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
- Blood glucose 1
- Book list 5
- Book review 3
- Carbohydrate 9
- Carnivore diet 1
- Chronic disease 17
- Chronic inflammation 1
- Circadian rhythm 1
- Continuous glucose monitor 1
- Dietary guidance 1
- Electrolyte 1
- Environment 1
- Evolutionary mismatch 6
- Exercise 3
- Fat 1
- Fermented food 7
- Fibre 2
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- Heart disease 12
- Holobiont 1
- Human Metabolism 14
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- Human health and disease 19
- Human microbiome 8
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- Immune suppression 1
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- Industrially processed ingredients 3
- Inspiring stories 1
- Insulin resistance 3
- Ketogenic diet 9
- Low carbohydrate diet 1
- Macronutrient 5
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- Medicine 1
- Mental health 8
- Microbiome 9
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- Microbiota diversity 1
- Micronutrient 4
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- Nature 2
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Nature - Winter solstice 2024
The shortest day and longest night in the northern hemisphere marks the start of the astronomical winter.
Continuous glucose monitors show which foods can harm us
A CGM can show us which foods are raising blood glucose and may harm us if we continue to eat them.
My poor diet repeatedly damaged my arteries
An illustrative reminder of the way heart disease (plaque) is caused by repeat clot formation in arteries, not cholesterol.
It’s almost impossible to lose weight on a high carb diet
Have you ever wondered why it’s so difficult to lose weight when eating a recommended high carbohydrate diet? We’re not doing anything wrong. Quite the reverse, on such a diet our body is evolved to gain weight.
Revolutionising Health with Real Food: 2nd Annual Scottish PHC Conference
Want to know what some of the UK’s most prominent doctors are saying about diet and metabolic health? Read on.
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.