Dr Xand's Con or Cure 

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Simulcast of network BBC One in high definition. From 03/11/2010

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Dr Xand's Con or Cure

Factual: Health & Wellbeing

The facts, not the fakes, about your health.

The facts, not the fakes, about your health with Dr Xand van Tulleken and Ashley John-Baptiste. From social media scams to health scares, they'll shine a light on bad medicine.

Series 2

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Alexander van Tulleken

Ashley John-Baptiste

Richard Collier

Brendan Hughes

Karen Donnelly

Tern Television Productions

Dr Xand's Con or Cure: Series 2: Episode 14

Episode 14

BBC One - Dr Xand's Con or Cure, Series 2, Episode 14

Are food intolerance tests worth the money?

Can spices help with our health? Is drinking lettuce juice the key to a good night’s sleep? Are online food intolerance tests worth the money? And a look at the dangers of aerosol cans.

Food intolerance tests have become very popular, especially the cheaper versions found online. Tom from Oxfordshire felt duped by what he was told about them. He parted with money and seems to have been left with more questions than answers. We put a couple of companies to the test to see what food intolerances Ashley might have, and the results were surprising. Gut health specialist Dr Megan Rossi advises on whether they work or not.  

Lymphatic drainage has become something of a buzz phrase recently, with articles in beauty magazines featuring celebrities endorsing lymphatic drainage boots, brushes, creams, oils, earrings and bracelets. Is this something we need to be doing? Why is the lymph so important, and do we need to do anything to help it? 

Can adding a variety of spices into our diets improve our lives, or are some claims just marketing hype? Turmeric can now be found in pretty much any supermarket and is often associated with good health, while ginger can help with nausea and inflammation. Dietician Laura Clark walks us through some of the best spices on the market. 

Aerosol containers carry a warning on the can advising us to keep them away from children. In a truly cautionary tale we meet Paul Green. He lost his 14-year-old daughter to the toxins held inside a deodorant spray, one of 11 cases where aerosol spray toxins were listed on death certificates as a cause of death in the last twenty years. Paul wants to raise awareness of the problem to help prevent others from dying as a result of their use of aerosols. 

There are claims on social media that drinking lettuce juice is the key to a good night’s sleep. Scientists have found that lettuce does contain lactucin, which can have a sedative effect on the nervous system. So what does Dr Xand think of this one? Is it a Con, or is it a Cure?

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