/oss/taxonomy/term/1760/all en /oss/article/medical-health-and-nutrition-history/story-linking-nutrition-and-health-has-unexpected-twists <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/the-right-chemistry-nutrition-heart-health-history-tips">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> Fri, 28 Jun 2024 17:28:05 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9991 at /oss /oss/article/medical/we-can-mostly-stop-worrying-about-triglycerides <hr /> <p><em>This article was originally posted in the <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/christopher-labos-we-can-mostly-stop-worrying-about-triglycerides">Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> Fri, 13 Jan 2023 11:00:00 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 9357 at /oss /oss/article/health-nutrition/great-cholesterol-debate <p>Before we can talk about cholesterol and how to measure it we need to get some things straight. Cholesterol is absolutely tied to heart disease even though convincing people of that fact has been surprisingly difficult. The cholesterol hypothesis for heart disease dates back to the early 1900’s when Russian physician <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolay_Anichkov#cite_note-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Nikolay Anichkov</a><span> demonstrated that feeding rabbits a high cholesterol diet led to the fatty deposits in coronary arteries that cause heart disease.</span></p> Thu, 05 Jul 2018 19:00:00 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 7157 at /oss /oss/article/controversial-science-food-health-quirky-science-supplements/miracle-bites-dust <p>It's frustrating, but most scientific studies end with the line, "more research is needed." But not always. We have one of these rare cases in a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine about the use of niacin to improve cholesterol profile. Niacin is familiar to many as the B vitamin that prevents pellagra but when it is used to decrease LDL (the "bad" cholesterol) and increase HDL (the "good" cholesterol) it is given in far higher doses than the amount that prevents pellagra. At a dose of 1000 mg a day, niacin is a drug.</p> Mon, 21 Jul 2014 13:35:11 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2169 at /oss