Heart – Tom Hollis Health

Clinical dietetics, Diabetes, Heart, Nutrition in the media, Public Health

Post-ICU and COVID-19 nutrition

March 8, 2021 No Comments

The road to recovery after critical illness can be long and challenging. However, it is only in recent years that Post Intensive Care Syndrome (PICS) has started to be more widely recognised and understood, and therefore much better managed. PICS encompasses a range of symptoms that fall under the three broad categories of physical cognitive, and psychological impairment, with ICU-acquired weakness among the most frequently seen symptoms. Improving ICU survival rates are partly to thank for this growing interest in PICS, as we can now look beyond mere survival and consider quality of recovery. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has also […]

Carbohydrates, Fats, Heart, Mediterranean diet, Nutrition in the media, Public Health

Heart Month… and the saturated fat debate

February 17, 2015 No Comments

You may or may not be aware that we’re in the middle of Heart Month. I’m not sure if it’s got anything to do with Valentine’s and the preponderance of heart shaped tat filling shop windows, but February is the chosen month for raising awareness of this most vital of organs. A quick google search suggests USA and Canada do it in February too. Who knows – maybe we copied them. You don’t need me to tell you how important the heart is. Equally, I can’t imagine you need me to tell you that heart disease is, alongside cancer, the biggest […]

Fats, Heart

Focus on oils #3: five facts about olive oil

September 30, 2014 No Comments

Over the past fortnight I have focussed on oils, blogging first about rapeseed, and then moving onto controversial coconut oil. I conclude this mini-series with a look at an old favourite: olive oil. 1. As with both rapeseed and coconut oil, olive oil is remarkably versatile. With a smoke point of around 380 degrees fahrenheit (a little lower than many other cooking oils) it is not so well suited to frying, but it remains a culinary powerhouse, adding that beautiful Mediterranean flavour to salad dressings, pasta dishes and dips. But beyond this, olive oil has uses ranging from the ancient and […]

Fats, Heart

Focus on oils #2: five facts about coconut oil

September 23, 2014 No Comments

Last week I introduced a mini-series of blogs on kitchen oils. First under the microscope was the versatile rapeseed oil. This week, I am going to look at an oil which has been the subject of much debate in recent months and years, and one that continues to divide opinion: coconut oil. 1. As with many popular oils, coconut oil has a number of uses, in industry (as a precursor for biodiesel and an engine lubricant), cosmetics and personal (everything from skin moisturiser to hair conditioner… to sexual lubricant), and of course, food and cooking, particularly in frying (smoke point 350 degrees […]