Author: Sameed Chaudhary

That sudden, overwhelming urge for something sweet after dinner, or the way the smell of fresh samosas from a Lahore street cart makes you feel like you absolutely need one right now — that is a food craving. It is not the same as ordinary hunger, and it does not mean you have weak willpower. Food cravings are one of the most common eating challenges reported by Pakistani adults, particularly in cities where ultra-processed snacks, sugary drinks, and late-night delivery apps have become part of everyday life. A published study in a peer-reviewed journal found that Pakistani students tend to…

Badam has been part of the Pakistani morning routine for generations. Grandmothers across Lahore and Karachi have been placing a handful of almonds in water every night, long before nutrition science had a name for what they were doing. Soaking almonds overnight is one of those traditional habits that turns out to have a reasonable basis in nutrition, even if the full picture is more nuanced than most blogs let on. Pakistan imports badam from California, Iran, and Afghanistan, with American California almonds and local Gurbandi badam being the most common varieties found in Lahore’s Liberty Market or Karachi’s dry-fruit…

Late dinners are a way of life in Pakistan. Most families sit down to eat at 9 or 10 pm, chai arrives well after that, and during Ramadan the sehri meal is at 3 am. So when health advice says “don’t eat after 7 pm,” it doesn’t quite fit the reality of how Pakistanis actually live. The real question isn’t whether you eat late. It’s what happens to your body when you do, and whether the habit is causing harm you can’t see yet. The answer depends on how often it happens, how much you eat, and what your health…

Most Pakistani families talk about everything at a dawat — the food, the relatives, the latest news. What rarely comes up is who in the family had sugar (diabetes), who had a heart attack in their fifties, or whether a grandmother on the maternal side had breast cancer. That silence has a cost. Pakistan carries one of the heaviest burdens of non-communicable diseases in the region. According to the World Health Organization, non-communicable diseases account for over 58% of all deaths in Pakistan. Diabetes alone affects an estimated 33 million adults in the country, per the International Diabetes Federation’s 2021…

Waking up to a pale or white coating on your tongue is one of those things that feels alarming but is, in most cases, harmless. It is a common complaint in Pakistani clinics, particularly during the summer months when dehydration sets in fast and people reach for chai instead of water. That said, not every white tongue is the same. The coating’s texture, location, and whether it wipes off cleanly are the three things that tell a doctor the most. A thin, even film that scrapes away easily is very different from a thick, raised patch that stays put no…

Most people in Pakistan know they should drink more water. What fewer people realise is that how and when you drink it matters just as much as the amount. A person who drinks two litres a day can still be functionally dehydrated if they drink it all in the wrong way. Pakistan’s climate makes this more pressing than most places. In Lahore and Karachi, summer temperatures regularly cross 40°C, and the body loses far more fluid through sweat than the standard eight-glass guideline accounts for. Add three to four cups of chai a day — a near-universal habit — and…

Most Pakistani families have at least one condition that seems to repeat across generations. A grandfather with heart disease, an aunt with diabetes, a cousin born with a blood disorder. These patterns are not coincidence. They reflect a mix of shared genes, shared diets, and in many cases, a uniquely Pakistani factor: the relatively high rate of consanguineous marriage, where close relatives marry within the family. Pakistan has one of the highest rates of cousin marriages in the world, and this significantly raises the likelihood that certain recessive genetic conditions appear in children. At the same time, lifestyle-linked conditions like…

A burning feeling behind the breastbone after a plate of biryani or a late-night paratha is something most Pakistanis have experienced at some point. For many people, that discomfort passes within an hour or two and is easily dismissed as acidity. The problem starts when it doesn’t pass, or when it keeps coming back night after night. Research published in Frontiers in Medicine found that roughly 26.6% of patients screened in Southern Punjab met the diagnostic threshold for GERD, and a cross-sectional study conducted across Karachi hospitals found that 95.3% of confirmed GERD cases reported symptoms specifically after meals. These…

Every year on 28 July, the world marks World Hepatitis Day. For most countries it is a reminder. For Pakistan, it is an emergency. Pakistan now carries the heaviest hepatitis C burden on the planet, a silent virus known locally as کالا یرقان (kala yarqan) that millions carry without ever knowing. Quick Answer Pakistan has the highest number of hepatitis C cases in the world, with an estimated 10 million people infected, yet most do not know they carry the virus. This World Hepatitis Day, the single most important step you can take is a simple blood test, because hepatitis…

Every Pakistani household has heard it. Your mother, your nani, your khala — someone has told you: “Baal geele hain, zukam ho jayega.” Step outside with wet hair and you’ll catch a cold. It’s one of the most persistent health beliefs passed down through generations, and it feels logical enough. But here’s what the science actually says: going out with wet hair does not give you a cold. The belief is understandable, but it isn’t supported by medical evidence. That said, wet hair isn’t entirely harmless either — and the real risks are ones most people don’t think about. This…