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Lifestyle & Health

Lifestyle & Health

Readers reply: Why is sugar-free tonic water always described as ‘slimline’?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts This week’s question: When does a reasonable train route become unreasonable? Why is sugar-free tonic water

2026-11-15·The Guardian Life & Style

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Lifestyle & Health

Kindness of strangers: I was stranded, dressed as a flapper, on a freezing night. Then a cheerful taxi driver pulled over

2026-11-15·The Guardian Life & Style

Lifestyle & Health

Gout is on the rise – and excruciating. Why are sufferers still judged for it?

2026-11-15·The Guardian Life & Style

Lifestyle & Health

The 14 best men’s boots for winter, from chelseas and lace-ups to wellies

2026-11-15·The Guardian Life & Style

Lifestyle & Health

Dining across the divide: ‘It was futile – we didn’t agree on anything. But we had a nice meal’

2026-11-15·The Guardian Life & Style

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Lifestyle & Health

The unexpected power of fleeting friendships

From Aristotle on, we’ve learned to see long-lasting relationships as more valuable. But what does that leave out? In Russian, a poputchik is a stranger you meet on a journey who you end up confessing everything to because you know you’ll never see them again. Like the English “f

2026-11-15·The Guardian Life & Style

Lifestyle & Health

Mental health is no joke - but I've turned it into a stand-up routine

People who have struggled with mental ill-health are giving stand-up a go to tell their stories.

2026-11-15·BBC Health

Lifestyle & Health

‘Like many men of his generation, he tends to push his feelings down from his heart to his toes’: Meera Sodha on her father’s homecoming

After a childhood of grief, hardship and hunger, the Guardian food writer’s father Raj always resisted going back to Uganda. What happened when he finally agreed to accompany her on a bittersweet journey into the past? The moment I step off the plane and on to the soil of Entebbe

2026-11-15·The Guardian Life & Style

Lifestyle & Health

‘All I could smell was fertiliser’: the best (and worst) supermarket instant coffee, tasted and rated

Our coffee snob spills the beans on which granules hint at chocolate and caramel, and which leave a bitter note • Everything you need to make great coffee I’m a coffee snob with my own grinder, but I found the haptic thwack, whack and crack of opening the lid and film on a jar of

2026-11-14·The Guardian Life & Style

Lifestyle & Health

‘None of them had ever seen an eclipse in real life’: Maurice Bakley’s best phone picture

An elementary school watch party turned into a great opportunity to take a child’s-eye view of a spectacular astral phenomenon Maurice Bakley was chaperoning an eclipse watch party at his son’s elementary school in Arlington, Virginia, when he took this photograph. As he had

2026-11-14·The Guardian Life & Style

Lifestyle & Health

Barbara Kingsolver: ‘What does love feel like? At 16, breaking the speed limit. Years later, a warm bath’

The author on the FBI tapping her phone, teaching herself to read aged three, and why she knits in meetings Born in Maryland, in the US, Barbara Kingsolver, 71, won a music scholarship to DePauw University in Indiana. She became a journalist and published her first novel, Th

2026-11-14·The Guardian Life & Style

Lifestyle & Health

Woman with terminal cancer gets dream wedding on hospital ward

Maggie Heginbothom thanked the staff after a "dream" ceremony was arranged two days after her partner proposed.

2026-11-14·BBC Health

Lifestyle & Health

What links The Day of the Jackal film with a 1979 headline in the Sun? The Saturday quiz

From four-year-old Binkie Stuart to Peter the cat, test your knowledge with the Saturday quiz 1 Peter the cat is the only animal with an obituary in which almanac? 2 Four-year-old Binkie Stuart was launched as Britain’s answer to which star? 3 Established in 1798, what is London’

2026-11-14·The Guardian Life & Style

Lifestyle & Health

'I cycled across America in memory of my wife - I know she's proud of me'

Declan Faulkner cycled 3,800 miles from Portland, Oregon, to Portland, Maine, as a tribute to his late wife Patrina.

2026-11-14·BBC Health

Lifestyle & Health

369 best Christmas gifts for 2026 – tried, tested and loved by the Filter UK

We’ve unboxed, nibbled and played with hundreds of gifts to find the perfect present for everyone – from cheery stocking fillers and feelgood treats to Jude Bellingham’s favourite game Filled with dread about Christmas shopping? Luckily for you, we’ve had a head start and spent t

2026-11-14·The Guardian Life & Style

Lifestyle & Health

The best electric toothbrushes in the UK for every budget

We put 32 electric toothbrushes to the test, from oscillating Oral-B models to sustainable brands like Suri, to find the best for cleaning power and value for money • How to make your toothbrush last longer If you grew up using a conventional toothbrush – essentially a stick with

2026-11-13·The Guardian Life & Style

Lifestyle & Health

NHS, schools and police forces hit by Microsoft outage

Major airports and intelligence services are unaffected, while the government is still assessing the impact.

2026-11-13·BBC Health

Lifestyle & Health

Doctor burnout putting maternity patients at risk, says regulator

Trainee doctors delivering babies are more likely to suffer from overwork and burnout than other specialties, evidence suggests.

2026-11-13·BBC Health

Lifestyle & Health

From cult skincare to seriously posh soap: Sali Hughes’s best beauty gifts for Christmas 2026

Whether its bargain stocking fillers or a lipstick worth splashing out on, our beauty editor reveals what she’d love to give – and receive • The best Christmas gifts for mums, grannies, aunties and friends • The best Christmas gifts for 2026 Bella Freud x Boots hand duo , 2 x 345

2026-11-12·The Guardian Life & Style

Lifestyle & Health

Sunbed firms must not downplay cancer risk, says watchdog

The advertising watchdog says they also must not make misleading claims that sunbeds can treat skin conditions or improve mental health.

2026-11-12·BBC Health

Lifestyle & Health

Senior doctors call off two-day strike planned this month

Consultants in England were due to walk out on 25 November in disputes over pay and working conditions.

2026-11-11·BBC Health

Lifestyle & Health

Governments 'asleep at the wheel' over social care, says head of review

Baroness Casey criticises variability of services and fees charged to self-funders in England.

2026-11-11·BBC Health

Lifestyle & Health

Antidepressant escitalopram more effective at preventing relapse, analysis finds

Three pills came top and outperformed Prozac for preventing relapse in a large number of patients.

2026-11-11·BBC Health

Lifestyle & Health

What's your love language - and does it actually mean anything?

The theory of ‘Love Languages’ has no scientific origin but it's often still mentioned in modern dating.

2026-11-09·BBC Health

Lifestyle & Health

Tempted by snacks before bed? Here's why - and what you can do about it

There are biological reasons why you may reach for sweet treats before bed, but you can change the habit.

2026-11-06·BBC Health

Lifestyle & Health

UK doctor infected with Ebola being treated at London hospital

The doctor tested positive in DR Congo, where there is an outbreak. The government says the risk to the public remains low.

2026-11-05·BBC Health

Lifestyle & Health

Cocaine overtakes heroin as leading cause of drug deaths in England and Wales

The number of deaths linked to cocaine use in England and Wales has nearly quadrupled in a decade.

2026-11-04·BBC Health

Lifestyle & Health

'Multi-cancer' blood tests coming to some GP surgeries soon

The aim is to detect hard-to-diagnose abdominal cancers, including liver, ovarian and pancreatic cancer, much sooner.

2026-11-04·BBC Health

Lifestyle & Health

Parents' concerns to trigger urgent checks in A&E

Concerns from staff, parents, carers or the child themselves will trigger an immediate escalation of care.

2026-11-02·BBC Health