Do you really know?

As of March 2024, the UK inflation rate stood at 3.2%, well below the record levels that had been seen a year prior. But still the cost of living crisis is biting and grocery shopping is one of the areas in which prices rose the most across 2022 and 2023. Thinking of ways to save on groceries has become really important and we’ve got a special tip for all of you listening today. The 6-1 method com...

A lot of people think that morning erections are triggered by erotic dreams, or a need to pee, but in fact they're a physiological reflex linked to sleep. That’s right - they’re not dependent on sexual arousal at all. And in a somewhat similar way, women actually also experience increased blood flow to the clitoris during the night. Now, the scientific term for a nighttime erection is nocturn...

All personal development coaches emphasise the importance of setting goals, even ones that may seem out of reach at first. Doing so not only boosts motivation but also enables gradual achievement.  Nowadays a lot of people find this kind of approach almost second nature, but others struggle with it. A fear of failure, workplace anxiety, and a lack of self-confidence can make ambition seem una...

Surely nothing affects taste other than what you actually put in your mouth, right?! Well actually no, that’s not true - at least according to a study published in December 2022 in Food Quality and Preference. The researchers behind that found that the colour of our dishware might influence our perception of taste. And it’s not the first study of its kind; I’m going to tell you about other similar...

Finding love isn’t always easy and sometimes the search takes people abroad. That's certainly the case for “passport bros”, who we're going to talk about today. The term generally refers to men, particularly from North America and Europe, who travel abroad in search of relationships. Countries in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia are frequently promoted in their online communities. An...

A white coating on the tongue can occur when your health is compromised, like during a cold or fever. Lifestyle factors such as smoking, excessive alcohol, and too much sugar, coffee, tea, or dairy can also contribute to this by disrupting the balance of your oral microbiota or affecting saliva production. In most cases, it’s an accumulation of bacteria and dead cells, a condition known as saburra...

Popular fantasy might suggest that we need to have hours of sex in order to be satisfied, but is that actually true? A study published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine in 2005 looked into intravaginal ejaculation latency time among 500 heterosexual couples from five different countries. Now intravaginal ejaculation latency time might sound like a complicated term, but basically it just means how...

The idea might seem inconceivable to some, but these days more and more people are choosing to be in LAT relationships. The LAT part of the term stands for Living Alone Together, which means that LAT couples are in a committed romantic relationship, but each person maintains their own private life and space. Back in 2011, a research team began a multi-method study looking into how prominent LAT co...

We’ve all heard about the importance of getting a balanced diet, but some people choose to ignore that advice completely, and those following the carnivore diet are a prime example. As you may have guessed from its name, the carnivore diet involves eating almost exclusively meat, sometimes raw, sometimes cooked, and might also include fish. Healthline.com says that “other animal foods like eggs an...

Picture the scene: a woman is sitting in a bar, when a man comes up to try to talk to her. She finds him attractive, but acts disinterested and more or less ignores him, in order to not seem desperate. The man gives up and leaves the woman alone, but she then feels dissatisfied that he hasn’t persisted. It might seem like a counterintuitive approach, but according to American psychotherapist Ellno...

In late April 2024, police chiefs from the UK’s National Crime Agency and 32 European countries issued a statement expressing their concerns about the use of end-to-end encryption by instant messaging services like WhatsApp. The statement recognised that E2E encryption protects users’ personal data, but emphasised that it also prevents authorities from identifying suspicious or illegal activities....

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, our mouths host no fewer than 700 species of microbes, including “germs like bacteria, fungus and more”. Some are helpful in producing vitamins, or aiding in digestion, for example, but others can cause problems like bad breath. Because many of these microbes live on the tongue, recent years have seen increased use of oral hygiene devi...

It’s common knowledge that having plants in your home is incredibly beneficial. They reduce carbon dioxide levels, purify air, reduce dust, and can even dampen noise. Not to mention, how pleasant and soothing they are to look at. But alas, not everyone is blessed with a gardener’s green thumb! Do you feel like your indoor plants just can’t survive more than a few months, despite your best efforts...

According to data from Finder.com, the average Brit now spends 4 hours and 14 minutes using their smartphone each day. It’s hardly surprising; smartphone use has grown consistently over the last 15 years, to the extent that the devices have become almost like an extension of our arms and hands.  Given we tend to hold our phones out in front of us when using them, our heads bow down in quite a...

Imagine being drunk, without having drunk a single drop of alcohol, it seems completely implausible, and yet for some is a reality. South-West media shared the story of a motorist who appeared in court in Bruges in 2022 after being found to have too much alcohol in his blood twice in the same year. The man, in his forties, was eventually acquitted, proving that the tests were not the result of a n...

For some people, their mother is someone they admire and hope to become more like. But for others, it’s the complete opposite. They grow up telling themselves one thing: whatever happens, I’m not going to end up like my mum. For some, that feeling can become a real source of anxiety. Psychologists have a name for it: matrophobia. So where does that fear come from? Does this only affect daughters?...

Have you ever been terrified of finding your dog munching on an Easter egg or chocolate treat during the holidays? It’s the kind of thing that can turn a wonderful occasion into a potential disaster. Of course chocolate is a delightful treat for us humans, but it can be extremely harmful to your furry friend, and even fatal in extreme cases. They don’t process the components of cocoa like we do, e...

The clitoris is the only organ in the human body that’s dedicated solely to pleasure. It doesn’t have any muscles or play any role in the body's other functions. And while our understanding of the clitoris has improved in recent years, there's still a lot to learn, as research in this area is relatively new. Until recently, researchers thought that the clitoris had 8,000 nerve endings. For compari...

Many women have heard of the so-called “fertility cliff”, the idea that their chances of getting pregnant drop dramatically after the age of 35 and, people who do choose to have a baby are labeled “geriatric” or “high risk” leading what is called ‘care cascade’ such greater monitoring and testing which can be intrusive and unnecessary.   This concept first came about from a study done in...

According to UK charity The Men’s Health Forum, two thirds of all men are affected by male pattern baldness in their lifetime. That won’t be a surprise to anyone, but would you have guessed that an estimated 50% of women also experience noticeable hair loss according to the Cleveland Clinic. We actually have around 100,000 hair follicles on our head, of which we lose between 50 and 100 e...

As summer heats up, deodorant becomes a faithful ally. But this product can be very dangerous. On May 2022 a 14 year old girl, Giorgia Green, died from inhaling deodorant. The teenager, who was on the autistic spectrum, liked to spray deodorant on her blankets as she found the smell comforting. "The smell of it gave her a certain sense of relaxation," said her father. Sadly her cause of...

Most of us have our smartphones on our person more or less all day, every day. Our photos, payment methods and a lot of personal data are stored on them. So we’re all wary of the risk of having them stolen when out in public. But did you know there’s another way someone can take control of your phone line without you even losing the device? It’s called sim swapping and while it’s not new, it’...

You’re no doubt familiar with what it feels like to be extremely tired after a long sleep. It’s a little like a hangover really: sluggishness, irritability, perhaps a slight headache too. And there’s actually a term for these sensations: sleep drunkenness.  According to the Sleep Foundation, the average adult needs between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night. But optimal sleep duration is unique...

Despite the rising popularity of vegan or vegetarian lifestyles, many people still love the taste and texture of meat, or simply can’t kick the habit, having eaten meat throughout their lifetimes. That explains why the vegan meat substitute market is thriving. These 100% plant-based products are a good source of protein and closely resemble meat in a number of ways. But no doubt many of you who ea...

We spend over a third of our lives sleeping. It allows our mind and body to recharge, which is vital for a number of reasons. It helps our immune system to ward off diseases, and the brain to function properly. And yet as many as 16 million adults in the UK suffer from sleepless nights, according to estimates from the Office for National Statistics. You may have noticed that your own optimal sleep...