Hannah Lynes

I recently had a colonoscopy. I found the procedure itself easy and stress-free (I accepted the sedation I was offered). By contrast, I found the diet and fasting I was asked to follow beforehand both practically and emotionally difficult. This prompted me to query the guidance I was given, to look at the evidence base…

NHS hospitals give different instructions about what patients can eat before a colonoscopy. These are the published rules I found, grouped by food. This is part of my series comparing NHS colonoscopy preparation instructions. Jump to: Salmon and other pink or oily fish · Red meat · Quorn · Cornflakes · Ready Brek · Crisps…

When do NHS hospitals tell people to stop eating solid food before a colonoscopy? It varies a lot. This page is part of my series on NHS colonoscopy preparation instructions. Is stopping food earlier really necessary? A UK survey found no clear link between longer fasting and better bowel cleansing. A randomised trial found that…

Published NHS patient instructions grouped by when they say to start a low-fibre or low-residue diet before colonoscopy. Guidelines and research evidence European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) guideline (2019) – recommends a low-fibre diet on the day preceding colonoscopy. Endorsed by the British Society of Gastroenterology. Systematic review and meta-analysis (2025) – five randomised…

I’m planning to test this out for the month of October, using my ordinary life as the test case. I’ve been wondering whether AI can help to redress the power imbalance between people and institutions by making it easier to raise concerns and to follow them through. There is in fact some research suggesting that…

I like to experiment with interesting flavours in my porridge (oatmeal, to non-Brits) and have written about some of the results so that other people can learn from my successes and failures. Here are my porridge adventures so far: Linseeds Fresh coriander Pineapple Peashoots Caraway seeds

The latest thing I’ve done is to sort all my ancient pots of spices by “best before” date. We’ve started using Anylist in our house, so I’ve made a list of all my spices in date order on Anylist. Now I’m working through them, starting with the oldest, putting them in whatever food I’m cooking.…

A bit of an odd one in my porridge series this morning. I had coconut milk left over from making pineapple and coconut porridge yesterday. I wanted to use it again, but had no fresh pineapple left. I’d bought quite a few random ingredients in M&S yesterday (still going with my yellow sticker hobby) so…

My latest hobby is going to M&S at the end of the day and buying things with yellow “reduced”  stickers on and then working out what I can do with them. Yesterday I picked up some chopped fresh pineapple so the obvious question this morning was “Can I put pineapple in my porridge?” I’ve always…

DS1’s secondary school requires the children to wear black coats and bags, in addition to black trousers, shoes and socks. I believe this makes it harder for the children to be seen by drivers and increases their risk of being involved in road accidents. I don’t think this uniform policy is unusual – I know…