Articles

It’s a toxic world out there. We are surrounded daily by chemicals in our food, in our water, and in our air. We know these chemicals can be harmful to health. We know they constitute a kind of ‘cocktail’ that can be more potent than the sum of each individual chemical exposure. Scientists and health […]

How does ill health affect our ability to function and what difference does it make to us, not just as individuals, but to how we function as a society? This is the question I have been pondering as new reports show that the global population continues to get sicker. For instance, findings from the European […]

Granny always told you that vinegar could heal almost any ailment. Well, it turns out granny was right… A fascinating review article published in Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety summarised the functional properties of grain vinegars and fruit vinegars and compared the functional ingredients, sources, and formation mechanisms of these different types […]

Saunas have long been a popular choice for people interested in natural health – and are a great way to unwind and relax. Regularly spending time in the heat has been shown to have a myriad of health benefits, including weight loss, improved circulation and stress relief. Most recently natural health advocates have focused on […]

If you are a woman the question of what is beautiful – and more specifically whether you are beautiful – is always a troubling one. It’s a common, even historic, concern. But today it is given huge energy as our media horizons have expanded. Now women don’t just have to contend with ‘beauty’ magazines but […]

An American woman flying to Perth, Australia was recently escorted off the plane by six police officers because she questioned the practice of spraying of insecticides in a plane full of people. Petra Haluska posted an emotional video on facebook immediately after the immigration officials released her – and perhaps not surprisingly the story has […]

Forget reality shows. For anyone interested in the future of food – and really the future of the entire planet – the corporate theatre of the mega-merger is proving to be compelling stuff. This week Monsanto confirmed a record-breaking $66bn takeover of its GM seeds business by rival Bayer. The deal – if it is allowed to […]

If you are in the dark about mushrooms you could be missing out on some key nutritional – and medicinal – benefits. Although most people lump them in with their daily plant foods, mushrooms aren’t technically plants; they are fungi – an entirely separate classification from plants or animals. Nutritionally mushrooms provide many of the […]

Childhood cancer is on the rise and has been for some time. Indeed, this trend was one of the first that I ever tackled as a health journalist – more than two decades ago. It was depressing, then, to see the response to the recent survey by Children with Cancer UK  Researchers for the charity […]

I’d like to ask a serious question about asking serious questions. At the recent meeting of the American Chemical Society a new packaging material made from the milk protein casein was unveiled. Mix casein with some citrus pectin and glycerol and you can produce an eco-friendly film that looks and feels like plastic wrap and […]