The Doc Replies

Our expert answers your medical questions

I’m a little underweight according to my Body Mass Index and would like to gain weight safely. Do you have any tips?

Before you try gaining weight, it’s probably best to check you don’t have an underlying health problem.

Your GP can check if something like an overactive thyroid, type 1 or 2 diabetes, coeliac disease or anything else has caused you to lose body mass.

Perhaps you can try having around five or six healthy, small meals throughout the day.

While the rest of us generally try to trim calories from our everyday diet (obesity is, after all, a much bigger problem than being underweight) you can do the things some of us would very much like.

Feel free to add things like grated cheddar to meals. Maybe a bit of double cream to your soup.

Avoid filling up on diet drinks, tea and coffee before meals, too.

It’s not a green light for unlimited cakes and biscuits – but perhaps go for healthier foods which are high in saturated fats, like peanut butter and avocado.

Just make sure you stop when you’re at your target weight!

I had flu recently and since then have lost my sense of taste. Is this normal?

It can be quite common to lose your sense of taste after illnesses that affect your nose and upper respiratory tract.

This can include flu, sinusitis and the common cold. For taste you require your sense of smell and it is actually the interruption to your sense of smell that causes the problem. It normally recovers within a few weeks.

I drink alcohol – a glass of wine – most evenings but have recently been troubled with acid indigestion. Is it the wine?

There are several things that can increase indigestion, and alcohol is one of them. Other common factors can be stress, caffeine (like tea, coffee or fizzy drinks), spicy food and being overweight.

The other common cause can be the use of anti inflammatory drugs such as Ibuprofen. I would suggest cutting down on wine, but also the use of over-the-counter indigestion remedies.