Books
Signals
Journey inside the body to discover the spectacular communication system that orchestrates every milestone and moment of life through its animating signals: hormones.
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If you sit with me, on my side of the desk, you’ll hear stories of living in a body that feels uneasy, out of sorts, destabilised. When our hormone signals break down, we see with hindsight how precarious, how precious our expectation of a normal life was.
In Signals, I invite you to journey into the mysterious, miraculous and often misunderstood hormone system that makes us who we are beyond hormone hacks and hype to tune out the noise and, instead, listen to the signals—to the powerful hormone life force and how the body talks to itself.
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Read sample Listen to sampleIn Signals, I invite you to journey into the mysterious, miraculous and often misunderstood hormone system that makes us who we are, going beyond the hormone hacks and hype to tune out the noise and, instead, listen to the signals—to the powerful hormone life force and how the body talks to itself.
Explore Signals
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A Next Big Idea Club Must Read
A note on the book’s cover
Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (1910–94) was a female chemist in an early-twentieth century man’s world who used the technique of X-ray crystallography to visualise the atomic structure of biological molecules. Hodgkin’s research at Oxford University during the war deciphered the three-dimensional configuration of penicillin, a breakthrough which allowed for the mass production of antibiotics. In 1964, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, making her the first and, to date, the only British woman Nobel Laureate in science – an extraordinary achievement immortalised by the Daily Mail headline ‘Oxford Housewife Wins Nobel’.
Hodgkin began her work on insulin in 1934 as a twenty-four-year-old researcher at Oxford, where she first observed the ‘beautiful shining colourless rhombohedra’ of the hormone’s crystals under a microscope. Insulin’s structural complexity, however, meant that it would take three decades for Hodgkin to determine its atomic architecture, the discovery on which the production of synthetic insulin with a reliable, standardised potency is based.
The motif on the book’s cover (as well as the endpapers in the hardback edition) is inspired by Hodgkin’s 1930s ‘contour map’ of insulin, depicting her preliminary research on the hormone’s structure. Hodgkin’s original was drawn by hand in a style possibly influenced by her childhood visits to North Africa, where she helped her archaeologist father to record Byzantine-era mosaic patterns.
X-ray crystallography produced images of such beauty that, in 1951, the Festival of Britain exhibition included cutting-edge works reminiscent of these mesmerising configurations. Many of the showcased designs, appearing on everything from fabric prints and bridal lace to wallpaper and carpets, were based on Hodgkin’s depiction of insulin. Hodgkin declined a fee for the use of her drawing and refused to copyright it, insisting, ‘I feel rather doubtful whether I own any copyright of a pattern perpetuated by nature.’
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Books about weight-loss
and metabolic health
Every year thousands of scientific discoveries are made about weight loss, exercise, sleep, brain function and behaviour change. Yet most people who seek help with their weight are not told about this powerful new science.
Instead of serving the people that need to hear about it the most, these cutting edge breakthroughs stay in the laboratories and scientific journals. The Full Diet aims to change that because it is based on this game-changing science – a pioneering, multi-dimensional programme that gets exceptional weight-loss results.
Designed by me and my colleagues – doctors and scientists at Imperial College London – The Full Diet was born out of the question: ‘What if . . . ?’
‘What if we shared the science with our patients?’
‘What if we could create a weight-loss programme so well crafted, accessible and enjoyable that our patients could benefit from the transformative force of this great science?’
The Full Diet has helped hundreds of patients in our specialist NHS clinic to lose weight and reclaim their health.
As news of the Programme’s remarkable weight-loss outcomes spread, it became clear that no matter how many people I saw, there were many more who could benefit. That’s why I decided to write this book in which you will find out everything that my patients learn, so that its winning formula can work for you too.
The Full Diet
The revolutionary guide to ditching ultra-processed foods and achieving lasting health.
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The Full Diet Cookbook
Combines the latest science behind achievable, lasting weight loss with fresh, healthy ingredients to create simple and satisfying recipes for sustainable weight loss.
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