HealthBlokk Blog
Stories, science & safer eating
Insights on food intolerances, allergies, restaurant safety and the tech behind your personalised dietary AI agent.
What we write about
Is Keto Good for Weight Loss? What Happens at 12 Months, and Who Should Skip It
Keto usually wins the first few months and then the gap closes. Here is why the early loss is so fast, what head-to-head trials show at a year against low-fat and Mediterranean eating, the side effects worth planning for, who should not try it without a clinician, and how to order it in a restaurant without a fuss.
Shideh Heravi15 September 2026Told to Go Gluten-Free? Where to Start, and What to Check First
Someone has told you to go gluten-free, and now you are staring at a supermarket shelf. Here is a calm first-two-weeks guide: the one test to do before you change anything, where gluten actually hides, what to eat instead, and when a gluten-free diet is worth it and when it is not.
Shideh Heravi15 September 2026Clean Eating Recipes: 7 Simple Weekday Meals for Two (With Intolerance Swaps)
Seven weekday recipes built on the pattern the evidence actually supports: minimally processed food, mostly plants, enough protein and fibre, olive oil and legumes. Each one takes under 30 minutes, uses what Austrian supermarkets stock (Topfen, lentils, oats, rye bread), and comes with a swap for gluten, lactose or FODMAP sensitivity.
Shideh Heravi15 September 2026Type 2 Diabetes, Food and Lifestyle: What Can Actually Change, and What Cannot
Can type 2 diabetes be reversed with diet? For some people, yes, especially early on and with meaningful weight loss, and the trials that show it are worth knowing. Here is what food, walking, sleep and strength training can realistically do for type 2 diabetes and prediabetes, where the evidence is thin, and why medication changes have to go through your prescriber.
Shideh Heravi15 September 2026Depression and Food: Can Diet Help Depression, and How Much?
Nutritional psychiatry has moved from "eat well and you will feel better" to actual randomised trials. Here is what those trials found, where the evidence is still thin, and what a food plan that supports treatment (never replaces it) looks like on an ordinary Tuesday.
Shideh Heravi15 September 2026Why Am I Gaining Weight? The Slow Causes Nobody Notices, and How to Stop It
Most adult weight gain is not a sudden failure of willpower. It is a slow drift of a few hundred grams a year from portion creep, ultra-processed food, liquid calories, short sleep, less daily movement, menopause and some medicines. Here is what the evidence says drives it, and a small-changes plan that closes the gap.
Shideh Heravi15 September 2026Why Am I Tired After Eating? The Post-Meal Slump, Low Energy All the Time, and What to Check
Feeling tired after eating is usually about meal size, meal make-up and the night before, not a mystery food. Here is what the evidence says about the post-lunch slump, why "sugar crashes" are common but true reactive hypoglycaemia is rare, and the handful of blood tests worth asking for when low energy has lasted weeks.
Shideh Heravi15 September 2026Brain Fog and Food: What Actually Causes It, and What to Check First
Brain fog is a symptom, not a diagnosis, and food is only one of the things that can cause it. Here are the causes with real evidence behind them, from sleep and hydration to iron, B12, thyroid and coeliac disease, and a short plan that checks the likely things before you cut out half your diet.
Shideh Heravi15 September 2026Why Do I Get Food Cravings? The Seven Drivers, and What Actually Helps
Cravings are rarely a character flaw. They are usually the predictable result of a blood sugar dip, a short night, a stressful afternoon, a rule you have been trying too hard to keep, or a cue you walk past every day. Here is what the research says drives them, and a plan that works with your biology instead of against it.
Shideh Heravi15 September 2026Is Organic Food Worth It? What the Evidence Says About Nutrients, Pesticides and Your Budget
Organic food costs more, and the honest answer to whether it is worth it depends on what you are buying it for. Here is what the research shows on nutrients (small differences), pesticide residues (clearly lower, but conventional is mostly within limits), cancer studies that disagree with each other, and where the money is best spent if you have a fixed budget.
Shideh Heravi15 September 2026Foods That Lower Inflammation: 10 With Real Evidence, Explained Through Your CRP Result
Your blood test says CRP and the number is higher than you expected. Here is what CRP actually measures, what the ranges mean, and the ten foods with trial evidence for nudging it down. Also the honest part: what food can and cannot do next to weight, sleep and smoking.
Shideh Heravi15 September 2026Keto Diet and Mental Health: What the Evidence Shows, and What It Does Not Yet
The ketogenic diet has a century of evidence in drug-resistant epilepsy and a growing pile of small, hopeful studies in bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and depression. Here is what is established, what is still a pilot study, how it might work, and why nobody should change a psychiatric medication on the strength of a headline.
Shideh Heravi15 September 2026Three Months of Home Cooking, Then a Fast-Food Burrito: What Actually Happened
Dry mouth, foggy thinking, gas, and a strange craving for anything fizzy. A first-person account of what happened after three months of mostly home-cooked food, what the likely explanations are, and the symptoms that would have meant stopping and calling a doctor instead.
Shideh Heravi11 September 2026Do You Actually Need Intermittent Fasting?
When trials control for calories, intermittent fasting performs about the same as ordinary calorie restriction, and one well-run trial found more lean mass lost. That does not make it useless. It makes it a scheduling tool that suits some people and not others. Here is how to tell which you are.
Shideh Heravi11 September 2026Intermittent Fasting and Serious Training: Can You Do Both?
Often yes, with conditions, and the conditions are not the ones people expect. The research on fasted athletes points at total energy, protein and sleep as the things that decide the outcome, not the fasting window itself. Here is what holds up and what to watch.
Shideh Heravi11 September 2026Why Intermittent Fasting Falls Apart in Week Three, and What Actually Helps
Almost nobody quits intermittent fasting because they stopped believing in it. They quit because it collided with a late meeting, a birthday dinner and a holiday, in that order. Here is how to build an eating window around the life you actually have.
Shideh Heravi11 September 2026What Can You Drink While Fasting? Coffee, Tea, and What Actually Breaks a Fast
The honest answer is that it depends on what you are fasting for, and almost nobody asks that first. Here is what water, coffee, tea, milk and sweeteners do to a fast, how long a fast needs to be, and why the autophagy claims you have read are less settled than they sound.
Shideh Heravi11 September 2026Preparing to Fast: The Week Before Matters More Than Day One
Most people prepare for a fast by eating everything in the fridge the night before. That is the one approach almost guaranteed to make day one miserable. Here is what preparation actually involves, who should not fast at all, and why breaking the fast needs more care than starting it.
Shideh Heravi11 September 2026The Gut Health and Microbiome Questions People Ask Most, Answered Honestly
Fifteen questions people ask Google and ChatGPT about gut health, from "how do I know if my gut is unhealthy" to "do microbiome tests work" and "is leaky gut real", each answered in under 150 words with the evidence, the uncertainty, and one thing to do next.
Shideh Heravi11 September 2026The Nutrition Questions People Ask Google and ChatGPT Most, Answered Honestly
Fifteen questions people type into Google and ask ChatGPT about food every day, from "how much protein do I need" to "why am I always bloated", each answered in under 150 words with the evidence, the uncertainty, and one thing to do next.
Shideh Heravi11 September 2026HealthBlokk vs MyFitnessPal, Noom, ZOE and ChatGPT: Which Nutrition Tool Fits Your Problem?
Trackers measure, Noom teaches, ZOE tests, ChatGPT answers. HealthBlokk acts on your actual day: it messages first, remembers your allergies and goals, and turns a menu or a blood test into a decision. Here is an honest comparison, including where each of the others is better.
Shideh Heravi11 September 2026Iron From Food vs Supplements: What Your Body Absorbs, and What Blocks It
Iron is one of the few nutrients where what you eat alongside it matters as much as the dose. Here is how iron from food and iron from a tablet differ, the everyday things that block absorption (tea, coffee, dairy, whole grains), and how to time them so they stop cancelling each other out.
Shideh Heravi11 September 2026Histamine Intolerance and Eating Out: A Practical Survival Guide
Histamine intolerance is the hardest food problem to explain to a restaurant, because it is not on any allergen list and the trigger is often age and storage rather than ingredients. Here is what the evidence supports, what to order, and what to say.
Shideh Heravi16 August 2026Cross-Contamination When Eating Out: What It Is and How to Avoid It
The allergen that reaches your plate usually was never an ingredient. It arrived on a pair of tongs, in a fryer, or in the pasta water. Here is where cross-contact actually happens in a restaurant kitchen, what the testing data shows, and the questions that catch it.
Shideh Heravi16 August 2026Why Am I Bloated After Eating? The Real Causes, Ranked
About 1 in 7 adults reports bloating in any given week, and most never get it explained. Here are the actual causes ranked by how common they are, the tests worth having, the red flags that need a doctor, and what genuinely helps.
Shideh Heravi16 August 2026What to Eat on GLP-1 Medications: An Evidence-Based Food Guide
GLP-1 medications shrink your appetite, not your nutritional needs. Here is what the evidence says about protein, fibre and the foods that trigger nausea, plus how to protect muscle while you lose weight and what to do when the side effects hit.
Shideh Heravi16 August 2026Fibermaxxing: How to Actually Eat More Fibre Without Wrecking Your Gut
Fibre has overtaken protein as 2026's macronutrient of the moment, and most people genuinely do need more of it. Here is what the evidence supports, how much is enough, why fibermaxxing backfires for sensitive guts, and how to ramp up without a week of bloating.
Shideh Heravi16 August 2026Why a Coach That Messages You First Beats One That Waits
About half of people who intend to change a health behaviour never do. That gap is not an information problem, so more advice does not close it. Here is the evidence on why timing beats content, and why the best nutrition tool is the one that speaks first.
Shideh Heravi16 August 2026What an AI Nutrition Coach Can Actually Do (And What It Can't)
A straight capability list with the limits attached, including the research on where AI food estimation breaks down. If you want to know whether an AI nutrition coach is worth it, the honest answer depends entirely on which of these jobs you need.
Shideh Heravi16 August 2026Can an AI Help You Eat Out Safely With a Food Allergy?
Yes, for the research and the questions. No, for the guarantee. More than half of restaurant allergic reactions happen even after the customer tells staff, which tells you exactly where an AI helps and where it must not pretend to.
Shideh Heravi16 August 2026AI Nutrition Coach vs a Dietitian: Which One Do You Actually Need?
An AI coach and a registered dietitian solve different problems, and the honest answer is that most people who need one do not need the other. Here is what the research shows each is good at, where AI measurably fails, and how to tell which side of the line you are on.
Shideh Heravi16 August 2026Winter Depression and Vitamin D: Why to Start Before Winter, Not During It
Most people start taking vitamin D in December, which is roughly three months too late. Here is what the evidence actually says about vitamin D and winter depression, when to start, how much to take, and why timing is the part almost everyone gets wrong.
Shideh Heravi15 August 2026It May Not Just Be What's in Ultra-Processed Foods, but How They're Made
New research suggests the health risks of ultra-processed foods may come partly from how they are made, not only their nutrients. Here is what the study found, why processing itself might matter, and what to do with evidence that is still uncertain.
Shideh Heravi18 July 2026Can Nutrition and the Gut Microbiome Help Prevent Food Allergy?
Early-life nutrition and the gut microbiome may shape food allergy risk, but the evidence is more mixed than most gut-health headlines suggest. Here is what the research actually shows, what it does not, and where prevention advice is still tentative.
Shideh Heravi15 July 2026Anti-Inflammatory Foods That Quietly Extend Your Healthspan
Chronic low-grade inflammation ("inflammaging") drives most age-related disease. Here are the everyday anti-inflammatory foods with the strongest longevity evidence, what the trials actually show, and how to eat them.
Shideh Heravi24 May 2026The Mediterranean Diet and Longevity: What the Evidence Actually Shows
The Mediterranean diet has the deepest evidence base of any eating pattern for a longer life. A source-backed look at what the trials prove, where the blue zone story gets shaky, and a simple weekly template.
Shideh Heravi24 May 2026Intermittent Fasting and Longevity: A Science-Backed Beginner Guide
Does fasting actually extend healthspan, or is it hype? A source-backed beginner guide to intermittent fasting and longevity: metabolic switching, autophagy, what the human trials really show, and a calm way to start.
Shideh Heravi24 May 2026The 12 Best Foods for Healthspan, Backed by Science
Healthspan is the number longevity research actually optimises for. Here are 12 foods with the strongest human evidence for adding healthy years, with the studies, doses, and honest caveats.
Shideh Heravi23 May 2026Longevity Nutrition: The Complete, Evidence-Based Guide to Eating for a Longer Life
What the science of longevity actually says about food. A source-backed guide to the foods, nutrients and eating patterns that add healthy years, and the ones that quietly take them away.
Shideh Heravi23 May 2026Gut Health and Longevity: Why Your Microbiome Is the Hidden Lever for a Longer Life
The diversity of your gut microbiome is one of the strongest signals of healthy ageing we have. Here is what the research shows, and how to feed it even with IBS, allergies or food intolerances.
Shideh Heravi23 May 2026Clean Eating, Decoded: What It Actually Means (and What the Science Says)
"Clean eating" has no legal definition and gets twisted into a thousand fad rules. Here is what the research actually supports: a practical, source-backed framework built around minimally processed food, not perfection.
Shideh Heravi4 May 2026Hidden Sources of Gluten in Restaurant Menus: A Reported Field Guide
One in three "gluten-free" restaurant meals tested positive for gluten. A source-backed investigation into where it hides, what the research shows, and how to eat out safely with celiac disease.
Shideh Heravi4 May 2026Low-FODMAP for Beginners: A Practical Starter Guide
The low-FODMAP diet helps roughly 3 in 4 people with IBS, but only if you do all three phases. A source-backed beginner's guide to starting it safely, without living on plain rice forever.
Shideh Heravi4 May 2026Why Gut Health Matters: A Beginner's Guide to Your Microbiome
Your gut hosts roughly 38 trillion microbes that shape digestion, immunity, and mood. Here is what the research actually says about why gut health matters, the signs something is off, and the few habits that move the needle.
Shideh Heravi4 May 2026How to Eat Out Safely With a Food Intolerance: A Practical, Source-Backed Guide
Up to a third of Western adults report reacting to food, yet intolerances rarely show up on a menu. Here is how to read a menu, brief the kitchen, and order with confidence when you have a food intolerance.
Shideh Heravi4 May 2026What Is a Personalised Dietary AI Agent? A Plain-English Guide
A personalised dietary AI agent learns your allergies, intolerances and goals once, then reasons about every meal for you. Here is how it works, what the evidence says, and where it beats both generic apps and a raw chatbot.
Shideh Heravi4 May 2026Lactose Intolerance vs. Dairy Allergy: How to Tell the Difference
Same trigger food, two completely different conditions. One is a digestive enzyme shortfall, the other an immune reaction that can turn dangerous. Here is how to tell lactose intolerance from a dairy allergy, what the research shows, and what you can safely eat.
Shideh Heravi29 April 2026