The Wellness Scoop - Britain’s Health SOS, Stress & The Cortisol Craze

Episode Date: May 11, 2026

This week we unpack a sobering picture of the UK’s health, with new data showing we’re living fewer years in good health and falling behind much of the developed world. We revisit school food standards and how countries like France and Japan are approaching nutrition in a completely different way, before diving into what’s really driving the UK’s decline, from diet to wider lifestyle patterns. We also break down the new “smoke-free generation” bill, rising costs for vaping, and what prevention actually looks like in practice. And finally, we explore the cortisol conversation taking over social media, and what genuinely helps when it comes to managing stress in a realistic, sustainable way. Send your questions for our weekly Q&A to ⁠⁠[e-mail]⁠⁠ For more from Rhi and Ella:  Order your copy of Ella's new book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Quick Wins: Healthy Cooking for Busy Lives⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Order your copy of Rhi's new book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Fibre Formula⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up to ⁠Rhitrition+⁠ Get an exclusive 15% discount on your first Saily data plans! Use code Scoop at checkout. Download Saily app or go to to https://saily.com/scoop/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Wellness Scoop, your weekly dose of health and wellness inspiration. And as always, we're both here as your host. I'm Ella Mills. And I'm Riannon Lambert. And after a decade in the wellness industry, we know how overwhelming and confusing health advice can be. And that's why we're both here with this podcast to cut through the noise and make healthier living, simple, fun and personal. So welcome, guys. Just the nicest way to start a morning, isn't it? We have got so much to talk about.

I was working last week on the script on this one. And it was what's happening, read, being like, oh, my gosh, there's so much. There's so many. It's like exploding off the page. And I was trying to be like, oh, I want to talk about this, but we just know way we can fit it in. So let's see how we go. At the moment, this is what we're planning to have coming up in today's show, Ray. Yes, so it is jam-packed, but we will see how much we can get through.

So we have got why Britain's health is flashing warning signs. the school lunch gap that nobody's talking about, a smoke-free generation, I mean, is it really, finally? Vaping has just got a lot more expensive, and there's so much we can discuss on that. Social media bans for teens, or not really again, how effective is that actually going to be? And the truth behind the new cortisol craze.

Yes, this whole cortisol face, cortisol belly, you know, I don't spend huge amounts of time or social media, but when I do, that is targeting me. Like, there's no tomorrow. I think it's wild what targets us, like, different people. Because I remember seeing it a long time ago, cortisol belly, but cortisol face, this is all new. I don't know if it's off the back of a Zempic face, but we'll go there. All the clips start with, you're not fat.

It's just cortisol. Sorry, I shouldn't laugh because it is probably something that actually really impacts people, but it is just crazy what comes up at the moment online. It's wild. It is wild. How are you though? We just had a long weekend in the UK. We get a Monday off, which is pretty fun, although it makes Tuesday morning a little rough.

How are you? How was there? Has your week been? What do you've been doing? I bet you've always got so much to tell us. There is always a lot going on. I feel like the children are never in school. You feel like there's Easter holiday and then suddenly a bank holiday.

And then you know there's May half term. So it is definitely a case of work by night for me again. I feel like I'm back to my early graph days to play with children by day. I mean, that's the routine. Although I had my first ever Mexican brunch at a friend's house. Yum, what did you eat? Absolutely delicious. So Laura, my friend, is Colombian, and she did this delicious spread, and everything was brightly

colored. You know, she's got the most beautiful, vibrant plates. And she did lovely homemade salsa, black beans. We had avocado. We had eggs. We had wraps. It was just all the fresh herbs. And it was honestly so delicious.

And it reminded me why don't I do Mexican brunch ever? Like, it's just something that I just do not do enough in my life. It was really 10 out of 10. Loved it. And then I finished writing a huge chunk, Ella, for a big project. A lot of writing this weekend. And David Atten returned 100, Ella, this weekend. I know.

My kids' school have been, like, they're doing like a party for him. I love that. I mean, not for him. he's not coming, isn't it? He's going to the girls' school. He's going to their private school. No, but like they've been, since they went back to school after Easter,

they've been, they're only in reception in year once, so super early. But they had this, especially by Georgia and reception, this whole focus on it. And she's come home and she's like, we can never use plastic ever again. There's plastic in the sea. It's killing the turtles.

She's very... Earth hero. That's what we call them at school. Oh my God. She's the most empathic person I've ever met. And she, gets really, really upset, the idea of anything hurting animals. And so she was like devastated. She couldn't believe what was going on, which is so cute. And then they were making things out of recycled stuff. So she had to take in an empty milk carton this morning. These are the things that you're

like, I set alarms on my phone. But why is the alarm going off? And oh yeah, to take an empty milk carton to make an elephant, obviously. Yeah, you know, like you do. Anyway, it's really cool. So yeah, happy birthday, David Attenborough. Happy birthday, David Attenborough, because I think what a legend and how much he's done for conservation and the planet. I mean, raising awareness, just the same as Jane Goodall. Sadly, she passed this year and she was another incredible lady. So we've got these amazing voices inspiring us. And I've also started home workouts, Ella, just like 20 minutes once a week alongside the gym

when I can't go. And I haven't done that in several years. So maybe the sunny weather that we had just helped pick up my mood and inspired me a little bit. I love that. I told me myself, I can do a home workout when we finish recording, because we're remote today. Well done. She's all braided up for it.

She's got her, a little pig towel. She's ready to go. I'm so not ready to go. How was your weekend, Ella, aside from milk cartons? Do you know what? It's been a really odd week or two. Felt very kind of topsy-turvy,

all sorts of like moving parts. But then we had such a nice weekend with friends. And it's that thing. Sometimes she just need that distraction. Anyway, my sister and her boyfriend stayed a weekend. And we had different friends come visit with their babies. and it was so sweet and lovely and very idyllic being in the country. So, hold on.

Yeah, we're kind of medium on this game. How nice, though, because usually Ella and I'd be like, oh, we had to do this. It can be quite manic. And actually, it's really lovely. And I really appreciate those times when there's nothing too dramatic. I know behind the scenes, we obviously all have a lot going on, but no drama. I've had lots of drama. Yeah, Ella, Ella's had a bit.

But on a base level, we're doing okay. So that is good. Ella, shall we move on to the health headlines that matter today? So we have got one pickup before we go into our many, many, many headlines. And this is something that we found, which I actually, I knew about some of it. I didn't know about all of it. And it's really interesting. Obviously, last week we were talking about school food guidelines.

And, you know, I think our kind of honest assessment was great that we have some new guidelines in the UK. great that they're updated and they're inherently more positive. But they are guidelines. They're not requirements, which I think to me, a really important point because I don't want to say it's just all wishful thinking, but equally, you know, given what we're going to talk about later in the state of our collective health, personally, I feel like it needs to be stricter than recommendations. But then there's been, because of all these conversations about our school meals, some

in-depth reports about what other countries are doing. doing and what they're doing well. And I think it really highlights the gap potentially. I mean, it's huge. I just feel like we can gather a lot of inspiration from other countries. Because obviously nobody's perfect, but it's so interesting. You know, you get these headlines coming up. Like there are four course meals in France served and dietitians in Japan that put school dinners in the UK to shame. And do you know, it is true because the proposed changes that we have here. I mean, yes, they're cutting a lot of things out, which is good. Less sugar, you know, few of deep fried foods.

I'm adding, of course, more fruit, but we're still only spending £2.50 a meal on children. And that's interesting in itself because the cost of living and what we know it now costs to feed people in this country. And in France, school lunches are often structured in this four-course meal way. So typically they'll have vegetable starters. I mean, it makes sense to me because, you know, kids are going to eat their cruditets and all the different stuff.

And then you have a main. they might have some cheese and dessert, which is more focused on fresh seasonal ingredients. People are basically given proper time. Kids have time. And I feel like we don't have enough time at schools as well at the moment because how full the curriculum is to allow for a longer break in the afternoon for food. And I think it's treated in these other countries, like culture, like it's part of the way they live life. They take their time over food. here we're lacking everything from the actual nutrition on the plate to how we associate how and why we eat and why it's important. Yeah, it's really interesting and I'd be so

curious what you guys listening think. It's definitely something that's always struck me as one of many, but a kind of one of the more like structural reasons behind the real challenge that, because obviously the UK, along with the US, are particularly struggling with their health. And I think you know, we're going to actually talk about this a little bit later, but like it is important to say it's not actually the standard in every country to be going so backwards with their health and we're doing here. We are unfortunately a little bit of an anomaly. And I think it's interesting that we don't have as strong of food culture as many other countries do.

And we don't necessarily, and I'm not talking on an individual basis, but collectively have the same kind of like respect for cooking and seasonal ingredients and sitting down. And I think those school lunches are interesting. when you look, as you said in France, where I think people would generally say, and obviously this is so generalist, there is a very strong food culture and a real respect for cooking and the produce used. And they're sitting down with this four-course meal as though, again, you're embedding the sense that food is a key part of culture.

And it's important. Exactly. In your life experience. Not just a rushed experience, which I feel like that's what children experience in canteens here. Because in Japan, Ella, all the children nearly, opt for school bills. So it's like something they all just, they know that they're good. Japan has this extraordinary thing where you have a nutritionist in almost every school. And then if that school doesn't have its own nutritionist, there'll be a nutritionist for that

district. And the nutritionist, as far as I understand and everything I've read and understood on this over the years is that these are obviously licensed professionals, but they're responsible for signing off and designing these daily meals and ensuring their balance, they're fresh and that they definitely meet the government recommendations. And I think that's so interesting. Whereas what we're doing is we're like, here's some guidelines. But schools are so overstretched, really, like, challenged. And then you want them to implement all of this.

Without training, support, and extra money pumped into the chefs with the nutrition. Because what they do in Japan is they are even, these people that Ella have mentioned, so the nutritionists or the professionals, they often teach classes about food, monitor food waste, help children actually understand what a health. diet looks like Ella and across Europe you know we said we have two pound 50 per mill they're spending around five to eight pounds per mill I mean that in itself allows for better quality ingredients and when you zoom it all out the pattern is clear isn't it that we are um needing I think drastically to open our eyes yeah and obviously all these things you know not that you can't change a habit but

habits started young are hard to break and so this is so important and I think think often it's also this really interesting conversation of like, well, you know, we can't afford to spend more in meals or we can't afford to employ these people to oversee menus. But then when you look at the economic cost of our health crisis and the billions and billions, it's costing, it's so enormous that actually these more kind of downstream early years interventions are actually interesting in terms of turning the tide and changing the trajectory because otherwise, you know, the bills are picked up later on. Because this is preventative health and until we start looking forward.

It's not just because Ella and I have children. This is because we want a healthier nation. Yeah, because of the huge economic cost of our health crisis, what children eat in schools actually ends up affecting everyone's tax that they pay and the service they can have in the NHS or the rest of it, when you really start putting it together. So it's very interesting and it links on perfectly to our big, juicy, Oh my God, there's so much to talk about headline number one.

Oh, no. Do you know, I nearly did a Instagram thing on it. And then I thought, no, we're going to discuss it here on the wellness group where we have time for the nuance, the empathy, the kindness, but also the shock factor because people in the UK spend fewer years in good health than a decade ago. Now, we had a similar headline last year that said it's the first time that our generation are not outliving their parents in some cases, which we discuss. But the Health Foundation says Britain is going back.

backwards compared with most other rich countries. So most of us over in the Western world, Britons now can expect to live fewer years in good health than they did a decade ago. On average, we're only living healthily until around 61 years old, which is about two years less than previously. Yeah, and that's two years that last in just a decade. So it's pretty quick in terms of the change. The think tank that produced this defined your healthy life expectancy, essentially is that health span that people talk about, like how many years do you live in good health, so free of illness or in-

Walking well, not being in pain. Not having chronic health conditions, etc. Not things that you're born with, of course. And obviously, this gives a much more complete picture of our national health and life expectancy, which I think is really important. And I think, as I said, one of the things that I feel was really important to highlight

was that the UK is only one of five, of countries where this health span, these years of healthy life has declined. And the rate of decline is so stark. So when this was done a decade ago, we ranked 14 out of 21 countries for healthy life expectancy. We're now 20th of 21 countries. Only the US are below us. It's just shocking, isn't it? That's just so, so shocking. And then you've got other countries like Japan, Norway, Spain, they're just seeing this steady improvement. Like, health span is getting better, our health span is getting worse. Because we have, whenever we try to do something good, we have nanny state arguments. And it's just, it's absolutely absurd that I get

quite frustrated about it, which is why I'm glad we can talk. I honestly, writing up last week, like raging. And I think there's also two other caveats to say, A, this point that we are an anomaly. We know this is not the norm of most countries in terms of a health span getting worse. Number two, What they've shown is this is not driven by COVID, which I think people are very quick to say. And number three, our overall life expectancy has remained pretty stable. So, again, it's not that. This is really lifestyle factors that are changing this trajectory. And I think case and point by the fact that we have this steep decline in other countries

are having a positive growth of health span. Let's tell them, Norway saw an increase from 70 to 71. And Japan, they're now living up to 73. good health. They're going up, Ella, up, up. Yes, so Japan's got a kind of solid decade on us. Now, the other thing is absolutely crucial to talk about. That is so concerning. We obviously, again, last week, when we were talking about school meals, we're talking about this discrepancy as well of the number of portions of vegetables or fibre intake, for example, in affluent areas of the country versus more deprived

areas. And this is so stark in this data. Now, all of it isn't great. Like our health span is is not going forward anywhere, but there is an almost 20-year gap in health span between richer and poorer areas. In the UK, we're discussing. In the UK. So some places like Richmond in London, which was topping the list of more affluent areas with good health span, that's looking at a health span of almost 70. And then some more deprived areas of the country are dropping down to 51.

So this is so concerning as well. And the decline is, yeah, it's so significant that 90% of people in this country are suffering from illness before our state pension age, which is 68 to 2.8 million working age. Britain's now too ill to work. I mean, the scale is so huge. And as I said, it's like the economic impact of this is enormous. And interestingly, there was a quote from Dr. Jennifer Dixon, who's the chief executive of the health. Health Foundation who did this report, who said, these findings reveal a stark truth. The UK's health is going backwards. The lights on the dashboard are flashing red.

We're the most obese country in Western Europe. Mental ill health has surged to unprecedented levels and more people than ever before are living with chronic health conditions. Yet they don't pump any funds into nutrition education, getting our kids cooking, looking after us. By the way, the state pension age is actually 66 and I think responding... I'm sorry, I can't read. No, it's fine. I just want to... I can't read. Sorry, guys. Don't want to add another few years to everyone listening, you know.

But honestly, I think the government's already... No, the government's response made me even more across. I find it very, very, very distressing. Yeah. So the Department of Health and Social Care said, it is a disgrace that as a nation we have become unhealthy over the last decade. Obviously, we all collectively agree with that, which is why we're committed to tackling health inequalities and building a healthier Britain.

the government is already delivering radical measures. Really? Really? So to generational ban on smoking, yeah, that's great. And clamping down on junk food advertising targeted kids to help parents raise the healthiest generation of children ever. Oh, it makes me mad. It makes me mad, Ella. The idea, sorry, that we're going to raise the healthiest generation ever by not letting junk food advertise on TV pre-9pm,

but like the brand can. still show up with the specific products can't. I mean... And we remember how long it even took to get that tiny movement through. Like we've been pushing for years, bite back campaign for years, and they're taking credit for only a fraction of work that isn't... That's not going to create the generation of healthy children. It's awful. It sort of boggles the mind.

Like, the scale of the issue is so humongous. It's so alarming. Exactly like the quote we just had, like, the dashbrought. board is flashing red. It's like SOS. Oh my God. We have got to change. This is so crazy. Yeah, you know what? We'll do. I've got it. We've got a generation who we are doing such a disservice to. We have a broken food culture. You go into a garage or a convenience store and the only thing you can buy is UPFs and healthy food is getting more and more expensive. But I think what we'll do is we'll just, we'll just stop ads for food before 9 p.m. That will solve it. Like what?

on earth. And I have worked in the food industry for almost 15 years. Like, it's not coming from there. I can tell you that now. Like, without regulation, it's just like what happened with smoking. The food industry are not going to do this. This is not a charitable industry. This is a for-profit industry that want more profit. That is what drives them. You know, they can say all the right things. That is not how this industry works. If we want change, we need regulation. And proper regulation, not banning ads before 9pm. And this is why we should be investing in cooking skills and good food because some people in this country in those lower income areas that are declining and declining in health, the only good meal children will get is at school. And our government can't

even invest in that. I mean, I cannot. It's deeply, deeply upsetting. But it also, do you know, let's use this as a reminder to wellness scoop listeners to that it's wonderful you're all here. And I think we're all in a sort of bubble, actually, because the people that need this information are probably the ones that aren't really listening here. And if we can just spread the word and try and educate and try and just emphasize that tiny change is going to have big results, honestly, the systemic change that is needed to get any meaningful action underway is magnificently huge. And while there have been commitments to move forward, which we are delighted about, we're not saying. I'm not. Well, I'm delighted there's some action, but we're not delighted that it's not enough and it is deeply upsetting. I'm not delighted because I just think there's a moment to say that we need more. We do need more. And I think up until the point, it's like we're just giving

recommendations and we're giving guidelines and we're saying like, let's do more of things. Yeah, it's pathetic. You know, it sounds so nice. And I get it on a piece of paper like how great. But it's not working. And when something's not working to this scale, like you need dressing. action and drastic action just isn't banning ads before 9 p.m. I think all of that's laughable. Honestly, their response and that quote, and if that's what they have to say, it's absolutely laughable. We have to do something about the food system. You need quotas, like, you can only sell X percent of like sugary items, you know, X percent of every like garage four court needs to have fresh food and there has to be very strict. It's not to say like these, you know, sweets will become

illegal, but it is like the proportionality is so wrong. When you work in the health and wellness industry, and I also just want to say one more thing on this before we move on, I also think this is obviously, it's a kind of separate issue, but except it's obviously such an adjacency. We're at a point now where the wellness industry is a multi-trillion dollar industry. So McKinsey value at two trillion. Other reports put it over six trillion. So these, you know, the wellness industry is enormous. And I just think that it's so ironic, right, that if you look at kind of 2026 trends and what to watch, longevity is top of all these lists. And so we have this kind of complete irony of the fact that we are just getting sicker and sicker and having such a health crisis as this industry gets

bigger and bigger and becomes multi-trillion dollar with, you know, growth coming from longevity as our health span collectively declines. And I just look at. at this and I'm like I also think we have to have you know as much as food manufacturers aren't doing the right thing and brands and all the rest of it I don't think the wellness industry is doing the right thing either because what they want is also to sell you stuff like everyone just wants to sell everyone stuff it's like we'll talk about later with cortisol phase it's like they just want to sell you a plant or a protocol or a gadget or something and it's like I know we live in a capitalist world I know I've been a beneficiary of a capitalist world like I'm not trying to be a

complete ID list here. But I do just think there's a moment where kind of profit comes before morality. And I think their wellness industry is tipping into that where it's kind of laughable that the trend of there is longevity when our health is getting worse. And when I was looking at this and like Forbes or Vogue or Financial Times, all of these, you know, huge publications talking about longevity as a trend du jour. And yet, you know, what often they're referring to is like peptide stacks and longevity clinics which cost thousands of pounds and biohacking and it's like what are we doing but that's why we're here everyone so so this is why the wellness group was created because of that huge dichotomy because of this multi-trillion whatever value you just said this crazy industry is worth but when

I think about nutrition I separate it in two camps because of that reason public health nutrition to me is not the wellness the worried well it's not that public health nutrition is the inequalities. It is getting basic vitamins and minerals into people that really aren't getting any. And that's why we've got a huge issue because nobody is linking between the bridge. There is no bridge or access between two interflowing areas. And equally, one is all about monetisation and not health. And the other is just completely and utterly flawed. So we are at a bit of a crisis point there. Maybe we should move on to headline two, which is completely opposite to the overwhelmingly distressing headline we just discussed.

But equally, we've got a bill banning so people born after 2008 from buying tobacco. And that's gone through in Parliament. And I guess that is very positive. But it just feels so archaic as well. Because to me, I just feel like this is something that we've known and needed since I was a teenager. It's really positive, obviously, because what we can see is that it is possible to take action. But I think also it's kind of sad in a way if we step back because just looking at like some key dates in the smoking ban timeline,

it was 1988, so many years ago, that the US banned smoking on domestic flights of less than two hours. It's always so crazy to me that you could have done that. They extended that to domestic flights for up to six hours in 1990. 1995, Australia banned smoking on domestic flights. British Airways banned it in 1997. I know, it's not shocking. I can't get over it.

China banned smoking in the cockpit in 2017. Whoa. Apparently, it finalized a global shift. But I think what that shows is like just using, you know, that as an example, like how long it's taken from realizing smoking was bad for you to packets then going, you know, behind the tills and not being branded and advertising up into the point where now we're actually going to stop a generation of children smoking. Like it's taken decades and decades and decades and decades to get to this point.

point. So it sort of feels like maybe it will be our great grandchildren who have regulation for their food. Yeah, I mean, looking at it that way. So I remember the school I went to, there were certain kids and they'd always smoke every single day in the toilets and they disappeared. I was very fortunate not to be born into a smoking household. Actually, the thought of, I've never had a cigarette and makes me feel sick. I'm one of those like prudish, like, as a singer, you know, I didn't want to smoke. But honestly, the thought of sitting on a plane surrounding by cigarette smoke, I just wouldn't book the flight. But it was cool.

It was seen. If you look at films that back in the, what, 50s, 60s, you've got Greece, you know, with John Travolta, Livy Newton-John. That's a good film. Such a classic film. But honestly, when you look back, you see this generational shift. It's really remarkable. So as of the 1st of January in 2009, you could never legally buy tobacco in the UK.

If you're born after the first day. Born after it. I mean 2009, yeah, fine. Legislations expect to become new law imminently. So ministers were positioning it as a major step to prevent, well obviously preventable disease and ease pressure on the NHS. But the scale of the issue is huge because smoking, Ella, leads to 400,000 hospital admissions and 64,000 deaths every year in England alone.

And it costs the NHS three billion annually in treating tobacco-related illnesses. And of course, that stems also to cancer and heart disease. So actually, like you've just said, the wider economic cost is even bigger because it's estimated at 21.3 billion to 27.6 billion a year. Largely driven by the lost productivity. And I think that's what we often not forget, but like don't always put two and two together when we look at, for example, like investing in our children's education around food. When you look at the cost, yeah, and so, you know, rough data being that it costs the NHS around $3 billion a year for tobacco. related illnesses, but it's costing the economy over 20 billion a year in lost productivity. And when you put these numbers together and it's huge.

That's money that could be going into food education for children. The economic effect of our declining health and the increasing number of people who can't work as a result of it, it's absolutely enormous. And it's sort of it's hard to see how it won't cripple us. And I think that's one of the reasons why to me this feels like such an emergency because even if you're really healthy and that's great, the collective impact of all of this is absolutely enormous and kind of can't be underestimated. But this is when I look at it and I'm like, it is possible to make change. We can see this and I think this is fantastic. Like our children,

it will be illegal for our children to ever buy cigarettes, which is. Thank goodness. Yeah, it's amazing. I just have just assumed as well that it was already illegal and that's how outrageous it is. you just assume that it's something children shouldn't be doing now, which is fantastic. But like I said, only when I was young, it was the cool thing for people to do. And so the other good thing that's happened as well, because obviously vaping then has become so huge. And vaping also has a big impact on health. The cost of that is going to go up massively now, which is amazing. So there's going to be a new flat rate tax. So I think the estimates is that little 10-mill vape bottle, the cost of it, got from around like four pounds to over six pounds, which obviously that happened with smoking

and it just became also quite an unaffordable habit. So that's quite interesting. So it also, I think there's more power as well to regulate the products and like controls on flavors and packaging. But it's also like, how did we phase out smoking and bring in vaping? You know what's so interesting with vaping. I've got several chains of thought here. First of all, the first one you said, Ella, just before you said, you know, this is an example of a prevention first policy that we could see with food hopefully if the government actually did something. Great, great, great, great, great, great, grandchildren. Yeah.

I'm more cynical today. We're so positive. Inside I'm, my heart is breaking and I try and maintain this. Like, otherwise I will lose the will to keep doing the work I do. I have to control something inside my head. But it's an example of a prevention first policy at scale that does work. So why can't we do this to food like Ella said? But what you just said before is that why vaping, why even?

bring it in. And I think people genuinely believe, just like a Zem pic of weight loss injections, on the similar thread of thought is that people believed, well, it's a lesser of two evils. Just like people think sweetness are the lesser of two evils of sugar. And it doesn't work like that. And I think we're starting to realize that that is, there's so many examples that you can cherry pick. I was showing this awful children's product last week. I think Ella would have seen it, because I shared it. I was just so horrified that instead of sugary cereal, they were then saying, oh, this sweetener packed cereal that's no seed oils and all the pseudoscience marketing on the front is a better alternative. It's just another issue we're throwing into the

pile like vaping is. That seems to be what happens before we get actionable change. I'm in this funky mood I said at the top. I'm in a cynical frame of mind. But I just look at it and I'm like, I just feel like we're just overcomplicating everything, right? Of course we are. But it is. And again, it's the more problems we can create, the more solutions we can sell you as opposed to just being like, should we just eat porridge? The more collagen we can sell, the more peptides, the more supplements you can buy.

I mean, the more demonisation of everything's toxic. Honestly, all you need to do is eat a healthy balanced diet, walk a bit more. We just keep adding to it. It's like let's be more stress, so we need more things to manage our stress. You know, let's add more pressure to your plate and then you won't sleep as much.

Then we'll need to sell you some product to help you with your sleep. and your age faster, so we need to sell you some more stuff for that. And it's like, gosh, it's like a maze, isn't it? And I just, I don't know. You just need to be cracking down on it rather than creating these half-interim solutions that still aren't great and they're marketing and selling them. That's the real crux, isn't it? It's happening everywhere.

And obviously, you know, look, nothing's about to kind of change at scale. But so I think the question is like, how do you have a kind of community change? Because that feels like today, the most impactful way to start, making a shift is in your community and the people around us and like widening that circle as you go because I think a national intervention so off the cards at the moment. But it is a question of like how do we do that? And I don't mean this in like a fear mongering or a scary way because it's not really our style either of us.

But equally it's like I do read some of these headlines and think, you know, well, maybe we should be shocked into action. Like maybe we should be shocked into needing to change. our lives. But then it's so hard to change your life because the way the world's currently set up means you're consistently going against the status quo. And the small voices, like, I would actually consider what we're saying, Ella, we are small voices actually, because the main narrative and the people that get the clickbait, the traction, any kind of word in about health are extremists. They're ones that are pedal pushing incorrect narratives. Look at what's happened in America

when we look at the food guidance they have and, you know, the beef tallow conversation that we've had before. I actually had an example of why I don't normally speak out unless it's on the wellness scoop about things over the weekend that I'm sure you'd have seen out. I cannot wait. Me and Ella have a lunch date booked in. I'm very excited about it. It's Thursday next Monday. The day this comes out. So happy birthday, Ruth. Thanks, babe. We're going to put the world to right. We've got so much to discuss. But I tend to make a habit of trying underneath interviews where I see pseudoscientific information being pedal pushed on mainstream TV. I try and always say, oh, wouldn't it be great if a health professional could get on to discuss this rather than an influencer if it's related, you know, to nutrition and diet?

And I had another health professional who's a man, obviously, it wouldn't be a, well, actually, maybe it would have been a woman. Come at me and say, yeah, but your friends with Joe Wicks. And I was like, what an out? Yeah, instead of supporting me and saying, yeah, health professionals should be on the show. By the way, I had nothing to do with Joe. They just obviously plucked Joe's name out of thin air because I'm an acquaintance. I don't even have Joe's phone number in my phone. I actually feel for Joe because I feel like he's just been tarnished with this brush.

But instead of supporting one another, even in my industry, they're all in it for clickbait. There's so many people that sadly just want traction and views online. And it's amazing to see, I'm not the sort of person that would publicly share this individual's name. you know, I actually sent them a private message to say, do you think what you just did was kind or helpful or remotely helpful to anybody? And they just didn't reply. Why, well, you're such a good person. No, but I'm not.

The thing is I should have more courage. Maybe I should be like those social media accounts that bash everybody, you know. It's not fun, is it? Like, you know, ultimately and, you know, you guys listening will feel this. Like, your life is so full, you've got such a busy day ahead of you. There'll be all sorts of blips and things. that come up and, you know, hopefully it's your best day of the week. But, you know, life is a lot. And so I think we want to feel empowered and we want to feel inspired and we want to feel inherently

positive. We need that influence. Life is difficult enough. You know, especially you then open the news and like, it's tough, isn't it? But but then, which is why I'm always like, I really want to be positive. But then I read these kind of headlines and I'm like, we also have to be honest. You know, we can kind of be positive. We can be positive. We can be positive. We're like, yes, guys, let's do this, up into a point where you're like, God, this is not good. No, the things that make it on to TV are not good at the moment. And actually, moving on to headline three, there are elements of positivity within this headline two. Let's pluck it out somehow. Under 16s face social media restrictions after government climb down. So this is one where

the headlines look better than the reality again. But the reality does kind of mean next to nothing as it stands. However, I'm still hopeful that it means it's going to change. Yeah, the headlines felt so positive. The reality is anything. But I know, I know. Okay. Well, basically, obviously, there's been this huge conversation. This is a global conversation. It's happening in so many different countries about social media use, particularly with children, and often these legislation discussions are talking about under 16s. Obviously, Australia has done a full ban, other places in the world like to follow suit. There has been huge pressure on our government to do something quite similar, particularly looking about concerns of the kind of obviously huge mental health, the addictive

design, the exposure to harmful content. Now, this bill, not to get super technical about the whole thing, but the bill has been going back and forth between the House of Commons and the House of Lords. And what happened was a deadlock, essentially. Now, peers in the House of Lords have been repeatedly pushing for much stronger action, including a full ban, and they want that to take shape within the next 12 months. This bill has gone back and forth four times. And you also got big celebrity voices now getting behind this bill. So I saw Simon Cowell and his wife speaking about it on social media, Supernanny, Joe Frost. And the House of Lords have been pushing this through. The deadlock came in the House of Commons. So from, yeah, our kind of MPs and the current government,

basically after four rounds back and forth, the bill was at risk of running out of time. And so the government had to kind of back down essentially. So what's been agreed to is although the headlines are making it look like there's a ban, there's not a ban, it's a pretty vague situation where essentially the government will be a legally binding commitment to introduce some form of age or functionality restrictions for under 16s. It is not a ban. It could have things like daily time limits.

It could have restriction on features like infinite scroll, but that then has to go through all the various different platforms like Meta and TikTok, auto play, stronger age verification, could have digital curfews. So when I say it means next to nothing, it's not because I'm actually just so cynical today. It's because basically it is not a ban. The House of Commons did not vote for the ban. The government stopped that. Why do you think that is?

Can I just say it's immensely frustrating. when the public are asking, clearly asking for something. And I guess it's because they just hadn't figured out how that plays out, right? I don't know. I think it's very odd. I think everyone's scared of being called Nanny State. This is just it. Once again, we don't seem to be able to follow through with a single thing.

Gosh, I'm joining you. I'm on the cynical fence. Yeah, I think that's an important one to show. And I think, again, to me, it comes back to this huge frustration. If there is such an enormous health issue of play here, and clearly social media for children is inherently negative, just like smoking is inherently negative for children, and why we can't protect a generation.

And this whole idea that they're creating the healthiest generation, and you look at what they're exposed to on TV, you look at what they're exposed to on the internet, you look at their diets, and their kind of consumption in general in life, I don't mean just food consumption, their total consumption. We are doing anything but raising the healthiest generation.

generation of children and it's such a disservice to this country and the impact in decades to come will be absolutely enormous. But guys, I've got a fun headline for us because I couldn't leave you there. It needed something else even though we were full. And I'll tell you what, it's official. If you eat chips or someone else's plate, they taste better. Oh my goodness. So it says chips stolen from someone else's plate do taste better. In a study, French fries were rated as crispy as saltier, more delicious when taking from another person's portion. There were 120 participants given the exact same fries on four occasions. And the only different seller was how they got them.

Yeah, exactly. And in two of the times, they were taken from someone else's plate. And then people in the study had to rate the chips or fries from one to nine. And the stolen ones consistently scored higher for being yeah, crispy and more delicious. 40% more enjoyable, which is so good. And also, the more daring it felt to take the dip from someone else's play, the better they tasted. Psychology, you'd add its best, Ella. Isn't that so fun? Anyways, I was like, after all of this, and also it's funny, because sometimes when we're doing briefs, I'm like, oh, we've got to

get a thing more positive in here, let us move this headline to next week. But these are all kind of such, like, time-sensitive headlines. You know, they're not really relevant in, like, three weeks time the same way that I was like we've got to put them all in but let's just all acknowledge that someone else's chips tastes better because you know when you always take i always take things or people's spicy things or people's right i mean like my husband my kids my mom like and people always do that thing they're like does it taste better and you're like i swear to you it does well it's a thing if you taste better when i don't have to cook it i still believe that honestly when someone does cook you a delicious meal i feel like it's the psychological release of everything involved

perhaps any slight tension in preparation. So yes, that was interesting. Well, let's move on to what's trending in wellness. There's so much trending in wellness. I'm so much to chat about. But this one is something you guys have asked about a little bit. I'm seeing it everywhere, lots of headlines around it as well. I'm not actually on TikTok. I don't use TikTok, but I went in. I had quite a lot of fun watching this, all these videos. And basically, the trend is on TikTok. because I think you have like trend, besides your granny, you have like trending sounds on TikTok

and this is how they all start. They go, you're not fat. You've just got cortisol face. Oh, God. So it's everywhere right now influences all of a sudden focus on cortisol without really, I'm probably assuming, understanding what cortisol actually is.

But here they've coined particularly cortisol face and cortisol belly as being explanations of potential weight gain and puffiness. And we thought, you know, as kind of a headline. It kind of sums up perfectly while social media is obsessed with cortisol what a headline because it's true. Ella's algorithm's full of it. I haven't actually had it yet, Ella, but it says nothing's more stressful than this cortisol craze. And that's a piece that ran in the observer. And they had a quote in there, which I think was so good. It was, if you're reading this

and thinking, I'm an adult living in 2026. I have a stressful job and sometimes I forget to text back. Donald Trump keeps bombing Iran. I wake up at 2 a.m. because I can't remember if I turned the straighteners off, I still can't perfect this firefly post, of course I'm stressed. And I just thought it was a good summary of like, of course, most of us are stressed. Like, can't afford petrol right now. The food is astronomically expensive. Everything's a bit rubbish.

Wake up to more headlines about bombing. I mean, like, it's really, it's a pretty stressful world. You're not weird to be stressed. Anyway, so we think this is this interesting thing of talking about something quite normal, something going on a lot, and then kind of pathologizing it so that we can sell you stuff. We obviously have talked about cortisol before. It's an essential hormone released by adrenal glands. It's normal. It's what wakes you up in the morning. It regulates and supports metabolism and it's used in all sorts of things like we need

it. Cortisol not the villain. Obviously now if you have chronic stress, your cortisol levels can get higher. That can become a bit challenging. That's linked to poor health if you have chronic stress. They're the outcomes and studies that link to the things we don't want to really go there with today. But, and sure, you know. Can you have photo face? No, it isn't a recognized medical term. The idea of it is kind of absolutely insane. It's just like Ella says with the little toe thing where we discuss that quite a lot.

You know, cortisol doesn't just manifest and pile the hormone in one particular area. And you've just realized, I was going to discuss this on the extra scoop. I bought a gadget, my first ever influenced gadget, unaware that it's probably linked to this trend. We'll discuss on Thursday. Yeah. Okay, we'll discuss this on Thursday. They don't way. I know.

Essentially, there are some things that can happen. Some people, it's very rare, have conditions like Cushing's Syndrome, which can cause around a puffier phase, but alongside serious health complications like high blood pressure, bone loss, bone mineral density loss. And that is rare and clinical. but what most of us are experiencing every single day is definitely not. Whereas cortisol belly, I think Ella, is something that has been discussed in the media for many, many years. And there are elements of truth underlying that. But cortisol face, again, there are no underlying elements of truth. It's kind of come from nowhere. Exactly that. Now, obviously, like, if you stayed up late and you went for drinks with friends, you might wake up and be a little bit puffier. That's not

cortisol phase. That's just like normal physiological. response to life. And you know, you can do your gooer shaft type things and that can all work. But it's not cortisol face. It's not like, because I think then you start getting worried. Like it's a bit like when people are saying you're not fat, you have cortisol face. It's all like you're not ugly or stressed. It's like no, no, no, this is not right. Like it's odd. Do you know, the whole thing is very, very odd. You know, people have fillers in their face to try and create a puffier, rounder faces they age and then you've got the younger generations that don't like it and want to get rid of the extra fat pocket storage that they have. So remember cortisol is a stress

hormone. It's released by your adrenal glands in a response to stress. It's protective. It helps us to release energy quickly in our body when we need it. But it also increases our blood sugar levels and that's so we can respond to things quickly. We've got we've got energy ready to burn, ready to move. And of course, chronic elevations in cortisol do influence our appetite. Some people, when they're stressed, you'll find they're either turn to food or they turn away from food. And a lot of that's psychological, but some of it is a biological response as well. It can heighten those feelings of hunger and drive a preference for high palatable foods because the thing you want when you're stressed, the fastest source of energy isn't your broccoli.

It's going to be your thing in a packet that tastes absolutely delicious, your favorite biscuit or pack of crisps, whatever it may be. But cortisol does have an interaction with dopamine signaling. So that is our feel-good area where these foods do provide a temporary sense of release. And that's why we've got relationships of food and habits that come from cortisol. I just wanted to explain that because stress can lead to weight game for that variety of reasons. And it's not that your body suddenly decides I'm going to store it around your middle or on your face in that particular way. But it's habitual overeating over time with cortisol contributing to that that can core. It can be difficult for your body to shift the weight.

But you can't choose where guys. I'm sorry, we can't choose if it's our face or our legs or our arms. What I saw was just all these videos, yeah, starting with you're not fat, you have cortisol face or whatever. That's awful. And also, you're not fat. Can we get over fat shaming people? I cannot bear it. But then it was like, so comment cortisol and get my six-week guy.

Oh, I see. That's what they're selling. I was going to ask you, what do you sell from that? So they're obviously unqualified people giving out diet plans again or, I don't know, face massage plan. It's lymphatic drainage. Just various different kind of protocols and approaches. Look, stress does impact our weight long term and it does impact our health. But cortisol face is a trend that can definitely go away. It's not real. There's a bit more nuance in belly, but it's not as simple as. it was made out to be. Anyway, I just thought they were quite interesting trends. Not great ones. No, they're not great ones because remember cortisol also does, we do feel it and responses in our hyperfamous as well. There's areas in the brain. There's lots of different things to think about here. So it's a clear example of how wellness trends can take something real, oversimplify it, twist it upside down, kind of mishmash it all and try and profit at the end of it. Yeah, and I'm just thinking like as we get to the end of our notes like what's the positive to leave this on? You don't need to do it.

You don't need to do it. We've had a different episode to everyone. I think it's good to mix it up. Yeah. And I think that, you know, the take home to me is that ultimately, you know, I think we have to be really supportive of one another. And I think we also have to be quite cynical of all of these different industries because there's a tipping point in which they do become focused more on kind of commercial success

than necessarily moving the dial on your health. And I don't say that again to be like really, really cynical. But I, you know, cortisol face is a great example of that. Like it's not a thing. And so, yes, if you're eating really bad and you're not really sleeping or the rest of it over time, you might see it in your face. But the simplicity of it in order to sell a protocol just like, doesn't add up. And I think it is that challenge of kind of ultimately what we need is we need

the basics. And the basics aren't very snappy. We just help each other with her. We do. We're here all together and that's what I think the space is about. So thank you for listening everybody and I've got my little gadget to share of you on Thursday. So you know, are you going to cook anything nice this week, Ray, or do like what are your kind of foundational things you're going to do for your well-being this week? Me right now, I just need to take it day by. day. I've got to be honest. This is the kind of zone that I'm surviving in right now. But I try and maximize when I'm at home a lot more to do some meal prep. I've got some good meal prep videos coming. I'm making a lot of bars, oat bars at the moment to snack on for energy. Yeah.

I mean try and spend a lot of time outside where I can. Yeah, I think that's a really good one. So yeah, thank you for listening. And we cannot wait to see you all on Thursday. Do let us know how you feel today's episode was, honestly, please do give us your feedback. Do you really rate us on Apple, we never say that enough because we have to fight this algorithm. Pop us some five stars or likes if you like. And it's three's birthday, so happy birthday, Ray. Give me a light for the birthday. Have a great day, everyone.

Bye.