Author: Katie Edwards, Commissioning Editor, Health + Medicine and Host of Strange Health podcast, The Conversation

Sunscreen has become the latest target of health misinformation, with some social media influencers questioning its safety and promoting natural alternatives. But what does the science say? maxbelchenko/Shutterstock Some people are so worried about sunscreen that they’re swapping factor 50 for beef tallow. Yes, the fat traditionally used to make roast potatoes is now being […]

Online migraine hacks promise relief, but a plausible explanation isn’t proof that a remedy works. Stock-Asso/Shutterstock If you’ve ever had a migraine, you’ll understand the appeal of anything that promises to make it stop. Even when that advice involves attaching hair clips to your eyebrows. Social media has plenty of suggestions. Some people swear by […]

Cottage cheese used to be the sort of food you associated with 1970s diet plans, uninspiring lunches and people who claimed to enjoy eating grapefruit for breakfast. Now it’s a TikTok sensation. Social media creators are blending the curdy, clumpy white stuff into everything from cookie dough and chocolate brownies to flatbreads and even slapping […]

The Conversation, CC BY-NC-ND What do cottage cheese, sunscreen and pimple popping have in common? They are all heading our way in the new series of Strange Health, the podcast from The Conversation that investigates the odd, awkward and occasionally disgusting questions raised by our bodies and the health trends surrounding them. We’re back for […]

Sergiy Katyshkin/Shutterstock Light therapy sounds wholesome. Clean. Almost pastoral. Sit in front of a lamp. Feel better. In our latest episode of the Strange Health podcast, we discovered that it can also mean strapping on a flashing mask and watching your own brain generate kaleidoscopic hallucinations behind closed eyelids. The spark for this episode was […]

Close-up of a demodex folliculorum mite: your skin is alive with company Kalcutta/Shutterstock You are not alone in your own skin. Millions of microscopic creatures live there too. Our skin is home to entire ecosystems of microscopic life. Bacteria and fungi get most of the attention, but mites are there too. Among the most common […]

Girts Ragelis/Shutterstock The vagus nerve has become the internet’s favourite body part. On social media, it is everywhere. People hum into their phones, gargle with theatrical enthusiasm, dunk their faces into bowls of ice water and poke at their ears in the hope of “activating” it. Influencers describe it as a hidden master switch for […]