Should I Delete That? - Debunking Diet Myths with Dr. Joshua Wolrich

Episode Date: February 28, 2022

On the release of this episode, it didn’t feel right to ignore or fail to address the tragic, heartbreaking developments in Ukraine.Depending on our schedules, we often pre-record our episodes before they goes live and for this reason, we haven’t acknowledged the devastating events that are currently unfolding in this upcoming episode.  While we’re still not entirely sure what we can do to help in even the smallest way, we are currently speaking with trusts and charities on how best to bring more light to the situation and share with you. Unfortunately, time isn’t always on our side and we haven’t been able to make this happen as quickly as we would have hoped. We’re sending love out to everyone and hope that we can help direct you to channels that share the facts on the situation and also what we as individuals can do to help.This week, we grill Dr. Joshua Wolrich on common dieting misconceptions. He busts myths about sugar, gluten, diet coke and even microwaves...You can find Dr. Josh's book here: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1120378/food-isn_t-medicine/9781785043451.htmlAnd you can follow him on Instagram @drjoshuawolrichShow timestamps:Good, Bad & Awkward - 00:02:20Interview with Dr. Joshua Wolrich - 00:18:40Is It Just Me? - 01:17:00Follow us on Instagram @shouldideletethatEmail us at [e-mail] by Butternut Box - visit www.butternutbox.com/alexandem for 50% off your first two boxesProduced & edited by Daisy GrantMusic by Alex Andrew Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are so happy and proud that this episode is sponsored by Butternut Box, a brand that we love for many reasons. As you'll probably already know, if you follow us both on Instagram, buttonut box is a fresh dog food delivery service that delivers straight to your door and takes into consideration all of your dog's dietary needs. The brand started with a rescue dog, which we obviously love, and Betty and Bua have absolutely thrived on it. Butternut Box genuinely care about their dogs and their ethos is that good enough for the dog is not good enough. Dogs deserve better. The meals are comprised of quality meat, veg, lentils, vitamins and minerals

and don't contain any grain, wheat, gluten, corn, soy or sugar, all of which are known to cause intolerances in dogs. We haven't been asked to say this, but we wanted to highlight a huge amount of work that Butternut Box do with dog charities. They donate meals to dogs in shelters, and they even donate freezers so that the shelters can store the meals. If you would like to try Buttonut Box out for your dog, you can get 50% off your first two boxes with the following link.

com forward slash alex and m oh my god why did i post that ah i don't know what to do should i delete that yeah you should definitely delete that recording in progress every fucking time i have a heart attack i can't do recording in progress i can't do no please will you just please do your Australian accent, because you really can't do that. Recording in process. No, no, no. Wait. Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on.

Recording in process. Oh, my God. Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on, good day. I'm recording now. Oh, no. Oh, my God. You sound terrible. Recording in progress.

According in progress. There you go. I'm in it now. Please get out of it. Well, that was hard. horrifying. Hi. Welcome back, everyone.

Welcome back. How are you? Well, shit state now, because I've just ripped all my stitches, fucking gawfing or whatever that horrific attempt to Australian accent was. And you've also had a really shit week. Yeah, we've had shit weeks, haven't we? Disaster.

Yeah. I know. And that's actually my bad, so I might as well just say it now, right? The good. The bad. And the awkward. Why do we start every episode so negatively?

We should call it the bad, the good and the awkward. No, go lean in. Lean in, lean in. Yeah, at the risk of this podcast just ending up being, like, discussing our ailments, our particular ailments of the week. Yeah, I've got COVID. I knew it was only a matter of time. I could feel it chasing me.

It was on my heels. And yeah, I don't know, I don't even know where I got it from. But I got it. and this is the thing like I don't genuinely don't know my mom thinks I caught norovirus at the same time because I was really really sick sick with it and like I mean I had I mean you heard me didn't you I had like a really sore throat I couldn't speak properly but that was fine I could deal with that no problem but it was a sickness that really I couldn't believe how sick you were we had that one day where Buwer got my dog we've been dropping night flies but Boer my dog got really sick and it was a low point

for the both of us, but I had to syringe her shit to take a sample for the vet. And I was on FaceTime to Al and she was like, I've got to go. This should have been my bad. I forgot about this. I should have written this down because this is definitely my bad. Not COVID and having horrendous sickness. How are you making this about you? Wait. I had to surringe dog shit. Wait. Let me make it about me. Okay. So I'm on the phone to you. I'm telling you how sick I've been, how nauseous I feel. I keep having to like put the phone down and ring you back. because I'm like, I think I'm going to be sick. Anyway, there was not well.

You're like, oh, I need to go and pick up a shit. And so you put the phone down, right? You put the phone down with the camera angle towards the shit and the syringe. And you're just casually, like working on. And I said, I love you both very much, but I cannot do this goodbye. And for the phone now, it's like, horrendous.

Yeah, on the other end of that phone was me, having had a bone graft mere days before, fucking swollen with a blood. black eye syringing my own dog's shit it was so bleak and she was looking at me like what and I was like I know I'm sorry this wasn't my idea yeah I uh boo had she had this bug that's been going around London and I'm actually just going to put this at not around London around the UK I'm putting it out as a PSA to dog owners don't let your dogs drink from puddles or eat any other dog's shit right now because it's apparently so contagious and we had to go to the emergency

vets on Saturday night because she was just being really sick and so out of sorts like she was just staring at the wall for ages. I was like you were gay and her back legs were going and it was really worrying and then gave her an anti-sickness thing on Saturday like literally Saturday night. It's my first time out of bed since the operation was to take her to the emergency vets and then on Monday morning she just started shitting blood. I was like this is a disaster. Yeah terrifying and then we get to the vet and she's like hi like literally bet i was like you fucking twat but anyway yeah and then um they put her on some medication and and she's fine now so that's my good is that she's fine thank oh that's good okay yeah that's really nice poor little booer it's so horrible when dogs are sick

because they're so helpless and you feel so helpless they can't tell you and they just sit there feeling so sorry for yourself i don't know about booer but when betty's not well she kind of wines but in a really faint like oh like it and it's so sad it was really nice to me when she's sick which is how I know she's really sick because normally she's kind of like nah and then when she's sick she's like mom and I'm like oh baby I know it's cute isn't it cute but awful I draw that but I'm just going to make it all about me again and I'm going to tell you about my bad as well yeah I'm more bad more of my bad because I had my operation last week so I had me screws removed from my face. I had six screws and two plates removed from my face. They're downstairs

in the kitchen and I'm trying to work out what kind of jewellery I can make. And then they also did a bone graft because long story, I needed one basically because of damage to the bone that happened either during the surgery or with the screws coming out or whatever. And I know we did the last episode like just before and like I was kind of like ha ha ha ha it'll be fine and like very much I don't like thinking bad things. They don't fill me with joy. So I just, I don't feel me with joys. I didn't think, you know, I didn't massively overthink it. I was just like, oh, it's fine, it's fine, it's fine. And I, you know, I'm a bit dramatic, but in my head, in my heart, I really thought it'll be fine. And

can I just say it was the worst fucking thing that's ever happened to me? Like, I know I've told you about it separately Alper. By God, it was horrible. The only saving grace was that I made the best Spotify playlist that has ever graced anybody's ears of like absolute trash from like 2007 to 2011. Like we had Timberland. I had basically every girl's aloud song released in that time. There was just this one, because I didn't have any sedation for the procedure. We just did local anaesthetic and I was lying there fully awake and I was just shake my whole body. I've never had a like a stress response like it. My whole body was just shaking and the nurse was trying to hold me still and I was crying as it was happening. As it was

happening. And obviously he's peeled my fucking face off. And my own top lip was blocking my nostrils so I couldn't breathe. And every time I breathed in through my mouth, I was choking on bits of my bone that were being chipped away at. And I literally, I was like, this is horrible. It was horrible. And the playlist was a redeeming feature. And about halfway through, I did relax. And I was like, you know what? like I think I'm going to survive and it'll be fine and it and I'd stopped crying and then whatever I'm not even going to try and lie like do what I normally do and just be like oh yeah it's fine this has been terrible it's been horrific I think if I hadn't had COVID before I'd have been fine but mentally fuck me I'm miserable like I've been really struggling yeah so that's me

you've literally gone from one isolation to another and with with With very little joy interspersed, so I'm not surprised. No offence, but you were my only interval. I literally, I saw you on the Monday. Yeah. And then that was it. That was it. Yeah.

And you were good, but you weren't that good. I wasn't that good. It was not enough to sustain you for the three weeks of isolation. No, no, you were not redeeming enough for February. No, no, I fully appreciate that. Yeah. But I actually, I can't be bothered to dwell on that. so I'm just gonna, like, we're done now.

I've told you about my trauma. I've made you all feel sorry for me. Okay. And now let's just move on. But like actual trauma, I can't believe that you did that without any sedation. I just don't think I physically could do it. I mean, if you have to do it, you have to do it. But like, that is horrific.

Horrific. Yeah, it was really shit. Yeah. Oh well, I survived. Okay. What's your good? You survived. Wiggly order.

Well done. Mike, we have done this in a wiggly order, haven't we? Keeping people in my toes. Yeah, I wanted to keep my bad brief because. not that exciting COVID I had COVID yeah um and my good is that I got out of the house today and I am oh my god well my first good was when I started to feel a little bit better and I went into the shower and I washed my hair and I did a hair mask and I shaved my legs my like entire body well you know in the normal areas um like I didn't do my eyebrows or head but I did what else did I do

Like I moisturised. Oh, I did like full skin care. And it was heaven. You know, like, oh, I just think like pampering. And I don't know. I don't really love that word, but I need to like work out why I don't like that word, I think. That'll be a misogynistic reasoning. Yeah, go pamper yourself. Go, yeah, ladies from, go powder your noses, a bit of pamper. Yeah. Yeah. It's seen as a very frivolous thing to do. It's been marketed badly. It has been marketed badly. But it was, oh my God, it's absolutely divine. I felt. more like myself again and then today I did my makeup I did my hair and I left the house and I feel like I have like a renewed appreciation for life and the little things like I keep taking big I'm like that's so beautiful that tree is so beautiful like normally I don't look up and yeah and I went and got a coffee and I was like so nice to the barrister barrister barista not the barrister not the barrister

Sorry. It hurts to laugh, you idiot. The barista, sorry. There needs to be better clarification on those. I feel like they're too similar. The barista. I was like, hello! How are you today?

It was like my first bit of human contact. And also, Dave made it back from the stagdo in case anyone's interested. He made it back alive. Thank God, we had a little bit of falling out. Does he make any more friends? He says he says he has actually. He says he's made a couple of American friends. But he doesn't think he's going to Now that is unlikely. It is, but he says he doesn't think it's going to be something that's kept up because he just doesn't have space. He doesn't have social media or space. He is lacking

incapacity in that area. But yeah, we had a little bit of a falling out. Oh my God, that was another bad. Okay, sorry, I'm going on, but we had a little bit of falling out because the one thing I said was when he goes, I was like, when you go out and night, text me when you get in, because otherwise I'm a very anxious person. I'll be waking up, wondering where you are, blah, blah, blah. And he didn't. On the first night, he didn't. And I was so furious. I told you, didn't I. I was so mad. And I didn't speak to him properly for ages, but I was so sick. And I had no one else really to speak to. So I ended up just being like, well, I forgive you, but I forgive, but I don't forget. So there you go. Yeah. I'm not angry. I'm just disappointed.

Yeah. Oh, I'm also very angry. I'm angry in the hand, I'm disappointed. I'm angry, disappointed, frustrated, upset, all the above. So that's my marital ways. Awquids. What's your awkward? I'm actually just going to be a total fucking dick and put my sister on blast because her awkward is so good that genetically I'm allowed to share it.

I have some entitlement to this because not only did she embarrass herself and her family, but she also embarrassed the entirety of the UK. So I'm just going to tell everybody her awkward. So Katty is living in L.A. at the moment, which is very cool. And she's thriving. Very cool. She's the coolest person I've ever met. Also, I thought, until this happened. She was out in L.A. living her best life. And she's got lots of, like, cool friends. And she's doing, like, film shit. So it's like cool people and whatever. She's out in L.A. having a great time. And somebody came up to her and said, oh, my God. You look like you're from Euphoria. And Kat went, thanks, but I'm from England. Oh my God

What the fuck? The girl was like What? The girl was like What did she think? It's not even like I'm trying to think of a country that's like comparable in sound

It really isn't is there Thanks I'm from England What's your voice? My awkward is not like necessarily The most awkward thing in the world And other people might not find it so awkward but it's something that I have like lived in fear of for a long time ever since I started interviewing at hello when I was at hello magazine and I did load I did loads of interviewing but I was always terrified that I was

going to lose my train of thought because I do that a lot as you know but it's normally it's fine because if I'm just talking to you or like if we're doing it now like this I can just be like oh shit am I lost my train of thought but in an interview you can't just be like as an interview you can't just be like oh you lost my train of thought you just can't do it So I've always been very panicked about it and about it happening. And thus far, I've managed to keep my train of thought until yesterday. Until. Until.

And the train came off the track. Yeah. Yeah. And it's someone's fault. So we were doing a really, we were doing a very hard hitting interview with a really important big name. And it was serious. That's coming out next week.

We've got a really serious, special bumper different episode next week. Yeah, it's going to be amazing. And it was quite a big deal and you bawled it. It was a big deal and I bawled it. So, and I was, I was really nervous this whole interview and I don't really know why. But so towards the end of the questions, we had like pre-scripted questions that had been pre-approved. And towards the end of them, we were at the end of them, but I had like a point to make. And I swear it was a really good fucking point, but I'll never know because.

And I started out. I started out with it. I need to listen back to the audio, but I started out with the point. And then my phone flashed up with M saying, wrap it up. We're running out of time. And I just saw wrap it up and thought, oh shit. I don't know. I just panicked.

I panicked. And I thought, oh my God, maybe I shouldn't make this point. And in that split second from going away from the point to should I be making this point, the point was gone. but I didn't say oh sorry I've lost my train of thought I just decided to carry it on through and I don't know what I said

I can't remember what I said but I think it was just a big old jumble of words it went um so it I felt so bad because can I just say normally we're in the same room like it's because and I think that's really important when we do these because when we interview people because Al and I have to pick up on each other's social cues

and you can tell when someone's going to ask a question or when one of you is itching to or leaning forwards or it's just so much easy with a better like zoom works for loads of stuff but in my opinion it doesn't work for giving interviews as well but obviously she had COVID and so we had to and so I felt really bad but it was like it just knew that this was that I saw I was watching the time I was like we've got to wrap it up now and I and I saw your eyes go down and see my text and I literally saw your brain like all the thoughts just fall out your ears literally literally literally Literally, literally.

And I'm really sorry. I was like, I am such a twat. I was mortified and she, the woman we were interviewing, was so confused. She just paused after I stopped going, yeah, and yeah, I think that's a really good thing. Like I said, I don't even know what he said. And then she just paused and went, yeah. I was like, okay, okay. And that's the end of the fucking interview, nice one.

So, so yeah, that was. So, yeah, that was awkward. Daty's going to have a job to her. I was mortified. But you survived. You survived. Yeah. We really need to pull ourselves together.

We need to go and do some really fun shit for next week. I know. I need to come back with positivity. I know that was a lot and I'm just really sorry. Everyone all just were gone. They're like fucking miserable bitches. I'm just looking around for this. But hopefully the guest has kept you here because we're really, really, really excited today

that we are talking to Dr. Joshua Woolrow. If you don't know who Dr. Josh is, I don't believe you because you will. He has been a brilliant voice of reason on Instagram for a really long time and as an NHS doctor for a long time before that. Yeah, he brought out a book last year that is called Food is Not Medicine and he's amazing at sort of like just cutting through the shit when it comes to health, particularly in the context of diet. And obviously we have been fed so much misinformation about food and fad diets and nutrition. our entire lives, really. And this episode was so valuable in basically just getting through all of that shit. Hi.

Hi. Welcome to a professional podcast, Dr. Joseph. Number one podcast in the world. Slash UK. Are you still number one? That's all world. Just UK, but we'll take it. There we go.

You can have it. Always write it down. Yeah. Thank you. Have you checked our Instagram, my news? It's in both of our bios. Oh, is it? Of course it is.

How long is it going to stay there for? Ever. Honestly, we're so grateful that you're here. I think I know everyone knows you up. We put the question box. We're like, everyone wants to talk to Dr. Joshua. So thanks for coming. And if you, well...

Maybe you're a big deal too. Am I? What's big as I was off? Don't say that. My head is big enough already. I need to be able to get out of the lounge doorway. It's fine. Don't do it.

No, not everyone knows who I am. You should probably tell people who I am. There we go. Let's make it awkward. Who am I? Well, Dr. Joshua is an NHS doctor with an incredible Instagram presence, basically cutting through a lot of shit. You have a book that came out last year. Called Food isn't Medicine. And it's a very good book.

Very good book. I actually have it. We have it here. I have my signed copy here. And it's challenging the nutribolics, basically, and escaping the diet trap. And it's honestly the most relevant. book to a generation of women who have been, and then, I suppose, who have just been fed such shite. And we thought what would be really fun to do today

would be kind of like looking at what you've done in the book and kind of asking our own questions and doing a fact or fiction segment with you. Fact or fiction with Dr. Joshua Woolrich. How does that sound? Sounds great. Excellent. Especially with no prep.

It sounds even more. I promise to talk. Okay. we'll jump in right we're going to with a few of these have come from our own research uh via magazine google read in the north okay oh okay so this information that Alex and I have grown up with some of this little bit of you know little bits that we've picked up for you know here and there that we've given a go the daily mail is quite a popular newspaper so we've seen some headlines first one is something's a hot topic at the moment you are allowed to refuse to be weighed at the

doctors. Fact or fiction? Fact. Okay. Small caveat. Yes. What I would recommend is ask them why. Because you are allowed to refuse because you are your own human being and you can't, like, nobody can force you to do anything. And for a lot of people, refusing to be weighed is going to be helpful for their mental health. And also, ideally, a lot of the time, helpful for the then advice you get given because they won't have weight to fall back on as a scapegoat for then, you know, telling you what's going on. however there are certain situations where weight is useful because weight is not always there purely to stigmatize it's sometimes there to dose medications for example it's sometimes there to see whether you meet certain criteria for certain medications and that in and of itself is not always stigma either sometimes the medications don't work properly if they're for example fat soluble medications versus non fat soluble medications and so if you have a lot of fat tissue then the medication won't work

properly so therefore we might try a different medication instead that in and of itself isn't stigma but it can be stigmatizing for that not to be explained and so ask why and if they say oh well it's just for our records then then you can say no that's perfectly fine you know if they're like oh we just want to check and stuff and you like have a conversation with them and that's a good way if you can I know this is stressful for a lot of people and I get that but try and see if you can have that conversation, be like, well, for me, that, that does have a big impact on my mental health. You know, I struggle with my relationship with food and disordered eating, and I would rather not be weighed unless there's a very good reason why I should be. Do you mind explaining why

you're asking me to be weighed today? Feel free to write that down. Hit the minus 15 second thing on the podcast episode and just be like, just write that down and take it with you. Like, that's fine. And if they give you a good reason, they should be able to give you a good reason. And that's usually quite a good sign if they can't give you a good reason. Say the doctor is very much of the school of thought that weight defines health. And that's what they perceive to be their very good reason. And they come back with that. Well, it's not a reason.

You just say no. So you just say no. Yeah, well, it's up to you. But, you know, if it's something that is actually really important, yeah? And they will say that they'll be like, oh, because you know, your weight might be impacting this and we need to check. So, okay, but you don't really need to weigh me for that. So let's have a conversation. But if it's like, well, this medication that we're going to be prescribing you is prescribed based on weight or there are certain criteria around weight for this medication, so therefore that's where we need to get that.

You'd be like, okay, fine, but can I face the other way and can you just not tell me what I weigh? Because I don't want to have that right now. That's also a thing. You can stand backwards on it, right? It weighs the same. It doesn't make you different. So, you know, but have that conversation. And yes, I know there are old school doctors who are twats and they just are blunt and they refuse to have conversations.

they should do and that is becoming less and less the case as they're retiring and yeah there are some younger ones who also twats but again have that conversation like just ask why and if it's like just for our records or because you know nobody's going to say because your weight defines your health it'll usually be because it's for our record you just go well I'd I'd rather not I'm just thinking in my head like for example you know someone was to say oh because it's not healthy to be overweight and I'm concerned that you might be overweight you just go sure well thank you for that but I would like to come in and talk about the things that I've come in to talk about today there you go and that doesn't involve being weighed yeah because you know you can give me that

advice too if you would like but I would rather not receive that because again I struggle with my relationship with food and my body and disorder eating and I would rather do something that is actually going to promote health for me so could you give me some advice that's going to do that Yeah, that's brilliant advice. Love that. Yeah. I think the next one might be the easier for you to answer. Eating an apple before every meal will make my metabolism quicker and make me lose weight.

Or a grapefruit. It was grapefruit for me. It's an apple. Was that in the, well, false to start with. Was that the magazines then? I don't know, but I did it for like a good term of school in like 2008. I ate one and half grapefruit a day because I ate one before every, half before every single meal because apparently there was an enzyme.

Yeah, I thought... Your poor teeth. No, I ate a whole apple before every meal a day for about a term. But let's be honest about what that actually is, right? All this is is just a technique to try and blunt your hunger. And I'm not saying you, I'm talking about the royal you, right? It doesn't matter what it is. There's nothing special about grapefruit or apple.

It doesn't make any difference. Some people will glug a whole pint of water before eating because it's like, oh, just in case I'm thirsty. No, it's your, you're trying to. not be hungry because we're using these as tactics to try and eat less and that's what the food that's what eating before the meal is it's trying to you know it's adding in something to try and not feel as hungry for the main meal so that we don't have to eat as much and it's it's not healthy and yeah no there is no there is nothing magical or fancy if we could trick our metabolism like

that and we'd have died out as a species years ago right yeah it's pretty impressive our bodies I actually got really sore eyes from doing that because, like, the way I cut into the grape... Were you rubbing it into your eyes? No, but you know the way you cut into the grapefruit and it would squirt all in my eyes? No, no, really. And it just happened like so much. In the end, I was like, you have to stop my eyes. Like, it's just, they're getting like bloodshot, yeah.

Before we're on the random fruit thing, can I conform while I have a doctor in the room? Does an apple a day keep the doctor away? No. but it is just good to eat more fruit so that's all that was yeah yeah that's not a fucking great fruit those damn apples ruining american health care because doctors aren't make enough money god yeah it's but eat more fruit definitely do it runy smiths versus the medical industry like that that's actually something that i i don't have any resolutions that this year i'm going to eat more fruit and just try and get it in because it is really good for you isn't it

do it yeah just not grapefruit I said. Dangerous. It's dangerous. I mean, I used to peel and eat a lemon at school. That was just a weird thing. But, you know, I would love that. But if you can peel it, you can peel it like an orange, like if you actually do it properly. Because it's just a citrus fruit, isn't it? That's the best information I've ever had from a doctor. That's never occurred to me. I thought, you can.

I assumed you just had to cut the grapefruit in half, you know? No, you can try and peel it. It is just a big orange, isn't it? I don't know how easy it, because a grapefruit has quite thin. Actually, no, it doesn't. Yeah, give it a go. I think it's going to explode all over your eyes and you bite into it this is the line of the episode

and peel the grapefruit Oh my god Next one next up Noom is not a diet Fact or fiction I mean that's fiction We all know that's fiction I know but I just wanted you to tell us a wife

Look anything Anything that portrays to help you lose weight Is a diet Nice I mean and we know what we mean by diet here. Obviously, diet is just your eating pattern, but in this context, it's like deliberate weight loss intentions, right? Going on a diet, in quotes. Noom is just my fitness pal with fake CBT bullshit that pretty much every psychologist I've ever spoken to about it is really pissed

off that they are masquerading to claim that it's psychology. It's not. It's not at all. It's just calorie counting with traffic light labeling, which is what? That's the weight watches anyway, in it. So it's my fitness power, cross with Weight Watchers, also then teaching you about stuff at the end that's supposedly meant to make you not need to calorie count anymore, which they confuse the members of the public as to what intuitive eating is. I found that out recently. So they portray that intuitive eating is essentially, they try and teach intuitive eating at the end, but what they're actually just doing is teaching the hunger, fullness diet, which is like, you know, just make sure you only eat when you're hungry and stop eating when you're

full and then you'll always stay the same weight for the rest of your life, which is just bullshit. And that's not insured of eating either. No, no. But it's crazy how effective their marketing has been because I've never seen a something hudwink, so many people. If I ever so much as refer to, you even refer to Noom on my stories, I get the Noom apologises straight away. You know, Noom is not a diet. It really helps with eating habits. It teaches healthy eating, blah, blah, blah. I mean, they've been effective in their marketing strategy, but... Of course they have. They've got shitloads of money. My boyfriend is really into poultry. He's got a sage stick and everything.

Into what? When it's popular? Yeah, like, fucking, like, I'm really scared one day. I'm going to come home and find a nooming. Like, you get a few sages, the house all the time. It's really bad. Does he have her vagina candy? I was going to say. I don't know, probably. We have a candle drawer. I'll check. It's going to make you start douching. If he buys you a jade egg for your, for Christmas or your birthday, just say no.

Yeah, just say no, just wrong. Taking that back. Okay, so I have a gluten intolerance, which I wish I had never been told about because I gave up gluten. I'm very allergic. This is the fun fact about me. I'm very allergic to dairy, like super allergic to dairy.

I get like sneezing and wheezy and it's foul. Nice. Yes. But so I went to go and see a nutritionist when I was like in like 2011. And no, later than that. Anyway, no one cares. I went to say nutritionist

and she was like well you're alerted to dairy and I also think you'd do well to give up gluten because I think you're intolerant to it because she'd like anyway because I was like 18 and I was so ill with the dairy thing

I cannot stress it enough I gave up everything and I literally gave up everything I lost so much weight I was so unhappy it was fucking awful and I now realize I had no need to give up gluten

dairy I grant you I can't eat the gluten I could have done and I gave it up because she told me to and now I can't fucking have it because it makes me so ill because I've had... Now you struggle. Without it, yeah.

I just can't eat it now because I've basically created a gluten intolerance. So my question, Dr. Pesha, not a question. Not a question. My factual fiction is gluten really bad for you? No, no, no, again. Sorry. My fact or fiction, gluten is really bad for you, fact or fiction. Fiction.

100% fiction. Yeah, gluten. I don't know why gluten became so demonised just as a thing. I think it's probably because it was like we're not actually demonising carbs. We're just demonising gluten and in the process. We can tell you to avoid all bread and pasta and all the things that have carbs in them that are good. Yeah, it's, look, some people actually have celiac disease, right? That is a very real thing.

You could think of it a bit like an allergy to gluten, although it's not technically an allergy, which I know and somebody pointed out to me in my Instagram. I'm sorry, the other day when I said it was an allergy. I was like, come on, let's just, we're simplifying it. It's an autoimmune condition where gluten causes inflammation in the gut, and you can't avoid that. If you have gluten, you feel crap, and you can end up with nutrient deficiencies,

because if you get lots of gut inflammation, then you're not going to absorb as much nutrients as you should do. So, yeah, people who have celiac disease, like validated, should avoid gluten, just like people who have a peanut allergy, should avoid peanuts, just like you getting hives and sneezing and swelling and stuff from eating dairy should probably avoid dairy. Like, there are no, I'm very much of the opinion that we should never insist that anything

gets removed from our diet unless we're allergic to it or we just don't like it, right? Or maybe a religious reason, yeah? Yeah. But that's the only reason we should remove things in our diet. Gluten is one of those things that has become such a hot button topic that has been claimed that because for some people it does cause inflammation because they actually have celiac disease in an autoimmune condition, gluten has got this name for itself that it causes inflammation in everyone, and that's just not true. And there is a thing called non-celiac disease gluten intolerance

and, you know, there are people who are intolerant to it and it doesn't make them feel very good but they're not officially celiac and that's fine as well. Like if it doesn't make them feel good, it doesn't make it feel good. But I think there's a lot of crossover between people who are who now don't feel good because they've avoided gluten for so long and they have developed an intolerance because our body for some things our body can develop intolerances if we avoid certain things for a while because we're not used to digest them anymore and gluten isn't hugely easy to digest in the grand scheme of foods but it doesn't matter if we're eating it if we're

just used to it that's fine and it comes with things like fiber and other wonderful things in bread and stuff like that and also just joy and excitement because bread is amazing don't rub it in sorry um But yeah, so there are people who have gluten intolerance, but there are lots of people who, unfortunately, are avoiding bread and don't need to. And it's definitely not bad. It definitely doesn't cause disease. People are like, it causes PCOS, or they tell people with PCOS to avoid gluten

or people with thyroid issues. Some reason gluten has become the scapegoat for that as well. It's just nonsense. Like, it really, really is. God, I wish I'd split you like seven years ago. It's my life mission to get gluten back in. there are there are potentially ways but you need to be careful yeah i know i know and we can talk later but there are you know at the moment well yeah okay we'll talk oh yeah oh my god hudshaw i'll call you

we'll chat i'll send you an invoice it's fine yeah oh my god don't even care whatever it is i'll fucking pay it i won't i want bread it's been so long okay go you go okay next one uh again i think i don't know if it's going to be like a very simple yes or no answer Skinny jabs. The skinny jab is a good way to lose weight. Fact on fiction. Fiction. Complete bullshit. Yeah. So this is a the skinny jab. I think it's semi-glutide or something.

Again, you didn't prep me on this. So I'm trying to try and remember these drug names off the top of my head. It's essentially a diabetes medication that we found as a side effect delayed gastric emptying. So what you mean by that is it slows down when the food leaves your stomach. And so if food leaves your stomach, if it slows down when it leaves your stomach, then it means that you can't eat as much because you feel fuller for longer. And so people found that if they were taking this medication, it had the side effect of unintentional weight loss because people weren't able to eat as much. Now, that didn't last.

As soon as you stopped taking the medication, your gut started working like normal again. And often your body will compensate for the unintentional weight loss that it was a bit scared about because weight loss is bad when it comes to survival. And so the body will just put that way back on. And that's kind of normal. And, you know, it was an unintentional side effect of a medication that was meant to try and improve insulin resistance in diabetics. But because we love weight loss, it became approved as a weight loss drug. but again there's zero evidence that it does anything more than any other method of weight loss and it only lasts as long as you're taking the medication and again it's a medication and medications

have side effects and the unintentional weight loss was not the only side effect that these medications can have like they can cause you to be very unwell like all medications can be bad right we don't want to be taking drugs for the sake of taking drugs unless we have to, because they do things outside of the realm of normal when it comes to our physiology. That's how drugs work, which is why food is not the same as drugs, because food can only work within our physiology, whereas drugs can work outside of it. Anyway, so that's just one good reason why food isn't medicine, but we can talk about that. Message me, not everyone else, and I'll ignore you, but yes. Yeah, so, so yeah, we shouldn't be taking drugs unless we have to take drugs, unless it's

actually going to be doing something really good and it is just another method of making us feel fuller and it only lasts as long as you take the drug for so it's bloody expensive I do yeah I don't know it's a jab is it an injection it's an injection yeah fuck me yeah it's like diet culture it's like heroin diet culture it's insanity like but it doesn't even make you feel as good like at least heroin makes you feel amazing as far as I always think that yeah that's from doctor everybody. Hey look we give people heroin in the hospital so it's like it does make them feel good as far as I'm aware just I haven't ever had it but yeah if you go in for any sort of operation you'll probably have been given heroin. It's heroin morphine is that it? It's diamorphine so it's too

heroin's created by by accident essentially like we we deliberately put two morphine molecules together in the lab to try and make a different analgesia that was better than morphine and it was better but it also came with these whole side effects of being incredibly addictive. So we use it in the hospital, but we use it in small amounts and in controlled ways and when people don't know. And so there's no psychological addiction to it because people are having it when they're anaesthetized and things. So yeah, we give diamorphine in the hospital. It's the same thing. Stay away from heroin. Yeah, that was, sorry, that was mine. Yeah, it'll stop you breathing. We only give it to you when you're inesthetized because we're controlling your breathing at that point.

So it's fine. But that's why people die from heroin overdoses. they just stop breathing. You don't have the urge to breathe anymore because it's a suppressant. Makes you feel great, but you don't breathe. Imagine the urge not to breathe. But you just don't have the urge anymore. It just, it suppresses it. So you just stop breathing. If you overdose, that's why the overdose kills you.

I never know that. Fact time with Dr. Josh. Wow. Whoa. Okay, another one. Fun one from the noughties. Celery burns calories as you eat it. Fact for fiction.

I remember that one. I do remember that. It was like the energy it requires to digest. It's less than it takes to eat it. So it's great. It sounds like bullshit to me. I know the body's pretty, your body's pretty efficient. So, you know, if we could actually, if there was actually a food that was negative in energy, I know.

It's just, just no. No. I remember going to the celery phase as well, eating a lot. And I hate it. I love celery. And now I always feel like people, when I buy it, I'm like, they're going to think I'm on a little. like a diet. Am I going to get cancelled for eating celery?

Because everyone will say I've sold out. Just have it with like lashings of hummus and peanut butter and stuff and then it'll be fine. Do you eat celery by itself? Because if you do, yeah. Yeah, I'm not sure we can be friends. Oh my God. I don't know. It's just weird.

So many clerks and cancelled fruit and celery. That's less, that's less, that's more inconsiderate than having a drum kit in a flat. Look at a couple of wankers. You're all going to, you're all going to eat your words when I emerge. is a drum star. I'm just going to eat with Valerie. A drum star. That's what they call them.

Yeah. Yeah. A star drummer. There you go. A drum star. That's also definitely what they call them. Keep me. Star drummer.

So intermittent fasting is just starving yourself for a certain period of the day. Correct. That is true. It is just starving yourself. It's privilege starvation as far as I'm concerned. and titled it that in my book, it's just privileged starvation. There's no different to starving.

So why is everyone so preoccupied with intermittent fasting? It feels like people have just discovered it. They found out that it's this incredible new thing and that's going to make you lose weight and keep it off a good. Like, why has intermittent fasting just blown up if it is literally just about cutting calories out of a certain time of your day? Oh, she knows, gone. But who's doing the PR for intermittent fasting?

Who stands to gain money from intermittent fasting? The people who write the books about it. That's true. No, I would say there's probably two reasons. I'd say one is that it's been turned into a health, in quotes thing and not a weight loss thing anymore. It still is a weight loss thing, but there have been these health claims around it in regards to something called autophagy or autophagy or autophagy or autophagy or.

however you want to say it, which is basically the body removed, the body removed cells that aren't doing very well and will make new ones like all the time. That's what we do. And that process is called autophagy, auto and phagy meaning eat and auto meaning doing it yourself. So we eat our own cells essentially. And that renews ourselves. And we found that fasting periods, forget for weight loss, but we found that fasting periods in rats and in parasitic worms and in other small creatures that we are not, can increase that autophagy. And so we were like, oh, well, therefore, it must help us live longer.

And so it's good for our health. So we should promote fasting. Look at these cultures who fast and they live much longer. Well, yes, but they also meditate during that fast. And they're doing it for religious reasons. And they're like, you know, they're actually reducing stress when they're doing it. It's not actually the, but anyway. So, yeah, autophagy was claimed as this thing that was so good for your health.

The irony is that two things. One, we can't actually measure levels of autophagy in humans, so we have zero evidence that it does anything for us. We're not parasitic worms or rats. And number two, autophagy is not just removing cells that are not working properly. Autophagy is also the way of describing the process of moving nutrients around the body. which makes sense that you might do when you're not eating. So when you're fasting,

your body needs to move nutrients around your body from cells to other cells because it's like, ah, crap, we don't have anything coming in. So we should probably actually make sure that we can still function properly. So if by fasting we increase that process, that kind of makes sense, right? But why is that healthy?

That's just a coping mechanism because we're not giving our body's food. Also, we already fast. every day we sleep like that is fasting and during sleep that's when we renew things and it's when our brain goes through renewal cycles which is why sleep is so good for us and all that kind of stuff we don't use to do it again during the day there's a pointless um so that was one reason health that was and also the other one i'd say that we've become this we've grown this obsession more recently in the last kind of decade or so of um like um like uh like self-control being this thing

that is glorified right um and it's seen as the ultimate form of self-control of just refusing to eat when you're hungry um that's called onopaccia isn't it one of yeah um so it's seen as this so yeah those are those those that's my that's my fancy answer to that question those those two reasons okay okay i liked it thank you i have something i have a another one. I live with this fear every day because I definitely read it in the daily mail. Is the fact that I like Diet Coke going to kill me? No, it's not going to kill you. Fact for fiction, I'm going to be killed by my Diet Coke.

Fiction. Tell me why you were told it was going to kill you. Oh, I don't know. Probably this. I think either because it's going to give me cancer or because of the artificial sweetness or more likely I think the artificial sweetness are going to give me cancer. There you go. That was what I was hoping to get from you. Yeah. No, bullshit. so it it um it varies depending on the country but most of the time diet coke or coke zero or coke fancy or whatever they're calling it nowadays um is has a spartame or aspartame or have you said um it's the most tested and regulated food additive we have the most tested we've known we know how safe it is um and have a have a random guess how many cans of diet coke you would have to

drink for the aspartumate to have any impact on you in a negative fashion a day or in a day in a day 70 how do you have the time no 10 70 you'd be on the feeling you'd floated away 1,900 oh wow yeah and because because we wouldn't it wouldn't it wouldn't be 10 because someone might drink 10 in a in a day right like so so these things are regulated and the levels that they're for safety are so, so low below the, below the risk level, because we actually have to make sure that they are. So I would have to drink nearly 2,000 cans. Yeah, and so two things would kill you first.

One, the caffeine in it. The caffeine would kill you first. And also just the sheer volume of fluid would kill you. Oh, yeah, you just can't drink that much. So absolute nonsense. Oh, I'm absolutely delighted. I just feel like I've got my life. It's been like my shame every day.

I'm like, I'm killing myself. now you are wrecking your teeth sorry about that for now for now um you are come back when i'm 40 i'll just unfortunately anything that is anything that is fizzy is bad for your teeth so your dentist won't thank you but otherwise no the rest of your body is absolutely fine he's a nice guy and also i can just take a leaf out of alex's book and just avoid them so exactly not what avoid the dentist yeah no i'm not so sense i did that for many years of my life and i've had a lot to sort out so i'm good now but you know for all your american listeners uh yeah the stereotypes are real.

Not all of them. My teeth actually look quite good. I've never had braces. It sucks to be you. But, you know, like, yeah, I've had to have a decent amount of drills. Oh, I've got great teeth. Mind you, they did have to break my jaw this year. So I feel like that was.

Yeah. Yeah, I feel like swings and roundabouts. Yeah, exactly. But I'm going to have my Coke zero and not die. Exactly. There you go. You've got the green light. I'm toothless, but I'll be alive.

Just don't have it after like 4pm because, again, caffeine. Like, you don't want to really. be having any caffeine within eight hours ago into bed? I could honestly, I think I could like streamline like I could inject a full like double espresso into my veins at 11 o'clock at night and still sleep. All right. I'm just going to challenge that. Yes, you can. However, you're kidding yourself if you think is not having an impact on your health. Oh no. What is it having? Am I okay? No, no, no. So the reason being, and again, this was something I always used to say. I'd be like, I know, I can sleep if I have a coffee, it's fine.

It'll make a difference. Your sleep quality massively goes down if you have caffeine within about eight hours of going to bed. Eight hours, I go to bed like... Exactly. Within eight hours of going to sleep, try not to have any caffeine.

It does affect your sleep quality. So you'll still go to bed. You'll still think you're sleeping. Fine. But your actual sleep quality will not be as good. Right. And you want your sleep quality to be good.

Sleep is important. So try and reduce any caffeine about eight hours before bed. So if you go to bed midnight, that's 4pm, right? If you go to bed like 10, that's like 2 p.m. 2 p.m. Do it, do it for like two weeks. You'll feel better. Okay. God, I'm still, I'll, I can get away with a coffee at four in my break. You can get away, but we're not, this isn't about getting away with, right? I don't know. A lot of the time I'm like, as long as it's not going to kill me, I think I'll be all right. But also, but you're like, you're like, but I need it because I'm tired. Why are you tired? I don't know. Maybe it's because you

having caffeine before bed. Yeah, maybe. And you're not sleeping probably. Yeah, I'm tired all the time, to be fair, like all the time. I don't remember the last one I wasn't tired. Funny that. Yeah. There you go. Sugar ages you. Factal fiction. Oh, I don't really know. That one, that one I'm not sure. That seems like a bit of a, I think that's probably very context dependent. And what I mean by that is, is like, sugar in and of itself, that sounds like, bullshit. But if you have a diet that is incredibly high in sugar, then I'm sure that you might have problems just in your general health. So that might be where that myth comes from because it might be like a general like your overall health goes down because you're not getting enough

nutrients because sugar doesn't have many nutrients. And if it displaces other things in your diet that do have nutrients, then that's not really a good thing. But ages, that seems very specific. I don't really know where that's coming. I think I was going to say I read by I actually even think I wrote an article about it as well when I was writing more beauty. A dermatologist said that sugar attacks the cell and ages it and then eventually some change reaction and basically it essentially breaks down the collagen in your skin and loses the elasticity in your skin and therefore you age, you know, your skin age is faster. I don't know if that's true. So does do potatoes cause wrinkles? I don't know. Yeah, see this sounds like bullshit to me because like sugar is

like anything that is made of carbs is made of sugar molecules and your stomach breaks it down and your gut breaks it down and you absorb sugar into your bloodstream which is why we have insulin. That's why insulin exists and that's all normal. So if sugar caused you to get wrinkles, then anything that had carbs in it caused you to get wrinkles. And that sounds like nonsense to me. You know what might have caused your wrinkles? The sugar in the grapefruit that short you in the eye. Oh dear. Look, the main thing that causes wrinkles is not wearing sunscreen.

So, you know, maybe focus on the things we do and know a true and can control rather than, like, trying to avoid all carbs the rest of our life because of wrinkles. That doesn't see that. That sounds like sound advice, actually. Yeah. Just wear sun cream. Again, a lot of these things, and I say this to people when they're like, but what if I can't ask you and I don't know?

I'm like, well, just think about it. like if it was true so what like if food that had some form of sugar in it caused you to get wrinkles slightly faster i don't give a shit no like you know you know what is going to be even faster expressions yeah um the sun like exposed uh do you know what i mean um i bet if it does have an effect i bet it's minimal i'm talking as a like completely non expert yeah so it's like but so and and therefore what is the risk of you following that advice that's the other thing right it's like if you don't know if it's a nonsense like does it make sense and what is actually the clinical relevance that's the thing we use in medicine but what is the relevance to you in your life

and what could be the risks of you following that advice there's quite a lot of risk to trying to remove something entirely from your diet yeah it's not good for your relationship with food so so I mean yeah it sounds like nonsense to me but also even if we don't really know it also sounds like something that we should avoid thinking about and probably ignore yeah definitely That just seems like another way of just really shaming women though And it's like don't eat sugar because you'll look old And then no man will want you and that'll be so sad You'll be destituted alone like a little spinster

And all wrinkly like a prune Like a raisin Because you won't wear sun cream Oh my words, seriously On the subject of sugar Yeah Honey, agave maple syrup

Or better for you than consuming White, actual white sugar oh so scary this white sugar I know came from a plant I know sugar is sugar which is sugar

which is sugar it's all sugar I have a question about sugar it's just not lying I got a factor fiction about sugar

is it more addictive than cocaine no absolutely not it's complete nonsense I was like oh my god I'm an addict

this this came from some nonsense around doing some functional MRI scans of the brain and like going oh the same areas light up and we give people sugar compared to when we, like, you know, no, it's not. It is not addictive.

It is not the same as cocaine. Just because the same areas of the brain light up, it doesn't mean that it's the same thing. The same area of the brain would light up with puppies. It doesn't mean that puppies are as addictive as cocaine. It just means that it produces this nice feeling in our body, right? So it does spike dopamine. Is that right? It makes us fit.

What do you think? Like it makes, it tastes good. Anything that tastes good, right? Right. And it doesn't spike dopamine. I mean, don't say it in a way that makes it sound bad. Like, it just, it allows our brain to release this feeling good. So it releases dopamine.

But it releases dopamine because it tastes good or the actual compound itself. No, because it tastes good because we like it. Ah, okay. If we didn't like sure, if we hated sweet things, it wouldn't release dopamine. I feel like you can't answer this, but it's just good. Does cocaine taste nice? We don't really taste it, do you? No, I know, but I mean, is that a chemical thing that makes it lights up?

Yeah, so that's a chemical thing. That's because it specifically affects those receptors because it's a drug. Okay, fine. Yeah? Sugar is not a drug. Sugar is just something that we like. So anything that we like is going to make us feel good. So this whole like being addicted to food thing, like we can have psychological feelings of like compulsion when it comes to certain types of foods.

But that is not the same as addiction. Addiction is an actual physiological problem because we are addicted to a substance. that can only happen with drugs that change our physiology again the whole drugs work outside of physiology thing we can't become addicted in that same sense to food because food doesn't act within our physiology it's the same it is an actual like we can we can feel like we want it and we can feel like we're craving it but that's because we love it and also that's because the world tells us we're not allowed it yeah yeah and those feelings of compulsion and like we can't handle ourselves and like we're addicted to it are amplified by the fact that we're

told constantly that we shouldn't have it yeah so there's that psychological element of we're doing something bad by allowing us to have it which makes us feel better in and of itself because it feels like we're a bit of a rebel like it's that whole kind of thing of doing something wrong does have that element of like we're getting away with something and it makes us feel good and then it makes us feel shame and bad afterwards but that's not actual addiction the different between that and actual physiological addiction to a substance is very different, very, very different. So it's like you can become addicted to gambling, but there's no withdrawal symptoms to gambling, right? It's not the same kind of addiction as an addiction to heroin. Yeah. Yeah. It's,

it is an addiction, but it's a psychological addiction that can be harmful, but that's not the same thing. We wouldn't say that gambling is a drug. Yeah? It's a, it's a behavior. and it's because we enjoy it and it gives us a thrill, but it's not because it's doing something, there's no chemical process that's like, we're not ingesting gambling. Like, do you know what I mean? Yeah.

So, yeah, it is not a drug and it's not as addictive as drugs. It's not the same thing. And a lot of the time when we get, when people say, oh, but if I, I get these withdrawal symptoms when I refuse to have sugar and then they go away again, what that is,

is that's the brain reconfiguring itself to be able to survive because you're refusing to give it glucose anymore. That is not. addiction. That's because the main source of energy for our brain is sugar. That's how it's designed. That's how it's meant to work. And if we stop giving it sugar, the brain goes, oh, fuck, what is going on? You feel crap. You get like, you feel like you're missing something, which, oh, it's a drug. Oh, sugar. But no, it's just your brain is going, please give me that,

because that's what I'm designed to work with. And then it eventually adapts to be able to use fat as a source of energy. But it doesn't want to. It's not what it's made to do. It's a it's a fallback mechanism for when we're starving. Okay. Which is why we feel hungry, right? When we get when we get grumpy and we feel crap when we're hungry, it's because our brain is going, I don't have energy. Please give me food. And it's the same thing with sugar. And so we we believe this sugar is a drug. We stop eating sugar because we think it's bad for us. We then get these withdrawal feelings and we're like, oh, it is a drug. And then, then we feel better afterwards, but that's because the brain is adapted.

And then forevermore, we're like, yeah, sugar's really bad. Sugar's a drug. You should stop eating sugar. You're insane, isn't it? Honestly, I also grew up being told, like, Maltese's were naughtier than drugs. Like, I think it was more common. Not in so many words, but I think more people said to me that I was like, oh, you're so. Why Maltisers, of all things?

I don't know. I just really like them. But, you know, I think more people are going to say, like, they're naughty than, like, would have come up with drugs? Do you know what I mean? Like, because I guess they're... Just say no, kids. Maltisers.

The dark side. It is insane what we do to ourselves. Our brain's like, please feed us. And we're like, no. But the only reason we have these feelings around sugar is because we have so much compulsion around weight loss. It's the only reason. Yeah.

We made this. Yeah, for sure. It's insanity. We never had this problem beforehand. Yeah. Yeah? We never had this issue. We didn't care.

Like sugar was seen as this lavish luxury item, right? Yeah. That was added to food. and only the royalty and the rich could afford. And now that we've mass produced it and it is very energy dense and our food environment has changed, it's become the scapegoat.

And so it's become this thing that we're now looking at research into to see if it's addictive and it's like it's just such bullshit. Well, yeah, a waste of money as well. Doing all that research on that. Well, they do it on rats. They don't really do on people.

But, you know, we don't really know that when we read the Daily Mail article that says Research shows that sugar is addictive as cocaine. No, it's that rats know that cocaine won't keep them alive and sugar will. So if you give them a choice, they'll take the sugar because they're not stupid. Like, that's why. Like, do we really need to be funding research where researchers deliberately get rats hooked on cocaine? We don't need to do that.

No. To be able to have these conversations and know that we don't need to be demonising sugar. Like, come on. our entire metabolism revolves around getting sugar glucose to different parts of the body to keep us alive that's pretty much our entire metabolism so when we stop giving our body's glucose it panics and it has to find other ways of doing it but they're survival mechanisms they're not they're not thriving things like and that our body's designed that way because not because we've forced it to be that way It's always been that way.

That's how our body works. That's why we have a pancreas. Like, that's just the reason why insulin is a, you know, it's just, that's how this stuff works. So, yeah, it lights up this like, we're okay, we're alive. Great. That's a good thing. You don't want to leave your pancreas bored, you know?

It's got to do something. I thought the pancreas was pointless. I thought it was like the appendix. That's the spleen, isn't it? No, your spleen is also important. It's, it's, it's. you like take the spleen take the pancreas we don't need that shit seriously this is why we're not getting you to google stuff and do your own research you see

because it's like you know yeah yeah your pancreas is very important your pancreas produces lots of enzymes it produces stuff to help you digest food and it produces insulin which is your most important hormone in your whole body pretty much yeah your spleen sequesters like blood cells so it kind of it helps remove blood cells that aren't good anymore and helps kind of refresh things and it's a good thing you can live without it but you don't you wouldn't want to unless you have to. Okay. There you go. Yeah, my good. All right, last bit though, your appendix

also might not be useless either, just to blow your mind a little bit. There's the potential, we think, that it has some form of immune function, and it has some form of immune cells in there that recognises stuff that goes through your gut and takes little, and it just causes a problem because, you know, if you eat lots and lots of fibre, you might,

you might have less problems with appendicitis, because it keeps your gut regular. But anyway, carry on. You said that because I've always thought that it was a careless oversight from our great creators that we had this like organ that we didn't need that could potentially kill us. So I'm actually kind of relieved to know that it's got a function. Yeah, it might do. And I like it's keeping us on our toes. You know what I mean?

Like it's a little mysterious. I mean, yeah, no, it's not the end of the world if you ever taken out. Most, a lot of people do not have it anymore. Yeah, people that are listening to this, going to be shitting themselves. But most of the time, pretty much everything in our body has. function. Some of it's left over, right? And we thought it was one of those. We thought it was vestigial from when we used to eat grass or something. But, you know, we, we, they're asked that there is some evidence that still does something beneficial when it's there. But it's

not a massive deal. Okay. Very interesting. Very interesting. Yeah. Um, um, microwaves are bad for you and heating your food up in microaves are bad for you. Fact or fiction. Fiction. Fiction. Is it? Is it? Oh my God. Micraves are absolutely. As long as you don't rig it up so that you can turn it on with the door open and you stick your head in, you'll be fine. Like, it's, it's a box that fires radiation to heat things up. That's all it does.

And it's microwave radiation, which is all around us all the time. It doesn't cause a problem. It's just concentrated to cause the water molecules to vibrate and cause heat. It's all it is. I don't even have one in this house because I'm like, I don't want to die.

Microwaves are fine. You do realize that your mobile phone is less shielded from microwave radiation than your microwave, right? Like, come on. Like, no, your microwave is absolutely fine. It's an amazing invention. It's an absolutely incredible invention.

Again, was invented by accident. It wasn't invented to make food. It was invented for other reasons. And then they realized it heated stuff up. And they were like, ooh, we can make this a thing. So, yeah, no, it's amazing. Micraves are great. And actually, ironically, if you want to go to the complete other way around,

you may find that it keeps more nutrients in the food, microwaving it than if you do it elsewhere. Because the main determinant of how much nutrients stays in the food is how long it's being cooked for. and whether it's being boiled in water because that can you can lose some of the nutrients into the water if you're boiling veg for example so like steaming veg keeps some more new again minimal right you're not going to die if you boil all your veg we used to do that for decades and no one died it's fine um but no microwaving is even better because you're doing it for such a shorter amount of time that the ability for the nutrients to degrade is even less so hey look have lots of frozen have loads of frozen veg in your in your freezer and use the microwave to warm it up. I can't work for Dave to hear this because we argue about this all the time and he's convinced that if you heat food up in plastic in microwaves, the... Oh, scary plastic. The plastics like, I don't know, or like infused into your food and you end up

eating plastic and... No. No. Can't wait to tell him he's wrong. He's never wrong, so I'm so excited. There's more microplastics in water, so I mean, you know, I don't worry about. It's fine. I'm going to go buy one literally tomorrow. Sold. I've done. get one out. Do you actually not have a microwave because of that? Yeah. Yeah. Do it. Go get a microwave. Yeah, my mum's got one from like literally 1999 in our kitchen at home. And I, when I tell you, I press... They're proper robust. I run. Like, I pressed on. I'm like, has that suit on? I'm out. Honestly, do you not think that we would have regulated them more if they actually killed us? I think maybe the fact that it was from 1992 or thereabouts. I was like, this thing is second.

It's terrifying. That's insane. We do regulate things. Why don't like on a serious note? Like when things don't work in the way we thought that they did, we change them, right? So like cars used to fucking blow up. Like we change the way that the engine works. Like we would adapt and change things to make sure that they were safer.

Right? Like if microwaves actually did that, we would change them. Yeah. Like why do we think that that would still be allowed? killed by our household appliances, surely. I mean, come on. Yeah. Like, we've changed boiler systems in the last decade

because we knew that boilers started releasing carbon monoxide, right? And we were like, shit, that's bad. We should change it. Like, we adapt. Like, we're not perfect. We get things wrong as we develop new technology. But we also change them when we figure it out. And microwaves are so ubiquitous.

We'd have figured that out by now. Like, they're incredibly safe. Good God. I love this. Yeah, that's maybe... Because the microwaves, I'm lazy. Microwaves is, I can't cook. my crave is so easy. You're not lazy. You just have other things in your head that take up more space

and so you have less capacity for energy to do cooking. That's fine. Yeah. Don't label it as lazy. Sorry, I know I shouldn't do that actually. I really shouldn't do that. Yeah, that's a really good point. And I shouldn't do that. You wrote a book and you've bought a drum kit. You've got loads of stuff. A drummer. You can't meet your own dinner. My executive function fails. How are you going to be a drum star if you're spending all this time cooking? Exactly. Exactly. I've got better things to do guys. Drum star. I love that. That was your words, not mine. Factal fiction, my last one.

Are superfoods a thing? Are food super? Are they superfoods? No, no, not at all. I imagine little like blueberries and grapes. No, they're not. I mean, we know this because what counts as a superfood changes all the time, right? Right.

So, like, it's, no, they don't. Some foods have lots of nutrients in them. Some foods have less nutrients in them. But we don't just eat one food. No. We don't have a single food. diet like we have a variety of things and the healthiest diet is the varied diet so you know it's just no it's not true like none of these things do anything magical again they're just

nutrients right we know we've we've we know all the nutrients like we know what that we've got them all written down we've discovered them all pretty much yeah so we know that they all if one food has lots of a certain nutrients in it well great but they they come from other places too so it's not super it's not a super food it's not do anything magical it just might have lots of a particular nutrient in it i'm going to kill you this one actually i don't think you're going to like this okay uh a calorie deficit is the best and only way to lose weight half truth okay with the only one not the best okay so a calorie deficit isn't a method it's just a premise we our body works with energy like that's what it does right

we ingest energy we use energy and there's going to be a balance. If we're positive in that balance, then our body's going to have to store that energy somewhere. We either poo more of it out, and that does happen, right? The gut is pretty clever. Like, our body's not stupid. So if we have lots and lots of food that we don't necessarily need all of, sometimes we will just digest less of it. And so we will poo more of it out. And so we'll absorb less of it. So we'll absorb less energy. That's one way of getting rid of it. The other way is that we store it and save it for later. It's a good survival mechanism that we have we wouldn't be around as a species unless we did that and we store energy in multiple

different ways one of those ways is fat and that's the one we all get scared about right um if we don't eat enough then we have to get that energy from somewhere else because we've still got to stay alive and so we will break down storage of of fat and we will also break down muscle as well um fat is harder to break down it takes more it requires a bit more energy because it requires energy to break down things to produce energy. So muscle is actually easier. And it's one of the reasons why when people are severely unwell and in ITU and things and they're on ventilators and intubated, like they lose loads of muscle mass. So they wake up often having to learn how to walk again and stuff because they lose all their muscle because muscle is also used for energy too. But yeah, so if you're in a

what's known as a calorie deficit, then you have to be getting that energy from somewhere else. and your body will use stores of energy that you have. If you're in a calorie surplus, then that energy has to go somewhere. And often your body will store that. So when we're talking about scientifically weight loss or weight gain, that is the scientific reason. But the fact that there are over a hundred different things

that influence that calorie balance or that energy balance is wildly and deliberately ignored by many many people and so again it's just like telling someone who's in poverty that you just need to not spend as much and you just need to save more and then you will be rich

simple as it's a bit more complex than that right it's like well there are lots and lots of reasons why they can't save more or lots of reasons or things that influence their ability to save more and there are lots of things that influence their ability not to spend as much again you're under the premise or assumption already that they do spend too much right like we assume that people who are

fat don't use enough energy they don't exercise that's not true so that's why it's a complicated answer because calories are what govern our um our weight in in you know when we boil it down to something simple but it's not simple it is way more complicated um and treating body size simply as well it's just easy because all you need to do is just create a calorie deficit we also don't think about what happens after that either yeah so yeah if you don't eat anything you will lose weight that's kind of a given but then what and what happens after that and what does your body then do what changes do your body put in place to try and deliberately put the weight back on because losing weight wasn't something your body wanted to do and it didn't seem like something that

your body was very happy about for example it's not a very survival forward thing to lose weight it's not good for us it's much better that we gain weight in terms of overall survival most of the time and so it's complex you can't just I know where that question comes about because it's often used as they like a oh it's just calorie deficit and you're all probably fine. Yeah. Right. It's so overly simplified on Instagram. Very oversimplified. Yeah. Yeah. Fucking calorie deficit. Blah, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. So, yeah, it's, it comes from big-headed gym bros who are completely ignorant of anything outside of their own privilege. And they're usually very white and middle class and they don't give a crap about anyone else's feelings.

They have zero compassionate empathy. And they use it to make money. because they're usually PTs. Yeah. And it's just like, again, like the just lack of compassion and empathy. Like they, for them it works. For them, eating less, exercising more, they will lose weight. Sure, because they do that constantly because that's their job. There are some very interesting people who are doing amazing work around energy balance

and all these different factors that influence it. And yeah, they'll be like, yeah, the only thing that actually makes us change, lose or gain weight is an overall energy balance. but it's very complicated and they acknowledge it's complicated and it's nuanced and all this kind of stuff and there are lots of people that don't acknowledge that and it means that it's just it's just yet another weight it's become another weight loss diet mantra and that lack of acknowledgement as well is is so harmful isn't it because again it comes down to personal responsibility and blame like self-blame then oh well I just can't do it like you know they say that you just need

calorie deficit and why can't I just do it I just can't do it so yeah final question and then Alex will see you out with a drum solo um is everybody ready uh should be so lucky fact or fiction BMI is BMI is Bollocks we thought we give you really easy one to finish off with yeah you you you say that you say that but then it's but then if I'm going to be pedantic about it then BMI itself isn't bollocks but the way it's used is okay-dicky yeah because all the bMI is is just a ratio the problem is what we've done with it yeah yeah all it was was an interesting ratio at the time to try and kind of have an idea as to what like what our body size might look like and all this kind of stuff is in terms of does it represent health should it be used as a marker to be able to to discriminate against people

for medical treatment and IVF validation and, you know, adoption agencies and life insurance and everything, no, absolutely not. It is completely unnuanced and it's not a good representation of health. And we know it's not, but we continue to use it because we're lazy and we don't, yeah, we just, it's ingrained. But no, for what it's used for, complete bollocks. Yeah, okay. But let's call it for what it is. in terms of the problem is what it's used for. Yeah, misuse.

Right. Yeah. Yeah. At a population level, it's interesting as a statistic. Yeah. But that's not what it gets used for. It doesn't get used at a population level. It gets used at an individual level to try and determine care and to tell people that

they're fat and they should lose weight. And to tell people that it's affecting their health because it's no longer 24.9. It's now 25. Sure, because that makes sense. thank you thank you so much um for being here today and yeah for letting us speak to you for two hours where can everyone find you where should they go find you if they don't know uh well what's your what's your address uh London um I am you can find me on Instagram mainly I am a little bit on TikTok but I don't know enough dancing to be able to really do that

that properly um uh you my name on Instagram I used to be able to just type in and then Joshua and I used to come up but now I don't anymore because I spent months not posting properly on Instagram so they're currently pissing me off but as I post a bit more I'm hopeful that they'll be like oh yeah maybe maybe people want to see this person um but uh otherwise have a look online for my book food isn't medicine um don't be put off by the name it's actually a really good thing that food isn't medicine trust me you'll find some some release and comfort from that fact when you actually realise what I mean by it. And yeah, I mean, yeah, I'm sure it'll be in the show notes, right?

You're like... It'll be a show notes, definitely. Yeah, I mean, you'll find me eventually. You'll be fine. It'll be good fun. You'll find it when Josh starts dancing to Alex's drum solos and they go viral together on TikTok. Well, I promise to remember you all when I'm a drum star.

Cool, when you're a drum star. I promise. Thank you so much. Thank you. Bye. so we're back i just warmed my lunch up in the microwave and emma's drinking a diet coke and we're still alive so that's remarkable uh what do you want to start with i've got an is it just me or an embarrassing story tell me what you're in the mood for hit me with an embarrassing story okay hi alex and emm

em story about her mom facetiming her in a restaurant on valentine's day reminded me of a super embarrassing and hilarious moment i had recently my three-year-old bought covid home from a nursery a few weeks ago and we ended up isolating for the best part of three weeks, as we all got it at different times. During this time, he was also being potty trained and dropped his nap. So as you can imagine, by the time I was able to go out, I was in serious need of a good meal

that I didn't have to make or to have criticised by a toddler. And I needed a drink. It was my birthday, so a mate and I went for an afternoon tea at the Ivy in Winchester. Fancy, I hear you say. And yes, yes, it was. I was there living my best child-free life,

sipping champagne and eating posh finger sandwiches when my phone rings and my husband facetimes me. worried our little one was unwell I immediately answered it and found myself on FaceTime with my three-year-old who was sitting stark naked on the toilet

doing a dump and squealing look, mummy, I pooed with immense pride. I was torn between hanging up immediately and pretending nothing had happened to preserve my facade or someone who should be allowed into nice public places

and praising my lovely child for overcoming his fear of the great plop his poo made when landing in the loo. I hastily sort of middle ground and said quietly but enthusiastically that's great darling, well done you. Mummy's so proud of you.

before turning to my husband through gritted teeth saying, I'm at the ivy and hacking up. Needless to say, I'll be unable to show my face at the establishment ever again. It just made me now so much as I'm at the ivy. I love that, just doing a dump. Mommy, a poo. Yeah, that would be mortifying.

Okay, dokey. Hit me, what's up? So, and is it just me? Hi, M and Alex. Firstly, just because I know you'll want to read it out. Really? really enjoying your podcast. Thank you. Thank you. She gets us. We're such a twat. Is it just me or is anyone else really bloody exhausted from constant video calls and virtual

meetings? Since working from home, I can't be the only one with Zoom fatigue. Constantly having to look at my little thumbnail video, having to keep my face arranged in a normal expression is so tiring. I'm so self-conscious that I spend more time looking at myself on the screen than looking at anyone else. On bad days, I even spend a good five minutes before each meeting, staring at the view of myself, making sure I look okay, fretting about how I look on camera. Is it just me? I completely get that. This is extremely common, to the point that the amount of facial treatments are being carried out, I've gone through the roof because of this, because people looking at their faces all day. I mean like, like, um, like Botox, like injectables, Botox and filler,

maybe like laser therapies, you know, just things like that, ascetic stuff. It's because you're being confronted with yourself all the time. Like, you know, in normal circumstances, you look at yourself in the mirror before you go to work, and then you're like, bye, and then you can talk to people without the distraction of how you're being perceived. It's a horrible, like, I guess maybe we're used to it because of what we do, but it's really jarring to see yourself in the...

I completely understand. I've actually felt it so much with my face as it is. I'm just like, I can't put makeup on. and when I'm talking to other people I forget how I look I forget that I'm a bit swollen and I forget that I'm bruised and I can have a normal conversation

and I don't care but when I'm on Zoom I'm so aware of the fact that I look different because I keep seeing myself and I'm like oh God I just hate it I hate it so I think you're constantly reminded of your appearance and also it exacerbates

anything that you perceive as flaws I think doesn't it because you're literally confronted with them but there's a theory in psychology that if you essentially I'm totally going to butcher this but if you focus on something then it really it really becomes very

prominent and I think that's the case with things like this as well like you can you can just find something to focus on and then be like oh my I don't know my nose is asymmetrical or whatever I don't know like I've got a double chin or yeah but there's something to be gained from this

in that you've just asked is it just me and we're telling you it's not just you which means that we're all looking at ourselves when we're on Zoom, which means as much as you're looking at yourself, no one else is like, I'm not looking at other people, because I'm the same as you. Like, I'm always, like, basically checking myself,

which means I haven't got that much time for checking out other people. And what I'm normally much more interested in as a Zoom participant is the bedroom or, like, the room of what somebody is doing like, I'm like, oh, what am I going to see on the bedside table? Like, that's much more interesting to me than the person's, face. So I completely understand why you're looking at yourself, but everybody else is looking behind you at the shit in your room. So I'd be more worried about that. That would be my advice. Yeah, exactly. I just googled it. And this is what I was referring to. So something in

psychology known as the spotlight effect, which is the phenomenon where people tend to overestimate how much others notice aspects of one's appearance or behaviours. So this can cause a lot of social anxiety for the person, but you just be safe in the knowledge, as M said. is that a lot of people, probably the majority of people are feeling the same way. Like, they're looking at themselves in the camera. So really, you don't have anything to worry about. I know that's easier said than done. But I think if you can find a little bit of solace in that, you're good.

Hopefully we will transition out of this phase and we'll go back to face-to-face stuff a little bit more. Maybe. And then, yeah, you can have, like, chocolate on your chin and no one will tell you and you won't know. And you'll be a happy, blissful, ignorant life. So, who, let's look forward to that. I've gotten, is it just me? And actually, I'm really interested to know, I feel like I know, I feel like I can tell the kind of person that you are.

I feel like I know your answer to this. And I'm going to read the first line. Feel like all the emails start like this, and you girls just love it. But I want to say how much I love the podcast. Thank you so much. I'm not either. Honestly, I'm not sorry.

It means so much. So I've just listened to the La La Reap, and hearing you both discussing poo at the end time being tears walking down the street must have looked like a right dickhead to onlookers. But it did. trigger and is it just me memory so whenever i was at school or public toilet or literally anywhere other than my own home that i needed to shit i would catch it in my hand in toilet roll to avoid any plopping or skid marks is that just me so that again catch it what in a hand or in toilet

roll in to it well obviously with blue roll in their hand uh it's it's a yeah it's just you from me i'm afraid. Oh my God, what? I totally thought you'd be a catcher. It's not just you, because I know other people that do this, but I totally thought you were going to be one of them. I had you paid for a catcher. I thought you'd be a bit anxious about the gods. I just, I figured that you'd be a, like, a little catcher. I just, I don't know, I always got these vibes from you. So it isn't just to you. I've never done it. I'm, I'm going to just massively overshare with you, actually. Oh, God, what I'm telling you this. The closest I ever got to catching it was when I guess I did catch it sort of

I'm much better now but I used to have quite bad stomach issues and I had to send my poo away for testing once so yeah for lack of a better phrase I had to catch my shit in a tray I had a shit in a tray and that was pretty shit because it was a paper tray it wasn't sturdy so I had to like you know and it was quite heavy

oh my god this takes it back to that episode when we were talking about weighing poo yeah it was quite heavy too and I just didn't know if the paper would sort of anyway it did it was a sort of like cards like cars Like a card tray Like we're in a wedding hospital When they give people things to be sick in like that No no no that's that's very fast

No like oh like paper card Like a thick piece of card that you could Like a birthday card material Okay And I had to shit in my tray And then I had to get a little tiny spoon Oh my why do I have to take so many poo samples This is the second time I've talked about poo samples in this episode

But that would have been an opportune moment to weigh my poo had I, anyway. It really would have been. Yeah. Yeah, really bleak. Anyway, so no, I've never caught it. I can understand the urge, but to be honest, I actually don't poo in public places if I can avoid it.

It doesn't bring me a great amount of joy or pleasure. I can't say that it's ever crossed my mind to try and catch it. I do have to say. Have you ever put the loo roll on the bottom so that it's got like a little soft, like a little landing patch? Yeah, I've probably done that. I'm sure I've done that. I'm always scared to do that because I think, oh God, what if the combined

fine thing of that layer of loo roll plus my boots plus the other loo blocks the loo and that would be really embarrassing uh definitely definitely more hygienic than catching it and oh i didn't even think about the hygiene and a lot a lot less risky you might end up just pooing on your hands it's a massive risk okay al i'm going to ask you a question and i'm not going to look at you and i ask it have you ever watched have you ever watched the food come out your palm Okay. What do you think the answer is to this? And if you have, I have no words.

I have no, I want to finish this right now. Our sponsors are going to be like, it's devolving into absolute chaos every week. Have you ever watched a poo come out of your own bum? I say your own, like I've watched it come out of someone else's, but um have you in light of that reaction I'm going to say no comment

okay I have questions I lied I do have words and I do have questions how logistically how because she can't put a mirror no you just look down in theory

hypothetically look I'm not commenting either way I'm just saying, hypothetically speaking, if somebody did want to watch their poo, you know, like just coming, like landing, you should... Not like actual bumhole view of the poo coming out. No. Because I was thinking,

she's either had to get a phone under there or a mirror under there. No, no, no, no. I haven't made... poses a lot of problems. Again, I can neither confirm nor deny. But hypothetically speaking, no, I'm not the sort of person

that would go to the extent of like finding tools to facilitate something so ridiculous. So it's merely like I've caught a glance. Look, okay, we've talked about, you know me, I can't sit still. I get bored, right? So it's very common for me to like play with my socks

or retire my shoelaces or whatever when I'm on the loom. And if I just so happen to, you know. Put your head between your legs and see what's going on. To be honest, I actually, fuck it. Okay, the time I had to catch my poo in a tray, yes, I had to watch where it landed, okay? So that's that. Sure. It was the time when I had to catch it, sure. That was the only reason.

I think it was definitely a serial poo watcher. No, I do not spread this rumour, okay? I've seen it a couple of times, okay? Okay. And now I bet you any money that by the time I speak to you next, you'll have done it too. I'll probably, like, pulled a muscle or, like, injured myself. I'm not very flexible. Well, I feel like I know you better than ever. I feel like I know me better than ever. Yeah.

Maybe we should put a poll up. We'll put a poll up on the Instagram. Should I delete that? To see how many people have watched it. I've seen it. It might surprise us. Speaking of the Instagram, if you want to go and follow it, should I delete that?

And actually, I'm just going to say, as well, we love your entries, whether you send them via Instagram or to our email address, any of these, any of these, is it just me, any of the embarrassing questions, just email, should I delete that pod at gmail.com? And yeah, basically, we'll probably read it out. Be nice at the beginning, because that'll help, and then we'll embarrass ourselves on the back of your embarrassment.

Yeah. Do you know what? I just zoned out there for a minute, thinking about, like, if the, you know, 18-year-old me, all ambitious and, you know, ready to tackle the world and, you know, do some good in the world and really better myself. Yeah, yeah. If she could see me now talking into a microphone

about, do you watch your own poo? It's not quite what I had in mind for myself, but... I feel like... We are where we are. Really sadly, if 18-year-old me could see me now, she'd be like, yeah, that's about right. Sounds good. Okay, well, fuck.

on for way longer than we were given. Whoops. So yeah, we will see you next week. See you next Monday. Next Monday we have a special International Women's Day episode that will not be in the regular format because, well, you'll see why when it comes out, but we're very proud of it and excited for you to hear it. Thank you.