Unlock Your Health Potential
Faizan Ahmed 
Introduction For so long, oranges have been a part of my nightly bedtime routine. Taking off a skin while watching TV seemed like a satisfying little ritual to end the day, until my sister-in-law Sarah bluntly asked me if it was a habit that made me talk about restless nights. It was a fair question, … Read more
Introduction My uncle was diagnosed with gout in his early fifties and immediately rewrote his entire dose on the advice of well-meaning people around him. The Maltese went to the trash with red meat and seafood. I’m Faizan Ahmed, and when I watched him give up what he really loved — he ate an orange … Read more
What My Dad’s Gallbladder Attack Taught Me For as long as I can remember, my father has had a glass of orange juice with breakfast, a habit so enduring that no one in the family had ever thought of it. So when one night it hurt, about an hour after eating, cuddling and not finding … Read more
The Curdling Myth I Finally Looked Into Properly My aunt told me when I was 12 years old that drinking milk and then eating oranges immediately freezes in my stomach and makes me sick. He said it with such conviction, in the same tone he used to use for really important warnings, that I adopted … Read more
What I Found Out When My Wife’s Heartburn Got Worse Sometime in the ninth week of pregnancy, my wife developed a real passion for oranges. Sometimes I don’t feel that way. She really wanted, sometimes two or three at a time, to gather quickly at the kitchen counter to prove a habit she couldn’t describe … Read more
What I Found Out After Blaming the Wrong Fruit for Years For almost two years, I silently blamed oranges whenever my stomach felt stiff and bloated after eating. I would often eat an orange in the afternoon, almost as a reaction, and when I felt bloated later that day, the easiest thing to do was … Read more
Introduction I’m Faizan Ahmed, and picking oranges when my throat hurt was such a deep family reaction that I kept it with me until adulthood without ever questioning. This logic seemed undeniable to me: vitamin C helps with immunity, malts contain vitamin C, so malts treat sore throats. Then I noticed a consistent pattern — … Read more
Introduction For about a year, I started most mornings with an undisputed healthy habit: a large glass of orange juice first. I’m Faizan Ahmed and I write about health, which makes it even harder to think that the glass in my hand might be the problem. Then I spoke to my GP due to a … Read more
Introduction For most of last year, my workout routine remained the same for most weeks: nothing from Monday to Friday, then long walks or compressed gym sessions between Saturday and Sunday. At first I felt a little guilty about it, because online fitness content usually makes you feel like you don’t do something every day. … Read more
Introduction For a few months, my evenings followed a predictable pattern. At lunch I would eat a large bowl of fruit or a fruit-rich smoothie, feel great for about 40 minutes, and then drop hard until 2:30 p.m., irritable and unable to focus on anything that really requires attention, even on days when nothing else … Read more