Ever wondered what it means to be alive? What is the key factor that separates us and other living organisms from inanimate objects? In 2006, English professor Karl Friston introduced his free energy principle (FEP) to the world. In this post, we pick over the bones of his fascinating and controversial principle.

Find out more about Professor Anil Seth’s fascinating theory of perception as controlled hallucination and learn how it can be helpful for our wellbeing.

Need motivation for getting more fresh food into your diet? Here, we take a look at 5 benefits of eating whole foods vs processed foods.

Our everyday energy expenditure is like a financial forecast. Our brain is constantly managing where best to invest resources, in essence budgeting for our bodies. Modern life can make this a tricky balancing act but we can take positive action through lifestyle choices that help us stay fit, healthy and in the black.

Fasted cardio has really captured the imagination of both the scientific community and public. There are lots of purported benefits of working out on an empty stomach, like fat loss and more energy. But is exercising whilst fasting safe? We explore in this post.

Once regarded as merely connective tissue, fascia is actually an integral part of our mental and physical wellbeing. We spoke to world-leading fascia expert Dr Robert Schleip to find out more. Here are 6 fascinating facts we learnt.

The region of the brain where interoception is controlled is called the insula cortex. Deep in the brain, it’s from here we make our decisions on how to act on information we receive from the body about our internal sensations. By understanding which parts of the brain help us to process and control interoception we can build a more detailed picture of the two-way flow of information between brain and body. Ultimately, this may help us develop better therapies and treatments for disorders where interoception is functioning poorly.

Would you like to participate in our pilot study to test a unique online training programme? We want to investigate whether internal body awareness can help improve mental health and reduce lockdown-related stress. Participants, who will take part remotely, will be entered into a prize draw to win a £50 gift voucher.

Lifestyle Medicine is a branch of healthcare where changes to lifestyle habits are prescribed by medical professionals to help treat and reverse diseases. In 2020 over 550 healthcare professionals, including NHS doctors, took part in an online course to train in delivering this approach to their patients.