The Wellness Scoop - How to Cut Cancer Risk, Cellulite and Extra Weight

Episode Date: September 1, 2025

This week, we’re talking about why vegetarian and vegan diets can cut cancer risk by up to a quarter, the “worst foods for cellulite” and what the science actually says, and the first UK trial to prove that home cooking and minimally processed foods lead to twice as much weight loss as ready-made UPFs. We also get into the rise of blueberries, how they went from totally unknown in the UK just a few decades ago to outselling apples, pears and even oranges today, and what that means for British farming. Plus, all our personal updates, this week’s wellness trends and news about new Wellness Scoop episodes!  For listener questions, please either email [e-mail] or leave them on spotify/apple podcasts and leave your name, we love knowing more about you!  And for 50% off Ella’s new book ‘Quick Wins’ with the code ‘QUICKWINS50’ (enter code at checkout) https://www.waterstones.com/book/quick-wins-healthy-cooking-for-busy-lives/ella-mills/9781529316759 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When you're with Amex Platinum, you get access to exclusive dining experiences and an annual travel credit. So the best tapas in town might be in a new town altogether. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Terms and conditions apply. Learn more at Amex.ca. www.ca.com. Ontario, the wait is over.

The gold standard of online casinos has arrived. Golden Nugget online casino is live, bringing Vegas-style excitement and a world-class gaming experience right to your fingertips. Whether you're a seasoned player or just starting, signing up is fast and simple. And in just a few clicks,

you can have access to our exclusive library of the best slots and top-tier table games. Make the most of your downtime with unbeatable promotions in Jackson. backpots that can turn any mundane moment into a golden opportunity at Golden Nugget Online Casino. Take a spin on the slots, challenge yourself at the tables, or join a live dealer game to feel the thrill of real-time action, all from the comfort of your own devices. Why settle for less when you can go for the gold at Golden Nugget Online Casino? Gambling problem call Connects Ontario 1866531-260. 19 and over. Physically present in Ontario. Eligibility restrictions apply.

at Casino.com for details. Please play responsibly. Welcome to the Wellness Scoop podcast, your weekly dose of health and wellness inspiration. And as always, we're your hosts. I'm Ella Mills. And I'm Reanne and Lambert. And we just love being here. So re tell us what have we got coming up for you guys in today's show. We've got such a good one. We've got can veggie and vegan diets cut cancer risk by up to a quarter? The truth behind Cellulite. Can food? really make a difference. Why cooking at home leads to twice the weight loss

compared to ready meals and the trend of the week, which is how blueberries have become one of Britain's most popular fruits. Welcome back. We've just come back from our summer break. I have really missed this. I've missed Rhee.

I've missed Will our amazing producer being in this room, going through the headlines and obviously all of you guys. So yay, we're back. We've got cheesy like, we're in ear-to-ear smiles on our faces. I came in with like high-pitched squirrels. Like, we're back everybody. It's my first day commuting in from the countryside as a non-Londoner now. We've officially made the move. I think you'll start to enjoy the piece of the train ride in the

morning when you get there because I often use that time in the morning. Like, all right, the kids have been dropped off, everything's sorted. And I kind of almost have that time to get on top of the day before I even get into the office or before you get here to the studio. I think you'll love it. I'm already loving it. We're one week into country life. And I'm like, I'm never going to look back. This is 10. Come back to me in the winter and then we'll have another chat. But I think you are going to love it.

And then before we get into the show, guys, just a quick note to say, I think we're always saying this from Rie is the first one to read them all. We just love your Spotify, your Apple comments. And what we realized over our summer break, and it was amazing just taking a few weeks away from the show to have a think about it and reflect on all your feedback. And I think what we really heard from you is that you want more. We want to give you more.

We love, as we said, we love this. and so thank you for that support. And I think as we were thinking through, what's the best way to do that? Our inclination was that super, super long episodes are what some people want, but for other people, hard to do because it's a bit too long for a commute,

a dog walk while you're doing your washing, cleaning, cooking, whatever it is that you do when you listen to podcasts. And so instead we're going to do two episodes a week, Rie and I, and then one of them will be based all around the headlines, the trends, what people are talking about,

and one will really be a community one. And so it's, we'll share our recommendations and our updates and all the rest of it, but also all of your questions because we've already got a spreadsheet, I think with about 500 questions on from organic food to blood sugar to acne and the link to diet to ketogenic diets, paleo diets, like you name it, you've asked it. And we want to cover all those and we can't do it all in the main shows. So Mondays and Thursdays would both be in your ears giving you all the wellness inspiration that you need. And this is solid, guys. It's not a one-off whenever we can do it. This is us committing to Mondays and Thursdays for you, for the foreseeable. You're basically getting two episodes a week now.

I know. It's so good. So let us know what you think. And for those questions, keep them coming. Either pop them in the Spotify and Apple Podcasts. And please leave your name because it's so nice for us to get to know you and who you're talking to. Me too. But only if you want to.

Obviously, there is no pressure. If you want to use the kind of nickname, that's fine. Because we like that too. Yes, pseudonym. Keep it mysterious. Or I don't mind if you just email me them directly. directly Ella at Deliciousseyella.com, the world's easiest email address. Do you know, I have to say the kindness in this community is still just astounding.

And almost every day I get a comment saying, oh, I love the wellness scoop. And I was hosting an event the other week. And someone said, I recognize your voice. She was in the audience of the events. It's totally unconnected. She's, oh, my goodness, it's from the Wellness Scoop. So it just goes to show that we've created this incredible community. And we love to hear from you guys, even, you know, good criticism.

Yes, keep it coming. Constructed Christmas. It helps us make better episodes. Exactly. And so, Reid, before we get into a better episode, how are you? What have you been up to? How was your summer break? Oh, summer.

Summer just seems to fly by. You know, you look at it, don't you, when it's ahead? And this is my first time ever as a mum of a school child over the summer. So, you know, having to coordinate camps, lunchboxes every day while working. And then also multiple trips, because we've done lots of different mini breaks around the country. we stayed at the grove. We've been to Wiltshire. So I grew up in Malchsham town and we visited this amazing place called Bowwood, which I used to go to every other week. And it's funny actually because when I was doing a book signing last weekend down at Goodwood, I worked the Good Food Show

there. A girl came up to me after. She said, I'm from Melksham. I'm from your hometown. And if anyone knows, Malcolm, it's just so small on the map. You know, it's such a small world when you meet someone. And I think it was so nice for the kids to see what I actually do for a living. because you've had that with the girls before Ella and I've never been able to really take the boys to a corporate nutrition talk or a lecture at university and for them to actually get to have free food

and yeah see mommy do some cooking and book signing was quite cool. Oh my gosh, you must have been so proud. Honestly, it's one of my like biggest moments of pride ever is when the girls see what we do with work and obviously they're only young so they can only take in so much but I do think they've got a sense of what we do now. It's amazing. I was in a cafe the other day

and there was a lady outside the cafe eating a delicious yellow oat bar. Love. This guy just like ran over to her this stranger and was like, my mummy and my daddy they make those bars. And this lady was like,

hello. She was like, yeah, they make them in their factory. Oh my gosh, I love her. It was so funny. She was like, she looked at me, she was like, do you actually? I was like, yeah, no, no.

Like, hi, yeah, my name's Ella. I often think about that when I see people, because at Bowwood, I saw someone with a delicious the Ella bag. It was Billy that pointed out my husband to me. And I was like, yeah, what do you want me to do? Go up to her and say, oh, by the way, I'm friends with Ella. You know, it's just quite awkward. But it's amazing, Ella, and you should be so immensely proud. I think the summer's just

been, oh, it's just so full of inspiration. I'm writing again behind the scenes. Ella, you have exciting news to announce. Well, yeah, I mean, we've been at all systems go. We have moved. We are officially out of London now. It's my first time in a very long time. being a Londoner which is quite something but thrilled my new book quick wins healthy food for busy lives has gone to print so it's officially done it's edited it's signed off and that's coming out on the 18th of December I do have a half-priced pre-order link if anyone wants it so I will put it in the show notes what is it do you know it now it's on waterstones and you just use the code quick wins 50 okay I'm there because Christmas kind of comes around really fast and you know when you hit

the end of the summer I'm seeing ads for the polar express for the kids and I'm like right but Christmas. I know, it's coming. And then our John Lewis range is coming out at the end of this month. And also we are about to relaunch a whole part of plants. As you guys know, we bought the all plants trademark at the beginning of the year, which was another plant-based brand in the UK. And we've merged them and that's all about to be unveiled in the next few weeks. So yeah, it's been a kind of all-systems-go kind of summer. I feel so lucky. I feel like I get to hit everything, like before everyone else does on the podcast. I can't wait. I used to get your ready meals on Akado and I do need a few more of them for the freezer because they're the only ones without, you know, ultra-processed foods and

additives inside. Exactly. And there's loads more coming. So yeah, I cannot wait to update you guys on that soon. Right. Health headlines that matter. We have been WhatsApping each other like there's no tomorrow over the last few weeks because there have been so many headlines. And if you're new to the show, this is a bit that we go through all of the health and wellness headlines that are making news and try and debunk them, give you the take homes, the things that you actually need to know. And the first one, which Ree was talking about in the Times this summer, is huge. And the headline is, why being a vegetarian can cut your risk of cancer by up to 25%, so up to a quarter, which is staggering. It's amazing. And

essentially, there was a huge study that was published this month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that looked at nearly 80,000 Seventh-day Adventist. over eight years. So it's a huge sample size and none of the participants had cancer at the outset and their diets were recorded in detail and then their health was tracked over the course of the study. So it basically concluded that vegetarian and vegan diets can significantly reduce the risks of certain cancers. It was really astonishing. So the key kind of headlines of this study which you guys did probably see because it was picked up literally everywhere is the vegans so people who were eating absolutely no animal products at all had the largest overall

reduction in cancer risk 24% lower than meat eaters and that included lower rates of breast cancer and women and in younger men prostate cancer. Vegetarians had a 12% lower overall cancer risk for both groups colorectal cancer risk was reduced by 21% stomach cancer reduced by 45% and lymphoma 25%. The largest reductions were seen in vegan than vegetarians, but pescatarians also saw fewer colorecta cancels and lacto-ovo vegetarians also have protection against some blood cancers. Yes, that's vegetarians that still consume dairy, for instance, or eggs as well. And I think the detail, Ella, is just fascinating. And when I was breaking this down for the times, I was looking at ways that people who currently

are omnivores can focus on making changes that are sustainable. I'm not saying you have to give your diets up or change the way you eat completely, but let's get one more. plant-based mill in a week, which I know Ella and I are very passionate about advocating for. But it's so relevant because colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK with around 44,000 new cases diagnosed each year. And also, in terms of the population age groups that it's currently impacting, it's getting younger and younger in this country. And normally we associate these types of cancers as an ageing cancer, you know, something that happens towards later end of life. And it is the second biggest cancer killer, which causes more than,

than 16,000 deaths annually and it's something we should be raising a lot more awareness of because while it's more common in people over 50 it is the 2,600 younger people every year Ella that are diagnosed. Yeah and that's been making a lot of headlines actually hasn't it over the last year how quickly rates of bowel cancer are growing in the under 50s and what's causing it and people are looking at whether that's the impact of UPFs and our diets but I think it is a really really interesting thing and as you said we don't bring this headline up to make everyone feel or you've got to become a vegan tomorrow because I don't think that's a plausible approach

for the vast majority of people. But I think it's a really important topic of conversation and shows just how important it is to eat more plants and to, as you said, just one plant-based meal or much more plants in your daily life. And I think it is worth saying as well. Obviously, you know, very conscious that whenever we talk about cancer-related headlines,

it's a really difficult conversation. It's so emotive. and because it's so rife, obviously, we are all connected to it in one way or another, so we really wanted to flag that. And actually, in the UK, about 395,000 people are diagnosed with a form of cancer every year. And as Rhee was saying, among the under 50s, cancer cases have risen by almost a quarter since the mid-1990s. Obviously, a big part of that is the rise in sedentary lifestyle, our kind of diets getting worse, high fat, sugar, salt, low in fibre, the rise of obesity, and premature death caused by cancer cost the economy

around 10.3 billion a year and about 3.2 billion of that is for those under 50. That was something I read while I was researching this which I just thought was really staggering. So obviously it's a huge issue and it's not to kind of say there's a magic wand here. No. And the researchers were really clear in that as well.

Like just eating broccoli, it's not going to change the world or, you know, change our health in its entirety. But I think it just shows that actually what's on our plate is really, really important. and being a little bit more conscious of that where we can, supporting others and making those changes is really important. I think it's worth noting actually as well in there

is the researchers did account for lifestyle factors like weight, smoking, alcohol, exercise and education as well. And so whilst diet isn't the sole cause of cancer, their data strongly suggests that plant-rich diet can really be cancer prevention. It is that big. That's why it was making the headlines. It really was this all-around approach to how we live our lives. I would say even we could chuck in social interaction with cancer risks like we've spoken about before. And from a public health perspective, you know, we have to really be kind here as well.

And just think about the fact that there is something within our power we can do. And that is a slight change in our diets. And half of me is filled with sadness when I read these headlines and when I'm told to dissect it. And then the other part of me is very optimistic. You know, when I'm writing a piece saying you can make these changes, I do feel filled with a tiny bit of hope that we're making a difference on this podcast. But you're right though, aren't you? Because I think it is this really difficult double-edged sword where, you know, it's estimated that diet influences about 35% of cancer mortality. So it's seriously meaningful. But also we know that people's lives are so busy, people are so overwhelmed. And we know that unfortunately, as per the broken plate report that we've referenced so many times, healthy food is too expensive and it's out of the reach of too many people. And so it is this double-edged sword of kind of being optimistic and excited that there is things that we can do and we should be motivated. to increase the healthy foods that we eat,

but equally being super aware, that's not plausible for everybody, and that's so fundamentally wrong when you see how important it is. Well, it is also as well, because I don't think what's helpful is we're constantly labeling people's diets. We just cannot help it. It's the moral compass around food.

Oh, we love a label. We love a label. Oh, you're a vegan, therefore you must be like this. Or you're a vegetarian, you're a pescatarian. Oh, you eat meat. And I think instead of doing this all the time, we do have to speak about the fact that, look, meat here is, or processed meat, is just associated with poor health outcomes.

We discuss it all the time I feel like on this podcast and we're not saying it in a judgy way. It's just having one extra meal a week and have so many benefits. A flexi approach. Just chuck in some more pulses and beans. Oh, we love pulses and beans. And we thought it would be helpful. And we wanted to do a bit more of this on the show going forward of like real takehomes from

the articles, things that are useful for you, for your colleagues, friends, family, whoever it is. And I think on this one, it's really interesting to think, like, how can you increase those plants in your diet to have that more plant first, plant rich, flexi type approach? So we've got some tangible bits of advice here, what to think about if that's what you're trying to do. The first one, I think it's got to be plant protein, hasn't it, Rue? The journalist that I was speaking to, I was so happy that she took this approach because the first question was, oh, but how do you get enough protein on a plant-based diet? And I think anyone that is plant-based might be rolling their eyes right now. but there is genuinely such a concern about protein still. There's the hype of people that are aware

and just want to hit their macros. And then there's the cohort of people that still don't know you can get it from vegetables, beans, pulses, and it's just not an issue. So thank you, Kate, first of all, for the chance to actually put some solid advice in this article in The Times. It was just a complete myth I was so happy to bust Ella.

You know, Whole Foods, lentils, beans, tofu, tempe. You don't even just have to buy a block of tofu if you go plant-based. You can literally try so many different things. Meat alternatives even like corn are not bad for you. People have this real misconception over swaps that help them reach the end goal. And if you're swapping your beef mints once a week for some corn mints with half beans and half corn and then gradually moving to a full mixed bean version, if that's your pathway, I think that's great. A hundred percent. I always say it's the same.

We'll do like half mints, half lentils, you know, or 80 percent mints, 20 percent lentils. It's like small changes make such a huge difference. Absolutely. And there's some nutrition that I feel like I just have to caveat. Like if you are going vegan, not veggie, because I think you do hit these pretty much. I just had to mention supplementation, things like iron might be a point to be concerned with. B12, I think most vegans are aware of. You've got to take a supplement for B12.

Yeah, I would say so. If you're vegan, absolutely. Not so much if you're vegetarian, I think that's okay. If you still eat eggs or dairy. But vitamin D, everyone should be taking Amiga 3. I think most of us, unless you eat oily fish, should be taking iodine and selenium. I'd say ultimately, Ella, we just don't eat enough fibre as well. 90% of us don't get enough.

So if we can get these plants in, boom, let's do it. But one tip, if you're really increasing your plants, is to do it slightly gradually because some people do find on the basis that, yeah, 90-ish percent of us don't eat enough fibre. If you suddenly eat loads and loads and loads of fibre, having eaten very little, you might have some kind of bloating tummy problems. I'd say you would definitely have. Some floating tummy, yeah, don't go fibre maxing. There's these trends, aren't there?

Fibre maxing that we can discuss another time. But yeah, drink a lot of water and daily small changes make big differences. Yeah, they really, really do. I think it's a really nice word that it doesn't have to be all or nothing. But it's a clear reminder that our diet has a massive impact on our health. And without becoming obsessive or perfectionist about it, those small daily changes really can make a huge difference. And they're worth thinking about, but you don't. need to be perfect.

Moves us on to a headline that I almost, oh Ella, I almost cried when I saw it, just out of pure, oh my goodness, we're here again, the worst foods for cellulite. That was the headline. That doesn't come from us. Doesn't come from us. And actually, it was in the telegraph. Yeah, and it was the worst foods for cellulite. Should we even know what cellulite is? Like, I wonder how many of us know, we know what it looks like, but know exactly what it is. So we thought that would be a helpful place to start. Go on Ella, break it down.

Okay, so cellulite is also probably quite nice for everyone to know. So common. Yeah. Completely harmless. It's a skin condition that causes the dimples or when I was looking at it up, the way people described it was so gross. Orange peel or cottage teas texture. So lumpy flesh.

I swear a woman would not have written that. I'm sorry, but when I think of how cellulites described over the years, I just don't think so. It just can't be. It's horrendous. But anyway, you normally find it on your thighs, hips, bum, abdomen. And it basically develops when fat cells push up against the skin while the fibrous connective cords beneath pull down.

And that's what creates this kind of slightly orange peel or cottage cheese as other people are describing it texture. But I think it's just so important to stress, like it's physiological, it's not pathological, there's nothing bad about it. Yeah, because, you know, less than 10% of men have it. this is a kind of a female, mostly, I would say, mostly female-related skin concern or concern normality, I should say, that we all have. Because 85 to 98% of women get it after puberty. And it's largely because women's fat is typically distributed in the thighs, hips, and buttocks.

And actually, it's safer there. So it's not a bad place to store your fat. And if we look at the hormone estrogen, the reason that as women then go through perimenopause and menopause is just something I get a lot in the clinic and suddenly fat is distributed around the middle. It's because of estrogen changing and the hormones. So our hormones help us store fat deliberately in those areas. It's quite protective. And it becomes more noticeable, I think, cellulite with age, because the skin loses elasticity. And if you gain weight, that can obviously make cellulite more visible because you're pushing more of those fat cells towards the skin. But any shape or size gets it. And I know sometimes you may see a model on the catwalk and you think they don't have any cellulite. It's.

because their body fat percentage is so low and I think it's really important to reiterate that whether you have it or not, it's just so normal. But there's such a stigma about it, which is why, to your point, it's so frustrating when you see headlines like this because it simplifies it in a way

that's just not reality. And actually, I was really surprised. We're not surprised, because unsurprised, but sad to see 78% of women feel embarrassed about their cellulite, which is why I think we really wanted to talk about this and highlight that almost 100% of us have it. It's complete.

normal and nothing to worry about. It's just airbrushed out in the magazines. A hundred percent. And that's why I think, because these articles feel like they kind of reinforce shame and that if you didn't eat and it was ridiculous the things that they included, that you wouldn't have any cellulite. And again, you'd be kind of quote unquote perfect, which I think is very unhelpful, if I'm honest. But we run us through what these four foods that apparently going to cause cellulite. Can I just say I would never contribute to an article like this? I just wouldn't put my name to it. So this is what the article... It's the ultimate clickbait, isn't it? Because the fact that 78% of women are embarrassed about it,

85, 98% of people have it, the number of people who are going to click on this article is probably absolutely huge. I imagine it performed really well. And that's the challenge in the world of health and wellness and many other things is it's like this triggers more and more of it because it's so effective as click pay. But it just reinforces the shame and it's so frustrating.

And it's also kind of, well, not to jump the gun, but it's sort of only half true what we're talking about here. So, yeah, what are our four worst foods? Well, this is just it. Now, they plucked foods. I can see where they plucked these ideas from because if you're being asked to contribute as a nutritionist or a health professional to a feature like this, you have to really go around the hedges to kind of actually pull any concrete answers here. So salty cheese is what they listed, number one, and that's purely because of water retention.

I mean, you could have said salty crisps, salty cheese, salty nuts, anything that causes water retention, which makes cellulite more noticeable. So that was number one that they listed there, which I think is a little bit absurd. But you read it and you think, okay, it's sprinkled parmesan and my pasta was going to bring my cellulite up to the surface. It's like, no. Better Halumi. It's all gone now, guys, because the cellulite article says so. It's just not.

One Greek salad in there's cellulite everywhere. Outrageous. And then in another article on the same paper, you might have seen that Greek salad's good for you. This is like the conflicting area. The second one, again, I can see why they picked it was ready-made pasta sauces and fill. Fizzy drinks. I mean, we know fizzy drinks aren't good for you if you're going for the kind of Fanta Coca-Cola's, but ready-made pasta sauces and they're not all the same, but they listed it because of the amount of sugar. And it's true. Some of them can contain as much sugar as a biscuit,

and you do have to be really, really careful and read the ingredients. I write about that in my book, the unprocessed plate, but too much sugar, they say it leads to glycation, which is true, which weakens collagen and skin elasticity Ella. So they're just literally picking on a pasta sauce and a fissie drink because of sugar leads to weakened collagen and skin elasticity. And I think this is a bit, isn't it? It's like the half-trudes, it's true. Like, we go on to it in a minute, but excess salt, excess sugar could aggravate it. But parmesan and a jar of pasta sauce.

I know. And they could have picked a jelly sweet or like a pear drop or something. Yeah, it feels more relevant. Okay, Karen, what are our last two? Okay, and then a very surprising choice, I have to say, protein shakes without fiber. I mean, I've got to be honest, protein shakes don't often contain any fiber. anyway. Depends what you mix them with and rarely do people blend them with fruit. And this person said they're used as male replacements. I don't think protein shakes are meal replacements. I'm just

going to put that out there. I don't think they should be seen in that. They're supplements to supplement a diet or support a sports goal. And they're saying that a lack of fiber that contributes to good gut health that means without the fiber basically all your toxins including your lipopolysaccharides, your LPS are more likely to leak through to the gut wall into the bloodstream, which some research links to cellular. I mean, what around the hedge is answer. It feels tenuous. And to your point, I think people aren't really using these meal replacement. People use protein shakes either as a quick kind of protein boost after the gym if they're very serious by their exercise or they're adding it into a smoothie to up their protein in their morning or something so you're getting the

fibre. But the reason she'd said protein shakes was because if we don't have enough fiber, we can't flush out toxins. That's basically the way they pick protein shakes, you could have said that again about a steak, hasn't have any fibre in it. Yeah. So it's really interesting. An unbalanced meal. Yeah, the choices in this article.

And then the final one was processed meats. And again, because it's high and saturated fat, increases information, again, might raise those lipopolysaccharides. So, oh gosh. Yeah, I think this is an article that we wanted to myth bust, which is that you can kind of get a fear of foods as a result of reading this and get a little bit paranoid.

And about something which you can't do a huge amount about when it comes to a cellular. But there is some research that shows that diets high in ultra-processed foods, too much sugar, too many unhealthy fats, can contribute to the accumulation of fat deposits and therefore the appearance of cellulite. But again, that doesn't mean there's a single food on its own causing it and certainly not a single food of the four that have been listed. No, just so you know, the hypothesis behind the kind of research, it's just understanding essentially that these lipopolysaccharides, it's called them LPSs. People suggest or scientists that they may leak through the gut. So a really unhealthy diet full of UPFs like Ella's just said, it's very hard for your gut to absorb, to break down, to digest.

They may leak through, accumulate then in fat layers around your body and trigger changes that contribute to cellulite formation. So they're just saying an unhealthy diet in excess will create more cellulite because the way fat is distributed. And that's all based on this early stage study that was published in obesity reviews. in 2022. So it is a really interesting hypothesis. And I think that's the challenge with these sorts of articles, which is why we wanted to talk about it, which is that it is based on some facts. It is an interesting argument. But it's not to the point where we can say, okay, absolutely

like unequivocally this is the case. And also it's sort of impossible for anyone to have no cellulite if you're a woman post-pubity. Look at the gender divide here as well. Like if you're a man and you ate all of those items, you won't get any cellulite because you're a man. So It's just a very, very interesting thing to look at. We just have to accept as women, and it's really, really, really hard because articles like this, we're being shamed left, right and centre for our appearance all the time. And again, I should say that diet does influence our skin, though. You know, diet helps our skin microbiome.

It helps how glowy it can be, how much acne potentially you can get. And it's not the sole cause or reason, but it definitely can help your skin feel refined. fresh and better. Yeah, but you don't need to worry about single foods. No, follow the hashtag that Iskra Lawrence has, Ella. She's got something called Cellulite Saturday campaign. How cool is that? I love all that.

You know what? We sometimes are really down on social media, but it's a really nice. I really like that kind of thing when women that people really look up to in the public I show off and they're like, this is completely normal. I mean, it's amazing. Cellulite Saturday. How cool. So, Ella, from Cellulite to Home Cooking.

Yes. this was making waves this summer again this was picked up by every outlet certainly that I saw and the headline is home cooking and minimally processed foods best for weight loss study finds I couldn't even tell you how happy I was when it came out because this was this is basically huge for anybody that believes that ultra-processed foods are a concern for our health which obviously it's still debated but Dr Chris Van Toler can contributed to this research alongside his colleagues. And we obviously need larger sample sizes, but finally to see something that concretely says it's not about just energy and energy out in calories. There's other factors at

play here. And I'll let Ella, you go into it. Just tell us about this randomized control trial because UCL did a good job. Yeah, they really did. As Rees said, it's a small sample size. There's only 55 participants in it. So, but it's a really, really meaningful start to getting people to understand that what's in food matters so much. So it's a, kind of true real world trial. It was published in nature medicine and it confirmed what has re-said so many of us suspected, which is that people lose more weight

when they cook minimally processed foods from scratch than when they rely on ultra-processed, ready-made meals. Even when both diets are nutritionally similar. And I think that's what's so important here is that I think there's this idea that we're comparing things that aren't alike, like you're talking about cooking from scratch and having your Mediterranean-S diet

and you've got loads of beans and pulses and salads and broccoli and it's super, super healthy and the kind of epitome of health. And then on the other side, you've got McDonald's and Mars bars and crisps. And that therefore of course you're not going to have the same health outcome because they're so fundamentally different

whereas what they were comparing here is so much more like for like. It was like two spaghetti bolognases. One in a ready mill, one homemade. It was two cottage pies. One in a ready mill, one homemade and made to be pretty much the same. Exactly. And I think it was so important to emphasise as well. Though obviously those

foods are not kind of quote unquote diet foods they're just kind of very popular normal meals and that's what they were comparing here which is so so relevant this is the first study of its kind in the UK so you had your 55 adults and they followed two eight week diets with a four week washout in between they based them all on the UK eat well guide and as re said they were having the same thing and they were satisfying proper home-cooked meals but one was properly home-cooked from scratch and one was a ready meal already made so they're kind of on paper they're the same but fundamentally got completely different ingredient decks yeah 100% so both groups did lose weight but it was twice as much on the minimally processed food diet so with 2.6% body weight loss compared to

1.5 on the ultra processed food diet it basically came up with a calorie deficit if you're interested in calories of about 290 calories on the minimally processed diet compared to 120 or on UPFs. It goes to show this isn't really about calories here. I think it's about the food matrix that we've discussed before. I write all about it in my book about the fact the quality matters how much fiber is within the diet there. And interestingly, only the minimally processed food groups. So the ones that cook from scratch saw improvements in their blood fat levels, their triglycerides, their blood pressure, their food cravings, despite both diets being nutritionally matched. So they also preserve muscle, Ella.

It wasn't just like water weight they lost. They actually preserved muscles. So it was done in a really sensible way. It's so powerful. And I think we obviously had that huge report that came out in April this year about the impact of UPFs again. And looking at the fact that 14% of early deaths could be linked to the impact of UPF. So it's like it just feels like we're having this continuous addition of information

when we're talking about ultra-process foods and the impact they have. But I think this new study, as we said, is so meaningful to show that you can eat the same thing, one home cooked and one not, and have such a fundamentally different outcome. I really hope so. I feel like in other countries in Europe, they've kept their food culture or they're trying to preserve it. They're fighting back. Like when we discuss the fact that Spain put in that ban for children in all schools across Spain, they do not do any UPF food. And that was something that came in this year. And we discussed it on the wellness scoop, I remember.

And it's just so sad that we haven't done the same yet here in the UK. we just do not have the infrastructure. We've gone so far. But I'll tell you something interesting, which, yeah, this kind of thing that we obviously look at at plants, at delicious scella, in terms of how consumers are shopping

and the relevance of that. Over half of UK grocery shoppers, so anyone shopping for food items in the UK, have changed their shopping behaviours this year because of the information around ultra-processed foods. Almost 19 million of them of shoppers in UK are actively trying to avoid UPSs and another 9 million are trying to avoid them, but finding it really hard, so not avoiding them as much, because of what's actually for sale.

I love that. But those are some mega numbers, and I tell you what, I've been looking at this, obviously, for a very, very long time because when we started Deliciousiella, we were there saying, we don't use additives, we don't use stabilizers, we don't use emulsivis, it's all real food, blah, blah, blah. And everyone was like, good for you. Isn't that nice? no one cares and it was true you know we would sit there and we would do these big retailer meetings and we were like preaching and we were like it's so important our food system is so

broken the way we eat so broken it really matters you know blah blah blah blah blah but you there wasn't a commercial angle as to why you know why list one type of product versus the other yeah and I think what's been so interesting that we've really clocked over the last 12 to 18 months is there is now this and that's why I'm really excited actually and feeling optimistic on it because there is this really commercial angle now for retailers to make a change. You know, they're having the pressure from all this information, but actually the consumers, the shoppers and their wallets, which is so important, are now actively making these choices.

And so there is both an impetus for the right thing to do, but also a commercial benefit to make changes on shelf. And I think when those two things come together, that's the first time you can believe that there's reason for real change. I love that. I really hope so. And with one study like this, it will hopefully catapult many others. And of course, to actually implement anything on a public policy level,

we need loads of data to be able to say, look at this is the right direction to move in. And this might be, like you said, the impetus of a change that we need. I know. And when you take our first headline and our third headline today, it is reason to as much as possible, cook from scratch, cook at home, and just really try and get in as many nutritious foods as you can. And don't worry about the cellulite.

Don't worry about your salad. That accounts as a healthy item. You are perfect just as you are. Okay, if we're moving on to what's trending in wellness, we have our trend of the week. And it's quite a fun one today. How did blueberries get so popular? Yay, Ella found this one from The Times,

and I thought, what a nice, positive one. I love the rise of blueberries. And actually, we grow them here and then one of the UK's most popular fruits. So I didn't know any of this backstory. and maybe it's just me that found it fascinating. But basically, not too long ago, we're talking about kind of 1980s.

They were virtually unknown, and now they're one of the UK's most popular fruits. Nearly all the fresh food, we, as we said, like tomatoes, bananas, potatoes, even like trendy avocados. They've been cultivated and eaten for centuries, if not millennia. You know, maybe avocado's not in this country,

but by people around the world. But blueberries are an exception. They're a new food, which I just genuinely didn't know. The first blueberry cross, wasn't sold until 1916 in the US and fast forward today and more than a million tons are grown globally each year and in the UK alone we eat 53,000 tons annually, which is unbelievable because they only appeared in our supermarkets in the early 90s when I was born.

I know, I know. And when you think about it, I mean I'll get on later to the claims you can make around foods and blueberry's got an interesting backstory there as well, which we'll go into later, but the growth is actually extraordinary when it comes to blueberries. You've got M&S make more money from blueberries and apples and pears combined, which I don't know how I feel about that. It's so interesting. Apples and pears need a bit more of a hype, I think. We're absolutely some PR for them.

We were having them. We were having them, PR for apples and pears. But I love blueberries. I'm all for it. Aldi, blueberry punnets, outsell bags of oranges by more than three to one. In the UK, overall sales have jumped by 40% in just three years. So this pace, basically, will be spending over $1 billion annually on blueberries, Ella, by the end of the decade. It's unbelievable.

And that's what we wanted to talk about. They've kind of had this superfood. title that came to them in the kind of late 1990s, early 2000s, and they were marketed as this miracle berry. And suddenly, blueberries are linked to everything from slowing cognitive decline, improving heart health, all those antioxidants given that deep blue color. And as we always say, no single food is a magic bullet. But the PR that blueberries had to give them this rise from zero to hero is quite something, which why we thought it's quite a fun trend to explore. It's great. And also, it's not just about us shoppers. It's so good for British farming here

as well, because we need these new plant breeding techniques, we need to be able to sustain produce in this country as well. And given how much pressure UK agriculture is under, I think it's just such a rare and much needed good news story, Ella, because blueberries, I remember at university, I visited a friend who was from Norway on my course, and I picked blueberries in the mountain there, and it was the most amazing experience, and I would never have dreamed that they grew them in the UK. That sounds very idyllic. Honestly, her lifestyle in Norway is just something that I felt so blessed to be able to experience a big shout out to Henny because she took me into her family home for a few days when I was an undergrad nutrition student.

It was unbelievable. It was pouring with rain, but I loved it. Ever the optimist. Okay, so are they a superfood? That's what we want to talk about. Re, give us your top blueberry health facts. Do they warrant their kind of superfood marketing that has earned them top spot? So first, I need to give this backstory because I don't think a lot of people aware of this, but how you actually can make a claim about a fruit has changed over the last few years. And blueberries got in there first. So when blueberries first came out, who did the PR for blueberries? Because my God, it was so effective. But they were allowed to do it then. You're not allowed to do it now. So I've sat down with companies that are growing these amazing accounts. I've

signed an idea. I can't say what it is, but foods that contain the same level or more of antioxidants for particular fruits. And they're not allowed to do the same marketing campaign that was done on blueberries back then. So the messaging that blueberries make you smarter, give your kids blueberries really got out there because it was at a time where you could pretty much nearly say anything about a food without regulation. But there is some truth in this. So I actually think we should also discuss the fact that black breeze, very underrated, contain the same anthocyanines as blueberries. And if you hear any neuroscientists talking about food, they'll always say dark coloured foods like cherries, blueberries, black

because they contain those amphicinines, and that is the key antioxidant, and it's the natural part of the plant pigment that gives it the blue color, Ella mentioned earlier, and those polyphenols from the flavonoid family are linked to the antioxidant activity, you know, protecting us from harmful exposure in our environment, reducing cellular stress, oxidative stress, the neuroprotective element that any neuroscientist will say about memory, cognitive performance, which is where that study came from years ago on, I mean, I did it before my GCSEs. I remember eating blueberries on my porridge thinking this is going to make me get smart. Did it work? Must have done. I did all right. I did all right in GCSEs. But I don't know if that was the key reason. But we've got loads of other

research guys too. It's good for heart health because they're known with the fiber content and these antioxidants to reduce blood pressure, lower that low density lipoproteins are bad cholesterol and improve our vascular functions, so how our blood flows around our body into our heart and back. And then it's lower in sugar than other fruit, which I think a lot of people are aware of from diet culture. I think most people know that berries are lower in sugar, but they are naturally sweet,

and that is because of their fibre content, and the antioxidants slow the release of sugars. Antoctants aren't just about protecting you from free radicals. They improve insulin sensitivity, and they're beneficial. So blueberries really are quite a super food Yeah, well they are if you can call it But so are blackberries And so are dark coloured cherries

That contain these antioxidants You know we really have to Have a think that I'm all for any berry We love berries We've been picking loads and loads of blackberries this summer Oh my God and even if you can't pick them You know the supermarket they're like I swear the biggest blackberry I've ever seen in my life

They're unbelievable we have yeah We've been getting punnets and panets of the I saw you make those really gorgeous. Did you make little cupcakes as well? We made blackberry and apple muffins. And then we made blackberry and, oh, just like a mixed berry with blueberries and blackberries. So brilliant for our brains, kind of crumble, which was amazing. I would say one other thing to do when those things aren't so much in season.

And we always talk about this, like as a simple win is frozen bags of berries. But you can buy frozen blackberries, frozen blueberries, any other mixed berries you've got. And one thing I really like to do for easy mornings and easy way to get berries in as we know they're so, so good for us and, you know, most people love them. Buy your mixed bags of frozen berries. Simmer them, just a teeny splash of waters

or unique, because they release all the water because they're frozen. For like 10 minutes until they soften, you can add a little bit of honey or maple syrup, a little bit of sweet. You don't eat a lot, but just a bit. You could add a little bit of cinnamon, a bit of vanilla, and then a couple of tablespoons of chia seeds as well

and let it sit, that kind of thickens it and it makes it such a nice compot to pop on like porridge or yoghurt and granola whatever it is you like to eat in the morning and it's like porridge can take three minutes to cook same with a bowl of yogurt and granola or something like that but then you can pop on a couple of tablespoons

of your homemade berry compote you've got your chia seeds in there for loads of extra fibre and amiga threes exactly for berries anyway it's such a win and it's so so easy to do and it's kind of thing that makes you feel like you're winning in life and it will take you like 15 minutes on a Sunday.

I love a win for life. I'm all over it. I think that's an amazing trend. Can I do one quick nod to another trend that I tried? Yes, please. It's very strange. So everybody was doing these Nikki Minaj squat things. That was just strange, very difficult to do. And then I thought I would try and make a Nara Smith style. I'm laughing at myself. Oh my gosh. And Nara Smith style reel, so kind of very trad-wide. Obviously, I didn't have the confidence to speak, so I didn't speak. I put music. I just did it mute.

I put a dress on and put like a kind of Nara-Smith-style track on, like soulful stuff in the background, and I put cookie dough balls on a tray. I'm laughing at myself because it's so ridiculous. And it did really well on TikTok because that's what TikTok loves. But the minute I put it on my Instagram, because I thought this would be interesting, I went down in followers. I could tell people hated the fact I was trying to make food sexy. You were trolled.

I was trolled. So it goes to show. I thought, oh, this looks really fun. I'm going to try and dance around and be a bit silly with a cookie dough ball. Fail. Fail. Epic. Fail, everybody.

Good for you for trying. Yeah, well, I'm going to stick to my boring. I felt like a bit of a wally, to be honest. I'm not going to do it again. But it was good fun. I think it would be you for trying. You should feel like a wally. Oh, you've got to put yourself out there, haven't you?

With cookie. With cookie dough, the cookie dough bit sounds good. Well, guys, thank you so much for tuning in. We missed you. We're so happy to be back. We're going to be back in your ears, Ria and I, on Thursday. We're going to be talking about the link between diet and acne. We're going to be talking about organic versus non-organic, blood sugar, loads of myths and reality. Keep your questions coming.

And we can't wait to see you again on Thursday. Bye.