This is not a blog.
It is a record of thinking — clinical observations, questions worth asking, things the research says that rarely make it into a consultation room.
Written slowly. Published when ready.
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Why ‘Listen to Your Body’ Is Bad Advice — And What Works
“Just listen to your body.” I hear this advice given constantly — by trainers, by wellness influencers, by well-meaning friends, occasionally by physicians who should know better. It sounds like wisdom. It sounds like the antidote to the over-medicalised, over-quantified approach to health. It is, in most situations, genuinely unhelpful. And in some situations, it…
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Retinol: Is It Really the Gold Standard? What I Prescribe
A patient came in last year having used retinol for six months with no visible results. She had faithfully applied it twice a week, as instructed, to her whole face. She had experienced some initial flakiness, which had settled. But the changes she’d hoped to see — better skin texture, reduced lines, improved tone —…
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Clean Beauty Trend: What the Science Actually Says
A patient came in recently having replaced her entire skincare routine over six months. Not because the products weren’t working — they were. She replaced them because she’d read extensively about “toxic” ingredients and had become concerned that her retinoid and her SPF contained things that were harmful. Her new routine contained none of those…
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Anti-Ageing Diet Myths — What the Science Actually Says
Every year or so, a new dietary framework arrives with complete confidence. For a while it’s intermittent fasting. Then it’s carnivore. Then it’s plant-based plus supplements. Then it’s some version of the Mediterranean diet, but specifically Mediterranean-from-before-industrialisation, and please mind the olive oil provenance. I read these things as they arrive. Professionally, I have to.…
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Why SPF 50 Isn’t Enough in Singapore
Singapore sits at 1.3 degrees north of the equator. We have no winter. No meaningful cloud cover that persists for more than a day. UV index above 6 — the level at which protective measures are recommended — is the norm here, not the exception. We reach UV index 12 and above on clear days,…
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Best Supplements for Women Over 40 — An Honest Review
I once counted the supplements a patient brought to her appointment. Twelve. Twelve different bottles, representing a monthly spend I estimated at over SGD 400. Some were duplicating each other. Two were interacting in ways that weren’t helpful. One was for a specific deficiency that her blood tests had never confirmed she had. She had…
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What Intermittent Fasting Does to Women’s Bodies
The question comes up in at least one consultation a week. Usually from a patient who has read an article, watched a documentary, or has a friend who has had “amazing results.” They’re wondering whether intermittent fasting is something they should be doing. They’re 45, 49, 53. They’re interested in metabolic health and they’ve heard…
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Sleep Science for Women Over 40: What You Need to Know
It’s 3:17am and a patient I’ll see tomorrow has texted me — not urgently, just a message she’ll expect me to read in the morning. But the reason I know it’s 3:17am is because I’m awake. Not from the notification. From the thing that woke me before it arrived. I know this pattern well. I’ve…
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Why Some Women in Singapore Have Makeup-Optional, Expensive-Looking Skin
Why some women in Singapore seem to have refined, expensive-looking skin without relying on heavy makeup — and what skin quality really means.
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I Tested My Blood Every 3 Months for a Year — What I Found
I ordered my first quarterly blood panel because I was writing my book and wanted to understand my own baseline before recommending anything to patients that I hadn’t applied to myself. That was straightforward enough. What I didn’t anticipate was how interesting the longitudinal data would become — not the absolute values, which were mostly…
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