The Wellness Scoop - How to Beat a Cold & The World’s Healthiest Diet

Episode Date: October 20, 2025

This week we’re breaking down the science behind staying well as cold and flu season hits, from what actually helps you recover faster to why balance, not “boosting,” is the secret to a strong immune system. We dig into new research on the planetary health diet, the flexible, plant-rich way of eating that could save 40,000 lives a day, and ask whether it could be the key to both personal and planetary health. Plus, we look at the growing call for caution on supplements, why doctors say we’re taking too many pills and what to focus on instead, and separate fact from fiction in the online debate about rapeseed oil. Pre order Rhi's new book, The Fibre Formula: ⁠⁠⁠https://geni.us/TheFibreFormula Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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It practically wraps itself. And I know I should be giving them away, but I'm keeping the summer. Fridays and Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez. I don't blame you. The best holiday beauty sets are only at Sephora. Give sets from Summer Fridays, Rare Beauty, Way and more are going fast. Get full-sized favorites and must-have minis bundled for more value. Shop before they're gone, in store online at Sephora.ca.

Welcome to the Wellness Scoop, your weekly dose of health and wellness inspiration. And as always we are here as your host. I'm Ella Mills. And I'm Rihanna Lambert, and after a decade in the wellness industry, we know how overwhelming and confusing health advice can be. And that's why we created this podcast to cut through the noise and make healthier living, simple, fun and personal. Well, welcome, everyone.

Happy Monday. If you're listening when this comes out, we are thrilled, as always to be here today. We had such amazing feedback, again, still coming through on our episode on EZMPIC and weight loss drugs. So thank you again so much for listening. It feels like these Q&As, those weekly episodes are really cutting through and making such a big difference.

So reminder, if you want us to talk about any headline, any question, any trend, anything at all, please comment on Apple or on iTunes, podcast, or just send it straight to me, Ella at deliciousiella.com. We love hearing from you guys. We really do love hearing from everyone. It just picks my mood up, Ella, you know, because sometimes you have difficult weeks and you can be so busy and it really does help, doesn't it, to have the wellness keep, guys. So Ella, what do we have coming up in today's show?

Okay, we're going to be talking about the diet that could save 40,000 lives a day. Should we be worried about all the supplements that we're taking? Is there such a thing as too many supplements? What actually works for beating a cold as we head into cold and blue season? The truth about immune boosting routines and winter wellness and why supermarket fearmongering just will not go away. So Ella, it has been a crazy busy week. What have you been up to? What have I been up to? There's been so much going on. I almost can't really remember us and it's a blur.

Birthday parties. Yeah, a birthday party. We had Elsa from Frozen. Do you know I used to do those gigs in the summer holidays? Did you? I used to dress up as Elsa in a wig and sing Let It Go. Oh my gosh. It was so fun. She turned five, our youngest daughter. And so it was like all her little pals from reception. And they, had the best time with Elsa. It was so sweet and I think we obviously had this like idealized view of moves to the country but then we had her godmother there and her children and her cousins and some of her new friends from school and they were running around the garden and afterwards and that we had a bouncy castle and it was just heaven and very kind of validating that we made the right decision. Please. We also did a great event in the John Lewis one of the John Lewis shops to celebrate the new collaboration and there's over 60 products in the delicious yet.

a journalist collaboration. And the thing I was fixated on when I first started speaking to them two years ago is, as probably anyone who's ever heard me talk before knows, I'm obsessed with batch cooking. It's really my like inner granny, an old lady coming out maybe right there. But I just find we were talking about it before we started recording, like our intentions to eat well are high. But the amount of food noise around us in terms of just how many not particularly healthy foods are literally inundated in your face all day, every day. It's not easy. And then you throw in emotional stress, overwhelm, exhaustion and making healthy choices,

it's just not straightforward. Whereas when I've batch cooked and I get home at the end of the day and I have something delicious that's ready to go, it just makes all the difference. And so I wanted nice freezer storage, basically, long story short, instead of freezer bags, obviously for plastic and in sustainability, microplastic issue, but also just so I understood what I actually had. We did these silicon freezer storage and all the products they're our best seller. Amazing Ella! So everyone has an inner old lady coming out. But do you know what? I think that times are changing and the batch cooking lady is becoming the young lady too. Yeah, we're all in it

together guys. We're all in it. Anyway, I was just absolutely thrilled of everything. That's our number one bestseller. It's a shift. It's a shift, isn't it? Things are changing. What about were you, It was crazy. I don't think I recapped on what happened in France because I sat on this amazing panel with the heads of the scientific community from this very large food company and everybody had flown in. People from Singapore were there. I met other nutritionists and dietitians from Brazil who came over to say hello to me after I'd done my speech. It was the most overwhelming day. But what we were learning about was the impact that AI is now having on the gut microbiome. And there's a new lab that's opened in Paris called the One Biome Lab by Donon. And they

have leading research in the world. I mean, Donon even own certain strains of bacteria. So the discovery of acumencia, this one strain of gut bugs that comes out almost like a garbage truck at the end of the day and clears away the bad and keeps the good. And they're going to be adding that to probably products later on. I met and was sat next to Wilhelm who discovered Accamensia. For me, as a nutritionist, it was a very geeky moment. I was sat next to this guy that discovered a gut strain and Andrea on my panel works in the Singapore lab and they're looking at AI twins. So this could change the face of not just gut health but also cancer research because if we are able to use laboratories to create identical microbiomes of ourselves or versions of

ourselves in testing, it means that research can go to the next level. We don't have to use human participation. And this also could stem a lot further, because I also attended an event with Eatwell Global last week on AI and the nutrition industry, on animal testing, on makeup products, for instance. Why are we still testing on animals in 2025? And with AI technology, we can basically help the environment, help research. I'm very passionate about it. I learn a lot. It's really exciting. I think also there's so much nervousness around AI and so having these like positive stories is also lovely. The only positive thing I can think of, but I really like it.

I feel like we all need positivity at the moment. When I look at people's questions and comments, there is so much of, I've lost my motivation now that it's dark and cold and I feel you. I think we all do, so we're going to try and make this really positive. We are. One positive thing everybody can do to feel better is donate any cereal boxes, cans you've got to your food banks. This is the time of year where we're all collecting.

It's kind of harvest time. pop down to your local supermarket, they often have food bank charities there and any cans that you've got, beans, pulses, lentils, anything, take it to your food bank, it's like a feel-good deed. We did it yesterday for the Harvest Festival, the kids' school. Did you see that cereal box run that that school did that's going viral? Yeah, so fun. They create like a domino effect of cereals going through the school.

Okay, right, the health headlines that matter. So if you're new here, this is the section where we break down the biggest health story, that are making news, the things you guys have read about might be wondering how it fits into your life. And Rhee, on the agenda this week, we have got something huge, which is a new planetary health diet that could save 40,000 lives a day across the world. So this is a new landmark report that has just come out and it's huge. We mentioned it briefly last week and said we would do a deep dive this week. So here we go. Here we go, everybody. It is absolutely imperative that we have research that shows us how to support our changing world. Now, I can't.

be the only one that feels a bit of climate anxiety. I think that's definitely a thing. We cannot deny the fact of global warming, although I know there are people that deny that out there. But the research was produced by 70 leading experts from 35 countries and six continents. And it builds on the Eat Lancet report that I actually used extensively to write the science of plant-based nutrition encyclopedia. And that came out back in 2019. And what we have is a diet that support What's biodiversity for the world, tackles the climate crisis, and roughly a third of global greenhouse gas emissions you see are caused by deforestation, wildlife loss, water pollution, all because of our diets.

And research is really clear that unless we change the way we eat, we are not going to be helping the planet. It's not just down to China or America. It is everybody in how we see the world of food. And I think the important thing here is it's coupled with then how do we improve our health, obviously, as we've talked about a lot, we have a collective global crisis with our health as well in terms of what our diets look like. And that what the Lancet are doing here is in their second report following us reset, the one from 2019, is trying to find the planetary

health diet. So what is the diet that is healthiest for us as people and to prevent us from getting the kind of the most common diseases, but also extend our health spam, which is so important. And at same time support the planet and climate change. And I think the key thing here that came out from this report is the planetary health diet could, as we said, prevent around 40,000 early deaths every single day. I know. Which we're talking about is 280,000 deaths a week. So over quarter of a million deaths a week, a million deaths a month or so. I mean, these numbers are absolutely huge in terms of the effect you could have. But whilst doing that, it would also roughly half food-related climate emissions by 2050, which is really saying those accounts are such a

huge part of the total greenhouse gas emissions. So this is something that is so beneficial for everybody, everything, everything that lives on this world, essentially. And I think it's really extraordinary how they've bought all of these experts together from around the world to find what is the genuine solution. And I think we live in a world where we're always looking at problems, we're looking at the negatives, where it's like these are all the issues that we have. This is actual solution and to me we'll go more into what it means but it's like how on earth do we get people to adopt this or adopt it most of the time because it's pretty reasonable in what it asks of us I mean I thought it was in 2019 as well and I was really excited when that one came out and I

equally am for this as well because it all works as a big wheel everyone listening in cogs we discuss UPFs that is a reason our food environment's not great as well you know the amount of those that also has a knock on effect on the environment and what we're talking about here with the planetary diet as more whole foods. And actually what Professor Walter Willett, who is an absolute legend from Harvard, he was another co-chair. He describes it as it's not a deprivation diet.

And I think Ella's right with looking at positive things because often the media, like I said, with Nanny State, they pick up on anything like this that's actually positive and going to drive change and try and find a negative spin on it in order to draw attention to it because negative news spread six times faster than positive news. know that for a fact. So he said it's not a deprivation diet. This is something that could be

delicious, aspirational and healthy. It allows for cultural diversity and individual preferences, which provides flexibility. So once again, it leads back, Ella, doesn't it, to the same things we're discussing all the time, which is more fruit and veg, try and get at least five a day, whole grains, nuts, legumes. But the things that are different is that dairy is just one serving a day. So you choose between having your yogurt or your cheese or your milk. And what's interesting is that actually goes against current advice we have in the UK for children, which says three servings a day. And I think we need to re-address these because they're very outdated. Eggs three to four per week.

Chicken, two portions a week. Fish, two portions a week. Red meat once a week, which is what I've always said to my clients. So basically around three portions of animal produce a week. Most people are consuming three a day. And Rui, you noted at the top, obviously it includes fruit, veg, whole grains, nuts, legumes. But interestingly, as you said, chicken, for example, they're saying two portions a week, fish, two portions a week. Legumes, so that's your chickpeas, butter beans, black beans, lentils, etc.

One portion a day. I know. Which is very different. Because it's protein and fibre. Exactly. Nuts, one portion a day as well. Whole grains, three to four. portions a day, fruit and veg, at least five portions a day. So this is just a kind of re-tipping.

What it's not saying is you must become vegetarian or you must become a vegan or you must never do X, Y, or Z again. But what it's saying is we need to re-address the balance. And I think interestingly, what it also showed is that people in the US and Canada eat seven times the red meat allowance that this is proposing, which is the one portion a week, as you said, Re, in Europe and Latin America, we eat five times more and in China four times more. if we all shifted closer to the levels that are recommending the one portion a week. So, for example, in Europe, we cut down by a huge amount because we're eating five times too much, alongside introducing more sustainable farming and cutting down on food waste.

The reminder of food waste was a country. It would have the same global greenhouse gas emissions from food as China. It's a really big problem. But emissions would then cut by half by 2050. So it's in our power. And I think this is a bit that I just find so interesting. It's like the other co-chair of the commission professor Johann Rockstrom. said what we put on our plates can save millions of life, cut billions of tons of emissions,

half the loss of biodiversity and create a fairer food system, which is obviously very important. The evidence is undeniable. Transforming food systems is not only possible. It's essential securing a safe, just and sustainable future for all. And I read it and I feel this just like burning passion to be like, let's do this. It's not, I don't want to say it's not that hard because as we know there are financial implications that economic issues. We know how difficult the food environment is. But it's not a diet in the sense of the word diet like Atkins diet, Dukin diet, keto diet, these bad diets with dogmatic strict rules. This is a gentle guideline for the rest of your life on how to support the planet and your health in a way that benefits you and everybody

else, which I think is like a very reasonable way to meet people. I remember being so excited in 2019 thinking my book's going to change the world, a science and plant-based nutrition. And then I just felt like the government didn't even listen to the E-Lanser report. I agree. I remember when that report came out in 2019, and I thought this will change the world as well. I remember thinking, right, this is from the Lancet, like the kind of most respected,

or one of the most respected medical journals, from some of the most respected professors, researchers, scientists from some of the most respected institutions all around the world. And they're coming together saying, look, guys, this is a reasonable request. And yet it literally feels like nothing's ever landed on deaf ears more. And I can't quite figure out to some extent why. Is it money?

Is it animal agriculture industry that isn't driving or obviously not wanting this change? Because we have to remember the food poverty aspect as well. This has to come from government because currently at the moment, the wealthiest 30% of the world's population generate more than 70% of the food-related environmental damage. So just take that in for a second. and then 2.8 billion people can't afford a healthy diet and one billion are undernourished. Exactly.

Despite, and I think this is a really important thing to take in and this whole point of how do we create a system that works for everybody despite the fact that there is enough food being produced globally for everyone. And I think that's a really, really important point. They're also quick in this report to point out that the food system that we have as a global issue is failing as we know about 1 billion people live with obesity now. then the economic cost of poor diets and environmental harm is estimated at $15 trillion, trillion, not billion, trillion dollars a year.

And transforming, I think this is important as well, transforming the system would require $200 to $500 billion annually. So it's an expensive thing to do, but it would save about $5 trillion in the long term and obviously prevent those millions and millions of deaths. I can't even work out how many zeros are in trillion. That is just awful to think. It's just so overwhelming, isn't it? Yeah, so unsurprisingly, obviously when this report came out, it called for wide-scale policy reform to address all these imbalances. The thing that I would say is that we obviously every week sit here and we look at like what are the headlines, what are our listeners seeing and might feel like they won't cleared up or have clarity from, how do we kind of cut through the click pay and create actionable change for people?

I didn't really see anything on this. I was going to say. I don't think it had any pick up whatsoever. I don't think it had any major headlines this time around. Whereas in 2019 it did. I literally didn't see anything. How disappointing that it's not even Joe's killer bar got way more traction than this humongous, amazing research that came out from the Lancet. It's such a good point on that.

And in terms of our desire to create kind of negative clickbait, you know, there's a headline it read yesterday. And it was like, Joe Wick saved us in lockdown, can we trust him now? It's just all this kind of quite like stirring the pot, quite clickbaity, actually. the article wasn't negative, but the click-baitie headline is obviously inherently negative and wanting you to click on it to see, can you trust him? I even saw AI generated images of it. Oh my gosh. And then you have this, which is like, okay, guys, this is how we save lives, how we support the planet and how we totally transform our collective health in a way

that feels like a reasonable shift for the long run and it gets no attention whatsoever. Well, I've got something positive to bring to the table. So my friend and colleague, Rosie, Rosie Martin, she is the most incredible dietitian and she was there at Stockholm. She said there were even discos at the end. They were really trying to get the mood of all the participants up that were there on the day to say we can make change. When they launched the report. When they launched it, she was there for several days to hear all of the information and I've got a voice note from her recapping her experience. This month we saw the release of the 2025 Eat Lancet Commission update launched in Stockholm and reported on around

the world. It builds on the landmark 2019 report, which asked a really important question. How can we feed 10 billion people a healthy diet by 2050 without destroying the Earth's systems that sustain us? Because what many people don't know is that our food system is now the biggest driver of environmental damage, and it's responsible for about 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions. But the good news is that by changing what we eat, we could cut those missions in half, protect the planet's land, waters and biodiversity, and prevent up to 15 million premature deaths every year. The report sets out what's called the planetary health diet, a flexible, mostly plant-based

way of eating that looks different around the world depending on things like culture and cuisine. It's shown as a circle, kind of like a plate, divided into proportions representing each food group. Behind this update were 70 experts from six different continents who reviewed new evidence across health, climate, biodiversity and also justice. So it included things like fair pay for food workers and also making healthy food affordable for everyone. And wherever you look, the pattern seems to be the same. We're not eating enough fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts or whole grains and we're actually eating far too much meat, dairy, sugar and

relying too heavily on ultra-processed foods. So the message from the report is simple. To protect both human and planetary health, our diets need to become mainly plant-based, with optional, moderate amounts of animal foods and less added sugar, salt and saturated fat. At the launch in Stockholm, I guess what struck me most was this feeling of urgency, but also a feeling of hope. So the way that we've eaten for the past 50 years won't continue. Either we actively change the food system for the better, or we do nothing, and nature will unfortunately change it for the worst, putting food security at risk worldwide. The hopeful part is that the window for change is still open, but we need to move fast and we need to work together. So governments, producers,

educators, and all of us who make choices every day about what we put on our plate. The 2019 report faced a lot of industry pushback, but the evidence is robust and since then it's actually only become stronger, a global shift towards plant-rich diets, alongside less waste and more efficient food production, is essential if we want a healthy and livable future. And the key message from Stockholm was that we all have a role to play in creating a food future that allows both people and the planet to thrive. Honestly, Rosie, thank you so, so much for sharing that and obviously in such a concise way because we really can make a change. And I think we should all, wellness scoopers, everybody listening to this podcast,

let's spread this news, try and really take note that you can still enjoy your favorite foods and items. But what about those, that one can of beans a day? It's like I say in the Fiber Formula book, it is just one extra portion a day of beans and making small swaps. A hundred percent. So we could include in the show notes if it's helpful what the specific recommendations are. But as we said, it's basically less meat, less dairy products, more legumes, more whole grains, more nuts, more fruit and veg. Which will save your fortune in your shopping basket every week. Yeah. And you'll be one of the 4% of people in the country who get their fiber

recommendations. So you will be winning all around. This podcast is sponsored by Talkspace. You know when you're really stressed or not feeling so great about your life or about yourself, talking to someone who understands can really help. But who is that person? How do you find them? Where do you even start? Talkspace. Talk space makes it easy to get the support you need.

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space 80 when you go to talkspace.com. Match with a licensed therapist today at talkspace.com. Save $80 with code space 80 at talkspace.com. Okay, the next headline is, I don't know why it really made me laugh. Refound it. I was so excited when I saw it because it kind of justifies everything I've always said. It does. And look, we've talked about this a lot and I thought it was really interesting. It comes from the New York Times and the headline was a plea from doctors, cool it on the supplements. And obviously this was taken from the New York Times so it was doing it from an American perspective, but we've obviously got some stats from the UK that we've got as well. It said, as Americans take more gummies, pills and powders than ever, physicians are trying to convince

patients to be a little bit more careful at a time with supplement uses at record levels with well over half of US adults taking at least one a day. Doctors are sounding the alarm about the risks of overuse, interactions and poor regulation. Now I looked it up and about half of UK adults also take supplements on a regular, if not daily basis. So it's essentially the same landscape here. And globally, the dietary supplement market, again, a few different figures, but this was, I felt the most accurate, was valued about $192 billion in 2024 projected to reach just over $400 billion by 2033. So this is a booming industry. If I could whistle, I would like, I wanted to do it. I was like, I can't whistle. Yeah. I was like, woo-woo. Yeah, I was like,

yeah, I wonder at listeners, like, nod long or put a thumbs up. Like, do you take a supplement day? But then I guess it's tricky, isn't it? Because like, if you were a vegan, you want to be taking your B-12. It's winter, so we kind of want you all to be taking your vitamin D. That's different. If you don't eat lots of oily fish, then you want to be taking your omega-3. So, not really talking about those like collagenes, creatines, gummies, herbal ashergandas.

Do you know what? I was with, Malties. I was with some on the weekend. They were like, yeah, there's a place near us and they were selling

a hot chocolate, like a collagen hot chocolate for seven pounds. Do you think it works? I was like, you know what? If it gives you a break for a moment,

then that works. But for seven pounds, that hot chocolate is not going to transform your life. I was telling Ella, because Ella, a very kindly got me a lovely matcher before. We were having a little chat on the way to the podcast.

I said, oh, my mum popped in at the weekend. And she sat down next to me. And she said, I just don't understand why everyone's taking all these packets of powder. And I was like, what do you mean, mum? She was like, oh, you know, should I be taking collagen now? She goes, what even is it? And I was like, well, it's fish scales ground down into a powder every morning if you're going for the marine. Or it's cartilage from an animal.

She goes, what? people are adding that to their smoothies every morning. But I think we are so detached from what these powders are and where they come from, that even with limited evidence, it just is so unbelievably popular. It's exactly that. And that's exactly what this article was talking about in the New York Times. They're reporting that essentially supplement use has become nearly universal in lots of parts of society, from multivitamins to herbal remedies.

And doctors really remain very, very cautious, as you've heard I say, probably quite a lot of times. And clinicians are now often seeing patients. is taking very long lists of pills and powders with limited oversight. And obviously that leads to waste, but it also leads nutrient interactions which can cause harm. And I think it's very difficult. You're like, oh, sure, this is a lovely, well-marketed, branded packet that someone on Instagram told me will change my life.

But actually, it's not as simple as that. And essentially, it divides the guidance into three zones. When supplements make sense, B12, omega-3, vitamin D, that sort of thing, all go in there. When they're overhyped, collagen, probably go in there. MCT powders, green powders. And then other things which are risky, where they actually have interactions, particularly if you're in other drugs. Malties with vitamin A and all that stuff.

Exactly. And therefore how to approach them safely. And it was basically exploring this growing divide between consumer enthusiasm and this never-ending desire that we all have, myself included for a quick fix. And then the more, well, the actual evidence-based caution of medical professionals where they're saying either things don't work or this may interact with something and actually cause harm. I think I want to start with a little kind, empathetic note because my whole time in clinic for over a decade, I've always had people taking too many. And all of us are vulnerable. All of us just want good results. I think everybody just wants to feel better, right? So this isn't a judgment on anyone that takes them.

You know, it's so easy to fall into that marketing trap and to feel like this is going to change your life. And if it's a positive placebo and it's only one or two, okay, that's okay. But I have a real issue with it when it's on £100 a month subscription. That money could be going on all the extra food. Look at the stats we had before in the previous subject matter of the Eat Well report, you know, how many people are undernourished, billions living with obesity, all these problems that we have. And they're not a quick fix.

And I really have to reiterate, if we could just eat better, we wouldn't need half of it Unless, unless, like Ella said, I know this because when I first thought about launching Retrition Plus, I did it in lockdown. Which is some supplements that you were selling. Yeah, which is the supplements company I have. I only launched four products because I don't actually believe in any others. So I did a vegan multi because if you're vegan, you do need certain key nutrients, iodine, IMB12. Then I did vitamin D for babies and adults because we all need it in the northern hemisphere in the winter months and a pregnancy multi because when you're pregnant. pregnant, you need to have a multi. I didn't feel ethically comfortable releasing anything else

apart from an Amiga 3, but I couldn't afford to produce the quality I wanted to produce. And I did such a deep dive. I spent a year looking into and comparing with my team of dietitians, analysing, making spreadsheets, comparing every single multi on the market, looking at the quality of vitamin A, the type, the form they put in. I was horrified. All the extras, everything, and it's just a marketing money-making exercise for a lot. So unless you have a condition and you've been advised to by a health professional, I think we have to remember that toxicity and interactions do occur. And it's the long-term damage you don't see.

So a lot of the time, overuse of vitamin supplements, can actually shorten your lifespan, not elongate it, which I think is a fact that sounds quite scary, but it's true. Because if you've spent your whole life weakening some part of your body's natural response by overdoing it on a certain vitamin mineral. Remember, some of them are fat soluble vitamins, ADNK, stay in your body. You cannot excrete them and levels build over time. You can harm your liver. And it won't show up until you're in, if you started in your 20s, till your 50s.

And I think that's what's important to remember. It's so important. And likewise, like with antioxidant supplements, for example, there is no evidence at all out there that they have consistently prevented chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, dementia, that just, doesn't exist. In some studies, they've even like increased the risk of things when you take them in high dose. So we're not here. We said we're going to be positive. This isn't meant to be negative, Nancy. This is actually saying save your money and buy a can of beans. Yes. Do you know what? It really is because nutrients don't act in isolation. So whole foods provide those vitamins, the minerals, the fibre, the phytonutrients that work properly because inside your body, we have a food

matrix of foods. We're designed to digest. And also, we can't guarantee, even though we're we design supplements very carefully. You can't guarantee how much of that dose you're actually absorbing, which is why Public Health, England, at this country anyway, put recommended dosage amounts. I have seen people overdue vitamin D because they're buying mega doses of it in spray forms and they're not sticking to the advice. And unless you're deficient and you know you are, you don't need a high dose. You just need a top up every day, which is what the recommended 10 micrograms for vitamin D is for. And because there's no regulation, if you don't don't know what you're doing or you had a bad day and you accidentally read the label incorrectly,

which I have had clients do in my clinic and then they realized three months later they were massively overdoing their iron intake because of the spray they brought. You will have consequences, gut health issues, laxative-like effects as well and really physiological distress because excess iron or zinc can block other minerals from absorbing so then you become malnourished. And it's a vicious sort of cycle. For example, vitamin K with warfins, if you're on like medication or herbal compounds that can alter drug metabolism, you know, via certain enzymes, this is why clinicians emphasise evidence and context always over quantity, but I get still long lists of, well, I take this multi, then I take this supplement, and I take this and I mix this into my coffee every

morning, because I think we all just feel like if we're doing more, rather than, we must get more. We must get more. 100%. And I think it's also, you know, it's easier, isn't it? It's easier to stir. It's a tablespoon of something into your coffee. And I totally get it and I relate to it. And they taste good. Like all these artificial sweeteners that are pumped into them. You can get like blueberry-flavored ones in the morning

or you can make your coffee like a gingerbread latte. I completely relate to it and I completely understand it. As you said, really, there's no judgment. But I just think it's like, save your money. You know, tune out all that noise. I think that's really, really important. Actually, just to close on it. I think what I've really liked in this article,

they said, you know, before you take a supplement, ask yourself why are you taking it? Like, is there a clear deficiency? You're vegan, you never ever consume B12. Obviously a deficiency. You never consume oily fish deficiency. Take omega-3. You live in the enormous hemisphere in the winter. Take vitamin D.

For example. That's really different. Or is there a medical indication you have been to a doctor? They have suggested X, Y, or Z or a nutritionist to work with you on a specific issue, anemia, for example. so you're looking at iron. That's completely different. Or is it marketing influence? Like you're overwhelmed, you're stressed, you're looking for something to help you and you have seen someone you look up to, you aspire to be, etc. Tell you this will change your life and in which case

ignore it. That's really helpful advice. Yeah, let's try and again just be a bit more savvy to it because the winter is when it peaks, guys. This is when everyone will be telling you that they have the answer to get us through this difficult time of year. I really find it hard in the winter, Ella, I really do. I think we've got a few headlines on this next week, don't we? We do. We absolutely do. And we're going to move on Hesies. It's on perfectly to headline three. This headline came in the telegraph and it was how to be a cold fast and you can forget about vitamin C thinking of supplements. Yeah, which is nice, right? I saw loads of similar headlines, essentially how to be a cold, how to be colds this winter across the board. So we thought

it was perfect to pick up today. Obviously, every year we all ask the same question. How can we avoid getting sick or how can we be sick for less time? Pharmacies, etc. packed with immune boosting supplements and powders and all the rest of it. You can even go and get drips, etc. High-dose vitamin Cs around and we basically got endless gadgets, gizmos powder supplements promising to keep colds at bay. But what actually works, we've obviously got rehearse. So I thought, you know, really talk us through it. Like what actually helps keep? our immune system healthy this winter. Oh my goodness. If only it was that easy, honestly, I would so be there. I really hate that. Go back to school, September, bugs are going to fly

around situation. But the good news is the healthier you are on your diet, the more likely you are to ward them off, the colds will go faster. It's not that you won't get them. Just remember that. So the science is really clear here that, as we just said, you know, no single vitamin or supplement is going to stop you catching it. Vitamin C, the reason it's got all the hype is because it might shorten. It might a cold by 8%. So that's less than half a day on average. And lots of people may sell you zinc. And that may help a little bit if it's taken right at the start of the cold. But again, this science is inconsistent. And if you had too much of that, then you might get nausea or block the other mineral absorptions like copper and these little kind of micronutrients

that we need every single day. And the real difference is definitely nourishing your gut, because your gut bacteria, your microbes, train your immune cells, they help with the responses and managing stress and all the things I know we can't always do. I know, Ella, you've had a batch of rough sleep. I'm the same from last night. I was up twice in the night with my little one, but sleep really helps. And just one bad night, bad luck for us, Ella, but can reduce the activity of our natural killer cells, so that some of the white blood cells we have that respond to infections.

so our immune system's first response. And hydration is key to, you know, keeping all of our membranes really fluid in our nose. I actually put humidifiers in the bedroom. That's a tip. I don't know if you do that. But whenever my kids get a cold, I always put a humidifier on. And I try and get moisture in the mucus membranes in your nose and throat can help flush out the virus more effectively. That's it.

It's so underrated. But I find it harder to drink more water in the winter and it really helps. So vitamin D, if you're low in it, yes, it does play a role in your immune system. That's why we urge you to take it. You're more likely to fight off a cold. And I've written a few articles on this this week, the mail, the eye paper. And I've got a list of foods, Ella, that I think, you know, they do have a bit of hype because there's some science. Do you want to start us off with, I think, what's probably your favorite ingredient and mine?

Yeah, definitely. So I think essentially, as you're saying really, like, there's not a single thing that we can do. But there is a collection of things that we can do. so keep us in the kind of healthiest spot that we can so that the cold are a little bit milder, they're a little bit shorter, and essentially trying to have some active strategies in place to manage stress, trying to sleep as well as we can if possible. Because otherwise they linger, you know, there's always that person that has a cough for like two months, whereas it could have just been three weeks.

Exactly. Or a couple of days of not feeling great and then you're back on your feet. So stress, sleep, pillars. and then there are gut health is key. But then on top of general gut health, obviously your 30 plants a week, your 30 grams of fibre a day, which obviously we're all struggling with. But really that can of beans, guys, you've got to get it in. As we said, there are a few foods in particular where there is some science behind it, including garlic, which is such a great place to start because that is the easiest ingredient

to start including in your cooking. I was literally pressing loads of it into my recipe reel that I did it, the weekend, the meal prep one. I was like, oh my gosh, get all the garlic in, the salt. sauce. I'm obsessed. I chuck it in a tray and just roast it whole and squeeze it out. Oh my gosh. A whole roast of garlic. Wrap it in parchment paper, loads of bottle oil and salt. I got it on a tray just on its own on a little tray or like on a tray bake or something for about an hour. I would eat it on its own. Me too. But then Matt's always like you used toink.

But until it's kind of slightly caramelised and completely gooey and then you just leave for it to call for a minute and then squeeze it out. This is actually so gross. I don't even know why I'm saying it. But the French have it right. This is what they do. but it looks a bit like when you squeeze a spot like it does doesn't it yeah it kind of passes out but anyway it's so delicious and if you're doing like soups and things like that it does add a lot of flavor but interestingly which is not what we're talking about here but when it's chopped or crushed it's particularly good at releasing compounds like alison which have mild antimicrobial and antiviral properties which obviously is really positive for keeping those bugs at bay and including garlic regularly in soups fries, rose veggies, etc.

All those easy things we were just talking about can help support the body's normal defences. So, as we said, not a cure, nothing is a single. You don't need to eat it whole. I've seen people saying it's winter now. Eat raw garlic. Eat raw garlic, you know, and they break the clive, like, I do this every morning.

No, but good reason to add a little bit more of it. Like if you love garlic, add a bit more of it to your food and keep it going. It doesn't have to be raw, guys. You can cook it slightly. Please don't worry. I think a lot of the time, you know, the negatives of cooking and the process

versus actually having it is really overlooked. You need to just get it in. Let's go to citrus fruits, peppers, all that vitamin C we were talking about at the beginning. A barocca isn't the same, guys, as eating your fruit. I just want to reiterate that and your vegetables. Often you excrete the majority of the extra supplement, which is why your urine is like a luminous yellow.

So let's start with the fact that vitamin C shortens it. Like I said, and there is research to back that up or reduce the severity. But most of us are hitting the 40 milligrams, that are recommended every day of vitamin C. Oranges, Kiwis actually have more than oranges. Strawberries. Also, oranges also contain calcium. You know, let's just get more fruit and veg in.

Red peppers also provide those antioxidants that help our cells rejuvenate and protect them from oxidative stress. Because every single day our cells are under some sort of stress. And vitamin C just helps repair them. But you don't need to pop a fizzy pill and water to do that. Just eat another kiwi. No, exactly. And then three other things that can really help.

Berries and colourful vegetables for that exact same point. Just packed with your antioxidants, polyphenols, carotenoids. All of that helps your immune system to function normally. Reduce, oxygenation, oxidative stress when you're feeling run down, as you said, that's all so positive. On top of that, again, things that are good for your gut health. So any fermented food, kaffir, yogurt, kimchi, sauerkra, etc. That can be your one dairy a day if you just have your kaffir.

You know, like the Eat Well report said, one dairy a day. Exactly. And then you're getting your fermented food. foods in about 70% of our immune systems based in our gut. So that healthy gut microbiome is so important for a healthy immune system. So really, really doubling down on that fermented food, those 30 plants a week is really important for cold and flu season. And dark chocolate also counts, guys. I just want to add in there. If you get 70% plus, you get those amazing antioxidants and don't forget your vitamin D. And I'm really sorry, nutrition plus isn't in stock this year. I will do it

for next year. I love that. Okay. So basically the key takeaways are, A, you don't want to boost your immune system. You don't want an immune system, one overdrive. You just want a healthy functioning immune system. And the best thing that you can do for that is manage your stress. Stress does weaken your immune system. So that's very, very important. Focus on sleep and focus on a sustainable, healthy diet that is nourishing and that is delicious.

Exactly. And I think that moves us on nicely to what's trending in wellness this week. Because I've been waiting to play Ella, a voice note that, oh, it kind of got me a little bit riled when I all right. If you want an early grave, get down to Waitrose, you're looking at one of the most dangerous aisles in the whole supermarket. You see these lemons, tangerines and oranges. They've all been treated with fungicides and waxes like a mazol, firebendazole, pyromethanil, and waxy 904. So a mazol is a fungicide, which is being classified as a probable carcinogen. Long-term exposure is being linked to liver toxicity, hormone disruption, and even damage to the

nervous system. Next, we've got firebendazole stud. these show it can damage DNA, stress the nervous system and disrupt thyroid hormones. The very system that controls your metabolism and energy, it's even been shown to enlarge the thyroid gland and lab tests. Then we've got pyromethanil. This has also been linked to canter and studies that glossy shine. That's not nature. It's E904, shellach wax.

This is an industrial resin that seals chemicals into the fruit. One of these chemicals you sit on the surface. They seep through the peel straight into the fruit itself, so every slice you need to carry It's toxic load straight into your body. It's not just these fruits that are affected, you know. Most of the fruits and vegetables in these supermarkets, they're all sprayed with synthetic pesticides that are linked to cancers. This is what you call real food, organic, unwaxed, chemical free,

no shellach, no fungicards, no hidden poisons seeping through the skin. And let me give you a tip. You aren't going to find any of these in a supermarket. I really appreciate that the Amreel is called Early Grave episode 19. Sorry. And I know I shouldn't be laughing everybody because you're probably left thinking, well, I've got nothing left to eat then, have I?

Well, that's the problem when you're looking at it. And he's saying like oranges and lemons in a supermarket, it's going to kill you. It all becomes really scary. So you kind of look at it and what you're taking in is right. One article I've just read to told me that UPFs are going to kill me. Then the next thing I'm seeing when I have my phone is that oranges and lemons are going to kill me.

And then another thing I've seen is said like tap water's going to kill me. kill me and you are sort of left thinking what can I eat nothing sorry nothing but what's scary is these rails go viral right they have like millions of views and a lot of the time because they're not health professionals they don't understand the context of the ingredients they're discussing and not every lemon is waxed not every item is sprayed and you can wash these things and residue comes right off and also the amount is controlled that goes on. We have to help crops grow guys. Look, we have to remember that when you farm anything large scale,

there will be bugs and insects that want to eat those crops that help the diversity of the soil. And you cannot guarantee to feed a population on the amount we have without something at some degree, which is the organic versus non-organic debate. But it's not going to kill you. Eating the lemon, A, you don't eat the skin. I mean, I do grate a bit into, you know, a lemon cake or something. something, but I wash it, is not going to harm you, I promise. And it's better to get that

vitamin C and the fibre and the goodness from the lemon, which negates any possibility of a 0.0.02% chance of any risk of anything else. Yeah, it is just that fear, as you said, you've got it here, like fearmongering's going nowhere. And it's just really challenging because... It's click-play. And as you said, negative news spread six times faster than positive news. And in a capitalist world, obviously any organisation that's putting content out there is going to have that negative angle because how else does your organisation, especially from a kind of news and media perspective, thrive when you're going to have six times more eyeballs if you focus on the negative? I actually saw, sorry, this is such a random tangent, but I think it's a really great example. Like, I think it was on dazed negativity around Taylor Swift's new album. Now, it wasn't about whether you liked the music or didn't like the music deeply subjective, of course, I'm obsessed listening to it on repeat. I love Taylor Swift. I love Taylor. She's my age. I'm an 89er. Oh, you're in Taylor. Like Taylor. Makes me feel young. But basically we're saying, I don't like that she's happy. Like, I can't relate to her. I can't relate to this fairy tale ending. And again, it was the same thing. It was just this, I don't know. It's just we have this innate desire to tear people down and look for negativity. And.

As I said, it's a video saying, oh, lemons have X, Y, Z just won't go viral. Whereas if it's like, this will kill you, it will go viral. And I think, I just thought it was really interesting. And I, as I said, I think it speaks to a kind of, the world that we live in where we don't like her music because she's happy. And that's just a really bizarre world. Can I also add that men don't get that still? So you rarely get a comment on a man's music about their personal life in the same way. there is still a really big issue

where I think it was highlighted really well in that Barbie movie over a year ago with that epic speech that America Ferreira. Yeah, she gave this incredible speech where you've got to be happy you've got to be firm but not too firm so you're not disliked but then you have to look

perfect all the time but not too perfect so you don't want to upset other women so you have to really fit into the mould but then you have to be happy but not too happy because other people will be jealous so you have to be respectful. You know that whole kind of debate with how to navigate life as a woman. And then also if I've seen a few women do these types of things in the supermarket, but I still see a more male gender push to this complete and utter fearmongering.

There's there's no way, first of all, to reassure you with your detective hat, no health professional would be allowed or ever dream of saying something like that in the supermarket because it's not true. And nobody that works in healthcare wants to scare anyone. I don't think. I like to think. But ultimately, scaring people doesn't create sustainable change. And I if we could close the episode on this thought like I always say to myself to anyone else when people ask for advice if you want to improve your health and you want to make some changes ask yourself if the change you're about to make is something that would be in your life in 20 years time like whatever it is that you're about to shift can you keep doing it dailyish weekly is

for the next few decades and if the answer is no don't do it and if the answer is yes brilliant start incorporating it. And I think if we go back to the planetary diet that was proposed, I bet most people could say, yeah, you know what? I probably could just eat two portions of chicken a week, two fish, one beef. That's still six portions of fish or meat. So you still could have six dinners that are not vegetarian, one veggie one, some eggs a week. I could get one tin of lentils, chickpeas, black beans, etc. in each day. These are all plausible habit shifts. And what's not is when you get scared and when you feel you have to do all or nothing and it has to be dogmas. and it has to be binary and it has to be perfect.

And I think as we close the episode, it is that like gentle, small, genuinely sustainable shifts that feel plausible within your life and don't overwhelm you. That is where health actually sits. Beautiful. Just so perfectly put. What a nice way to end the episode. I think that's so lovely. Reframed the question.

What would you do in the next 20 years? Would you still eat lemons? I will. Yeah. And start doing it today, though. don't ever let perfect be the enemy of good and I think that's the other thing is that so often we don't make changes

because we're waiting for the perfect time and we want to do it yeah quote unquote perfectly as per that Barbie speech we're trying to be perfect no one's perfect you'll never be perfect they'll never be a perfect day but I bet you could do one thing today that was small but that would genuinely be a positive for your life and that might be a walk on your lunch break

that might be an extra portion of fruit or veg in your dinner that might be cooking dinner instead of ordering a takeaway this evening it might be batch cooking that so you have it for your lunch tomorrow instead of a meal deal that's all really positive small simple sustainable delicious enjoyable well i'll be doing my roasted bean mix tonight so everybody thank you so so much for listening and don't forget thursdays we've got our incredible extra scoops and we love taking all of your questions so thank you for being here yeah we're talking about lowering inflammation as well on thursday so it's a good episode so see you guys then

Thank you.