Dr Karan Explores

OG Podcasts
Dr Karan Explores

Join Dr Karan, TikTok's favourite General Surgeon, as he meets the world's foremost experts in science and medicine to cut through the BS of modern health advice. Get my free weekly newsletter filled with easy to action health tips, interesting facts & science to fill your curiosity: https://drkaran.beehiiv.com/subscribe

  1. 5 DAYS AGO

    Is Chocolate The Secret To Better Health? | Spencer Hyman

    💬 “Chocolate has got more complexity of flavour than just about anything else on the planet” ~Spencer Hyman ⚡️ Spencer Hyman is the Co-Founder & Chair of Chocolate at Cocoa Runners, a company that sources the world’s best craft chocolate and brings them all together under one roof. Spencer is a chocolate and flavour nerd and hosts regular tasting events to share his passion. I even get to taste some myself! ⚡️ In this episode Spencer and I explore the history of humankind’s love of the cocoa bean, why craft chocolate is so much healthier than your classic supermarket bar, as well as the surprising range of health benefits it offers. 🎧 Stay tuned to find out: ➡︎ How modern processing strips all of the good out of supermarket chocolate bars ➡︎ The sneaky tricks “Big Chocolate” uses to get you to scoff bar after bar ➡ The difference between flavour and taste, and how to savour your food more ➡︎ Whether dark chocolate really is healthier than milk ➡︎ Why toxic heavy metals have been showing up in chocolate bars 📕 Chapters (1:47) How your chocolate is made (3:38) Chocolate’s history (5:08) Why it matters where your chocolate is from (6:31) Normal vs craft chocolate (11:29) Health benefits of good chocolate (17:21) Can milk or white chocolate be healthy? (22:12) Flavour, taste and mouthfeel (26:15) Chocolate and heart health (32:38) Why you should savour your food (37:26) Why we find it hard to describe flavour (41:46) Taste test (58:39) Where can you buy craft chocolate? (1:00:25) How much chocolate should you eat? (1:01:58) Heavy metal contamination (1:06:47) Why ‘fair trade’ isn’t very fair 📱 Connect with me: TikTok: https://www.instagram.com/drkaranrajan Instagram: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.karanr 📱 Connect with Spencer: Website: https://cocoarunners.com/  🔥 Get my free weekly newsletter filled with easy to action health tips, interesting facts and science to fill your curiosity: https://drkaran.beehiiv.com/subscribe 🔥 For more useful science for your everyday life, grab my best selling book “This Book May Save Your Life”: https://geni.us/DrKaranBook  🎙️ An OG Podcasts production.

    1h 11m
  2. 15 NOV

    How Your Gut Bacteria Are Controlling Your Brain with Dr Jonathan Swann

    💬 “Microbes can influence things like behaviour, mood, cognition. We're starting to see links with things like Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease as well.”  ~Dr Jonathan Swann ⚡️ Dr Jonathan Swann from the University of Southampton is one of the UK’s leading experts on the gut microbiome, with a particular interest in the gut-brain axis. ⚡️ In this episode Jonathan and I explain how your brain and gut communicate with each other, and why you might experience IBS, depression and other negative health effects when that connection breaks down. 🎧 Stay tuned to find out: ➡︎ How your gut not only talks to your brain, but your brain also talks to your gut ➡︎ Why meditating monks have super-healthy guts. ➡ How you can give a mouse depression by messing with its gut microbiome ➡︎ Whether gut-brain therapies like psychobiotics are any good ➡︎ News about human trials of poop transplants 📕 Chapters (1:12) How the gut-brain axis works (6:22) How many microbes live in the gut? (9:32) What can go wrong with the gut-brain connection? (18:19) Diet and mood (20:07) Gut transplants (21:48) The role of fungi and viruses (24:35) “A gut feeling” (26:11) Psychobiotics (32:22) Antibiotics (33:37) Microbiome’s impact on Alzheimer’s (36:34) Age-related cognitive decline (38:28) Management strategies (43:24) The problem with poop analysis 📱 Connect with me: TikTok: https://www.instagram.com/drkaranrajan Instagram: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.karanr 📱 Connect with Jonathan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-swann-58a83b66/?originalSubdomain=uk Website: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/people/5y5nsv/doctor-jonathan-swann  🔥 Get my free weekly newsletter filled with easy to action health tips, interesting facts and science to fill your curiosity: https://drkaran.beehiiv.com/subscribe 🔥 For more useful science for your everyday life, grab my best selling book “This Book May Save Your Life”: https://geni.us/DrKaranBook  🎙️ An OG Podcasts production.

    47 min
  3. 8 NOV

    How to Enjoy Running Even If You Hate It: Tips from Ultra Runner Tommy Lewis

    💬 “If you are doing it with too much grit and a snarly face and “I'm really tough”, it's not actually that sustainable and enjoyable. It's not that deep. You're just going for a run” -Tommy Lewis ⚡️ Tommy Lewis is a London based ultra runner with a love of the outdoors. He shares his passion for running with a devoted following on Instagram, in an attempt to inspire people of all fitness levels to enjoy the sport. ⚡️ In this episode Tommy and I explain how running might just change your life, and debunk the myth that running will injure you. 🎧 Stay tuned to find out: ➡︎ How to embrace the boredom of running ➡︎ Why running is actually GOOD for your knees ➡ How running deepens your self-awareness ➡︎ From fitness trackers to electrolytes, what gear you really need ➡︎ The best shoes you should be wearing (and what to avoid) 📕 Chapters (1:12) How to overcome the boredom of running (3:47) Running benefits your whole life (9:25) The “runner’s high” (11:21) Running vs other sports (12:58) Fuelling creativity (15:52) 30% drop in all cause mortality (21:36) Stop taking running so seriously (24:46) Does running kill your knees? (31:29) Best shoes for running (38:10) Avoid Nike trainers? (42:11) Are fitness trackers important? (44:25) Important of zone 2 training (45:59) Are electrolytes worth the money? (48:19) What drives an ultra marathon runner (50:33) Tommy’s top three tips 📱 Connect with me: TikTok: https://www.instagram.com/drkaranrajan Instagram: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.karanr 📱 Connect with Tommy: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tommyrunpt/  Website: https://www.tommyrunpt.com/  🔥 Get my free weekly newsletter filled with easy to action health tips, interesting facts and science to fill your curiosity: https://drkaran.beehiiv.com/subscribe 🔥 For more useful science for your everyday life, grab my best selling book “This Book May Save Your Life”: https://geni.us/DrKaranBook  🎙️ An OG Podcasts production.

    55 min
  4. 1 NOV

    Eargasms, Earwax & The Earplug Craze: How To REALLY Protect Your Hearing with Dr Joseph Manjaly

    💬 “I'm out here to raise awareness about something that is so precious. We only realise the value of it when we lose it.” ~Dr Joseph Manjaly ⚡️ Dr Joseph Manjaly is a consultant ear, nose and throat surgeon, who works at the internationally renowned Royal National ENT Hospital in Central London. He also runs The Ear & Hearing Specialist Clinic and has a strong following on social media. ⚡️ In this episode Joseph and I discuss everything from tinnitus to earwax and even eargasms, to help you better understand how to protect your hearing and look after your ears. 🎧 Stay tuned to find out: ➡︎ How to spot hearing loss (and the biggest warning signs) ➡︎ Why earwax is NOT a hygiene issue (and how to safely clean your ears) ➡ How hearing loss is linked with up to a 5x increased risk of dementia ➡︎ Why people with misophonia hate the sound of people chewing food ➡︎ That tinnitus doesn’t have to be a lifelong condition 📕 Chapters (1:03) Getting proactive with your hearing(4:00) What can go wrong with the ear (6:02) How does sound damage hearing? (8:14) Impact of headphones (9:30) The earbud craze (15:01) Dealing with earwax (22:30) Dementia and hearing loss (27:39) Misophonia (30:56) Tinnitus (34:06) Eargasms (37:25) Action based strategies (41:27) Red flag symptoms to look out for 📱 Connect with me: TikTok: https://www.instagram.com/drkaranrajan Instagram: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.karanr 📱 Connect with Joseph: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earsurgeonjoe/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@earsurgeonjoe YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jm2476  🔥 For more useful science for your everyday life, grab my best selling book “This Book May Save Your Life”: https://geni.us/DrKaranBook  🎙️ An OG Podcasts production.

    48 min
  5. 25 OCT

    The Blue Zones Are A Scam: Dr Saul Newman Reveals the Biggest Corruption in Longevity Research

    💬 “82% of people in Japan over the age of 100 turned out to be dead. And they didn't check them all. It is crazy. It is completely crazy.” -Dr Saul Newman ⚡️ Dr Saul Newman from the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, won an Ig Nobel Prize for research debunking data on the world’s oldest people. His soon to be released book ‘Morbid: an iconoclastic debunking of ageing science’ is all out about fraud, wishful thinking, and ageing research. ⚡️ In this episode Saul and I debunk the fantasy of “blue zones”, where an extraordinary number of people live beyond 100. Should we really be basing health and fitness advice on these longevity hotspots? 🎧 Stay tuned to find out: ➡︎ Why some of the most unhealthy and poorest regions are churning out so many centenarians ➡︎ How “blue zone certificates” are being sold to US towns for $40mil ➡ Why the blue zone myth is dangerous to our health ➡︎ The real secret to living beyond 100 ➡︎ How blue zones even impact insurance premiums 📕 Chapters (6:14) What classifies as a blue zone? (15:35) Do people forget their age? (18:05) The real secret to a long life (25:25) Dangers of the blue zone myth (27:31) Facing “big alcohol” (31:07) What do we know about longevity? (33:19) Corruption all the way down (35:59) How blue zones impact insurance premiums (38:19) Who benefits from the blue zone lie? (46:51) What works for healthy ageing? (48:17) Selling blue zone certificates for $40mil (54:18) Will blue zones ever go away? (56:56) Anti-ageing drugs? 📱 Connect with me: TikTok: https://www.instagram.com/drkaranrajan Instagram: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.karanr 📱 Connect with Saul: X: https://x.com/saul_newman  📕 Sources: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.09.06.24313170v1.full-text https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/704080v3.full 🔥 For more useful science for your everyday life, grab my best selling book “This Book May Save Your Life”: https://geni.us/DrKaranBook  🎙️ An OG Podcasts production.

    1h 1m
  6. 18 OCT

    Do Your Genes Make You Fat? With Dr Giles Yeo

    💬 “People think I’m anti-physics. I’m not anti-physics. Calories don’t give you the information to improve your diet.” ⚡️ Dr Giles Yeo is a geneticist at Cambridge University specialising in obesity and how our brain controls food intake. He’s also the author of ‘Why Calories Don't Count’ and ‘Gene Eating’. ⚡️ In this episode Giles and I dig into the science of genetics and hunger hormones and why some people struggle with their weight more than others. I also challenge him on the notion that calories don’t count. 🎧 Stay tuned to find out: ➡︎ How over 1000 genes are involved in body weight and controlling your appetite ➡︎ Why obesity isn’t a moral failing and should be thought of as a disease ➡ The huge variety in how different ethnicities are impacted by obesity ➡︎ What exactly “calories don’t count” really means ➡︎ Why fad diets should be ignored and how to find the diet that works for YOU 📕 Chapters (1:29) Obesity is not a moral failing (4:01) Is obesity a disease? (6:00) The role of genetics (8:39) Obesity phenotypes (10:59) Best diet for weight loss? (13:14) Where’s the data coming from? (15:44) How different ethnicities are affected by obesity (20:02) Calories don’t count? (24:34) The truth about ozempic (26:49) Hungry hormones (30:11) Not all calories are the same (32:09) How poverty affects obesity (34:14) Environment v genetics (36:19) Reframe the blame (39:16) Do we need policy change? (43:18) Our outdated biology (49:04) Does taste affect weight gain? (53:59) The microbiome (58:07) How to take action 📱 Connect with me: TikTok: https://www.instagram.com/drkaranrajan Instagram: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.karanr 📱 Connect with Giles: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gilesyeo/ X: https://x.com/GilesYeo  📕 Grab Giles’ book here: https://amzn.eu/d/hoAnVLr  🔥 For more useful science for your everyday life, grab my best selling book “This Book May Save Your Life”: https://geni.us/DrKaranBook  🎙️ An OG Podcasts production.

    1h 1m
  7. 11 OCT

    Are We Too Afraid of Ultra Processed Food? with Chris Van Tulleken

    ⚡️ Is it all or nothing when it comes to ultra-processed foods? Or can we have our cake and eat it too? There’s a lot of fear around UPFs, but is it doing any good? ⚡️ Dr Chris Van Tulleken is a BBC broadcaster and author of “Ultra Processed People: Why Do We All Eat Stuff That Isn’t Food … and Why Can’t We Stop?” ⚡️ In this episode Chris and I dig into the science of ultra processed food and its effects on human health while asking - are we overcomplicating the matter? 🎧 Stay tuned to find out: ➡︎ How worried you really need to be about additives, preservatives and artificial sweeteners in UPF ➡︎ How food companies make this stuff so addictive (and why it’s not your fault for eating too much) ➡ If adding vegetables to ultra processed meals can mitigate its damaging effects ➡︎ Whether UPF’s effects on the microbiome are overblown ➡︎ The good side of UPF and why it’s a valuable resource for many  📕 Chapters (2:26) UPF’s role in obesity (8:50) The benefits of ultra processed food? (14:20) Simplifying the problem of UPF (23:08) The fibre problem: could veggies fix UPF? (29:28) For those who rely on UPF (33:17) How to regulate it? (42:46) How UPF impacts the microbiome (53:19) Are artificial sweeteners really dangerous? (55:17) How to live with UPF 📱 Connect with me: TikTok: https://www.instagram.com/drkaranrajan Instagram: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.karanr 📱 Connect with Chris: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doctorchrisvt/  X: https://x.com/doctorchrisvt  📕 Crab Chris’ book here: https://amzn.eu/d/454h534  🔥 For more useful science for your everyday life, grab my best selling book “This Book May Save Your Life”: https://geni.us/DrKaranBook  🎙️ An OG Podcasts production.

    1h 9m
  8. 4 OCT

    From Acne to Anti-Aging: Skincare Advice You Need to Hear - Dr Muneeb Shah

    💬 “There is so much nonsense out there. The harm of brand marketing to the trust of skincare in general is hard to come back from.” ~Dr Muneeb Shah ⚡️ Dr Muneeb Shah, known as the ‘DermDoctor’, is a board certified dermatologist and one of the most followed science-based skinfluencers in the world. ⚡️ In this episode, Muneeb and I dig into the anatomy of the skin and what drives various skin conditions. We also discuss the overblown, unrealistic claims anti-aging skincare brands make - and what actually works to take years off your face. 🎧 Stay tuned to find out: ➡︎ The anatomy of the skin and the role of your gut and diet in skin health ➡︎ The differences between skincare for men and women  ➡ Why skin cancer needs to be taken more seriously ➡︎ How mood and stress can cause flare ups ➡︎ Dr Shah’s exact skincare routine and what you’ll find in his cupboards 📕 Chapters (1:22) Anatomy of the skin (5:28) What affects our skin? (9:33) Differences between men and women (14:41) Common skin conditions (15:46) Skin cancer (21:18) How mood affects skin health (24:56) Gut skin axis (31:29) A cure for BO? (36:33) Diet and skin health (40:44) Is anti-aging a scam? (45:34) How to use retinoids (48:07) The damage of skinfluencers (52:45) Dr Karan is challenged on his routine (59:31) What’s in Dr Shah’s cupboards? 📱 Connect with me: TikTok: https://www.instagram.com/drkaranrajan Instagram: https://www.tiktok.com/@dr.karanr 📱 Connect with Muneeb: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dermdoctor  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doctorly/  🔥 For more useful science for your everyday life, grab my best selling book “This Book May Save Your Life”: https://geni.us/DrKaranBook  🎙️ An OG Podcasts production.

    1h 3m

About

Join Dr Karan, TikTok's favourite General Surgeon, as he meets the world's foremost experts in science and medicine to cut through the BS of modern health advice. Get my free weekly newsletter filled with easy to action health tips, interesting facts & science to fill your curiosity: https://drkaran.beehiiv.com/subscribe

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