Body Hits is an episodic documentary show made by the BBC that focuses on what goes on inside people's bodies as they fight their way through their hectic modern lifestyles.
It is presented by Dr John Marsden, a chartered psychologist and Senior Lecturer in Addictive Behaviour at London's Institute of Psychiatry and a senior member of the UK National Addiction Centre.
Season 1
Binges, benders, lost weekends - all are basic forms of modern-day hedonism. But what exactly are we doing to our bodies? Why is it getting difficult to just say 'no'?
In this season the culture and science of excess is examined through studying the very nature of pleasure and the biological pathways that drive desire.
Computer graphics help reveal what goes on in our bodies - during the process of partying and also during our efforts to reverse the effects by dieting and detox.
Learn about the latest facts and statistics - cocaine ages the heart irreversibly, alcohol is more physically addictive than most illegal drugs and fasting can, in fact, poison the system.
Detox diets - the good, the bad and the ugly - are investigated in a search to find a regime that works.
Season 1 Episode Summaries
Body Beautiful
Dr Marsden looks at how in today's society even healthy living is taken to excess. Fuelled by the admiration heaped on minuscule pop stars and supermodels and superfit athletes and actors, in the Western world slim = beautiful.
Body image has become such an obsession that people follow dangerous diets age their joints and muscles through obsessive exercise and spend much of their lives worrying about not being the right shape or size.
Overweight taxi driver Andy tries out a high protein meal plan in order to kick-start his diet. To his fitness instructor wife's bemusement, he fries up bacon and eggs for breakfast whilst she tucks into a bowl of muesli.
After two weeks, both are surprised by the results. Dr Marsden explains how a high protein diet can be used for a limited time, if followed up by a more traditional healthy diet, as a good way to achieve weight loss.
Using software developed at the University of Aberdeen, compulsive dieter Helen finds out how realistic her perception of her body size is. She's surprised to discover that in terms of body shape, she estimates herself to be a stone heavier than she actually is.
To ex-bulimic Phil, working out is one of the most important things in his life. Although exercise addiction like his is rare, Dr Marsden explains how the endorphins released whilst training are probably responsible.
But, as Phil now depends on this chemical rush, when he misses a gym session he feels agitated, gets sweaty palms and can't focus on anything until he's had his next 'fix'. Every day he spends at the gym is another day that he doesn't resort to throwing up as an alternative weight loss plan.
Detox Devils
Our bodies are already well designed to protect against toxins anyway, though. Two of the most powerful detox weapons, namely the liver and kidney, work hard every day helping to keep us healthy. And no matter what detox treatments a person might try, simply drinking enough water is the really essential key to maintaining health.
So, are detox treatments just a load of trendy hype? Is the idea of a quick-fix against the excesses we put our bodies through really too good to be true? As Dr Marsden explains: "A person taking a sauna would have to sweat profusely for over ten hours just to remove the same amount of toxins released when they take a pee!"
Three fast-living, over-indulgers agree to go on a 10-day detox diet. Plus, as an added boost, each try out a different detox treatment - a seaweed body wrap, lymph drainage massage and colonic irrigation. The results are certainly interesting.
Although the claims of many detox treatments can't be backed up scientifically it doesn't mean they don't offer benefits. There's no doubt that massages, body wraps, saunas etc. feel wonderful and are a great way to relax from the stresses and strains of daily life.
The psychological benefits of detox shouldn't be underestimated then, but it's probably worth being a little bit more realistic about what we believe they'll achieve.
On The Lash
On The Lash focuses on the UK's favourite drug - alcohol. Using 3D-computer graphics to illustrate, it reveals some fascinating insights into booze and the physical and psychological effects that it has on the human body.
The programme looks at the behaviour of three women and three men as they venture out on a group blind date. They start sober, but as they drink more the alcohol has some interesting effects on their sex hormones - some of which might well be a surprise to viewers.
Plus, not one to miss out on the action, Dr Marsden takes part in his own social experiment to help explain why it is that women get drunk more easily than men even when they are the roughly the same height and weight as a man...
Seventeen tequilas later, he is no longer able to comment, although his newly found dancing talent speaks for itself!
Sensory Overload
Dr Marsden takes his own sensory journey to discover some surprising facts about the human senses.
Our senses are an amazing part of normal bodily function - absolutely necessary for our survival yet completely taken for granted, by most of us anyway. It is generally assumed we have five of them, but this is now actually been shown to be wrong. Some scientists say we have nine, some say 21. In fact no one really agrees how many we have.
Dr Marsden delves deeper to find out what our senses really do and how they work. Along the way he experiences the world's most expensive taste, hears a sound that literally makes him feel sick and discovers what it's like to be deprived of all of his senses completely.
He also meets three extraordinarily 'sensitive' members of the public who are put through a series of carefully designed challenges which test the strength of their senses to the limit...
Summer Shocks
Holiday time... safe, fun, relaxing? Think again! Most people love going abroad, getting away from it all and catching a few rays, but although our minds might get a rest our bodies are, in fact, put under more strain than ever.
Body Hits unravels the tension between the psychology and biology involved in spending two weeks in the sun.
In this truly summer special, Dr Marsden tackles the effects of a few summer symptoms: sun, bugs, jetlag and the runs.
He tests to see if it really is true mosquitoes are attracted to some types of skin more than others and puts himself through the nightmare of jet lag to explain the timekeeping mayhem that goes on inside the body as it adjusts to a new time zone.
Upset stomachs are also on the agenda to discover whether it's better to bung it up (the other end) or to let things run their natural course.
Unveiling all the latest scientific research John answers all these questions and more with the help of some real-life case studies - a group of hockey-playing lads who are out for a good time in Barcelona, partying till dawn then onto the pitch during the day; a couple who suffer the miseries of a dodgy holiday meal; and two dedicated sun-worshippers for whom a holiday simply means tan, tan, tan, but get a sobering wake-up call from a dermatologist back in London.