What Does The Location of Your Headache Mean? 

While not always an exact science, often the anatomical location of your headache can be a clue as to what type of headache you’re dealing with! 

Naturally this will vary according to the individual and other symptoms are important in working out what the underlying cause is but the site of pain often follows a typical pattern. 

The most common headache which a lot of people will likely suffer in their lifetime is a tension headache and this will be located across your forehead and temples and sometimes even the back of your head and neck. Typically it manifests as a dull ache that feels like a tight band across the top of your head and is often related to stress, excessive screen time or even sleep deprivation. Excess caffeination and dehydration can worsen symptoms! 

Whilst this discomfort can be more global, migraines on the other hand (which are far more than just a headache) can typically localise to one side of your head (any site). However they do typically spread out from the temple towards the eye and are often located on the forehead area. Migraines are often accompanied by a throbbing sensation which can be intense and also cause visual disturbances, nausea as well as sensitivity to light among other things. 

A pain or ache in the middle of the forehead and down to the top of your nose/between your eyebrows is fairly clasive of a sinus headache and feels like a dull throbbing pain and “heaviness”. As the name suggests this is often exacerbated by congestion in the sinus and inflammation. 

Should You Keep Your Mucus Inside You When You’re Sick? 

It's that time of year where your pockets are full of snot ridden tissues.. but on the topic of mucus, despite your attempts to excessively squeeze it out of your throats and sinuses... does getting rid of it make you recover faster? 

The answer isn’t simple. 

I kind of fell for this myth too. 

Mucus in the form of snot or phlegm isn't "bad".

Yes it likely contains microbes but that’s its primary role; to trap dirt and germs and it's a protective part of your innards and not something you should seek to get rid of at every given chance. 

In fact you end up swallowing mucus all the time without your awareness, and you likely only notice you have too much of it when you’re sick as the production can ramp up and it ends up being extra sticky and thick due to the pro-inflammaotry state you would be in. 

So getting rid of it won’t speed up your recovery from a cough or cold or sinus infection but it might help symptomatically if you’re really suffering. 

If you did want to cut back on exiling your mucus, consider keeping the air around you moist, using saline rinses as needed, stay hydrated and gargle with salt (if you have a sore throat). 

Decongestants don’t really do a whole lot and using them excessively can lead to dependence and rebound congestion when you stop!  

One Thing I Struggled With In My 20s... 

Thinking nothing I did was ever good enough. 

I thought this was “healthy perfectionism” and high achievement but actually it was more of a burden. 

One of the most valuable things I was taught by my old surgical boss was that “great is the enemy of good”. I didn’t fully understand it at the time but over the years it has made sense. 

You don't need to stop working hard or striving to do your best but the pursuit of absolute perfectionism can be a constant pressure and promote feelings of inadequacy. So much so that you might forget to celebrate small wins along the way. 

When I learned to do my first appendix operation which took me months of hard graft in the operating room... I moved onto the next “milestone” with no thought for patting myself on the back. 

The dark side of this striving for perfectionism is actually more about trying to meet others expectation to prove your own value. It’s a fear of failure not pursuit of improvement. 

And inevitably when failure comes as it does for everyone, this accentuates feelings of self blame. Your inner critical voice becomes the loudest one and the self berating begins.  

So for those reading this that feel nothing they do is good enough...tell yourself this instead: 

You're not good enough... yet. 

Forget your impossible rules you impose upon yourself and be more realistic. Aim high and be ambitious but do it on your own terms not to prove something ot someone else. Use failure as a springboard for trying again and getting a tiny bit better each time. 

Another useful quote I received from a different boss back in the days: ‘life is about being a little less shit every day”. 

How Many Products Should You Use On Your Skin? 

First of all I must caveat I’m not against skincare or cosmetics. I use skincare products. 

What am I skeptical of is the abundance of stuff out there and the distorted view we have of the need for elaborate skincare routines. 

When it comes to skincare, consider this – what are you trying to achieve? 

Do you want to have a simple routine and spend less time in front of the bathroom mirror? Do you want to reduce the burden of products you put on your skin? Do you want healthy ageing? 

You can get all of that by considering multi purpose products – for example moisturisers that double up as sunscreen for example. 

If you’re interested in essentials only then assuming you don't have any skin related medical issues a cleanser, moisturiser and sunscreen is likely the only “essentials” you need. 

Be more proactive also about reading what goes into your products – look for the “actives”; active ingredients that actually benefit your skin...things like hyaluronic acid, ceramides etc. 

Be mindful about “science washing” terms like hypoallergenic, non-comedogenic or “dermatologist approved” etc as often these mean very little and have little basis in actual rigorous testing or science. 

For a longer deep dive into the only skincare routine you actually need according to science, watch this video:

A Quick Guide To Your Farts... 

I haven't spoken about farts for a while. In order to remedy this with immediate effect... here you go: 

You produce gas from both ends; burps and farts.. to the tune of around 2.5 litres a day. This is from the food and drink you consume, air swallowing, and importantly bacteria which ferment the food you eat. 

Most of the gas you pass is unnoticed...it sneaks down your anal sphincters without the slightest flutter. And most of the time it is odourless because methane isn't a major component of our farts unlike cows. 

Your fart is mainly hydrogen and carbon dioxide with a trace amount of sulfur compounds which contribute to the pungent smell. 

Probably the favourite gizmo in our body is the fart detection system we have built into our anus. The nerve ending in the anus allows your body to spot the difference between gas and solid to allow safe passage of the noxious fumes. They are “taste” receptors known as Meissner's corpuscles. 

P.S If you want to learn more about gut health and the microbiome, grab my book here : 

P.p.s if you’ve already got it, I’d appreciate it if you could leave a review on Amazon! 

Can Chocolate Really Be Healthy? 

I never thought I’d be recording an hour long podcast episode around chocolate, but here we are. 

Truth be told, the conversation could have been far longer! 

I came away with some interesting new facts about chocolate and the benefits it can have. 

Interestingly the human love affair with chocolate began in Mesoamerica when the Aztecs and Mayans used the Cacao seed for its medicinal properties or as a delivery mechanism for other medications. In fact they loved it so much they even used it as a form of currency (although this quickly fell in value due to the shelf life of around 6 months!). 

One component of chocolate less often discussed is theobromine which has some psychoactive properties. In addition to this it has a unique type of polyphenol (anti oxidant compound) known as a cocoa flavonol which offers a multitude of benefits suggested by many studies. 

In fact one meta analysis published in the BMC journal rounded up the evidence of the health benefits of dark chocolate over 70% and found that it could lead to modest reduction in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings! 

One of many fascinating insights I took away from my conversation with Spencer Hyman (the world’s leading chocolate expert! - what a title btw) is that the taste of different chocolates around the world is governed by 2 things...the microbes local to the specific environment involved in the fermentation off the cacao bean and also the microbes present in our oral cavities which can influence our taste perception! 

Those pesky bacteria at it again controlling yet another thing about our life...we just can’t have anything can we? 

I will admit when I have chocolate I tend to wolf it down but during a mid episode tasting session I learned how important savouring chocolate is in enhancing the flavour profile. The longer you keep food in your mouth, the more likely its aromatic chemicals and compounds will evaporate off and enhance the smell and thus the taste of food via retronasal olfaction (basically your internal nostrils get stimulated too!) 

To learn more about the weird history of chocolate, why it can be healthy for you and what to look out for when next buying chocolate, check out the full episode here: