The Truth About... Season 1, Episode 16: Obesity

Sugar

Journalist Fiona Phillips is on a mission to find out the truth behind the recent headlines on sugar.

57 min

Calories

Dr Chris van Tulleken investigates Britain's favourite foods to discover the truth about calories and shows how we can all be healthier by eating smarter.

Fat

Dr Saleyha Ahsan cuts through the confusion and reveals the surprising science of fat - which types of fat we should be eating, and how much is good for us.

Your Medicine Cabinet

Dr Chris Van Tulleken calls on the British public to seek out the truth about the top-selling over-the-counter medicines.

Your Teeth - Part 1

Britain's top dentists show how the latest science can change how we all look after our teeth.

Your Teeth - Part 2

The mission continues to change the way we all look after our gnashers.

Dementia

Angela Rippon investigates Alzheimer's disease. She learns how people can help to prevent it, meets some of those who are living with it and explores her own risk of developing it.

Alcohol

A&E doctor Javid Abdelmoneim is on a mission to find out the truth about alcohol, including why the government cut the recommended weekly limit for men by a third in January.

Healthy Eating

Fiona Phillips teams up with leading scientists to investigate how people can eat and drink themselves to good health.

Meat

Chris Bavin joins a team of scientists as they follow 40 volunteers on a groundbreaking study to find out exactly how much meat is good for people.

Stress

Fiona Phillips explores the latest scientific research into the perception, experience and management of stress.

Sleep

We are one of the most sleep-deprived countries in the world. In The Truth About Sleep, insomniac Michael Mosley finds out what happens if we don't get enough sleep and looks at surprising solutions to help us get more.

HIV

Dr Chris van Tulleken explores the latest science around HIV, meeting health professionals, scientists, and individuals affected by it in the UK and South Africa.

Looking Good

Cherry Healey investigates the cosmetics industry to determine how much of what products promise is based on scientific evidence and how much is simply marketing manipulation.

60 min

Getting Fit

Michael Mosley teams up with scientists whose latest research is turning common knowledge about fitness on its head to separate fact from fiction.

Carbs

Dr Xand van Tulleken investigates whether claims about negative effects of carbohydrates on health are true and explores healthier ways to consume them.

The Menopause

Mariella Frostrup shares her own experience of the menopause and brings this great taboo out into the open, investigating how the latest science can explain what it is.

Antibiotics

Angela Rippon looks into the new ways that scientists are trying to fight bacterial infections, as they try to combat antibiotic resistance.

Takeaways

In the UK, we eat over three million takeaways per day. Journalist Nikki Fox teams up with scientists at Liverpool John Moores University to discover what this habit is doing to our health.

Cosmetic Treatments (1)

Michael Mosley and Mehreen Baig investigate non-invasive facial procedures - and how they can go wrong.

Cosmetic Treatments (2)

Michael Mosley and Mehreen Baig look at non-invasive procedures for the body, including fat freezing, fat heating and the growing use of anabolic steroids for body enhancement.

Boosting Your Immune System

You can't feel it or see it. You can't take its pulse or its temperature. But out of sight and out of mind, your immune system is working to protect you from infectious bacteria, viruses, injuries and a host of other nasties. Due to the coronavirus, the health market has exploded with products promising to boost, support or supercharge our flagging natural defences. But which of these so-called miracle products, superfoods and supplements should we be spending our cash on, and which really have the science to back up their claims? Now, as Dr Ronx Ikharia finds out, new science is revealing that the human body’s most extraordinary structure – a complex fighting system powered by five litres of blood and lymph – has the capacity to be supercharged and improved if we have the science know-how to do it. This is the definitive guide, not only to defending yourself against Covid-19, but also boosting your strength for when the cold and flu season is upon us.

Getting Fit at Home

During months of having to stay at home, millions of us have swapped the gym for our living room. The numbers doing home workouts has doubled in a year. But exactly what kind of exercise should we be doing, how much of it, and how often? Journalist and blogger Mehreen Baig used to hit the gym four times per week, but now her fitness regime has gone entirely DIY. She wants to use the latest science to make sure she is getting maximum return for her effort. With the help of former GB athlete Becky Lyne, Mehreen tries out some experimental new tech that could help us all transform our running technique, and she discovers how to choose a sports bra that can reduce painful movement by as much as 73 per cent. She investigates whether popular supplements like pre-trainers and protein shakes really work – and discovers some hidden ingredients we should all avoid. In a final experiment, she tests her own body to reveal how pursuing the perfect six-pack body shape can damage your health.

Improving Your Mental Health

Clinical psychologist Professor Tanya Byron teams up with former England footballer Alex Scott, who has suffered from depression, to discover how the latest science can help us gain greater control over our state of mind and improve our mental health and wellbeing. Even in normal times, one in four of us will experience mental health difficulties, but living through a global pandemic has put our mental health under unprecedented strain. Over the past year, a team from Imperial College London, in collaboration with the BBC, have surveyed the mental health of over 350,000 people across the UK. This unique study provides a snapshot before and during the pandemic, revealing its shocking impact.