Do you really know?

Whether it’s pizza, chocolate, ice cream or French fries, you’ve no doubt noticed that your favourite guilty pleasure food just seems to be so addictive! You start eating and you just can’t stop. Why is that then? Actually, it’s because of their high sugar, fat or salt content. Unfortunately, some highly processed foods contain a combination of all three. That can lead to a dopamine surge, which i...

In January 2023, Prince Harry published his memoirs, in the form of an autobiography entitled "Spare". The book led to a lot of controversy, particularly regarding the relationship between Harry and his brother William, the future King of England. A number of observers have suggested that Prince Harry suffers from second child syndrome. For example, behavioural expert Abdullah Boulad was quoted by...

Period underwear came out in 2013 but has increased in popularity, largely as they claim to be better for the environment and easy to use. However, in January 2023 Thinx, a leading US manufacturer of period underwear who branded themself as a sustainable alternative to single-use menstrual products has just settled a lawsuit regarding the presence of PFAs, also known as “forever chemicals.” Now pe...

Voluntourism is the practice of volunteering one’s labour to a charitable cause in a developing country, in return for a soul-cleansing, perspective-changing, CV-bolstering experience. Perhaps a bit cynical? But with good reason.  Whilst it could be a mutually beneficial redistribution of wealth from the developed world to the developing, voluntourism harbours a dark and exploitative underworld. I...

A lot of people are reluctant to go out in the cold during the winter season. It's a real shame, as there are many ways in which you can protect yourself from low or even sub-zero temperatures. You've probably been told it a million times since you were a kid, but it bears repeating: you need to wrap up warm! The clothes you wear outdoors trap warm air inside. A good starting point is wearing a co...

The feeling of hunger can be difficult to explain sometimes, especially if you feel like you've eaten as much as you usually do. As a result, we often end up either snacking or putting up with a rumbling tummy for hours on end. Even if we manage to resist snacking, the risk is that when it gets to meal time we end up eating twice as much as usual! Feelings of hunger can also lead to a drop in ener...

According to Healthline.com, the human body has around 5 million hair follicles. Now you might not have guessed, but that figure is around the same for both men and women. And our body hair has a lot of important functions. It helps regulate body temperature by keeping us warm or retaining sweat to cool us down. It also protects sensitive parts of our bodies from infection, like the eyes and genit...

Today, we’re talking about a new phenomenon that affects social interactions. Phubbing is something we've all likely experienced or done ourselves at some point. The term is a portmanteau of "phone" and "snubbing", and refers to the act of looking at your phone instead of paying attention to someone else in a social situation. It’s becoming increasingly common as our reliance on our mobile devices...

First there were screw top wines, then wine in boxes and now the latest alternative is wine in cans.  Although it’s still relatively niche, it's a fast growing market, making up around 10 %  of overall wine sales in the US according to the Food Science and Human Nutrition Department at the University of Florida. Glass bottles, according to a 2014 study by the Wine Institute, an industry associatio...

On the 3rd of February 2023, Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, to discuss Ukraine's European path and the accession process. The EU has a mutual defence clause, which guarantees protection for any member state coming under attack on its own territory. Since the start...

Charles Darwin once wrote that “Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge”, and real-life situations which reflect that are all too common. To cite just one prominent example, in January 1995, American men MacArthur Wheeler and Clifton Earl Johnson were arrested after carrying out coordinated bank robberies in the state of Pennsylvania. Incredibly, they didn’t bother wearing...

Do you remember how as a kid, it would always seem like an eternity waiting for Christmas or your birthday to come around? But having reached adulthood, it seems like the years just fly by. It’s a funny thing, but as we get older, time simply seems to go by quicker. Of course in reality the passage of time doesn’t change at all. But it’s been established that our perception of time passing is alte...

Gary Chapman is the author of The Five Love Languages, a book first published in 1992 that outlines how people express and experience love. He argues that romantic miscommunications come about due to people expressing love to one another using different “languages”, and therefore struggle to understand one another. But, if you understand your own love language, you can ask for what you need and be...

As date night options go, the cinema is a timeless classic which can be both fun and romantic. Even in the age of “Netflix and chill”, there’s an appeal to the immersive experience you can only get watching a film on the big screen. So if you’re wondering what to do this Valentine’s Day, why not book a cinema visit? You may not be having a conversation, but you can interpret body language. If it’s...

“You’re hot and you’re cold, you're yes then you're no, you're in then you're out, you're up then you're down.”  So goes Katy Perry’s hit single Hot n Cold back in 2008, talking about a romantic relationship which is unstable due to one of the partner’s mood swings. Maybe you yourself have been with someone like that in the past. They would shower you with attention one day, only to ghost you the...

Do You Really Know talks about love for Valentine's Day on February 14th! To understand everything about love relationships and current dating methods, we decipher together the new concepts that make love today. With Valentine's Day less than a week away. But even though it's a highly commercialized tradition, many of you may find this holiday ridiculous, for a variety of reasons. For example, why...

Do You Really Know talks about love for Valentine's Day on February 14th! To understand everything about love relationships and current dating methods, we decipher together the new concepts that make love today. According to the Daily Mail, the “seven year itch” in relationships is now a thing of the past. The average relationship length is just two years and nine months, according to a UK survey...

Do You Really Know talks about love for Valentine's Day on February 14th! To understand everything about love relationships and current dating methods, we decipher together the new concepts that make love today. You’ve no doubt heard that certain foods can increase desire, or even improve sexual performance. Oysters, ginger, chocolate and strawberries are just a few examples of foods that supposed...

Moving house can be very stressful so here are some tips and advice to make it go as smoothly as possible. Moving house is also a great opportunity to declutter. It’s time to see what sparks joy in the words of Marie Kondo. Take some time to go through your belongings and decide what you need, use and want. There is no point in packing and moving a lot of things, especially if you plan to move the...

Do You Really Know talks about love for Valentine's Day on February 14th! To understand everything about love relationships and current dating methods, we decipher together the new concepts that make love today. As it turns out, the traditional relationship may be out of fashion. More and more millennials are considering sologamy as a lifestyle choice. The idea of getting married to oneself might...

Calimero is a black chick with a half-broken eggshell on his head. He’s always complaining about something or other, with “But it’s an injustice” being his favourite line. A more recent animated version of the cartoon appeared on Disney Junior in the UK in the 2010s. Maybe you can think of someone you know in real life who’s an eternal complainer. Is there any chance other people might think that...

As we enter 2023, we’re desperately looking for ways to combat human-induced climate change. It’s a worthy cause, but it’s clear that some irreversible effects have already happened, and that will continue for some time.  So it would be foolish not to prepare for the reality of living on a planet which has undergone significant warming. There’s relatively little known about how our bodies will rea...

You might be familiar with the expression ‘you make your own luck’ or with the idea of thinking positively to create a positive outcome - some people refer to it as ‘manifesting’. But now, a new trend on the social media platform TikTok has taken it one step further with what has been dubbed ‘lucky girl syndrome’. Essentially you tell yourself that everything just works out for you and that you ar...

Do You Really Know talks about love for Valentine's Day on February 14th! To understand everything about love relationships and current dating methods, we decipher together the new concepts that make love today. Pretty much every romantic relationship starts out with a first date, whether it's online, on an outdoor walk, over drinks or at a restaurant. But it turns out when some people choose the...

When it comes to washing our hair, many of us stick to a specific routine purely out of habit. It’s not uncommon for people to wash their hair with shampoo every day, which can actually have adverse effects. At the end of the scale, you’ve got those who’ve embraced the no poo movement and don’t use shampoo at all. The trend really took off during Covid-19 lockdown, although there is still somewhat...