The Wellness Scoop - Best Foods for Brain & Gut Health + The Social Media Reckoning

Episode Date: April 20, 2026

This week on The Wellness Scoop, we explore what’s shaping our health from both a biological and cultural perspective, from the foods that support our brain and gut to the systems influencing how we think, feel and behave every day. We revisit our conversation on screen time with new data showing just how fast modern children’s content has become, look at shifting attitudes towards social media as trust and engagement decline, and unpack emerging research suggesting microplastics may have been overestimated in some cases. We then dive into the science behind the MIND diet and its link to slower brain ageing and reduced dementia risk, alongside a practical breakdown of the best foods to support your gut and the ones to limit. Finally, we explore a landmark trial holding Meta and Google accountable for mental health harm, and what this could mean for the future of social media. Recommendations:  Order your copy of Ella's new book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Quick Wins: Healthy Cooking for Busy Lives⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Pre-order your copy of Rhi's upcoming book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Fibre Formula⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode is brought to you by Tellus Online Security. Oh, tax season is the worst. You mean hack season? Sorry, what? Yeah, cybercriminals love tax forms. But I've got Tellus Online Security. It helps protect against identity theft and financial fraud so I can stress less during tax season or any season.

Plans start at just $12 a month. Learn more at tellus.com slash online security. No one can prevent all cybercrime or identity theft. Conditions apply. Welcome to the Wellness Scoop, your twice-weekly dose of health and wellness inspiration. And as always, we're both here as your host. I'm Ella Mills. And I'm Rianna Lambert. And after a decade in this wellness industry, we know how overwhelming and confusing health advice can be.

And that's why we're here to cut through the noise and make healthier living, simple, fun and very personal. Exactly that. And we have so much great stuff coming up for you in today's show. Re, will you tell everyone what's coming? Of course. We have got a wonderful show today. Now, first up, we've got how fast modern kids content has become and why it matters. And why adults are stepping back from social media. That's something Ella and I discuss a lot. And the new research questioning microplastic data. We've got the mind diet and it's linked to brain aging and dementia risk. The best foods to support your gut health and what to limit.

and a landmark social media trial, what it could change. And of course, we had to bring this one in today why dog ownership might be one of the most underrated health habits, Ella. So it's a big show. First of all, how are you? Yeah, I'm good, Ella. I feel like we've had a bit of sunshine in the UK. And I hate to be that Brit that just talks about the weather, but we all know it does definitely boost our mood. I'm one of those Brits that loves to talk about the weather.

I worked it out and we only have something like, I think it's like four months. of guaranteed sunshine each year, which is quite depressing when you think about it. So it's no wonder, but I got my salad game on and I'm working hard, obviously, on RePlus. Retrition Plus is the new area that I'm building, the new website. So we'll be talking about that more soon. And I feel very positive, Ella, about the year to come because I feel like a lot of big retailers are really trying to make health a focus. And it's something that with our work, I feel it's a really, positive change. I'm not saying all, but I definitely am going to be teaming up with some good ones. And then aside from that, the environment worries. There's just, there's a lot, isn't

there? I don't even know where to begin, really. How about you? I love that. I feel that was a smorgasbord of thoughts and activities. Just a little bit. I love it. I am all good. We've had kids Easter holidays, which has been so nice. Like, don't get me wrong, they have moments of being kind of feral and horrid. But it has just been so nice to potter at home together. So you said the weather's been really nice. They've learned to ride non-stabilizer bikes, as they call them. We went to Stonehenge, which was really fun.

Went down to see my mom. And yeah, we just had a really nice couple of weeks of very calm, lots of lovely food. And I've also started teaching a Sunday night, weekly breathwork meditation practice. which I'm just, I cannot tell you how much I'm enjoying. Oh, and it's also so good for you. It's such a nice way to sort of close the weekend. And talking of Stonehenge, so I lived in Wiltshire as a child and I used to pop, I say, pop down. One of the main A roads goes past Stonehenge frequently.

And there's always people selling fresh strawberries in the summer on the side of the road there, Ellis. You'll have to go back as well in the summer just to get the strawberry sellers. Oh, yeah, definitely. I know I'm really excited to go picking. And tomorrow I am planting most of my veggie garden So I'm so excited So are we, no way, good timing This is the day, the selected day

I'm a bit nervous Oh I wouldn't be You've got some lovely space And I do think that you're going to get a really nice A nice selection Ella Beginners luck they call it, don't they as well So you've got that on your side too Yeah my mum keeps saying she's like gardening

feels a bit like cooking If you don't do it It can feel so intimidating and like you don't even know where to start. But once you get going, like some stuff won't work, but it's rarely like a mega disaster. No, exactly. My biggest learning has been to space out things

because I wasn't putting enough space between the carrots when I planted them. And it's like little tiny learning curves. So I had kind of like micro carrots instead of actual carrots one year. Cute. Good for cruditos. They didn't look cute. When I say micro, I mean they were micro.

They weren't even big enough, I'd say, to get into crudetee. But anyway, it moves this on in a very different way to our health headlines today that matter. And we've got a few pickups. Oh my gosh, we have so many pickups at the moment. We're trying to space them out so you don't think we're just repeating ourselves. But it feels like a lot of the conversations we've been having, just have new elements added to them that we want to bring you. The first was interestingly, obviously, last week we were talking about how the new legislation.

on kids screen time and how screen time has changed so much since most of us listening were little and previous periods before that. And then interestingly, I was reading the papers over the weekend. This is a week ago. And the Sunday Times had done a big research paper basically into looking at screen time, the impact of it. But interestingly, they had looked at how much faster modern content had become, particularly across YouTube and some of those newer children's TV shows. So we thought that was quite interesting just to add to that conversation from last week. So basically, almost all YouTube videos had much faster cuts. So the second of which they jump from one thing to the other than traditional broadcast shows. And we were talking about how

that and that's not just for children, but I think exacerbated with kids can stimulate more of a fight or flight response, which is so interesting. I think it becomes stressful, doesn't it? Exactly. watching the TV. So what you mean by how many seconds is how long the image stays on the screen for because it can, you know, when you watch an old film, like I was watching Sleeping Beauty, one of the old 19, what, 19, 40s? I need to have a look at when that was made 40s. And it's very slow with the children, but you feel more relaxed watching it. And I have to say, when something like that cocoa melon program comes on, which is a really good example of like a one point second shift between pictures on the screen, it is. It is. It is stressful. I don't enjoy it. I don't feel relaxed. Yeah, it's kind of overly stimulating. So Coca-Mellon, which if you haven't watched it, you are very lucky. It really is. It's like torture. I would say. Yeah, we didn't actually allow it in our house after I'd seen one or two.

Oh, well, it was very sensible. It cuts every 1.2 seconds, little baby bum, which is as hideous and torturous, is 0.9 seconds. Whereas if you have like traditional CBBC programs, they're cutting about every 16.7 seconds. So it's really interesting. It's really the old, old things and more traditional things. And that's why now, because I think they're boring. Anyway, it's just an interesting couple of stats to add to that conversation about why screen time feels more overly stimulating and why that becomes problematic.

I'm sure it's the same with adults and Hollywood films. When you look back at old school ones that were on a set, you know, how many screen changes they have too. It must impact us as well. I remember reading that for a child it should be at least three seconds long on the screen. I can't remember where I pulled that from, but it's always been in my head. And I have always been conscious of counting the clips. But it does lead you on to our next pick-up, which is that adults are actually now less active on social media and fewer believe it's good for you.

So it is breaking through, Ella. Yeah, this was so interesting. This was an off-com report that just came out. And obviously, as we said, we've talked a lot about social media and kind of that whole space. And I guess it's sort of adjacent to the wellness group, but it's just because there's such a big impact on our mental health. And obviously, you know, we see health as something holistic here where it's, you know, all different facets of our social, emotional, physical, mental health.

It's not just kind of one dimensional element of it. But interestingly, that this off-com report, it's surveyed 7,500 people for its adults, media use and attitudes report. And it gave a very, very clear snapshot. basically of kind of our behaviour and perceptions in this country. And really interestingly, active engagement, so posting or commenting, has fallen quite significantly. 61% of people were actively engaging in 2024 and it's down to 49%. So perhaps the way the companies have changed this whole algorithm, you know, in the last year that

you alerted me to Ella, you know, the reason that content just doesn't perform in the same way anymore. it's a very different space to navigate. They're losing people rather than retaining them. Yeah, it's so interesting. The strategy that's so damaging to our mental health may also not be working kind of commercially, which is, and now only 36% of users say social media is good for their mental health. That was at 42% the year before.

So it's dropped in terms of people seeing it as a positive, going into more of a negative. 59% of adults now believe the benefits of social media and being online outweigh the risks. It used to be 72%. So 72% thought the benefits were better than the negative. So that's quite a big drop in just a year. Yeah.

And just overall, fewer and fewer people reported feeling positive about being online compared to the year before. So it's really interesting. And I think it also shows so many conversations feel like they happen in a little wellness bubble. But clearly this isn't. And actually this kind of big conversation that's happening about social media

and the impact on our kind of well-being and particularly our anxiety and mental well-being, it's really clearly cutting through because those are some pretty significant changes in quite a short period of time. It's reached a peak. You know, you could almost feel it as well. You know, when those big cinematic productions of podcasts came in, you know, the real big clickbaits. And you really felt the tide turning, didn't you? You felt a huge shift in the way content was being thrown at you, really in your face type of thing.

And I think it is backfiring a little bit. People are a bit set up maybe. Yeah, it's really interesting. And I think everyone who's made a lot of noise about, you know, this kind of like smartphone free generation and all of that, it's really having cut through. Yeah, I love that. And then our final pick up is something that I love talking about

because, A, Ella and I have a bit of anxiety around it, but second of all, it is fascinating. Contamination from lab gloves casts doubt on microplastic crisis. So Ella, perhaps this reassures us a tiny bit. Yeah, I think it does. And I think it also shows that, you know, as we've said before with some of these more environmental things, the reality is there's interesting research coming out. It's definitely something to be aware of.

But we don't have concrete evidence for lots of things just yet. And I think it's so easy to jump down a rabbit hole of don't do this, don't do that, be worried about microwaves and everything. And actually, the data is not always. always there for that. And I think microplastics is a really interesting one. We've just had some really, really sensationalist headlines around it. And actually some new research has come out, just questioning how accurate some of that data actually is. Like, you might remember we talked about how, you know, there's some research that shows everyone has a spoonful of plastic in their

brains, for example. But actually interestingly, you know, in that microplastics were in our blood, our breast milk, our brain, like literally everywhere. And there's always been a bit, I think, of a question mark on exactly how accurate that is, how reliable it is, and what does it actually mean from a health perspective? But there was a new study published in analytical methods, which is part of the Royal Society of Chemistry, suggesting some microplastic findings may actually be coming from the lab gloves use in the experiments. So these gloves can shed tiny residues called sterate. I think that's how you say it, salts.

And those salts can be mistaken for plastics like polyethylene in common testing methods and standard techniques. And those techniques can struggle sometimes to distinguish between the compounds of the salts from the gloves and the microplastics themselves. So in experiment, just simple contact with the gloves produce false positives of around 2,000 particles per square milliliter. So it could suggest that it's just really over-exaggerated, but, And that's not to say that microplastics are not a problem. I think the real answer is, is we just don't know at this point. But potentially some of the really scary headlines actually are not fabricated by any means, but potentially accidentally over-exaggerated. But also what's really reassuring is, you know, like I wrote about in the book, is that, you know, if you eat more

fiber, you can help your body just excrete those extra things that aren't meant to be there in the first place. And there is obviously elements of truth within the studies that came out. It's in breast milk. Yes, you don't want to microplastic. We know that does increase shedding of microplastics. There are some things that I think are pretty concrete with emerging research, but measuring it and saying something as drastic as a spoon in your brain of plastic, it's quite a scary visual. So let's watch this one. Let's watch it emerge. Let's keep an eye on it. I love that pick up because we're going to see a lot more about it. Now scientists are taking it very seriously, I think.

For sure. And I think it's just an example of like how easy it is to worry when we read some headlines. And it's not to say that you don't need to worry or you don't need to change any lifestyle habits or factors as a result of some research. But sometimes to say like we can also, you know, watch things unfold before we panic. A hundred percent. And with that in my mind. mind, before we panic, let's move on to our first headline of the day. The simple diet that will reduce your dementia risk.

So this is positive. Now it's the mind diet that's been linked to slower brain aging and a lower dementia risk. And it's a really lovely one. It's a conversation around diet and brain health, you know, sharper focus. I think how our cognitive abilities function as we age. And a new analysis, it was actually covered in the telegraph. I think where Ella found this and it was picked up in many different places show. that with long-term data we can reduce risk.

It was published the study itself in the journal of neurology, neurosurgery and psychiatry, and it draws on the Framingham Heart study and followed adults. So this is older adults, age 60, and over for more than a decade. And that's what we want when we're talking about dementia

because, of course, that's the more prominent age group where we find neurodegenerative diseases and all sorts of things there. And research tracked both dietary patterns and changes in brain structure using repeated MRI scans. And what they found was that those who closely followed this mind diet showed slower structural brain aging. How wonderful is that?

Less shrinking in gray matter. And gray matter is that part of the brain that we need is associated with memory, decision-making. And I think that's really, really wonderful to show that diet, again, this Mediterranean-style diet, is really beneficial. Exactly that. So the mind diet was actually interestingly designed. originally specifically to support brain health and researchers took two of the most well-established dietary patterns. The Mediterranean diet and the dash diet and dash stands for dietary approaches to stop hypertension,

both of which are known to protect cardiovascular disease and then combined elements of the two. And not to go off on a tangent or a soapbox, but just quickly to interject. I always think this is so interesting because we see so many trends and, you know, at the moment the big trend just things like carnivore S diets and, you know, 150 grams of protein a day and it's protein, protein, protein, protein. And as we always say, we're not saying protein's bad, protein's very important. But I find it's so interesting because the most well-established dietary patterns, as we're seeing here, are things like the Mediterranean diet, which absolutely have protein, but they have an

abundance of fibre as well. And I just think that's always worth just noting that that's where the core bits of research for health sit. So don't be swayed. No, 100%. But that link is really important because so many, as in the link to them being really well researched, these diets for cardiovascular health is very important because many cardiovascular risk factors, like high blood pressure, are also strongly linked to dementia risk.

So what they did the researchers is they combined them and looking to prioritise the nutrients that would be particularly important for cognitive function from the two. So the Mediterranean diet, as you guys probably well know, but it's rich in olive oil, fish, veggies, legumes, and as we said, long associated with better heart health and increasingly better brain health too. And then the DASH diet is not dissimilar. It's focused on lowering blood pressure through whole foods, veggies, whole grains and lean proteins. Yeah, they're the diets your GP will prescribe you if you are, for instance, on statins often. They'll say look at the DASH diet, all sorts of things. So they're very, very heavily researched. They've been around a long time.

And once again, as Ella just said, it's fiber rich. It's a poor. our gut bacteria, helps nutrient absorption, metabolic health or brain function. I often think, Ella, that actually, apart from on this podcast, because we love talking about these things, our brain health is so overlooked, isn't it? I find so many people just aren't thinking about their brain long term. We're just thinking about the aesthetic still. Yeah, I totally agree. And interestingly, with the mind diet, and then there's so much to read about it if you're interested. But it's more specific than like kind of general healthy living guidance. So instead of saying

eat five a day, but you could obviously choose any five a day, it's a bit more specific, so it will say it recommends for example at least one portion of green vegetables daily. It recommends specific fruits, particularly berries, multiple times a week. And then, yeah, it's just got this targeted inclusion

of foods linked to cognitive health. So it's a bit more of a prescriptive diet that people were following but still very diverse, fiber rich. And then there were some amazing studies, amazing findings in that study. Unbelievable. And remember berries, when we talk about berries and brain health,

it's because often they're dark colours and we've got this amazing component called anthocinines and berries. And that's really researched as one of those. I mean, you could call it in layman's terms like a brain antioxidant, for instance. So I think it's amazing that it is slightly more prescriptive and the key findings we've got.

So remember, these adults were followed for over 12 years, 60 plus, so all the age group that we want. So a higher adherence to the my diet was linked 20% less gray matter shrinkage. So that's really significant. And that's equivalent to around a two and a half year delay in brain aging. And those that followed the diet more closely had a greater overall brain volume over town over time as well. And then there was a 2025 study, Ella, on 93,000 US adults.

And that found a 25% lower dementia risk in those who had improved endurance over 10 years. So all it takes is just sticking to that. diet more broadly to experience such incredible benefits because those that follow the diet were 9% less likely to develop dementia, you know, versus the people that have the lowest adherence to the diet. And then earlier research also has showed us that 53% lower Alzheimer risk was common in those with the highest amount of following this diet too. So, I mean, there's a huge list here. You know, slower rates of general cognitive decline. Some studies show slower decline after a stroke. there's just so many benefits and having these inclusion of leafy greens and blueberries and all sorts

of dietary elements here swapping red and processed meat for you know leaner meats or cuts or plant-based diet beans pulses all of this is just so impactful and it's the things we don't see now it's what we'll see when we're 60 exactly that so if you're thinking about trying to bring more of this into your life with the mind diet there's 10 foods to prioritize leafy greens says at least six times a week so your spinach, kale, etc. Other vegetables daily, especially as what we always says, the more colourful varieties, berries at least twice a week, nuts most days, whole grains, ruggily, oats, brown rice, quinoa, etc.

Fish at least once a week. Poultry twice a week. Beans and legumes several times a week. Olive oil is your main cooking fat, wine, optional but in moderation. And then to limit, to adhere to this diet, you are limiting red and processed meat, no more than, and ideally less than three times a week. Butter and margarine, less than a tablespoon a day, limit cheese, sweets and sweets occasionally,

and fried and fast food rarely. Yeah, I mean, to be honest, that that's pretty common sense for us on the wellness group, but it's still advice that is not mainstream, believe it or not, this is still incredibly difficult for people to adhere to it. Then we have to remember the cost of living crisis that, you know, berries, unless you're buying frozen, cuts of meat, fish is a whole other subject. But frozen berries are fantastic. I love frozen berries.

You know, you can buy big bags of mixed frozen berries, pop them into an easy compot. They're so great. That's what everybody, if they have a freezer, that is exactly what you need to be doing, is stocking up on frozen berries. They're an absolute winner. Do you remember, as always,

there are caveats to research. So it's observational, shows associations rather than the direct cause. So what we do know is that having a dial like this has been linked in people that have better outcomes. So I think it's a no-brainer, excuse the pun, that we do. We all just adopt these Mediterranean-style diet cellar with particular focus on more greens and berries. I love it.

We're going to talk about this next week, so I don't want to go too much on another tangent. But it is really interesting. There's been this kind of move away from vegetarianism or veganism, and this, as we said, this huge trend for a carnivore or carnival or. kind of carnivore adjacent diet. And I just find it's so interesting when you see research like this. And it's the ultimate example of like there is a middle ground. Yeah.

You know, and this is recommending, you know, nuts most days, beans, pulses, several times a week, a little bit of fish, a little bit of white meat. So that's a very middle ground approach. And it's just this interesting thing. We'll talk about it in detail next week. And if there's anything you guys want us to cover, let us know. because it's an interesting topic. I don't know, it's just the world of wellness

feels like it's always swinging from one to the other. So we're 100% vegan or we're 100% carnivore. And in lots of this stuff about people moving to from a vegan diet to a carnivore diet, they're swapping, yeah, a plant-based diet for one that's kind of really, really rich and awful. And I just find there's something about the kind of swing of extremes really, really interesting. I, as you know, I'm not a fan of what I eat in a day, so any of that.

but I also know the damage of... Just remind people why. Yes, sorry. And I know I may sound very bar humbug, and I've seen other health professionals do it because it goes viral, because it grows your social media platforms. Essentially, what I eat in a day is

are not representative of what you actually eat in a day, and everyone's different, everybody's unique. And I think they really instill disordered eating patterns. And yes, they can provide some elements of inspiration. I completely understand that. But it's not reality. and it is so curated. A lot of the time, you don't know someone's budget.

You don't know their health issues. You don't know how much to sleep, how much time they have. And for somebody to achieve a lot of these aspirational videos is really unlikely. And it puts the element of failure on you by watching them before you even begin. And I'm very uncomfortable with that. It doesn't sit right with me. But I also question with our desire to share our own dietary experiences. I don't think a lot of people realize the high.

they do by saying, oh, I was vegetarian my whole life and now I'm eating red meat, where hey, or I ate red meat and now I've gone vegan. You know, I get it that these extreme stories are helpful, but everyone is so different that just keep it to yourself sometimes. Do you know what? I just find it hard. Yeah, look, we'll dive into it more next week, but I'm just very, very interested in the psychology of one extreme to another, and then all of the research we have sits gently

in the middle, and you can sway that into it. being more veggie focused or slightly more meat focused. But the evidence doesn't really sit in in extremes often. No, it rarely does. I completely agree, Ella. We are going to take a quick ad break here. And then when we get back, we are going to talk about the nine best foods for your gut and the five worst. You all know me.

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Okay, welcome back, everyone. So we now have the nine best foods for your gut and the five worst. Now, I am always very wary, Ella, whenever I'm approached with articles like this because I don't like labeling the worst foods in a feature. And often I decline to comment on these types of things. But, you know, it's what to prioritize to your gut health and what to limit, which is helpful. and they did have a dietitian comment in the future, and this was in the times. And we thought, I totally agree.

It's not very wellness scoopy to say. And the five worst, it's the sensationalism that we were just criticizing a second ago. But it's an interesting comment on gut health and what we should be really prioritising in our diets. 100%. So, I mean, they listed five. I have my thoughts on the ones listed, of course, but generically speaking, I think they were quite good. So they listed off prioritising kaffir, which is true. Kephyr is a fermented drink.

We know that. You can actually get vegan and dairy alternatives and options of this now made with bacteria and yeast. It supports the gut microbiome, thousands of lovely strains of bacteria. But the details do you matter here because authentic khef is made of kaffir grains. And they're the ones that have the broader range of microbes. And the problem is these bacteria are transient consistency matters. and there is something that you benefit from having regularly.

So you'd need to have kefir, I would say, in your diet most days. That's the one fermented food ella. I feel like I'm actually able to get in. And my children, I do enjoy kether. Yeah, I have to say, I'm not obsessed with the flavour, because it's quite tangy if you get a properly fermented one. But, I mean, I put it in smoothies that me and the kids both have. and if you've got lovely frozen banana and berries and some nut butter,

you cannot taste it whatsoever. So I reckon we get it in, yeah, like three or four times a week. And I find it easier to be totally honest than loads of other fermented foods. Like I just don't, I really do like kimchi, but it's quite specific. I don't really want it every day. And sauerkraut is nice. But again, I don't think I could eat it more than like once a week. Same.

It's one of those things that unless you're brought up having it. It's a very difficult one to introduce because of the taste. It's really a refined taste, isn't it? The other fermented options. But you know, as Tim Specter says, he aims for two to three fermented foods a day. I am still happy to get two to three a week as a good goal. I think we're all doing well if we're still hitting that. I think, honestly, to be honest, at this point, if you're getting any in, that is amazing.

Because there's not a huge number of fermented foods. You've obviously got cofia. No. Mezzo is a nice one, actually. Like, I find white miso is a little bit sweeter. the brown risos a little bit kind of richer and deeper. But if you're making a soup or something like that, it does add a really nice kind of umami depth to a simple carrot butter bean soup or

something. So miso is actually one you could get in a few times a week, I think, quite easily. Yeah, 100%. If you're a wellness scupor and you know about it, 100%. The next one they listed is, I am up and down with again, Ella. I know that lots of people are huge fans. coffee often overlooked but coffee is rich in polyphenols and I do recall on our podcast episode saying that those that are coffee drinkers have a very unique bacterial or gut bug compared to those

that aren't coffee drinkers that has been researched so it helps support gut microbiome diversity but again we have to have a look at evidence here that you know a lot of people just take coffee to help them with the daily bowel movement so we know that it helps about regularity the main caveat I think is timing and quantity. Most people overdo it. You've got to keep it. It says in the article to under four cups a day, I would actually say too for optimal sleep.

I don't know your thoughts there, Ella. I mean, I love coffee. You know that. And it does sometimes, yeah, I get quite into it. But for me personally, yeah, I think that feels good. But also trying not to have coffee after kind of 1, 2pm, really helps your sleep as well. You can have decaf coffee and still get.

depending on the quality, some of the benefits, the bacteria benefits, I remember reading about that. And they have got research everybody coming out with green tea, because I would have argued as well, there is also research for maturon green tea with the benefits there that might also be now looked into for the gut microbiome. But currently, it's coffee. It makes sense, Ella. It's from a bean. Exactly.

Fiber and coffee. It just makes perfect sense to me. So the next two of the nine they had were apples, because that's. high in fibre, particularly pectin. And pectin can be particularly helpful for nourishing beneficial bacteria and supporting your digestion. And then kiwi fruit, you might remember actually a few months ago we were talking about how two Kiwis a day are now being recommended in the NHS for supporting gut mobility,

bowel regularity, helping constipation, which is super interesting. So there's lots of research in that they have a particular enzyme in them called acetindin. How do you say that, Ray? Some scientists say acotindinin, I say acetindin. I say acetondin. So, you know, what do you call it? Potato potato, potato, yes. So apples and kiwis are so far to support your gut health.

You're going to be having some kaffir, some coffee, some apples, some kiwi, and then some cold pasta. Love. I mean, do you know, okay, so apples, yes, keep the skin on. Kiwi fruit, yes, I would have definitely put Kiwis in this article. Cold pasta, yes, because of the resistant starch. When you cool something down, you reheat it again, you get that new starch. And that starch is amazing because that's what feeds our short chain fatty acids further down in our gut. So there's different areas of our gut that have different types of microbes doing different types of jobs.

And having resistant starch has been shown to be really beneficial for our gut lining. So to help the junctions, keep them tight, prevent things leaking into your bloodstream that you don't really want to go there. And then the next food they listed was yogurt with live cultures. I would say, as kaffir was already in here, I probably wouldn't have put yogurt in. But the key is live cultures and also not to get a yogurt that's full of artificial sweetness because I think that would kind of diffuse the point. I'll tell you one thing quickly on potatoes we have been obsessed with recently is I love... Potatoes.

Yeah, so we're going back to our cooled potatoes quickly. I love in the summer, I don't like a normal potato salad. I just not my cup of tea. But what I love is some kind of slightly cooled but still warm. Nisois. Yeah. Chop. boiled potatoes and then you just douse them in olive oil and salt and then with rocket you can do some

grilled asparagus this time of year and capers and then like a tangy lemon and mustard dressing oh my gosh so good but i'd be making because i know from you how good it is for us to eat called reheated potatoes so i'd be making extra because it's so easy to do that and they only cooking kind of less than 20 minutes and then frying them up love because then you get those crispy sauteed potatoes and i did them the other day with Chimmy Churry and chili. Oh my gosh, so good. Can we just big up the humble spud? I honestly just think in terms of affordability and the poor demonization that I feel potatoes have had. Don't you feel they've had a hard time? They're quite hard to PR potato. They really are. I actually love them. Yeah. Okay. So the next things on our list are lentils

and beans. As you know, we talk about them the whole time. You probably don't need more on this from us, but we know cornerstone of gut health, rich in our fibre, prebiotics, great for sporting your microbiome diversity, oats, again, full of beta-glucin, a type of soluble fibre that feeds your gut bacteria, and then nuts and seeds. So your nine things to include are nuts and seeds, oats, lentils and beans, yoghurt, but with life cultures, cold pasture and cold potatoes, re-cooked, kiwi-fruit, apples, coffee, kaffir. Yeah, 100%.

But then we go on to what to limit. I really don't like these types of things, but I probably would have played it quite safe with the items listed here as well. Rie, would you have added anything to those nine? Do you know, I probably would have added just because I would have wanted to have made a point, I would have added dark chocolate

and I probably would have added berries. Yeah. But aside from that, maybe bread, do you know what, I would have put good quality bread in there. I would have wanted to have made the article as accessible as possible. And I think most of those are pretty accessible in terms of what you can get. So, yeah, I'm just happy beans are in there, Ella. You know us.

I love it. Okay. So if you're focusing on your gut health at the moment, those nine are amazing. But then also dark chocolate, it's great and lots of different colourful berries. And then your sourdough. Some good quality sourdough. 100%. Or just a nice seeded, you know, whole grain loaf.

Oh, yeah, extra seeds. Extra seeds in your bread. I think that's an area where most people that don't think, buy seeds, you will get them when you buy a seeded bread and it's a really good way of upping your diversity. So what to limit they've got here. First of all, ultra-processed foods. I think we all agree with that high in fat, salt and sugar. However, we have to remember that there are different hierarchies of UPFs, but they are stereotypically often low in fibre, which I cannot bear, polyphenols, anything related to gut microbiome diversity. So yeah, we're not a fan of those.

And then they've put sugar, confectionery and sweets. I mean, yeah, it's just common sense. Wouldn't you agree? Yeah, but I guess the question is, is it just that they're displacing more beneficial foods in your kind of day-to-day intake, or is it that they themselves are not good for your microbiome? I'm not saying one bite.

I'm saying, like, in excess. That's why I don't like these articles. I don't feel that the worst food bits, that it needs so much nuance. I think it's because they do nothing for your microbiome. There's no benefit to having it for your gut health, if that makes sense. But I think for mental health, if I had to fight for sweets a tiny bit, not that I should be as a nutritionist, I think everything in moderation is fine.

And it's not going to harm your gut health, everybody, if you have a small amount. That's the key, isn't it, to understand that what you don't want to do is to replace kind of your healthy, like breakfast, lunch, dinner, calories. But if you want to add it on, as you said, for your mental health and joy of life, that's a different thing. 100% totally fine and the next one there is just no way it can ever be good for us excess alcohol but they've said particularly spirits now this also for me is interesting because i don't think we have enough research to say that spirits over other types of alcohol disrupt the microbiome and the gut lining more

oh interesting okay yeah which i find interesting so that definitely needs a lot more research alcohol just isn't good for us everybody it definitely doesn't help our microbiome it definitely disrupts got bugs. And also, as we've discussed on the wellness scupeller, it increases our risk as women, especially for breast cancer, which a lot of people aren't aware of. And then the last thing they have is interestingly, well, no, the last two things, higher intakes of process meat. I feel we've covered that quite nicely for you guys. And then sugar-free sweets, interestingly. Yeah, now that is interesting because of emerging research with artificial sweeteners and, of course, gut microbiome changes, but also the digestive discomfort.

We know if you have these sweeteners in excess, some of them could be laxatives. However, xylitol dentists recommend that in chewing gum for good dental health. So we've got a bit of a crossover there. I'm not a fan of artificial sweeteners and sugars, as you know. And yeah, sugar-free sweets are not a better alternative sometimes unless you're diabetic can have a reason to actual sugar sweets. Love that. Okay, headline three is something completely different today.

I think we've had a good look at nutrition. And this is actually a further bit to that conversation on social media. And we said we would bring this to the show. There have been so many different articles and interviews and thoughts and comment pieces on it. But meta and Google damaged girls' mental health landmark trial concludes there is a legal turning point for social media. What could that change next? It feels over the last few weeks, we've had this very interesting inflection point in the conversation about social media, as we said, because for years we've had this mounting evidence, internal

applause, some whistlebowers, all pointing to potential harm from social media use or excessive social media use. But this is the first time that these cases have been brought to trial, and a court has formerly held these platforms responsible for damaging an individual's mental health. health. So it could potentially be truly a very, very interesting turning point. Very interesting. I actually saw on socials, it's gaining Hollywood attention. So Robbie Williams, you know, the singer Robbie Williams and his wife, is it Ada? I think it's Ida, Ada. They did a little video urging people last week to write to the local MP because the decision was coming when it comes to mental health and young people and we all need to write to our MPs.

and raise our voices. But I think the general consensus is, thank you that this is finally being brought to attention. It's actually really sad, Ella, because people have died and young youngsters have died as a result of social media, and they're finally being held accountable. The trial, it was a six-week trial in LA,

where Meta and Google were found liable for harm caused to a young woman who became addicted to Instagram and YouTube as a child. And the jury concluded that platformed design contributed to anxiety and depression and awarded damages. It's really validating, Ella, in a way, for so many parents around the world and adults that feel the same, like we were discussing at the beginning, that this has been acknowledged that it does contribute to poor mental health. And the jury have found both of these companies liable for mental health harm.

Exactly. They had to give about $6 million in damages. Obviously for them, that's a kind of completely irrelevant sum of money. But the interesting thing here, I mean, Mark Zuckerberg was there in court giving evidence. But the thing that's super interesting is that there are now over 10,000 individual cases, very similar to this one pending already in the US.

There are over, there are about 800 school district claims as well. Wow. And basically, there are lots of the kind of thought and comment pieces around this was lots of different legal experts, That's basically kind of warning of an avalanche of lawsuits. And interestingly, and again, we see this with UPFs and same with social media,

these comparisons to big tobacco and the litigation and the process that went on there. And what's interesting is that we've had now for several years. For example, back in 2021, there was a whistleblower at Meta called Francis Howgan, a Hagen. I'm not sure how you say her concerning, but she leaked some internal documents that suggested that META was aware of the harms its platforms could cause. particularly for younger users, but continued to prioritise growth and described how algorithms could quickly move users from neutral content to more harmful material and that internal research had already identified negative impacts on mental health. So that's kind of what happened with

tobacco when it all changed, was that what became clear is that they did know, they knew this was harmful for health and they kept going anywhere. And the centre of this case in particular was the argument that these platforms aren't neutral like they always claim, but they are are intentionally designed, which we all know to maximize engagement through features like Infinite Scroll, Autoplay and these highly personalized algorithms. So yeah, what happens next? Could be very, very interesting. Very, very interesting. Because we're already seeing movement in the UK around banning social media for under 16. Please, to the government. I mean, I just plead for it. I'm all

for this. But again, do you know, we discuss a lot of the time. I know I said earlier about the what I ate in the days, but not everybody has that moral kind of. campus when they have a platform on social media. So these platforms have such a huge responsibility because you're asking individuals to decide what's going to harm people and not harm people. It's very, very worrying. The nuance of it is that it's obviously not one-sided because the companies argue that users come with these existing vulnerabilities. You know, it's like chicken and egg, isn't it? And that the safety tools are in place. And from a research perspective, how difficult is that to measure? Providing direct causation between social

media use and mental health outcomes, that is very complex. If you think about the Love Island cases we've had of influencers that have sadly passed, look at the Caroline Flack case we had of the media, but equally, I'm sure social media played a huge role there. There's so many cases, Ella, and especially for children. I know. It's just humongous and all these lawsuits coming at them, and they will be firing them now from every single angle. I don't have any bit of sadness for these companies whatsoever. No, not at all. But it could just be, it could be the watershed moment because I agree. It kind of gives credence to create the regulation that people are talking about. But also, it could force meaningful structural change and how the platforms are built, almost putting them back

to where they were 10 years ago when they were just much simpler because it's the features, it's not the kind of total premise of the platforms that's being challenged. It's the features like auto play and the infinite scroll. Yeah. So that's super interesting. So we'll watch this space. Imagine if it reverted back. So Ella, let's go on now today to what is trending in wellness. We thought, you know what?

We've had such a jam-packed episode. We've had so many different things to talk about so many different pickups. Let's keep it light and easy on what's trending in wellness. And there was a piece this week on the health benefits of dog ownership. And it's a kind of silly one. But interestingly, pet ownership, especially dogs. we shouldn't call it a trend because it's obviously a big responsibility, but in terms of whether something's trending upwards or downwards,

pet ownership, especially with dogs, has surged over the last few years. There are now over 13 million households with dogs now. That's huge. And in the US, apparently 44.5% of households own a dog. So there's obviously been this big shift towards having pets as part of your family. But, yeah, there was some interesting points on. why having a dog is good for your health. Of course. I think the obvious one that I'm always quite particularly, I mean, I couldn't

personally have a dog with my living and my work and my life, but the one I get very envious of is the daily dog movement, the walking, I say dog movement, but you know, dog owners walk around at least, what, 20 minutes or more, probably more each day, which is an extra 2,700 steps. That's really good for you. It's so good for you as a result of these consistently high activity. levels. They, on average, have slightly lower body weight, improve cardiovascular health, including low blood pressure, better blood sugar control, reduce heart disease risk, greater microbiome diversity with higher levels of beneficial bacteria in some studies, stronger immune response,

reduce stress and improved mood with measurable changes in brain activity linked to relaxation and focus. 100%. So many things, stronger social connections, because I think dog walkers often, I mean, you're forced to chat to each other, like that scene on 101 Dalmatians when the dogs are drawn to each other and suddenly you're talking to somebody you wouldn't have previously spoken to. Because dog owners are around 60% more likely to form relationships of neighbours as well. Obviously, you need a bit of a village there. There's more consistent year-round activity. Even in the darker winter months, you have to get out. Low risk of childhood asthma. There's also good gut bacteria link seller with having a dog in childhood as well. But interestingly,

a lower risk of premature death with one study suggesting a 24% reduction in all-caused mortality. Yeah. So this is not to say everyone needs a dog, but it's just a nice example of how health isn't about those, like, we always say this, but it's not just about the broccoli or just about your mind diet. It's very much shaped by all sorts of elements of your environment and how you live your life and, you know, you can have a four-legged friend improving your health, which is just nice to know, isn't it? When the world is busy and there's a lot going on, just going for a walk with your dog when it's a cold winter day would boost your health? 100%. And I want to give a little shout out to some of these apps. If you are somebody like

myself who, you know, a dog is a big decision. Do you have the space, first of all, for a dog? We have to remember that there are lots of dogs at the moment that need homes. There's so many. Shelters are full. Vet bills are expensive. But you can go on these apps. I think it's called because my step dad uses ones, rent a doggy and he's formed this. Yeah, borrow my dog. Borrow my doggy. And he's got this one dog who he's known for 10 years actually and he helps this lady who's, you know, she's getting on a bit and she wanted some extra help with dog walks. And they've, they've even taken this dog on holiday for like a few days in the UK. So you can form relationships of dogs and not actually have it live in your home

and you can still contribute and help or you can go to these shelters and places and take them out for walks. I think that's a lovely thing to do. I love it. Next week for our trend, we're going to talk about something called cosmeterexia, which is equal parts fascinating and terrifying as a trend. So we thought, we'll just keep it light this week. Keep it light. Lovely trend to end on. Thank you so much for listening, everybody. We are back on Thursday with a lovely jam packs, extra scoop where we take all of your questions and we have got so many for you. Yeah, we are. We're going to be talking about things like how to be the afternoon slump, hot versus cold breakfast and your metabolism, food pairing and nutrient absorption.

So many good questions. And then just a little request from us. If you have been enjoying the wellness scoop, please do rate us, review us. Yeah, give us a little bit of feedback. Click follow. It all just makes such a difference for spreading the word. Thank you everybody for your support and we'll see you soon. Bye. Bye.