The Therapy Edit - One Thing with Rhiannon Lambert on the importance of loving your gut

Episode Date: January 14, 2022

On this episode of The Therapy Edit's 'One thing', Anna Mathur chats to Rhiannon Webster, Nutritional Therapist, Podcaster, Mum and Author.Rhiannon's one thing she'd like to impart to other parents comes from her professional experience helping people eat and live well. Rhi advises us all to mix it up a bit when it comes to our meals. To find out more about Rhiannon: Visit her website at https://rhitrition.comFollow her on Instagram @rhitritionOrder her brand new The Science of Nutrition here https://www.amazon.co.uk/Science-Nutrition-Debunk-Health-Happiness/dp/0241506468/?maas=maas_adg_BEA58B3DAE014125DD81139433399599_afap_abs&ref_=aa_maas&geniuslink=true

Hello and welcome to The Therapy Edit with me, psychotherapist's mum of three and author Anna Martha. Every Friday, I invite one guest to tell me the one thing they would most like to share with moms everywhere. So join with me for the next 15 minutes as we hear this dose of wisdom. I hope you enjoy it. Hello and welcome everyone to today's episode of one. thing. And I'm so excited to bring to you the Rihanna Lambert of nutrition and the most delicious meals and recipes and just amazing ways of sharing insight and knowledge about nutrition and how we eat and what we eat and why we eat what we eat and how we feel and

how it all links together. So if you do not follow her on Instagram already, you will find her as retrition. That's where she has all. all of her work, for her work stuff and all of her recipes. She is a nutritionist. She's a clinic owner. She's a mother. She is an avid foodie and a prolific recipe developer. Oh my goodness. I'm going to come around to your house, Ray. And most excitingly, as well as being the author of Renourish, which is a book about a simple way to eat well, full of recipes. She has got a book coming out really, really soon on the 30th of December. It is beautiful. I have got it. It is like this amazing, colourful, clear encyclopedia called the Science of Nutrition, all about debunking

the diet miss and learning how to eat well for health and happiness. It is clearful. It is clearful. That is my new word for a mixture of colourful and clear, by the way. I've just made it up. That should be in the dictionary. It is warm and informative. And we need this now more than ever, especially as the new year is coming around rapidly and we're just being bombarded with diet info and fad. So thanks for bringing all the amazing facts together in your clearful way, Rhee. So welcome.

How are you today? Oh, buzzing after that intro. And I'm loving the clearful. Thank you, Anna. I'm really, do you know, I'm really good today? I'm so excited about the book being here. And I'm just, yeah, life is exciting. Oh, that's wonderful.

I love a bit of excitement on a Thursday morning as we record. So, really, the question that I ask all our guests is, what is the one thing that you would love to impart in all the mums listening? Oh, the one thing. I mean, I have to do a nutrition thing, I think, just because, you know, what I do. It's the bone. I think instead of what you take out, think about what you're putting in. Think of diversity.

I think we can all count, especially as busy working moms or, you know, being a mom in general or just life getting in the way, you can count on one hand how many different types of fruit and veg you eat every week. You probably always buy bananas, always buy apples, maybe it's always potatoes, peas or sweet corn or carrots. You know, there's standard stuff. Mix it up. My tip is get something new in every single week. What about a new vegetable that even if it looks funny, you can Google it later and figure out what to do with it. But it's really good for your feeding what's inside us, which is two kilos of what we weigh, which is gut bacteria. that can help our mental health. So two kilos of what we weigh is gut bacteria. And that can

affect our mental health. Oh my goodness. Tell like tell me more about this. It's mad, isn't it? This is why I hate the number on the scales and calorie count. But that's a whole different story. It's all in the book, guys, you can read more there. But I think when it comes to our gut microbes, the living bacteria that live inside us, it's its own little ecosystem. And there's probably way more, actually, that needs to be discovered. Research is so early in this game. But we know from research and then the Smiles trials is an amazing piece of research where participants ate a Mediterranean-style diet, lots of variety.

We're talking healthy fats, fruit, vegetables, fibre, and that was more effective than antidepressants in a trial with depression. Wow. Yeah. And that was a randomised control trial, top legit stuff we're talking about here, and that was diet. This is huge. So mixing up what we're eating, diversifying.

And I think what's interesting about that, you're so right. We get bananas, cucumber, a couple of peppers that nobody eats, but I cut them up anyway. And this week I bought some pears. And as I was putting them in the fruit bowl. I felt like I was venturing out somewhere. I think the kids are going to be like, what's this again, Mommy? But not only does it benefit our taste buds and our kids having that variety, but like tell me more about this. Yeah, the gut. Like how does that, how does that link to mental health then, what we're putting

inside? It's something called the gut brain axis. So imagine an invisible line running from your head all the way down to your stomach. So it's not your head telling you when you're hungry and full. It's your stomach sending the signals up to your brain. So it makes sense that I'm trying to break this down the easy way that the food, the bacteria consumes and then you give off gas or byproducts within your gut, you know, you get a bit bloated one time or it's just your food, your microbes eating the food and then giving off extra stuff. Those signals that are being sent back up can impact our serotonin production, so our happy hormone. I'm sure you've mentioned serotonin maybe before, probably a lot. So we know that the gut creates 17 to 90% of it, which is

amazing. So the food we eat bananas contain serotonin, wonderful food actually when we're talking of the basic banana, but it's great. And it makes sense, the better we eat and the more we look after and the diversity of food that we can feed that. Sorry, I've got a lovely dog barking in the background, but he's very cute. He wants to get in on the action. Yeah, I'm not surprised. He wants more serotonin. I want more serotonin.

I have no idea that so much of this happy hormone that we're all wanting more of is so reliant on what we put in. So we can get more of it through addressing what we're eating. I mean it's a full swing picture right stress can impact it you know sleep which I know as mothers is just a nightmare um you know that there's a whole picture of things that can impact it movement every day but food is a huge component there and at least if you can get a bit of diversity and we're not talking about restriction and that's the big misconception with nutritional information people think oh you're a nutritionist what should I not be eating no I want to tell you she should be eating more eat more fiber it's all about getting those healthier whole grain carbs carbs in most of the time. And we'll enjoy those pastries and biscuits, just not as much as we enjoy the whole grain stuff, because that's what makes the difference. And that's why they've got it right in the Mediterranean and what are the old school style Mediterranean diets, is that they have so much abundance of always wonderful flavors and foods and carbs and beans and pulses. And we just

don't utilize them in this country very well, I don't think. It's the color, isn't it? Because sometimes I look at my lunch and I'm like, it's just, there isn't much color in it. So is there something to be said also because the Mediterranean, when I think of the Mediterranean foods and like a table laid out with all the beautiful things that we know to be Mediterranean, the salads and the big tomatoes and the olives. Like they're so colourful. Is there something to be said in seeking the colour? Absolutely. Eat a rainbow. You've probably all heard of it. I mean, rainbows are very popular right now. We've had our rainbows with the NHS. Rainbows are amazing. Put them on your plate. Put it on your plate because they all contain polyphenols, these powerful

anti-oxid compounds and different colors are known for certain vitamins and minerals. I mean, you can get a lot, but for instance, carrots, you know, the old saying you could help you see in the dark, your grandma may have said to you, I mean, there's an element of truth in it because vitamin A helps with the retinol in the eye and that therefore linked back to the C in the dark thing. They can't literally make you do that, but it will be protecting your eye health. And that's a powerful antioxidant vitamin A. And then you've got vitamin E from green avocados, vitamin C from your rich berries.

and your apples and things. And also, there's an element of darker colored berries being linked to protecting our brain from shrinking. So our memory, our hippocampus and the area where we store our memories, if we eat well, we're able to reserve that area and keep our cognition, so how we think every day, in good check. Wow. So if I was doing an online order or I was heading to the supermarket today,

and what would you recommend? meant that I maybe add to my basket that I, you know, besides the cucumber and the uneaten peppers and the bananas. Is it just a case of adding something different or is there something we can, yeah, what would you say? But it's all cost, isn't it, in budget. So I have to be realistic here that berries are really expensive. So I buy frozen berries. I'll buy a bag of frozen berries. I'll get a few out the night before in a bowl or I'll chuck them frozen into my porridge in the morning and then they'll cook in the porridge. There's all microwave that. Sometimes I just shove a bowl in the microwave. It's so much easy.

yeah. But that's the type of thing you can do. Utilize the freezer section because you actually get more nutrients from the frozen food than the fresh ones that have been sat on the shop shelves anyway for a long period of time. I have no idea about that. Yeah. You can, if you're buying frozen veg, the one that's been sat there that's been prepared and then sealed up in plastic. The plastic keeps it richer in nutrients for longer, which is why we've got another problem with plastic consumption and overuse, but we don't have an alternative at the moment to prevent nutrients from depleting. It's like an apple. Think when you bite it, expose it to oxygen. You get this oxidisation. You get this process that turns it brown. That's essentially what's happening to everything we pick and then we put in a packet on the shop shelves, whereas if it's frozen, you're retaining it in its natural form. So take a trip down the freezer aisle. Yeah. Find some affordable. And you're right, it's so much more affordable. I think I bought a bag of blueberries to shove in smoothies and porridge. And I think it cost me a couple of quid, whereas you get a really small pack of fresh blueberries for kind of, well, if not more so. Yeah, crazy, isn't it?

That's so helpful. And as a result, we're giving our bodies more of what we need to produce. How would you say? Good bacteria, like to improve the biome and the serotonin. The whole circle, the whole circle. So your gut health, your brain health, you're protecting your heart because of course these vitamins and minerals help protect our heart health as well, longevity of skin. Lots of vitamin C plays a role of collagen production,

so you're looking after your skin, your hair, your nails, bone health, if you're looking at calcium from different items. You know, dried fruit as a snack instead of chocolate contains iron. It's a great source of iron dried apricots. So get a variety in because you'll never know what nutrients you're lucky enough to get. Thank you. Eat the rainbow and boost your serotonin in the process. This is so helpful and inspirational, actually. it really makes me want to go and just, yeah, just branch out a little bit and get some colour

and I, yeah, sometimes I'd be podcasting, Anna, you need to just be making smoothies right now. I know, and I'm going to head downstairs and whip something up. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Ran, and that's so, that's just so helpful. And I think you're right. It can be, we can find affordable ways to do it. It doesn't have to be just kind of buying huge bunches of this and, you know, pots of that and punnets of this. It's just, simply sometimes heading down the freezer roll, grabbing what you can fit in the freezer, grabbing what you can afford, and yeah, putting it on your plate and eating the rainbow. I'm thinking Mediterranean. Now I'm also thinking of holiday. So lovely. Well, thank you so much.

So, Rianne, the other thing that I do is invite guests to answer some quick questions. So just got a few for you. Quick fire. What is the motherhood high for you? oh motherhood high when they kiss and cuddle you i just love my cuddles the look you know the look in the eye the gaze oh that's just melts me yes oh and that that's good for the oxytocin as well the feel-good hormones and what's a motherhood challenge motherhood low for you sleep sleep sleep I'm sure you've had everyone say it but sleep deprivation is my ultimate low it really costs a bit of a shadow doesn't it oh it's awful over everything it's a bit drudgy What is one thing that makes you feel good?

In general, what makes me feel good? Getting outside and I don't do it enough. I haven't been outside today. I've been glued to my computer and I know it makes me feel good. So incentive for me to even just do a five-minute walk around the block when I can squeeze it in today. I'll do that as well.

I'll join you in that little pledge and that little incentive. Thank you. And then finally, how do you describe motherhood in three words? Hmm Rewarding, challenging and educational. Rewarding, challenging, educational. I mean, you've never done it before, right? So I learn on the job.

So learn on the job, a Google on the job, and ask around on the job, isn't it just? Well, thank you so much. And I encourage everyone listening to go and look up your book, which is coming out really soon, the science of nutrition. It's honestly, it's so warm and you'll dive into it and you'll just keep going and going because it's so, as I say, it's so clearful. It's so clearful, colourful and clearful. And it's also, I think, really helpful for me as a mum to get a deeper understanding of what it is that I'm feeding my kids and how it benefits them and how perhaps I can add a bit of variety and colour to their diet. So thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you. Thank you for having me. Bye. Thank you for listening to today's episode of The Therapy Edit. If you enjoyed it, please do share, subscribe and review. You can find more from me on Instagram at Anna Martha. You might like to check out my two books called Mind Over Mother and Know Your Welf. I'm also the founder of the Mother Mind Way, a platform full of guides, resources and a community with the sole focus on supporting mother's mental. and emotional well-being.

It's been lovely chatting with you. Speak soon.