Post Archive by Month

I’ve always been keen on dads. Children really need them. There’s loads of research showing they’re crucial for the long-term wellbeing of their children. And recently my interest in dads has soared as one of my sons has had his … Read More

Most people realise that what we eat can make us feel ­unhappy. But is the opposite true? Can eating so-called happy foods give us a lift? In mulling over that puzzler I remember the first time I learned that turkey was a mood enhancer … Read More

We’ve all heard about the health benefits of tea, coffee, chocolate, red wine, some only half true, but what would you say if you heard that beer – the cause of unhealthy beer belly – could be good for you? Pull the … Read More

We all find it difficult to resist snacking – crisps in the ­office drawer, biscuits in the car, chocolate watching the telly. So much so that we’re now officially a nation of snackers and, boy, it’s bad for our health. … Read More

I lived through the worst of the AIDS epidemic, starting in the early 1980s in San Francisco. I knew friends who succumbed in front of my eyes and now it’s hard to imagine the hysteria that surrounded the illness. Well, … Read More

We all love hugs. I know I do. And when we see someone we know is distressed, our immediate reaction is often an empathetic “come here and have a hug”. This need for physical comfort is deeply ingrained in us. … Read More

Cannabis should be legalised – for medical use at least. I had a friend with MS who got great relief from muscle spasms by smoking grass – but she was forced to get her supply from a drug dealer. I thought … Read More

Does it surprise you when children behave badly if their parents are distracted by a smartphone? Me neither. But now we have a sophisticated study that shows us just how much we adults play into the hands of our children when … Read More

Last year England’s deputy chief medical officer said no one spends long enough washing their hands. Dr Gina Radford said each wash should take around 45 seconds – as long as one verse of “God Save the Queen”. And that you … Read More

One way of eating less is to serve your food on small plates. Even those of us who like to clean our plates would eat less if we used a smaller plate. A variation on this theme is a crinkly plate. This … Read More