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The great British Earwax crisis

This is quite shocking… But there are 10 million people in this country who can no longer get free earwax removal from the NHS. This is, according to the RNID, a hearing loss charity. They complain that free earwax removal services have been withdrawn across England since 2019. So now people have to pay… And with the cost of living so high, many of those people can’t go for private treatment. Instead, they are turning to what the RNID called…
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When salad becomes dangerous

boost food nutrients

BIG question for you. Are cucumbers a fruit or a vegetable? Most people say ‘vegetable’ but in fact they are botanically classified as a fruit. Either way, most people would consider them harmless. An essential addition to a salad! That is, until there is an E. Coli outbreak – which is when they can sometimes become public enemy number one! For instance, an E. Coli O157 outbreak in the UK in 2021 was linked to a food product containing imported…
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Why old dogs really can learn new tricks

Positive mental health

  When I was a young man, fresh out of University, I had to look for a proper job. I got one quite quickly… So I bought some smart clothes and turned up at the office on a Monday morning after a heavy weekend of rugby and pints with the lads. By lunchtime I was knackered… By teatime I thought I was going to faint… As I crashed on to the sofa in my cramped little flat that night, totally…
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Just how dangerous is a doze in front of the television?

I have become aware of a strange phenomenon of ageing – I fall asleep readily in front of the TV. Over the last few years it has started to become embarrassing, not least because I used to tell my own parents off for doing the same thing. Just the other night I was avidly watching a Netflix film. …and next thing I know I am waking up, the film has finished and Lara is on her way to bed with…
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How to burn calories by doing nothing

Cold Therapy: Is it for you?

This week, arctic weather hit Britain hard. Hopefully it wasn’t too disruptive where you are. I was too far south for snow to settle, so I couldn’t rediscover my childhood joys of throwing snowballs and building snowmen. Instead… It was ME who looked like a snowman. I was in my study at the back of our house, standing at my desk (keen readers will recall that I mostly now STAND to write in order to avoid backpain!) And, as well…
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Why my grandparents ate buckets of sugar and stayed thin

grapefruit and statins

I’ve been trying to lay off the puddings a bit in January. But I made the mistake of watching some old cookery shows on cable TV the other day. My sweet tooth was buzzing as I watched Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall perform his culinary art with homemade marshmallows. Often the man from River Cottage employs fruit, berries and unlikely bits of pig to conjure up the perfect and healthy dessert. This time he used beetroot juice to make the marshmallow pink…… genius….
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