The Wellness Scoop - Food for Healing, Are Oats Good? & Mindset Shifts

Episode Date: July 16, 2026

This week we're answering your questions on everything from supporting a loved one through cancer treatment to navigating the confusing world of nutrition advice online.We discuss the role food can play during treatment and recovery, explore practical ways to cultivate a more optimistic mindset, and unpack the growing debate around oats, blood sugar and hormonal acne. We also cover hormonal health, milk choices for teenagers, meal timing before bed, and whether nuts and seeds should be stored in the fridge.Plus, Ella shares the secret behind her favourite brothy meals, and we discuss how to separate evidence-based nutrition advice from the noise of social media. Find out more on our contributor, Dr. Philippa Kaye HERE To get 30-days free on The Way App, head to thewayapp.com/wellnessscoop  Send your questions for our weekly Q&A to ⁠⁠⁠[e-mail]⁠⁠⁠ For more from Rhi and Ella:  Order your copy of Ella's new book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Quick Wins: Healthy Cooking for Busy Lives⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Order your copy of Rhi's new book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Fibre Formula⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up to ⁠⁠Rhitrition+⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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

which is led by Henry, the founder, who's just the most amazing teacher. And he makes it seem somehow just incredibly simple, but exceptionally profound at the same time, which is a very rare skill. And I've been using it too. Yes, I've now finally begun a meditation journey and I've been doing some of the shorter practices on busy days because I completely understand why you talk about it so much, Ella. It really is a nice intro in for me. Yeah, it is and I'm so glad. Anyway, it's helped me feel so much calmer, less reactive, more present. It all sounds like huge claims, but I just say, please, please, please try it if you're struggling with stress or overwhelm.

You've just got to give it a go. And the lovely thing is that everyone listening can definitely try it themselves. Exactly. So you can get a 30-day free trial, so just try it every day for a month. It'll change your life. All you do is head to theway app.com forward slash wellness scoop. Yeah, that's theway app.com forward slash wellness scoop. Welcome to the Wellness Scoop, your twice weekly dose of health and wellness inspiration.

And as always, we're both here as your host today. I'm Ella Mills. And I'm Rihanna Lambert. And we are here for one of the best parts of the week where we take your recommendations and your questions. It's a busy show today, Ella. Let's dive in. I have to say, we're doing this online today. And I have my first ever sty.

It's just a baby one so I can't really complain but I look like an absolute weirdo because I've got this hot steaming towel over my eye and like a pirate. Oh, Ella, I said to her, these things always happen just as you're about to do something big. I had conjunctivitis for my book launch last year, I remember. Now, Ella's got a sty just in time for her family holiday.

You know, the world just has to keep raining us in. That's the way it goes. I know, we go on holiday with lots of friends. And I was like, I'd rather not have a star if I'm honest. Anyway, hence my... my heat compress. Anyways, we're not going to be talking about my style today. We're going to be talking about lots of other lovely or interesting or curious things. So what have we got coming up? We have. So we've got lots of questions from you all today. We've got how to support a loved one

through cancer treatment, small mindset shifts that can give us more of a positive outlook. And we're going back into discussing oats again, because we had lots of questions on this on if they're actually bad for blood sugar and acne interestingly. Then hormonal health and hypothalmic amy. men are rea. So that's really key here, loss of periods. We've got questions for teenagers on drinking full fat cows milk. How long before bed you should stop eating? Do nuts and seeds belong in the fridge? And then we do have some wrecks from Ella with favorite brothy meals. I'm very excited for this and some more nutrition myths from us about social media and what the evidence says. So Ella, it's a big show and we're going to start with a recommendation from Danielle.

Yes, we have a lovely recommendation. We love getting your recommendations, guide. Keep them coming. at Wellness-scoop.com. But Daniela said, I just wanted to recommend a podcast I listened to called This Podcast Will Kill You. Sounds very curious. Their latest episode discusses dietary guidelines and how we got to where we are today, including the influence of big food. I thought you guys would love it. We absolutely would love to go and check that out. I think Ella and I have lots of thoughts around this particular area and deep diving in.

And yeah, it's a really interesting area when you trace the food industry back over the decades. as to how we've got to where we do today. Rhee, have you got any recommendations for us this week? My recommendation would be, as we discussed movies last week, it's still just a little refresher and a little reminder to try and add in a bit more diversity. Challenge yourself, it's summer, so there's new things in season all the time,

and it's actually strawberry season here in the UK, which is divine. I mean, it's one of my favorite fruits. Last year we had Ella's recommendation of roasting strawberries. I feel that we should try them. I'm making strawberry porridge a lot at the moment for the children, and I do porridge and I took Ella's hint with the vanilla and some desiccated coconut and tear seeds. And I just feel like revamping fruits when they're in season mean you get maximum impact.

And then your last chance to join our food freedom journey on Replast, the links in the signup. If you have a relationship with food, you want to learn more about and heal, then that's a full week course fee there. And so, yeah, Ella, strawberries, I'm obsessed, but you need to really wash them strawberries. They're one of those that don't forget to give it a a good rinse before you consume them. How about you, Ella? I am so bad at washing things before we eat them, have to be honest about that.

How about me? Well, I'll tell you one thing that's really fun in my life. Really, you'll appreciate this, is I created these like TP structures with bamboo and just from the garden center in our veggie patch. And then we're growing squashes up them. And the idea is that the whole kind of teepee will be created by this squash. And we have this one Cinderella squash,

as in like it looks like a pumpkin patch. that the fairy godmother would really like. And it has gone nuts. And it is now at the top of the teepee. So that's really cool. I think I told you about this the other day, but we've now reached the top of the teepee. So that's very exciting.

I've been watching a show, which I'm really enjoying. My husband says it's the worst thing he's ever seen. So I think maybe this is a gal's recommendation. You know, when you want something like lighthearted, which is she's not lighthearted, but it's light, it's easy to watch. It's got Michelle Pfeiffer in.

I really like her. It's called the Madison. It's on Apple. I don't think that. I'd heard anyone talk about it. And then I saw someone I read online recommend it anyway. It's kind of about like life lessons and not wasting your life. And so as a result, I guess it's a heavy topic, but it does feel quite light and easy

to watch. And I'm really enjoying it. And it's shot in like a really, really beautiful part of the US. And yeah, he hates it. I'm really enjoying it. I've got loads of new books to read. The one I'm very excited about and I will update you on is called The Correspondent. And I've had so many messages to people saying like, this is my favorite thing I've ever read.

So can't wait to tell you more about that. I can't wait to hear because I need to move on for my Akitas series now. And also, Michelle Fyfer is an absolute and utter legend. Do you know she was in Greece 2, I think? I love Greece 2. I really took off Greece 2. But it was, you know, it's a good film. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I haven't seen it and I did not know that. The one thing, do you know, one of the things I really want to do is some up. One thing that's going on a lot in my house at the moment. And if any, one has any recommendations, where you might have recommendations, I would really appreciate them. I am trying to take a really, really, really, really firm line on screens for the holidays. I have two very different children, one of whom can watch half an air of TV and just like nothing ever happened and then back to the day and it's great.

One of whom really can't do that. Like super, super sensitive to screens, screens makes her a little bit nuts and once she starts watching, she can't stop. But as a result of moving house, not all the rest of it. the girls have ended up with 10 weeks of school holidays. It's a very, very long time. So I'm sort of thinking of all different activities to do, but really limiting screens. Anyways, someone told me they'd like make a daily schedule of plans and activities.

And if anyone has any ideas, I would absolutely love to hear them because that is one thing. Top of mind, really in my life at the moment is being very, very strict on screens. Yeah, I think it's very important. I'm actually thinking of Dr. Martha that we could get on to do a little voice note for us all on an extra scoop. on screens and what we can do. She's a child psychologist. Yes, please. Yeah, I think let's get her on.

Can I submit a question? I was submitting a question to the wellness scoop. Help. My daughter's really sensitive to screens. I would like to limit them during the holidays. Can you give me some ideas? I love that. Right, Ella, make a note.

It's going in our extra scoop brief. We have one more recommendation, or rather a bit of feedback that came through on Spotify from KJ. She says, I've paused the podcast while listening to write this comment. I got so teary when you read Ava's message to you, what an angel. How lovely it would be for you to consider gifting her some of your books to help her continue her journey as she navigates life without her mom and into the medical world.

And it just made me think, of course, of course, but also when we're looking at creating a cause as a community together, like Ella mentioned last week, if you have any ideas or causes that you think we should all join together and do something like a walk or a hike for in 2027, please keep those suggestions coming in because we would really value that, wouldn't we, Ella, your ideas. Yeah, we really would. Hello at Wellnesshyperscoop.com.

Okay, our first question today comes from Lena in Hamburg, Germany, and Lena has said, thank you for your honesty love and support for people all around the world. That's very nice. Listening to your words always gives me a feeling of hope and being part of a community of similar-minded people. I have a question for you regarding food for healing.

my friend has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and has started her healing journey of surgery, chemo, radiation and hormone therapy. Shout out to my bestie Nora, who's in surgery as I type this. I want to support her as best as I can. My love language is food and books. I'm thinking of making juices, smoothies, soups to give her body as many nutrients as possible, supported by feel-good books. Do you have any suggestions?

Oh, thank you. So, yeah, Blina, over in Hamburg, Germany. I would like to start by saying that you are a one. wonderful, wonderful friend. I mean, how magical to want to really support and help your friend. And then secondly, of course, we know that food isn't a panacea, but I think it can be a bit of a mood boost just as much as anything else depending on the type of treatment. So whatever, apart from me just saying that, I'm actually going to get a voice note from Dr. Philippa Kay, who's been through a cancer journey herself and will be able to give you the best advice here

because I'm not an oncology nutritionist here either. That's a very simple. specialized area. Now Dr. Philippa Kay is the author of The Science of Menopause, but she's also incredibly, incredibly passionate about this particular area. So I hand over to Philippa. With regards to what your friend might need, the first thing would be to ask, but your friend might not know what they need and what they want, and it might be difficult for them to ask. So I understand that your friend has breast cancer, but for somebody listening who, for example, their friend has got bowel cancer, they might not actually be able to eat certain things for a period of time. Or it might be that chemotherapy is changing how food tastes and things begin to taste very metallic.

And then actually they might want very, actually very flavourful food or salty food or crunchy food or cold food or something else. Even metal cutlery can make things taste more metal. So having bamboo cutlery or plastic cutlery in that scenario might be better. So it's difficult to say they must need this or they must have that. Actually, when you are on chemotherapy and if you are feeling very sick, then again, that might affect what you want to eat. And often there's a time now for having really calorie-dense foods when you can't eat a lot. There are special ice creams and milkshakes and various other things. So I would keep trying and it might be that what you try one week doesn't work but what you try the next week does. And you can ask and they might go, hmm, don't know,

and then you bring something anyway because when you have cancer, sometimes you're asked to make so many decisions that you can't possibly decide something else. So when someone rings you and says, I'm in Tesco, I'm getting milk, I'm passing your house on the way home. Can I just get some for you and the kids? That often is far easier to say yes to you then. Oh, if you ever need anything from Tesco, then let me know and I'll get it. And there's a difference there. The other thing is that food is one thing that people need, but there are lots of other ways that you can support. It might be they're going into hospital and they need flip-flops for the shower. it might be that chemo is making everything very dry and they would like a nice lip balm and a nice moisturiser and a nice eye mask or some nice headscarves or I don't know an audio book

or or so there are lots of different ways that you can support thank you so much philippa re on the feel good books is there anything that you have read recently for lina to think about for nora to add on to that look i mean to pick me up and to completely distract you if you want to get into the whole fairy dragon stuff. Maybe you could start fourth wing or the Akita a quarter of four and roses series. But I actually think

if you want to be completely taken away from this world, I love all those deep dive kind of fantasy stuff. Sometimes I feel when you're in that particular journey, I think being distracted is a very, very good place

to take your mind to somewhere that isn't existing in our a continuum actually. So it might be well worth a try. Love that. I think my favorite kind of just feel good as a fun book that I've read over the last year or so. A kiss one. Oh, consider yourself kissed. That's a really nice one. I think my number one spot would go to the wedding people. It is so fun. Like it's just kind of silly but also some interesting insights into people and it's easy to read but it's really immersive. I really recommend it just as a like easy to read really good, totally like positive book 100%. And then the other book that I would read,

which is really feel good. It's not serious, but it's more kind of sage life advice. I have recommended this before, but it's called I May Be Wrong. And it's written by this amazing Swedish monk. And he kind of gave up his life and went to be, a forest monk in Thailand, and he has just the most fantastic life advice. And it really, like, some of those books, they sound amazing, the cliff notes are amazing, but they're not that easy to read. They're quite dense. This is a very easy to read, like absolutely beautiful book that I think is incredibly helpful for managing life's uncertainties and kind of the ups and downs and trials and tribulations that they're just naturally occur in life. So,

I couldn't recommend that more. So that's some very good wrecks there for you if you want to have a laugh, the wedding people, if you want something philosophical to help manage this time, what was it called again with the monk? I may be wrong. And I recommend both to everyone. Honestly, if anyone has any interest in like, yeah, life advice and kind of outlook, I may be wrong is the best thing I've ever read in that genre. But I'm mile.

So our next question is from Kendall. And she said, hi, Ella and Riannan. I hope you're both well. Big congrats to Ria on the baby news, thank you. I love the work you're both doing and the wellness scoop has quickly become my favorite podcast. I look forward to the new episodes every week. And I have a question about mindset

and building a more positive outlook, which could relate back to that book recommendation as well. I know Ella has spoken before about working on herself and that it's an ongoing journey. I've realized that my natural tendency can sometimes be to focus on what might go wrong or to jump to worst case scenarios, and I'd really love to change that and be a bit more easygoing. Do you have any strategies or practices that may have helped you develop a more optimistic mindset and approach challenges of curiosity,

rather than immediately assuming the worst or thinking about what might go wrong? I'd love to hear any tips, habits or practices that may have made a difference for you and helped you to become a more easy, breezy person. Thank you, Kendall. Now, Ella, I'd love to use the example of the fire alarm that has to be. happened when we were in the podcast studio last episode. A fire alarm went off mid-episode. My initial reaction, Kendall.

It wasn't actually a fire alarm. It was like an alarm. And then it was like, computer voice like, we are investigating this alarm. Like, so it was like, it was an alarm. Like, be aware, alert. But we don't know why it's going off or what it is. It wasn't necessarily a fire alarm, which led Rhee to spiral. I mean, we'd already had to pause the recording for sirens going past outside.

So I went straight to, it's red alert. There has to be a terrorist attack or something awful happening. And I was obviously like, we need to leave. I was like, we just need to go and see what's going on. And we was like, I think there's a terrorist attack. And I was like, I don't think there is. I think there might be like a little smoke from the toaster in one of the kitchen. It's like a big shared office space.

Ella was very pragmatic. And she said, do you know what? To help you feel better, Re, let's go out and have a little walk and just have a look for ourselves. And sure enough, no. had moved. Everyone was still sat in their offices, in their own places, very calmly. And I think Ella's done some amazing work with Easy Breezy. And over to you, Ella. Okay, I don't know if I get to show myself as like Easy Breezy, but I can completely relate to everything you've said, Kendall. I would say, like, if you knew me 15 years ago, I was uptight, I was hypervigilant,

I was glass half full. And, you know, if we're just being like, like really honest because why not to turn this into therapy session no you know when I met my husband so that was 2015 yeah 2015 I remember him saying like there's a disconnect here there's an irony because the kind of persona that you put out through delicious yellow is a really happy person and like I actually don't you are that much of a happy person he obviously said there's no really nice and constructive which when we're super clear about this but he was completely right you were under pressure, I just want to say Ella, was always under such immense pressure you'd never navigated before, which I can only imagine would have been very difficult. I was and I'd had, and this is again,

like not a, you know, not my story to tell. I had a very complicated childhood with a lot of different factors at play and I hadn't addressed any of that or ever spoken through any of that. Anyways, but it became very clear to me that actually this was true and actually I wasn't a particularly really happy person. I wasn't a glass-halfful person. I always saw the worst situation coming to light and I was overly anxious about very small things and I didn't want to be like that anymore. And it has taken me a solid 10 years to change it. I don't want to kind of sell a lie on there, but it has worked and I now hear fire alarms. I don't think there's a terrorist attack. I'm not, I'm not being like facetious about it, but like my brain just doesn't work like that anymore.

Like I don't think the worst all the time. I don't, I'm not scared on playing. anymore like I'm not, I can kind of rationalize it. And, you know, I was really in a kind of very like fight or flight state in terms of my nervous system. And I think the whole thing has been about getting my body and my mind into this more calm state. And that has been a very, very long journey. But then again, it's a bit like for me personally when I became interested in food, like the more you understand about nutrition, it's like, well, it's going to be really hard to have good energy. if you're not eating any of the things that are going to feed your body with what it needs to make its energy, right?

And I think it's a little bit the same with our mindset. Like ultimately, you know, if we're always in this very stressed and very kind of hyper-vigilant type stay, that it becomes your default. And, you know, what they've seen is like over time, for example, regular meditation, mindfulness practices, actually reduces that activity in the migdala, the scanning of danger. And you can start to have this more kind of. of rational response. So I don't want to be a broken record on it, but I do think that committing to some kind of mindfulness or meditation practice really is a very important step if this is

you today. And I know it's not always appealing to people. There's so many different ways you can do it. You can do breath work. You can do yoga. You can do traditional mindfulness. You can do meditation. There's so many different types of ways to meditate, whether it's like simple breath meditation, affirmation, guided, non-guided, like there's such a world out there. But if you want to change your outlook, I guess it's like anything, I would just say like you've got to commit to it. And committing to it might be literally like 20 minutes a day. It doesn't need to be a crazy thing, but I do think you've got to commit to it. And you know, also things like, I mentioned the word, turning things into curiosity. So that's part of cognitive behavioral therapy. The way you reframe and you

ground yourself at times when you're having these these types of thoughts like my initial panic in that moment you know i live with PTSD from my first birth with my eldest in lockdown and i did a lot of work on that and you can reframe things so instead of what if this goes wrong you can gently reframe it to i wonder how this will unfold or i wonder what i might learn from this there's it's it's really difficult to do i have to say um we don't all get this right all the time time. And like you said, it's an ongoing journey. And as Ella said, it's an ongoing journey. We have to learn about how we tick and what is our safe space in the world and what we look at and how to ground ourselves. So there's no right or wrong answer, I think, with this one. It really is just

finding a way you're able to work on yourself, I believe. And gosh, I know I've got so much work to do. In fact, becoming pregnant has really brought back a lot of triggers for me that I have to work through before I can even contemplate what I'm going to do and how I'm going to get this baby out. So there's, you know, I think for everybody, we all, we all have a lot of work to do with our psychology consistently. That was such a good question. Thank you so, so much. In Toronto, every arrival is a statement and nothing says it better than this. Cadillac Optic was the number one selling luxury EV in Canada for 2025. Find your rhythm across a seamless 33-inch display and an immersive 19 speaker AKG surround audio system.

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Both walk their own paths toward justice. And as their lives start to intertwine, the line between right and wrong begins to blur. Don't miss the three-episode premiere of the Hulu original series Furious on July 27th, only on Hulu on Disney Plus. The next question is a really beautiful name. Ramalia, do you think, Ella, what would you say?

I thought Ramalia, too. And as you said, it's a beautiful name and a great question. and she has said, I absolutely love the podcast. Honestly, Mondays and Thursdays infinitely better knowing this new podcast to listen to. Love that. Have a couple of questions. I've noticed in a few episodes you've mentioned

keeping flax seeds and walnuts in the fridge. What about other nuts and seeds? Should they be in the fridge as well? Ella, I also follow you on Instagram. Love the look of your meals, particularly those that are brothy. I love brothy meals. How do you make the broth in these types of recipes?

It looks comforting and delicious, but I don't know how to replicate it. Well, actually, I think we should start with before with Ella's brothy meals because I know you've mentioned me so before but I want to know Ella because you do you do a lot of them it's very inspiring give us the secret lowdown on broths before I go into seeds in the fridge I make so many brothy meals I love a brothy meal I mean they're pretty simple when I say brothy meal it's like if there's not a huge amount in the fridge or you're like hungry be or not starving you want loads of bed in your life you know maybe you have

busy day not got much in I'll do you think cycle saute loads of shallots and garlic, maybe then some leek, some corsette, and then I'll simmer that with, and there is an extra cross-tip, I'm going to be honest, but it's a jar of beans because you then take the liquid from the jar and that creates this lovely broth. You can then, towards the end, once you've then simmered it for like 10, 15 minutes, add a little bit of yogurt, loads of lemon. In something like that, green one, I might then do a table spoon of pesto. If you eat parmesan, parmesan on that, delicious. A pastoey broth, I'd never...

Yeah, and the liquid, sometimes I had a little bit more water, but the core that makes the kind of slightly creamier broth comes actually from the water that the beans are held in, which is absolutely delicious. And if you're going to spend the money on buying the beans and the jars, you know, might as well use the whole shabang.

Or sometimes I'll do like a bit of coconut milk in there if I wanted to be extra creamy. But actually the most of my broths are the water, a jar of beans, plus sometimes a little bit of yogurt. And then, as I said, if it's like a greeny one, I might do a tablespoon of pasta. I love that. Honestly, broths are very, and then you can add, of course, you can bulk it up with noodles or rice or. The other thing that I find really good in there is also. That's actually my main one. Sometimes I'll do it with like an Orichetti type pasta. If I'm doing, like I'll do that loads in the winter. Actually, we'll do like a kind of minestroney

meat or lent or Ragu kind of situation. So I'll do, yeah, like, yeah, like, like shallots, garlic, leaks. And then I'll do, again, some chickpeas, the water from the chickpea jar, some more water, and then cook the pasta in it as well as chickpeas. That's absolutely delicious. Whole family eats that. That's really popular. And a jar of tomato sauce in there.

It just works so, so well. So, yeah. But the one that I use the most is probably Orzo. Yeah. Because the beauty of Orzo as well. It's really quick. It cooks in under 10 minutes. but also pasta doesn't keep very well.

You know, recooked pasta is not particularly nice. Everyone has a kind of complicated thing about recooked rice. Also, it's like the sweet spot. It reheats really well. That is true. A little tip if you have got pastures, just add olive oil to it when it's dry in the pan before you then put it in the lunchbox to keep the texture a little bit. It's very difficult, like you said, having cooled down pasta and then reusing it again

without it getting crispy, isn't it? So also it's a really good one. Yeah. Also, such a good ingredient. I love it. Do you know which ingredient I'm also obsessed with giant cuscus? Yeah, you said that. That was your wreck, wasn't it? I'm really into it. Just to recommend it one more time. It did this salad on the weekend. I did like lots of salads. I did like a pizza for catcher bread. It was so good. But I did lots of salads and things anyways. And one of them was giant cuskis with a wild rocket, pasto, lentils, peas. So yeah. Love it. Delicious. Oh, I'm so inspired. Keep going. It might add it to my salads this weekend. Do. Okay. And what are we doing with our nuts and seeds? Fridge, not fridge? In the fridge, because they're rich in the unsaturated fats and they are prone to oxidation. So it's the

omega-3 healthy fats, you know, it's like we also have to keep olive oil in a dark glass jar out of direct sunlight. You know, these omega-3s aren't very stable and we've got to really, really help to preserve the benefits. Now, this is a very woo-hoo-y type thing to say, I'll keep all your nuts in the fridge. You don't have to. still have a nut jar that I keep in the cupboard airtight and it's in a dark space and that is fine for me. But you can lose the flavor over time and some of the nutritional qualities. It depends how frequently you consume the nuts and how much space you have in your fridge. But you know, if you buy nuts in larger quantities, you know, like cheer seeds, hemp seeds, pine nuts, that sort of thing,

pecans, particularly in the warmer months, I would keep the almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios out of the fridge because they do last a bit longer and they can stay a bit more stable and pop the rest of them in the fridge. Just make sure the containers are airtight. All of you will notice that they go soft as well. There's all of that aspect, but it really is about keeping the amygothory content. It's more important in packets of things that have already been ground down to keep them in the fridge because you've already destroyed the cell wall of the plant.

So the next question we've got is from Laura. Thank you for the lovely well wishes there, Laura. and I also want to say thank you both for such a brilliant podcast. I'm an OG listener, yay! And it's become a real favourite of mine. Such a gentle and refreshing reminder of the bigger wellness picture and it's genuinely shifted the way I think about well-being for both myself and my family.

She's got a question about milk for teenagers. So cow's milk. Something I never imagined I'd still be pondering. Now my children are in their teens. A friend recently mentioned that she had been advised that under 18 should ideally drink full fat milk. and perhaps even have a daily multi-drink such as Ovalteen to support bone health. I have two teenage girls and at home we tend to drink a mixture of skimmed cow's milk and fortified

oat milk. The oat milk we buy most often is mama immunity because it contains a little iron too, which can feel like a really helpus bonus for teenage girls. I completely agree with you there. I'm now wondering whether I should be switching back to full fat cow's milk. I've also been really interested to know whether drinks such as Oval Dillard's milk, genuinely offer additional benefits for bone health, or if that's more of a traditional recommendation than an evidence-based one.

She wants to know our thoughts on this, Ella. Thank you both for our wisdom. Our wisdom, I mean, it's lovely to be called wise, Ella, warmth and balance that we bring to the podcast from Laura. Now, Ella, let's touch very quickly, first of all, on what Ovaltine is in Horlicks, because when I grew up, I was obsessed with the diet horlox. Interesting. I've never tried it. I will tell you that full fat milk is having a moment. Yeah, a comeback. For example, Tesco have said that they sold more than three million extra liters in 2025 of full fat milk than it did two years previous to that. So it was obviously a rise of more than 100%. I did a feature in it in the eye paper at the weekend.

Yeah, it's everywhere. It's really interesting. Actually, really, really, before we get into this question, can you just break? down like are you a fan of that? Like what would you recommend? Let's just say to adults, you know, they like milk in their coffee, on their cereal, you know, not assuming drinking like buckets of the stuff, but you're using as I said, like coffee and cereal. What would you recommend for the average healthy adult? Well, first of all, I want to say there isn't a recommendation that all under 18 should be drinking full fat at all. In fact, from the age of two, it's recommended we don't go full fat and we reduce that because over our life. course, we do accumulate from saturated fat consumption and cow's milk is a contributed to that just

as much as butter and cheese and yoghuts and things, although they all act slightly differently within our body, but they contribute to the furring of our arteries. So the build up a plaque and heart disease and it creeps up and you can have a healthy appearance of a body and not know how much plaque we have inside. So it's just one thing to bear in mind that we really need to be aware of that message that once over two if your child is growing well. Now, I think this is stemmed. You know, our underlying tree of stem of truth that seems to happen with all these things and myths is that teenagers do need plenty of calcium, iodine and protein. They are a very forgotten group teenagers. They don't get a lot of press and it's very difficult for them and especially gulls with iron

deficiency too. But there are actually other foods I would suggest overgoing for cows milk consumption. I don't personally, on an ethical and sustainability standpoint, think it's one of the best sources for teenagers. But they do need to aim for more than the 700 milligrams a day of calciumella. It goes up to 1,000 for teenagers. And vitamin D is very important in the autumn and winter months. Weight-bearing exercise should be starting. And I remember at school, it was a time when I did not want to go near the PE field. And I definitely did not do any weight-bearing exercise.

I wish that I had been told them. But the fortified milks are a really good alternative too with calcium and iodine and vitamin D. So my answer is I'm actually more wary of advertising full-fat drinks in particular like this as we are aging because this is going to sound, but it is the truth, is that we have more of an overweight population risk than we do a healthy weight population at the moment in the UK. And full-fat drinks don't help in that manner either.

Now I understand that this is also stemming from a UPF conversation. So this could also be coming from a fear of processed foods. There are many branches to this tree as to where it could go. So if you are a healthy adult, you want to drink cow's milk, you would recommend skimmed or semi-skimmed? I would probably recommend semi-skimmed, yeah, absolutely. If you're having it just as a dash in your cup of tea or you're having it with cereal in the morning or... Frothy for your coffee kind of situation. Yeah, or a fortified alternative.

But we definitely don't need to be increasing that particular food group at that point in our life. We get enough of it already. It's confusing though, isn't it? Because there is such a big return to like full fat, everything. Yeah, I think that is the UPF industry though. I think it's because we've cottoned on to the fact that when you take the fat out, the taste changes because fat tastes good. And then things are pumped with extra stuff. But milk isn't an example of that.

You don't get artificial sweeteners. and flavors added to cow's milk. So it's in a class of its own in the fat content variety. Okay, quickly. And as I said, I've never even tried Horlix. I'm so not the expert here. Just remind us, what is Oval Team? What is Horlex? Do we need them? Do we not need them? What's the deal? Yeah, no, it's a really good question. Do you know what? They taste absolutely blemer delicious, but they're very high in sugar, Ella. It's like malt. You know, imagine the middle of a Maltesea. Oh, yeah. You know that malty bit. That's what you're drinking. Ah, melted Maltese. Yum.

I mean, yeah, very yummy. But I think they're always marketed because of the fortification. Again, you know, like you always use the example in cereals that they help support a family's health. It's not a magic bone drinking, bone building drink rather, because you can get those minerals, like I said, from other places without the need for a malt to drink. But look, if you enjoy it, it's just like I have my daily hot chocolate still even in the heat with my 70 plus 80% dark chocolates. Do you still have it hot when it's hot? In the evenings, I will still have at the end of the day, sometimes my dark hot chocolate. I'm just an all-round, not when we've had 37 degrees, but most of the days.

Don't panic. I'm not that weird, but I'm still a bit odd. But I do love a malted drink. So no, they're not a panacea. They are very full of sugar, but every now and again, just enjoy it. Love it. Okay, that actually your evening hot chocolate leads us on beautifully to our next question, which comes from Magda.

Rie, Magda has heard you say. that ideally we have three hours between our dinner and going to bed. So her question is, does this mean your last buy of food should ideally be three hours before bed or do you mean just your full evening meal? I have dinner around 637, go to red around 10, but I don't actually finish eating with dark chocolate, et cetera, after dinner until about nine. I actually wondered the same thing last night, Magda, because we normally eat as a family. So I eat dinner quite early, like someone actually said that on Instagram the other day,

so like post supper sometimes and she's like, why do you eat? so early because I do eat at like six but then often I, after I put the kids to bed, I come down and like a little chocolate, you know, a little like, no, it's not a meal, it's like a little snacky situation. And I wondered the exact same thing what you would say about that. So re, enlighten us. Okay, I'll do the science in a second, but it's so interesting you say that because I'm the same, early dinner when I'm able to. Now I know that's something most of us working and commuting home can't do actually. And I notice a difference if I go out to a restaurant, the evening, which is very rare these days, but when I do, I do struggle when I

passed 7pm and most people have dinner at 8, 8.30. So this was all brought about by the science of supporting your circadia rhythm of your gut bugs and our digestive system and what it needs to do to be able to get a good head start of the process and to help us have a good night's sleep. So two to three hours before bed between your last substantial meal is ideal. And actually, snacking should also technically stop. So emerging research, and this is from Professor Sarah Berry, I've interviewed her many times on this particular piece of research.

And it does suggest that we're a nation of snackers in the UK. We know this. And I've always said that's not bad. It's just what you're snacking on. However, the timing will make a real difference to our night's sleep and our gut bacteria because they have their own rhythms that they need to be abiding by and our blood sugar response. So the last meaningful intake of food, that's what you need to remember, is the two to three hours.

And then if you're having a large bowl of cereal toast or a snack at 9 p.m. before a 10 p.m. bedtime, that's not ideal. A tiny square of dark chocolate is nothing to lose sleepover. I think that's totally okay. I'm talking about having something that takes your digestive system a lot more work to break down. But ideally, like Ella's said, aim to finish the main meal within that two to three hour window. and if you do want to snack, try and move the main meal forwards, and then you've got something to look forward to to enjoy, and you can finish that by 9pm. Sarah always says in the research, 9pm is quite a nice time.

I know everyone's lives are different, just putting it out there. You go to Europe, you go on a holiday, everyone's still eating at 9, 10pm. It's a very different way of life. And there's a lot of studies here I wanted to quote as well, because research that's still ongoing on chrono-nutrition by a science, Pandas, 2024, if you look it up everywhere. If you ever see the word panda and you're looking at time restricted eating, that is what you remember in your head. It's one of the key scientists that always looks into this particular area, looking at our tolerance to eating later with our blood sugar levels.

And there's lots of research on time restricted eating. And then the Zoe predict research that Sarah Berry led and started with the predict research in 2020 did really show that the fat responses. and how we store fat, our progenial responses to food, are so heavily impacted by the time that we eat as well and our metabolic responses. So the research really does support this, Ella, in trying to limit heavier meals before bedtime. Yeah, and look, guys, if you're going on holiday this summer,

like enjoy it, don't stress. This is about, like, Monday night at home, you know, day-to-day habits. This is not about your, like, big summer holiday where it's so exciting, not at all. but also nice to know you can enjoy our little little bit of dark chocolate, no problems at all. In Europe they eat very differently. They often actually go for a walk after dinner.

It's so hot that the reason they go to bed later sometimes it's a different way of life and actually a walk post meal is a really good way to bring your blood sugar levels down and also help that digestive process. Whereas here in the UK, I mean we're sat on the sofa and then we don't move and then we go to bed. And that's also a different way of life.

So yeah, don't panic about that little square of dark chocolate. Ella, we have a question now from French. Hi. Hi, I'm obsessed with your podcast. Never start. Midbritens my whole week. No plans to stop. Don't worry. Fair. Your question is, are oats really as bad as everyone on social media says they are? Can you believe we live in a world? I can't believe we get questions like this. Fair, it's such a valid question. I just can't believe how weird the wellness industry is that this is a question in a way. Context I keep hearing on social media, we shouldn't be eating oats as they increase your glucose levels and can cause acne. I'm currently recovering from hypothalmic amore. am anorea and I have been suffering with hormonal acne for years. I enjoy eating porridge and oaty snacks every day and they're an absolute staple. However, I'm starting to get worried as everything I'm hearing online says this might be making my acne worse. So many questions in there, friends, absolutely fantastic. I think, re, can we section it out as like one, you know, are oats bad in terms of glucose levels? Two, then the link between glucose levels and acne,

because I think that's an interesting question. And then obviously, see just a touch on hypothalmic amaranamorea potentially. Oh, it's another one of those foods. You know, we had our Empower Monday when we said, you know, let's stop fearing fruit. Let's stop fearing oats. They are not bad for us. I really strongly dislike this myth that has circulated online massively. They are one of the most cost-effective foods, most extensively researched whole grains that we

have access to rich in fiber, particularly the healthy beta-glucin, which is. is known and researched with loads of robust trials to support our heart health, help lower cholesterol. But I do think it's how you make oats as well, which is where the blood sugar link does come from, where a lot of people are scared of them because of blood sugar spikes. And, you know, every carbohydrate food will give you a glucose spike. It depends on how much and when you consume it and what you're eating it with. So, you know, a bowl of porridge. Let's go back to lovely porridge conversations here made with milk or plant and topped of nuts and seeds and different proteins and flax seed or whatever you want to chuck in at your fruit will actually sustain

you for a lot longer than just a bowl of cereal with milk because you're getting extra fibre and protein and protein and fibre and just milk and oats alone together which lots of people don't realise but then we all react as individuals differently to foods. You know there's There's lots of research that Professor Tim Specter looked at with his twin studies that showed that one twin, even though they're genetically identical, would have a different blood sugar response to eating a handful of grapes to their respective twin. So we have to remember that. So ultimately, don't fare the oats, but there is zero link when it comes to the acne there with this particular food group. Acne is very problematic, I would say, with food and messaging, and it's very confusing. And when you're in it, you're just absolutely desperate.

I've been there myself recently with what I thought was acne on my chin. And then I actually got it checked and it was something else. And it's really interesting because there's lots of face mapping myths and equations. And generally, the science is that foods that are considered with a lower glycemic index, So with a slightly slower blood sugar response would be better for our skin long term. And oats count. But then there's a hierarchy of oats. And I don't want to nitpick because you've mentioned you have hyperfarmic ameneria.

So Ella, shall I touch on that next? Because I do feel like that's a really important personal perspective to this question. Well, we can't offer one-to-one advice. I think that does impact how we answer the question. 100%. I think it would just be to add to it to say, again, this is we just, see so many examples of the same kind of concept, which is that something has stemmed from a stem of truth. Like there is acne as a very complicated topic, but there is a link between very,

very high, kind of consistent glucose spikes and your skin health, right? But oats aren't causing that. Like that's a diet based off of like just dairy milk that we're talking about here, right, Rhee? Yeah, 100%. And I honestly, actually with the oats as well, there's also, confusion around pesticide use, you know, glycophosphates that I believe are the one that are linked. There's just so much fear that spreads from these tiny strains of truth and it becomes all-consuming and overwhelming. And ultimately, you know, if you are not experiencing a period, one of the biggest things that we need to do is look at your energy intake and have a think about foods that support your body. Oats will support your heart, your gut. Your gut microbes love them.

You know, if you really want to go posh on the oats, you can go for the ones that aren't cut down. You get the nice organic whole rolled oats and really get bougie with your porridge. I think Ella had a tip of soaking them the night before to speed up time in the morning. And I really would just love to see you embrace food as part of the recovery. But the fear-based social media, it might be a good idea throughout your journey to block social media with a brick like Ella has, actually, I would say, and really focus on the nourishment and what you can add in, not what you can take out.

Yeah, I totally agree with that because it gets so overwhelming. And as I said, I think the key thing to get across here is like it's not, the information generally that we see comes from somewhere, so you're not kind of wrong

to be therefore confused by it. It's just that it's so out of context. Like most foods will cause a gentle rise in your blood sugar and your glucose response. You know, most vaguely healthy foods not going to cause this crazy crash and spike, which is where the problems over time, not in isolation, but over time come from. And it's just so much more nuanced than I think you

ever get across in a kind of quick story on Instagram essentially. And this is where disorder eating and eating disorders stem from. And I've actually got a voice note here from one of the wonderful dietitians in the nutrition clinic who specializes in this area because hyperfarmacumacuminaurea it's something we actually do need to take very seriously, you know, a loss of a period. And if that's a side effect as well, just a little red flag for anyone that might be listening just to get some extra support with your psychology and nutrition. So I'll let them take you over from there. They are also helping me with the food freedom journey on Retrition Plus because this is

more common than people realise. Hi, Freya, Lisa, a dietitian at the Retrition Clinic here. The short answer is, no, there isn't good evidence. that oats are inherently bad for your skin or that eating porridge or oats every day can cause acne. So much of the content on social media takes a tiny piece of science and then blows it completely out of proportion. One of the claims you'll hear is that oats cause a spike in blood glucose, which then increases insulin and leads to acne. The reality is much more nuanced. Oats are whole grain and naturally rich in fibre, particularly a type of soluble fiber called beta-gluken.

This fibre helps to slow digestion and regular oak consumption has been shown. to support blood glucose control and heart health, which is why oats are recommended in dietary guidelines all around the world. It's always worth mentioning that it's usually the overall pattern of diet that matters much more than any single ingredient. The other thing I'd say is that context really matters. So you mentioned that you're recovering from hypothalmic aminuria and experiencing hormonal acne. Firstly, well done on your recovery. Hormonal acne during H.A. recovery is actually quite common. And this is because your hormones are changing as your body restores its normal function. So those hormone shifts are much more likely to be influencing your skin than your

morning bowl of porridge. One thing we really want to avoid in H.A. recovery is unnecessarily cutting out nourishing foods because of any fear that we might have seen on social media. Oats provide carbohydrates, fibre and important vitamins and minerals. And carbs are essential for supporting energy availability and reproductive hormone recovery. So unless you've noticed a very clear, consistent reaction or response to oats themselves, there's no reason to remove them due to worries about acne. If your acne is persistent, painful or scarring, it's worth speaking to your GP or a dermatologist because there are effective treatments available. But the take-on message is don't let fear-based nutrition advice on social media convince you that nutritious whole grain like oats is the enemy.

Oates are healthy and can absolutely be part of a balanced diet, including during HHA recovery. If you enjoy your porridge every morning, you can keep enjoying it without guilt. So thank you so, so much for that. I think it's always so important to just have different experts when we can contribute to the wellness group. We're not here to replace medical advice, Sarah and I. We're not here to give one-to-one advice. We're just here to discuss topics and hopefully support you and make it empowering again. So from this episode, Ella, I've really taken away today that once again, we want to be thinking

on what we can add in, not what we can take out. And it really is that there's so many, like you said, branches that come and stem in different shapes and forms. And that's why we're here to cut through the noise. That's exactly right. Guys, we will see you back here on Monday. Thank you, as always for listening and have a fantastic day.