Pity those old wives. They're commonly mocked for their 'tales'. But you know what? Since I started writing The Good Life Letter, many old wives' tales have been proven true by science. Take this one for instance.... Honey as a remedy for indigestion In the good old days, the 'old wives' claimed that honey stirred into milk was a remedy for acid indigestion. Why? The old wives didn't know, gawd bless 'em. It just worked. And so mi ..

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Those big historical Hollywood blockbusters never get it right do they? Take Camelot for example. I was forced to watch this recently (the things I do for motherinlaws) and over ninety or so minutes I saw a lot of singing and dancing, a lot of fighting, and a lot of forsoothing. But not once did I see Arthur, Lancelot or Guinevere hold up a bottle of urine to the light and squint at it. Come to think of it, I don't remember Sean Conne ..

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Well, it's started... This morning I woke up, pulled back the curtains, and greeted the day with a 6sneeze salute. The poor sparrows outside out window probably thought someone was taking shots at them. Still, they'd better get used to it, because my sneezing routine is pretty much a permanent fixture every morning during the summer months. Of course, now that I have my Salt Pipe, I'm convinced my hay fever is going to disappear almo ..

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As you know, I'm not one of those 'holier than thou' health nuts. When it comes to food, I think life is about having a bit of what you fancy. No point in spending our days beating ourselves up about our indulgences, or panicking about everything we eat. Otherwise you live a life of guilt. Unhappy, stressed... and therefore UNHEALTHY. You know what I mean? As you sidle into the kitchen, pretending that you're only there to make a herbal ..

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I don't know about you, but I'm no goody-two-shoes. Never have been. In my time I've eaten bucket-loads of fast food... drank my considerable body weight in beer... and wasted money I didn't have on expensive products I didn't need. Anything for an easy life. But people change. And, boy, have I changed over recent years.... Why the buck stops with you and meWhen I started a family, I quickly realised that the buck stops with us. Nobody's ..

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This is what I love about writing The Good Life Letter... First, I get to spend hours at home, drinking green tea and satisfying my enormous curiosity for EVERYTHING related to food and health! Secondly, I get to have an intelligent, ongoing conversation with my readers. Because it's you who help me work out which subjects to look into and write about. You point out alternative arguments to the research I've found. And you're also pretty good ..

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I've been writing like a maniac this week. By this I don't mean I've been writing while wearing a giant banana costume and singing the Azerbaijani national anthem. I mean I've been hard at work... on a book. 'A book?' you cry. 'Yes, a book!' I told myself I wouldn't tell you about it UNTIL I had completely finished it, but it's nearly there and I feel pretty proud of myself. It's all about the secret, awesome healing power of.... of... A ..

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I think I'm going to start a campaign to get blood pressure warnings attached to every daily newspaper... Something like 'Warning: May make your blood boil' or 'Do not read while eating cornflakes or you are likely to splutter them all over the kitchen table'. Because yet again the Collins household was subjected to me ranting and raving over an article I read in The Times this week. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if Lara is bidding for a tr ..

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Today, I'm going to turn the letter over to YOU - the smart, clever, no doubt handsome readers of The Good Life Letter. Because over the last week or so, many of you have written in with advice, tips and ideas so great that I just have to share them with our fellow Good Lifers. And one of them in particular, Lynne, has written in with a brilliant view on how to handle M.E. Seriously, if this affects your life in any way, this will help. Besi ..

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It looks like rain's on its way up here in Bristol... So there's no way I can accompany Lara to the shops today. The car's a good five metres from the house, and if I time it wrong, I could get soaked to the skin... ...which means I'd be walking around in cold, wet clothes whilst my body temperature rises due to being dragged from one department store to another... ...which would cause a temperature imbalance, which in turn would leave me op ..

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