The Wellness Scoop - Can Stress Affect Digestion? Creatine & Healthy Shortcuts

Episode Date: September 10, 2026

Can stress and grief affect our digestion? Could creatine help protect our brains as we age? And when should we embrace healthy shortcuts instead of trying to do everything ourselves?This week, we explore the fascinating connection between stress and the body, discuss how appetite and digestion can change during difficult periods of life, and unpack the growing interest in creatine and brain health. Plus, we answer your questions on CoQ10, discuss intimate probiotics and share a brilliant recommendation for anyone looking to cook with more plants. The Way 30-day trail: https://www.thewayapp.com/wellnessscoop Send your questions for our weekly Q&A to ⁠⁠[e-mail]⁠⁠ Pre-order your copy of Rhiannon's brand-new cook book for kids: ⁠'Ready, Set, Cook!' ⁠ 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+ and join Beat The Bloat HERE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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You just got to give it a go. And the lovely thing is that everyone listening can definitely try it themselves. Exactly. So you can get a 30-day. free trial, so just try it every day for month, it'll change your life. All you do is head to thewayapp.com forward slash wellness scoop. Yeah, that's the way app.com forward slash wellness scoop. Welcome to the wellness scoop, your twice weekly dose of health and wellness inspiration.

And as always, we're both here as your host today. I'm Ella Mel. And I'm Rihanna Lambert, and we're here taking the fantastic questions that you have sent us and sharing some of our recommendations. So let's go. Guys, today we're going to talk about the impact of stress and of grief on our digestion and why sometimes our appetite just can completely disappear.

We are going to be talking about which foods work making from scratch. We're going to talk about MCT oils, what on earth they are. Do they actually help with performance? Cretine help protect our brain health, the efficacy of basilium husks. We've got some recipe recommendations.

We've got lots of other recommendations. and so much more to chat through. So welcome to today's episode. Welcome to today's episode. And I would love to kick it off with a clip that I've got to play to Ella. It was actually on the BBC by Dr. Zandt, who's Dr. Christopheran's twin. You know, they do those TV shows together. And I thought it kind of emphasises what Ella and I have always thought and said.

There's a chapter in the book about collagen. Of course, we hear about its anti-agent properties. Truth, myth, somewhere in between. Anyone who is into their wellness, I will tell you I was into it too. I think the collagen story is so persuasive. So collagen is the most common protein in your body. That's collagen, your ear flaps, your skin is collagen, you're held together with collagen. And when you get older, your collagen starts to degrade, and that's why your joints get creaky, and you get wrinkly.

And so eating collagen makes sense. You think, oh, it'll get into my skin, it'll get into my joints, it'll repair me. But I went to the factory in China where they boiled donkeys to make collagen supplements. When you look at the collagen industry, the collagen industry entirely relies on the waste products of industrial meat and fish processing. So the hooves, the chickens, claws, the pigs trotters, the pigs' ears, the tails, the skin, all the stuff, the fish heads, the fish spines. You boil it up with hydrochloric acid and you get collagen out the other end. and in the mid-90s, they realised that rather than selling it as sort of pig food or filler for diet bars, they could sell it as a beauty product, beauty from within.

So first of all, the research says it doesn't work. But the other thing is, wouldn't it be amazing if an industrial waste product was a side effect-free cure for problems that affect every single person on earth? It seems a bit too good to be true. Yeah. Do you know, we have said this before. I said it far more likely by saying cartilage and fish scales, I believe, last. year. But I just think it's so important people know where their food is from and know what is actually

happening in an industry because when it comes in a lovely pink pot with flavourings, I think it's really easy to disconnect from where the food is from. But Dr. Zahn's obviously spent ages researching it for his new, but I do feel that it's important to let everyone know. It really is honestly. And I was about to be like I really would love to go to that factory as well. And I do mean, in a sick and weird way. But no, I do find it interesting how the kind of inner workings of the industry and having been to many a food factory, I'll tell you what, I mean, I'm not like a humongous lover and consumer of generally UPFs.

Because you've seen the sludge. Yeah. When you see the grey sludge being poured from bucket to bucket that ends up and these were some like meat mimic products, you're just not desperate to munch on them like this. No, of course not. Fow. Like it really is. And obviously there's some great factories as well.

And you really see the difference when like the core things in the factory are like oats and peanuts or their, you know, different like frozen fruits and vegetables. You know, it's completely world's apart where you've been to some. And I'm like, I'm okay not eating this again. That's really gross. And I do wonder without the fancy marketing and just breaking it down, if it would change people's perspectives and the money and these types of, industries, but that sparked obviously a whole debate between scientists that had an affiliation

that were advertising and have been paid to promote collagen. It caused a huge, as you can imagine, online dispute between various voices, him coming out and saying that, but I have huge respect for him to just telling it as it is. Yeah, I completely agree. And as you said, like, it's good to know what we're eating and where it comes from. Rhee, have you got any other X for us today? Totally different. Yes, obviously. A bit lighthearted now. I do love Holly Willoughby's new YouTube channel

because I'm a spice girl's fan and she's besties of Emma Bunton. I was about to be like she's not a spice girl. No, she's not a spice girl, but she's besties of Emma Bunton. And Holly, if you listen to Wellness Scoop, that would be amazing. But honestly, I thoroughly loved when you had,

it was Mel from All Saints and Emma Bunton on the couch and they went through their history with the girl groups, the fashion at the time, and it was just a really good discussion. It's worth a watch because you know when you feel a bit down in the dumps? And I think I've said this before, and I think we both did. I do sometimes watch at old this morning clips with Holly, Alison Hammond. You know, they come out with these hilarious things and they just pick up your day. So that's a lighthearted listen if you can't sleep and you just want to be happy and laugh

before you go to bed. And then my other recommendation is very random, but I think could apply to some people. is obviously being pregnant. Now, I don't know if this is just a thing, and I'm sure it's genetically predisposed. But I've used bio oil in every pregnancy. I don't have any stretch marks. And I might do this time, third pregnancy,

but I have been using bio oil for stretch marks, and this is totally anecdotal. I know there will be women out there that get stretch marks, and they've used biol, and they've tried everything. But I think it's worth, it's just worth a go. my skin feels quite nice using bio oil. So that's my other recommendation. It's a bit of bio oil.

You can get scented lavender, Ella, might help you sleep at night. You remember when you tried the castor oil packs? Maybe we can try a bit of bio oil. Yeah. And then I have a final one is just keep an eye on the food, nutrition space at school. And please do let us know what your feedback is. There's been a lot of discussion in the press recently. I think Prueleaf came out and said something that was a bit drastic.

and she said about banning school lunchboxes from school. But the problem we obviously have is that even though the new school food guidelines have said they will be implemented in September 2027, I attended an off-the-record discussion last week. So some things that can and can't discuss with many different people involved in this, and they still don't know how they're going to make it mandatory. So there's people arguing left, right and centre still, on who's going to actually help the schools around.

the country implement these new changes that need to happen. So we can't blanket say we're going to ban pat lunches and not even have an infrastructure in place where kids are going to get the right school food. So please do. This is more of a plea to you all. Let me know what you think of your current school lunches at school. Obviously it helps me. I'm releasing Ready Setco come into children's nutrition at the moment, but I would really love your feedback on if you'd rather have lunchboxes or school dinners and if you can see the future being a bit brighter. Ella, tell us your wrecks. That before my Rex, which are very lighthearted, that is so depressing, Ray, because as we said,

when these guidelines, quote unquote guidelines came out, we were saying on the show, weren't we like, yeah, okay, it's a step forward, but it's so frustrating these are just guidelines anyway. And the fact that there is clearly an uncertainty in whether they're even going to be enforced, and we're not even talking about for another year anyway. It's like we are looking at, you know, currently, and I'm not just saying it's, you know, one causes others, obviously infinitely more complex than that, but like record number of six-year-olds in A&E for mental health distress, you know, obesity rates, etc. Like we are struggling so much that we just don't have time. I really, I know there's such huge issues in the world. But our mental health and our physical health is so impacted by what we eat. And we have such a crisis in our hands with our health.

Like we just need such a change. It's at the same time where there are promises in this country, to lift half a million children out of poverty, but what are they lifting them on to? And it is a big discussion. Yeah, we do need change. Anyway, I'm not going to give up. We're going to keep fighting. I'm going to keep talking about it on the wellness school.

Please share with us your thoughts. Climate change is going to impact this, food production. There are big conversations. We are going to be here for you. Climate change, I mean, because we're about to scientists think have a record El Nino year could equate to a three degree rise. I mean, it could be... Four degree, they said now, Ella.

It's terrifying. Yeah, the level of impact on food production this year. Next year is likely going to be the hottest year on record for the planet. I mean, genuinely, it's the first time where it feels, to me, in my memory, that there's like genuine sense of kind of food scarcity, and it's absolutely terrifying. It really is. My algorithm, just to share with you all so you don't feel alone,

but also just to bring me back to a sense of if you can't control it, sometimes you do have to let it go. but I am being served a lot of emergency food box headlines and terrifying things at the moment. So you're not alone out there. We're here to talk about this too and break it down. And sometimes we can only do what we can do. But yeah, you're not alone.

It is a bit of a very overwhelming time. And that's probably why I got onto my Holly Willoughby, Emma Bunton episode because I just needed a bit of light relief. The world is so heavy. Okay, well I've got more light relief than the same category as that. So I told you started reading the Emily Henry books. I've now read five. Oh my gosh, you said I would love them.

This is like you are on a role. Yeah. So in a month I read five of them. Love them all. But if you're going to do one, personally, funny story. Funny story. That's the one I'll start with one on postpartum. Okay, I'm making a note.

I really have enjoyed all of them. I probably wouldn't recommend reading them all at the same time. because ultimately they're very similar. But what's nice about it is that they are actually like love stories. You know, there's a little sexiness in there, but they're not like really raunchy or really this or really that. They're like actually love stories. And I just think that's so new.

I don't know. I just think that's so nice. They always make me feel really good. It's like, oh, people do love each other and it works how okay in the end. And that's not a spoiler because all the books work out okay in the end. And actually, I feel like I haven't read loads of books in a while where it like all works out in the end. I have to say you haven't.

So this is music to my ears. I feel you need this. You will love them, Marie. Oh, bring it on. I need all of this. Anyway, if you've been hearing about her books and you want to know where to start, the funny story one is personally my favourite.

I think that's fantastic. It's a funny story, everybody, Emily Henry. We now have a recommendation from Jenny. Yes, we do. This is such a nice one. Jenny said she'd been following a chef called Chetna Makan for a while on YouTube. I didn't watch it, but she says lots of you guys might remember her from the Great British Bake Off.

She was on the 2014 series. But she was just saying that Chetna's videos make home cooking feel very accessible. Loads of her recipes are really nutritious. She uses lots of beans, pulses, huge variety of plants. So she thought it would resonate very much with the message that we have on the show. She had loads of recipes Indian-inspired. She also says she has great salads, snacks like spicy roasted nuts, delicious shakshuka that Jenny tried recently and particularly recommends.

I love that. Thank you so much. I need to get better. It's a good reminder for me and myself to incorporate more spices and flavors into my foods. And then we also have a recommendation from KT who said, worth a watch on Prime is every year after, which is based on the book every summer after. And if nothing else, you'll love Canada. also a sterling point worth a watch.

Oh my God, I watched all of Sterling Point. Did you? What really, like, binge watched? It is 10 out of 10. I am also now in love with Candace, so I've got to watch every year after, clearly. I watched it, we were away last week. I watched it, like, on the plane and stuff.

Sterling Point, it's on Prime as well. I feel like Prime's really knocking it out because I had off campus as well, didn't it? Rhee, you'll be obsessed with Sterling Point. Okay. It's also, like, pretty feel good. And it's interesting. I was reading a review of it that was very, very complimentary before I watched it.

It was like this is a kind of perfect sort of rom-com type show. And I personally would agree with that. But what it was also saying, you know how we were saying when we watched it off campus? We were like, wow, these feel like actual women, like real bodies, like beautiful, sexy women, but like not emaciated. And that felt quite rare. This was really interesting. And this reviewer pointed out, this is the least like,

objectification of women's bodies. They're all sort of about 18. It's like a young adult type, like off-campus age. But, you know, they're in Canada and they're swimming a lot and things like that. And like there are no bikini shots. There's no boobs. There's like some sweet romance, but there's no kind of like hot and heavy in a way that again, it's like it feels quite notable in a very positive way, I think.

I'm so pleased because I don't know if the, and this is. No shame to actresses that look like models at all. But often you do find these types of really popular series are dominated by the particularly one aesthetic type, don't you? Like you've said, and one image and one popularization of a type of female. Yeah, it's nice to highlight our unique differences and just have more accessible viewing diversity. That's fantastic. I can't wait to watch it, Ella. Thank you.

But it's a really fun show. I like really binged it, loved it. Yeah, again, more feel good stuff. We have our first question from Perth in Western Australia from Jessica. And she said, thank you for making such an amazing podcast. I look forward to every week to keep me engaged and excited about wellness. Well, we're very happy to hear that. Oh gosh, bless her.

She said 18 months ago, unexpectedly, we lost my younger sister. And I found myself not caring for myself and feeling very disconnected from my own body. So I went and saw a nutritionist a year. ago who has been absolutely amazing and I have learned so much about fueling my body, caring for myself in a holistic way and a better understanding of the physical effect of things like grief and stress because obviously they can have a huge impact on our bodies. Gosh, you've had a rough ride, Jessica. She then said we lost my dad about a month ago after his battle with cancer and I'm noticing again the effects that grief is having on my body such as the bloating, the digestive

impact even with her whole field diet. And she said that the human body really is an interesting and an amazing thing. I mean, Jessica, first of all, wow, you can notice that. She's then said, well, I'm grateful to be in a much better position of education and understanding. I'm just wondering if you both have any suggestions or tips on what I can do to help my body heal from the stress. Thank you for everything that you do and the joy and support that you bring to everyone with this podcast. Jess, oh my goodness, Ella. Well, first and foremost, Jess, thank you for listening. and we're just sending you so much love. You've obviously been through such a difficult few years

and we're just really grateful that you're here and that we're able to play just the smallest part in your life at the moment. Look, everybody is so different and everyone's experience of grief is so incredibly different. It's such an extraordinarily kind of nuanced and complex topic, isn't it? It affects everyone so differently. But I think it sounds like you're doing all of the right things and just being in tune with yourself and listening to yourself.

But you're absolutely right that stress affects the body massively and it particularly can affect our digestive system, right, Ray. Oh my goodness, grief is a form of stress. I think grief is that they come together hand in hand because when with stress, blood flow is drawn away from our digestive system, which is why people experience discomfort. You know, we've also got that gut-brain axis of the fact that, you know, Even feeling nerves or butterflies, you might get discomfort and sped up your bowel motility and diarrhea, all sorts of different things.

When you're grieving, the emotions that are running through your body that are linked directly your vagus nerve to your digestive system are huge. So I thought, as I'm very fortunate to know, Dr. Ali Jaffe, who works with Nutri Tank particularly, but she is an award-winning NHS psychiatry doctor. She works a lot with grief. And this is her special area, mental health and nutrition. So I've asked her to contribute today and to give us a voice note, which hopefully will offer you just as much compassion and some pointers here. So over to Dr. Ali. Firstly, I'm so sorry for the loss of both your sister and your dad.

Experiencing two significant bereavements within 18 months is an enormous amount to carry. I'm Dr. Ali Jaffe and an NHS doctor in the UK specialising in psychiatry. I'm also a mental health advocate and co-founder of Neutri Tank. My work focuses on mental health, preventative health and the role things like food, movement and social connection can play in our wellbeing. I also speak openly online about my own lived experience of mental health challenges. One thing I really want to emphasise is that grief isn't just psychological or you can feel it physically too. Stress can affect the gut-brain connection, appetite, digestion and bowel habits,

so it isn't unusual to notice changes in your body during periods of intense grief. But I'd also be really careful not to put too much pressure on yourself to somehow wellness your way out of grief. Food is so much more than nutrients. It's memory, culture, family, comfort, celebration and connection. after losing somebody, those associations can become incredibly emotional and grief can bring guilt too, guilt about enjoying food, having a good day, laughing or experiencing pleasure when somebody we love is no longer here. I think control is another important part of this conversation. When something devastating happens that is completely outside our control,

it's understandable to look for something we can control. sometimes that becomes food restricting, becoming very rigid about eating perfectly, losing our appetite or feeling disconnected from our usual hunger cues. Rather than judging those responses, I'd approach them with curiosity, what might my body and mind need from me right now. Some people may also emotionally eat or comfort eat. My biggest suggestion would be to think care rather than control. Keep nourishing yourself regularly, but allow food to be comforting and connecting to.

Gentle movement, sleep, time outside, creativity and being around people who make you feel safe. These can be all forms of nourishment as well. There's no perfect diet or any sort of cure that can take grief away. Sometimes looking after ourselves isn't about optimization and biohacking. Start giving our bodies enough nourishment, rest, connection and compassion to carry us through something incredibly difficult. And while grief can absolutely affect the gut, I wouldn't automatically attribute persistent or concerning digestive symptoms of stress. So please do speak to your doctor if they continue or worsen and you notice that

you're losing weight or that you have blood in your stalls. I'm also on social media at Dr. Ali Jaffe. that's Dr. D-R-A-L-L-Y-J-A-A-W-E, where I talk more about mental health, food and the things outside the consulting room that can support our wellbeing. Also, if you want nutrition and lifestyle medicine education, then do check out our award-winning non-for-profit Nutri Tank. Gosh, we are really international today because our second question comes from Ursula, who's in Germany. Hi, Ursula. She has said my question is about facilium husks, which is the PSY, in case you like see it written down, didn't know what it was, which I was recommended by my GP. The very high in fibre with two teaspoons containing approximately five grams of fiber. I've read they can ease symptoms of both constipation and diarrhea and generally regulate your digestion.

I wanted to ask your thoughts on these and how best to take them. I notice they swell up very quickly and if they are really beneficial for once's digestion. They are so gross, I found. I remember, like, a long, long time ago when I wasn't very well, someone recommended, because I was having huge digestive issues. I was recommended them by a nutritionist to try and, yeah, get things more regulated. And I couldn't do it. They were so gross.

And you're right, they, like, swell up really quickly into this, like, weird, grassy, jelly. I couldn't hack it personally. We use it a lot in our industry and our line of work. They look like sawdust. Tastes like sawdust, but like imagine jelly sawdust. Yeah, yeah, it turns into a viscous jelly. With a grassy flavour. It is quite remarkable. And I will say, I think they can be really beneficial because it's the, when you mix for cillium husks with water, almost like cheer seeds, they say expand

10 times their weight in water, which is why you had all those trends floating around of, you know, cheer water and all sorts of things. But the gel is the real key part to Facilium husk. It's originally from a plant. It's rich and soluble gel-forming fibre. And it's actually really beneficial for helping make stores softer. So interestingly, a little random fact for you. When I give birth, what I intend to do is make sure I have a cheer pudding a day with

Facilium Husk added just afterwards just to help me out and two Kiwis a day. Because I know that that's, I've never luckily had to take laxatives. I know what I'm doing with my diet. And sadly, on NHS wards, they, I mean, they dish out that pink liquid like there's no tomorrow. Obviously, for comfort and you have to do what you need to do. But it's Facilium Husk is quite remarkable. It helps stalls pass when you're constipated. There's really good evidence for it.

But what I will say, big warning, you have to drink a lot of water alongside suddenly taking a thick gel like this. It holds on to water to form the gel you see. And you're going to need even more to help wash it for. and push it through. So rather than thinking of it as a laxative, like I've compared it to, try to just think of it as normalising the consistency of your stool. But it doesn't add plant diversity. So you'll see a lot of these fibre supplements out there in sachets.

I suspect a lot of them will have Sillium husk. It doesn't contribute to your plant points in that way. And I don't want you to look at it as replacing what you can get from your overall diet with lots of lovely fibre and plants. You know, the NHS guidance is that you have at least 150mills of water with a dose of it and loads of water throughout the day. So while your GP was right to recommend it, I really hope it came with a lot of extra guidance around how you're consuming it in your diet.

And just to have it in your kind of fibre toolbox, you know, I write about it and the fibre formula, I actually put for Sillium Haskell and it does taste really delicious. I should make these fennel bars. I've been saying I'll make fennel and great bars for so long. I never got around to posting the recipes. It's just a reminder that it's in my bank of recipes. I did put fulium husk in it. Just as another way to, also, by the way, while I'm speaking everyone,

Ella just did kind of like a, what do you call it, Sphin. What's the posing yoga? Co-repose. That's also really beneficial for your bowel movements to stretch out that digestive tract and keep everything regular. I am hiding from my children. She's on the floor. It's our last day of the school holidays.

We're recording the same day as the Monday one today. In my room, it's like the only quieter place, like three dogs. Everyone's in the house. It's raining. But I then run out of batteries. So now I'm lying on the floor. On the floor. Charge at literally like a teenager.

Anyway, love teenagers, but I do feel like I'm 14 right now. Can we talk about sitting on the floor just for a second? It's totally off topic. So I'm in my late 30s now. officially, and I, for the first time ever, got a dressing table. I've never had one my whole life because I've sat on the floor like a teenager, cross-legged in front of the mirror to do my makeup. Doing a makeup. And there's something about sitting at the dressing table, which feels really special, but also something very grounding about being able to still sit on the floor. And I think

it's something we probably should practice more, like they do in Asia, you know, squatting and getting down and sitting on the floor. That was totally off. topic to Facilium House. You're now officially a sophisticated lady, I think, we're. I'm aging, Ella. What can I say? I'm aging. No, no, no, sophisticated, not aging, sophisticated. I will tell you one thing as someone who, this obviously, this is specific from your GP, so that's very important for you. I mean, just generally speaking, as someone I have, I really don't need to give everyone TMI, but you know what? I'm in an oversharing mood. I don't have very good digestion or, you know, that's been my whole life, you know, can struggle with

bloating and, you know, can get upset tummy is quite easily and all the rest of it. And I find when I don't have enough fibre, actually my digestion is so much worse, surprise, surprise. But the thing that I find the most helpful are, as you just said, read, the cheer puddings. I find my daily digestion, like, stool passing, at risk of TMI is day and night when I have my daily cheer pudding. And A, I find it really delicious. I do cheer seeds, a jumbo oats. I do a bit of kaffir. I do coconut milk and coconut yogurt. I have a little bit of honey on the top, spring of hemp seeds and raspberries, some frozen berries. I find it really yummy. And it gives me like almost half my fibre, but I do find of my digestion, it's like day and night when I have it. And you're getting omega-3s that are

in the plant variety, alpha-linic acid, and you're getting protein. Like, cheer is an absolute nutritional powerhouse. It's worth investing. I mean, yes, to your GP with Sillim Haas, take it, but be careful alongside it, but maybe chuck in some cheer seeds of your porridge like Hella does. And yeah, it will genuinely be like day and night. Yeah, it is day or night for me. It's unbelievable. But there we have it. There's the secrets of the gut health world. Our next question is from Esme and she said, I'm wondering about creatine and whether it helped preventing dementia. Now this question's interesting because from one pilot study, and I remember we looked at it as one of our weekly headlines last year or at the beginning of this year,

there was a lot of talk about three to five milligrams of creatine a day contributing to brain health, but actually all the headlines had just come from a pilot study trying to get more research on the impacts on neurological health and creatine. So I've asked Melanie Wilkinson, who is a neuroscientist and a nutritionist, to break this down. and give us a bit of insight into where we're currently at on this subject. Hi, everyone. My name is Melanie Wilkinson. I'm a registered nutritionist and I also have a research degree in neuroscience. And today I'm answering the question, can creatine actually help prevent dementia? Now, I honestly love this question. Usually we talk about creatine through the lens of muscle

growth and bone health where the benefits are well proven. But I'd thrill people are finally looking at its wider potential specifically for our brains. So to cover some of the basics, creatine is one of the most researched and well-tolerated supplements out there. It's got a really high safety profile, and it's entirely natural. Our bodies make it. We get it from foods like meat and fish, and it's something our system already recognises. But what does it actually do? So in one word, energy, every cell in your body runs on a molecule called ATP. It powers everything, muscle contraction, nerve signals, stinking. However, the cells only hold a tiny amount of ATP at any moment. It has to be rebuilt constantly and quickly. And that's where creating comes in. So it's

stored in your cells in a charge form called phosphocratine. When a cell sunny needs power, phosphorotine releases that charge and rebuilds ATP on the spot. Now, this is the fastest energy system the cell has, much faster than burning through things like glucose or fat, which means when you supplement creatine, you're essentially enlarging that reserve, giving yourselves a bigger buffer to draw on. Now, no organ needs that buffer more than the brain. Your brain is only 2% of your body mass, but it's an energy hog. It uses roughly 20% of your daily calories. And as we age or when diseases like Alzheimer's potentially set in, the brain's energy metabolism starts to struggle, which raises the essential question, if creatine can enlarge that energy buffer,

can it support the brain when it's under metabolic stress? Which goes back to that original question, could creatine prevent dementia? Now, unfortunately, we cannot say that just yet, but there are some preliminary findings that are promising. There's the most recent one at 20, pilot study of 20 Alzheimer's patient showed that 20 grams of creatine daily for eight weeks, boosted brain creatine levels by 11%. More importantly, participants saw significant improvements in things like working memory and attention. Now, this was a single arm study. So every participant took creatine and there was no placebo or control group.

And without that kind of control group, we cannot establish cause and effect. But I would say this study is still a huge catalyst to establish further more rigorous trials within this area. Now, interestingly, when it comes to other areas of problems, brain health beyond dementia, the evidence is probably slightly further ahead. So a 2024 meta-analysis found supplementation, improved memory, attention and processing speed. Other studies show it protects cognitive performance during sleep deprivation. And in psychiatry, early trials have suggested it may boost the response to antidepressants in women with major depression. So the role of creatine

and brain health is a genuinely really exciting area of research. And I'm confident we'll see more and more promising studies coming through. Amazing. That was so helpful. Thank you so much. Okay, our next question actually feels like similar line of thought. It's from Emma who has said hello. My question is about MCTs. Brie, remind me, what does MCT stand for again? Oh, we're back in 2015. Medium chain triglycerides, Ella. And do you remember in 2015 it was this huge trend to put MCT oil in coffee, like Bulletproof coffee, that guy, Dave Asprey, I think he was the pioneer. we'll call it of Bulletproof Coffee. Anyway, Emma has said, I see MCTs added to a lot of performance products nowadays,

but I fear them because of their high fat content and the possible side effects on cholesterol. As a young woman who's training, eating plant-based and caring for my health, I want to know what are the actual effects. You're right to be wary, but this is where biochemistry comes in, and different fats are absorbed differently, but still it's something you want in moderation. They are trendy. You'll see shots of them in juice bars.

I know at that famous, oh, what's the smoothie place? Don't they have them over in LA? Yeah, I won't. You'll probably see them in places like that. But essentially, their structure is shorter than long chain fats that make up most of the fats in our diet. And they're absorbed and metabolized differently. And they've taken, therefore, much more quickly,

to the liver to be used as an energy source. And then they increase what's known as ketone production, which you actually don't want to be increasing too much of. when you have excessive ketones, you can get symptoms like bad breath as well. Your brain finds it hard to absorb the energy from fats compared to glucose. Glucose is from carbohydrates is your brain's preferred source of energy. And then fats are like I have to go through a much more difficult process in the body to convert, to get up where it needs to go.

But essentially, when you see MCTs in sports and performance products, it doesn't necessarily mean because they're absorbed quickly, they're going to impact your performance for energy. And there was a systematic review that looked at MCT supplementation, and they found very little to no improvement in anything there. And then when you're talking about being wary about cholesterol, there's some really interesting nuance as well, because MCTs are from coconut and sauces that are predominantly saturated fat.

So it does make a lot of sense, because in some parts of the world, especially, they're the main sources. People cook a lot with coconut milks and all sorts of things, which, I mean, I love coconut milk, I know you'd say we just, oh, my God, I could literally drink like a laxer or, you know, like a broth that's made with a base. Oh my God, I love like a brothy coconut milk bowl. I'm going to make them for lunch. Yeah. Oh, it's really what I fancy. In fact, now the weather here in the UK, we finally had rain. It does feel, yeah, like that type of weather.

Like ginger, chili, garlic. All those flavors. So delicious. But, big butt. A meta-analysis. of randomised control trials, which I love, found that the, interestingly, the MCT oil didn't significantly increase our bad cholesterol or our total cholesterol, but it did produce some small triglycerides. So what really matters here, what I'm trying to tell you just to ignore all of this is I still think unsaturated fatty acids from things like olive oil are far more beneficial to include in your diet than these MCT oils.

There's just little to know evidence that what they're being marketed for, like performance or an added shot of energy, does anything for you at all. And there's still a slight chance if you're predisposed like me, I am, to high cholesterol, that's not going to help me. I avoid things like that. And I have to be very careful with how much coconut milk and delicious coconut yogurt I have. But that's exactly what I was going to say, Re, which is like, to me, the big difference here is the MCT oil is kind of, let's call it, largely unnecessary, essentially.

Like there's loads of other ways to energize yourself first thing in the morning or before you're training. Whereas we were just talking about like making a beautiful laxer. You know, most people of most of us listening aren't going to eat that for every single meal, right? The kind of quantities in which we're eating these things, you know, I love coconut milk. I probably don't use a tin, you know, split between four of us more than once a week. So, you know, we have different things on rotation. So first of all, you're probably not eating the quantities in any shape, form. but B, you're making something like super, super delicious that you really, really want to eat,

whereas I don't know how delicious, personally, I found the coffee. I mean, I remember trying it with MCT oil in or with coconut oil in. Just sits on the top, doesn't it? Oh, it's the fat. It's just like dollops of... It's all shiny on the surface. Anyways, I just, you know, look, it's one of those things. And totally honestly, like, as I said on Monday's episode,

I've really struggled with my sleep over the last few weeks. And also, loads of people have said to me, it's perimenopause and maybe it is and I can look at it. I don't think it is when I look at the whole picture. I think it's a nervous system. You know, I'm in fight or flight and I noticed myself more jumping and all the rest of it. So I think I'm pretty clear on what it is and how to move past it. But I, you know, before this morning, obviously you're like, what will help me sleep? You know, I bought like a silk eye mask at five in the morning. I've got one of those, but I have to say I I don't use it now because it slips off

and I tried with the head I've tried all of those things yeah I'm with you. But you know what I mean? You know when you're like you so want something to be the magic answer. I know. And what I'm trying to say is I so get that.

We both get that. I think we all get that. We all have those moments where we're like, this will be the perfect thing to fuel my training or this will be the thing to change my energy or change my sleep. And like nothing's that good. I worry also that if you're adding excess

then you'd norm an amount of something like these types of fats, you can have consequences. You know, it could cause diarrhea, cramping, gastro symptoms and make your digestion worse, which is the last thing people training for a sports performance match actually need to do. Very interesting, just before we move on to the next question, Ella, my eldest, so he's six years old, he, after all the camps in the summer holiday, came home one day and he said, Mommy, why don't I have energy drinks? And I said, well, darling, you know, I said that they're not.

actually meant for children and they're not very good for you guys, but all the footballers have them. I was like, well, no, they don't, but his association is just a football camp in the holidays where he's seen other parents giving their young children these bright orange drinks in part of their lunchboxes. I said, actually, you know, they can be quite dangerous for children that now is essentially illegal under the age of 16. You should not be giving them out. The people don't know. And you can imagine how the conversation goes at six years, oh, mommy, you know, why don't you let me have them, everyone else has them, it's not fair, you know, those types of conversations. I just had to explain, look. And it was really difficult to say, mommy knows a lot more about these things. And I'm,

I promise you, I'm doing this because I care about you. But it goes to show that these things that are meant to enhance performance, like we've spoken about before, like MCT yours, all it takes is one celebrity or one famous sportsperson to have a shot of it in an advert on TV for other parents to think, great, that's a good thing I'm going to buy or I'm going to buy it for myself. And it becomes a thing and it's so hard it filtrates fruit in places where you least expect it and that really hit me for six because you know we don't consume energy drinks and I tried to explain mummy has worked with pro athletes darling and we don't ever prescribe energy drinks you know they don't all take them they're being paid but how do you explain that to a child Ella yeah I know and

yeah the desire to be like everyone else in that sense and I think yeah I have a lot of like my Mommy is really bossy. You know, it sucks. You know, Mommy, do I have to be the different one? And it's a hard thing, everyone. It's really confusing for everybody. We're all having to navigate the knock on effects of the wellness industry and the marketing, which leads us on to our last question, actually, which is different.

But I think a good point to raise, Jennifer from New Zealand, we really have gone multinational today. This is a cool day, guys. We've been all around the globe. Jennifer said, I am super curious. about peanuts. I have heard they're actually very unhealthy and even toxic. Having a baby and small children, I'm very curious to hear more about this. Ella, you love peanuts. Peanut butter. Yum. I do. I really like peanut butter. We get through a lot of peanut butter in our house. I have seen this before though, so it hasn't kind of come out of left field. Yes, it is touted around,

I think, in the wellness industry. I think it's touted around because obviously people generally have life-threatening reactions to them. I think it stems from that underlying level of also they don't contain the same micronutrient values. So vitamins and minerals and things that you get in other nuts. Shall I just break it down with like the nutrition? Break it down. First of all, they're nutritious and technically they are a lagoon rather than a tree nut. So they do give us some protein fiber, unsaturated fats, but there are a higher percentage nuts than others. So I would still prefer if you're going to snack on nuts, probably to have a mixture, try and get some walnuts in with omega 3, some almonds in for different nutritional benefits, calcium.

But I think the toxic word comes from alpha toxins. And this is such a pseudo-scientific myth that circulates online that these toxins produced are made by natural molds that can contaminate crops, including peanuts, when, you know, things get a bit warm, a bit humid. And the reality is that's just unlikely with the things we consume. But at a sufficiently high level, if this is happening, long term, there's a level of truth that, of course, this alpha toxin can grow and develop, but you're not going to be sold anything containing anything like that.

Crops are not going to be allowed to be grown to have mildew and to develop this toxin, which is crazy because you're in New Zealand. There's actually a really useful local example. You know, the New Zealand food safety classifies peanuts as a food of high regulatory interest and imported peanuts are often tested for alpha toxins before they reach the shop shelves. So it's like we say, there's an underlying level of truth in these myths that come out. Exactly. And I mean, so in the UK, for example, there's very strict testing, official certifications required for this alpha toxin, which, as we said, produced by these certain moles.

So these are kinds of things that exist in the food industry. you know, peanuts aren't alone in that and they're super strict testing for all sorts of these things to ensure food safety. So as you said, it's one of those things that's always a kernel of truth, but you are not going to be,

unless you're growing, harvesting your own peanuts and not having any testing process, then because actually there's no smell and no taste of this, maybe there's a small risk. But in anything that has been made commercially, it is a legal requirement in most countries, certainly, if not all countries to have tested for this.

Yeah, because all foods could be grown to a certain degree to become toxic if they develop spores and mould and things that, you know, aren't great for them. It's just a coincidence that the name for the peanuts is alpha toxin, which obviously does lean itself quite nicely to the social media messaging of toxic food. But peanut allergies are actually really common, and one thing that could reduce your likelihood

is exposure as young and age as possible. And you've mentioned you have a baby, and I think it's really important that if your child isn't allergic, you keep that exposure. And obviously every parent should test for allergies when they start the weaning process. But as a mother, if you consume it when you're breastfeeding or you consume it for our pregnancy and just they're around those nuts all the time, this is a slightly lower risk, they will be allergic. But the advice now is that you expose children to common allergens as early as possible to try and reduce the likelihood, but also just figure out what's going. on. I just wanted to add that in it because I don't want people being scared of peanuts. But then they are a choking hazard to don't let a child eat loads of nuts, you know, under the age of five, you've got to be so careful. I remember my little one choking on a pistachio, tiny nut,

but, you know, you've just got to watch him like a hawk. I'll tell you what, Rie, I remember so clearly on my daughter's second birthday. It was Halloween and my other daughter's friends kind of a going trick or treat and the girls wanted, that she wanted to join in. So obviously the young one wanted to join in. She had never had a sweet. And I was like, no. And then there was, you know, the peer pressure.

Like, I can't believe your daughter's never had a suite. And I was like, well, you know, she's had quassons and she's had birthday cake. Like, it's not like, you know, it's not like she'd had nothing of any sweetness. Shewing at the age of two. Yeah. To guess what?

Allow her have one. And guess what happened? She checked on it. I was like, it's not funny. Obviously, she was absolutely fine. it out but it was not fine in the moment. It was absolutely terrifying and it was one of those funny full circle moments where you were like, that wasn't why it stopped her from having it, but I was like, oh, I knew I was right about that. It's something else, isn't it? There is no

big fear as well as a parent than things like choking. Oh my God, I was so scared about weaning terrified me. It is scary. And my kids refused to be fed, like categorically refuse. So we accidentally did baby led and as someone that's prone to anxiety that was very stressful for me. So if anyone listen doesn't know what that means, you can offer a mixture of pure aid foods broken down mashed with a fork so there's a bit of texture. But baby lead means the baby will only feed itself, which is so terrifying because they have to hold like sticks of very soft steamed foods and there is more likelihood of them obviously having more issues with that I expect. So it's you don't know what child you're going to get.

And it's hard. I swear to you, weaning was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. And I've got to do it again in six months. Like, here we go. But some people,

it's like a doddle. I watched one of my friends the other day and I was like, it was like, this is so alien. She bought these like great pre-made meals from that company Lunan Wild and they were great

and the daughter was just eating them up and it was like alien. Anyway, weenie was a disaster our end. They get there. They all get there. Thank you, everybody.

Please do keep your questions coming. Ella, do you want to give our email address and where they can send them to? Please do. Oh my gosh, we've got so many great questions from you guys and we just so appreciate it. We love your recommendations for the community as well. Hello at wellness-hyphen scoop.com. We just love hearing from you guys. Anyway, thank you guys for listening.

We really genuinely so appreciate it. It's just such a pleasure to be here with you. We love it so much. Thank you, everybody. And have a lovely weekend. We'll see you on Monday. Can't wait.