Discussions with Dr John Tickell

Prescription drug habits

Dr John Tickell — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 01:38:18 GMT

One of the things that differentiates the American approach to what they call health care ( it is sick care ) is the fact that drug companies are allowed to take out full page ads in newspapers and magazines that influence the consumers to put pressure on their Doctor to prescribe for them prescription strength drugs. … drugs that are totally over-used - anti-anxiety drugs, anti-depressants, sleeping pills, diet pills ( which are useless) , pills for blood pressure, headaches, gut aches, indigestion ( a spoonful of yoghurt works just as well ) etc, etc. These drugs cost the taxpayer billions of dollars and between half and two-thirds of them are unnecessary.

Do you realise that 80% of conditions we take drugs to ‘cure’ are caused by just five habits ? … which are ….. 1. eating unhealthy foods/ low intake of plant foods 2. over indulging in alcohol 3. smoking 4. inactivity 5. can’t cope – ie negative stress. Let’s hope for our own good that the Government never allows advertising for prescription drugs in this country!

Of course, drugs are most necessary and very effective in many cases of medical illness and emergency, but their positive influence and dosage must be balanced with the unwanted side-effects. …. And this brings me to another oft-quoted remark I hear - “Alternative therapies don’t work”. My response is to nod and simply say that Western Medicine has been around for 150 years or so and Herbal Medicines have been around for about 4,000 years, so maybe the people who use the latter ( approx 80% of the world’s population ) have worked out a thing or two about the therapies and their effects. A combination of the two – Integrative Medicine – is probably the way to go. … and eating good, natural wholesome food is a great start. There is a Japanese saying ‘Nuchi Gusui’ which translated means ‘may your food and your lifestyle heal’. Are the hamburgers, fries and donuts that have overtaken us healing or hurting?

What do you think ?

Dr John Tickell

Nature vs Nuture

Dr John Tickell — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 01:27:16 GMT

Hi guys, Dr John here again

In the islands of Okinawa off the southern end of Japan, six in 100,000 of the traditional living Okinawan women die from breast cancer. In Australia and the USA, approx 10,000 in 100,000 women develop breast cancer and between one third and half of these women die from the disease.

Why the difference ? Is it genetics ? No, it doesn’t appear to be because of the migration studies of Japanese women to the USA …. within 2 generations, their risk of breast cancer becomes the same as that of Caucasian women ….

So what IS the difference ? You tell me.

Interesting facts on the Great Australian Diet vs Atkins

Dr John Tickell — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 02:46:02 GMT

Hi everyone,

Some interesting facts and figures came out of Channel 9's "Great Weight Debate". The plant-based eating of 'The Great Australian Diet' (GAD) came out better than the high protein high meat diets. The GAD had 100% compliance, (ie zero drop-outs over the eight weeks, whereas the high meat CSIRO and Atkins had multiple drop-outs).

The No 1. dieter with the most weight loss, Joanne (the winner) was on The GAD. Joanne has now lost 19 Kg in 12 weeks and has never been hungry. The GAD was also the equal No.1 most popular (easiest) and had the group collective 2^nd most weight loss (after Atkins ). Atkins had av. 1.6 Kg more weight loss over the eight weeks (big deal) BUT, the comments from the Atkins group on the show were disastrous!

Eg. “absolutely hated it” … “glad I’ve finished” … "was constipated'’ …. “bad breath”.

The bottom line? The plant-based Great Australian Diet is the best, the most natural, the healthiest, AND it saves money. You you can also feed the whole family the same healthy food.

Eg. the 'Great Weight Debate' winner’s family supermarket weekly bill fell from approx $210 p. wk back to $165 p. wk. The CSIRO and Atkin's diets actually cost more due to eating so much meat.

One final comment - I can’t find anyone who’s been on Atkins that is still doing it 6 months later, and they have usually put all the weight back on.

What do you think?

Is it un-Australian to eat lamb?

Dr John Tickell — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 05:15:50 GMT

The way we eat is sending us dry! We are all told to reduce our water usage, however we use only 4,900 litres per household per week. It sounds like a lot however compare this to the fact that the water required to produce ONE KILOGRAM of lamb is approx. 50,000 litres! So if each of us ate one or two less chops, or one less steak each week, that could mean that each household saves almost 25,000 litres of water! That's right! No other "water saving measure" could save this amount.

What do you think?