The Wellness Scoop - Burnout, Partner Diet Drama & The Smoothie Myth

Episode Date: May 14, 2026

This week’s Q&A covers some of the most relatable health questions. We talk about how to approach a partner’s diet when you’re worried but not being heard, what to prioritise in a teenage pescatarian diet, and why stress habits like chewing gum can be so hard to shift. We also unpack the banana and berry smoothie myth, share simple ways to support insulin resistance, and explore what actually helps when recovering from burnout, plus whether ginger shots are worth it. Recommendations: The Morning Show on Apple TV Warm salads in summer Meditating with music. Rhi recommends Howard Shore and John Barry. From listener Bryony: 1-2-3 Pancakes - 1 banana (mashed), 2 eggs, 3 tablespoons oats. Super easy, mixed together and fried. Listener Kate says, 'don't pull up dandelions' as they provide food for insects and keep our environment healthy. She adds: 'We need to retrain our brains to see wild flowers as valuable plants, not weeds!' Ella's book recommendation: 'Consider Yourself Kissed' by Jessica Stanley 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

Hi and welcome to the Wellness Scoop, your weekly dose of health and wellness inspiration, as always hosted by the two of us. I'm Ella Mills. And I'm Riannan Lambert, and today we're here taking all of your wonderful recommendations and questions on the podcast, so let's get into it. We've got so much to talk about today. We are going to be talking about your partner's diet and the drama that that can create when they won't listen. key nutrients for teenagers, why stress habits like chewing gum can be really hard to break. We're going to be talking about burnout recovery, what really makes a difference. Some slightly more random ones, like to bananas cancel out, the benefits of berries,

the myths that you guys hear online, insulin resistance and what really helps with that, ginger shots are they worth it? We're everything. Burnout to smoothie myths. I feel like this is an eclectic episode, no, can't wait. It really is eclectic, Alet. Do you have any recommendations for us to kickstart? Do you know what? I told you on Monday I've had a funky week or do. And so I've been, you know, I'm always conscious. We also talked about stress eating in last Monday's episode. I am a classic stress eater. But I was just like, you know what? I'm just going to do lovely, gentle, nice things while I feel funky. And do you know what I rewatched on the weekend with my sister and her boyfriend, the movie, The Intern? Have you seen it? Oh, no. What's that? Who's in that? Oh, my God. Re. Oh, do I need to? Is it like a 90s one?

No, it's more recent than that. It's Robert. De Niro and Anne Hathaway, and Anne Hathaway is like the kind of, I feel like it's based on Natalie Massne who started Nata Porter. She's like kind of that kind of character, but in Brooklyn and she's like this busy, stressed, hype-powered woman. And Robert De Niro is a lonely man who answers a job to be like a senior citizen intern at her startup fashion company. And it's just so cute and fun and happy and joyous. And it's one of my favorite films of all times. And I feel it's not as loved as it should be. So I 100 out of 10 recommend you watch the intern if you want like a nice feel good. It's not a rom-com, but it's rom-com vibes. I will 100% put that on my list. I love a new one.

It's always good to have a new wreck. It's so, so good. I actually was also watched Zootopia yesterday with the kids. I love. I love a Disney film. I actually got into the morning show, thanks to you, Ella, that recommendation. I finally got around to downloading it. Wow, I mean, talk about hard-hitting headlines that they cover. You've done season one, two, three. No, I'm still on season one where Alex has just come back to join. I can't remember her name. Begins a B, Reese Witherspoon.

Yeah, if you haven't watched it yet, it's Jen for Anderson and Reese Willerspoon. And they're kind of fronting like the equivalent of the kind of main morning. This morning. It's like the equivalent of this morning. And it's so good. They've got three seasons. I would have such a crush on John Hamm, you know, the guy from, oh, what was the advertising show called?

Mad Men or? Mad Men. And he's also in your friends and neighbours, which I really like. It's an excellent show. And do you know what I have been doing? After you ask me on Monday, what am I doing to look after myself? Well, I've been doing warm summer salads. I am addicted.

It's just the quickest thing, isn't it? You quickly chop up an onion or leek or shallots or Ella loves or whatever you've got in the pan. I mix it with chickpeas or butter beans, fry off some cherry tomatoes or figs and add some fruit, anything that I want. And I kind of chuck it all in, pinch a soul, olive oil, layer it up with my chopped cucumber and some blue cheese or something that will melt into it in a bowl. And that is something that I've just been surviving on all week and then mixing it up with whatever I happen to have in the fridge. Because my food shop is, oh my goodness, the cost of my food shop, Ella, I cannot get over how the cost of food has increased so much.

I've noticed a difference even in the last few weeks. So I'm trying to be very mindful about food, waste, we have in the house and I think that's just a really good tip for anyone. If you have something warm in your salad, it's far more enjoyable. My husband hates cold food. It's a weird thing. Yeah, mine's always keen on super hot. I don't know why. I do find that odd as well. He won't eat anything cold. If it's meant to be cold, like ice cream, it's okay. But if it was meant to be hot and now it's cold, he literally can't eat it. Complete refusal. So we've always had hot salads and I way prefer them. So now I'm like a full. full and full warm salad gal.

Warm salads are the way forwards, I'm telling you. And then one recommendation for you all. I know that you loved the music rec last time of Iron Aldi. I really suggest putting on some classic old John Barry, who's actually the composer. I suppose he's more well known for James Bond theme tune, the 007 theme tune. But he wrote all the old school films.

I think it was like into Africa and always amazing soundtracks. If you just ask your Alexa to play, John Barry, or Howard Shaw, who did some of the Lord of the Rings soundtracks. I've been trying to do meditation because I'm a singer. I've been trying to do the soprano lines and some of these orchestral pieces of music. But honestly, just playing some beautiful, soaring, relaxing film score is actually really lovely. Just something to chuck into the mix. That is such a nice tip.

Yeah, it's just different. I know that you're very good at meditation, Ella. And my version of meditation I've discovered is focusing on the music. Yeah, everyone's got something else that they're going to really. enjoy and I think it sometimes it all feels a bit puritanical as to kind of what you do but gardening or walking can be the you know the same thing I'm so into my gardening rate we're like obsessed in our house and I've planted all these um daily air um like bulbs and I just morning and night go and like check on them and look and see if someone's sprouting and well done did you water them in the heat wave

because I forgot actually I needed to add a bit of extra water to mine oh really like I'm so obsessed I couldn't forget, I'd go and see them, like, on an hourly basis. This morning before we recorded, you were like, are you coming? And I was like, yeah, I'm actually a minute late because I took them all out of the greenhouse because I thought they'd like to sit in the sun this morning. That's so lovely. Do you know what the, how nice that that's preoccupying your brain instead of doom scrolling? Oh my gosh, it's so nice. It's so wholesome and cute and fun. And I'm loving it. And I met the people who lived here before us. He was the most amazing gardener and, like, so passionate about it. And he planted loads of asparagus.

that asparagus seek several years to come through. I've now learned. But we have had this like abundance of asparagus. And I always feel like asparagus is like the most premium vegetable. Like it's so fancy. And we have like more asparagus than I even know what to do with. Do you love asparagus? I actually do. Roasted, crispy. Oh no. It has to be soft for me. You see, I'm controversial. I have to cook it more. I'm one of those people that like Matt with cold food, I wouldn't eat a cold asparagus. No, I don't like cold asparagus. But crispy and salty. Okay, there you go, everybody.

And then we've got recommendations from you. So we've got one here from a fellow toddler mom who said, I wanted to share my easiest go-to snack for Laura, who asked for suggestions last week. She said it's called 1, 2, 3 pancakes with one banana, two eggs and three tablespoons of oats. It's super easy, just mix it all together in the frying pan. Probably makes it all together and then fry it in the pan.

Yeah, that's obviously what she means. So I don't know what. Just chuck it all in the pan guys. You know, don't crack the egg. Yeah. Like a child's version of a pancake. No, obviously crack the egg, please. And it's built from around 90% oats. So she said that, you know, her toddler eats a lot of those and then add some cinnamon to mix it up. Great wreck. Lora said my toddler's probably built from about 90% oats considering how many of these eats. I love that. I don't know about you, Ree, but I used to make, and actually still make quite similar ones for the girls. I'll often add maybe a little bit of peanut butter as well.

But I do these a lot before school, actually. I'll be doing a lot more of those, I think. I'm definitely going to make a lot more pancakes. Yeah, I said, I do them often before school, and then they can eat them in the car as well, which is good. And they only take five minutes. But then I feel like they send them to school with a nice balance of stuff. And sometimes I put blueberries and then when I cook them as well.

Dark chocolate chunks are also very good for the older, for the older kiddies. Now I want these. Okay. we have another message today from Kate who said I'm a primary school head teacher and she wanted to write in about these conversations we've been having about school meals. So it's amazing to hear for you, Kate, thank you. She said, I would love to be able to better meet the food standards and have been trying for our four years to adopt a more plant-focused menu in our school. However, we are part of the local authority and they can't, won't or don't have the money to support this. So it's not just down to individual schools. It's really frustrating. for us too. Thank you so much, Kate. And I think that's, I hope what we're just sort of trying to say this week as well on Monday when we're saying it is this challenge that like if we don't help the implementation of all of this, it's just never going to be possible. It's lovely to have guidelines, but reality is often removed from that. And that's exactly what you're saying.

Yeah, thank you so much for sharing that. It's definitely that's what we were, I think on Monday, we're just trying to say the government have such a huge responsibility here to help change, not just dictate guidelines. And that's exactly it. And I also. loved your other tip here, which is that I think we remember discussing plants, like how weeds and all sorts of things, but don't pull up dandelions. And do you know what? I actually stopped my husband doing that this week because they're the first food for bees, which is what I learned down at my visit to Willie Grange and Wiltschard. She said, we need to retrain our brains to see wild flowers as valuable plants, not weeds. That is very true. And in fact, I saw Deborah Meadon

from Dragon's Den say that if you are able to, now I don't have this, but I definitely will. when I can get some help from a proper gardener. I want to do a kind of wildflower bed in the garden. I mean, it's just such a nice thing to do. They just kind of grow beautifully by themselves, don't they? So we have one in our garden, and I said the guy who lived here before us, he said he spent 25 years cultivating it. Wow.

And it is staggering the wildlife. Like the number of butterflies in our garden is insane. Like, it's absolutely insane. the number of different birds. And the colours on the birds, yeah. And it's been so interesting to watch having kind of learn loads about this that actually you can feel

like it feels like such a kind of wildlife sanctuary. There's a little pond in it and there's a heron that keeps coming in there. I feel like I'm watching it in action. It's amazing. That's absolutely stunning. So any wildflowers that we can help and don't pick them, I know it's tempting,

but we've got to leave them there because we do need to help the climate at the moment. Now, we also have a different question from a listener today. And she said, I've come with a different question. Well, more of a conundrum. Here we go. How to navigate. We can all relate to the seller.

Talking to your partner about their health. My boyfriend's diet mainly consists of a series of different powders. Every day, he has a protein powder times two. Cereatin powder, a caffeinated pre-workout, times two, a kind of non-stem pre-workout times one, a cream of rice powder. Gosh, it's a lot of powders. And the only in inverted comments she's written real food he has is some Wheatabix, eggs, toast, chicken, rice and broccoli.

He eats the same thing every day and also has the same series of powders every day. I'm so worried about him and his health. All of these powders and the lack of fruits, veg and fibre. I've tried to talk to him about this, but he just laughs it off and exits a conversation. He doesn't understand my worries and frustrations. I sometimes cook for him and make things like lentil bolognese and things that are filled with a variety of veggies. But although we lived together, our weeks just couldn't look more different

and we often aren't eating our meals at the same time. Please help. I'm on my last straw. It's such a great conundrum. Such question, so much to talk about. Now, I didn't know what cream of rice powder was. So we did just Google it, if that's helpful before we go into this. It's a finely-milled white rice flour used to make it a smooth porridge-like or creamy rice pudding meal.

It's a popular, easily digestible source of complex carbohydrates, commonly used by athletes and bodybuilders to fuel workouts and replenish glycogen. Do you know what's so interesting about this question? My husband, I always say he's my biggest success story. You know, we've been to Geverly 15 years

and, at least 16 years, I lose count, but we actually broke up over vegetables. This is so pathetic. This is when I was a singer as well because he would not eat a single. He didn't eat fruit and he didn't eat vegetables. I kid you not, his diet was white bagels and ham. He won't be embarrassed of me saying this.

And I tried to cook for him one night in his flat in London. And he wouldn't eat it. Again, it was like a Bolognese dish because I'd put carrots in. And I walked out. And I remember talking to my dad on the phone, be like, I can't be with this person. I can't do it. And look where we are now.

That's amazing. He honestly, and he'd grown up, he would not go. to my husband, he doesn't mind me sharing these personal stories, but he wouldn't go on these incredible school trips that he was offered because he wouldn't eat porridge in the morning and he didn't want to eat the food on the school trips. But he has transformed his life and your partner can do it too. Yeah, it's so interesting.

I wish we could talk to you in person because I was so curious what your partner thinks. You make something like lentil bone nodes. Like, does he like it? Because I think that's what's been so interesting. I changed my diet, gosh, almost 15 years ago now. And when I did it, everyone around me was like, what? Like, what are these lentils?

Yeah, like, what are you doing? And I always took the approach of like, I'm not going to ask anyone to do anything. I'm not going to tell anyone what to do. I'm just going to cook more. And, you know, if I'm making like a lovely salad, I'm just going to make more of it. So you can all try it if you want to try it.

I'm just going to put it in the middle of the table and like make it look really, really, really yummy and nice. and it's so interesting and you know like I remember where my mom met her partner like he didn't eat anything like this and she would always make

you know meat and fish and things like that for him and then after a while he was like wait I love your food this is actually so delicious because she changed her diet and ate so does he like I did and now gosh so many years on

like he makes his own sauerkra I mean it's like a crazy transformation and not like it's not again we always say like you don't have to be fully anything but just the acceptance of this. So it would be so curious, like when you cook things like your lentil bolognese, does he enjoy them? But also, I understand how frustrating is as a woman in today's society

when you feel it's on you, this task to look after him and ensure that his diet is healthier and take responsibility and ownership of that. That's also a different separate conversation that you obviously perhaps should have with him. I know times are very different now because I maybe would have approached it differently 15 years later than I did back then with my partner. But what I will say is like I've done in fiber formula, it's classic meals that he enjoys and just bulking it up a little bit is a really good step in the right direction. And then telling him, did you know this was in it? It's almost like, but how patronising is that?

That, you know, if we reframe the conversation, that you are, A, having to do that. So maybe I would say one approach is that, you know, obviously you can't force them to change diet if you don't want to, but you can try and help educate them and give them different resources to learn about why low fiber intake could be dangerous for them, why the limited plant diversity could impact mental health and long-term health outcomes, show some examples of athletes or anyone he's aspiring to be by taking all these powders that do eat a varied rich diet. And actually high stimulant intake, like a lot of caffeinated workout drinks and all those sorts of things can have really negative consequences long term on health. So I think facts alone

can really help to challenge your health behaviour change, especially if someone's feeling judged or challenge, you're trying to do it because you really care. And that's a really nice thing to do. If you look at it that way, it's really how you guys communicate and how you want to pick that moment, I think, to have that conversation. You don't tell them, you can have to ask them. Yeah. So you can never. take full responsibility or control what anyone else ever does. And ultimately, like, I always think habit change is fundamentally always got to come from you. But they live together as well.

So, you know, you do have the opportunity to make sure the oil that's used as the olive oil you want. You know, the cupboards are stocked with things you want, I suppose. If you were going to suggest one resource, because I completely agree, I think sometimes, like, because we've got to want to do things ourselves, really, to see them through. and that educational piece and understanding the why and being inspired by that can be so powerful.

What do you think is the best resource? The best resource for a man in this situation, in my opinion, is someone they aspire to or an inspiration that you need to find and then free there because all very well. He's saying, buy this textbook

or go to the NHS website here, but that sort of stuff may not cut through and he may not be inspired by that. Perhaps it's a podcast. If he doesn't listen to the Warnescape, perhaps what's his favorite podcast? There are so many out there now that have qualified health professionals on them.

Any of the Zoe podcast, Tim Specter talking about it perhaps might be helpful for him to listen to. I honestly just think if you can find something that he can relate to, that's your best way in with education. No, Ella and I may not be the answer for him. Somebody else might be better. It's what I'm trying to say in a nice way. And, really, for other people are listening curious about it, in a nutshell, because it is, confusing when you see or like meal replacement shakes and things like that and they say oh you know no it contains like 100% of your RDA and things like that you'll recommend a daily allowance what is the kind of

in a nutshell fundamental issue with swapping real food for essentially kind of powdered version but that tells you it's going to give you everything you need you starve your microbiome you're not feeding your gut bacteria that live within our gut you are then taking away the whole foods in the food matrix form that our bodies are designed to pull nutrients from. We're then increasing our ultra-processed food intake. We're following advice, perhaps, from Jim Bro, Fitness Influencers online that are selling these powders and promising you that these are the outcomes from it. But the real crux of the issue is over a long period of time, eating in this way,

massively can cause micronutrient deficiencies you don't see and equate to poor gut health, which equates to poor mental health, poor immune system. lack of quality muscle over time, actually, if you're also not consuming adequate fiber and protein too. There's as loads of things to think about it with our gut lining and all the signaling that happens between our brain. So without being too doom and gloom, replacing whole foods is never a good idea. So if I make a meal, let's say I go and cook some brown rice and I'm going to do some miso-tofu and I'm going to roast some broccoli and there's going to be some chickpeas in my room. Or I could go and buy like a, say, a hule and it says, oh, it's going to give me

like enough protein or fiber or like X percentage of all these different micronutrients. My body wouldn't see it as the same. Even on a piece of paper, let's say it's the same. Yeah, no, absolutely not, especially not in one sitting. You can't replace liquid drinks that are fortified and expect it to behave in the same way in our body as actually chewing and digesting and eating food from the form and the meal that it's come in in abundance. Those drinks have a place for those people that have chronic conditions that are

working and unable to grab anything else. In some situations they have a place. For the bulk of us, we need to really be focusing on a whole food diet wherever we possibly physically can. That's what I would say. Because I think that is a confusing thing in health and wellness. Because the stamp will say or the packet will say contains 100%, but it's not the same to your body.

No, not in your body. Your body doesn't see it as 100%. It's got to choose what it's going to take from that in one sitting. It's very difficult for your body to have an. influx of that many nutrient components in one shake or drink. And do you know, supplements are there to fill a gap. That's all they do. You can't guarantee it's going to give you everything.

And Ella, there was a quick question for you here. What was the name of the book with the title you didn't like the other day that you were talking about? Yeah, I loved that question. The book was called Consider Yourself Kist and it's by an author called Jessica Stanley. I really enjoyed it. I just didn't like the title of the cover. You're right.

No, that was it. Thank you so much. We had to get that one in there. Now, Shelley has said, my daughter is 13 and has been a pescatarian since she was eight. We eat a variety of beans plus dairy and fish, so I feel protein's not an issue. That's right, Shelley, she sounds like she's doing well. But what other micronutrients could she be missing as a non-meat eater? Are there any foods I should definitely make sure she is getting enough of at her age?

Lucky your daughter having you as a mum and really considering this, Are there any obvious things to think about here? Not really. On a pescatarian diet, I have to say, if you eat meat or fish, you're pretty much getting nearly everything within the diet that you need alongside all the other healthy things. But I think for an eight-year-old that's going to be going into teen years, you just need to be aware of iron because, and that's regardless of if you eat meat or if you don't eat meat. In fact, you can be a meat eater and be very predisposed to iron deficiency,

especially girls as we menstruate and we can go through periods of time where we are lower in iron. So focus on more pairing of the plants alongside vitamin C whenever you're having nuts and pulses and beans and things. I mean, having tea and coffee or mills isn't something your eight-year-old needs to worry about with ions. In she's 13 now, she started a Persecretary at 8. Yes, actually, in that case, I don't know if she'd still have tea or coffee at 13, but you never know. don't have it alongside your breakfast in the morning or your main meals to inhibit with the tannins, the absorption of iron. So definitely around menstruation, be aware of that. Amiga three fatty acids, of course, as well, this is a very difficult conversation because of the sustainability with fish in the ocean.

But the NHS recommends one to two portions of fish a week, one of which that's oily. So if the fish she's eating is sardines, for instance, mac we're not really going to sell anymore. in waitros and places because it's no longer sustainable. So you'll notice a decline in that. It'll be interesting if the other retailers copy waitrose. I think we're going to be left with no choice soon. It's going to come down to cost, isn't it, as well? There just isn't sustainability in the ocean for it.

Salmon will probably go the same way. And it's one of the most popular fishes. I've watched this space on the fish scene, everybody. Get some more walnuts in, cheer seeds, flax seeds, because they also help, but you need a lot of them to get the omega-3. Calcium and vitamin D, of course, harder to get from food. Just make sure the supplements in the winter are there. Iodine you're already getting from your dairy and your fish. I'm not worried. I didn't know if you eat eggs or not because that's another source of chlorine and iodine.

Ultimately, to be honest, I'm waffling because I think you're doing a fantastic job. There's nothing different as a teenager because obviously like once you go into kind of menopause, you want to be more conscious, for example, of your protein. Is there anything as a teenager that's like, oh, you want to be a bit more aware? No, there are, you're still growing massively. I mean, puberty hits. So your micronutrient needs actually do increase, but the problem is most teenage diets fall short

because they no longer listen to their parents or are under the influence of that sort of home meal structure, which is why if you can get your kids to sit with you once or twice a week or still teach them how this is why my campaign for cooking, Ella, because cooking should be a life skill. If children do not know how to cook when they reach teen years to early 20s, you're more likely to fall short of deficiencies. It's so important.

But all of the things I've just mentioned, iodine, iron, your vitamins, your minerals, all of those kind of increase because you're growing your bone health. I cannot stress enough for women, especially. This is a very personal thing to suggest. But if she's put on, got such a horrible thing to suggest, but the contraceptive pill, I mean, it's not a horrible thing to suggest. Something we have to be open about speaking about with women is that when you get circulating estrogen from the pill, you are protecting your bone health, actually.

That's one thing to know. So just check which type of pill that you are going to be taking if your teenager is on the contraceptive pill. And I'm not a doctor. I'm a nutritionist. Just a caveat that. I just know about the bone protection from some forms of contraception. Okay. We have got quite a different question, very different question from Victoria in Chicago.

So nice to hear from you. She said, thank you for everything you're doing. I listen to your podcast while I swim. Love that. How? How do you listen to us? You've got special air pod. Yeah, I think I've seen people wearing them special ones. No way. I'd love that. I could play in my classical music if I ever go swimming. That's the most. I always think of swimming is like bobbing around. So I forget people like swim properly. Try not to get my hair work because I'm pathetic. It's just the faff of having to wash my hair.

Swimming is one of the best things you can do on your body. That's good to know. Yeah, really relaxing. And a very good way of keeping fit. Sorry, let's continue the question. Okay, Victoria says I want to ask about chewing gum. When I'm stressed, I chew lots of gum, sometimes up to 1.5 packets a day. I know it's not great with things like micropastics and aspartum, but I can't seem to stop. I already snack on things like popcorn, crackers and nuts, but that doesn't replace it. Is there something I can do instead? Ria, I know nothing about this. Tell me about why chewing excessive gum might not be great. We see a lot of IBS cases in the clinic linked to chewing gum. Yeah, more so, I'd say five, six years ago when chewing gum was really popular. Yeah, is chewing gum officially less popular than it used to be? Because I feel like, you talk about chewing gum, I'm going to look up if it is because I feel it's there I don't see it anywhere.

Have a look, Ella. So essentially, let me answer your question for you, Victoria. Maybe in the States it's just far more popular than it is now here, and we've kind of moved on from it. Dentists, some dentists recommend it as long as it's got xylitol, which I believe is better for dental health, however, can have laxative effects and excesses. And I would say 1.5 packs a day is slightly on the excess. You might feel bloating because of extra air that you swallow every time you chew. You know, it can trick your digestive system into starting the process of breaking down food. And that's where a lot of clients in our clinic get a lot of issues here. You know, you increase your saliva production.

Stomach acid is then released to accept food. But the problem is with those digestive enzymes prime, food then doesn't come. And that's when you get a lot of acid reflux and discontes. comfort and conditions. So it can actually make things worse because the gastric emptying and the gut rhythm that you need and your gut bugs, everybody's getting ready once you begin to chew gum to basically have a meal. And then we're not giving it to them. And then on top of that, you've got the sugar alcohols. So the fermentation that happens, gas, most gum, that xylitol I've mentioned, try and avoid sorbitol, manitol, sorts of other ones. They're poorly absorbed in the gut.

We know that. And we get a lot of gas as a result from that. So gut, As a coping mechanism for what I would ask. This is when a bit of psychological work would come in in the clinic. We'd say, how are you feeling when you reach for that pack of gum? Is it that you want a quick breath of fresh air? So perhaps you could swap to a mint instead, you know, one mint instead of going through a whole pack of the act of chewing gum? Or is it to relieve stress? Is it there to break a different type of habit that has formed?

and then we need to actually address that because you're doing some great things crunching away on high fibre snacks that's fantastic and then your gut is actually going to get the meal it's promised at it. I mean you can swap to herbal teas swap to the mints like I said drinking through a straw

can be also a different type of texture almost similar to when people are used to chewing gum but yeah that's what I would say I could go off forever on this. Rewa you've been doing that. Tell me, I've been waiting. type on gum. Yes, chewing gum is officially less popular in almost every country in the US. What I'm seeing is that sales have fallen around by around 32% recently. So yeah, big thing.

But there's also a big trend for like wellness chewing gums. Like the M&S fatty one we saw, that was like that vitamin enriched gum. How crazy was that? Which is kind of, can we call it nonsense? Yeah, it is nonsense. That is nonsense. Not feeding your body. Like energy and focus gum, for example. There's also this kind of misconception when it comes to old school calorie rhetoric. When you chew a food and don't swallow it, you're not going to get the calories. It's not actually technically true because you do absorb in our mouth as well. We do absorb elements of energy in a smaller percentage.

I think there's a huge underlying diet culture issue with gum when it comes to restriction. Obviously, this isn't what you've asked me, Victoria, and we're just discussing the nuances of gum. The trend of wellness gum is very interesting. And yeah, I'm thinking it's expensive as well. And it's things like it says it's going to give you B12 and help you concentrate and give you natural caffeine booth. How are they allowed to say that?

Honestly, I find it absolutely outrageous when you're not swallowing anything. All of this is absolutely crazy. So I hope our suggestions have helped there for you because, honestly, if you can cut back a little bit on that, you'll save your wallet and your health. But as you said, Reid, there are all these new, like, wellness gums. This is a separate tangent. But I know we've had lots of questions on it.

But you're not going to get kind of true delivery through gum, right? Like if you need a proper supplement, take a proper supplement, not a gum. A hundred percent. I would be very, very, very cautious on this one completely. That was a fun research moment. That was a fun research moment. So, Molly, Ella, what's Molly's question for us? Okay.

Hi, Molly. She said, I absolutely love your podcast. I'd be making such small changes that have been making such a difference. That's amazing to hear. I've been seeing a lot about how bananas, when blended, can break down the beneficial flavonoids in berries like blueberries. I love banana and berry smoothies. Me too. So this really surprised me. Is this actually true? I find this may perhaps come from the fear of fruit again. You know, bananas in particular, like only eat them when they're green because there's less sugar. Do you remember when we replaced bananas with cauliflower in smoothies? No. There was in this fear that like putting banana in smoothies made it too high sugar. And so there was just a fear in general of bananas before lockdown and then we went banana bread crazy. I'd just say I just pause us right then.

Be like what? It's just insanity. It's industry. Like, would you remember we were all scared of bananas? And it's like, I'm sorry. But we weren't all scared of them. Remember public health nutrition versus. this wellness industry worried well.

And once again, how can we make more money off people? Well, don't just put a banana in. Buy my fancy mix of cauliflower frozen with kale and ginger instead. Do you know what I mean? I tried frozen cauliflower in my smoothies that I got. You liked it, didn't you? You can't taste it, to be fair. And like...

It's not a bad thing to add cauliflower, but you don't need to take your banana out. I was going to say what you want is both. Like, it's a cool thing. I think smoothies are fantastic. There is such a difference between a store-bought smoothie, I mean, like in a packet on a shelf. Which is just a load of fruit in isolation grapes and heavily pureed. And also generally pasteurized. And so you're not going to get such a kind of vitamin influx.

And so completely different. But I'm talking about like you're at home today and you put some peanut butter, some Greek yogurt, some oats, some seeds, some banana, some frozen berries and some spinach and blend it up. I think when you're really busy, that's one of the best ways to, you know, get towards your five a day, your 30 grams of fiber, your 30 plant count for the week. Like, it's such a quick and I think generally, really delicious way. You know, you can add things like kaffir to it, amazing for your gut health that lots of people aren't going to necessarily have outside of that. Like, I think they're a really nice delivery vehicle for nutrition. And just to reassure you, bananas contain an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase. phenols like the flavonoids and blueberries are good for us. And I don't think people talk about that

with bananas Ella. To answer your question, there's no studies whatsoever that suggests that you can't pair bananas and blueberries together. You know, very early limited research that isolates these types of components from foods in laboratories in vitro. You can't apply that to what we're doing every single day. And honestly, like Ella just said, let's just big up a delicious smoothie and get all of that nutrition. The only thing is you get more fiber eating the banana whole than you would break it up. You still get fiber. And actually, in smoothies, why not add flaxseed?

Why not add cheer seeds? It's a really good way once again of upping your plant variety and your fiber, Ella. So I'm all for adding your banana in your smoothie. I think they're just amazing. As I said, when you've got a busy day or a busy week, I think it's one of the most effective ways to get like three of your fiber day in or or a big boost of fiber. As I said, you can put things that you might not be eating that day otherwise, like different seeds or nuts or kaffir or whatever it is, oats.

And they're delicious. And I think, you know, yeah, you can eat the banana. But like the time that we would take to make a meal with those six, seven different plants all beautifully, nicely put together and delicious, it's probably more than the smoothie. So I find the kind of demonization of them really weird. But then equally, you know, you've got those like air one smoothies in the US at like $25 and have colostrum in them. So I feel like there is still a smoothie trend.

But it just feels like we're either kind of making them so complicated or we're kind of vilifying them. But actually those day-to-day ones are fantastic. And then our next question is from Lorena in Mexico. She said, hi, girls. I love, love, love the podcast. I think it's the only one that I've never missed an episode for. That is incredible. Thank you so, so much. Now, she has said, I have insulin resistance and have been stuck for years with a fasting insulin of 10 to 12 while my doctor wants me at 4 to 6. I eat really well,

strength train, walk daily and focus on sleep, but I can't seem to improve further. Would things like exercise, snacks, Slim husk or apple cider vinegar help? Or is there something else I should be doing? Now, I first of all want to say we're unable to offer medical bespoke advice here. And definitely when it comes to individual health, you need to seek your health professional, your doctor's guidance. But what we can discuss is the impact on blood sugar and fasting insulin with different types of foods. Yeah. So first of all, tell us what do we mean by insulin resistance? Okay. So it's like a lock and cell effect of our cell where we want to uptake the, blood sugars that are released when we eat food and insulin helps us do that. It's very powerful.

It helps uptake that glucose, those natural sugars in our bloodstream and transport it where it needs to go. But some people don't have very effective measures of that. Perhaps they are type 1 diabetic and that is autoimmune or they're type 2 over time. And there are other conditions that can also impact insulin resistance and different medications that people can be on. And actually a fasting insulin of 10 to 12 isn't actually uncommon. So I would definitely speak to your GP about that 100%. But there are a few evidence-based dietary elements here and exercise that I know can definitely help. Now, I know Lavinia speaks about this matter a lot with exercise snacks. What is an exercise snack? It's like, you know, people think of snacks as food. But why don't you just

get up and quickly do five squats? Oh, okay. That's what she celebrates. Snacking on exercise. I love it. She's great, my friend. I'm obviously biased because she's my mate, but she literally would have me in the kitchen in between like cooking or chatting. Oh, we just do five press ups on the bar. But do you know what? She's right because actually the more we move throughout the day and make a conscious effort to, we're helping that lock and key structure a component happening inside our body. And that's really important. And the things like Sillium Huss can help because it forms that gel in the gut that slows absorption. We want more soluble fiber. We want more fiber in our diet. I call it the fiber buffer. And I talk about this in the fiber formula a lot. Whereas apple cider vinegar, not really that helpful. No magic.

Some studies that suggest it might help. I think the more beneficial thing you can do is look at the types of fiber within your diet and really increase those at meal times alongside the other components on your plate. And I don't want to go into this too much, actually, because I do feel you need a health professionals' opinion, but even breathware colour has been shown to help lifestyle factors. And, Rhee, can I ask you quickly? We just touched an apple cider vinegar. That's obviously a whole big question and trend in and of itself. Lots of people or some people into taking a shot of that before a meal to support digestion. It measures post-perandial response. Yeah. So there have been some

studies, again, in laboratories rather than more everyday life or people testing themselves. And then reporting it as, you know, data and graphs on social media, which is very unnerving. But there is some evidence there that having a shot of apple cider vinegar can help with our insulin resistance, a fraction. Is it the most concrete evidence-based, effective, sustainable thing to do? Probably not long term. Because you can't take your apple cider vinegar shot with you everywhere you go. And it gets quite expensive. And also, what are you then actually eating? You know, it's not going to counterbalance a poor meal, is it, if you have that apple cider vinegar? So I would say to you, Lorena, just you were doing an amazing job.

But I will say that the fibre pitcher is probably very relevant and exercise snacking, perhaps. Love that. Okay, we have a question from B in Bristol, who said that they're recovering from quite a severe burnout and feel like my digestion, hormones, sleep and immunity are struggling. I'm trying to do all the right things with diet and rest. Is there anything more targeted you'd recommend, like probiotics or specific habits? Let's talk about specific habits here first, because I feel you've got a lot of really, really good breath work that you've done your course. And I think habits like that, taking a deep breath before a meal and all sorts of things like that can be really beneficial.

And especially with burnout, you've been there. You've been through this burnout cycle yourself. I have probably too many times, but really severely. about a year, a year and half ago. And I would say it's taking me about a year to recover. The body reacts in different ways you didn't expect. And all sorts of different symptoms of it. I would say if it's available to you,

one of the most helpful things that I did was doing blood tests with the nutritionist because, for example, like even though my diet is very rich in magnesium-rich foods, I had literally like zero magnesium. The stress, stress depletes magnesium. Exactly. And, you know, I ended up with leaky gut as a result of stress. So all sorts of things.

And that then was quite individual and had a kind of individual protocol to gently support the recovery of. So there's sort of general things that can really help. But equally, if you've really been through severe burnout, it will likely have had a kind of a genuine impact and physiological impact on your body. But it's quite hard to know. exactly what that's going to look like without having one-on-one support if that's something that's possible for you. Yeah, I think that's really helpful to answer. So I think some little tips you if it's not possible because they can be very expensive, this sort of thing exactly. Do you know, it's the kind of thing we're going to cover on Nutrition Plus because a group of people can come

together to discuss nutrition points. But this is where I feel nutrition access should be more available to people. But we can go off on the government tangent on what I believe in at another time. Why don't you really focus on just taking a food diary, keeping a note of what you're actually eating and seeing how can I improve it, how can I optimize it for a while? That will help with recovery there as well, making sure that you're trying to aim for the basics, the 30 plants, the 30 grams of fibre protein at each meal. Try and really look at that over a period of time, gentle movement. I actually think sleep is the hardest thing to achieve, but one of the most relevant ones with burnout. Yeah, and movement's really important to mention as well because obviously if you're in that state of chronic stress, what you want to be doing is helping your body get into that parasympathetic, you're more rest and digest state more and more and more and make it more familiar and more comfortable again. And so with exercise again, you really want to be doing like very low impact. I mean, going for a walk in nature is going to be much better for you than any kind of like hardcore workout while you recover. So you just want to be so gentle on yourself, move, but you know, more gentle yoga, go for long walks,

get stressed by your step count. It's all just like nourishing. And I think you do need, and they're going to be different to everyone, but you do need those like active relaxations, like things that really do stimulate that parasympathetic, that resting nervous system stays. So meditation, mindfulness, breathwork, all of those sorts of things. I think I really would recommend, yeah, actively trying to get your self. self into a de-stressed mode. You diarise it in every day, you know, what time of day am I?

But even if it's just for 10 minutes, right, Ella? Yeah, and getting used to just, you know, really trying to remove stimulation when you can. So even if that's just every day, you have a coffee on your lunch break or a tea on your lunch break and you sit and you do not have phone. You do not have emails. This can be for 10 minutes, seven minutes, you know, short amount of time and just watch out the window. Do you know what frustrates me about burnout and how vulnerable we are as women

into it and susceptible is that there's a whole industry that preys off it they'll try and sell you anti-burnout supplements or things you know to heal you inside out and protocols that just aren't evidence-based and actually what you can do for free that I should have said is go to your GP and ask and say I am really burnt out I feel really low I'm exhausted please can you test for my eye and my thyroid health check my vitamin D levels just get the basics and then you've at least got a base measure that you can work off yeah I think that's great advice but sending so much love and also the reminder that any kind of larger health issue takes time to recover from to don't put pressure on yourself. It does. And our final question of the day is from Megan,

who lives in Mid Wales. Yay, shout out, we don't get many Welsh actually. And I'm part Welsh. Big shout out to you, Megan. Hi, my podcast has brought me so much light during a really dark time and encouraged me to build healthier habits. I've been making my own ginger shots with ginger, orange juice, lemon every morning, is there actually evidence that ginger shots are beneficial for our health? Well, Ella, as the guru of making ginger shots, you can start. I mean, I make, on my list for today, turmeric ginger lemon shots, and I'll do a batch most weeks for most of the week. I love them.

I actually had done them on and off, but when I was recovering from burnout about a year ago, I started really trying to be like more, not discipline, but conscious on day-to-day nutrition and building in more nourishment again and more diversity and really like supporting my body as much possible and obviously that we aren't you're not asking about turmeric but turmeric in particular is very anti-inflammatory so so that was what cater to offer me again but I'm desperate to hear what were you things well the thing is um there is no harm in doing that it's full of antioxidants and full of beneficial components and the research that we've got with ginger is vast and also it's one of the most ancient medicinal system components if you think about it

in all sorts of. Yeah, for digestion and healing over if you look at Asian medicine and Araveda, that ginger is absolutely huge. So there are lots of things and actually the compounds that are biactive are called ginger rolls. This makes me laugh because it sounds like I'm saying ginger rolls, but I'm not saying ginger rolls all one word, all one word together. And that paired with lemon and orange is perfect because you've got the vitamin C that supports the immune system. You've got the polyphenols and things, of course, from the fruit, but also from the ginger.

And that all combined together can contribute to improve digestion. Now, the lab studies are very concentrated high doses of cuckumin and turmeric or ginger polyphenols that you create and you take in a high, high dose. But that means, it only means that it may not be a miracle, but it's been a number. official. And I think the more you can get of things like that, the better. So definitely keep doing it if it's something you enjoy. Don't replace food. Keep it there. Don't do it on an empty stomach. I think that can be quite harsh sometimes in the morning. But what a wonderful way to have your ginger every day in a shot or in a ginger tea or yeah, nothing but pure positivity oozing through to end today's episode, Ella. I love it. Can I just say homemade ginger tea when you chop up ginger,

a boiler for like an hour or so and then you can add some lemon and some honey. Oh, so good. So good. So delicious. Also, I need to buy a juicer because we've got a juicer that can do the old traditional one, lemons and oranges that you put on top. But I don't have one of the ones to push the ginger and the turmeric through. Yeah, that's what I need in my house because I'd love to make shots as well. Thank you, everyone. We have got so many incredible questions coming through to our inbox that we have got a line up now that looks like it could last for years. I know, but send yours in. Hello at wellness-hyenscoop.com.

Thank you for listening. Have a fantastic day, everyone. And as always, yeah, just thanks for being here. Thank you. See you Monday. Bye.