Sliced Bread

Acupressure Mats

This episode has been edited since broadcast. Twelve year old Bradley got in touch with Sliced Bread after trying out his mum Jennifer’s acupressure mat. Jennifer says she swears by it, it relaxes her, and she even falls asleep on it! But after testing it out himself, he was less than convinced. He asked us to find out what these mats are meant to do, whether they work or if they’re a placebo effect, and whether paying more for one could mean better results?
Joining Greg in the studio to discuss them, is Clinical Acupuncturist Phil Trubshaw from the Manchester Movement Unit based at Manchester Metropolitan University, as well as the Director of Research at the Northern College of Acupuncture, Dr. Karen Charlesworth. Have you seen a product that claims to make you happier, healthier or greener? Want to know if it is SB or BS? Then please do send it over on email to sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk or drop us a message or voicenote on Whatsapp to 07543 306807.PRESENTER: Greg FootPRODUCER: Kate Holdsworth

Sliced Bread is the series that investigates the latest ad-hyped products and trending fads promising to make us healthier, happier and greener. Are they really 'the best thing since sliced bread'? Science presenter Greg Foot finds out.Greg speaks to experts on a bunk-busting mission to test the latest consumer trends chosen by listeners. Do they live up to the hype? Or are they just marketing BS?Greg chats to the experts, dives into the data, performs tests and crunches the numbers before putting his findings back to the listener so they can decide if it's worth spending their hard earned money on.For this brand new series of Sliced Bread, episodes will be released weekly on Thursdays wherever you get your podcasts. But if you're in the UK, you can listen to the latest episode on BBC Sounds first, a week earlier than anywhere else. If you have a suggestion for a product to investigate, you can email the team on sliced.bread@bbc.co.uk or send a WhatsApp voice note via the number 07543 306807.Sliced Bread is produced by BBC Audio North for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.