Researchers have mapped the crystal structure of a key protein that makes the metabolites responsible for the bitter taste in Brassica vegetables like mustards, broccolis, and cabbages.

The World Health Organisation recently published its latest noise pollution guidelines for Europe. The guidelines recommend outdoor noise levels that should not be exceeded for aircraft, road and rail noise and two new sources: wind turbine and leisure noise.

Unwanted facial and body hair can affect the way we feel, our social interactions, what we wear and what we do. Options to camouflage or remove unwanted hair include plucking, shaving, bleaching, using creams and epilation. Longer-term options include electrolysis and laser therapy. So what is laser therapy? What can it achieve? And what are the side-effects?

Rates of obesity are rising across the globe; a third of the world’s population is now overweight and nearly a fifth is obese.

Non-muscle invasive bladder cancer is the tenth most common cancer in the UK and is difficult to treat. Current treatments are invasive and often have unpleasant side effects. The cancer also has a high recurrence rate – often returning in a more aggressive form.

Eating ultra-processed food is definitely bad for you, a recent study has confirmed. In the experiment, people were fed either ultra-processed or unprocessed food, with meals matched precisely for calories, salt, sugar, fat and fibre. 

When it comes to problems caused by ticks, Lyme disease hogs a lot of the limelight. But various tick species carry and transmit a collection of other pathogens, some of which cause serious, even fatal, conditions.

Hyperbole can be rampant in health news, particularly with respect to cannabis. One recent headline declared: “CBD is effective in treating heroin addiction.” Another proclaimed: “New study finds CBD could curb heroin addiction.” These stories were referring to a recent study in the American Journal of Psychiatry that found a short-term course of cannabidiol (CBD) reduced cue-induced cravings and anxiety..

Most people use toothbrushes, toothpaste and dental floss to clean their teeth, but their use is by no means universal. Many indigenous groups, as well as people in developing countries, use traditional techniques to clean their teeth. Some of these techniques are more effective than others.

Researchers from the University of Nottingham in the UK recently published a study in the journal Scientific Reports suggesting caffeine increases brown fat. This caught people’s attention because brown fat activity burns energy, which may help with weight loss. Headlines claimed drinking coffee can help you lose weight, and that coffee is possibly even the “secret to fighting obesity”.

Intelligence and education may offer a cognitive “head start” that could keep the minds of people with Alzheimer’s functioning better temporarily, research finds.

With a kilometer to go, triathlete Sarah True was pulled from the 2019 Ironman European Championship in Frankfurt, Germany, due to heat exhaustion. 

The amount of sleep adults need has once again come under the spotlight, with a recent Wall Street Journal article suggesting seven hours sleep is better than eight hours and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine drawing up guidelines surrounding sleep need.

Do you feel like nutritionists are always changing their minds? Do you want science-based information about diet but don’t know whom or what to believe?

Shifting sleep times and reduced sleep quality have a negative effect on the ability of older adults to recall information about past events, according to a new study.

Poison control experts have advice for how to avoid food poisoning at your BBQs and picnics.