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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A lack of vitamins and minerals from food increases NHS hospital admissions
This simple headline in the Guardian newspaper caught my attention immediately. Adequate Vitamin and mineral levels are a core determinant of a healthy life. When people are showing up in hospital because of or with a lack of vitamins and minerals, something has gone seriously wrong. I dug into the numbers and present here what I think may be going on and how to fix it.
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 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.
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.
Ferments - Dairy Kefir
Milk kefir is the only whole food that I consume every day. I make it easily at home and it provides me with a rich mixture of nutrients and gut-healthy prebiotics and probiotics. I write here about how I make kefir at home.
What’s in store for 2024?
There are many large myths surrounding nutrition and human health. This is a quick summary of what I’ve learned about the state of nutritional science since starting this blog and how I’m going to proceed in 2024.
My book collection - part four
Three books about the ancient pinewoods of Scotland and temperate rainforests of Great Britain and Ireland. I find that time in nature is regenerative for me. I’ve used these books to identify places to hike and mountain bike through some of the most spectacular landscapes of the United Kingdom
My book collection - part three
The latest addition to my cumulative book list is the collection that I used to inform my first post entitled “Is my heart disease a symptom of modern malnutrition?”. There is a total of 10 books describing how what we eat can cause and often cure chronic diseases