The Wellness Scoop - Chocolate for Ageing? Friendship & The Nervous System Explained

Episode Date: January 12, 2026

This week we’re unpacking three of the health stories that have been everywhere as January gets underway. We start with why friendship and social connection are now being talked about as a serious health issue, from loneliness in our 30s to the growing evidence that connection supports mental health, reduces inflammation and even influences longevity. We then look at the headlines linking dark chocolate to ageing, breaking down the new research on cocoa compounds and biological age, why it was picked up so widely, and what it does and doesn’t mean in real life. As ever, context matters more than hype. Finally, we dive into the nervous system and the vagus nerve, one of the biggest wellness trends heading into 2026. We explain what’s actually going on beneath the buzz, why so many people feel overstimulated and wired, and what genuinely helps your nervous system feel calmer and more regulated, without falling for quick fixes. Order your copy of Ella's new book: ⁠⁠⁠Quick Wins: Healthy Cooking for Busy Lives⁠⁠⁠ Pre-order your copy of Rhi's upcoming book: ⁠⁠⁠The Fibre Formula⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At Medcan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of good health, from the big milestones to the quiet winds. That's why our annual health assessment offers a physician-led, full-body checkup that provides a clear picture of your health today, and may uncover early signs of conditions like heart disease and cancer. The healthier you means more moments to cherish. Take control of your well-being and book an assessment today. Medcan. Live well for life.

Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. Welcome to the Wellness Scoop, your weekly dose of health and wellness inspiration. And as always we are here as your host. I'm Ella Males. And I'm Rihanna Lambert. And after a decade in the wellness industry, we know how overwhelming and confusing health advice can be. So we created this podcast to cut through the noise and make healthier living, simple, fun and personal. And guys, as we are coming up to our one year birthday, we just hit, as of last week, 5 million downloads, which is mega.

Every time you say the numbers, I just laugh. It's like this instinctive protective mechanism of shock. I know. Because we were like, let's do a podcast, let's keep it fun, let's keep it light. Let's not film it. Let's just have a chat about all the things that interest us in health and wellness. And then in a year, 5 million downloads, listeners in over 100 countries. It's unbelievable.

Thank you, guys. Yeah, thank you so, so much. and we've been picked by Apple as a recommended podcast, haven't we, this year? Yes, they have a new Living Well section, and we are number one in the carousel for loving the skin you're in, which I loved so much that they chose us for that category. Just because I think we feel sometimes that wellness is so overwhelming, it feels quite difficult to be a part of sometimes,

and I think that sense of empowerment and inspiration is so important to the both of us. I completely agree. and what we've created with this community is just so, so special. And today, Ella, we have got a fantastic show. So do you want to tell everyone what we've got coming up? We have. Okay, we're going to talk about the difference between plant-based and vegan. We're going to talk about why one burger a week might be the key for our planet's health.

Loneliness in our 30s and why friendship is finally being reframed as a health issue. The science behind social connection, inflammation and longevity. A little bit more in dark chocolate and the aging headlines around. that that we've seen recently, the nervous system, Vegas nerve and why we're all maybe feeling a little overstimulated and what actually helps calm our nervousism and what's just hype. So we have a really nice mix of wellness this week. Ella, I want to start with how you've been this week because my goodness me, I have seen some epic things with you and Quick Wins this week and it's so exciting.

Yeah, it's been a fun week. So Quick Wins, as of today, it's top 10 bestselling books on Amazon in the country, which is fun. Thank you to everyone's bought it. Still half price on Amazon if anyone wants it. Quick Wins, healthy living for busy lives. But I did the Chris Evans Breakfast Show, which was super fun. Did Davina McCall's podcast. We had a Quick Wins taxi whizzing around London.

So it's been a bit of a jazzy week, actually, my end. I did make a joke. I don't know if you saw it underneath your Instagram post, but I said, why can't you pick us up for work in the Quick Wins Taxi and then we'll pop down to the studio? I know. I wish we could have done that. That would have been so fun to organise.

So yeah, it's been a fun. lots of press. I mean, I have to be completely honest, this is based for honesty and transparency. I don't like doing press. And I just say that not to be ungrateful because I really appreciate it and I appreciate it as a kind of vehicle for our message about simple health and changes you can make and empowering people to get cooking with butter beans and quagets and make that stir fry for supper tonight and why it matters. But on a personal level, I guess after almost 15 years in this industry, there is this part of me now that just so loves this medium, for example, being able to speak just directly without your words ever being changed or chopped

and turned into clickbait or sensationalised. And I just feel like this is a safe space. My now the system is activated. I think it's important for everyone to remember. And I do myself so that Ella hasn't always had an easy ride in the media. And headlines can change. We don't have any control over who writes the headlines in the papers. So I guess Ella, you could do an interview like we did.

once and then it gets changed into something that's sexualized, you know, is the title or something drastic that you really didn't say. So it's nerve-wracking putting yourself out there. And I think what we love about this podcast is that obviously we're friends and it's safe, but it's also the fact that we have the time for context and nuance. I know. That's why I love podcast. But, Re, same with you. You've got the cover of your new book, right? Oh my gosh. Yeah. Fiver formulas out there, everybody. And if you pre-order before the end of January, you can win an overnight. stay at Champneys Ella. Okay, well, I've already pre-ordered, so maybe I could be a winner.

All you have to do is pop it underneath the Instagram post on Retrition. I've tagged it, but I'm not going sadly myself. I mean, sometimes I think I should just keep these prizes for myself, but I don't. I give them away. Guys, pre-order, have a night away. You can listen to the wellness scoop on your way down there, go to the spa, feel varies, Anne. You can what I've been doing this week?

I have been making loads of miso soup. And can I just recommend that as a really easy, nice, January thing. Right. So miso soup, just on that note, is something I've always assumed is a very quick thing you buy in a packet, but obviously would have tons of additives if you buy it. So how do you make yours? Okay, now this sounds absurd. So just bear with me, guys. My five-year-old loves miso soup. So does mine, Ella. So does mine. Okay, she's obsessed. She loves it's Su. It's like her favorite place. And I know it's very bougie, but she loves it so and she loves the miso soup at It's Sue. And since we moved out of London, she keeps saying to me, make me miso soup. Anyway,

the brand Clear Spring, this isn't sponsored. This is just a personal recommendation. They make little pouches, little sachets of miso with the various different ingredients to make the miso soup. I was quite skeptical that it would kind of meet her standards because she loves miso soup so much and she won the real deal. Excellent. But I made a broth first. I just had some leftover like slots and leaks and a sweet potato. So I boiled those up just like an hour. You don't have to do it. You don't have to do it. anything you literally leave it boiling and then I drained that and then added the paste bit more soy sauce seaweed some tofu um silken tofu and then I did some noodles to make it more filling it was the easiest supper I know you're making a broth for an hour but you literally do nothing you chop a few

things and chuck it in water and put a lid on like super super super easy that is such a good chout miso soup something very different I have to say you need the noodles though you need to turn it into a meal you need the extras all rice and in the broth and the brothes and the brothes and the brothes is delicious as well, but with the tofu, seaweed, spring onions and then, yeah, either a noodle or a rice in there. On the tofu, Ella, where do you buy, because I've been looking, again, not an ad, but I really want to try these tofu gujons. I was thinking of you the other day. Where are they? Oh my gosh, the new all plants ones. That's her other favorite thing. Do you know what? They're such a cool product, actually. I'm so proud of them and they are flying.

They have just launched the all plants, tofu, guisons in Tesco's, Waitrose,os, Anacado. And I have to say, just getting a food brand going is not easy. And we got into Stainsbury's last spring and then Tesco as of beginning of January. And that is just such a mega milestone. So the all plants team are phenomenal and just a very cool step for us. I feel this year and we're going to discuss it more. I can't remember if it this week or next week, but there's a huge change in the market space. I feel like there's been a huge consumer shift.

And we will discuss it in more detail. But even for me, on New Year's Day, Ella, I was called, my first interview of the year was with LBC News. And I was being asked about plant-based and veganism. And we'll get into it in the show. But they asked me, do you think veganism isn't popular anymore? And it was a really interesting question to ask. Do you know what? It's actually such a miss of us.

We should have done a section on this because there had been so many headlines on this. Like, veganism is over. Is this the end of veganism? Obviously, which we talked about, lots of sensations. And actually maybe this is a perfect moment to kind of segue into our headlines to talk about this. I think the difference between vegan and plant base as per that interview, I think it's quite important. I'm going to say, just can I be super controversial here, we said this is a safe space. Look, I don't love these sensationalist headlines.

In a way, look, I don't think this is a bad thing. And I know that people might be like, hold on a second, you're all about vegetables. Why would you say that people saying veganism is over is a bad thing? It's just that my challenge sometimes with our food landscape is that it's so binary. And we love labels and we love a sense of kind of dogmatism and being really dogmatic and like putting ourselves in one camp or the other camp. And for most people over the course of their whole lifetime, I'm not talking about six months, I'm talking about decades.

Being in one camp or the other probably isn't very sustainable. And what I love instead is this focus on like plant first, plant rich, let's, you know, all the campaigns around like eat more beans. I love that. Let's get people. We'll talk about that headline in a minute about reducing their meat intake and eating way more plants. And it's so nutritious and it's so good for the planet. It's brilliant all around.

I think there was a there was an argument though Ella that because the terms were misunderstood. I'm so with you, everything you're saying. Because marketeers had used the term plant base to represent vegan food and it had got completely misconstrued from what it actually is. And I think you're right, less of a label because they were scared to put veganism or vegan food on their products. So instead they use the word plant-based, which I do think is better. That's why I wrote the plant-based nutrition book because it just means you can eat whatever you want, but just focus on plants. Yeah, you're basing your diet on plants. And I think that's the important differentiation here that we thought was worth noting as part of this conversation today is that what veganism is referring to.

And it's why, like, I am not a vegan because does my... matter how many vegan recipes are right. I'm not a vegan because it's a whole lifestyle. And you've got to sign up for it in every facet, be that, you know, the clothes that you wear, the makeup products. It's all driven by ethics fundamentally. It's not about health. It's an ethical consideration which deserves huge respect and appreciation for that. Oh my goodness, humongous. Things we don't even think about. And it's just so hard because even your car seats can be made from level. The more I know about it, the more I'm kind of horrified by the agriculture industry, sometimes with animals and everything.

But I do think there's a lack of understanding that veganism is the omission of everything in your life that's based around and derived from animals. Exactly. And plant-based is actually completely different. It's just more accessible. The reason, and I remember looking at it in the science of plant-based nutrition,

and again, for fibre formula, if we just approach the fact that plants should be more of a hero, and I know that's what Ella and I discuss all the time on the podcast, I think we'll just go further with making changes that are more realistic. I think it's worth just differentiating this difference, as we're saying, vegan is this kind of holistic, all-encompassing lifestyle, which is driven from ethical arguments. And as they said, that deserves huge amount of respect. Whereas plant base came into effect in the 1980s, it's much, much more recent

by an American professor of biochemistry at Cornell called Dr. Thomas Colin Campbell. And that was created to describe a high-fiber, vegetable-rich diet. He actually then later added whole food to it. So he was then talking about a whole food plant-based diet. And he was looking at and distinguishing a plant-based way of eating from a vegan or vegetarian diet, both of which massively predated, because he was looking at the moral, ethical, environmental considerations, his viewpoint. And when plant-based was created, was all to look about the effect of nutrition on long-term health. And so I think that is really important. Veganism extends way beyond what you eat and shapes all your life choices, whereas plant-based refers to your diet. So you don't have to,

have to be 100%. Anyway, I just think with this whole like veganism is dead situation, I think it's just an important thing, which is like actually for most people, that's maybe not something that they're going to incorporate into their life. But if you're plant-based, you don't need to be like, I'm yes, no, all the other things. It's like just root your diet in plants. We know there's so much evidence there. The interviewer said to me, I said, well, actually, I said, we all need to collectively change the way we eat anyway. And I said, not just for our health. I also said for the planet because we've got data there. And he said, and he's a great interview, a lovely guy, but he said, but where's the data from? What data?

Who's telling us that, you know, eating more plants is better for the planet? And I was like, well, there's a whole body of research. You know, we discussed the Lancet in Stockholm in 2025, you know, the big papers that suggest the planetary plate. And I tried to explain to him. And I said, that's why I felt there needed to be an encyclopedia on plant-based nutrition, because there wasn't one. That was my motivation for writing that book after the science of nutrition. But it's so interesting when you hear other people's opinion, well, what data? Because it didn't get any press. Do you remember we were discussing this last year? And it's like there's an anti-eating for the planet movement at the moment. It's being blocked by media. Does that sound right? Yeah, I think it's, I don't know, the whole thing just feels very complicated and sticky, doesn't it? But I think when we're seeing all these like veganisms over headlines, I think it's just important to differentiate. vegan is a ethical, moral, environmentally driven lifestyle decision, which is completely different

to dietary choices where you're trying to focus on whole food, plant-based ingredients. They are two fundamentally completely different things, even if sometimes they overlap with recipe content. Because people that are plant-based can still eat small amounts of animal produce, and I think that's what's really often overlooked. So Ella, let's move on, although that felt like a headline in itself, to the headlines that matter. Okay, we have two great pickups in this section.

The first one, did you see there were more headlines on Botox again? There were some different beauty industry leaders last week. So after the headline that we talked about, calling for these treatments like Botox and fillers to be classified interestingly as high risk procedures. And that's all part of this effort to move away from what they describe as profits over standards culture and have this much, much, much, much stricter safety regulatory oversight. I just thought it's so interesting because it's become a kind of high street situation and it kind of feels like the same as getting a manicure almost. And actually

lots of people within the beauty industry are saying, no, no, no, no, no, let's not say Botox is the same as a manicure. This is a proper medical procedure and we need to treat it as such, which I think is great because it's all part of this regulation. I mean, if it were labelled high risk, it would change everyone's perception of it just being this everyday thing that everybody does and every woman's entitled to because that's the label. it currently has. Yeah. Anyway, so we'll keep up your updates on that story because it's very interesting. And then another update, which I think is quite interesting. Obviously, last year, we talked a lot about the kind of new government legislation on diets and trying to get us to

eat more healthily. And the junk food ban in terms of advertising is finally, in effect, as of the 5th of Jan, so not long ago. But more headlines on this one because there's a pretty obvious oversight here. There's a huge loophole. Do you know, it is great. And I saw somewhere, I haven't written this stat down in the brief that we could save another 70,000 something food choices by having this ban, you know, of advertising. Because we are influenced by what we see. It does drive our behaviours a lot of the time.

So there could be positive elements there. But there is a problem that you can still advertise. So these companies are not banned from advertising. They just can't show the product. Yes, exactly. So I think what people were hoping was like, right, pre-9pm with the watershed, you wouldn't be able to advertise less healthy products. That's true, but you can advertise less healthy brands, just not the specific products. So I think, you know, we were already talking about how it feels like a plaster on a gaping wound.

And I think when you look at it from this perspective, even more so, because ultimately it's like the Coca-Cola Christmas ads is this feeling that these brands evoke and this sense of aspiration or wanting to be a part of it. that's so effective, probably more so than a specific product. And so ultimately, you can still have this. You can advertise a logo, a slogan, general imagery. It's the music, Ella, for me, the minute you say Coca-Cola Christmas ad in my head, I'm holidays are coming. Do you know what I mean? And all it takes.

Right. And it's also positive and lovely and fantastic. And you can't see the bottle with the actual product in it as would be on shelf, but you can see everything else. And so you still get that, like, lovely, feeling and for children watching it they're still like oh I want to be a part of this world so it's a shame isn't it really because we're still going to have the same advertisers they're just going to change the brief it's a step forward and I would love to see well because we've waited

years for a sort of ban and then it didn't come in and it didn't come in but it's a step I think it's a step but it needs to be enforced it's a shuffle let's not use the word chef it's a shuffle of feet by millimeters two way forwards. But, you know, we were promised this years ago and it never went forward. So finally it's gone forwards, but it's not good enough. It's not good enough. Yeah, I would disagree.

I think it's a... Trambles. I think it's sort of pathetic. Yeah, pathetic, prophetic watersheds. It's pathetic. We need more. No, because we do. We've got to inspire people for change.

And ultimately, I think it's like, it's that thing where you want to say you're doing something but do nothing at all. And like, who wins there? Well, you're right. Because they're taking the money, aren't they? Because at the end of the day, those companies are the ones with the cash, and they're the ones that pay for the TV channels.

So they're not going to get rid of them. They're never going to get rid of them. But then it's almost worse than doing nothing, to some extent, because it's so absurd. Anyways. Oh, it's such a big issue. Oh, so hard. Right. Headline one, Ella, is totally opposite.

We've got forget fitness plans, improve your health by making a friend. I know. That headline in particular was in the Times, and it was why making friends might be the health habit we're missing. And I just loved it because in January, you've got all this wellness noise and all these plans and all these supplements. We're going to talk about peptides next week and people injecting themselves with NAD plus and all sorts of bits and pieces. And there's so much noise around all of that. And this was like, forget all that noise. You don't need all of it. Actually improve your help by making a friend. And it was all based on this neuroscientist called Ben Rain. And it was a simple,

powerful idea basically that we do. We spend a lot of time when it comes to our health and wellness thinking about food, about movement, about supplements. And we barely think about what he was calling our social diet. And yet that social diet, our social connections have such an enormous impact on both our physical and our mental health. Yeah, completely. And the scale of evidence behind it is huge. One study that tracked around 300,000 people over roughly seven years. I mean, that in itself is gold research. And it said that people who spent more time. with friends had a lower risk of dementia, heart failure, diabetes, and also, of course, alongside that, lower rates of depression and anxiety because it links to the fact that we need

social connection like we've always said on this podcast and they experience less stress. Even pain tolerance, Ella, which I found really, really interesting and we're around 50%, 50% less likely to die prematurely. Absolutely extraordinary. I know it was really interesting. The way he was framing it in the interview was like, if you told people you could get all of these benefits, you'd be quite keen to sign up for it. Like, yes, take my money. I'll do your plan if I get all, you know, 50% less likely to die prematurely. But there is no plan.

The plan is to call a friend, go for a walk, whatever it is. And, you know, basically how it all works is that these, and he's very keen to express and not alone in this. We are talking about, unfortunately, real world social interactions. We are not talking about sending a DM. We are like face-to-face conversations with people. And those trigger the release of neurochemicals like oxytocin, serotonin. And they make us feel calmer, safer, more connected.

And dopamine as well, really important. You get a big release of dopamine. So you're getting all these feel-good neurotransmitters coming around your body and this amazing mood lift from interacting with people. And that's so powerful. So, so powerful, Ella. the research framed it in such a beautiful way that socialising is essentially medicine as well, like a small dose of benefits that people need because we've got to think about the neurochemicals

that we get from social interaction. We talk about things all the time like dopamine and all these things when they're released that we obviously are not getting a hit of every single day because we're doing more online. We're not getting that face-to-face or, you know, human interaction we're used to. These can help protect us from chronic inflammation. it's just so interesting because we always strive for those pillars of health and I feel like we need to have another pillar now that is social interaction. I totally agree because I think it's sort of if we think about these four pillars being our diet,

our exercise, our sleep, our stress management, you know, you could sort of put social connection to stress management but really I totally agree. Another pillar. Community and connection actually is our fifth pillar. So guys, 26, five pillars of health. to be thinking about, not to be stressed about, but to have in your mind what you're eating, how you're moving your body, how you sleep, elements that manage your stress and how you connect with people. Okay, so the Wellness Scoop, our community, we can become the fifth pillar.

Yes. We are the fifth pillar. We are the fifth pillar, guys. We're here for you. And do you know what? Actually, they had quite a lot of info on the kind of backdrop of all of this. That I think is, it's pretty depressing, to be honest, which is that over the last 30 years, and this was looking in America in particular, the number of Americans with fewer than four close friends has risen from 27% to 49%. Half the adult population have less than four close friends. And by the time people reach their 70s, they're spending on average seven hours a day alone. So I think it's this sense we often talk about loneliness as an emotional issue, but actually it's a public health issue, which I think is a really interesting reframing. And one of the other points that I loved, I don't know, how to

how you feel about it read, but it speaks to me completely, is that we often underestimate how much we'll enjoy socialising. You know, I think sometimes it's easier not to do it than it is to do it. I know I'm like that sometimes and I'm like, oh, I'll just stay at home. But actually when you go and you make an effort, you have such a lovely time. It's true most of the time. In the winter, I do find a hibernate in the summer I want to go out. I will always stick with that.

But yes, because he actually said that friendships quietly slip away. You know, it's not an overnight thing, that we don't realize it. because it's so hard when we're just busy because most of our time is consumed with work. And then if you have a family on top of that as well, that is your weekends. And you don't really spend much time. We don't have the village anymore. So we're not interacting in that way with our children at the weekends. If you are single at the moment, you don't have a family,

are you actually going out and mingling in the way we used to? Because the Guardian recently ran a piece that's called The Loneliness Fix. And it said, I wanted to find new friends in my 30s. And it was easier than I imagined. So that's a nice one. I think this topic of loneliness is being picked up quite broadly. And I thought it was nice to include that guardian piece as well. Because actually, and like I'll be the first to say it as well, I feel lonely sometimes.

I don't think it's easy to make friends at this point in life. And I think for lots of us, you know, our life changes. We move. We have different set up, social structures or something. And so, you know, sometimes old friends, it's not that we don't care about them anymore, but maybe we don't live near them and aren't able to see them often. Like, I know that's the case for me. And actually, for sure, I feel lonely.

And that guardian piece inspired me. It was like, actually go out, make a couple more friends. It also made me think of my boys because being a mom of boys, you know, boys don't talk as much. This is stertive, but I know some boys do. But girls tend to be more open and discuss things and need that community. And I actually think men do too, but there's something in society that stops us. So I'm just going to be really conscious of that, raising boys. just another thing on my plate to be like to try and encourage, you know, friendships and nurture

them. Do you feel like that sometimes, Ray? Oh, gosh, yeah. Yeah. Being self-employed, I know you've been, where you are there, Ella, that it's 24-7 and my business is run by me. So it's all time-consuming. And then I really want to prioritize my children. And there's nothing left for me personally at the end of the pile, you know, to book in going out for dinner. I have to do it months in advance so I can get childcare. It's not easy. It's really not easy. And I do feel. it too. Yeah, well, if you guys listening, let us know how you feel on it. I think, gosh, while we were building delicious Sierra. I feel like I lost so many friends and not in a dramatic way. It's, as you said, it's just like slipping away because you cancel a plan. Something's come up and

then it's a few more months. And then ultimately this very close friend, you start seeing them once a year. And it's very different. And I think at this point in life, it's really normal that. And I just feel it's important that we're all open and transparent and honest about that because actually I think it's also easy to be like, I'm lonely. Am I weird or strange or the only person like this? And why does everyone else have so many friends in this girl gang or whatever it is? And I'm left out. It's almost like being a teenager again. Yeah, I've never had a huge girl gang. Even at school, I just kind of had a boyfriend. It was a strange dynamic. I think I hid behind him. But really interesting. It doesn't mean you have to hang on to relationships that don't serve you because I do think relationships change. I mean in your

20s, your late 20s, your 30s, your 40s, I'm sure that we're in different stages of our lives and different friendships serve you in different ways. But I think we need to either reach out to new ones and maintain ones that do serve us perhaps. I totally agree. Let us know where you guys stand on all of that. I'm so excited to tell you about my brand new cookbook, Quick Wins, Healthy Cooking for Busy Lives. I wrote this one to make healthy cooking, simple when life is busy. So you'll find fridge rae suppers, one pound wonders and batch cooks that you can turn into two easy meals. Plus, we have eight weeks of delicious meal plans to complete with shopping lists. So all the thinking's being done for you. Every recipe also gives you

plant points to help you eat more plants. You can get your 30 plants a week. It'll all help you feel great and just make healthy cooking feel effortless again. So Quick Wins is out now wherever you get your books. Okay, totally different headline next. One stingy burger a week to help nature thrive. This was everywhere after Christmas. One stingy, I think by stingy we're talking about small, but one small burger a week could help nature thrive. And basically, this was everywhere from the male to the times and all the rest of it.

It sounds like a male headline using the word stingy, doesn't it? Yeah, I totally agree. Stingy was actually used by the researchers, believe we or not. And it was basically this whole premise of if we want to support biodiversity in this country, we need to eat far less red meat than we do now. We probably already knew that. But interestingly, the one burger a week was the amount needed to help biodiversity. I see, to me, that's fascinating.

And the researchers actually came from the University of Edinburgh, led by Alfie Gathorne Hardy. And rather than asking how much meat we can afford to eat within the environmental limits, his team reframe the question, and they asked a different question, how much meat do we need for the biodiversity? So to answer that, they looked at all of the UK's land in detail. They mapped the different habitats, which I think is actually really important as well, because we are losing habitats, you know, with new railway lines being built, housing.

There's so much to discuss there with biodiversity. And from woodlands to uplands and worked out how much livestock each could realistically support while helping wildlife, because less than 4% is now wildlife, Ella, it hurts me. I feel for the squirrels, the foxes, the badges. Can we even say we have wildlife in this country anymore? I know exactly. It's extraordinary. So the amount needed for this was just four million hectares of land for grazing livestock. That's our optimum for biodiversity. So we do need some livestock. Hence, our one burger a week. That's the kind of the ratio it would translate to. But currently we have 13 million hectares dedicated to grazing livestock. Now, obviously, I appreciate there's so many economical implications of this and huge number of farmers and farming families. And I'm not. trying to sort of wipe that away. But just from a kind of statistical perspective, I think it's really interesting this idea like we need some land for grazing livestock. That's very important for biodiversity.

But nowhere near as much as we do. And basically, if you translate it into your diets, as I said, basically it's a 90% cut in red meat consumption. So that works out to eating about 4.2 kilos of meat per person or one modest burdough a week. Yeah, it's around 70 grams as a portion of red meat that's recommended. So I think most people eat more of that in one steak, to be honest, with the weight of it as well. And what's so, so important here is the environmental impact. And maybe we should touch on this more on the podcast. But I feel like it never gets traction in mainstream media. You don't see these types of articles blow up and become TV interviews at the same time.

And I think it's purely because there doesn't seem to be a solution. We don't seem to have support from the government to help farmers, to help this kind of transactional approach of fire. protecting the wildlife, the land always seemed to see as destruction of wildlife. But, you know, it sits aside some of the headlines with the Mediterranean diet, which is good, you know, the green Mediterranean diet I discussed. I can't remember. Was that in country, County Town House? Exactly. A few months ago. And I think what's interesting is all basically land is up to the same thing. And I think, you know, coincidentally, we obviously talked about plant-based versus vegan.

And I think it's this interesting thing of like, you don't have to be completely dogmatic. If you are for environmental or ethical reasons, that's brilliant. And as I said, huge respect for that. But I think for everybody else, it doesn't have to be 100% what we're seeing here, for biodiversity, coupled with health, as we see in the planetary diet, the Mediterranean diet, the green Mediterranean diet. It's just plant first, plant rich. Yeah, do half, half beans and meat. Like start making those small changes.

You know, we used to have in this country that's quite popular at one point, meat-free Mondays. You don't have to, but you could reduce and just add more lentils and beans and poles. And I think that's where the double the beans by 28 comes in, doesn't it? Oh my gosh. I went, because we've launched lots of new products with all plants, we've done this veggie tempe and the tofu guisons. I've been going into quite a lot of supermarkets the last week to go and see them on shell. Yeah. And in the waitrose near us, there was an enormous display of beans.

Yeah, I know. Chipies, beans. And it made me think of this whole, yeah, bang the beans in. Well, do you know what? You might think I'm really weird saying this on the podcast. But I think you said you do this too. space, Marie. Here we go. You know those superior beans, the bald beans, the ones we are.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, my kids and I would just eat it from the jar. And then I went over my friend Lucy's in Manchester for a job at the beginning of the week, also discussing fibre, which I'll share when I can. But her kids were eating the beans out of the jar. And I was like, that is what I do. And she's like, they taste so good. Like, do you think that's all right, Ria?

And I was like, yeah. So maybe more of a snack out at the jar than we think. think they taste so good. They are so delicious, those beans. Amelia, who started Bob Bean, done the most amazing job with that company. I think their slogans about getting people obsessed with beans. And it's amazing.

They have done a phenomenal job. But are we getting into stereotypes of, oh, she's a nutritionist. She eats beans from the jar. Ha, ha, ha. I mean, you can see a comedian right now. I did the show with Joanne McNally once, and she made a really funny joke. Like, oh, look, her hair's so good.

She must eat tons of kale. You know, like, you can just see the, you can see the headlil. I totally agree. Yeah, it's a bit stereotypical. They love wellness. They eat beans out of jar. They eat premium beans out of jar. Premium beans. I see you on it. But equally, you know, they are delicious product. We eat everything else too. So Ella, from beans to my other favorite wellness ingredient, which has become a wellness ingredient because I feel like the wellness scoop has made it so. The dark chocolate compound that's linked to slower aging. I know. I love this one. So a final headline for this week comes from King's College, London. This is a lot.

was picked up everywhere. It's a bit like whenever there's good research on red wine, we all just want the good news day. We want a reason to love chocolate and this was one of them. So we're all looking for a reason to eat more chocolate and attach a bit of science to it. But the study was published in aging and it basically focused on a compound found in cocoa, which is obviously the core ingredient of chocolate, well, of most chocolate, but because chocolate is so expensive now, it's rapidly being reduced and there's all sorts of chocolate bars in the UK that you now can't call chocolate bars, like chocolate flavoured,

because the proportion's gone down so much. Anyway, this compound called Theo bromine, is that how you say, Ray? I'd have said theobromine, yeah. Okay, essentially researchers are looking at levels of the theobrame in people's blood and blood-based markers are biological

aging, and what they're seeing is that it's inherently very, very positive. Oh my goodness. I mean, I have, as you know, I have dark chocolate every single day. I'm not even exaggerating there. I also let my children and have dark chocolate every single day, if it's 75 to 80% plus. So it's what they've always known, and I think it's really beneficial. So our biological age is very different from, you know, how many birthdays you've had.

So you could, I know, Ella and I did that neko, NICO scan at the beginning of the podcast last year. And, you know, you can be told you're four years younger than you actually are. So it's based and measured using our DNA process called methylation, which can change over the course of our lives, but they analyze these two large European cohorts. So 509 people from the Twins, UK study, and just over 1,100 participants from the German Cora study. And across both of those groups, people with high levels of this theobromyn circulating in their blood had a better biological age. So you could be 50, but your age could be 35. For instance, that's what we call biological age. I will say there's DNA kits out there. Not all of them are accurate when it comes

to this if you do these kits at home. I mean, I've admitted this before. I'm an avid watcher of the Kardashians, for example. Oh, did they do it? Yeah, they did one of those tasks recently, or I think it was in the last season. This is show. I bet they were all 16. Oh, yeah, they were so young in it.

Of course they were. And they were then, like, competing over who was the youngest. I think they're pretty committed to their wellness, so they seem pretty chapped with the results. Anyways, I think it's also just these little reminders again that, like, what we eat, and how we treat our bodies. It is linked to our health span. And, you know, can we call it healthy aging or kind of positive aging,

looking after our bodies as we get older? And so what we eat in the most part does really matter. And we can really support ourselves. So I had my 85% favorite dark chocolate this morning after breakfast. I got in from the school run before this podcast. I was cleaning in the bathroom. So I was like, right, going to have my chocolate, I have my cup of tea and then do the wellness scoop. And there's something also about chocolates associations.

You know, we've all got our own psychology kind of linked to it. You know, it's comfort, it's joy, it's a treat item. But when you let chocolate, if it's the right type of chocolate, become part of your everyday diet, you find you have less cravings towards those types of foods than previously. So I used to do that in the clinic. I think I've mentioned that before, tell people to have chocolate at breakfast and then slowly switch it up.

Look, I'm sure pretty much every single person listening has done this where you say, I'm not going to eat X again or I'm not going to eat Y again. And then you become obsessed with it. Whereas if what you say is like, yeah, of course they can have a little chocolate. You're so much less likely to even think about it. Oh, how funny. Just as we've said that. And I picked up my phone to look at the next brief.

And it says biological age in the independent will become a status symbol. It's a headline that says it's a trend for 2026. It's becoming a huge deal. And we're going to see loads of those kits seller appearing. everywhere. Told you. Saw it on the Kardashians first. She saw it first on the Kardashians. Everyone don't be fooled by the kits, but it's pretty cool. Yeah, let's do a whole deep dive maybe as a trend section into all of this because I think it is very interesting. Let us know if you're keen to hear more. Okay, what's trending and wellness? This is, I've actually been wanting to do this

one for a while, so I'm excited about it. I love it because it links back to my singing days. Our trend is the vagus nerve and nervous system regulation. And, And Ella read a BBC article at the end of last year, which is called Ever Fill the Need to Switch Off, Your Vagus nerve might hold the key, which explored why so many of us, I think, just feel permanently wired and why the role the nervous system has within that, Ella. Maybe it's just my algorithm, but looking at various different media outlets as well, I think, I know you reused and mentioned this the other day. I don't know how listeners felt, but at the kind of turn of the new year, there was so many. influencers posting online like my ins and outs of 2026 things essentially like I want to leave behind when it comes to wellness habits and things are going to focus on and I think nervous system nervous system nervous system yeah we did it on the clinic we did ins and outs I don't know if

we put it up yet yeah nervous system it's everywhere it feels like such a massive trend and then seeing headlines over the last few week good housekeeping had one it was from nad plus coming next week guys therapies of vagus nerve stimulation the wellness trends will be trying 2016. BBC had another article flagging nervous system health as one of the defining wellness trends we'll have in 2026. I've seen it literally everywhere. And I think it is really interesting. As I said, I'm seeing it all over social. Every time I scroll, it's all about nervous system, vagus nerve, how to kind of reduce stress and anxiety. I personally am very interested in it as well. And so we thought it would also be helpful to kind of explore because obviously we love in our

transaction to look at what is everyone talking about, what are you seeing online, and what's real and what's not real and kind of what the science is of all of this. I love it because it's one of the first connections I ever made when I went to university years ago from being a singer in a previous life to nutrition because I used to fill those butterflies in my tummy, you know, you get nervous before going on stage and everything started to link and we call it a vagal tone. It plays a role in how we recover from stress, how reactive we are, how regulated we are. and we used to talk about it and I never really understood it

when I was having my singing lessons. I just did not understand what my teacher was telling me and then I went to the uni and I was like, oh, that makes sense. So should we strip it all down? Yeah, let's. And I think it's worth sort of saying from the top,

this is actually, I would say, inherently, all things are relative, a really good trend and a really good thing that we're talking about because we've obviously talked so much in the last year about how stress is a massive problem for us. We look at our five pillars again. I think stress is something

that we all really struggle with managing and there's some snake oil in this because there always is. But generally speaking, looking at your nervous system is a brilliant thing to do. And your vagus nerve, as people keep talking about this as part of it, is the primary nerve of your parasympathetic nervous system. So you've got your fight or flight, freeze, your sympathetic nervous system, your stress stay, your parasympathetic, your rest and digest, your calm stay. And your vagus nerve basically helps you move away and switch on that parasympathetic,

that restful state. away from your fight or flight mode. Calm your heart rays, slow your breathing, bringing your body back into a state of calm after stress. And so that's why people are talking about it as the tone of that nerve essentially, being able to better modulate your day essentially because you're all going to have, we're all going to have stressful moments. But I think a lot of us have ended up living in a bit more of a constant sense of fight or flight.

And actually, interestingly, we can talk about this another day. I bought an aura ring in January sales. But I thought we'll wait for, yeah, let's go for it. I'll try it out. But interesting, I've done this because I definitely, and I said on my Instagram stories, I definitely feel for a very long time now, I have been living in quite a kind of activated, stressed state.

And the number of responses I had from people being like me too, my main thing when I realized was just like how hypervigilant I had become. Like, I was just scared of like a lift. I'm not scared of lifts. but it was this always worst case scenario every plane was going to crash every lift was going to break every disaster was going to unfold

and you know just the smallest noise makes you like jump out of your skin kind of thing I put that down to being a mother as well because you just you just tell yourself from all my brain's changed I'm just always on high alert but maybe that isn't normal yeah

so that's where your vagus nerve is and that's why people are interested in it and vagal tone is essentially like when your vagal tone is higher your body is higher your body is better at shifting out of stress and into calm. You've got to think of that tone because years ago, when I was singing, we would talk about vagal tone.

We'd say you want to really look after this because when you get off stage, a lot of performers around the world that, you know, people that have high-pressured music performance roles, they are buzzing when they get off stage. Now, they've known for years, and we probably haven't called it their parasympathetic nervous response, but they've known all about this connection from your head, and you've got to imagine an invisible line running down from your head all the way down to your gut, essentially.

And this connection, and they know how important it is to wind down after something stressful, which we just don't do. And I think, Ella, you probably had that in your yoga training. And what we probably haven't done is link this to the everyday person. We just assumed it was something only business owners or performers needed to address. But what I really think now is that if we can get that higher tone, the body is better. at shifting out of stress. Everything good comes from that. We can focus on something that performers do

is they splash their face with cold water. When they get off stage, I used to always say, just have a moment in a quiet room. You kind of need to adapt from a loud environment and people will fill that with stress. Stress is loud. You need to remove yourself from that environment and give yourself a minute or two to calm down.

I almost feel like that after a stressful bedtime with the kids sometimes. I feel like I've gone to battle. I mean, it's not like that all the time, luckily, anymore. But when they were babies, it's like you've done battle, and then you can step out and you sigh and you're like, okay, now I can regulate. Exactly. And so the things that really support basically is cold water can, which is interesting.

Breathing techniques. Breathwork can be so powerful. Humming, interestingly, which is quite often used in breathwork, meditation, listening to calming music, singing. Yeah, makes sense, doesn't it? So that is all shown to support your vagal nerve and help you get into this resting state. And all of this is so kind of... Is that the om?

The om and yoga? Yeah, the om. And just, but any humming really helps stimulate. So which is really... Guys, I'm so sorry, you can hear a little bit of barking. My dog's quite excited. So yeah, breathing techniques is one of the most, I think, powerful things we can all do on a kind of day-by-day basis, even if you're maybe you're on the train it's busy even if you just sit and like slowly just

count four breaths in pause for four breaths four breaths four breaths four breaths for four breaths for four weeks you could just sit there and for probably five minutes just count four times four you know like you're breathing around a box yeah and it's amazing how your heart rate will slow down and you you know will help you just switch into this state of calm and after a stressful day so many of us need that and we don't necessarily have these kind of fire breaks almost. Yeah, you've got to get the tools out the box and I know that's what psychologists do a lot in the re-trition clinic, but there's no evidence that you can officially change your vagus nerve. You know, you've got to remember, this is just a nerve we have.

It's biological, but what we can do, like Ella said, is get a tool out the box that help us utilize it in the best way possible. You can help it with massaging. So that must be because of blood flow. I'm assuming what I predict we might see again here, Ella, because it's becoming a trend is people selling supplements that are going to miraculously help them with their vagus nerve. I mean, I hope that's not going to happen. But Ella's four breathing technique is going to be way more effective than any supplement. And it's just the sort of thing you can do anywhere. As I said, you could be sitting on a train on your way home from work. And, you know, yes, you can't close your eyes if you're in the car. But like, if you were on a train, you could just close your eyes for five

minutes and just count your breath. And it would, it's amazing how much it slows you down. Sometimes I do it like after a stressful bedtime, I'm lying with the kids and they're going to sleep and you just, you lie there, you count your breath. It's interesting. I was actually when I was reading all around this this week, UCLA had on their website quite a helpful summary. It said when it comes to the Vegas nerve, it looks like researchers and wellness influences are onto something. Vegas nerve stimulation is having a moment and for good reason, there is increasing evidence that stimulating the Vegas nerve can have wide ranging health benefits. So I think the summary on this is a trend is like, it is completely real and most of us do spend too much time being stressed out and we know how bad

stress is for our health. And so really trying to have some simple tools in your toolbox is so powerful. But there's also lots of kind of very expensive devices that can stimulate your vagus nerve. And I think that's the bit where I would just sort of caution before you rush out and spend huge amounts of money because there's not masses of evidence on on lots of these wellness devices and they tend to be quite expensive whereas what they've done in medical settings is they've actually implanted something internally to stimulate

the vagus nerve which is very very different to these external ones so there's no kind of evidence that you can like reset completely or reprogram your nerve with supplements with massage with these tools the evidence is really sitting in terms of stimulating

that rest and digest in simple things like mindfulness, meditation breathing, humming. Getting outside, seeing nature, we've discussed that before, holding your pet, if you have a pet, giving it a cuddle, all these things we're subconsciously probably then going to start breathing better and we'll then tap into it. So I think what a lovely trend to end the episode on Ella.

Yeah, and I think if you do one thing or two things this week, try and spend some time with someone else in your life that matters to you and just see if you can implement these really simple little breathing techniques or just literally just close your eyes, put both your hands on your chest, one hand in your chest, one hand on your belly. Just breathe. Just slowly breathe for a few minutes

and you probably will really, really feel yourself calm down. Completely agree. Well, everybody, we love discussing these. If you see any trends, if you see any gadgets, we appreciate you sharing it so much. I'm loving receiving some DMs from you. I know that Ella's email has always open her inbox for your questions because on Thursday.

So we actually have a really special. episode coming this Thursday from Professor Sereberry where we took your questions before Christmas and she is here to answer all of the wellness fads and trends and new year and give you the science behind seed oils and so much more but we need your questions for the following week and the community because we love taking them we do so either pop them on Spotify or Apple or other way send me and email Ella at deliciously Ella.com we love hearing from you guys We do. So thank you everybody for tuning in. We are officially the fifth pillar of wellness at the Wellness Scoop and thank you for being here. Bye. Thank you guys. We can't wait to see you again on Thursday. Have a great week.