Healthy or Hoax

Forget all the others, hormone diets claim to be the secret to fast, easy weight loss. But are they really just preying on our insecurities? Healthy or Hoax host Stacey Morrison finds out. Can eating for your hormones help you lose weight? When it comes to weight loss, everyone is looking for the silver bullet. Add in ageing and all of a sudden the tricks you used to lose a couple of kilos when yo...

Love them or hate them, could mushrooms be the key to good health. Stacey Morrison focuses on functional fungi in the latest episode of Healthy or Hoax. Functional fungi are the hot new thing in health and wellness circles. Many would say all fungi are functional, but in this case it refers to mushroom powders and supplements which some believe have a huge variety of benefits. In this episode of H...

Stacey Morrison puts the spotlight on light therapy for anti-aging and acne in the episode of Healthy or Hoax. Healthy or Hoax host Stacey Morrison puts the spotlight on the latest in anti-aging skin treatments - light therapy. The history of light therapy Denise Ryan, vice president of global brand management for BioPhotas, (the company that manufactures the Celluma light therapy device), says li...

Dreaming of taping a snorer's mouth shut? Struggling to snooze? Stacey Morrison finds out if mouth taping, sleep syncing and the latest apps and technology could be the secret to getting a good night's rest. We spend a third of our lives sleeping and yet so many of us have trouble with it. So when we hear about new theories on how we might improve our sleep, it's not surprising that people wa...

Could walking backwards be the key to taking your fitness forwards? In this episode of Healthy or Hoax, Stacey Morrison laces up her sneakers to find out. One of the slightly bizarre new fitness trends doing the rounds is retro walking. Basically, walking backwards. Stacey Morrison, host of RNZ's Healthy or Hoax podcast, laced up her trainers to find out if the rewards of reverse exercise out...

To kick Season 4 of Healthy or Hoax off with a bang - or a gong - Stacey Morrison heads off for some sound healing. Can sound really fix what ails you? Let's find out. The idea of using sound for healing seems to have been around for a very long time. But what does it all mean and what does it do? Stacey Morrison, host of RNZ's Healthy or Hoax podcast, started by joining sound healing teacher...

Stacey Morrison takes a look at current health and wellbeing trends and finds out if they're really good for you. In season four Stacey asks the experts about hormone diets, light therapy, sound healing, sleep syncing and mouth taping, reverse walking and functional fungi. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Stacey Morrison find out the best way to increase our collagen and keep our skin looking healthy and radiant. There's no doubt collagen plays a key role in keeping our bodies healthy. The question is, how do we get more of it? Dr Louise Reiche, head of the Dermatological Society of New Zealand said it gives support and structure to a lot of the different components of our bodies. " helps...

Stacey Morrison discovers whether a virtual gastric band is as good as the actual physical one. Imagine if imagining weight loss could make it happen. Virtual Gastric Banding (VGB) has been around for several years the idea is that you are put in a hypnotic state and convinced that you have a band around your stomach. Interestingly, the surgical equivalent to this has been deemed ineffective and i...

Stacey Morrison finds out just how reliable home-based DNA tests for health and fitness really are. You can buy just about anything online these days, including the key to living your best life. Apparently. Online DNA tests which claim they can give you insights into how best you can stay healthy and keep fit are growing in popularity. There are dozens of options available and they cost anything f...

In a classic case of 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger...' Stacey Morrison confronts her serious aversion to the cold and enters a cryotherapy chamber. In a classic case of 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger...' Stacey Morrison confronts her serious aversion to the cold and enters a cryotherapy chamber. Wim Hof is part of the reason cold immersion therapy has become t...

CBD beauty products are being hailed as a 'beauty game-changer' overseas, but they're still illegal here. Stacey Morrison finds out if we're missing a trick. Cannabidiol beauty products are illegal in New Zealand, but overseas they're being described as a 'beauty game-changer'. Lauded for their anti-inflamatory and antioxidant properties, some CBD products even have major celebrity...

Kim Kardashian made waist trainers popular and the recent Bridgerton Netflix series saw a bump in corset sales. Stacey Morrison discovers if squeezing our tummies into shape is healthy or just a very uncomfortable hoax. Waist trainers claim to help you lose weight and tone your tummy, but these corset-like throwbacks might actually be causing more harm than good. Kim Kardashian claims to give a wa...

The new season of Healthy or Hoax is on its way. Stacey Morrison not only hosts the show, but also faces her fears to trial some of the latest health fads. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Fermented foods have been around for longer than refrigeration, but recently they have developed a reputation for having numerous health benefits. We find out if that reputation is founded in reality. By Liz Garton The popularity of kombucha and other fermented foods, like kefir, kimchi and tempeh, has risen on the back of research which shows gut health is closely linked to general, overall healt...

Can something make us feel better just by smelling nice? And if it can do that, could we get even more benefits from rubbing it on our skin or even eating it? By Liz Garton Essential oils have been used for thousands of years, but more recently we are seeing them used as home remedies for ailments, as skin care and even in recipes. The latter is a trend that is seriously concerning some experts. &...

Turmeric is supposed to help a range of ailments from arthritis to Alzheimer's. But is this spice the real deal or just fool's gold? By Liz Garton If you google 'health benefits of turmeric' you're going to come up with hundreds of articles proclaiming the spice as a new wonder drug. But that 'cure-all' tag should be a red-flag, according to food and nutrition writer Niki...

Shakti Mats made a big splash when they arrived in New Zealand a few years ago. But does lying on thousands of tiny spikes improve our health or is it just a painful hoax? By Liz Garton The Shakti Mat's arrival in New Zealand is a classic yarn. Jonathan Heslop and his university mate George Lill were travelling in Thailand, they were on a particularly yoga retreat style beach, when a man came...

Studies show fasting could improve outcomes for a huge range of medical conditions... in mice. Do those benefits cross over to humans too? By Liz Garton Associate Professor Alexander Tups from the Neuroendocrinology and Brain Health Centre at Otago University said fasting looks promising for treating certain autoimmune conditions, reducing rates of cancer, improving general gut health and brain fu...

Charcoal is credited with getting rid of gas, bloating, hangovers and generally helping us cleanse and detox. Healthy or Hoax finds out if the claims are backed up by science. By Liz Garton Experts say we're witnessing a hijacking with the current trend of putting activated charcoal in our foods, drinks and beauty and dental products. Activated charcoal is made by heating unactivated charcoal...

Stacey Morrison puts her body on the line to find out if coolsculpting - a non-surgical fat removal technique - can help you get the perfect figure. By Liz Garton Saddlebags, mummy tummies, bra pockets, double chins, hips, jibbly jobbly bits. There are so many terrible names for the fatty bits that hang over the top of our pants or wobble when we wave. Coolsculpting is a new(ish), non-invasive sur...

It's been a long time coming, but the long-awaited second season of Healthy or Hoax is on its way with new host Stacey Morrison. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Would you be better off eating food raw, rather than cooking it. I mean, who needs fire? By Kate Pereyra-Garcia Raw food advocates say food not heated above 40 degrees Celsius is more 'alive'. A raw food diet is a pretty extreme way of eating for those of us used to cooking dinner every night. The key word being cooking. Raw food advocates believe in not heating food above about 40 degre...

Carol Hirschfeld gives flotation pods a try to see whether they could be an answer for those looking to de-stress. By Kate Pereyra-Garcia Watch a video segment from the episode here On the surface, flotation pods sound a bit wacky: enclosed bath tubs with 30 centimetres of water and a lot of Epsom salts. The water and room temperature are set at about 36°C - the average body temperature. You climb...

A raft of new dairy substitutes are turning up on supermarket shelves, but in part four of Healthy or Hoax we ask: can they really be called milk? By Kate Pereyra Garcia On the surface almond milk is a pretty innocuous, even healthy, alternative to dairy milk. But the name - those two words 'almond' and 'milk' - raise all sorts of questions. For example, how do you milk an almo...