Healf

By the time the sore throat turns up, your body has usually been sending you signals for days. Some of those warning shots you'll recognise straight away — the flat energy, the reluctance to leave the house, the fuzzy feeling in your head. Others are subtle enough to sail past you completely, because they tend to show up in subtler ways. For years, the idea that you can sense illness coming was written off as hindsight — you only remember the odd Tuesday because you woke up ill on Thursday.

Another night of hot flushes and broken sleep. Brain fog that makes you forget why you walked into a room. Hair thinning at the parting when it never used to. On social media, a new trend around “Japanese walking” suggests that walking faster in short bursts could fix all of these menopause symptoms, which sounds almost too good to be true.

There isn't one best supplement for stress, because "stress" isn't one biological issue, and often doesn’t have one singular cause or effect. Someone who's wired and can't switch off will need something different from someone whose sleep has fallen apart, or whose energy is running on empty after a brutal few weeks. From cortisol blends and adaptogen stacks to gummies promising calm within two weeks, the stress-supplement shelf has multiplied fast. However, the claims often seem a bit overblown.

Open any mainstream health magazine and the gut health advice will, almost certainly, address the issue of excess stomach acid. Heartburn or acid reflux, for example, or indigestion; yet it’s hypochlorhydria, or low stomach acid, that could be the exact reason you’re feeling bloated, gassy or sluggish — perhaps all three — after eating a perfectly balanced meal.

Your dentist checks for cavities, monitors your gum health and sends you off with a new toothbrush — or a new brushing plan — every few years. What they rarely mention is everything else going on in there. Your mouth is host to its own microbiome, a dense colony of bacteria that talks directly to your gut, your heart, and your immune system. Neglect it, however, and the effects show up far beyond your teeth, in inflammation markers, sleep quality, and even cardiovascular risk.

This piece originally appeared in The Source: The Anti-Optimisation Issue, Healf's print magazine. In April, I had my first nervous breakdown. I was in the midst of trying to navigate the purchase of my first home, while also dealing with a family member's terminal illness and worrying about future job prospects in a volatile market. My anxiety reached a type of fever pitch that I had never — in my 33 years — experienced before.

By the time most women hit their late 20s, they're bombarded with products, tech, and injectables that promise to "erase", "smooth", and "diminish" fine lines and wrinkles, each with varying degrees of efficacy. It's overwhelming, to say the least. And most come with price tags that make you wonder if its worth the investment, unsure if the claims actually lead to results.

Browse CoQ10 supplements at your local chemist and you'll quickly run into the same choice: a cheaper option labelled ubiquinone and a pricier one labelled ubiquinol, usually positioned as the upgrade. That pricing hierarchy is easy to follow, but the research behind it is considerably messier. Registered nutritionist Rob Hobson, RNutr SENR, explains what separates the two forms, and why choosing between them comes down to more than the name on the label. CoQ10 or ubiquinol, what's the difference?

The “fridge cigarette” has become one of the internet’s favourite afternoon rituals. Cold, fizzy, caffeinated, preferably straight from the fridge, Diet Coke has acquired a cultural status far beyond the average soft drink. But what does that actually mean for your caffeine intake, gut, teeth, appetite, and long-term health? First, what is a fridge cigarette? It's a TikTok-coined nickname for the ice-cold can itself, not something you actually smoke.

Inositol has become one of the most talked-about supplements for PCOS (or PMOS, as it's now known), thanks to growing interest in the metabolic impacts of the condition. The supplement’s appeal is easy to understand: it's available without prescription, generally well tolerated, and linked to several of the symptoms those with PMOS most want help with.