002;360:1455-61

N Engl J Med 2013; 368:1279-90

CD002137

3) Saturated fats

Am J Clin Nutr 2010;91:535–46

Ann Intern Med 2014;160:398-406

BMJ Open 2014;4:e004487 doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2013-004487

BMJ 2013 Feb 4;346:e8707. doi: 10.1136/bmj.e8707.  

4) Red meat

Circulation 2010;121:2271-83

American Journal of Epidemiology 2013DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwt261

5) Sugar

BMJ 2012;345:e7492 doi: 10.1136/bmj.e7492

Circulation 2012;125:1735-41

JAMA Intern Med 2014;174:516-24

6) Overall

Annu Rev Public Health 2014;35:83–103

In episode 253, James and Mike continue biting off the evidence around nutrition. We discuss salt, breakfast, eggs, fiber, coffee, fruit and vegetable servings, and alcohol. At the end, we get terribly confused and go out and have a smorgasbord.

Show notes

1) Salt

N Engl J Med 2014;371:601-11

BMJ 2013;346:f1325 doi: 10.1136/bmj.f1325

Institute of Medicine – May 2013

N Engl J Med 2014;371:612-23

N Engl J Med 2014;371:677-9

2) Breakfast

Am J Clin Nutr 2013;98:1298-308

Am J Clin Nutr 2014;100:539–47

Am J Clin Nutr 2014;100:626–56

3) Eggs

Atherosclerosis 2012;224:469-73

BMJ 2013;346:e8539 doi: 10.1136/bmj.e8539

4) Fiber

Arch Intern Med 2004;164:370-6

BMJ 2013;347:f6879

BMJ 2011;343:d6617 doi: 10.1136/bmj.d6617

5) Coffee

Circulation 2014;129:643–59 

Eur J Epidemiol 2013;28:527–39

6) Servings

J Epidemiol Community Health – March 2014

BMJ 2014; 349 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g4490

7) Alcohol

Addiction 2012;107:1246–60

In episode 252, James and Mike start off on a food/nutrition diatribe. We start off by speaking in general about nutrition issues and how we should figure out if a particular food is healthy or unhealthy. We chew up the advantages and disadvantages of RCTs and cohorts and set the plate on what evidence we need to make decisions about nutrition.

Show notes

1) Food Tribes: Making up the rules as we go

Randy Shore Vancouver Sun

2) Implausible results in human nutrition research

BMJ 2013;347:f6698

In episode 251, PREMIUM Mike and James look at the most recent update of the ACCORD trial and find not a lot. We then look at a relatively new class of medication (neprilysin inhibitor) and actually find something but realise it all needs to be put into context.

1) Effects of intensive glycaemic control on ischaemic heart disease: analysis of data from the randomised, controlled ACCORD trial.

Lancet 2014 Jul 31. pii: S0140-6736(14)60611-5

2) PARADIGM-HF – Angiotensin–Neprilysin Inhibition versus Enalapril in Heart Failure

DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1409077