What You Should Watch:

“Leave The World Behind” — Netflix

This might be one of the best films I’ve watched in the last few months.

The plot is interesting, the acting is ok…. but the sound-track, pacing and cinematography is excellent and that adds to the theatrical energy.

Multiple scenes have a distorted image or the scene captured sideways to give it a nightmarish quality.

There is also a constant use of infrasound – a frequency of sound used well below our human hearing range…

This is often called the “fear frequency” and is commonly used in horror films to invoke an unsettling feeling without the viewer knowing why.

We can’t hear this frequency, but we can feel it.

What You Should Listen To:

I’ve managed to convince my publishers and Audible to part with an entire chapter of my book so you can listen to it on your workout, commute or when sitting comfortably.

Yes it’s fully narrated by me!

Many people have told me that they often read anything I write “in my voice”. I guess that’s to be expected after pummeling your ear holes with my voice across thousands of videos over the past few years!

The free chapter that’s available on the link is all about hearing.

How to improve your hearing, how to stop it getting worse, some interesting facts and more — all mixed in with my usual dollop of dark humour and euphemisms.

I’d love your feedback on this chapter and if you enjoyed this, consider pre-ordering the entire book so I can spread good science and bad jokes even further!

Which Is Better:

Raw or Cooked?

Recently there has been a raw food craze picking up again but it’s worth noting that not every vegetable is “better” when eaten raw.

There is some nutritional science worth noting here:

Here are some vegetables that are actually more nutritious when cooked.

1.     Asparagus: When this is cooked, the plant cell walls breakdown making it easier to absorb vitamin A, B9, C and E.

2.     Mushrooms: Cooking helps to release the antioxidant ergothioneine and this help to offset oxidative damage to cells (part of the ageing process)

3.     Spinach: Iron, magnesium ,calcium and zinc are more readily absorbed once the spinach is cooked and the oxalic acid can no longer block the absorption of these bound nutrients.

4.     Tomatoes: Cooking increase the availability of the antioxidant lycopene by around 50% but it does slightly reduce its vitamin C content.

5.     Carrots: Cooked carrots contain more beta carotene than their raw counterparts. Cooking carrots with the skin on further increases their antioxidant power.

6.     Kale: Healthiest when lightly steamed as it deactivates an enzyme that prevents the body using iodine maximally.

And some vegetables are more nutritious when eaten raw:

1.     Broccoli: Raw broccoli contains 10x more sulforaphane than cooked broccoli. Sulforaphane is a powerful antioxidant.

2.     Watercress: Another cruciferous vegetable, when eaten raw it maintains high levels of its natural phytochemicals

3.     Onions: I know…raw onions?! I’m not suggesting you eat raw onions on a regular basis but just know again this is a vegetable that keeps its high levels of fibre, flavonoids, sulfuric compounds and antioxidants as well as vitamin C when raw rather than heavily cooked.

4.     Garlic: Similar to the above, it’s tasty when cooked but on occasion if you can find ways to incorporate it into your meals with minimal cooking or raw then it’ll have higher amounts of its anti-carcinogenic compounds

Life Updates: 

My gym routine has gone slightly haywire recently and am eagerly plotting a way to get it back on track. This starts with small steps, 30 min sessions, building routine and not relying on willpower which can fluctuate!

I’ve been trying to be more conscious of my diet over the past few weeks too – and being mindful of keeping a high fibre intake. It’s particularly hard over the Christmas period with festive parties, chocolates flying around everywhere and tempting mince pies…

I don’t really track calories anymore but I do track two things: my fibre intake and protein intake.

Another macronutrient I’ve been keeping an eye on is my total fat intake for the day. After removing hundreds of gallbladders in my career… a high dietary fat intake certainly plays a role in gallstone formation (although not always the only factor – there are genetic causes and gallstones associated with other conditions too). I definitely do NOT want symptomatic gallstones...and neither do you.

Finally – we are now only just over 2 weeks away from my book launch. This is truly nerve-racking. My baby is going out into the world. I hope it grows up and does some good!

If you’ve enjoyed any of the thousands of videos I’ve created or taken something useful from those or these newsletters.. consider pre-ordering a copy so we push it onto the bestseller lists and shove those pseudoscientists out of the way!

Dyslexia

This is an interesting one – you can be dyslexic in English but not in another language…

Let me explain.

So dyslexia is a pretty common condition where a person can have difficulty reading, writing and spelling. There’s a genetic component behind it, sure, but the language you speak also influences this condition.

For example, it’s estimated that 10% of native English speakers are dyslexic but the prevalence of dyslexia in Japan is closer to 3%, 5% in Italy and 4% in China.

Why is this? Maybe in part down to how we test for dyslexia and our cultural perceptions of learning difficulties but also may reflect the educational styles across different countries.

I suspect however a big causative factor may be due to the inconsistencies in the English language. The English language can be notoriously unpredictable and inconsistent in the sounds and how they match letter combinations and there are bizarre irregularities in both pronunciation and spelling.  For example – the word “read” (to read a book – present tense) and the word “read” (he read a book – past tense). Both words are pronounced differently but written the same way!

This sort of irregularity isn’t so prevalent in other languages. So if you are dyslexic don’t let that discourage you from learning another language… it’ll probably be easier than English!

Stopping Periods

I saw a TikTok that went VIRAL.

It was based around a girl who was romantically taken away to a fancy hotel by her boyfriend for her birthday…

they were ready to do the forbidden horizontal tango later than night…

but she was expecting some company downstairs…her period.

In a desperate bid to STOP her period, she mixed together some jelly, vitamin C and ibuprofen… and she claimed this worked.

Well…there is some truth behind this! (surprise!).

Ibuprofen is an NSAID – an anti-inflammatory drug which reduces the production of prostaglandin

Prostaglandin is the culprit in period pain and causes the uterine lining to be shed and hence the bleeding.

In fact doctors do use this and progesterone and sometimes other meds like birth control to suppress periods BUT it’s typically done at very high doses. The jelly and vitamin C does nothing…

But don’t try this at home and if you do want to stop your period for whatever reason please don’t listen to TikTok but go to your doctor so they can suggest something controlled and safe!!