The Wellness Scoop - Can You Eat Too Much Healthy Food? Tofu Myths & Portion Control

Episode Date: October 1, 2026

Can you eat too much healthy food? This week, we’re talking portion control, hunger and why a huge plate of vegetables might not actually leave you satisfied. We also unpack the myths around tofu and oestrogen — what phytoestrogens actually are and whether soy really affects your hormones. Plus, we look at the rise of steak, liver and bone marrow for babies, bowel cancer anxiety and childhood diets, and how to increase fibre when you have IBS. 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

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 Males. And I'm Riannon Lambert. And today we dive into the most frequently asked questions, recommendations from you in the wellness industry. So let's do it. We're online and we literally has a cat on her head like a scarf hat, balaclama scenario. A tail that I'm holding down so it's not whacking the micro. She picks the most cats are very strange creatures, Ellie. You know, they have a mind of their own.

I've never had a cat. My dad was allergic, so we never like were cat people. But it's so funny. She literally like, it's like a living, breathing sky. It looks very comforting, if I'm honest. Like a weighted blanket. I quite want a weighted blanket. She is.

My cat is, yeah, she's one of a kind. But we have got so much interesting things and recommendations from you're listening to discuss today and I won't let my cat get in the way of it. She's just going to keep me comfort here. Ella, do you want to read out what we've got coming up today? You think we have things to talk about that aren't cats? Right. Funny that, isn't it? How funny that, how funny like cat Instagram accounts are these days. Yeah, maybe then we would take off even more. Okay, guys, we're not going to talk about Reese's cat too much, I promise you. I'm just fascinated by her and I know she really want a way to blanket and that'll be my next Google search. Right. Can you eat too much healthy food and

excellent question portion portion control without weighing or counting. What does that look like? The myths again around tofu, hormones, soy, estrogen, etc. We'll be debunking all of that for you. A little bit about childhood diets and bowel cancer risks,

increasing fiber when you've got IBS or any challenges with digestive system. The baby carnivore trend, WTF, we could say, and a little bit more on weaning and all the rest of it. Loads of recommendations, as always. It's just a good old chat and an att.

A good old chat and a natter absolutely needed. I've just realised my recommendation of the week I put in for the wrong week in advance. I watched and I mean it's kept me up and I should have been looking at sleep Ella. I just have to go straight in there because it's so good. What is it? What is it? It's called The Blame on ITV and normally I don't watch a lot of these types of series. What kind of series are we talking about?

I'm watching a murder detective series. Look at your face, Ella. Who are you? I haven't met you. It's a Rianan impersonator this morning. It's also the worst time to introduce a murder thing when you're heavily pregnant. You just want to get the ox-tocin up. Honestly, I've been binge watching and hooked.

It's Michelle Keegan and Douglas Booth. And at first I thought, this is cheesy, this is horrendous. Like some of it, a bit hammy. I don't know if I can watch this, but actually, I really, yeah, I got hooked Ella. I have to shout it out because I. I think you get really into it, lots of twists and turns. Okay, he was in a film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, but he looks so like the guy that played,

he looks like he was in Gossip Girl. He looks like that type of actor. And to be honest, I think that's where some of the interesting, maybe not good reviews of the show may have come from the types of casting that they've put in it. But I really enjoyed it, and I really enjoyed the plot, which is so surprising, and I had to binge watch it. I stayed up till midnight and I'm knackered watching at the end.

Really? I just looked up because I'm like, his face is so familiar. I'm like, why do I know you? And it says on if you go on to IMDV, the number one thing for known for is Pride, Prejudice and Zombies. What an eclectic, an eclectic acting base. What a funky idea. It is. I mean, who knows? So that's my first recommendation. Oh, I really want to watch that. And then I've been having a lot of Epsom salts again in baths because I ache everywhere, like my hips, my back, everything does ache.

So I'm turning to the Epsom salts and the delicious yellow ginger bears. The ginger bars are my go-to. They're on my mum tray thing in my bedroom. I'm really enjoying those. And making up veggie sauces as well, you know, just chucking everything I've got in the fridge and putting it in a pasta sauce. Yay. Shout out to Shella ginger bars.

I absolutely love that. original products. When we launched, we had this ginger energy ball and it was my like number one. I love ginger. I'm also obsessed with Epsom salt baths at the moment as well. My like dream thing is when the kids go to sleep and like Matt's going out for dinner tonight with his friend and I'm like already ready for this. You get into the bath, Epsom salt and then I have my iPad at the end and I watch. I've almost finished season two of tell me lies. And I'm just like counting down the hours till the end of the day and I'm going to get in the Epson salt bath. I'm going to watch my iPad and I'm just love it. Absolutely. Heaven.

Have you got any other recommendations, Ella? Just before I was on to the one from Mariana. You know what? I am light on recommendations. I have to say it's been a bit of a funky, funky, funky week. The only thing I would say is I am just, I mean, I don't want to sound like the most like boring person in the world. I hate social media at the moment.

Oh, I know. And I just really not going on it. And I'm just really, you know, we talked on Monday about reading. and I just notice like how I hate when my attention span gets really short and I just notice the less time I spend on Instagram and the more time I spend even if I'm on my phone but like I'm reading a newspaper article or I love Sudoku like I'm playing a Sudoku or I'm even watching a show

I'm concentrating like I'm spending 45 minutes engaged in a plot or I'm yeah doing my Sudoku it's not necessarily that my phone is bad it's more this just like ding ding ding ding anyway it's not really a recommendation I'm just really consciously trying to do longer form things and loving it I do you know what it's important and I'm sure you're not alone with your dislike for the app it's such a funny thing isn't it it's a difficult space I just find myself like I just don't I don't know like I was making dinner for our family last night it was so simple it's just like a lentil pasta kind of 15 minute like win when there's a lot

going on. And I thought to myself, I should take a picture of this. I would normally take a picture of this. I used to take pictures of this because it probably is like a helpful idea. It's just like sorted shallots and onion and a bit of leak and all the rest of it. But I was like, I just want to be with my family. Like I don't want to be taking pictures and being like, oh no, wait, guys. Sorry. Sorry to dinner. Yeah. Also, when I think of shalots, I think of Ella. I love shalots. It's almost like, what vegetable do you want to be? Maybe I'll be a shalot. I think they're really, I like the sweetness. They add such a good base.

She's got layers, as Shrek would say. I've got layers. She's nuanced. I love that, Ella. No, you're right. I think it so detracts from being happy and the reality of being attached to a screen is never good. We have an Emily Henry fan in Mariana.

Shall we read that one? Yes, you guys know I was loving all the Emily Henry books. And this is the perfect time for me because, and no reading so good for me and I'm needing a new book. I've got the Calamity Club to read which is I'm slightly daunted because it's so big

but my sister-in-law gave it to me and I've heard it's amazing so after that this is going to be perfect Marianna says since Ella's loving Emily Henry so much which I also loved I wanted to recommend once you're done with her books you read Abby Jimenez is that how we think we say her name?

I've never heard of her yeah J-I-M-E-N-E-Z also feel good easy read rom-com is just so good love need that's what we need more of easy rom-coms. Ignore my silly detective stuff at the beginning. Let's ignore the murder. Why am I jumping on that? Right. Our next recommendation is from Jammer. She said, hello, I wanted to share a little game I played with my children over the school

holidays to make eating a variety of plant foods fun. We wrote all our names on a list and stuck it to the fridge. Adults and children could take part and throughout the week, every time we ate a different plant food, we added it to our list. So that's so great. So it's so great. So it it's who's going to reach 30 different plants first. And what surprised her the most was how quickly the kids got involved. They started asking for pumpkin seeds to sprinkle on their porridge, requesting extra cruditates for snacks and trying foods that they perhaps would have ignored before. And she said it makes parenting feel easier instead of, you know,

constantly trying to nag or encourage them to eat something else, which I think lots of us can definitely relate to. She's got three children, age three, seven and nine. and she thinks it's a particularly important way to keep healthy eating positive and enjoyable. With her husband who's currently sadly living with stage four choleractal cancer, she says I know I can sometimes become a little obsessive about wanting to do everything I can to protect my children's gut health. And this game gave her a way to basically have fun without having to nag. And I'm so sorry, Gemma, first of all, to hear that, that must be incredibly difficult.

And it sounds like you are the most incredible mother. Yeah, absolutely. You're sending so much. Love to you guys, but I love this idea, Gemma, as you said, is the gamification. It's like we talking about on Monday. They're like matching snow white with an apple. Like, I mean, I have to say, I'm, we're all kids at heart.

Like, I love the gamefication of 30 a week. And sometimes if I'm bored and I'm like, you know, waiting for an appointment or a meeting or a Zoom call to start, I'll be like, oh, I wonder if I've got my 30 and I'll like count it up. And it's, yeah, it's kind of fun. Right. our first question is anonymous today. This goes as follows.

I'm in my mid-20s and I try and live as healthy as possible. Usually that 80-20 balance. I'm young. I like to socialise with friends, have drinks here and there. I try and eat home-cooked food for breakfast lunch, dinner in the week. I exercise most days and they get over 10,000 steps a day. Whoa, you go. When cooking for myself, I eat predominantly veggie.

Loads of grains, veg, beans, nuts, pulses. I often bulk cook meals too. However, I find portion control hard. I love food. I love making a nice meal. every evening. It's such a high lie. If my meals are large salads and fills with healthy things, does it matter the portions are large? I find if I don't eat a large portion, I'm hungry quickly. I don't want to go down the route of weighing things. I did this before. I found it way too

controlling. But how do you know, for example, if you've got too many chickpeas or too many mushrooms? I'm trying to stay healthy, I just really struggle with portion control, so I'd love any thoughts or advice. I just thought this was a really nice and sensible question. And I also totally get it. I have to say just very quickly on a personal note. I do remember when I changed my diet and I started eating as the same as you, this predominantly, like very healthy diet, lots of, yeah, as you said, beans, nuts, legumes, seeds, all the rest of it. Realizing the amount I needed on my plate was so much bigger and actually like the density of quinoa, for example, you know, you need a really hearty portion of quinoa and avocado and olive oils and tahini and lentils, etc. Or you will be hungry an hour

later and I actually think this is like a mega mistake people make when they're trying to eat healthily, you know, and there's, I hate them in a way, but I actually find them quite interesting these videos you see on Instagram where people will weigh up like calories, you know, they'll put in one pipe like strawberries, lentils, chickpeas, whatever, and fill a whole chicken breast, etc, fill a whole kind of pipe of that to how many calories. And then on the other side, they'll put like pretzels, sweets, you know, etc. And you realize, to get the same caloric amount, the quantity and proportions that you need of healthy foods is enormous. The energy density of the meal is just completely incomparable.

And I think that's what's really interesting. It's often because of the lower fat percentage in plant-based foods compared to omnibal products that on the plate in a total mean less calories. So you kind of can have more. But I think a good way of reframing this and it's interesting because I've been talking about this a lot recently on the weight loss journey on nutrition plus, but also when I was doing the plant-based encyclopedia, I think it's really important to kind of reframe it. And instead of saying, is this portion too big, try and ask yourself, is it satisfying you? And like Ella said,

you don't want to eat something, then be hungry an hour later. And, you know, look at your meals. Look, have you got on that plant plate any healthy fats? Is it just a large plate of chickpeas and Kewa because if that's the case, where's the healthy fat coming from the satisfaction element from it? You know, you're better off adding some pumpkin seeds and a sprinkle of this and that and adding a lashing of olive oil or a dressing or something as well. You've really got a plant-based eating is so remarkable, but you do need a bit of education, I think, to carry it out really efficiently sometimes. And there isn't a point where I'd ever say you've had too many chickpeas by 12 chickpeas on a plate. You know, I think that becomes a bit unhealthy.

when you get to that point. But ask yourself, am I still hungry? Am I satisfied? Am I continuing because it tastes delicious, even though I'm full? And there's a nice ways of just, I think, keeping kind of like check on yourself, Ella, I think, essentially. Because the 80-20 approach isn't supposed to become perfectionism again. It's really just meant to be a way of enjoying life with all balance within.

Great answer. Ria, absolutely love that. Yeah, and I think also, you know what? talked about this before. We were talking about kind of wearables and all the rest of it. And I have no idea if you use wearable and the rest of it. But I do think there's a lot to be said about also just being a little bit more intuitive as to what feels good for you as opposed to, um, you know, I think lots of us, I mean, I've never tried weighing my food, but it's this idea of like trying to tick a box as opposed to like what feels good. And if you have a day like today, I think I'm going to be extraordinarily

sedatory today. I reckon I won't get more than like 1,500 steps in. I don't plan to do any exercise, don't have any time to any exercise. So probably won't be as hungry. Yesterday, I walked the dogs. I went to a yoga class. I felt like I was on my feet the whole day. So I was so much hungry. And so I think this sense of just being a little bit more intuitive as to kind of what we need and how we feel on any given day in not trying to be prescriptive. Like, I must have one snack or I must have two snacks. Who knows? Exactly. Now we have a question from Heather. She's got two questions actually. She said the first is that she suffers a bad health. health anxiety and I've had to have a break recently from the pod because of the bowel cancer

links. I had a really beige processed diet growing up and I eat pretty well now but the news of healthy people contracting bowel cancer from poor diets as children has been keeping her up at night and I'm so sorry to hear that and she said as a child I convinced myself of many diseases but this this one could actually happen to her so I think she's really feeling feeling that there should I also have a family history of it. Is there anything else she's asked to us I can do for reassurance to myself or actually get checked for chances. And then her second questionella is on IBS. So any tips for IBS sufferers trying to increase their fibre because she loves beans

and pulses. But obviously it's a bit tricky. And she's tried soaking the chip peas and she's having jarred ones instead of tinned. But that doesn't seem to be helping. Yeah. Well, thank you for that so much, Heather. Thank you for listening. As always to everyone who tunes in.

First of all, love that you're listening to yourself. sensible to take a break for anything if it's making you feel more stressed a hundred percent i guess you know you're right we'd all predisposed to different things but like i do always come back as someone who's had health anxiety or general health anxiety to like we cannot control our lives we cannot control the future the only certainty is uncertainty that is the only thing we know the only thing we know is to be true is what is happening in this very second none of us know what's going to happen tomorrow. None of us know even what's going to happen in an hour's time. Things change for the better and for the worse in the slip of an instant. Like they really, really do. And so I do think there's

so much, and I know it's not easy about trying to be really present in where you are today, because ultimately no one's future, nothing about any of our collective future is guaranteed. And so, you know, I often think that, like, what a shame it would be if the words did happen. And then, and all the things I'd spent my life worrying about happened. But then I'd wasted all the time up until that point, worrying about it that I hadn't even enjoyed, you know, the good time. And I think that's a really, I do think, as I said, the only certainty in life is uncertainty.

We don't know. We can't control. It is impossible. We can do our best. But I think trying to kind of surrender to the reality of the fact that we cannot control our lives, I think it's a really important factor of being happy. I think it absolutely is. I never actually met my grandfather. He passed when I was a baby, but my dad always says he used to say, if you can't control it, don't worry about it. You know, one of those kind of old sayings because I have anxiety for different reasons, as you all know, and sometimes think, well, I can't do anything right now if the world's going to go to war. What can I actually do? And it's sometimes really helpful to remove yourself. But what I can definitely add to this conversation for you, Heather, is the fact that The risk factor does not mean you're going to develop a disease.

Just to explain, if you had a poor diet as a child, it elevates a risk, but only if you continue to act upon those same mechanisms your entire life. Then there's also the other factors, of course, that are involved with lifestyle, the environment, genes, all sorts of different things. But you are able to make changes as an adult, which reduce your risk factor too just as much with exercise and diet and sleep and all the things we discuss on here. So I just think it's really interesting. And actually, there is some new evidence emerging about early life exposures, including work looking at this particular bacteria toxin called colobactin and whether exposure

to it in earlier life can contribute to early onset of these cancers. But it's an emerging area. And what Cancer Research UK say is very clear is that we do still need more research. And the reason and these headlines are so prominent at the moment is because of the ultra-processed food conversation, I believe, and the changes as a society and shift that we're currently making. And that's why these headlines probably do feel overwhelming and all too confusing right now. And then to answer your question about IBS, I've got a lovely voice note from our gut health dietitian in the Retrition Clinic. Hi, I'm Annabar Lazarus, one of the gut health dietitians at the Retrition Clinic.

Thanks, Reeve, for the great question. It can be a bit of a balancing act regarding fibre when you have IBS. On the one hand, too little fibre can worsen constipation, which can make IBS symptoms worse. And on the other hand, in some people, a diet very high in certain types of fibre can also worsen symptoms. If beans and pulses are a trigger for you, you're correct in trying canned or jarred pulses and then rinsing them really well before cooking or double rinsing them. This is because fermentable carbohydrates called Fobab. will leach into the liquid and then be removed, which can reduce the gas produced during digestion, which would normally cause bloating or wind. I'd stick to small quantities of these if they are still a

trigger for you, such as a couple of spoons at a meal, and for some people over time, they will be able to gradually increase their consumption of these foods. For people with IBS, the key is to increase gentle, more gentle types of fibre, which are better digested known as soluble fibre. Foods higher in this, water and form a gel-like consistency, which can improve stool consistency and gut transit time. This can reduce constipation and also potentially abdominal bloating or distension. Foods particularly high in soluble fibre, which are usually well tolerated that you could introduce are chia seeds, linseeds, flax seeds, kiwis, oats or cillium husk. Some studies show that two tablespoons of linseeds per day could be affected in reducing

IVS symptoms. And the important thing is to increase fibre gradually. So, for example, with linseed, perhaps aiming for one teaspoon daily for the first week, then maybe building up to a tablespoon per day for your second week, and then perhaps two tablespoons daily for your third week. Do aim for a couple of extra glasses of water per day with the linseeds. And it's really important to consume enough fluid in general when you're increasing your fibre intake as not enough fluid could worsen IBS symptoms. So don't make too many changes at once and do increase fibre very gradually. So your gut has time to adapt to the increased fibre in your diet. Amazing. That was so, so helpful.

And also just remind you if there's anything you're really worried about, you should always go to your GP. You can discuss your family history with them. And the only thing that we also know does contribute and can contribute to risk factor when it comes to bowel cancer, low fibre intake, process and red meat in excess, alcohol and excess smoking, excess body weight, physical inactivity. And we also know, as we said the other day on the show, we can start changing our gut microbiome and enhancing it literally today. And we can change it relatively quickly. And it sounds like you're already doing that, but just to

reassure you. Exactly. And thank you, Annabel, from the Retrition Clinic for your contribution. We've talked about the Way meditation app a few times now because we're obsessed. And I've just look to my stats and I'm on over 3,800 minutes of meditation with them so far this year. I've actually done it almost every single day for six months now, normally 20 minutes a day and I cannot tell you the difference it's made to my life. I just feel this amazing sense of inner calm, even when life is chaotic and I don't think I've ever had that before. I feel less reactive, more grounded and just more peaceful in myself. It's become one of the most important, unmistable parts of my day. It really is. And now you've finally got me onto it too. And

I started using it because I wanted something to help me unwind at the end of the day. So I've actually been doing the meditations before bed when I'm finding it hard to switch off. And it's really helping me get to sleep. So it's become a nice way to shut down at the end of the day. Yeah. And you guys seem to be loving it too because as a community, you've now done over a quarter of a million minutes of meditation on the way, which is just incredible. And I think you're loving what I love and reloves, which is how simple it is. You don't choose between hundreds of meditation and keep scrolling.

You just do one after the next. You follow the path, each one led by the same person, the founder, Henry. Exactly. You just literally open the app. Press play and do the next one. And I think it's the whole simplicity, which is a huge part of why I've actually managed to stick with this every single day. Yeah. So if you haven't tried it yet and you've been wanting to get into meditation to help you with overwhelmed sleep

or just finding a slice of peace and calm in the day, you get a 30-day free trial with us, you just go to thewayapp.com forward slash wellness scoop. Yes, that's thewayap.com forward slash wellness scoop. Our third question is an anonymous one. Love the podcast. I've been a fan for years. I'd love it if you could answer my question as my sisters just sent me an online quote about tofu, Ella, and said she doesn't eat much of it because of the estrogen. Now, this seems to keep hitting us, doesn't it? It comes back time and time again. She said there's some information out there that says soy or tofu has phytoe estrogens that can be bad for you. Can you please debunk and explain any concerns around soy or tofu?

My biggest concern around tofu is how to make a taste nice. I think that is something to be very worried about because I think you can get it right and I think it can be so rank at the same time. Not at the same time. Sorry, it's an easy food to like, you know, some foods are just really yummy and then other foods are like, you've got to get it right. and I think bad tofu really is quite rank and it's not the easiest food to cook.

Because we haven't been brought up in a culture where it's the norm, whereas over in Asia it's like a household staple, like they've been cooking it for so many years and it just tastes incredible and all the dishes because they coat it in cornstarch or they fry it off in a pan or it's got the most amazing texture. It can be cooked in so many ways.

I just don't think that we've nailed it in the UK, the switch. You know what I'm really into at the moment because my younger daughter's obsessed with tofu is slicing it so, so thinly. And I mean like really thinly, almost like a, you know, if you've got a pack of cheese, like sliced cheese, kind of cheddar for a sandwich, that sort of thin.

And then, you know, a fair amount of oil in the pan and frying it literally two minutes for both sides. So it's super crispy. And then we've been doing it with like avocado and she likes with a grated cheddar on it and like a yummy ketchup and things like that in a like bryosh bun, kind of sandwichy burger sort of vibe. Five minute dinner. So good.

Really crispy and thin. I think it's something you have to kind of. Have a play with. Have a play with. Start them off young if you've got kids. Because, yeah, my youngest loves them slice. Got kind of chunky, but I just bake them in the other with olive oil and he'll just eat them. And he has all his notes.

He's like, yay, tofu. And I'm like, oh, bland olive oil, raced a to tofu. But for him, you know, that hits the spot. Let's debunk the myth for Ella, though, because soy does not contain estrogen. Soy does contain, but they're beneficial for our health, not negative. These natural occurring plant compounds called isofloven, so almost. like think of them like an antioxidant, which belong to a group of compounds we call phytoestrogens. They kind of mimic the structure.

And if any of you've got the science of nutrition encyclopedia, have a look at that page. I drew out the two different structures of estrogen and phytoestrogen, just so you can understand that eating tofu is not the same as taking a dose of hormones or a hit of hormones in your body. In fact, having this food type of phytoestrogen within your body has been beneficial and reduces men are pausal symptoms alongside lots of other areas. So despite the claims about it feminizing men, I think for years it's just been out there as if men eat it then because of these phytotutions, they're going to get, I want to say this really colloquially, but man boobs, you know, you've seen it all. We see it all.

But there's Harvard's review of the evidence similarly concludes that the fear around tofu causing infertility or hormone problems in men just are not supported by the science. you can enjoy your tofu. And then just try some great recipes to get it in because it is so good for us, so dishes we were talking about the need for plant proteins the other day. I like sweet and sour tofu. Put one in fiber formula. I really like.

But the thing is, I love a tofu that it takes a bit of prep. Like you have to like coat it, fry it off and then it becomes like this delicious coated and sticky sauce. It's really yummy. But it's hard to just do simply. Fry it. Fit little cubes. fry it like eight minutes or so till it's all golden and then mix up on the side harissa mezzo

maple or honey and lime juice and then once the toffee's nice and golden pop that in the hot pan for like two minutes and it will coat it oh i love that she even gave a chef kiss like gesture that's because you know what i'm completely um indoctrinated by my children who do that with everything good that i kind of like it's this default anyway love it right our next question from cal Love the pod so much. I'd love you guys to talk about starting solids. My whole Instagram feed is steak, bone, marrow, sticks of butter, liver and lamb for baby's first food.

Tocely, understand the importance of iron at this age. It seems maybe a little excessive, almost counterproductive to the research on adults' diets. I know it's a tricky topic, but I would love to hear how you guys approach this. Do you remember there was a trend a little while ago to get children to sleep through the night to give them a stick of butter before bed? But I actually literally saw this on my Instagram this morning. Kelsey, it's so interesting. that your question came in.

Which is a trend, guys, but though you should not do. And there was this mum talking about, yeah, trying to get her child to sleep through the night and giving her like a humongous chunk of butter and a steak before bed and being like, that's how I've done it. Honestly, I'm pretty horrified when I see these things, especially when they link to children because I just think how on earth have we got to this point where we're almost experimenting trends on young individuals that can have serious consequences. So it's just pushing an extreme and the absolute unnecessary extreme of life there.

So around six months, I can see where these things kind of progress from. First of all, let's talk about the liver and the different iron things. It's true that babies particularly around six months stop getting iron from breast milk and they stop getting it from formula really when the milk goes down, the quantity. But it doesn't mean that every single meal has to be rich. And of course, we know iron forms comes in two different forms. Heem iron, which we get obviously from more animal produce. It's more readily available.

But you can also get it from our favorite chickpeas and lentils and beans and tofu. All the things we're talking about. Wheatabix is fortified. Some tofu's lots of different foods contain iron. Instagram loses the plot. It just loses it completely. Steak can be a healthy part of a baby's diet in tiny amounts, but you don't need it all day long to be a healthy child.

In fact, my concern, Ella, is vitamin A toxicity because there's large doses of vitamin A in liver, particularly and awful and all these things that people are now turning to as a trend. I really worry because babies are tiny. Can we just remember the size of their stomach is, what's that big, Ella? A little tiny, a baby kiwi. Baby kiwi.

Just remember how tiny these things are. Instagram should not be your go-to for dietary advice. I've actually, to explain it far more eloquently than me, because I feel like I just get hepped up with how unethical it is and it upsets me greatly. Charlotte Sterling-Reed, who is a baby nutritionist. I've got a voice note from her on these trends. Hi, I'm Charlotte Sterling-Reed, the baby and child nutritionist and author of How to Wean Your Baby. Now, my concern with these trends isn't necessarily that meat and bone broth are dangerous per se.

It's more that I feel these trends are unnecessary. They're a bit unrealistic. They can be costly to families. And to top it all off, they're often based on getting parents to follow these trends via scaremongering. Some of these ancestral diet trends shun vegetables and fruits and suggest that babies have a leaky gut that needs healing and fixing via meats and bone broth, which actually is not evidence-based at all. Now, I know from my work that weaning is all about balance and variety. We really want to get babies onto a wide range of food right from the start, including veggies, and if you want to, including bone broth too. But this is so they build a diverse, healthy gut microbiome, but also so they learn about different flavours and textures along the way. And when trends push parents away from vegetables and fruits and whole grains, they're actually removing some of the most important building blocks for a young baby's diet. And there is no evidence for that to being a good thing to do. do. I need to just stress that there is no one perfect way to feed a baby. But looking at ancestors, yes, that's great for inspiration, but actually our ancestors ate a really wide variety

of foods too and not just meats and fats. So I hope that is really helpful to know. Amazing, Charlotte is the absolutely best. I was maniacal about following her when I was waning. I was like Charlotte is the guru. I was so scared about it. Yeah, me too. And I'm very lucky I can just WhatsApp her any time. I feel like. That is about the best thing in the world, actually. Charlotte, thank you so much for helping clear that up. Honestly, Instagram is not the place. Maybe for a bit of recipe inspiration once your child's on those solid foods,

but for following trends that particularly like this could cause toxicity, it's dangerous. We have our final question today, Ella, from Richel. We do in Bristol. She said, I've been trying so hard to make better choices since listening to you guys. I love it. But I hope without pressure, particularly with most ever. your daughter, she's a good eater and we'll try new things. Not so much my stubborn three-year-old boy. A popular choice for my daughter's breakfast is about 75 grams of confere, about 30 grams of

granola, strawberries, strawberries, little squeeze of honey and some cheer seeds. Yum. My friend Tommy's this breakfast won't help last her through to lunchtime though, as the fruit will only give her a short burst of energy followed by a drop. Is that true? Is it okay to include the honey? It helps her eat it, but I've also read it's a free sugar. Thanks so much for the advice. This question I feel like is why we have the show. When I was reading it, I was like, this actually summarizes to me, like the passion of the wellness scoop

is to help kind of wade through all the various conversations that are coming in here. Because to me, and I can't wait to hear what you think, Rie, I'm like, first of all, if she enjoys this and she's seven, you are absolutely winning.

The number of seven-year-olds that eat like a healthy granola, lots of different fruit, Kaffir. Kaffir. For breakfast is very limited. The amount of food that's good for her microbiome that you're giving her versus other children. Like, you are doing such an

amazing job. And I find it's so frustrating. I'm not criticizing your friend, but I find this whole thing so frustrating where it's like, oh no, you know, it's not quite right. It's got to be this. It's got to be that. This like pursuit of this elusive perfectionism. It's so frustrating. And if you're saying she's enjoying it, I'm like, that is unbelievable to have a seven-year-old enjoying that. To me, it's like the ultimate win. Honestly, I relinquish the whole how much honey goes on the kids breakfast a long time ago. Because if it means that they're going to be eating the nutrient-dense breakfast that you've got there, that's absolutely fantastic.

And it does not negate that. Obviously, within reason with how much you don't want your child having like half a whole jar of honey in the morning. But, you know, a teaspoon of honey on your breakfast. You can't really go wrong. You've said a tiny squeeze. So let's start with the fact that you've got healthy fats. You've got tons of good bacteria living, actually, probiotics in your cafe for your gut.

You've got granola which has an O-T base with seeds and nuts, which is fan-blemant-tastic for polyunsaturated fats, extra bit of protein there. The grapes contain fibre, polyphenols, cheer seed omega-3. I mean, I could not, you know, wax lyrical more about the fact that that's highly beneficial. And we also, we all react differently to foods. There are some people out there that would experience more of an insulin spike from a breakfast like that than others. But at the age of seven, that is fantastic. and we'll most likely keep them very full.

I really dislike the narrative around fruit and fearmongering or a little bit of honey. Everything in moderation, we can't live a completely sugar-free life. That honey is going to do nothing long term to your health. And I think if you wanted to give it one more boost, you could add like a teaspoon of nut butter, for example, for a little bit more healthy fat, a bit of protein, or a little bit of like Greek yogurt, for example. You know, you don't eat them. But they could be nice little additions. You can see where those conversations come from Ella, though, you know,

because I hear it at the school gate even with the other mums, they'd be like, oh, but I thought, you know, porridge was bad. Yeah, or that's far too much sugar. And it's purely because of this messaging that's been drummed into us that we should just all just be having eggs for breakfast. It's really, honestly, the world has gone completely topsy-turvy. And we're actually trying to get children to eat more fruit in general. People aren't consuming enough. fruit has a real misconception with fructose, which is very different to sucrose. I think what a win

that sounds delicious, fantastic. And look, if you had some scrambled eggs and sourdough with some avocado, that would be great too. It's not one's better than the other, but as you said, read this whole like eggs for breakfast, you know, get your protein in, then you're not getting your fibre. So actually we, and as we know, your children and us collectively are much more likely to be deficient in fibre than we are in protein. So if I was having a more of a focus on what to get in the meal, it would be fibre, not protein. And this is a very fibrous meal. Also, just to let you know, we all doubt ourselves. So I went through this real kind of panic stage because all I was craving in this particular pregnancy was sugar sometimes. I was like, my gosh, can I give myself gestational

diabetes? You know, I question myself. And then the rational side of my brain has to kick in that, you know, I'm really not. It's okay. It's looking. at the context of things. Look at all those amazing winds and nutrients. But I do think our mind plays tricks on all of us. It doesn't matter who we are. We all fall susceptible to these online wellness trends. And also, as a parent, you just want to do the right thing for your child. Honestly, there's just that innate. You really want to get it right. Of course you do. So, of course, you care. So I love that question, Ella. What a wonderful way to wrap up the show. Yeah, I totally agree. And whenever you're someone's like, this is what works for

me it's so tempting to be like okay i'll try it too so we're all the same i totally agree well guys it was so nice to be here this week we'll be back on monday we have as always an absolutely jam-packed show we're going to wear everything from pack lunch upgrades to a scandal around omega-3 the trick that we can all deploy to rewire our brain the latest in the global social media crackdown a very controversial headline in subsequent conversation about the return to skinny so yeah Loads of chat about so we'll see on Monday. Can't wait. We love you being hit. Please don't forget to hit the follow button

and let us know how you get on. We love your feedback, email your questions in and have a lovely weekend. That's right. You find us hello at wellness-scoop.com.