Real Health with Karl Henry

It’s the body’s largest organ, but how much do we really know about our skin? Chances are, most of you have had some type skin concern, be it acne or rosace or a mole that didn’t look quite right. On this week’s show I’m joined by Consultant Dermatologist, Professor Nicola Ralph to discuss skin health as well as some of the most common skin concerns people have. Acne for example affects millions of people around the world. Professor Ralph says when chronic, it can have a negative impact on an individual’s life: “If you do somebody’s quality of life index, it’s basically a questionnaire of seeing how much the skin condition impacts on [a person]. It’s [acne] just as significant as having diabetes or asthma or epilepsy.” We also talk about what people can expect when getting a mole checked, what it really means for your skin’s health when you tan and how much SPF we should be wearing. Dr Ralph says we should be wearing SPF every day of the year. If we’re on holidays or even on a sunny day in Ireland, we need to be topping up every two hours: “Most of us underuse sunscreen. We tend to bring that one bottle [of SPF] on holidays and it seems to go on everyone, and we still bring that same bottle home. But really a full shot glass is what an application should be for the full body and that should be reapplied every two hours or so.” For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to: independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast. And you can get in touch - I’m @KarlHenryPT on Instagram and realhealth@independent.ie.  Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe on Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts from.  The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With life returning to some kind of normality and restrictions easing despite Covid-19 still circulating, many of us may be feeling lots of different emotions around the change to our daily lives. Now that we’re transitioning back to the way we used to live, some might feel apprehensive about the change, stress about the virus and maybe even anxiety at the thought socialising again. Joining me today to help navigate through all those emotions about life after lockdown is Louize Carroll, consultant psychologist and co-founder of PRISM Therapy Online. In this episode, Louize breaks down some of the long-term psychological effects of the pandemic. “We’ve had two years to try and integrate and navigate the new feelings of anxiety that came with what we were experiencing” she says. However, Louize reminds us that, “Just as long as it took us to adapt our way into the pandemic, we will have to gently adapt our way out of it too.”Louize also gives some tips on how to deal with overstimulation. She says taking time out of the day to focus on yourself, recognising triggers and limiting social media use are some great places to start. For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to: independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/ And you can get in touch - I’m @KarlHenryPT on Instagram and realhealth@independent.ie. Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe on Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts from. The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week’s show, we’re taking a look at how to improve our mental strength, by challenging our inner critic, understanding what drives our behaviors and how we can successfully hit our goals by focusing on the journey and not the end result. To discuss this, I’m joined by health and wellness coach, Pat Divilly, who’s written a book all about this. Fit Mind: 8 Weeks to Change Your Inner Soundtrack and Tune Into Your Greatness aims to help readers examine and master their inner voice and find self-confidence. Pat says many people look for confidence in the wrong place. They focus on a future goal or point in time they believe will change their attitude. However, confidence is something that comes from feeling certain. While looking to the future can be a positive thing, the future can be unpredictable. “Most people look for their confidence in the future. They think, when I get somewhere, I’ll be confident. But the future is uncertain. So, what that tells us is we can only find confidence in the past where we have certainty” he says. We also discuss setting goals, how to avoid feeling defeated when we miss them and finding the small wins in our daily lives that will keep us motivated. For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to: independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/And you can get in touch - I’m @KarlHenryPT on Instagram and realhealth@independent.ie.Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe on Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts from.The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week’s show, it’s all about mindset. Why it’s important and how having the right mindset can be the key to unlocking your health goals.Joining me to chat about this, is sports nutritionist and strength and conditioning coach, Brian Keane. His new book, The Keane Edge looks to help you find the right mindset and motivation so you can stick to your fitness journey. Brian says for many people, knowing what you need to do to get healthy is not always enough to keep you on track. “You can know that you need to get into a calorie deficit but that doesn’t stop people going off plan” he says. Things like emotional eating or self-sabotage are things people can struggle to overcome.That is where mindset comes in. Instead of looking at these things as failures, Brian says we should change our view on them and turn them into a positive. “With self-sabotage, identifying the failure as feedback is the first thing. So, every failed diet, every failed exercise programme, every failed thing you’ve done within health, fitness and nutrition that hasn’t worked for you is feedback on what not to do in the future” he says. While it can be easy to lump all that failure together, Brian says reflecting on your past experiences is the key to finding what will work for you going forward. For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to: independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/And you can get in touch - I’m @KarlHenryPT on Instagram and realhealth@independent.ie.Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe on Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts from.The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Setting resolutions to be healthier and focus on wellness can be a great way to kick off the new year. That, however, does not mean it is an easy change to make. While many will embrace a new way of living at, it is common for some to find themselves struggling to keep the motivation going as the months go on.That’s why on this week’s episode, I thought it was the perfect time to chat through some of the top ten reasons why people struggle with their fitness goals and give you my tips to help you get back on track. From overcoming the dreaded progress plateau to fighting off workout boredom, I have it all covered. Even if you find you have been able to stick to your resolutions, you’ll pick up some great advice on how to ensure you keep hitting your wellness goals throughout the year. For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to: independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/And you can get in touch - I’m @KarlHenryPT on Instagram and realhealth@independent.ie.Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe on Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts from.The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While exercise, hydration and diet are all important aspects of health, it can be difficult to hit our goals if we are worried about money. It is something that can cause stress and anxiety to many people, which can impact on our sleep and motivation.With our wallets exhausted from the December spending, this week on Real Health we are looking at how we can get our finances back on track. I’m joined money coach and author, Mrs Smart Money, Kel Galavan. Tackling our spending habits can be really daunting but Kel says this time of year can be the perfect time to decide to take back control: “You have the head space in the first couple of months of the year to get the good systems in place and good habits in place when it comes to money. I think the start of the year to set yourself for the rest of year and going forward, is probably one of the best times to do it.” From facing the money conversation with a partner to “no spend days”, Kel has loads of great tips on how we can all improve our financial health and achieve financial security in 2022. For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to: independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/ And you can get in touch - I’m @KarlHenryPT on Instagram and realhealth@independent.ie. Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe on Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts from. The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While many of us have decided to kick off the new year determined to improve our health and fitness, it is important that we also look at the other ways to improve our overall wellbeing. That is why on this week’s show, we will be looking at just that. I’m joined by Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin, Jim Lucey. We discuss how to build resilience, manage stress and how to make wellness obtainable. His book A Whole New Plan for Living, gives readers ten steps to show us how, by maintaining balance and wellness every day, we can achieve overall wellbeing. Jim says wellness is about more than just the absence of disease or illness, it is a more holistic and inclusive approach to health: “The best definition I use [in the book] is called the eight dimensions of wellness in which wellness is seen as having physical, occupational, environmental, intellectual, social, emotional, spiritual and financial aspects.”By breaking up wellness into parts, Jim says it is easier to apply positive changes in our lives: “Wellness is such a huge thing on its own. When you break it up, you can then say ‘well I can do a small thing’.”It’s important not to make these new plans too difficult or dramatic though. In order to try and implement some change in your life, Jim says you should make the goal small enough, so you know you can achieve it every day. For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to: independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/And you can get in touch - I’m @KarlHenryPT on Instagram and realhealth@independent.ie.Don’t forget to rate, review and follow on Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts from.The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Happy New Year everyone! On this week’s show, we are kicking off 2022 with a top tips episode. Rather than focusing on new year's resolutions, this time it's all about giving you small but achievable goals that will get you on track to lifelong health. Joining me to bring you his tips for getting your new year off to a great start, is fitness coach and nutritionist Shane Walsh. Shane’s advice is to keep it simple. Instead of trying to overhaul your diet or cutting out food groups entirely, Shane says it's important not to overlook the basics, like having regular meals: “What happens with a lot of people is that they don’t eat regularly throughout the day. Then in the evenings we’re really tired and really hungry and we get emotional or bored and that’s when the eating happens.” This is where the three meals a day and two or three snacks come in. By making sure you aren’t skipping meals, Shane says your blood sugars remain steady, you won’t be as hungry, your attention span will improve and you’ll probably be a nicer person to yourself too. But it’s not all about food! We also chat about ways to curb screen time, the importance of staying in touch with friends and how we need to schedule in the time for movement, in whatever format we like. For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to: independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/ And you can get in touch - I’m @KarlHenryPT on Instagram and Twitter and realhealth@independent.ie. Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe on Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts from. The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the last episode of Real Health for 2021, I’m bringing you an inspirational weight loss story. I’m joined by Leah Punch, who’s here to tell us about her incredible journey after getting a gastric by-pass. From being her heaviest at almost 22 stone, Leah has managed to lose a whopping 160 pounds. Leah says she has struggled with her weight since the age of six. After years of dieting, it was in 2017 she decided to put her name down for a gastric bypass in Ireland. However, she was told it could be up to eight years before she would be offered the surgery, which Leah says was too long to wait. “I was thinking to myself first of all, I probably won’t be alive in six to eight years and second of all, I want to change now.” That was when she decided to look abroad for the surgery, finally settling on a clinic in Lithuania. Despite losing 9 stone in the first year alone after the bypass, Leah says it wasn’t easy those few months after the operation: “It was intense going from being able to eat all this food to barely eating anything.” Now two years post op, Leah says it's all about having a balanced diet: “It's like something is after rearranging in my body. I now eat and I feel full. I never felt full before. I could always eat and eat and eat. It's just life changing.” For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to: independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/And you can get in touch - I’m @KarlHenryPT on Instagram and Twitter and realhealth@independent.ie.Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe on Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts from.The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's episode of Real Health, we thought we’d change it up and bring you an episode that is a little different to what we usually do. This week, I’m delighted to be joined by the Investigations Editor of the Sunday World, Nicola Tallant to talk all thing's journalism, how the world of crime has changed and how she copes with the pressures of her job. Nicola says being a journalist was something she knew she wanted to do from a young age, although the drive to be a crime journalist came later: “I don’t think I was totally focused on crime journalism. That came when I started working and I started being posted onto jobs involving crime stories. I realised that I really enjoyed them and found them fascinating.” We also discuss her take on how, as a country we need to look at dealing with crime in a new way: “Policing is just one aspect of dealing with crime, and it's probably not actually the best one...there’s been studies across the States and particularly in Baltimore that would suggest that properly funding community organizations equaling the amount of funding that goes in to policing and education...can have even more benefits than cracking down harder on crime.”For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to: independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast/And you can get in touch - I’m @KarlHenryPT on Instagram and Twitter and realhealth@independent.ie.Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe on Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts from.The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.