General health and lifestyle – articles and advice
Abuse
Explore features on everyday health, lifestyle choices and wellbeing. For trusted reference, see our Patient Information Leaflets on general health and lifestyle.
Abuse
Abuse can take many forms: physical, emotional, sexual or financial. Learn how to spot the signs, get help, and support someone in need.
Diet and nutrition
What you eat shapes your health. Discover how to build a balanced diet, understand food labels, and make choices that support your wellbeing.
- Mindful eating: how to slow down and enjoy your food
- How healthy is flavoured water?
- How to boost your vitamin D levels this winter
- What causes extremely smelly farts?
- What are the health benefits of spicy food?
- Is kombucha good for you?
- How a protein-packed breakfast can boost your health
- Can red yeast rice lower your cholesterol?
- The best gut health foods - and why you need them
- How to get vitamin-ready for autumn and winter
- How to avoid iron deficiency
- Plant-based proteins could help prevent high blood pressure
- Beyond the grape: uncorking the health facts about resveratrol
- 10 sources of plant-based protein for bone health
- How to handle smelly farts, loud burps and bad breath
- How much protein do you need to build muscle?
- Could your diet be your best anti-ageing secret?
- Are juice cleanses good for you?
- A hybrid approach to eating: your guide to the pegan diet
- The Reducetarian diet: how to eat less meat
- 7 iron rich foods to add to your diet
- Is mushroom coffee really good for you?
- What is the Ornish diet and can it transform your health?
- Why am I farting so much?
- What is the BRAT diet and why is it unsafe?
- Do gummy vitamins work?
- The 5 best probiotic foods for a healthy gut
- What is the Korean diet?
- What is the Eatwell Guide? A balanced diet explained
- Is a dairy-free diet healthy?
- How diet can reduce your risk of stroke and heart attack
- How your diet affects your heart
- Is it safe for everyone to take probiotics?
- Biotin: do vitamins for hair growth really work?
- What are the pros and cons of taking supplements?
- Does aloe vera juice really help with gut health?
- Fibre, low FODMAP diet and gut bacteria
- What are the benefits of vitamin A?
- Feeding your good bacteria with probiotics and prebiotic supplements
- What is your gut microbiome?
- Do ZMA supplements really work?
- What is the benefit of vitamin E?
- What is the Nordic diet?
- Why do I have extreme tiredness after eating?
- Flax seeds: a secret weapon for women's health?
- Can collagen supplements boost your health?
- Are pumpkin seeds good for you?
Environmental conditions
Extreme weather, pollution, and other environmental factors can affect your health. Learn how to protect yourself and manage the risks around you.
- Air pollution and asthma: how to protect yourself this summer
- Protecting your skin from harmful pollution
- The effect of air pollution on asthma sufferers
- Festival abroad? Have fun and stay safe
- How air pollution affects your health
- What's the link between hair relaxers and fibroids?
- 5 benefits of bees for your health
- How to stay warm this winter
- How to stay healthy at a music festival
- Can cold weather make you ill? And other winter myths
- What are EDCs and why should you worry about them?
- How to cope in the outdoors with a heatwave
- How to sleep better in the heat
- How to stay cool indoors this summer
- Plastic free July: should we be worried about microplastics?
- Do Blue Zones hold the secrets to a longer life?
- Microplastics in drinking water not an urgent health risk
- Air pollution speeds up ageing in the lungs
- New Year Resolutions: how to make environmentally friendly lifestyle changes
- Why 'Christmas creep' stresses us out
- Essential steps to take to avoid falls this winter
- Can central heating cause health problems?
- Handy tips to reduce your food waste
- What are the health benefits of houseplants?
- Air pollution blamed for a third of new asthma cases in Europe
- Air pollution in major cities for lungs is as bad as smoking 20 cigarettes a day
- Air pollution linked to mental health problems
- Why is air pollution so dangerous for your lungs?
- Could the energy crisis fuel a mental health emergency?
- Hay fever: How to cope with a 'pollen bomb'
- How to drink more water and stay hydrated at a festival
- How to help your baby sleep safely in hot weather
- What's the health impact of pesticides?
- What is fuel poverty and how does it affect our health?
- How does climate change affect mental health?
- Are pesticides harmful to humans?
- What's a permacrisis, and its impact on our mental health?
- Is plastic affecting our health?
- Festival health essentials
Healthcare
Good healthcare is about prevention, early detection, and treatment. Discover how to get the most from your health services and understand your care options.
- How social media helps you stay connected to your GP Practice or Pharmacy
- What is a fit note and when do you need one?
- Can your pharmacist help you with your sexual health?
- Health checks you can do at home
- How to look after your mental health this winter
- How to ease worry when waiting for medical test results
- What does an osteopath do?
- What are the main causes of hospital admissions over Christmas?
- Is there an LGBTQ+ health gap?
- What is peer support and how can it help you?
- Why you shouldn't skip your free NHS health check
- Clinical trials - helping to keep your medicines safe.
- Symptoms you need to stop hiding from your doctor
- How to get the most out of your GP appointment
- Cost of living crisis: is our health paying the price?
- What you need to know about stopping medication
- Does self-diagnosis work and what are the dangers?
- How can technology help us manage health conditions?
- Why do transgender people struggle to get cervical screening?
- Study of homeopathy clinical trials reveals poor research practice
- Health problems you don't need to see your doctor about
- What is social prescribing - and can it improve your health?
- Will Brexit affect my travel insurance?
- Is retail therapy actually a thing?
- How to choose the right GP for you
- Calculating absolute risk and relative risk
- How is technology helping to put patients in charge of their own health?
- What it's like to work in mental health services when you have a mental illness
- What happens when medicines interact
- How your height affects your health
- Which medical conditions affect your driving?
- What to do if you're worried about a loved one's health
- When do you really need to go to A&E?
- Families urged to talk about organ donation before a loved one dies
- NHS opens walk-in clinics for FGM survivors
- What you need to know before having surgery
- Dental inequality: what is it and why does it exist?
- Why you should talk to your loved ones about organ donation
- Mental health carer checklist
- Are online doctor's appointments the future for healthcare?
- How to get the most out of your remote GP appointment
- How can we self-monitor our health?
- Do mental health apps really work?
- What student health benefits can I get?
- What to pack for a hospital stay
- How remote mental health services have helped the LGBTQ+ community
- What happens when you get sectioned?
- How to have a healthy holiday
- Why do we use dark humour as a coping mechanism?
Obesity and weight loss
Carrying extra weight can affect your health. Learn how weight loss supports wellbeing, explore healthy ways to lose weight, and avoid risky quick fixes.
- Understanding internalised weight bias: a guide to self-acceptance
- Beyond diet and exercise: understanding holistic weight management
- Can you lose weight and be body positive?
- 10 daily habits for healthy weight loss
- What are weight loss injections and are they safe?
- Is Pilates good for weight loss?
- What to do if your weight is getting you down
- Why fad diets can actually lead to weight gain
- What your waist measurement says about your health
- Do crash diets ever really work for healthy weight loss?
- Are protein shakes good for weight loss?
- What is bariatric surgery?
- How to talk to your child about their weight
- Problems caused by being underweight
- Do diet pills really work – and are they safe?
- Does BMI matter?
- Can you really be fit and fat?
- How to lower your BMI and lose weight healthily
- Size matters: why our oversized portions are contributing to the obesity crisis
- Can we trust BMI charts for kids?
- Switch off TV in the bedroom to avoid weight gain
- Will the government's obesity strategy work?
- What is gastric sleeve surgery?
- Does eating spicy food help you lose weight?
- Why you don't need to detox
- Orlistat healthy eating guide
- How does losing a lot of weight affect your mental health?
- Do calorie counts on restaurant menus lead to healthier choices?
- The conditions that cause unexpected weight gain
- Does stress cause weight gain?
- Obesity blamed for fewer eligible organ donors
- Does cold weather boost weight loss?
- Can you blame your weight on your genes?
- How to choose healthy snacks for you and your kids
- Is your child eating too much sugar?
- Can hypnotherapy help you lose weight?
- The most common reasons you're not losing weight
- What is a low-carb diet and is it healthy?
Occupational health
Workplace health matters. Learn how employers and healthcare providers help prevent work-related illnesses and support safe, healthy working environments for everyone.
- How menopause can affect women at work
- Will having a child affect my career?
- What health benefits could a four-day working week have?
- How has working from home affected our mental health?
- Gaslighting at work: what it is and how to handle it
- How will not going back to the office affect our health?
- How to protect your mental health in the workplace as a Black woman
- How to improve your mental health while working from home
- How to manage your mental health if you've been made redundant
- Why do we feel anxious about calling in sick to work when we are genuinely unwell?
- What can we learn from Britain's healthiest companies?
- How does IBS affect people at work?
- Looking after your mental health when returning to work after maternity leave
- Mental health and work: is it affecting your career?
Preventing disease
Prevention is better than cure. Discover how vaccines, screenings, healthy habits, and lifestyle changes reduce the risk of developing many serious health conditions.