The Wellness Scoop - Cycle Syncing, Microwaves & Electrolyte Hype

Episode Date: April 9, 2026

Should we be eating differently across each stage of our cycle? Are microwaves actually harmful, or is it another wellness myth? And do we really need electrolytes, or is it just clever marketing? This week we answer your questions on nutrition for hormone health and PCOS, break down the science behind microwaving and plastic safety, and explore the growing hype around electrolytes. We also talk about how to build a balanced vegetarian diet without over-relying on ultra-processed foods, share trusted menopause resources, and open up about what we’re actually cooking, eating and doing in our own routines right now. Send your questions for our weekly Q&A to ⁠[e-mail]⁠ The Science of Menopause and The M Word by today's contributor Dr. Phillipa Kaye The Feel Good Fix by Lavina Mehta Just Getting Started by Lisa Snowdon Owning Your Menopause The Power of Menopause and Midlife by Dr Nighat Arif Ella's favourite Foccacia recipe. Ella suggests letting it sit for two hours to prove. Order your copy of Ella's new book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Quick Wins: Healthy Cooking for Busy Lives⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Order your copy of Rhi's book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Fibre Formula⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Don't wait. Visit your local GMC dealer today and make it yours. Welcome to the Wellness Scoop, your twice weekly dose of health and wellness inspiration. And as always, we are both here as your host. I'm Ella Mills. And I'm Rihanna Lambert. And today we delve deep into all of your questions and share our recommendations. So let's go.

We've got loads coming up today, cycle sinking, microwaves, electrolyte hype. Oh, loads and loads and loads. But first of all, Rie, have you got any excellent wrecks for us? Do you know what? I went to, it's not really a recommendation, but I went to Disney Paris again. We booked centre parks in Europe because, you know, I mean, it's incredible value when you look at the centre parks over there compared to the UK in peak time. But I saw the new frozen land, Ella. Oh my gosh, my girls have really got that on their wish test.

I have to say, my boys weren't even that fuss because they don't mind, but I was over the moon. It was for me. So as far as the recommendations come, it's just. embrace your inner child for me because it makes you so happy sometimes I just do want to watch a Disney film that brings me back to childhood and listen to the songs. Disney soundtrack and I've been listening to the James Bond soundtrack. How random is that? Love that. That is random. Legendary songs. I mean, I grew up listening to it, but you know, you've got Shirley Bassi, you've got Tom Jones, you've got more recent like Cheryl Crow, you've even got Madonna's soundtrack, like all the legends, there's an eclectic mix of fantastic music on a James Bond soundtrack.

You know what? I actually have been, not James Bond, but I've actually been so into like really, I don't want to say cheesy because I don't want it to be rude, but like kind of cheesy music. And it's unbelievable the difference to your mood. Like, you know songs like Sweet Caroline or like some Neil Diamond kind of thing. Oh my gosh, it's so sing along and it's just unbelievable. That Delilah song, you know, you mentioned the Delight. Someone. wrote it on the Spotify, which one it was. I can't remember now, but... Like, why, why, Delilah? Because that's the one I thought, but you were like the, hey there, Delilah.

I'm not going to sing to you guys. It would be so sore for your ears this morning. It's really not one of my talents. But yeah, that one's so good. But yeah, I've been like Sweet Caroline, like blue jeans, you know, all that kind of... And then, I'm so sorry for people who see me because I'll be like walking around Baddington Station being like nodding my head, like swinging out. I'm not mad. I did a cheesy TikTok real to the pussycat dolls announced, as I said, you know, the other week I said, you know, I'm really obsessed with these girl groups getting back together. But they did this Britney Break the Ice introduction kind of to them doing it. So I did it with my Fiber Formula book very cheesley on TikTok. But, you know, something's a fun, Ella. We have to embrace the fun.

I totally agree and not be embarrassed about it. I actually love it. So I won't be embarrassed as I walk through Paddington singing next time. I'm proud of you. Thank you. I, do you know what? I'm just like, in planning mode for my veggie garden. That's my thing at the moment, which I am so excited about. I know some things are going to work and some things aren't going to work, but how exciting.

I know, you've got to stop. This is the time, actually. So yeah, we've been doing our veggie beds, getting rid of dandelion weeds that have cropped up over the winter and getting all the soil ready to put the seeds back in. So it is the time.

And we have some good recommendations today from you. So thank you for emailing us because we did ask. Jenny has said, I have a recommendation to help with meal planning. Thank you, Jenny. She said, I take a photo of my shopping list and the recipes I'm going to cook that week. Then I run it through chat, GPT, or Google Gemini, to tell me how I'm doing on plant points. It'll give you an easy tally. And then you could ask for recommendations on how to

up your plant points. So after last week's section of fiber layering, she said, I have also asked it how I could add more fiber into my week. And it's given me some great simple suggestions like leaving the skin on the potatoes. I was going to make chips with blitzing some oats up. to add to a breadcrumb mix for fish, adding in edamami on top of my doll. So she just wanted to mention it because, you know, AI has actually helped her with her mail planning. I absolutely love that.

I think I've mentioned I've used it for sort of similar things before and find it really helpful. I'll be like, okay, this is sort of roughly what my kids have eaten this week. I mean, I cannot for the life of me remember most of it. But I'm like, you know, I made these four suppers and they've had a few of these things for breakfast. Where do you think the kind of obvious gaps would be? Like, is it zinc?

Is it magnesium, like, is it iron? And I find it really helpful. It's not about like, I'm not trying to get something perfect macro breakdown. But actually, like, if you can think of, and obviously I haven't got a clue whether they were at school, but if you have like just the core things and same for your diet, if you're trying to improve it, I'm not trying to say it's perfect. But just for a rough sense of where you're going or top ups like this, I think, yeah, if there's no particular thing you're trying to fix, it's just like, can I, can I,

make this a little better, they think it's super helpful. AI responds to what you put into it. So give it all the detail for a rough estimation of what you'll get back. But remember, it's not pooling from scientific journals. It's just pulling from anywhere online. But I think generally, very helpful tip. Yeah, if you're going general like this. Yeah, generalised, perfect thing to do. What a great idea. And then we move on to our first question, which is from Becky. Yes, Becky very kindly has written and say huge congratulations on 100 episodes. So thanks Becky. Becky's a day one listener and she said the impact your advice has had on my health and life has been huge. Thank you for helping me sift through the internet nonsense and spread

helpful advice. We so appreciate that. Okay, I would love to hear a bit about nutrition during the different stages of our cycle. Can you go into what different foods we should be eating in each part? Also, I have PCOS, have done since I was 16 and there wasn't much help after diagnosis from my doctor. I'm 32 now. Time is ticking and I want to put myself in a really good position to start a family and if that doesn't happen to grow old and strong. I recently had a blood test which showed pointers towards high levels of inflammation. This all adds up through years of bad diet and having PCOS running a company and generally high anxiety and stress levels. What are the key foods I can add in to help with inflammation levels? So I think we have two different questions here

from Becky. The first is eating for your cycle and the second is great foods for lowering inflammation. Yeah and I'm sure so many people can relate there. If you do have a condition, like polycystic avarian syndrome or endometriosis, you are likely to have higher raised levels of low-lying inflammation anyway with different conditions because your immune system responds more frequently to different things as well. So that's something to bear in mind there. But let's start with across your cycle.

I think one of the most empowering things we can do is work with it rather than against it, understanding our physiology. But I understand that everyday life doesn't always allow for that. You know, you can't dictate that the marathon date is going, to be on the day of your period or not on the day of your period. Life just doesn't work that way. But what we need to understand is that throughout the menstrual phase, energy is definitely lower. You know, that's when you want to focus on foods that give you iron, like your beans and pulses

alongside vitamin C to aid absorption, lots of peppers, tomatoes, that sort of thing, kiwis, pears, anything really there. Try and include more warming, nourishing meals. That actually links back to Araveda with what they recommend when women are menstruating. But I find that that added level of comfort is like a bit of self-love to yourself. And they're magnesium-rich foods which can help ease cramps potentially. They're not miracles here. I mean that dull ache between your thighs, there is nothing like it sometimes. And sometimes you do need to take a paracetamol or something. But for most people, things like nuts seeds and dark chocolate. So just know that that menstrual phase, you will be lower in energy. And with your diet,

you want to focus on nourishing yourself to help with that. This is so helpful, Ray. I have to say I feel like when it came to my health, one of the most helpful things. And I'm really lucky I've never had a complicated cycle. But actually just understanding it and like just very gently tracking it. She's just on the iPhone app. I mean, so uncomplicated. But it is, as you said, it's like the different phase that we'll go into it now when you feel, why do I just want to eat every single thing in my cupboard? Or like, why am I feeling really emotional about something that doesn't really matter? Or like, why am I? God, I got so much. I. I'm not. I'm just so much. I. as you say it's really nice to know like this is so normal this is your body just working with itself

and you the amount of compassion you have for yourself you know there was always this joke I feel like when you're a teenager being like and you cross because you're on your period and it's a bit like well yeah yeah I'm tired and lethargic and that's okay and I think it's like actually working with it and being way you can just be so much more compassionate to yourself you're like oh I'm really emotional actually because that's a hormonal response and that's normal and that's cool and it's not going to last forever. No, it's not. And I feel really sorry for women in the generations before us that never had access to this information that had to tough it up, that had to just continue through because we are so lucky today to openly discuss this sort of thing. Like, can you even imagine? Totally. I'd often be like,

what's wrong with me? Like, have I changed? Am I now in a like, am I honestly going into like a depressive pattern? And it's like, oh no, this is my cycle. This is a few days. Even when Ella and I were younger, it wasn't spoken about like it is now. So, I mean, thank goodness, we're talking about it, but we then enter the best start. The best part of our cycle is after the bleed. So the follicular phase, day roughly 6 to 14, depending on your cycle. Now, also, anyone listening with Peacres and Demetriosis, I know your cycles may be irregular. It could be really difficult. And like we said, take this of a pinch of salt, but just be aware that after your period, that's a phase where you will start to hopefully feel, you know, a little bit

more energy. And that's when you really want to start looking after your gut health again and thinking, right, this is my best kind of week of the month that I'm going to get. So let's get those fermented foods in, those plant foods. Let's try some new things because your body's more insulin sensitive as here as well. So it's a good time to kind of try some new foods to try and get your body to work on some different things. So it's often labelled as that great phase where you've got a surge in energy. And then we get to ovulation, of course, mid-cycle, where apparently our energy and

confidence peak doesn't for everyone, but it's a very one. also a good time to think about supporting your body, always keep a balanced plate, fiber, protein, whole grains, legumes. But the stage Ella mentioned is coming. So the luteal phase, my least favorite, everyone's least favorite, premenstrual symptoms, metabolism slightly increases, cravings can rise. Your body may need a little more energy here. It's getting ready. It's starting to break down that lining and the uterus is when we get the bleed afterwards. So B vitamins, they are part of our energy metabolism, but they work in a complex. You can't just pop a B vitamin, expect it to do a job.

So get a variety of nutrients there. Think balance, not restriction and kindness. And you will notice fluctuations. And it's okay. Cravings rise because you're desperately seeking out energy and you're going through something difficult, very difficult. Your body does it every three to four weeks. How mad is that when you think about the stress?

So you want those carbohydrates. You want your rice and your sweet potatoes and your pasta and your oats and all the rest of it. And so there's a reason that you're hungrier. Again, if we move on to the second part of the question, which is when you have some inflammation or long-term health, because you're not alone and feeling unsupported because women's researchers, we know, it's just not there. You know, one of my best friends, she has adenosis and endometriosis combined.

She's been told a whole host of things from many different surgeons. One even told her she had a frozen womb. The next visit, she's totally fine. then there was no sign of anything and everyone's differing in opinions. It's wildly difficult to navigate. And what we see with pecos and it can vary on an individual level depending on your lifestyle and activity is increased insulin resistance, which is why there was that myth that you must avoid carbohydrates. So for many years, before we have more research, people were just told, oh, we'll just go on a low carb diet.

That's not true. It's the quality of carbohydrate. It's not your white bread. It's more brown breads. It's complex things. It's having more nutrient dense. foods there. And then you'll get a few more stress hormones naturally released. And this is a time perhaps if you have those conditions where things like meditation like Ella discusses is really

beneficial for you. And I'm just really hoping that with women's health, that we get more answers because it affects a large proportion of the population and can impact fertility in some cases, so many different things. And the best thing you can do is to acknowledge your cycle and do what's right for you and seek out support. You might need to ask 10 times. You might need to ask 20 times. Just don't give up. And then, really, in terms of general diet and inflammation, will you give us just a very quick little recap on what do we mean by a diet that can lower inflammation or an anti-inflammatory diet? So you don't want your immune system to be consistently spiked by the food you eat. But to be it doesn't unless you are celiac and you can't tolerate a certain food or intolerant dairy,

or it's a fact that your gut lining's not very tight and you don't have a digestive system that's absorbing the nutrients in the way it effectively should. There's holistic angles here where, in my opinion, it would be great if we can look after our gut health by getting those plants and fibres in to keep our gut junctions tight so we don't have what's known as leaky gut where little substances can leak into the bloodstream which can spike a bit of inflammation. So inflammation occurs when our body feels a bit threatened of attack, and we want to keep inflammation low at all times. And to do that, you want to be supporting your body with healthy fats

that help the cell membranes, things like omega-3s, avocado, seeds, nuts, salmon, macral, sardines or a supplement from algae within our diet there for amiga-3. You want to be getting your balance plate because protein and fiber play a key role here with our gut health and our hormone production. So anti-inflammatory is essentially a balanced diet with lots of antioxidants and color and it is again a plant-based diet. Yeah, people often say it's like a Mediterranean-style diet. It's exactly as you'd imagine it, just like loads and loads of fresh fruit, veggies, etc.

Olive oil, drenched tomatoes on that plate in the sunshine. I mean, doesn't that make you want that right now? Oh yes, please. Yum, okay, that's good. Right. Our second question today is from Pippa. Pippa has said, your podcasts are the antidote to all the rubbish. That's very kind of a quick question.

What is your take on microwaving? I, too, like the packs of mixed grains. We talked about those the other day. There's a quick base for a meal from time to time, but I'm worried about the microwave. Others of my household think I'm being ridiculous, but I don't think it can be good to put those packs in the microwave. Is this a myth?

I will go into the microwave bit, Ella, and then you can go into packaging a bit, because I know we discussed that kind of thing before as well of exposure, but I wrote about cooking techniques in the science of nutrition. I have a whole page with diagrams of what an air fryer is, what a microwave is, what the grill does, how the oven works, because I wanted to, it's the science of nutrition, looking to how we also cook our food.

I've spoken a lot with physicist and science communicator Dr. David Robert Grimes about how microwaves are very misunderstood, actually, and they are safe, and I completely understand why people get nervous around them. We don't leave the door open. still, this is a very alien tool of cooking. But they use non-ionizing radiation, which means they don't damage DNA or cause cancer at all. They simply use water molecules to vibrate really fast to heat food. You can't see me now on the camera, but I don't, I'm very expressing my hands. I'm like, they do this and you rub your hands. When you rub your hands very fast together,

you produce heat. And when you vibrate water molecules, you heat food as well. You've got to kind of imagine it that way. Now, nutritionally, they're fine. In some cases, they actually retain more nutrients than boiling because you're not losing any vitamins to moisture or water. You are heating up from the inside of the food externally. But plastics is where I'm not keen Ella in packaging. And I know we've discussed this before, but I do worry a lot about microwave safe packaging that's tested for use. I still would rather take the item out of the microwave safe packaging and put it in a

glass bottle just because of micropastics being quite unknown. Yeah. And that's the easy option here, isn't it, basically? which is like there's nothing to worry about with the microwave. They're actually a really helpful tool for so many people, particularly if you're cooking for one or, you know, you need something really quick and accessible or something maybe in a work place environment. Microplastics the jury is just so out on these.

We just don't have enough information. There's some research that says, you know, it could be really concerning. There's other research that says we're worrying about these way more than we need to. And the honest answer is, as a collective, I don't think there is a clear answer on it as yeah. but if it's something that you personally don't feel comfortable with, it's so easy. You can just decant whatever is in plastic packaging into a microwave safe glass bowl or something like that and do it in there. When West Jet first took flight in 1996, the vibes were a bit different.

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Let me know how you get on. So question three and four are from Steph. So she said, I wondered if I could ask for advice regarding being vegetarian. I used to rely solely on buying vegetarian food in Audi like the soy burgers and corn chicken pieces and the mince. However, I now worry about processed food. Have you got any advice for this being vegetarian? And her second also, I now drink electrolytes. Can you please explain what electrolytes are and if you think they're useful? So, Ella, let's dissect the processed vegetarian foods because processing is not black and white. It's not, but generally speaking, these aren't the best source of your protein. As we always say, this isn't about a one-off situation in any shape or form, having a barbecue. You love the flavor of it. Like,

excellent crack on on a day-to-day basis though beans lentils tofu tempe or less processed versions we do make some but this is not about that with all plants ones are 100% natural yeah the ingredients aren't amazing i was just looking at some of them there's different versions so i don't know which one it is some some are way better than others but lots of them have a fair number of emulsifiers and like smoke flavouring and dextrose and things like that and are not in a panicky way. It's just, you know, we know we want to reduce, not increase our UPFs.

And so I think as a day-to-day source of veggie protein, as I said, I would have my focus much more on natural sources. Yeah, if you are living in a vegetarian, then those items should be sometimes items definitely rather than everyday sources of protein. Yeah, exactly. So also if you've got like eggs or Greek yogurt, you know, there's lots of different sources of protein.

And personally, I would be having those natural sources, edamarme beans, peas, etc. as well, all as my primary source. And then, you know, it's not about all or nothing, of course, but I wouldn't have solely personally, like the chicken pieces, mince, soy burgers as my focus. So I would gently transition yourself into like for the mints, doing it like a really nice lentil-based one, for example,

really nutritious, genuinely really delicious. And you can batch make, you know, and honestly, like I do huge batches that. It's so easy to just literally chop an extra couple of onions. And you can have loads and loads of meals worth. It freezes so, so well. And just a reminder for people listening, if you are trying to cut down and you're not a vegetarian, but you're cutting down your red and processed meat, it's way better to have these alternatives actually more frequently than the red and processed meats.

And there was a study, and I used in the unprocessed plate book that stated just just that and I know it causes a lot of outrage and you think well how can you say a processed item is better than red and processed meat so it's because it's not classified as a risk of cancer first of all and right food exists and continue doesn't it from you know and you kind of shift down it yeah that's a hundred percent it but um ella electrolyze yeah they've been going around for a while I think obviously it's a very different story if you are a athlete um you run marathon you just had diarrhea or you've just been sick. Totally.

You live in an excorching country and you're not feeling your best. I mean, these are all different things. And if you are, you know, an amateur athlete, you know, you're running Ironmans and things like, which is completely different. I think what we're talking about here is like, quote unquote normal, whatever that is person, but person who sits in an office type environment most days goes to the gym. But it goes to the gym and it kind of like does a weightlifting session and does a spin class and then a Pilates kind of across the room.

That's really good. I'm talking about across the week. Yeah. In seven days. So like, you know, enjoys exercise. But as a normal lifestyle, I just, yeah, I mean, the general senses we don't need it, but let's go into that way. What actually are electrolytes?

What are we talking about here? Yeah, marketing has completely run ahead of the sciences, electrolytes. Let's be honest. They're minerals, things like salt, sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium. And inside our body, we have a lovely homeostasis at all times in most healthy individuals that regulate fluid, balance, nurse signaling and muscle function. So even our contractions of our muscles, our blood pressure, all sorts of things are regulated by these minerals within us.

We do need them, but most people already get more than enough, especially sodium. We are consuming way too much salt in the Western world and we're not aware of it. It's one of the things that we still are not aware of. So we don't actually really need electrolyte drinks. Ella, explain that perfectly well. periods of illness, diarrhea or vomiting, yes, you will need them. Endurance athletes, yes, potentially, depending how long and hot environments, but outside of that, absolutely not. We're seeing them marketed as energy boosters, wellness essentials, daily must-haves.

Even in pregnancy, I've seen them targeted, which is so dangerous, unless you have hypnosis, chrivedium or a condition where you're unable to keep water down as well, you need to be very wary. You don't need extra sodium because you're not losing enough of it through. sweat to replenish it. And I think that's what most influences online are missing here is that they're just saying they feel better on these electrolyte drinks, but they're not going to be noticing the internal buildup over a period of time. It's hard, Ella. But for vegetarians, you know, if you bring it all the way back, let's just focus on diversifying your food. You know, UPF foods have a place sometimes, but definitely not every single day in your diet. If it can be helped and electrolytes are essential but not in a supplement form for most people every day.

I think the electrolytes were a bit like the wearables we were talking about last week. At least the wearables aren't dangerous. Electrolites can trigger blood pressure. I think they're quite extreme. But I think it's just symbolic of, and I don't mean this as a criticism to anybody in any shape, form because we've all been there and done that. But like, it's a sense of I'm struggling with energy. Okay, I'm going to get electrolytes. And actually you're probably struggling with energy because you're maybe not eating as well as you could. You're maybe eating a few too many like UPFE type snacks. Then it's making you feel great. Maybe your meals aren't quite as balanced as they could be in order to support kind of better regulation of energy or maybe missing of you

core nutrients in abundance. Maybe you could help with stress management. Maybe you could walk a bit more. Maybe you could drink about more water. I mean, I just kind of, I worry, and that's also boring and time consuming but I just feel if it's struggling a bit with energy there's probably there's probably multifactorial and actually if you're doing all those things perfectly and you're struggling with energy I think you probably then want to go to your GP fundamentally before you buy electrolytes it's like if you're eating beautifully and even get your iron tested you just get your ferretin test it could be so many things exactly and you're sleeping really well and you're not you know you're not really stressed and and you're really still struggling with energy I think that's probably

a moment to go and chat to someone, a professional, and check things out. And so I guess I just look at it and I'm like, I don't know what point in that cycle electrolys in the answer. And as I said, it's completely different if you're an athlete. That's obviously so different or an amateur athlete even and you are losing huge amounts of things through sweat and you're consuming incredible amounts of calories. But most of us aren't doing that. No, exactly. So I hope that's helped clarify that for you. And hopefully we'll see more funding in women's health research. We're starting to begin. going to see a shift and I really hope we do. But question five we've got from is from Charlotte. And she said, thank you for the weekly content, really enjoying the podcast. I'm 39, a mum of three.

And I'd like to know if you have any good insights or some of the best books on perimenopause and menopause. Such a hot topic right now. I feel like there is an extraordinary amount of information out there. Who do you look to for this? Well, thank goodness. I've got some good numbers in my phone book, Ella, because I trust Dr. Philippa Kay above most people in my life. She actually wrote the science of menopause. So she wrote a whole encyclopedia book on menopause. She's broken everything down and I've got a lovely voice note for her here. She also wrote a book previous to that called the M World. The perimenopause and menopause absolutely do seem complicated with a myriad of symptoms, tens and tens of symptoms. And actually, that can be really hard for

women to connect the dots of what is going on. And we have receptors for estrogen from the very hair on our head to the skin on our toes. It can affect absolutely every system in the body. And so for women and their doctors alike, if it starts with, you know, joint pains or headaches, that's not necessarily going to be your first thought. And so using a symptom tracker that lists all of the various symptoms is really helpful. to help you connect the dots to think this might be related to my hormones. So I absolutely recommend a symptom tracker. I also think that there has always been and there continues to be a huge lack of research into women's health.

I think it's something like 2% of funding into research goes onto women's health. But women's health is more than just gynaecology. It's more than just your periods. It's never just a period. but it's more than your periods. And actually, the COVID pandemic was a good example of that. Why were women surviving differently to men? Why do women present differently with heart attacks than men?

And yet, as a medical student, I was only taught about the male presentation of heart attacks. And women were traditionally excluded from research because our periods made us complicated because of the risk of pregnancy and all the ethical implications that, go with that and it wasn't until 1993 that the FDA mandated that women were included in certain trials. So historically we've had a huge imbalance in the amount of research that was done into women and even now we still have an imbalance of research being done into women's health. But in some ways it shouldn't be women's health sort of focusing on periods but about the health of women, because if you can have symptoms related to lower levels of estrogen throughout the

perimenopause, menopause and beyond, then actually what we're saying is that estrogen has an impact on all parts of your body, and therefore it's going to have an impact on all parts of your health, whatever age you are, whatever the disease that we, or the pathological process that we are dealing with. And that can sometimes feel frustrating when I say, there's so much work to be done. And people often ask me, you know, as a doctor as women's health campaigner, isn't it frustrating? And I think it's really important to remember where we are.

So if we take, for example, testosterone in using women, in order for the guidelines to change, you need to have the research that provides the evidence that the guidelines need to change. And in order to have the research that says that, we need to know that there is a problem in the first place and we need to be raising awareness of the problem in the first place. And that is often actually still where we are for a lot of women's health in particular, the perimenopause and menopause. But we are fighting against millennia of women being judged for what they look like and their ability to bear children. Change takes time. And so, yes, there is a lot of work to be done, but that doesn't mean that we don't sort of put our heads

down and start doing it. In terms of food to trust and men are washing, I absolutely agree that it is a minefield out there with anybody and everybody giving their opinion. When there is a lack of data, there is a gap. And when there is a gap, people want to fill that gap. And they fill that gap, often with non-scientific data. Or they extrapolate data to suggest something. Or they cherry pick the data. And there are an awful lot of poorly designed studies out there. And even the best design study will still have flaws. And it's important to be honest about that. or they'll say, well, there isn't data, therefore we can use this. But the absence of knowing that something is safe doesn't mean that it is. So if somebody says to you, well, we don't know that it's not

safe, well, that's not quite the same as knowing that something is safe. So I think it's really important to be honest and say, this is what we know and this is what we don't know. And I think honesty is absolutely vital. In terms of who to trust, I would start with the qualifications of the person that you are talking to, be that online or in the surgery. In medicine, we're taught really clearly essentially to stay in our lanes and I'm not going to try to replace your hip. I'm a GP. I can't do that. But there are certain things that I can do. And I think that the same needs to be true online. So if you want advice about fitness, then yeah, you go to the personal trainers and physiotherapy and people who work in that industry. But should you be getting your nutrition advice from them or your

medical advice from them? I'm not so sure. And the same thing applies to health or nutrition or whatever else it may be. If someone is trying to sell you something aside from sort of education, if they're not sort of giving education, if someone's trying to sell you something, be that a supplement or another product, then I would be very, think very carefully because I could cherry pick the data to make most things sound like they should be done. And if you've got a study with 20 people in it, then that doesn't have really good statistical power. So if someone's trying to sell you something, if someone says that they've got the secret that the medical profession doesn't want you to know, as if we are maliciously trying to withhold information from you. If someone's got the secret and you need to pay for it, then I would think carefully about it.

And then I would go and have a look at the guidelines. The women's health concern in the UK has got some great information about the perimenopause and menopause, British Menopause Society, are all really useful. And if somebody is contradicting all the well-known places where they set guidelines or the International Menopause Society, the British Menopause Society, the North American Menopause Society, if they are doing something different, then I would be suspicious and I would ask why. And that comes back to the honesty, because we don't have all the answers. I feel like menopause, I know we've discussed before the term menow washing, but there have

been many different takes on it, but also lots of things being sold to women, because we're speaking about it more, it's become another marketing opportunity, because of it's, Obviously, we all want to understand, and there can be over 80 different symptoms. It can be a very vast subject. It affects women of all ages very differently. Some going to parimenopause early. Others later. I mean, Asian cultures, women are more likely to go into menopause a lot earlier than women over in traditional Western cultures.

So it's really interesting. There's also that element there. But I know that Levina Meta has a really inspiring book. She's a personal trainer, if you're looking at that angle for lifestyle intervention. Kate Roham, again. is the same. She's a personal trainer. She does a lot of work there. Dr. Nagat does a lot of work. And if you're looking for someone relatable every day, Lisa Snowden wrote a book about how she navigated her experiences. It can be quite uplifting, I think, at times to see, you know,

how somebody in the spotlight was going through all of those symptoms. She had a really tough transition. And she wrote about it in a book. I actually contributed to the nutrition section in Lisa's book there. So let's list off the names of the things of the book. those books and we'll pop them, should pop them all in the show notes for everybody? Yeah, we'll do exactly that. I have to say, I feel really, you know, we talked about it with our cycle at the beginning of the episode.

I do also, I feel like I went into that, not blind, all things are relative 100 years ago, you would have known a lot less. But, you know, all of this about how our energy is so affected. Like, I would have never known any of that when I was a teenager and, yeah, didn't learn it until I became very interested in health and wellness in my 20s. and I feel very grateful, certainly, as I will go into perimenopause and menopause, hopefully, in my life.

With information. With information and empowerment and awareness, and I feel like I'm not going to be shocked when I have a night sweat or confused or feel like there's something really wrong with me or feel alone in it, and I feel really grateful. Depress, the mental fog, like it just sounds like some women get it, just get such severe symptoms, don't they? All sorts of things.

Like, a fear to drive is a big one that I know Levina's spoken about, complete irrational fear and anxiety of driving and it transformed her life. And I do feel like Ella said, thank you to every woman before us who has spoken out about it. Just show how important it is, isn't it, to open up all these topics. Okay, our final question today comes from Rose, who said, I'd love to know what you're cooking at the moment. What are you snacking on? What's you're going to go to suffer? What do you cook at the weekend? Well, I'm going to be honest, I'm cooking pretty basic stuff at the moment, mostly because my kitchen's really out of action. has meant, yeah, really just focusing on quick, easy things. But I'm also entering spring salad

season, which I am so thrilled about. And so I'm also obsessed with Feccacacaca at the moment. There's a very, very easy recipe on good food for Feccapture that actually a friend of mine who I used to work with Liberty did for them. And it's so good. I so recommend it, although I let it sit for two hours, not one hour. I find that really helps. So I'm obsessed with Feccaptia. This is such a good recipe. 10 up 10 recommend. It is so easy as well. It is so easy. You can't mess it up. So as with the ketchup, making our own granola, doing that loads at the moment. That is a complete win for breakfast. So those two things I'm really into. I mean, wow, Ella, also making your own granola. I love making my own granola when I get time to do that. I love that. And I've actually

been particularly time poor in the kitchen recently, more so than usual. And even though I have a kitchen, I've not been utilising it in the best way possible. So my go-to-mails at the most moment. Like I'm going to do a fried rice this evening for the children. I'm going to prop up, you know, start with the onions as a base, probably some tomatoes, olive oil, peas, whatever, mix it in, add it to the already cooked rice. They love things like that, a bit of egg, maybe if you like egg fried rice texture, quick meals. I've been doing a lot of pastas. I know Ella's favorite pasta pasta, but you can so easily add things into pastas. Also, kind of picnic-based meals where I'm serving maybe some sardines on the side with some cruditates, with some breadsticks even, hummus, on the side. I've been picking those apart of it. And then I've got this real obsession at the moment with just dark chocolate fruits. I am freezing everything and covering everything in chocolate, basically, left

right and center. We did little raspberry ones of those that weekend. Frozen raspberry, cut them down, some chia seeds to thicken it up and then like a teaspoon in dots, freeze them and then dunk them. And you can put little lolly stick on it as well. So good. So good. Kids all love that as well, won't they?

Do you know the salad I'm so into at the moment? Oh, well, I made a salad as well. The pansette. know with the... Oh, panzanella. Yeah, love. Tell me your salad. Tell me your salad. So recommend this.

We're really into pitters in our house at the moment. I just love pittas. I feel like they're really underrated. Anyways, so cut your pitter up into little triangles and then roast it with loads of olive oil till they're really crispy, 20 minutes or so. And then roast a whole cauliflower chopped up into quite small florets with some chili, some tamaric, salt and pepper. And then do some quick pickled onions, just onions, a little bit of hot water, loads of

lime juice, a little bit of sugar and salt. And then at the base, I'll do a quick, like, whipped white bean. So I'll just fry up garlic, a big jar of white beans, herricket beans or butter beans or something like that. And then at the bottom, you do a whole thing of your white bean garlicky, like smooth, creamy dip. And then you pile it high with the crispy pitters, the roasted turmeric chili collie, and then pickled red onions on the top. I have to say, I remember doing a video with Tim Spectre. with our pickled red onions and it was so funny. I love pickled red onions.

Do you know, I never thought I liked pickled foods, but I do like those. I put a few of them in the books. I actually really enjoy them. But I love onions. I could literally just fry off onions with olive oil in a pan and eat them directly from the pan. Look at Ella's face.

Wrang, no. You know what? I love shallots at the moment. Super, super, super into those. Yeah. So though that's probably my favourite thing I've cooked recently. I'm really into that. Amazing.

Well, everybody, thank you. so much for all of your amazing questions. Please keep them coming to our email address, your recommendations. We love your recommendations and tips. They're so good. They are exactly. So thank you for listening, guys. We'll be back on Monday. We can't wait to see you then. Have a great week, everyone. Bye.