The Wellness Scoop - Can Sugar Affect Your Brain? How to Build Strong Bones & Poop Shoes

Episode Date: August 17, 2026

Could the amount of sugar we eat in early life influence our brain health decades later? What should we really be eating to build stronger bones? And why is social media suddenly obsessed with something called "poop shoes"? This week, we explore the fascinating research linking childhood sugar consumption with dementia risk later in life, unpack the foods that could help support stronger bones as we age, and investigate the wellness trend that has everyone talking about bowel habits. Plus, we discuss whether the world's favourite banana could be heading for extinction, the surprising ways supermarkets are encouraging children to eat more fruit and vegetables, and why one of the world's most famous longevity enthusiasts may finally have reached his limit The Way 30-day code: https://www.thewayapp.com/wellnessscoop Send your questions for our weekly Q&A to ⁠⁠[e-mail]⁠⁠ For more from Rhi and Ella:  Order your copy of Ella's new book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Quick Wins: Healthy Cooking for Busy Lives⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Order your copy of Rhi's new book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Fibre Formula⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up to ⁠Rhitrition+⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Honestly, if you have listened to me any time over the last few months, you know I have become a little bit evangelical about this app and I honestly recommend it to everyone. My friends, my family, people on Instagram, everyone. And she recommended it to me, so it's true. I've heard so much about it. It's just because it has had such a big impact on me. I've meditated on and off for,

15 years or so now, but using the way it's honestly the first time we've become so consistent with this daily practice. And I've just seen the most unbelievable results as a result of that. The app is just incredible. And what I love is every day you open it and there's a meditation waiting for you so you don't scroll that you don't have to choose between hundreds of options. There's no wondering what to do. It just takes you on a path. Well, I think that's why it works so well because, you know, most of us just don't need more big decisions every day to make, Ella. No, exactly that.

We've got decision fatigue, haven't we? So this is so nice because you just follow this path of meditation, which is led by Henry, the founder, who's just the most amazing teacher. And he makes it seem somehow just incredibly simple, but exceptionally profound at the same time, which is a very rare skill. And I've been using it too. Yes, I've now finally begun a meditation journey. And I've been doing some of the shorter practices on busy days because I completely understand

why you talk about it so much Ella, it really is a nice intro in for me. Yeah, it is and I'm so glad anyway. It's helped me feel so much calmer, less reactive, more present. It all sounds like huge claims, but I just say, please, please, please try it if you're struggling with stress or overwhelm, 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 a month, it'll change your

life, all you do is head to thewayapp.com forward slash wellness scoop. Yeah, that's thewayapp.com forward slash wellness scoop. Welcome to the wellness scoop, your weekly dose of health and wellness inspiration. And as always, we're here as your host today. I'm Ella Mills. And I'm Rihanna Lambert. And after a decade in the wellness industry, we both know how overwhelming and confusing it can be. And that's why we're here with our podcast to cut through the noise and make healthier living simple and personal. Marie is so pregnant and so tired. It's so delirious at this point that I think we just had to redo that about eight times so that she could make it through.

So you might have to bear with us today. It doesn't matter how many times you say the same line. Sometimes you just can't deliver. Ella, what have we got coming up in today's show? Oh, guys, we have some really juicy weeks coming up for you. There are so many headlines at the moment. Normally this time of year, it's really, really quiet. we are bursting brimming, whichever words you want to use for it. It's so exciting. Okay, we're going

to talk about how sugar can affect our brains decades later. That's super interesting. Why we should all be thinking a bit more about our bone health is the banana, as we know, are under threat. The rise of the girls who poop trend. To poop shoes actually work, believe it or not, that is a real life topic. And has Brian Johnson taken longevity too far if he wasn't giggling before I think she's giggling now. It's because when I saw the poop shoes, I genuinely didn't believe if they were real. I mean, we'll discuss it later, but I popped it in Ella and I really want us to order them now

and just give them a go. They gave me Spice Girls vibes, actually. I have to say when I was looking at them, we will get into it. Ella, I'm so glad to see you well and better because you've had a rough week. Oh my gosh, guys, have I had a rough week? I don't remember being that sick. Like, I just got taken down, like fully wiped out by this sick. to end all sick bugs. I really, this is such information that just like, no one needs to know,

but I like can't be sick. I probably only thrown up like a handful times in my life. Like I just, I remember when I was pregnant, I would heave a lot and wretch, but I would have a mechanism in my body. Like, it really struggles to be sick. Anyways, oh my gosh, I was sick. I've never been that ill. I literally was like convulsing on the floor. My teeth were shadowing then I had these crazy fevers. Oh my gosh. It was awful. Anyways, I'm so happy to be sick. here today and I'm so happy that we've recorded virtually last week so that I didn't give it to you. Anyway, so yeah, it's nuts. But this is our last week in our house. So we are filled with emotions. It's just, yeah, loads going on. So much emotion, so much weight. I can hear it in your voice.

And also I have been reading in the news and I sent Ella a few of the clips that these sickness bugs have actually been doing the rounds. And anyone listening in the States, you know, obviously, I think it was all over your mainstream news. There was a particular strain. Perhaps we have it here. So just be extra vigilant, especially in the hot weather with your food, everybody as well. It's just something to think about. For sure. But how are you, Roe? I'm a busy bee.

It's a very strange time trying to wrap your life's work up to a matter of weeks. But I have got big news I'll be sharing on the 5th of September and we're launching our Beat the Bloat program on the 17th of August. But I think the most important thing to share because they're all work related is a personal one. and I mean I know they're quite big and it's really cool and exciting but I had a mole check recently and one of them was flagged so I do have to get it checked once I've had the baby again and they said it's nothing to be concerned about but I didn't realize that whenever you are pregnant and your body changes and we grow and female hormones can influence how moles grow so it's just important to I think stay on top of it I went to the skin towel clinic in Mayfair and it was one of those pieces of of equipment, similar to what we had when we did, what was it called? NECO. The NECO scam, but this one's specifically designed just for skin lesions. And I didn't even know this mole existed.

Yeah. Like I was no, you left elbow. I was like, where, I can't see it. Do you know what? We are super mole-y family and I've had one removed. But my brother, sister, my dad, they've all had lots removed, like pre-cancerous moles. Anyway, so it's such a good shout because particularly me, for everybody,

keep an eye on their moles, but particularly if you are really molly. And this hot weather, and I think we just forget, because we've become quite acclimatized, well, I still feel like I'm suffering this heat, but we've become acclimatized to it. Don't forget your SPF. And I know there's lots of misinformation online. Just a little important reminder. I love that. Okay, we have a very cool update message from one of our listeners as well.

So we go, guys, we love your emails. Thank you. And if you want to email us with the recommendation, something you've seen, something you want to talk about, question. Hello at Wellness-Scoop.com but we had a message from Elvita who's in Ireland and she wanted to say that she's had some really positive news. So she went into her local little, this is an island,

and she picked up one of their promotional magazines to look at the weekly discounts. And a couple of weeks ago, for the first time she noticed they had dedicated the entire opening section to poor patrol children's items that didn't include any UPS. She sent us pictures. It's so cool. You've got things like cucumbers, tomatoes, berries,

You know, these just like single ingredient items with the Poor Patrol characters. So Paul Patrol packaging for tomatoes. And I just think it's so cool. Anyway, as she said, we're always talking about how the food industry creates appealing packaging to target children with UPFs. In this case, however, the fun packaging was used to promote healthy food instead. That's the first time I have heard of that. So little, I imagine this is the European arm because it's the Republic of Ireland.

Well, we also had some DMs, I remember. I think it was Emma sent them over on a. screenshot. She'd seen them here in the UK too. It's absolutely brilliant. I love it. I think it's so cool. I know my kids. There's a Sky and Poor Patrol and I have a Sky. That's always quite cool. But I just know they would want Poor Patrol cucumbers. Look, if we can put it on the Chucky Pops, then why can't we put it on a apple? I love that. And I also think it's so important to shout out, we shout out so many companies when they do the wrong thing. I think it's super important that collectively we give them good publicity for doing the right thing. So well done, Little. Yeah, well done. Let's move on to

the health headlines that matter today. Ella, we've got a quick one to pick up on, haven't we, about the climate change and the harvest. I mean, we have just had, if you're not in the UK, the craziest summer. It has been above 25 degrees and sunny every day now for six, seven weeks, particularly in the southern parts of the UK. It's absolutely unprecedented, really. It's extraordinary, but it's obviously not the climate that anyone is used to or that farmers kind of work against and plan against. And as a result, it looks like we're going to face the worst harvest on record.

So far from what we saw, there's two and a half million tons of food lost. And it does mean that food shortages are really likely. Now, we also know this is affecting other countries as well. So I just think we're going to see this in supermarkets a lot over the next few months. Obviously, there's already a challenge with the cost of food and inflation, cost of living crisis. I think that we are going to see some real challenges there. Interestingly, again, this is little GB, though, not little Europe, but they put something out from their own research that estimated that Great Britain reached its planetary health diet,

overshoot day on the 25th of July, so a couple of weeks ago. And basically what that means is from the 25th of July onwards, the country is eating in a way that strains both the planet's natural resources and public health. I think we're going to see a lot of headlines about this over the next coming weeks. And I've been, my algorithms bombarded with lots of interviews of farmers and crops, things like cauliflower completely destroyed, other things like perhaps wine. I mean, not that we really need a load of wine right now. Yes, wine in the UK thriving. And potentially headlines suggesting that we will see the smallest vegetables we've ever produced, quantity and quality, but the cost will be the steepest we've ever seen. And I'm a bit disappointed that there's nobody

currently the head of state in the UK in the government level saying, everybody, I do think we might need to wake up a little bit here and start preparing ourselves for the fact that winter might not look the same with the options of food that we have available. How are we preparing? I don't want to relate it to World War II rations because that's just a ridiculous thing to relate it to. But we are living outside our meetings. And I think it's important to acknowledge, do we really need that extra bottle of wine? Do we really need that extra, I don't know, item of food in our house compared to stocking up on the things that perhaps will serve us well, long term? So it's an interesting conversation, Ella.

Yeah, I think we'll see a lot more, as you said, over the next few months about how it impacts us. Anyway, it's super interesting, but obviously devastating to so many farmers across the UK. Okay, actually on a similar topic, our first headline today, it's not funny, but the headline is funny. Yeah, banana-getten. That's the funny part, this part's not. The world's favourite fruit is at risk of extinction. It is. Now, I don't think a lot of people know, just to give a little backstory with the bananas.

Yeah, give us the history of the banana. Well, I learned this from Dr. Stewart Faramond, who bless him, he lost his battle to cancer a year or two ago. He was an author at D.K., the same publishing house, and he wrote several books like The Science of Spice, and he was an incredible food researcher. And I remember speaking to him about the future of food. He said, did you know that we're on our fifth generation of banana? So they colonize one specific strain, which is what the consumers did. taste palette of a banana expectation is and then they just produce it and roll it out en masse. So obviously there should be loads of different types of tastes of banana, but we have

really gone for this particular strain. And over the years, they do go extinct because all it takes is one disease that wipes out an entire colony of bananas, which is what we're discussing here in particular, the classic cavend dish. And this is what happens. And this is the danger of genetic modification as well as being the solution, I think, because we are manipulating foods massively to the point where we just want the perfect taste when we buy it off the shop shelves. Maybe we should expect diversity a little bit more. Yeah, it's so interesting. I have to say, I never knew this. I never knew that most bananas you're going to see in supermarkets around the UK, they are all this cavern dish. And surprise, surprise, that's because really there's huge

financial benefit. Bananas are a global industry worth about 26 billion pounds, so mega, mega money in bananas. And the cavern dish is really commercially successful because it's seedless, it tastes familiar, as you said, really has a thick skin, it ripens relatively slowly. And as a result of all of this, it withstands being transported huge distances. But all of the different characteristics that has essentially allowed it to be this crazy commercial success has also left it really vulnerable. And there's a disease called Panama disease that's spreading through banana growing regions. And basically there's this race to create the next commercially viable banana crossbreeding or genetic technologies, all sorts of different things to create bananas that

keep the same taste, texture and transportability that consumers come to expect. I think that's such an important thing. It's consumer expectation, but also science and profit. And, you know, there is, of course, an environmental story underneath the headline. You know, it isn't that bananas as a whole are about to disappear because I know banana geton sounds. You'll never see a banana ever again. It's a very good word. I really like it. It's a good head. Let's face it. Gripping headline. It's more that the global export market has just become really reliant on this particular cult of other Cavendish. It's the Cavendish bananas are, like you said, seedless. and essentially easy to make clones.

But with most other fruits and vegetables, as you'll know, because Ella's started her garden this year, we talk about it all the time. It's very easy to grow different vegetables. And you don't expect them to taste exactly the same because of the seeds. So I think that the concern is particularly this specific Panama disease. But it's interesting, right? Like if I gave my children a banana with seeds, they'd be like, that's not a banana. Yeah, exactly.

And I think we'd all feel that way. And then I think there are blue bananas in parts of the world. So they obviously look completely different, taste completely different. Good for their gut microbiome to be having these different types, obviously, as we know. But we all just eat one type of banana. Who knew? That's our fact of the day. Well, this is it.

It's raised the conversation of how we breed food. And I think a lot of people aren't aware. Do you remember last year I sat on that panel for grapes? No. Did I speak about that? I don't think we heard about your grape panel. It feels niche, but I feel like there's something really interesting in it for us. There is.

I'm just laughing because I forget my life as a nutritionist is very diverse. You know, I can sit in some very interesting places. We now, I can speak about it. I think perhaps I was under NDA before. You can breed different varieties. And grapes are also an example, you know, the classic cotton candy that's produced for, is that for MNS or is that just? Yes.

Yes. I think so. I can't remember if that's in every supermarket or just specifically for one. But grapes are an example of something that have also been engineered in this way, specifically, and they were trying to create the fleshy part of the grape to have the same amount of antioxidants as perhaps the blueberry and other, which is why red grapes can contain more antioxidant. And here we talk about resvetter on red wine. Red grapes are sort of slightly more beneficial. I think that it's increasingly important that we speak about this because we're facing changing temperatures, droughts, flooding, other climate pressures too. Disunderstanding where our food comes from. But, Rhea, I've got one more interesting, or I thought interesting note on this. that I've just thought of before we go on to the next one,

which is it's interesting because you do sometimes see influences online saying like a little bit of demonization around fruit and that fruit's not good for our blood sugar and that fruit today, like a banana today, isn't like the original bananas and how much better they were for us. And you know how we always say there's nuggets and everything? Here's your nugget. It's true.

Not that you shouldn't eat fruit because it's going to overly spike your blood sugar, fruit's gray, but actually it's true that we have genetically engineered to a degree. Yeah. But that's farming. It's almost like looking at how we farm crops have changed over the years. And what can you grow up? We're a humongous population now to feed the global population. Like there has to be a commercial viability in it. So it's one thing for me to be like, oh, it's really nice at home. I've got three different, four different, actually, types of courgettes. And they've got three different types of cucumber. And that's all well and good. But that doesn't necessarily translate to something that could be commercially viable for someone's livelihood.

So very complex. And watch the space. We might see purple bananas emerging because they only marketed as antioxidant higher. I would be fun. I mean, it would be fun. It's like purple sweet potatoes. You never see purple sweet potatoes. I love purple sweet potatoes.

We don't get a lot. Yeah, it's imported from far, isn't it? We don't get a lot of those here. Let's, do you know what? Let's all try. I always say it, one new frit or veg each week if you can. But let's not demonize the lovely banana. We love a banana on this podcast.

Okay. Our second headline, this is so interesting. And also interesting because we've had quite a few. emails recently from people saying, I didn't eat a great diet growing up, will less affect me now? So we think for us as adults thinking about our diets and then anyone, you know, near children, this is interesting too. But giving babies less sugar could cut dementia risk and you study finds. Yeah. So, I mean, the guidance in the UK is that you shouldn't have any sugar under two. I find it crazy that we've got to a point where there is so much what we call free sugars in

young children's diets and this article came from the Times. Before we get into dementia, it's really important to just discuss the fact that we know children in the UK LA are consuming too much sugar. And read just very quickly for us, I think it's super, super helpful because you often hear people talking about free sugar. What is free sugar? It's the extra that you don't get intrinsically. So if you think of a banana, like a banana, apple, berries, but I mean eating them. Whereas if you were to get a pouch that would then be classified as a free sugar because you've broken them down outside of the cell wall of the plant. It's like adding a spoonful of sugar to a biscuit. Look at it that way.

It's not about demonising this. It's just that there is no nutritional need for sugar. And from the age of one, even the maximum is 10 grams of free sugars a day. And what does that equate to? Oh, barely anything. So just for people's visual understanding of this, this 10 grams, what does that look like? Let's just use a teaspoon of kind of regular castor sugar. Yeah, like having roughly like two, two and a half teaspoons of sugar a day.

And I think the problem is people don't realize they're doing it because it can come in a tomato sauce. You know, the sugar can be added and you might think, oh, a healthy meal to wean my child. I'm adding a fresh sauce. But if you haven't checked the ingredient list, that quickly adds up. So most kids in the UK are already over consuming this amount. And the age at 2, it rises to 14 grams. But the recommendation is no added sugars at all. So no free sugars under the age of 2.

So no fruit concentrates and things like that. Fruit juices are a big culprit to this. Because I think for young children, I honestly don't see, unless you have a child of particular needs, there is no reason to give a child fruit juice over water. And that's an issue we haven't. this country that I don't want to demonise fruit juices. You know, I love it and I think it has a place, but not for a baby. Or every single meal. We've got the visible consequences, Ella, you know,

around 22% of five-year-olds have tooth decayed. Didn't you say it's the biggest reason for children to go under? Yeah, to have anaesthetics, exactly that. Yeah. So in the year ending 2025, there were almost 34,000 NHS hospital tooth extraction episodes in under 20s and tooth decay is the primary diagnosis. So it's huge. So we know this is a real issue, but so now there's an interesting association between our childhood diet, particularly sugar in this instance, and dementia much later on in life. What's the link? Right. So I think it's really important to understand that in a very, very, very basic level, sugar stiffens ourselves, if you look at it in that way, if we have excess circulating.

That's a really simplistic way to look at the body, but I think it helps describe it. Oh, I think these sorts of visualisations are so helpful. Yeah, like imagine, it's called glycation when we have a lot of extra glucose, and we are stiffening protein and cells and all sorts of things in our body. And that has a knock-on effect with blood flow and the brain. But this research essentially goes back in history. So if you think about when sugar was rationed in Britain, so during and after the Second World War, and then when rationing ended in September 1953,

Sugar consumption then increased dramatically. Now, we know that that time was when people had UPF foods and things. But that's when we started looking more at the risks of dementia. And the analysis here that we have is from your favourite data bank, Ella, because Camilla's in it, the UK Biobank Data. And they look specifically at exposure during what we call the first 1,000 days. And that's the really interesting bits you said, Re, so we've got this period where people were rationed,

as we know on sugar. And then this moment, September 1953, as you said, where sugar consumption increased dramatically. And therefore, what researchers are able to do is compare the people who were conceived and spent their earliest years under the sugar rationing. And then the people who were born post-September 1953 when those restrictions were removed. And so they did have more sugar during their first thousand days or so, although I would bet much less than your average child today. And what they saw during this is that the children who were born during rationing had about a fifth lower risk of dementia, which is huge. And now researchers are looking at the UK Biobank data specifically at this exposure during the first thousand days from conception

through to about two. And they're comparing the people who weren't exposed and the people who were and who said 20% lower risk of dementia. I mean, it's really huge. It's massive. And I think that we often don't link our brain health and the long-term consequences of our diets to this, this early stage of life. I think a lot of people think, oh, they're just a baby, you know, it doesn't matter. Oh, they're just weaning. It doesn't matter. It does matter.

And what's so interesting is people look at rationing at a time of, well, it's sparse. There was no food really available in excess and abundance. But people actually ate better. There's lots of studies during rationing, which can blow your mind in terms of nutrition. intake, for instance, when I was researching the fiber formula book, they were hitting 40 to 50 grams of fiber a day when we were rationing a World War II. And we have to look at that timeline of food industry coming in, how most people raise their children. And if you look at it today, it really does blow your mind. You know, there's more research published this year,

Ella, if you want to go into that with linking brain aging and Alzheimer's disease as well. Yeah. So I think according to the World Health Organization, around 40, of all dementia cases are linked to modifiable risk factors. So we're talking essentially about diet and lifestyle here across our lifespan. So I think it's really important to say because interestingly, and as I said, can't say it strongly enough, this is not a medical term, but there are lots of interesting people and well regarded places and reviewed studies that talk about dementia and Alzheimer's as type 3 diabetes. And as I said, not in all cases is this lifestyle related. budding around half it is. And I think when you put it like that, it does slightly hit home. And I know

it can be quite difficult to talk about in that way. But I remember the first time I came across that, it really stopped me. And I was like, oh my God, the impact that we can have on our health and the health of others around us is so huge. And this is a really, dementia is such a fundamental issue and a growing issue. It's a big umbrella of terms because underneath the umbrella of dementia, you've got lots of different types of neurodegenerative diseases. And what Ella's just referred to is because you've got the cardiovascular link with restricted blood flow and clogged arteries and saturated fat, which also has a knock on the health of our brain. And then you've got type 2 diabetes being such a massive, massive issue right now for so many people.

It's a very difficult environment to monitor and that in itself with insulin response. and like I mentioned with excess sugar circulating at a chronic level, both of those two factors combined can impact our brain health. And it used to be that people thought that the reason rates of dementia was so high was because our diets were not nutritionally adequate when we were, you know, rationing and all sorts. But now when we've compared the two data to modern day life versus life back in the 1940s, 50s, we've realized that actually our diets aren't any better. Exactly. And as you said a second ago, there was a second very related research paper also out this year, which showed by analysing about 60,000 UK Biobank participants that sugar restriction across the first thousand days was associated with the 27% in this case lower risk of all cause dementia and specifically a 46% lower risk of Alzheimer's disease. So it's really huge. And just to be super clear, as we said in the beginning, what we're talking about was,

sugar here isn't the sugar that you find intrinsically in milk, in bananas, bananas, in your cavernish bananas, eat them where you can, but in your fruit, in your veg. It's not that, as we said, it's the sugar that's not trapped in a cell wall. And that's not to say you should never eat a cake ever again. Absolutely not. But babies don't need cake. Babies don't need cake. I actually want to say that.

I think, well said. Sorry. No. No, no, I'm not sorry. That's such a typical thing for me to say, oh, sorry. You go, girl. I'm on one today. There is no need for a baby to have excess sugar.

And also just to add, you know, this data was observational. You can't really ethically study pregnant women. It's very difficult to do. And also, no pregnant woman can eat perfectly. I'm full testament to that. It's very, very difficult. We are talking about the choices we make once the baby is born and it can impact later health and life in such a way that we previously didn't really have the data to back up and we're

starting to get that emerging. Yeah, it's interesting. We actually have this as a question. I can't remember if it's this week or next week in our Thursday episode from a listener who was saying, I have a young child. I really try and get them to eat a nourishing diet. They're little. They don't need these things.

But her family, like in-laws and things, always want to give the children, the treats, the kind of classic, like Cabri's fingers or whatever. it is and that they think she's this like really boring person for saying no and look my children are now seven and almost six I'm not going to stop them from eating sweets of birthday parties I am not going to tell them you know for my elder daughter's birthday she really wanted a cake with sweeties on it I used to love those and the necklaces that I used to chew for sure we went to Chessington we're like of course you know they want a treat we're like you can choose one thing they all chose candy neckclothes them with their cousins all day I would like suck on those

I'm not, we live in the real world and I want my children to live in the real world. I don't want them to be ostracized or weird. But it's not weird to not want to want them to then have a lot of balance, but then to have an infant. An infant doesn't need to be part of that societal kind of cultural norm. They're not part of it. I would say until they're a kind of preschool age. I'd say four. Yeah, I totally agree.

And that's my ideal. I know that's hard, everybody. I've got a third on the way. It's going to be hard. Yeah, it's much harder, I think, when you have older children. But as I said, it's like I see now they're in school, they have the influence of their friends. You know, we go on holiday all the other children having a Diet Coke or a Coca-Cola. And they're like, we've never tried that.

And the other children can't believe that my children have never tried it? But then they say, can I try it? And I'm like, you know what? The answer is, yes, you can't have this on a regular. Of course you can. But in this instance, I think it would be more damaging to your relationship with food to tell you that all these other children in the same age as you can have something. You're going to have a third of a can and what, twice a year? Like, that's fine.

But as I said, I think as they get older anyway, it's a minefield. It's interesting. I went on a podcast for the new project I'm announcing in September. And Kelsey Parker, who's quite vocal about this type of thing, she's had a very hard time in the press. She used to be married to that wanted singer who sadly died of brain cancer. she is because she knows the links with diet and brain health obviously that's a very isolated unique case but she's like that with her children she says i just say no you know what they might think i'm the worst mom in the world and people can judge all they like but i'm adamant

there's no need for any baby or infant under two to have all of this sugar and i think the judgment from others comes from a place of insecurity on themselves actually a lot of of the time that perhaps they wish deep down they were stricter with them. I also think people genuinely don't think it really matters. Yeah. And that's what's so interesting. And on occasion, it doesn't. We all know that.

But actually when you add it all up and you tout it all up, it really, really does matter. And it's funny because every time we sit down to do this show and every time they're like start researching and reading some of these reviews and getting deep into it, it even reminds me actually no wait a second. It really does matter. it's really easy in a busy world to be like whatever it doesn't matter and of course sometimes we will have a whatever dinner literally last night I was like I'm not going to fight you you want a croissant for dinner you have a quasson for dinner so I got really stared at in the Lion King theatre because I took the kids and I did take I let them have the ice cream in the theatre I mean god does that cost so much that's ridiculous cost of money anyway I got them the ice cream pots but I took a lunchbox I'll actually put a picture of it on my Instagram and I called it Things I don't apologise for and I And I'm not going to apologize for also alongside the ice cream. And they ate it, serving some medamamo beans and cherry tomatoes.

My children enjoy that. And I'm very happy with them having ice cream alongside a cherry tomato. But the looks I got from other people because I actually had it. I hope I was allowed to do that. I'm very sorry if that's something you're not meant to do. I've just realized that took a lunchbox in the theatre. It's so interesting, though. It really is.

Yeah, judgment makes life a lot more difficult. Ready to take your investing knowledge to pro-level? This is Fidelity Connects, your daily edge in the markets. Get deep insights on real-time market topics that may impact your investment portfolio. Listen to Fidelity Connects on Spotify today and power your next move tomorrow. Headline 3 is five foods that help us look after our bones and not just dairy from the BBC. Yes, this is such an interesting one. Do you know what?

Maybe I'm like really late to the party here. I feel like BBC's got some really nice content at the moment. We both just listened to a really good episode. Yeah, 30 minute episode we're going to talk about next Monday on a very interesting topic. Anyway, I just feel like I'm seeing a lot of good stuff. But this was the BBC future. Yeah, and it was like BBC Global that we were just listening to. It's these things that are finding very interesting.

And it was called How to Eat for Better Bone Health as you age. And it's interesting because obviously I think growing up we were all told like drink milk, drink milk, calcium fuel bones, calcium for your bones. And I think A, a lot of adults who really enjoy drinking milk, like a cup of milk. Well, it's debated now. Do you remember I sent you that I turned down that feature commenting on another scientist? I was asked to speak on Times Radio about the dairy issue. And people now realise that perhaps that messaging is a bit archaic. And it's obviously there is a big environmental impact.

And so I think it's just bringing it all into consideration, isn't it? But I think it's interesting because we all have this view in our mind that the only way to get calcium is through bones. And as we age, and I don't mean children as the age, I mean us adults as we age, particularly as women. Calcium intake for bone health is so incredibly important. So I actually, sorry to say, did not realize what a problem this was. And around 500 million people worldwide are living with osteoporosis.

More than 10 million hip fractures occur globally each year and people over 55. And around 30% of people over 60 die within a year. of experiencing a hip fracture. I really didn't. I mean, I knew Kazim was important, but I have to be honest, it isn't top of mind for me, and I think it probably should be.

Well, remember we discussed one and two women over 50 in the UK have osteopenia osteoporosis in the UK. One and two? It's half of us. It's crazy. So we thought this was actually a very useful article

to go through actually what do we need? Yeah, 100%. And, you know, I wouldn't want anyone listening to this to think, right, I need to go away and eat these specific foods that were pulled out in the article right now because that's going to prevent osteoprocess. You know, remember, our bones need weight-bearing exercise. That can just be walking every day as well because they are living

tissue and that's the reason you can't accurately measure calcium on blood tests. The turnover, they're constantly being broken down and rebuilt and we call that. So how do you know if you have this is the issue. Right. And also requirements go up and down at various stages. Teenagers, I'm pregnant now, and in the third trimester and when I'm breastfeeding, that calcium requirement soars. They say 700 milligrams for an adult. It can go up to 1,200, 1,400. Lots of women aren't to wear. It's not just found in dairy. And I do actually think that that messaging has not helped this situation at all, because we haven't seen improved rates of intake of calcium. And people just assume it comes from dairy. But actually, all the dieting that women have been for,

throne as well, their whole lives, which I know we're probably going to discuss next week, but this remodeling, we reach peak bone mass in early adulthood. So what's that kind of 20s? 25 max, you know, almost as similar like the muscle conversation, although I'd say bones are so important and teenagers are so neglected with their diets. That's also a crucial age. Then circulating estrogen and hormones, so our sex hormones protect female bone health, particularly, which is why very sadly in our eating disorder clinic and the Retrocious Clinic, we have to get doctors to prescribe the pill because we need that circulating estrogen to protect

their bones. But once we hit menopause, we then have this drop-off of estrogen and then our bones are very vulnerable and we haven't improved our education around the foods we eat. So around that time you need more calcium. Yeah. Again, isn't that a mind filled to navigate? Everyone talks about protein. Let's just remember our bones. It's not just calcium. Bone health is phosphorus, vitamin D as well as calcium. Yeah, and don't forget, you can't get vitamin D during the winter in the Northern Hemisphere. So as we say, you need to supplement that one. Okay, the number one thing on the list, we'll go through, and we'll get your take on all of them.

So that was a tangent. I went off from one there. It was the best tangent. It's so helpful. Number one, I think it's really obvious. It's milk, cheese and yoga. We all know dairy. Great source of calcium.

That's fantastic. But there's so much more to it. And as I said, I don't think many adults either are just like. chugging glasses of milk. No. And also you need, they say children should have around, I think, from the age of two, it's like two to three portions a day of dairy foods or an alternative that's fortified or containing calcium for that very reason. But there's no real recommendation for adults, which is interesting. You know, even on the eat well plate, it's a small, it's a small sample and there are alternatives. You can be plant-based and also, of course, opt for the fortified

foods. But that's where the UPF conversation frustrates me, where you've got these evangelical people on the supermarket demonizing fortified foods. We do need them. Yeah, completely. Okay, so the second one is soy. Tell us a little bit about soy, because also then some people are scared of soy. Little fact for you, over in Asia, they have some of the lowest rates of hip fractures in the world. They are the largest consuming nation or area in the world that consume soy foods. It's just a really useful reminder that calcium isn't just from dairy. Tofu contains around 200 milligrams per 100 grams. You know, it's unbelievable. And also you want to look for calcium set tofu. We've had that discussion. Yeah. I think we said, Cauldron is a big kind of brand in the UK. That's the one I give the

kids. Yeah, that has the calcium set. And soy is particularly interesting for women, of course, because it's also got the isoflavone. So those natural components that have been studied extensively in research alongside menopausal women because it supports estrogen, activity. So lots of research there, but soy foods, edamarme beans, remember, all these sorts of things are very beneficial for calcium. Yeah, so I think there was a meta-analysis that was looking at more than 9,000 postmenopausal women, as we just said, a vulnerable group when it comes to calcium requirements. And they found small improvements, small, but still improvements in bone, mineral density in the spine, hip and forearm with soy isoflavane, supplementation,

not necessarily recommending everyone supplements, but just interesting what we see here. Yeah, let's get some more soy foods in our diet. So tofu, edamame, soy milk. Soy milk, make sure it's fortified with the calcium as well. It's just an extra bonus if you can. And the number three, Ella, which is why potentially back in the rationing era, our grandparents, great grandparents did well with this area. It's because of canned fish, particularly sardines and salmon,

Not only is it cost effective, and we know salmon's trending right now, but a small 60 gram tin of sardines can provide 240 milligrams of calcium, and that's because you're consuming the bones as well, because they're very soft and very easy in texture to mash down. I think sardines on toast, I think I put that in the renourish book in 2017 because of the calcium. You know, you were ahead of the trend there? I was, but they didn't do very well. So no one wanted my sardines on toast in two, Now they were. Now it's everywhere.

But you know, you're getting high quality protein. Oily fish, which also contains vitamin D. So Ella, don't, let's just not demonise foods in cans because oily fish is a good example. That's a great one. And then we have chia seeds, which is really nice one because some of these are quite specific, like sardines or salmon. Cheer seeds is quite nice. I think edamame from the soy category is the same thing where you kind of chuck them in loads of stuff. but chia seeds even more than anything else

like pancake mix, smoothies, etc., etc. Put some in the kids' pancakes this morning in case you think I'm terrible because I just said they drink Coca-coda and eat quasmos. No one's judging on this podcast. No,

we just try and be really honest about what balance actually looks like. Anyway, but a tablespoon of chia seeds is about 95 milligrams of calcium and then you've also got magnesium, phosphorus, so they'll use little nutrient-dense nuggets. They are.

Ella, you inspired me. I made a meal prep cheer video because you used to come in with your lunchboxes of cheer seeds. And I've started doing that too. I just love a cheer pudding. So good. And then finally, the dried fruit was number five. And I think that's a really good example because I think often a lot of people may think, well, why consume dried fruit actually? But I'll also argue that oranges fresh do also contain calcium.

Love that. Yeah. Which I don't think people realise. But figs are my favourite fruit in the world. dried figs I actually like to rehydrate them so I pop them in a bowl of water because I love the texture of a soft fig rather than a really chewy one but Ella and I are partial to an organic dried apricot. Yeah. Dipped in the nut butter or tahini. Yeah, so good.

Tahini is also really good sauce guys as well, calcium and plant-based iron. But dried figs, just two of them, gives you 100 milligrams of calcium. Remember you need 700 a day so, you know, let's up our snack tin, a snack game. But even if you just had, if you had a tablespoon of chia seeds and your two-fix, you've suddenly. got 200 of your 700 in like one second. Exactly. But I think it's probably saying we're all struggling with, so it's really nice to draw attention to protect us as we get older.

It is, everybody. And remember, adequate protein, vitamin D, phosphorus, zinc, vitamin K, magnesium. Basically, a varied dietary pattern is the best thing you can do for your bone health. If you are concerned, definitely speak to your GP, although I don't know what nutritional information they'll give you aside from referring you to the NHS website. but they can definitely run some tests and dexas scans and book you in for these sorts of things if you think you're high risk and you're concerned about your bone health. Such great advice.

We are also on the topic of protein. Going to be talking about all those headlines on low protein diets being good for longevity next week, which is a big chunky topic we're excited about. Okay, Ree, girls who like to poop. Look, I saw it on Instagram and I could not believe, because it was a pair of shoes initially that I first saw. And I thought, are you great? So just to describe it to everybody, the thing that brought me to this trend isn't just,

there's an element of marketing. So there's an element of me sell it, these people selling fiber supplements and sachets. You know, they're everywhere now. We knew they would be a year ago. That's where the market's gone. It started on TikTok. It's a viral kind of shock humor format. You know, it pokes fun at the old myth that pretty girls don't poop.

I mean, I can't get over what I'm reading. Really? It's so weird. Okay. I went down such a rabbit hole with it yesterday. So there's these pictures of like, often groups of girls, like a couple of girls together

in just like say kind of track suit bottoms. Clearly not made up, right? Yeah. And the copy goes, um, girls who poo. And then they, why isn't there many poo too?

I don't know. And then suddenly the girls are all like glam and like she can ready for a big night out and it says, bitches that shit. Um, and that's the trend. So basically pooing is trending. which I'm a big fan of,

but this part of it is so weird. And excuse my language, I don't normally swear. But that is the trend. So just being true to it. Dressed down, girls who poo, dressed up, bees that sit there. I couldn't really, when I sent it over to you Ella,

it was more the, that to me blows my mind, but it was the poo shoes. So I think this is where the pooing trend has come from, basically. But what's interesting, like, some of the things you've now been sending me, is particularly on Instagram,

and I'm a big fan of this. I feel like people are taking this girls who poop, girls who poo trend and actually giving quite helpful things, leaning into the fact that, as we all know, 96% of us don't get in our fibre, people struggle with constipation, with their bowel habits.

And actually, we do need help to be girls that poo. Maybe I should have called the fibre formula, girls who poo. Maybe you should. Maybe it would have just flown. Taken off, TikTok shop. There we go. But so you sent me, for example,

like a video for girls who poop, here are cheer pudding recipes. And I thought that's really cool because I remember once looking up the fiber content of the cheer pudding I make all the time, which is just literally like a couple of tablespoons of cheer seeds and oats essentially.

It's a bit of dried fruit. And it was 15 grams. It's half my daily intake. So I thought this was really cool. But then people are jumping on the trend and Rhee has found poo shoes for the girls that poo. It's like I couldn't get over what I was saying.

I don't know why I was being served this particular thing. I don't really buy products from social. media but they're like platform wedges trying to quite cool they look like baby spice shoes and that's what drew my attention to them like pink platform um wedges almost very similar to get the level of height when you go to the toilet so essentially one thing i learned only from giving birth for the first time was that having a step around your toilet and actually children need this anyway because they can't reach a toilet but pooh stools or whatever you want to call them to elevate your legs so

you're almost sitting more on a squat position. It's healthier way to poo. It helps your bowel movement stay regular. It is actually the natural way to poo. It's a thing. And that is something that women's health physios always recommend you get in the house that you get a step to put by your toilet

to see you elevate your legs. So people have jumped on this. Very clever. And made it cool. I made it cool. And have got high-hilled shoes you keep in your bathroom. Instead of your stool.

It's still bizarre. Pop your feet in. But they look really quite nice and elevated. Anyway, and they're poo shoes. Anyways, it's so interesting. But as you said, it's this thing where like, I'm a big fan of this trend because I feel like we're glamoriting something that people don't want to talk about, that we're shy to talk about.

But that is so incredibly important. Anyway, the New York Times. So the company that made the shoes is called Let Loose. And they've gone so viral, like millions and millions of views. And then they were described by the New York Post as chic, limited edition shit shoes. Which has really made me laugh. But it's really clever marketing. but there's always a butt here I feel like with this stuff sorry guys for Debbie Downer

as I said big fan of the trend on the whole because I think this is great right and I've got some questions for you on this why it's great in a secondary but actually it's kind of genius but not a fan the poop shoes are actually just really clever viral marketing for what is the core product of this company called let loose which is basically a pill or a sasho which they called their let loose lemonade and then I looked up the ingredients of their let loose lemonade and it's literally just magnesium so it's a little bit of the ingredients of the let loose lemonade and it's literally just magnesium So it's all very clever. Which can give you laxative effects.

Well, that's it. So then there's the founder in her wedding dress being like, I had let loose lemonade the night before my wedding and then he did the best poo of my life. And look how unblowed today in for my wedding dress. Such good marketing, but not a fan of what it's saying. My mouth drops open. I've just an utter shock at what. It's excellent content.

It is. But what's allowed to be shown, I just can't get my head around it. Look, the regular bowel movements are an important part. heart of life. They look different for everybody. Not everyone's meant to go every single day, but we are meant to have a regular rhythm and pattern of at least once every other day or something that works for you. And we have to be checking up. This is something that, you know, with bowel cancers, massively on the rise, especially in younger generations. It's so important. You know what the Bristol store chart is. You understand what's a good bowel movement, what's a poor bowel movement. But

associating it with your aesthetic image is just wrong. And it is so, interesting because I mentioned at the start, we are launching Retrition Plus Beat the Bloat because I've called it Beat the Bloat, but actually it's our gut health dietitians educating around, you know, your womb may sit differently in your tummy, therefore your stomach will not always be flat. It's the way we're built. It's our bodies. But what is normal and what's not normal? And I do feel these trends, I'm bringing the negative bit to it. But I love the fact we're talking about fibre and gut health and all of that. Rie, could you bring us a voice note on what's normal and what's not normal?

Because I think this is so important that people start to see these images of such flat stomachs and assume that if you don't have that, you're doing it wrong. I mean, the wedding day association with doing a poo in the morning, that is everything that also feeds into diet culture and a really backward pathway. So, yeah, I'll pop the link in the show notes for the beat the bloat program if you want to join us and learn more and I'll get a voice note from my key dietitian that's running that. Yeah. And we'll make sure that we discuss bloating.

But poo shoes, you don't need to buy poo shoes, but a stool, if you struggle with kind of bowel movements, is genuinely really interesting because actually, and that's why sometimes I like these things because they glamourise something. People don't want to talk about and look at us talking about it today. My grandma, I remember, had one of those stalls around the toilet. I never really fully understood it. And now as an adult, I've got one at every toilet in the house, like a stool, because I just want to encourage the children to sit.

Probably. Four pound off Amazon. Just get a store for your toilet. Or let us know if anyone has the platform. Viral shoes. They do look like it's bicycle shoes. Okay. Our final comment for today.

So you know, I was about to call him my friend Brian Johnson. That's an ironic way. We obviously don't know him. But, you know, he is the tech entrepreneur who is now famous for something called Project Blueprint, which is his very extreme anti-aging, longevity routine. where he famously spends like $2 million a year. He does all sorts of crazy things. We've talked about him loads.

But he posted on X. I always have to remind me this is called X, always think it's Twitter. I never go on there. I haven't gone in it for years. Same because it became very toxic. Oh, it's so dark and weird. But Brian Johnson's on X.

And he posted two weeks ago on the 30th of July, been thinking things over and wonder if I've taken this whole longevity thing too far. Good for him. Do you know what? But is it ironic? I don't know. Remains to be seen. So it is the irony of the whole thing. Is he coming up with a new product launch? Is he actually just being honest about his health?

Is he just trying to stay relevant? Yeah. What's actually going on? But either way, if I look at it with a compassionate side of my head and heart and just think, thank you, if this is the case. And I really hope it genuinely is you've realized that the pursuit of perfection and longevity perhaps can do more harm than good. Thank you for being honest with everybody because you're selling your all of all shots at a premium price and all sorts of things that I think can do a lot more damage than good to people's mindsets about what health actually is. Because, you know, he spends or spent $2 million a year on this extreme anti-aging diet, Ella.

It's just unattainable. And I think it puts this level on all of us out there to think, wow, if only I had that money, then I could live and look like this. And he's very poorly now and he's not immune to being a human being. Yeah, I totally agree. Anyway, so that's an interesting thing. And also, I'm sure lots of you saw Miranda Kerr in the headlines. We're talking about her diet. We are going to talk a little bit about that next week. So next week we're talking about these big new protein claims. We're going to be talking about some of those Miranda Kerr clips eating bison for breakfast. We have all sorts of different things to go through with you. We can't wait to see you then. And then, of course, we'll be back as always on Thursday. We're talking about finding motivation for healthy habits. We're talking about hydration, about the carnivore diet, about sea moss, lots and lots of big recommendations for you, all sorts of things.

So we will see you on Thursday. Have a great week. Bye.