Woman's Hour: Joanna Blythman has converted Jane Garvey to whole milk.

Joanna Blythman has converted Jane Garvey to whole milk. Well done, Joanna! This Woman's Hour item today may have persuaded some listeners at home, not just Jane, to change from semi-skimmed to whole milk. Like Jane, they may have swallowed the Government's line that whole milk is high in fat and that that fat is not good for us. Joanna explained that whole milk is not at all high in fat, and that in any case, the fat in milk contains the fat-soluble vitamins, one of which is vitamin D, the vitamin that research increasingly finds most people to be short of, so whole milk is better for us than semi-skimmed or skimmed milk. Jane and her family are now luxuriating in whole milk, rather than the nutritionally inferior semi-skimmed. Maybe you would like to consider swapping too?

Woman's Hour: Why Diets Don't Work

The other day on Woman's Hour Jane Garvey was trying to obtain help for a listener who had written to the programme about being very fat and unable to lose weight, other than temporarily, by dieting. By clicking on "Chapter 3" on this page you can listen to the discussion.

"Diets don’t work – or do they? We’ve all known people who’ve had success losing pounds upon pounds following one diet or another. But what happens long term? Do they maintain their new weight for ever or do they slip back into old patterns, feeling out of control around food, putting the pounds back on, and starting yet another diet. Jane talks to a listener who has tried every diet under the sun and is still not happy with her weight. She is also joined by three people with radically different approaches to the question of dieting - Dr Susan Jebb Head of Diet and Population Health at the Medical Research Council Human Nutrition Research, Dr John Briffa, author of Escape the Diet Trap and Sue Thomason, a life coach specialising in body image and disordered eating."

The first adviser we heard from was Dr Susan Jebb. She spoke about how to stick to an eating plan and about utilising friends and family, and the importance of motivation and getting help from groups. But as Jane pointed out, her advice boiled down to going on a diet and joining groups, and the listener had tried all that many times and had no success. Jane was spot on there. This sort of advice won't help. We hear it all the time and it doesn't work. - If you keep on doing what you've done before, you can't expect to get different results, can you? I hadn't expected Dr Jebb's advice to be any use actually, because she is a member of the board of Change4Life, about which I have a very low opinion. - See my little blogpost.

The next adviser was Dr John Briffa, one of my faves because he gives advice that is based on proper scientific research and evidence, not opinion and dogma. He explained that generally diets don't work and he explained why they don't/can't work - because body mechanisms come into play and metabolism goes down when calories are restricted. He tried in a very short time to explain the significance of the hormone, insulin, and that to lose weight carbohydrates need to be restricted. He suggested basing diet on meat, fish, eggs, nuts, fruit, vegetables, and avoiding carbohydrates, and not going for a low fat intake.

The last adviser was Sue Thomason, a Life Coach. She said take the emphasis off losing weight. She talked quite a bit, but I couldn't make any sense of it, and I did listen pretty carefully. There was nothing practical there. I think I'd categorise her contribution as verbal garbage, and I'm not a fan of verbal garbage.

Frankly, Chapter 3 was altogether a bit too rushed, in my opinion. And unfortunately Sue, the listener who was wanting help to lose weight, didn't find any of the advice helpful. - Dr Briffa's advice would help her, I'm certain, but there was too little time for him properly to explain his points, and Sue firmly rejected the low carb idea, because she said the protein foods would be too expensive for her. - Well, there you go. - I don't honestly think it would cost her a lot more, and I'm sure any extra expense would be worth it...

Anyway, here's my twopenn'orth of advice for Sue: cut down on salt and salty food. It's not the only way to lose weight, but it's the fastest, the simplest, the cheapest and the safest. - It does work and it benefits your health in countless ways. I do hope she happens to read this and decides to have a go at cutting down on salt.

Breast screening was discussed on Woman's Hour today

"Can mass screening for breast cancer be justified – no, according to a leading researcher who has worked in the field for the last ten years. Jane talks to Professor Peter Gurt- sche from the Nordic Cochrane Research Centre in Copehagen." (I think that spelling should be Peter Gotzsche.)

I've known for years that routine mammograms are not a good thing and I've written about this before. It's good that this has now been stated unequivocally on Woman's Hour, which is such a popular programme.

Professor Gotzsche also categorically advised against regular self-examination of the breasts by women, saying that there is no evidence that it does any good. - Jane Garvey was clearly very surprised to hear this. Many Woman's Hour listeners will have shared her surprise. Self-examination of the breasts has been part of orthodox medical propaganda for many years. It's great, however, to hear a researcher on the subject giving information that is supported by evidence, rather than dogma.