You might’ve seen headlines about high levels of lead being found in common protein supplements.

With these products becoming more popular, the news has some eager gym-goers concerned about what they’re consuming.

Norman and Tegan discuss how these results compare to our historical exposure – from Ancient Rome to Australia in the 1960s.

References:

• Protein Powders and Shakes Contain High Levels of Lead - Consumer Reports
• Bioaccumulation of lead (Pb) and its effects on human: A review 
• Lead in Food and Foodwares - FDA 
• Low Level Lead Exposure: History and Discovery 
• Lead Toxicity: an Australian Perspective 
• Some US protein powders contain high levels of lead. Can I tell if mine is safe? - the Conversation

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Once you go looking, you realise there are scents in everything – from skincare to cleaning supplies to candles. And of course, perfume.

Are there any implications to our health from taking in natural and synthetic fragrances from all these products?

Norman and Tegan sniff out the evidence when it comes to scent, and whether we should be worried.

References:

• The first chemist in history may have been a female perfumer – here’s how the science of scents has changed since - the Conversation 
• A Smelling Trip into the Past: The Influence of Synthetic Materials on the History of Perfumery
• Health and societal effects from exposure to fragranced consumer products – University of Melbourne
• Effects by inhalation of abundant fragrances in indoor air – An overview 
• Cleaning at Home and at Work in Relation to Lung Function Decline and Airway Obstruction
• Cleaning at Home and at Work in Relation to Lung Function Decline and Airway Obstruction
• Synthetic Endocrine Disruptors in Fragranced Products 
• Do fragrant products like perfume, toilet paper and baby wipes cause cancer? - Cancer Council 
• Characterization of phthalates exposure and risk for cosmetics and perfume sales clerks 
• Chemical exposure and lung function in fragrance industry employees 
• Butter and Plant-Based Oils Intake and Mortality - JAMA

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Whether you can or not, it feels like a sign of fitness to be able to reach down and touch your toes.

But how important is flexibility when it comes to your physical fitness? Is it a necessary part of healthy ageing?

Norman and Tegan stretch through the evidence on flexibility – when does it count, and how can you achieve it?

References:

• Genetics of Muscle Stiffness, Muscle Elasticity and Explosive Strength
• Genetic associations of body composition, flexibility and injury risk with ACE, ACTN3 and COL5A1 polymorphisms in Korean ballerinas
• Whole-spine dynamic magnetic resonance study of contortionists: anatomy and pathology
• Practical recommendations on stretching exercise: A Delphi consensus statement of international research experts
• The ideal stretching routine – Harvard Health
• How stretching actually changes your muscles - Malachy McHugh for Ted-Ed

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• Working out? Why 'No Pain No Gain' is bull
• What on earth is grounding?!
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You can listen to more episodes of the What’s That Rash? podcast with presenters Norman Swan and Tegan Taylor on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. We answer your questions on everything from TikTok wellness trends to wonder drugs and diet myths.

The battle between butter and margarine has been happening since margarine was invented in the 19th century.

So have we figured out which one is better for your health – butter with its high saturated fat content, or margarine which is an ultra-processed food?

Norman and Tegan unpack the winding history of this debate from its inception to the present day.

References:

• The Butter Wars: When Margarine Was Pink – National Geographic 
• The Butter-Margarine Controversy - 1946
• What the margarine vs butter argument says about nutrition – University of Melbourne
• Dietary fats - Healthdirect 
• What’s better, butter or margarine? - Diabetes Australia 
• Serum cholesterol response to replacing butter with a new trans-free margarine in hypercholesterolemic subjects
• Individual Cholesterol Variation in Response to a Margarine- or Butter-Based Diet: A Study in Families
• Effects of margarines and butter consumption on lipid profiles, inflammation markers and lipid transfer to HDL particles in free-living subjects with the metabolic syndrome
• BMI modifies the effect of dietary fat on atherogenic lipids: a randomized clinical trial
• From margarine to butter: predictors of changing bread spread in an 11-year population follow-up
• Association between dairy intake and multiple health outcomes: a scoping review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses | European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 
• Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses on Consumption of Different Food Groups and Risk of All-cause Mortality - ScienceDirect

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• Is emu oil the new snake oil?
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You can listen to more episodes of the What’s That Rash? podcast with presenters Norman Swan and Tegan Taylor on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. We answer your questions on everything from TikTok wellness trends to wonder drugs and diet myths.

Do you ever wonder while you’re shampooing and conditioning – is this really necessary?

The no-poo movement encourages people to ditch their products and turn to homemade concoctions, or nothing at all.

Norman and Tegan rinse out the evidence for and against hair care, and how we got here in the first place.

References:

• Clean: A History of Personal Hygiene and Purity
• Shampoo and Conditioners: What a Dermatologist Should Know?
• The "No-poo" Craze: What do Gwyneth Paltrow, Kim Kardashian, Adele and Howie Mandel have in common? They don’t "poo" - McGill University
• Essentials of Hair Care often Neglected: Hair Cleansing
• Unlocking the secrets of the hair microbiome: From scalp health to therapeutic advances
• Parabens in Cosmetics - US Food and Drug Administration

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You can listen to more episodes of the What’s That Rash? podcast with presenters Norman Swan and Tegan Taylor on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. We answer your questions on everything from TikTok wellness trends to wonder drugs and diet myths.

It’s marathon season, but whether you’re running 40 kilometres or four you might’ve wondered what it’s doing to your joints.

It used to be thought things like osteoarthritis of the knee or the hip were caused by wear and tear, and running made things worse.

Norman and Tegan jog through how the evidence has evolved, and answer the question: should you be hopping on the run club trend?

References: 

• Running and your knees - ABC listen
• Effects of Running on the Development of Knee Osteoarthritis: An Updated Systematic Review at Short-Term Follow-up
• The Association of Recreational and Competitive Running With Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
• The risk of osteoarthritis with running and aging: a 5-year longitudinal study. - Abstract
• Can marathon running improve knee damage of middle-aged adults? A prospective cohort study
• How much running is too much? Identifying high-risk running sessions in a 5200-person cohort study
• Using metformin to treat knee osteoarthritis - ABC listen
• Changing the brain to reduce pain and walk the Camino - ABC listen
• Metabolic syndrome meets osteoarthritis | Nature Reviews Rheumatology
• Mechanical loading and orthobiologic therapies in the treatment of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA): a comprehensive review
• Leisure-Time Running Reduces All-Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality Risk

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You can listen to more episodes of the What’s That Rash? podcast with presenters Norman Swan and Tegan Taylor on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. We answer your questions on everything from TikTok wellness trends to wonder drugs and diet myths.

A post from Queensland Health has been ridiculed after for urging people not to kiss their pets or let them sleep in the same bed.

So how do the risks of pet ownership stack up to the presumed benefits of having a furry (feathery or scaly) friend?

Norman and Tegan take a look at the evidence – and some of its flaws – and reignite the age-old cat vs dog debate.

References:

• If you have a pet as a kid, does this lower your risk of asthma and eczema? | WEHI
• Zoonotic diseases and pets | American Veterinary Medical Association 
• Behavioral changes induced by Toxoplasma infection of rodents are highly specific to aversion of cat odors | PNAS
• Pet Ownership and Quality of Life: A Systematic Review of the Literature
• Is Dog Ownership Associated with Mental Health? A Population Study of 68,362 Adults Living in England
• No beneficial associations between living with a pet and mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic in a large UK longitudinal sample - ScienceDirect
• Pet ownership, loneliness, and social isolation: a systematic review | Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
• The Relationship Between Attachment to Pets and Mental Health and Wellbeing: A Systematic Review 
• Pet ownership and maintenance of cognitive function in community-residing older adults: evidence from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) | Scientific Reports
• Dog owners are more likely to meet physical activity guidelines than people without a dog: An investigation of the association between dog ownership and physical activity levels in a UK community | Scientific Reports 
• A modest protective association between pet ownership and cardiovascular diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis | PLOS One
• Dog, cat, bird, fish, and other pet ownership and mortality: Evidence from the HILDA cohort
• Long-term stress levels are synchronized in dogs and their owners | Scientific Reports

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You can listen to more episodes of the What’s That Rash? podcast with presenters Norman Swan and Tegan Taylor on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. We answer your questions on everything from TikTok wellness trends to wonder drugs and diet myths.

It’s hay fever season, and as you sniffle away next to an air purifier, you might be wondering why we haven’t cured such a common allergy.

Allergic rhinitis, as it’s scientifically known, has plagued people for generations. It's thought up to 24 per cent of Australians suffer from it.

Norman and Tegan run through what hay fever is, how we identified it and what can be done to treat it. 

This episode first aired on October 23, 2024. 

References:

• Allergic Rhinitis: A Review
• O Rose thou art sick… history of allergic rhinitis
• I’m considering allergen immunotherapy for my hay fever. What do I need to know?
• Ingestion of honey improves the symptoms of allergic rhinitis: evidence from a randomized placebo-controlled trial
• The Potential use of Honey as a Remedy for Allergic Diseases: A Mini Review
• Can you adapt to allergies or does the dog have to go?

You can listen to more episodes of the What’s That Rash? podcast with presenters Norman Swan and Tegan Taylor on the ABC Listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. We answer your questions on everything from TikTok wellness trends to wonder drugs and diet myths.

It’s a tale as old as air travel … you’re off on a whirlwind holiday but spend the first week suffering from fatigue.

If you ask anyone about jet lag they’ll have their own tips, but what are some evidence-based ways to reset your body clock?

Norman and Tegan talk through some of the ways you can adjust to a totally different timezone.

References:

• Time-zone effects on the long-distance air traveler - 1969
• Jet lag syndrome: circadian organization, pathophysiology, and management strategies
• An Abrupt Shift in the Day/Night Cycle Causes Desynchrony in the Mammalian Circadian Center
• The genetics of mammalian circadian order and disorder: implications for physiology and disease
• How To Travel the World Without Jet Lag
• Eastward Jet Lag is Associated with Impaired Performance and Game Outcome in the National Basketball Association
• Managing Travel Fatigue and Jet Lag in Athletes: A Review and Consensus Statement
• Melatonin for the prevention and treatment of jet lag | Cochrane Review

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If you haven’t heard of the Don’t Die movement or Bryan Johnson’s Blueprint Protocol, then buckle in.

Johnson is a millionaire who is pouring his money into a massive effort to stay as young as possible, for as long as possible.

Norman and Tegan unpack the basics of his routine, and some of his whackier attempts to turn back the biological clock.

References:

• DunedinPACE, a DNA methylation biomarker of the pace of aging
• How old are you really? Are the latest ‘biological age’ tests all they’re cracked up to be?
• Plasma-Based Strategies for Therapeutic Modulation of Brain Aging
• Infusion of young donor plasma components in older patients modifies the immune and inflammatory response to surgical tissue injury: a randomized clinical trial | Journal of Translational Medicine
• Old plasma dilution reduces human biological age: a clinical study
• Metformin as Anti-Aging Therapy: Is It for Everyone?
• Targeting ageing with rapamycin and its derivatives in humans: a systematic review - The Lancet Healthy Longevity
• A Phase 1/2a Follistatin Gene Therapy Trial for Becker Muscular Dystrophy
• Follistatin Gene Therapy Improves Ambulation in Becker Muscular Dystrophy

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