The Wellness Scoop - Eating for Colds, Digestion Hacks & Why Weight Won’t Shift

Episode Date: April 16, 2026

What should you actually eat when you’re unwell and don’t have the energy to cook? Do viral digestion hacks really improve how your body absorbs nutrients, or are they just adding more confusion? And why can weight stay the same even when you’re eating well, exercising and doing everything “right”? This week, we break down the science behind a viral digestion claim, share simple, realistic ways to nourish your body when you’ve got a cold, and explore the nuance between nutrient density and energy balance when it comes to weight. We also unpack the ongoing debate around seed oils, looking at what the evidence actually says versus what’s being amplified online, and highlight the benefits of everyday foods like quinoa. A practical, myth-busting episode focused on helping you eat well, feel better and stop overthinking the small stuff. Send your questions for our weekly Q&A to: [e-mail]  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

Welcome to the Wellness Scoop, your weekly dose of health and wellness inspiration. And as always, we're both here as your host today. 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. Gosh, guys, your questions at the moment are phenomenal. We have got so many amazing questions coming through.

We're so grateful for it. If you ever want to add yours to the list, just email us hello at wellness-scoop.com. we love hearing from you and share your recommendations as well, please. Rhee, have you got any good wrecks for us today? I couldn't wait to get back from Disney and I had my little trip there to the centre parks, but a BBC night at the musicals, I think it's sponsored by the National Lottery or something. It means if, you know, getting to a Western show is too far away from you, you really want to experience a bit of musical theatre.

It's such a feel-good programme and you get to watch all the highlights from the best Western shows. A few of my friends are singing in that show. and it's on BBC, I play out on demand, and you can watch it any time. It's such a feel good. They opened with the Lion King at the beginning, and, you know, they're going through the O2 in the audience, and it's just incredible. Oh my gosh, it's on now. I want to watch this.

Yeah, watch it tonight. It's just such a feel good. And you can fast forward through the musicals you don't know or you don't want to watch, and then you watch Wicked's on there. They've got a bit of Wicked as well. Oh, my gosh. My friend Lucy's doing The Little Mermaid. It's great.

Oh, my God, I can't wait. Thanks for that. And I've gone on to book number four of the Akitar series. I am smashing them. Oh, Akita, a court of thorn and roses. I was Akita? It sounds a bit like Avatar, doesn't it? Yeah. What is this?

Oh my gosh, you are racing through these. I'm racing through them, but it's meant that I am not scrolling. And I looked at my screen time on my social media app. Yeah. Significantly less because my commutes, I mean, my team probably aren't happy. I'm not on the inbox as much. But I am reading far more. I love that.

Do you know what? I'm halfway through. So I can't officially recommend it yet because I haven't finished it but I'll secretly recommend it because I'm loving it a book that a few people recommended to me called Consider Yourself Kist. I have to say I'm not obsessed with the title. Oh my gosh, I am loving it. It is fantastic.

If you're like maybe taking a few days off or you've got a nice quiet weekend or something coming up and you just want a book that's easy to get into and it's just kind of like a great little rom-com situation, this feels like a great little rom-com situation. Okay, that's next on my list because I'm going to be devastating. when the series ends so I need to pick me up Ella yeah I feel like it's probably quite different because it's very much like set in real life and it's in east london and like you know they go to Victoria Park and pavilion cafe and all these places and so that's quite nice if you've spent time in east London it feels like quite homey and familiar I love that um Ella do you have any

other wrecks or should we move on to our first question uh use wild garlic at the moment that's my only other thing I'm obsessed with wilder and gentler but with a such a beautiful flavor and the color it's just stunning. Oh my gosh. Wild garlic pasto mushrooms on toast. That is what I've just, you know what's that thing? I actually said to my husband last night, we used to get quite lazy when we lived in London and we were working loads and we were delivering way too much. And now obviously we live in the middle of nowhere. We don't have lazy options like that available. And actually it's been great for us to be honest with you. But I was like, said to him last night, it was like, it's funny. It's just sometimes I would end up getting lazy and now I don't have the option to be lazy. And you realize like actually that supper took

me 10 minutes. I just chopped loads. I had loads of different types of mushrooms, which is always lovely. I did some shallots first, a bit of normal garlic, loads of those mushrooms, a teeny bit of yogurt, a little bit of lemon, and then lots of wild garlic. And then I had made at the weekend to go with a like crispy soy seed, as in I roasted loads of seeds and pine nuts with soy and some hot honey until they were crispy and then did that as an asparagus and rocket salad on the side. It was so nice. but anyway, I had leftover wild garlic pasto and I put that on top of the mushrooms the whole thing was actually 10 minutes

and it was oh my gosh, it was so good on sourdough with like a drenching of olive oil. I love that. I mean, what delicious are, all the flavors but also you've saved a fortune from not delivering. And I was going to say when you move to the country, one of the biggest things that really hits you is that lack of variety of food outlets. If you are like Ella and I

and you loved the variety that was there for you. But that sounds amazing. So wild garlic it is. I think that's a good recommendation. Yeah. And if you do make pasta normally, literally just add a handful of wild garlic to your pasta. Super simple. But it's so good. Delicious, Ella. Thank you so much. It's a good recommendation. Okay. Our first question today comes from Corey. And Corey said, Ria, I'm going to leave this one all to you. I haven't heard it. I don't know anything about it. And Corey says, I have heard that swirling water in your mouth before swallowing can help aid nutrition absorption. Is there any evidence to back this up or is it a load of nonsense?

I mean, it's a good question. I think the wildness space can make us feel like we need to optimize every little behavior. No, I've seen things like this as well. It's almost like I'm trying to eat in the correct way for glucose, you know, responses in the body. And I think this is also another way of trying to optimize, but there's no scientific evidence that it does improve nutrient absorption because your digestive process actually starts within that physiological response in your mouth when we see the food. You know, we talk about this a lot mindful eating when you see the food, you smell the food, you hear the crunch or the chew, the texture, the touch, which is why in some cultures it

is actually really beneficial to eat with your hands, believe it or not, because you're actually touching food. There's some evidence for that as long as your hands are clean. That produces the enzymes that we need and it's known as well to play a key role in the break down of certain nutrients. So actually what you're doing by taking that water through your mouth is you're not helping the salivary amylase that you need to break down your food. And you actually want to keep things pretty simple. You just want to look at your food and do all that sort of stuff and prepare your digestive process. So by simply swirling water around your mouth, it doesn't

meaningfully alter that process. If there's one process that you should do, it's chew your food. Like I say, the fibre former, it's 30-choos a meal, maybe start at 15 if that's a struggle, work your way up to 30 and really work on not eating in front of a screen and I know how hard that is. Try and get calm before you eat eating when you're stressed. You most likely will experience more bloating. So yeah, this hack is a myth. I love that. I also always, I remember the first time I learned about that cephalic phase of digestion, that kind of getting ready phase, where actually is so interesting because it's even like smelling the food or cooking the food like my mushrooms. I was just talking about you look in the pan and I was like, oh my gosh, you are eating with

your eyes. I was like, this looks so good and the toast is toasting and I'm like, oh, this is so good. But that really gets your digestive juices going, isn't it? Like, it helps you get ready to digest your food. Literally gets the juices going. Which is quite cool, actually, in terms of a tip for digestion, this, like, the whole idea of mindful eating where you, like, slow down and you appreciate your food. Actually, there's quite a lot of science in it in terms of supporting your digestion. It's one of the first things we do is a nutritionist at university with clients, just teach them to mindfully eat. And it's a reason to cook as well. Question two is from Matilda. Now, it's quite a big question. She's said, considering the Paul McCartney quote,

if slaughterhouses had walls, everyone would be vegetarian. If we could see all the non-real food ingredients in UPFs like the emulsifiers, what a quaver or what a, what's it crisp looks like in its component form, et cetera, do you think it would help the public think twice? Now, before, Before we answer this fully, Ella, I think you definitely can go into that with being in the UPF factories and then this might be a little trigger warning for anyone. I will touch on ethical side of the quote. It's such an interesting question, Richard. I have spent a lot of time in factories in food factories over the last 15 years while we were building the business and because we have played in so many different areas from like one-pop meals and kind of ready-to-go meals to

soups to stews, frozen things, snacks, sweet, savory, you name it, and lots of things that we never even launched as well. So all sorts of things. I will tell you, I agree. Oh my God, it can be so disgusting. I still remember my husband who spent infinitely more time than I in food factories coming back from one factory. Then they were making some like UPF kind of meat mimic type products at the kind of phase of like meat mimics being so mega. And I remember him just describing in like vivid detail, this like gray sludge that was pouring through but like tub to tub and would eventually become some kind of like fake chicken sausage type situation. And it kind of makes you feel physically sick. And it's,

and the thing that I would say as well, that's interesting, is it also highlights like how much it's not food. And I think that's one of being one of my take. homes from working in this industry is you do see these things. It's funny because like Harry Bowdo doesn't ever look like food. I use it as an example. Like I don't think most of us like a gummy cola bottle and think like that's food. Like that's on dinner. You know what I mean? Like that's not a meal. And so it feels a bit different where it's interesting with some of these foods because they do ultimately end up sort of looking and feeling like food. But really they don't actually have almost any food in them. It's like component parts or like food like substances.

sometimes call it. And it is, yeah, it is extraordinarily off-putting. So I don't disagree with you and children. I think when you look at it, you kind of are like, huh, this isn't really look like a meal. Do you know, when you look at the quote itself, you know, slaughterhouses had walls, I think there's something, and I don't want to, on this podcast, go off about this someone. I want, you know, on this podcast, we talk a lot about how to feel better in our bodies. and today we're looking at something I think that sits quietly behind a lot of our food choices and stress levels and it's how food is produced and that is really, really important. And this isn't about judging anyone's plate. It's about bringing you information. Many of us were never told. We don't have that sight, that visual that you've just described Matt saw in the factory.

And then you need to do what feels right for you because there's no perfect way to eat. You've got to think of it as one more piece of the puzzle that you can use to nudge your habits in a direction that feels more aligned. to yours. And I think, you know, in particular, this whole, you know, slaughterhouses had walls, that for me really resonated in your question as well. And I think it's so important from a wellness perspective to remember that these are, I think most of us picture small green fields as well that livestock are reared in, you know, for a handful of animals. And in reality, I think most meat on the supermarket shelves, the journey is really different from what that image looks like as well. And I think once we get transparency in the food system, you know, I know, I know this,

might make you feel uncomfortable hearing this because that's a really real human response, isn't it, to hear how Ella just described the food to hear what I'm talking about now. It means your empathy is working. It means we are human beings because I think if we all saw the food chain and if we're talking about wellness as well with food, it's not just green smoothies and gym sessions, it's also the quiet feeling that you get when your choices line up with what you believe in and for so many people with animal welfare in particular in this country, you know, we're not talking about blame, we're just talking about information.

Lots of animals, the majority are just bred for the purpose of being in that factory environment. They don't grow up on the green pastures, Ella. And I think that's one, something that I have to honestly say. I'd feel I'd done as a disservice today if I didn't raise that. No, completely. I mean, there's huge issues with factory farming. And as you said, I think it's indicative of an industry where the images on front of pack. Just don't match the reality. We're also told about the word humane slaughtering that

that's not really a thing either. So it's really, there's a lot we could delve into. I don't think this is the time or place for that conversation completely. But I feel like it's so important to have more transparency in the food system in general. Completely. And we are missing it massively. We are generally quite far removed from our food, which I think in itself is such a big challenge. And we see and everything, as we said, it's like even all the fake sourdough kind of thing. And I know not all sourdough is fake sourdough. But I think although that's a much less challenging example, I think it's indicative again of kind of claims, imagery on pack, et cetera, versus what something really is.

And I think that is. It's a just, it's a wide scale issue across the board in our food industry. It is. And, you know, I'm first to put my hands up and say, I know that these products have a place for some people. Not everybody has the luxury of a healthy body or different conditions and things to choose from. And we have to develop and we have to use science and we have to manipulate sometimes. But I think when the majority of the time for most people that don't need to use those alternatives, there is an issue.

Yeah. And I do think that we just don't know where our food comes from in general. It's huge. So let's go on from that question. It's very thought-provoking to question three from Tessa Ella. Tessa is writing to us from Manchester. So hi Tessa. She also has a recommendation for us,

which is for crispy tempe as a salad or soup topper. She said, I love tempe. I know it's not everyone's favorite, but I'm going to bring you crispy tempe. It's really easy to make. You break it up into small pieces, pop the pieces in the air fry at 200 degrees for five to 10 minutes, works well with or without olive or.

And you're done. It's a great topper to salads or soups. It provides a great texture and crunch. It's high in protein, and it's an easy way to get those plant points up and get fermented. food in. Love that. I know. Thank you, Tessa. I have to shout out at all plants we've developed some vegetable tempe, which is really cool, since Tesco's and waitrose now, but so it's made from

things like peas and lentils. Yeah. And she also said she loves your quick wins cook book and she cooked the quinoa chili the other day for my partner, who doesn't have the best art in bracket. She said, we're working on this with the help of the podcast. And he was like, wow, this is really tasty. Is it healthy? I mean, Ella, what a win. What a win. That's a quick win right there. You know, I love it when people try things and they're like, oh wait, it can be healthy and delicious. That is the ultimate. Okay, so we bring it on to Tessa's question who says, I think it's a fantastic question. How to balance nutrient dense food with getting your plant points and weight maintenance loss? I eat a really healthy majority whole food diet and exercise regularly, but I'm still maintaining my weight. I am wondering if this is to do with how nutrient dense my diet is and adding things like seeds, nuts, cheer hemp, nut butters, etc. to boost those plant points as adding. It's adding. unnecessary calories. Is there a balance, for example, should you not add seeds if you already have a meal with avocado and olive oil? They don't want to be prescriptive, but it'd be helpful to know how to balance these healthy fats in my diet. Do you know what? It's a very valid question.

I mean, I can see where the concern comes from, but we have to remember foods aren't just, if you're talking about olive oil butter, cheese, yeah, you could pretty much put them all in one category as a source of fat. But the difference in comparing avocados and seeds is that, you know, avocado technically is a fruit, but loads of fibre within them as well. So it changes the state of absorption within your body anyway. You don't absorb all of the calories because of the type of fat and the amount of fiber within the food. So it's not as black and white as it may well appear. But I think sticking to portion sizes is really important.

So you can add seeds, but why not just do a small handful rather than a larger amount? And with nut butters in particular or things that have been slightly processed. to become nuts from their whole form to a nut butter. If you are watching what you're eating a bit, then just have one spoon instead of having a really large, unmeasured amount. And there's some areas where you can take a bit of portion practice within it. And then there's some areas where you don't need to worry about it. Now, my argument would be most people are not getting enough of these items.

So first of all, well done. You're doing clearly a fantastic job. And there's also a set point theory that your body's happier within a kid. kilo or two of either side where you don't get sick often, you're healthy. But those fat sources, like I said, of olive oil, one spoon is 120 calories. So you've got to know that day, if you had quite a heavy oil-laden meal, you probably don't want to be adding even more oil for the rest of the day. We do get a fair number of questions on this into the inbox of people saying, like, I've switched to a super healthy diet. They're seeing people do, you know, we talked about on Monday,

things like olive oil shots. And I don't. want to make anyone feel nervous or anything around but it is interesting because you can suddenly if you're having olive oil shots breakfast and morning and then you're having you know nut butter in every meal and then you're you know all the rest of where you can have as you always say read too much of a good thing yeah 100% and an example is you know if at breakfast you start your day with porridge and you fiber layered it and you've put on nut butter seeds and everything else and you probably don't need to add seeds and nut butter to any other meal that day. You know, have a think sensibly about it.

You've done that for the day. Let's try and focus on some extra fruit or a different type of grain at cooking. Because actually, plant foods are lower in energy overall. It's just the fats, like you've quite rightly said, that contains slightly more energy. But they're good fats. And what I also want you to remember is if you're eating a predominantly plant-based diet, you're going to have lower amounts of what we call saturated fat, which is solid at room temperature in the form of like butter or ghee or coconut.

And those sorts of things you definitely don't want to be having in excess because they contribute to heart disease. But these fats you're describing, they might play a role depending on how much you're having with weight maintenance. But they're not going to be unhealthy for your heart, which is also important. So for weight regulation, just try and get the variety more of the vegetables then and the whole grains. And just try one meal each day by layering up your fats with some extra seeds and nuts. You don't need to do it every single meal. This episode is brought to you by FedEx. These days, the power move isn't having a big metallic credit card to drop on the check at a corporate lunch.

The real power move is leveling up your business with FedEx intelligence and accessing one of the biggest data networks powered by one of the biggest delivery networks. Level up your business with FedEx, the new power move. You all know me. I'm about adding more in, not cutting things out, no fads, no diets, just evidence and transparency. And right now in the UK, everyone, 96% of us, that's 96% are not getting enough fibre. It's one of the lowest figures in the world. And I couldn't ignore it. So we've spent years obsessing over protein and other trends. And I'm delighted to share that after a year in the making, my new book, the fibre formula is available. to purchase. I have answered every question from gut health and energy, cancers and heart disease to

aging skin longevity and even microplastics. Built on over a decade of clinical research, it gives you my fiber formula, 30 grams of fiber a day, 30 different plants a week, 30 choose, and 30 minute meals plus 60 delicious minimally processed recipes to make it doable. I've done the hard work so the protein fiber and plant points are all laid out for you. So the fibre formula is out now everyone. If you head to the link in the show notes, you can purchase it from any bookstore or on Amazon. And I'd love to hear your feedback. Let me know how you get on. Question four comes from Gabrielle, who said, first off, I want to say, what a big fan I am at the Wellness Scoop. Thank you, Gabrielle. I really appreciate the way you break down health and wellness

topics to make them approachable, but still keep the nuance and the studies. I'm writing today because lately I've caught a bit of a cold. with a sore throat is my main symptom. I know you guys talk a lot about how eating healthy doesn't have to be complicated. And I was wondering if you could share some food and meal ideas to help fight cold, but that don't take time or energy when you're feeling unwell. For example, I know oranges are a great source of vitamin C, but citrus can sting if you have a sore throat. My go-to is buttered noodles, but I don't think that's helping me boost my immune response.

There we go on the boost. By the way, I'm also vegetarian. Okay, I think this is such a great question because people talk. we obviously talked to Monday about not boosting the immune system and actually just supporting it. Can we talk a little bit about kind of immune system 101 first really and like, you know, the interplay of our diet with our immune system and how we kind of overall support our immune system? Yeah, we have the power. Our gut bugs train our immune system.

So the more fibre and plant diversity you're getting, the more help you're going to be giving it naturally, which is really important first of all to remember that our diet has a direct. impact on our gut bugs or the pet in your tummy and that has a direct impact on your immune system as well. So what you're doing long term is probably more powerful than anything you could do short term. There's only research when you get a cold and you feel a rundown with a bit of vitamin C. It just prevents the length of the cold like we discussed on Monday. It doesn't prevent you getting it at all. And when you get a sore throat actually, that's a sign you need to start resting. And that's often the thing we all ignore because we just crack on with it. But that's really your body saying you need

to stay hydrated, get enough sleep, rest, and include those key nutrients like zinc, which you get from those extra seeds in the morning on your breakfast. Keep your protein intake all there, your vitamin C. But I think ultimately, when you do have a sore throat, I know how difficult it is. It's really, really hard. Just go for soups instead, if you can. Buttered noodles sound delicious. But yeah, probably in a small amount, but let's switch it up. Make a ramen bowl, like Ella said. have like a miso sachet and chuck some noodles in with it instead. Anything that you fancy when you're feeling run down, there's a bit more nourishing.

Maybe swap for olive oil instead of butter with the noodles, although it's up to you taste-wise. I love that with a bit of parmesan and pasta, you know, just olive oil, parmesan, a classic, what do you call it, vongololone? Ali-olio when you've got garlic and chili as well. So, yeah, just think about it that way, really. When we can talk about honey, I think we need to just go there a little bit because a lot of people get a sore throat and they go out and buy honey. Actually, there's no benefit to that unless you're buying manuka honey because that's the only antimicrobial.

So it's something that might fight any bacteria within your throat. And you only want a teaspoon a day and you actually want it straight from the jar rather than putting it in the hot drink. Because most of us just had honey to the hot drink. That's purely taste. If you want to keep those properties intact, you want a high methyl glyoxyl rating MGO of manuka. honey, but it's so expensive. I mean, manuka honey is an expensive thing to have. So I always keep one in the cupboard and only really use a teaspoon when I'm feeling run down. Wild honey can be good, but that's more if you have allergies or something in the local area that the local honey may be

protective for. Anyway, I think the buttered noodles, if they're delicious, but yeah, mix it up a bit if you can. But if you're thinking overall about kind of immune support to prevent or make lighter your colds, thinking about your overall diet to support your gut health, to support your immune health. Yeah, those kiwis in Ella. Yeah, is one of the most important things. Okay, our fifth question today comes from Jill, who said we're currently in Peru. Love it. And we had a delicious soup made with vegetables and quinoa.

This has gone me thinking about quinoa, which I've previously eaten, knowing it contained protein and filled me up, having it for breakfast with fruit and yoga. I wondered what you both think about it. After a little Googling, it suggests it was much more. eat it regularly. What else could I do with it? The suit we had will definitely be on the menu as my husband loved it too. Do you know what, Jill? I actually am going to make quinoa for lunch today. Yeah, me too. Writing this reminded me of it and I'm going to do it. I've got loads of peas that I go to the weekend. So I'm going to do it with peas and avocado, loads of lemon, maybe some

rocket, some cuisettes, things like that. But quinoa is such a great food. First of all, it's so easy to making batches and chuck into easy lunches throughout the week for a bit more sustenance. Obviously, you can use rice or pastoring things like that. Nothing wrong with them. And tall, they're delicious. But quinoa has got loads of health benefits. It's a complete protein. You often hear people talking about vegetarian sources of protein not being complete.

There are nine essential, which means, you need to get them from your diet, amino acids, and lots of plant sources have in abundance eight of the nine. and so you want to combine them. Now really this means just having like peanut butter on toast or rice and beans. Yeah. And you want to be doing it over like a 24 hour period. So it's nothing to worry about really unless you have a very restricted, like a super restricted diet. But quinoa has all nine in one go. It has around eight grams of protein per cooked cup, about five grams of fiber. So it's a really nice addition to any meal. It cooks fast, Ella. Yeah, 10 minutes. Kewa, it's just, it's faster than brown rice and actually. And it keeps better. Yeah, it keeps better. Across the week.

So then you can just add like a couple of tablespoons to salads, to soups, stir fries, etc. I have quinoa porridge recipes in some of the books I remember doing because you'd always have those clients that can't have oats. It's a really nice addition. Yeah, as I said, like today, got loads going on and I'll just literally cook some quinoa. It would take me 10 minutes and then I'll just stir in, like once it's, I'll let it call for five minutes and then I'll just.

I'll just stir through, yeah, avocado, they've got leftover peas. You could do tofu. You can steam tofu on top of the quino, which is quite nice for added protein. But yeah, it's such a simple and easy to use ingredient. It's also naturally grain free. It's got magnesium, a little bit of iron, folate zinc. Like, it's packed. It's so good. It's super nutrient dense. It's easy to cook. Very, very versatile. It doesn't taste of a huge amount. I think that's the only thing I'd say. So I feel like it's a kind of bulk add to something. And then you want a nice dressing, like a garlicy tahini dressing or something like that. Delicious, Ella. I mean, yeah, big up the quinoa. We're so there for it.

Do you feel like it's an underrated ingredient because I feel like it had a moment 10 years ago and it was really cool and popular and now it feels very uncool. It was a 2015-16 moment. We all learned how to say instead of quinoa, quinoa, quinoa. Kinewa. Exactly. And now I feel like it's not that cool. Anyway, let's bring it back. Do you know what? We're probably setting the new trend. You know how we said fiber supplements and drinks will be everywhere and now I'm seeing it. predicted as, you know, they are trends. They're everywhere. Probably Kima will be the next nutrient again. Let's see Ella. And our final question today comes from Claudia. He says, I have a question and probably one you're getting a lot. So apologies if you've already answered it,

but I'm really struggling to find a solid answer to seed oils. My boyfriend is very much anti-seed oils, carnivore, paleo, etc. I think that means he's anti-seed oils and pro-carnavore slash paleo. On the other hand, I'm half Portuguese, so I've always followed a Mediterranean-style diet and consumed a little bit of everything, but in moderation, I'm a nurse to have a scientific medical background and enjoy research. I'm just struggling to find an answer to this seed oil question. I honestly think it's just all been taken out context and people have assumed that seed oils are to blame for everything when there are so many other factors, lifestyle, being too sedatory, lack of sunlight, pollution, microplastics, etc., etc., that could actually be the cause.

Anyway, this has really turned into a rambling message. I'm not sure if it even makes sense. It does. Don't worry, Claudia. So if you can make it to this point, I'd really appreciate it. if you could point me in the right direction of evidence to refute my boyfriend. Oh, Claudia, you're incredibly smart. That's correct. You've articulated it so well. The conversation's just been massively taken out of context, amplified online. I think the confusion comes from the age-old Omega-6 debate where scientists believed some are that Omega-6 are inflammatory. Actually, they are not with a wide body of evidence. to suggest that as well.

And they're actually unsaturated fats, which is a good thing. You know, you want unsaturated fat that's liquid at room temperature. You don't want a lot of saturated, which is the solid at room temperature, butter or cheese. So typically this refers to soybean oil, rapeseed or canola in the state, sunflower corn oil. And the best evidence says that replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fats improves your heart health because it helps actively to reduce LDL the bad cholesterol in our body. And that is backed by all sorts of foundations around the world, the World Health Organization, British Heart Foundation, American Heart Association.

There is no conspiracy theory here, I promise you. I mean, because I think that's what people tell you online. They're like, all these organizations are just out to get you. They're not. Trust me, the rates of heart disease are high enough. They want to bring it down. They're not trying to put this upon anybody else. Amiga 6 have been shown actually.

to be inflammatory, which is good, not flammatory. So you don't want things to be raised in your immune system like we've discussed before. Higher intakes of linoaic acid, which is amoeia 6, are associated with lower levels of inflammatory markers, not higher, which is fantastic. And this has been demonstrated in so many human studies across the year, loads of randomized control trials. This is not from animal data. It's from human data as well. Everything's really good here. We've had Sarah Berry discuss this and break it down before if you listen back to a few episodes,

Professor Sarah Berry from King's College London. But the Mediterranean diet is the gold standard here. And it does use seed oils. You know, cold press rape seed oil actually has been shown to have very similar, if not as many benefits as extra virgin olive oil. And I'm not sponsored to say this. There's no big seed industry telling me I'm not earning money to promote this or say this. It's just what I learned at university. This is what Ella will know from having nutritionists, help of her products,

to tell her what to put in Deliciousie Ella back in the day. The NHS advice is clear. The British Diastic Association is clear. Harvard medical advice is clear. Cockcrow and collaborations, gold standard reviews. Everything will tell you that overall omega-6 and seed oils are not inflammatory. They don't spike your immune system. And I'm sure I'll get people respond to this.

I don't know why it's become so emotive. I do. I think that it makes so much sense. I think Claught and first of all, that was the most helpful summary. Thank you. Sorry. No,

I think Claudia is completely right, which is this combination of this huge change in lifestyle factors with the rise of UPFs, which generally contain seed oils, a more sedatory lifestyle, highest stress, lower sleep, etc., etc., this huge kind of negative shift in our lifestyles

coincides with the rise. rise in UPS, which is a rise in seed oils. And it's such an easy thing to say is the problem. I think that's how I say it fundamentally. It's so easy. We always need a kind of scapecoat in this sort of thing. Rather than the lack of fibre now that's so low because of the rise of UPF. So people prefer to blame the seed oils than the fat four percent of us get enough fiber. But the interesting thing, as we said, is it synced to this kind of carnival paleo movement. And, you know, that also, and I don't mean this is any personal criticism. but like it's just not kind of all around healthy diet like it just is missing such hugely

important nutrients and food groups you're starving your gut bugs you're starving your gut microbiota by not feeding it plants and fiber which we know from countless research is beneficial but um some would argue we're peddling this one narrative yeah of course it's very hard to um say anything against somebody that believes so solidly that everything's a conspiracy yeah and i totally appreciate your boyfriend probably doesn't think necessarily everything's conspiracy but there is this sense and yeah it's a kind of huge lifestyle identifier I think sometimes some of these labels which is so interesting I just worry about the state of the industry sometimes but there is so much good news also coming out and I think a kind of collective awareness that there's a little bit of nuttery going

on or like madness going on with all these yeah there is different extremes and we just need to find a gentle middle ground in which we cook from scratch more. We enjoy that quinoa. We enjoy our peas and, you know, simple things. So yeah, well, thank you guys for being here. Thank you so much. And again, we don't say things to get a kick out of it. We're just presenting what we've been taught or the evidence in front

or what I've been taught in my nutrition degree, what Ella has from her experience. And there's no hidden agenda here. We love your questions. Keep them coming. still confused. Keep it coming. We'll keep talking about it. We're in this together. We're all bombarded. Yeah, so you know we're at hello at wellness-scoop.com. You can always find us there. Yeah, thank you so much for tuning in. We cannot wait to see you on Monday. And I hope you have a lovely weekend. Enjoy guys. Bye.