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Being labelled as ‘the fat man of Europe’ is not one of the UK’s proudest moments, but, it’s time to accept some bitter home truths. We are currently facing a public health crisis with an estimated one in four British adults being classed as obese.

The UK really is carrying extra weight for Europe with the highest levels of obesity, beating countries such as Germany, France and Spain.

No wonder the NHS is under such strain as obesity and its consequences costs £5.1 billion a year. This is only going to increase. New reports suggest that this figure will double by 2030 to an estimated annual cost of £12 billion a year!

With 30,000 deaths in adults

Every year, on the 4th  of February, the continents unite for World Cancer Day. Most people have known someone who has been diagnosed with cancer, and how stressful the experience can be for both the sufferer and the loved one.

So charities fight all year round to raise awareness for this cause. But, on this day in particular, charities such as Cancer Research UK, UICC and many more strive to increase awareness.

The charities all try to educate individuals about the disease, what you can do to help as an individual and how we can all help collectively.

The World Cancer Day

Your joints play a vital role in your body. They form the connection between your bones, manage your movement and support your weight. Therefore, when your joints struggle to perform as they should, you start to experience pain.

This pain can be extremely debilitating, and for some it affects their ability to do daily activities. For most people this pain seems to intensify in winter.

If you’re one of those people that suffers more in winter, keep reading!

In this post we outline 3 reasons why your joint pain worsens in winter.

So, what changes in winter?

1. Temperature Change

Whilst joint pain is not simply a seasonal problem, the frosty temperatures we face in winter often cause the pain in our joints to intensify. As temperatures drop, our bodies react by restricting the blood flow to our joints.

This is because attention is placed on supporting fundamental organs such as t

Those who suffer with joint pain know just how debilitating and restricting it can be. Thankfully, there are a number of ways in which you can ease and treat this pain.

Whilst there are various prescription medications available, these should be taken following a consultation with your GP.

Therefore, we asked our Head Pharmacist Jagdeesh Cheema for some tips and tricks on other ways in which we can all prevent and relieve joint pain.

Hydrotherapy Treatment

Hydrotherapy treatment involves the practice of particular exercises whilst immersed in a warm swimming pool.

This is a relaxing yet effective treatment as the warm water alleviates the pressure on your joints, encourages blood flow around the body and stimulates endorphins. This helps to ease pain and relaxes the surrounding

It’s highly likely that a stomach bug will affect you at some point in your life. Also known as gastroenteritis, they’re common in both adults and children.

Your child can fall victim to a stomach bug at any time of the year, but they’re most prevalent in winter, especially in the first months of the year.

When the weather takes a turn for the worse their immune system is more susceptible to infection.

The severity of stomach bugs can range from slight upset and discomfort, to extreme sickness and dehydration.

But the vast majority of cases can be treated through following simple, inexpensive steps at home.

This post seeks to help you understand these dreaded tummy bugs. And we will be looking at the best ways to treat and prevent them in children.

Once again, the summer months have flown by. Autumn has come and gone, and the frosty temperatures of winter have arrived! Whilst this means cosy nights on the sofa, and hot chocolates all round, it can also signify bad news for your hair.

The cold air saps the moisture from your hair, leaving it dry, dull and lifeless. However, don’t cry into your hot chocolate just yet!

In this post we have some tips and tricks to maintain healthy hair this winter. They’ll keep your hair strong, and locked full of moisture - despite the cold weather.

And as a little bonus, we look at what hair colours will be popular this winter. So let’s begin:

Hair Products for Winter

One of the most important things you can do is to invest in the right hair products. These products will vary depending upon your hair-type.

And remember,in winter, you need products with extra moisture to keep hair hydrated. Take

This year has flown by, and it’s already November. So this means another month of Moustache madness aka Movember!

We have The Movember Foundation to thank for some of the amazing things we can expect from this month. They’re a global charity founded in Australia, who are committed to helping men to live happier, healthier and longer lives.

The foundation has raised £402 million since starting in 2003, and now funds over 1,000 programmes. These programmes help tackle prostate and testicular cancer, poor mental health and they aim to get men more active.

 Source: Gerardo Obieta

Since launching over 10 years ago, the campaign is still more popular than ever, so we thought it’s time to test your moustache knowledge with our very own Movember quiz. Guess the Moustache!

Firstly, this post runs through the causes Movember is fighting, how you can get involved and finally, the quiz!

Movember raises awareness and money for some great causes, and every single event is packed with amazing people working together.

Below we’ve outlined the causes that you can help tackle this month by growing a ‘tache:

PROSTATE CANCER

The second most common type of cancer in men. Shockingly, 1 in 8 men living in the UK will get prostate cancer at some point in their lives.

Even though survival rates are at an all-time high, 84%, treatment can take a toll on the physical and mental health of patients.

TESTICULAR CANCER

Testicular cancer is one of the least common cancers. It usually affects younger men between the ages of 15 to 49.

There is a good outcome in 98% of these cases, but unfortunately there is still a small proportion of men and boys who don’t make it.

POOR MENTAL HEALTH

Male suicide rates are 3 times higher than female. With suicide being the leading cause of death for men aged 20 to 49 in England and Wales, it's great that The Movember Foundation are helping tackle this issue.

PHYSICAL INACTIVITY

This is a growing problem, not only in the UK but all over the world, causing 3.2 million deaths per year.

Exercise is a great way to improve your physical and mental health. Not only will you look and feel better, but your body will be packed with endorphins allowing you to lead happier, healthier and longer lives!

GET INVOLVED

The Movember foundation wants to work with people like you to beating all of these – one great ‘stache at a time!

With that being said, the good news is that you don’t necessarily have to grow a moustache to take part. So, ladies – you have no excuse!

Now you’re probably asking yourself…how do I take part?

As the saying goes “with age comes wisdom”, but a lot of men find that this new found wisdom brings a whole range of other problems such as grey or thinning hair.

But there is nothing for you to worry about, as many people agree, grey hair can give men a more sophisticated and distinguished look.

But if you’re still not convinced just remember that greying hair is inevitable, and for other men, dealing with these emerging grey hairs can be frustrating too.

Some men choose to embrace this more mature look, as there are some great ways to style their grey hair. Others may decide to conceal their grey hairs using one of the many hair dyeing products on the market.

This hair transformation can be a real pain, but this blog post is sure to educate you on the many ways you can tackle this change in your hair.

Why Your Hair is Turning Grey?

Greying hair is one of the more obvious signs of ageing, and despite extensive research there is not yet a conclusive answer as to why this happens. However, here are a few factors that have been linked in some way to this change in hair colour.

Hair Pigment Reduction

The colour of your hair is determined by a chemical called melanin, and as we age these pigment cells begin to die. With there being less melanin within each hair strand, the natural colour of your hair begins to fade, turning grey and eventually white.

Stress

Many parents often blame the stress of dealing with teenagers as the reason for their greying hairs, but the fact that the kids drive you up the wall isn't really the cause (sorry parents!).

Even though the link between stress and hair loss has been proven, whether this actually leads to premature ageing, and then grey hairs, is not yet known.

Smoking

So far there’s not been any strong link found between smoking and those grey hairs of yours. But don’t see this as a sign to keep on smoking! Along with the numerous other complications smoking leads to it can also age you considerably.

Medical Conditions

There are a few medical conditions that can lead to an increase in grey hairs, and these include:

- Anaemia is a condition triggered by a diet lacking in vitamin B12, and this vitamin can be found in milk, eggs and meat. A B12 deficiency can also be due to diseases that affect the small intestine such as coeliac disease or Crohn’s disease.

However, in this instance, greying hair can be reversed by treating these conditions.

- Vitiligo, a condition that causes pigment producing cells to be destroyed, which can result in very light patches of skin, and it can also cause grey patches.

When Your Hair Will Start Turning Grey?

So, now you know what causes grey hair, you'll want to know when you will get them? Scientific evidence has no conclusive answer to why they happen, so that makes it hard to pinpoint when you are most likely to get them.

Similarly to the ageing of the skin, the time at which your hair will start to go grey is also dependant on your ethnicity and genetic makeup.

Generally, if you want to figure out the age of which you'll be expecting that dreaded first grey hair you should ask your father or grandfather when they got theirs. Genetic similarities between family members mean that you'll likely start getting grey hairs at a similar age.

Those with fairer skin tones tend to get grey hairs first, generally in their thirties, with those with ginger hair going grey the earliest of all! Whilst ethnicities with darker skin tones such as those from Afro-Caribbean and Asian decent begin to go grey later roughly in their forties.

What to Do With Those Grey Hairs?

After looking at the causes of grey hairs, and when you’re most likely to get them, you’ll now want to know what to do with them.

If embracing this new ‘mature’ look isn't for you there are many solutions that can hide your greys. And don’t worry, it can be done in a natural way that won’t bring attention by drastically changing your hair colour.

If dyeing is the best solution for you, with so many different

Trying to stop smoking is a challenge faced by thousands of Britons every year, and with there being about 10 million adult cigarette smokers in Great Britain it’s not a surprise that so many of you want to kick the habit.

We know how hard it can be to put down the cigarettes and stop smoking, so in the following post we try and make giving up smoking less stressful for you.

We will look at how you can join the Stoptober campaign, what nicotine replacement therapies are and how nicotine patches work:

Stoptober 2015

If you’ve been thinking about stopping smoking for a while there is no time like the present to give up. Stoptober is coming up next month and for those of you who aren’t aware of what this initiative is; here is a quick outline:

Stoptober is a Public Health England campaign that encourages smokers to stop smoking for 28 days during October.

As summer fades, and the warmth of the sun rapidly disappears, this change in season calls for a change in how you care for your hair.

Autumn is also a time for renewal and new beginnings, so as the leaves begin to fall so should your old ways of looking after your hair.

With the cold autumnal months looming, and the leaves changing to richer amber and golden brown tones, it’s also a great time to change your look.

During the summer months the effects of UV rays are a crucial concern as we explained in our Summer Hair Care Tips post. But with colder weather approaching, not only is there a risk of you catching a cold,there is also an increased likelihood of your hair becoming a lot worse for wear.

So grab your hot water bottle, put on the kettle and keep reading our simple tips to help protect your hair once the weather takes a turn for the worse.

 Source: Mendhak

1. Your Autumn Diet

Make sure you have plenty of milk in your diet, or products containing milk, as low fat dairy products are an excellent source of calcium.

Whey and casein are proteins, which are also found in milk, all play a vital role in the growth and strength of hair. If you want your hair to grow strong and long this autumn the more protein you get the better!

Sweet potatoes are packed with beta-carotene which converts into Vitamin A, a vitamin which is essential for healthy hair. Vitamin A helps to produce an oily substance called sebum which is produced by the scalp which helps to prevent hair from becoming dry and breaking.

Nuts contain Omega-3 fatty acids which nourish hair follicles, giving you beautiful hair that is both healthy and shiny. Nuts are also a great source of the mineral zinc which helps to stimulate hair cell production, growth and repair. So be sure to stock up on cashews, peanuts, walnuts and almonds this autumn!

2. Add Argan Oil to Your Regime

Just applying one to three drops of this wonder oil will help to strengthen and thicken your hair. This is down to the Vitamin E and fatty acids found in argan oil that help to renew and restore hair follicles.

You can also apply this oil directly to your scalp to stimulate growth. There are plenty of products on the market containing this saviour, so be sure to look for shampoos and conditioners with this ingredient.

3. Use a Flat Paddle Brush

A flat paddle brush is ideal for those moments when you need to thoroughly detangle and remove the knots in your hair. The wide surface area of this brush means that it can comb through your hair with ease.

It can also be used for medium to long hair whilst blow-drying as it smooths the hair with ease. Or it can even be used on a daily basis for those with thicker hair.

And yes, we thought we knew how to brush our hair as well, but head over to Instyle for some great hair brushing tips that may just surprise you!

4. Deep Conditioning

Deep conditioning is a great way to restore and rejuvenate the moisture and elasticity lost during those hot summer months. As mentioned earlier adding protein back into your hair is key for the health and strength of your hair.

So why not try using hot oil treatments and natural oils such as argan oil and coconut oil when you deep condition.

Source: PhuThinh Co

5. Colouring Tips

If you are thinking about colouring your hair this autumn why not opt f