Save Yourself During BBQ Season…

I’m experiencing an atypical summer in the UK… the sun actually exists.

Wherever you’re reading this from, there is a high probability the weather is steamy, maybe you have your BBQ grill fired up and you're finally embracing your inner chef. 

But while your BBQ game might be sizzling, bacteria are invisibly throwing their own little backyard party… after all there is a reason food poisoning spikes in summer: heat + humidity + relaxed food habits = perfect microbial storm.

So try to follow these science-backed food safety tips to save your stomach and guts:

1. Do NOT rinse raw chicken or meat

It feels clean but I assure you it’s not.

Washing raw chicken under the tap doesn’t remove bacteria, rather it spreads it. 

Tiny droplets of contaminated water can travel up to 50cm from the sink, splashing invisible Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria onto your hands, countertops, faucet handles, or even other food.

Summary: skip the rinse. Cooking meat to the right internal temperature is what actually kills pathogens. (For poultry, that's 74°C / 165°F.)

2. Don’t cross-contaminate.

You marinate chicken in a bowl… you use tongs to place it on the grill and then you… use those same tongs to serve it when it’s done?!

My friend, you just gave bacteria a second chance.

Always use separate utensils, plates, and cutting boards for raw and cooked foods. And if you’ve got raw meat juices on a dish… please wash it before reusing.

3. Your kitchen sponge is a bacterial swamp

Studies have shown that kitchen sponges harbor more bacteria per square inch than a toilet seat. They’re warm, moist, and full of food particles… a veritable five-star hotel for microbes. Seriously, when was the last time you changed it?!

Instead:

• Replace sponges every 1–2 weeks
  

• Or better yet, switch to washable dishcloths you can toss in a hot laundry cycle daily
  

• Avoid using the same cloth to wipe counters, dishes, and hands
  
  

4. Don’t leave food out “just for tonight”

Leaving cooked food on the counter overnight is a textbook case of microbial incubation. Even if it smells fine, some bacteria (like Staphylococcus aureus) produce heat-stable enterotoxins that cooking again won't destroy.

Golden rule: Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours (1 hour if it’s hot outside). And only keep them for 3–4 days, max.

5. Thaw meat the right way

Room-temperature thawing is a bacterial loophole. While the center of the meat remains frozen, the outer layer sits in the “danger zone” (5–60°C or 40–140°F), where bacteria multiply like rabbits on Red Bull.

It’s far safer to thaw in the fridge overnight or if in a rush, use the microwave

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:

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Surviving the Heatwave…

People are already complaining about the heat. The sort of weather that makes the air feels like soup and your brain starts to melt into a puddle of half-formed thoughts and your body lets out a fatigue induced sigh of “too hot” 

Before you go lay face-down on a bag of frozen peas… there are some other things you can try first.  

1. "Reverse radiator" method

Your body isn’t trying to cool off everywhere equally. Certain areas like your palms, soles, face, and scalp are glabrous skin: hairless, highly vascular zones that act like radiators to dump heat.

Studies show that cooling these areas can reduce core body temperature faster than cooling the whole body

To this end, place an ice pack or cool water bottle on your palms, the back of your neck, or the bottoms of your feet for 2–3 minutes. Even running cool water over your wrists can trigger vasoconstriction and help regulate your core temperature.

2. Strategic skin wetting

Sweating cools you not because of the moisture, but the evaporation… that’s where the heat leaves your body. But when humidity is high, sweat just sits there like a wet blanket, doing nothing.

By applying water directly to the skin and exposing yourself to airflow (like a fan), you supercharge evaporative cooling… a trick used by athletes and heat-exposed workers. Research has shown this can lower heart rate and core body temp more effectively than just drinking water alone.

3. Menthol-triggered trickery

Cooling isn’t just physical… it’s perceptual. Your body’s sense of thermal stress is partly governed by how hot you feel, not just your core temperature. Menthol, a compound that binds to TRPM8 receptors in your skin, tricks your nervous system into thinking it’s colder than it actually is.

And this isn’t placebo, studies show that menthol modulates thermal comfort, improves endurance in hot conditions, and even reduces perceived effort.

Try running a menthol-based balm or roll-on on your neck, temples, or chest (avoid eyes). You can also use menthol cooling wipes or sprays.

Things I Wish I Knew Before My 30s…

There’s a quiet ache that has haunted my mind for years. Not pain exactly but a subtle, gnawing what if. It was like the phantom limb of the life or paths I didn’t choose.

In a world obsessed with options, we’re taught that every decision is a fork in a vast, branching tree of possibility. And no matter how far we climb, we always glance sideways… to the branch we didn’t take and wonder: Would I be happier there?

This is the tyranny of the road not taken.

I get it… it’s seductive to imagine that somewhere out there is a version of you who made the “right” choice… married differently, moved cities, did quit the job, followed through on that start up idea. But this imagined life is a mirage. It has no details, no bills, no Mondays, no reality. It is simply the illusion of perfection.

And while we stare longingly at this fictional path, we miss the one beneath our feet.

You might have heard the over-quoted phrase “comparison is the thief of joy”... but the real thief of joy is inattention. It’s the failure to notice the goodness that already exists.

The beauty of the current path isn’t always obvious. But the modern mind is loud, distracted and infinitely stimulated. We scroll past our own lives to try seeking meaning in a highlight reel of someone else’s.

If you’re always measuring your life against roads not taken, you risk missing the flowers on the side of the path you are on right now.

Make your current path so rich, so intentional, that it begins to outshine the hypothetical alternatives.

P.S I’m about to do my biannual blood test and hopefully you find this guide I put together helpful!

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