Breakthroughs To Watch In 2024…

I’ve been both optimistic but skeptical of the judicious use of the novel weight loss drugs we’ve seen in the last few years.. e.g semaglutide.

However that’s just the beginning of these novel drugs; in 2023, phase 3 trials of a similar antidiabetic drug which can be repurposed as a weight loss drug, tirzepatide (Mounjaro), will be expected to produce results towards the end of 2024!

Transplant medicine is looking like it’s breaking boundaries too.

There’s a biotech company eGenesis that has suggested that in 2024, it could provide gene-edited pig organs for human babies in need of transplants!

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the ongoing growing eminence of AI and the results of clinical trials investigating how artificial intelligence (AI) could improve cancer diagnoses, test the efficacy of new cancer treatments and medication combinations.

A Recipe To Please Your Bowels…

This year I’m planning on sharing semi-regular cooking videos… with a twist!

They’ll all be good for your gut, include lots of food science and explore foods from around the world!

Many of you saw my Daal video (over 10 million across social media!) and due to popular request here’s the recipe:

Lentils:

1. Soak red lentil, split yellow lentil, split chickpea lentil in water for 30 mins

2. Whack in a pressure cooker to boil for 30 mins

Masala:

1. Fry together ghee, cumin, chilli & bay leaves

2. Add in red onions when cumin seeds spit

3. Add in ginger / garlic when onions have softened

4. Then add in your powders: coriander, cumin, turmeric, chilli & fenugreek

5. When cooked down a bit, add in tomatoes until the whole thing becomes a pulp

Mix the lentils with the masala and stir. Add water as desired to get your preferred consistency.

Tempering:

Fry ghee, chilli, cumin & garlic together and drizzle on top of the daal.

Life Updates:

I can’t believe we’re in February already.

The last few weeks have been a bit of a blur for me. The Christmas and new year period seemed blended into one with my book launch and lots of on call shifts too.

Late this month I’m going to Oxford Uni twice to give talks at two different colleges. I’ve also been invited to speak at a couple of international conferences in May - a nice chance to combine a mini holiday and a conference!

Incidentally I also gave a talk about the use of social media to my bosses last week at work. I was highly apprehensive about how this would go down… but it went down surprisingly well and seemed to open their eyes to the powers of social media in healthcare.

Speaking in something I’ve particularly enjoyed doing over the last couple of years. Both in my capacity as a surgeon and doctor for over 10 years as well as making videos online that’s seen by millions of people daily - I’ve got some pretty interesting stories and thoughts to share!

How To Be A Top Performer:

A key component of being a top performer is ensuring you provide yourself with enough time and space to recover.

High Performing revs up your stress response but recovery helps to wind it down. provides a chance to cool down.

You don’t need to be stretching or meditating to recover.

Recovery can be anything that gives you pleasure and peace while not activating your stress response: going out with friends, cooking a meal with family, walking the dog, solo strolling through a park.

Basically, activities where there’s no pressure, judgment, competition, or anxiety. 

Besides all of this the lowest hanging fruit we have at our disposal is sleep.

It’s something we increasingly appreciate the benefits of yet many of us still don’t optimise this as much as we can; late night tv sessions, phone usage in bed, copious caffeine throughout the day….

If you do fancy learning about more strategies to carve out a good night’s sleep using easy to action science based tools, grab a copy of my book “This Book May Save Your Life” and head over to the SLEEP chapter!

What You Should Watch:

The Creator - Disney+

This is an interesting one.

In the near future, humans become increasingly reliant on AI until a major catastrophe in the US leads to the western world banning AI. However in the east, AI continue to flourish.

A war rages between the US and the AI of the east…..

With progress in the world of AI showing no signs of slowing in our own world, you wonder about both the breakthroughs AI can unlock but the danger of a truly autonomous, sentient AI in the future.

Even now, AI has biases and prejudice introduced by the human creators’ own flaws and limitations.

Perhaps the first truly “sentient” AI will in fact not be a machine but a human/machine hybrid, a cyborg human.

Perhaps Elon Musk’s Neuralink will bring this into the fray… interesting and maybe slightly dystopian times.

Things You Can Do For Free To Improve Your Life:

1. Care less:

Stop basing all your decisions on what other people think or say and instead do what you actually want to do.

2. Sleep more:

It is not a badge of honour to show off how much you worked and how little you slept. It isn’t always possible to get lots if you have young kids but most of us could do with more of it….

3. Less social media:

Ironic I’m saying this as someone who makes videos, but consuming a constant flood of content warps our reality and expectations… this can sometimes affect our own self esteem.

4. Walking more:

Forget about 10,000 steps. Just walk more than you are now. It is a wildly underrated and under-utilised tool for physical and mental health.

5. Enjoy the little things:

Celebrate the big and small joys in life. Appreciate the little things more. Cherish your good health, your family… one day you’ll wish you had more of it!