Unlock Your Health Potential
Faizan Ahmed 
Until I Tried Them I used to think that longevity was mostly luck, or good genetics, or something that happened to other people’s grandparents, rather than having real control. I’m Faizan Ahmed, and for years I wrote about health research, without fully applying it to my own life. Then a routine occupational health check came … Read more
Introduction For years, my breakfast was either nothing — just a coffee on the way — or whatever it was: with a white toast jam, a cake taken from a store near the station, or a cup of cereal while standing at the kitchen counter looking at the phone. Most days until 10:30 a.m., I … Read more
Introduction My father-in-law has had a glass of tomato juice with breakfast every single morning for as long as I’ve known him — probably longer. I always assumed it was just one of those old-fashioned habits people pick up decades ago and never question, maybe something left over from a hangover cure he’d used in … Read more
Introduction Three years ago, I often slept at my desk at 3 p.m. Also, by every standard, I was “doing everything right”—I cut my calories fast, went to the gym five days a week, and ate barely 1,200 calories a day in a body that needed just too much to work. Finally, my wife said … Read more
Introduction My friend Omar mentioned it almost casually during dinner one night — he’d been squeezing half a lime into hot water every morning for six weeks. I gave a decent smile and didn’t say anything, because it seemed like something people do for a week and then forget. But then I looked at him … Read more
Introduction I used to think I ate well. My plate had color, my salads were large, and I truly believed I was doing the right thing for my body. It wasn’t until my uncle Rasheed was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and his GP told him to start preparing his meals around vegetables, that I … Read more
Introduction My father is not a man who shows worry easily. He has navigated decades of work, family, and life’s various storms with the kind of quiet steadiness that you either admire or find maddening — often both at once. So when he came home from a routine GP check-up and sat down at the … Read more
Introduction I remember exactly the night this came to mind. I had just downloaded a nutrition tracking app on the recommendation of a friend — my friend Tariq had been using it for a month and was praising it — and I wrote down everything I ate that Tuesday. Oatmeal for breakfast, cheese sandwiches for … Read more
The Honest Answer Most Nutrition Guides Get Wrong It was a Sunday afternoon, and I was preparing for the week’s meal: four chicken breasts lined up on the cutting board, a pan in the kitchen, and I had no idea if the amount I was going to cook was right. I always ate what came … Read more
The Food Myth I Grew Up Believing I was no more than eight or nine years old when it first happened. We had just finished the grillfish meal — I can still imagine the dish, its aroma, and my mother’s spices — and I reached out to pluck an orange from the fruit bowl. My … Read more