Do you really know?

In this age of responsible and measured consumption, we’re tending to turn more and more towards products with a long lifespan and a good guarantee. In fact, you’ve probably already seen this on a cast-iron saucepan, a bicycle or even household appliances, promising a lifetime guarantee. But the terms and conditions of this promise are not always very clear. Therefore, it’s important to understand...

After a period off work or studying, it can be difficult to get your neurons up and running again, can’t it. But you can actually get a little boost by being more selective with the foods you eat, given that nutrition plays a crucial role in brain function. That’s because certain nutrients contribute to the smoothness and communication between neurons. They also influence our microbiome, which com...

According to Whatsapp, over 7 billion voice notes are sent on the app every day. A lot of the time, they offer a more personal touch and clearer explanations than text messages. But not everyone is a fan.  Tech journalist Victoria Turk published an article on the Huffington Post in 2019 under the headline “Can We All Agree That WhatsApp Voice Notes Are Terrible?”, while in 2023 Women’s Health Mag...

Perfume is a luxury product worn by people all around the world, but fragrances are not without health risks. Perfumes use a mix of chemicals, some are natural, such as essential oils from plants, but many of them are synthetic, meaning they are created in a laboratory. The problem is that the perfume industry is not very transparent about what goes into their products. They can hide hundreds of i...

Let’s face it there are certain sounds that are just annoying to be exposed to, or sometimes even to think of! Someone chewing loudly with their mouth open, slurping soup, or making noise while eating pasta are a few examples.  But for some people, the impact of these sounds goes beyond being simply annoying; they bring on strong negative reactions. Those people have a neuropsychiatric condition c...

Today marks the first day of Ramadan. Muslims around the world have begun a month-long fasting period, with fasting being one of the five pillars of Islam. During Ramadan, Muslims strive for spiritual growth by purifying both body and mind. That means abstaining from food and water during daylight hours, reciting the Quran, and saying special prayers. It's a period of mutual support, where acts of...

Have you ever seen perfumes advertised as containing pheromones and therefore increasing your sexual attractiveness or libido? Sounds too good to be true, right? According to Healthline.com, pheromones are "chemical substances that are secreted outside of the body in fluids like urine and sweat." The portal explains that they’re produced by a wide range of animals and plants, but that it’s still n...

The term femvertising was coined by She Knows Media back in 2014, and recent years have seen more and more advertising campaigns champion female empowerment and challenge traditional gender norms, reshaping the marketing landscape.  But the emergence of femvertising has also led to a lot of scepticism, with some observers questioning whether the practice is actually a foe to the women’s rights mov...

According to a World Bank report from March 2023, the global pace of reforms toward equal treatment of women under the law has slumped to a 20-year low. This decline constitutes a potential impediment to economic growth at a critical time for the global economy. Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, women’s rights have been systematically curtailed. From March 2022, it became the...

For a number of years now, the innovative field of femtech has been revolutionising how we approach healthcare for women. Technology already touches just about every aspect of our lives, and healthcare is no exception. Now femtech focuses specifically on addressing various aspects of women's health, from contraception to diseases that predominantly affect women. It may have Initially been overlook...

Celebrated on March 8th every year, International Women’s Day holds significant importance as women continue to endure various forms of discrimination and violence worldwide. We’ve talked about femicide in the past on Do You Really Know?, and while it’s more prominent in other parts of the world, the UK figures are still shocking.  According to the Femicide Census, women are killed by men in the U...

According to the Mental Health Foundation, one in six adults in the UK suffers from conditions such as anxiety or depression. However, when the figures are broken down by gender, it becomes one in five women, and one in eight men.  Although this discrepancy, became quite noticeable during the Covid-19 pandemic it was in fact already present. In England, the National Centre for Social Research, rep...

During this year's International Women’s Day celebrations, you’re likely to see demonstrators in many cities around the world bearing purple flags and wearing purple ribbons or wristbands. Now International Women's Day actually has  three official colours: Purple, white and green. but it’s fair to say that purple stands above the others as the undisputed colour of feminism in this day and age. For...

Most people who can afford to go on holiday tend to want to spend their time in glamorous, picturesque locations. But there are actually some people who choose to visit disadvantaged areas instead, to see the less glamorous side of countries that are often romanticised. This is known as ghetto tourism, or slum tourism, and it’s been the subject of some quite fierce debate over the years. Some peop...

Have you ever wondered about that bump you see on the front of men’s necks? You can usually notice it moving up and down when someone swallows. Well, it’s known as the Adam’s apple and it’s actually made of cartilage rather than bone.  This cartilage wraps around the larynx, which is part of your throat. How prominent it is really varies from person to person, depending on their anatomy and how mu...

Saving money can be challenging, especially in these uncertain times. But it's not impossible. With some planning, discipline and creativity, you can achieve your savings goal and improve your financial situation. Saving is important for many reasons; It can help you prepare for unexpected emergencies, achieve your personal or professional goals, or simply enjoy life more. Saving 1000 pounds in a...

Let's face it, we’re so accustomed to seeing those little pop-up windows when landing on a website that we barely pay any attention to them anymore. Cookies have become ubiquitous, and whether it’s out of convenience or sheer habit, we tend to accept them without much thought.  But those innocuous-seeming cookies actually harbour a wealth of information about us. The UK’s Information Commissioner’...

All our organs contain water, even our bones. In total, more than half of our body is made up of it, or 45 litres for a person weighing 65 kg.  The water we drink is needed to eliminate waste: 3 litres disappear every day via urine, perspiration and breathing. It also helps maintain our body temperature at around 37 degrees and is essential for digestion.  The recommended daily intake of water is...

We’re only a quarter of the way through 2023, and already we’ve seen a number of unexpected images go viral. Examples include Pope Francis wearing a white Balenciaga puffer jacket, Donald Trump being arrested at the foot of the Trump Tower in New York, and Barack Obama and Angela Merkel sharing an ice cream on the beach.  So what do these viral images all have in common? Well of course they weren’...

According to the British Fertility Society, between 9% and 15% of couples will encounter fertility problems, while Fertility Network UK says that “over 3.5 million people in the UK go through some kind of fertility challenge.” Interestingly, the total fertility rate in England and Wales actually increased slightly in 2021, according to the Office for National Statistics. But that was the first inc...

There’s a lot of popular ideas out there about body hair removal. Shave too much and the hair becomes thicker. Wax, and it will gradually start thinning out. It can be hard to know who or what to believe. Both women and men increasingly spend a lot of their time and money removing body hair, even though it acts as a barrier to bacteria, and sexually transmitted diseases in the case of pubic hair....

According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of births in the UK continues to fall. Experts are even talking about a “baby bust”, the opposite of the “baby boom”, to describe these statistics, which have reached the lowest level since records began in 1938. One explanation for this could be that people are having children later than previous generations, leaving them with a reduced...

We're well aware of its negative impact on our waistlines and heart health, but sugar also takes a toll on our brains. And it's not just found in the obvious sources like refined sugar from sugarcane or sugar beet – it's lurking in fruits as fructose and in dairy as lactose.  Back in 2015, the World Health Organisation released guidelines recommending adults and children “reduce their daily intake...

Over on TikTok, the #idontchaseiattract hashtag is nearing in on 20,000 publications at the time of recording. It really took off in late 2023, especially after Kendall Jenner said the following in an interview with Enews.  Behind the simple statement are young women advocating that with enough belief, you can manifest whatever you want in life. You might have also heard of "Lucky girl syndrome" a...

Did you know that the alarm clock actually serves a greater purpose than simply rousing us from sleep? Whether it's the buzz of your smartphone, a breaking news update, or a soothing classical tune, your alarm sets the tone for the day ahead. And it can be quite the dilemma choosing between a jolting alarm which is guaranteed you wake you up or nature sounds that might end up lulling you back to s...