My wife will not be pleased with this email (she also subscribes… probably to keep an eye on what I say lol)

I was doing something naughty the week before my wedding when I was still neck deep in last minute wedding planning…

I was up super early in the morning before she woke up and was up late at night sneakily doing it…

Um….

No.. c’mon you sentient bag of microbes… I was not doing anything dodgy!

I was in fact polishing off the final bits of….

(insert mental drumroll)

…my second book!

“This Is Vital Information: Everything You’re Too Embarrassed to Ask Your Doctor (But Really Should)”

In May of 2023 I had already begun plotting and writing the first draft. 

It’s been 2 years in the making.

And it is genuinely the best piece of writing I’ve ever done.

It was inspired by an interaction I had with a patient many years ago where they were so embarrassed by their bowel and toilet symptoms and didn’t discuss this with their doctor until it was too late and they were finally diagnosed with advanced colon cancer.

Dying from embarrassment isn’t just a turn of phrase… but it actually happens.

TMI… awkwardness… taboo… gaslighting… embarrassment… forbidden topics… being fobbed off… nope. Stop right there and f*ck that.

This Is Vital Information covers everything from guts (even dodgy ones), microbiome, poops, women’s health (endometriosis etc), sex, mental health, cancer and more. 

As a thank you for being part of this community and reading these long ass emails every week (don’t worry I’ve shortened them now!) I want to give you a pre-order bonus…

If you pre-order the hardcover, I want to send you a personal thank you note via email and give you a free ticket to an exclusive private online event where we can get together and chat!

To get the bonuses, simply pre-order This Is Vital Information (click link) and upload your receipt to this link:

Pre-order now:

Why the hell should you pre-order?! Well it helps tell retailers and publishers that people care about this book, which then helps the book get stocked and promoted (which will be nice given I spent the last 2 years writing it haha). Honestly, your support can truly make a huge difference :)

P.S know a friend who loves learning about health, wellness and science? Feel free to forward this email to them as the bonuses are open to anyone who pre-orders the book!

P.P.S the more people that pre-order the cheaper the book becomes and you get a price guarantee meaning whatever the lowest price is of the book at launch… you end up paying that price!

btw.. scroll to the end for my top 20 unputdownable books from the last couple years!

The Only Anti-Ageing Strategy Your Gut Needs…

Ok so there is some good news and bad news about your microbiome.

Let me start with the bad (always start with the bad)...

It gets old.. fast.

Ageing doesn’t just happen in your skin, joints, or hair… it happens in your gut too. And when it does, it sets off a cascade that can speed up everything else.

Now the good news is that you can actually do something about it. 

And it starts with what you feed your microbes.

Your gut is home to over 100 trillion microbes. Collectively, they weigh about as much as a hamster… and they run the show when it comes to digestion, immunity, even mood.

For decades, this ecosystem stays relatively stable. The good guys (Bifidobacteria, Roseburia) help keep you healthy, while the bad guys are kept in check.

But from around age 50, things start to creak (in addition to your joints). 

The good guys decline. Inflammatory species like Escherichia, Streptococcus… creep in. 

The gut wall weakens, the immune system gets a bit weird, and something called “inflammageing” takes hold (low-grade, chronic inflammation that drives frailty, heart disease, even cognitive decline)

But we are not beholden to microbiome decline.

More good news… the fix is simpler than you think. 

Forget magic pills or “detox shots.” 

The single most powerful way to reshape your microbiome for healthy ageing is… fiber.

Not just any fiber but prebiotic fiber. 

These are the plant fibers your microbes ferment into compounds like butyrate, which repair your gut lining, calm down excessive inflammation, and protect against disease.

In the largest study of its kind, 612 adults over 65 ate either their normal diet or a Mediterranean diet for a year. 

Those on the Mediterranean plan had more of the good microbes linked to lower frailty and better brain function… and fewer inflammatory species.

Even more good news from research…

a trial in older adults found that three months of prebiotic supplementation reduced frailty scores.

Other studies show combining pre- and postbiotics (the beneficial compounds microbes make, like butyrate) may even protect heart tissue in animal models.

You don’t need any fancy ancient wellness seeds harvested from the Amazon or Tanzanian Hunter Gatherer microbial transplants… but something very commodity like fiber (especially prebiotic fiber) to turn back your gut’s biological clock.

P.S If you want to learn more about the gut, microbiome science sign up to my newsletter dedicated to bring you short, snappy actionable tips on this:

P.P.S Only sign up if you’re really interested!

A Daily Ritual To Lower Cholesterol?!

I’ve got a confession: for years after my high cholesterol diagnosis in 2018, I gave eggs the side step…

They were the “cholesterol bomb” my GP said.

Well… turns out we’ve all been scrambling the truth (ok no more bad egg yolks because it’s clearly not cracking you up…)

A brand-new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition just flipped decades of diet dogma on its head.

Researchers found that eating two eggs a day didn’t raise “bad” cholesterol (LDL)... in fact it actually lowered it.

For years, eggs have been lumped in with heart-unfriendly foods because they contain dietary cholesterol. 

But this research suggests that cholesterol in food isn’t the bad guy… saturated fat is.

The study recruited participants with healthy cholesterol levels and split them into three diet groups for five weeks.

• Group A: high saturated fat + high cholesterol.
  

• Group B: high saturated fat + low cholesterol.
  

• Group C: High cholesterol (from eggs) + low saturated fat (about two eggs per day)
  

The egg-heavy diet lowered LDL cholesterol. Meanwhile, the other two diets… where eggs were limited or nearly eliminated… actually increased LDL.

Eggs are one of the rare foods that are high in cholesterol but low in saturated fat. 

For decades, the assumption was: Eat cholesterol → raise cholesterol in your blood.

But what really pushes LDL up isn’t cholesterol itself but saturated fat.

Most foods high in cholesterol; think bacon, cheese, buttery pastries… are also loaded with saturated fat. That’s why it’s been hard to separate the two.

Translation of the science… let’s stop scaremongering people from eggs! 

This isn’t permission to pair those eggs with a mountain of bacon and buttered toast.

But two eggs in a balanced diet is more friend than foe. In fact, the egg-rich diet in the study even improved other blood lipids linked to heart health, though more research is needed to fully understand why.

Basically cholesterol in food ≠ cholesterol in your blood. 

Especially when your diet is low in saturated fat.

P.S well done for making it through that hefty email here is a PDF of 20 books I absolutely loved reading:

Reply back to this email and tell me what your favourite book is! I’m always looking for recommendation

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