01. Kamal Patel

Analysing research papers might not be many people’s idea of a hobby. But it’s Kamal Patel’s – as well as his profession. Patel and his examine.com co-founder, Sol Orwell, met after discovering that they were both sufferers of the same rare and painful joint condition, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and were searching for ways to manage it.

At the time, Patel was researching vitamin D at the US Institute of Medicine. “I was also a wannabe powerlifter,” he says, “so I was tweaking my diet a lot.” Both men were dismayed by the lack of a comprehensive source of unbiased nutritional information. Given the thousands of game-changing studies published each year – and the haphazard way in which they’re reported by the media – how could the average person keep up? They created a solution. (And bought the domain name for $41,000.)

Today, examine.com attracts millions of visitors each month. “We don’t pump out click bait, we don’t accept third-party ads, and we don’t sell supplements,” says Patel. Instead, they assist hospitals in crafting research tools for their physicians and sell targeted content packages. Taking the path less trodden is a slog. “After all, we’re not a mega-corporation,” he says. “We’re just a team of research nerds.”

The area of research on which Patel is currently most frequently nerding out is gut health. “There used to be this concept that when you eat something, it’s just integrated into your body,” he explains. “But now, we know that everybody’s gut is different and reacts very differently to foods. That’s why people sometimes say a certain diet didn’t work for them.” But more important than what he does know is his willingness to recognise what he doesn’t: “We know that we’re fallible. We make mistakes. So, if anyone catches anything, please let us know.”