The Wellness Scoop - Is Eating Healthy Too Expensive? The Hot Girl Walk & Why You Don’t Need to Be Perfect

Episode Date: February 10, 2025

Is eating healthy becoming a luxury? This week, we dive into why nutritious food is more expensive than ever and how to make eating well more affordable. Plus, fresh vs frozen food—does it really matter? We break down what’s worth spending on and where frozen might be the better option. We also talk about The Hot Girl Walk, the TikTok trend with over 600 million views that might be the easiest (and cheapest) wellness habit yet. Then, we unpack NAD+, the latest “longevity hack” that has celebrities hooked. Does it actually work, or is it just another expensive quick fix? And finally, why you don’t need to be perfect to be healthy. Science shows our happiness and well-being naturally ebb and flow. No one feels 100% all the time, and that’s normal. We explore why ‘good enough’ can sometimes be the best health strategy. Recommendations This Week • Grandparenting by Terri Apter (book) • A tea flask instead of a keep cup (a game-changer!) • One-Pan Leek and Butter Bean Orzo, an easy, budget-friendly recipe from Deliciously Ella Join us as we cut through the noise, break down the trends, and bring you real, practical advice on what’s worth your time, money, and health! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Welcome to the Wellness Scoop, your weekly dose of health and wellness inspiration. And we are your hosts. I'm Ella Mills. And I'm Rhiannon Lambert. And after a decade in the wellness industry, we know how overwhelming and very confusing health advice can be. So that's why we've created this podcast to cut through the noise and make a healthier living simple, fun and personal. And because it's now our favourite point of the week. So now why we're doing it because it's such a highlight. Really exciting news for everyone this morning. We were actually approached after I think two episodes to do a live show of the wellness scoop which we've been looking at and we're so excited about we're firming up details at the moment we cannot wait to tell you all more soon but it would be so

brilliant to get the community together in person so coming hopefully this summer and i think on that just to note that we love the community that's forming around the wellness scoop and this slightly more relaxed pressure off approach to health and well-being all of your questions suggestions feedback they are unbelievable keep them coming it is just fantastic and we've got some news on expert episodes as well haven't we we do we do so like Ella said the community is just phenomenal. We are completely blown away. It's more the kindness, isn't it? It's the kindness. I agree. You're all so kind and we're so grateful. And with our experts, so we thought because we talk a lot

and we have so much to discuss every week, we are going to be releasing bonus episodes for you. We've got to come up with a name like bonus scoop or something cool. I know we're like mini scoop, bonus scoop. ask the expert if anyone has any feedback on it, let us know what you think we should call them. But we just found it impossible to fit everything into an hour or so on this. But equally, we found these 15 to 20 minute TED talk style interviews with experts where you can get an overview on what do you actually need to know about eating 30 plants a week or ultra processed foods or how to be happy or your gut health or the impact of stress. Fertility we've got as well. Fertility, periods and hormonal health.

These are all such important topics and there are so many again long conversations on them but actually 15 to 20 minutes will give you a really good sense of the core things that you need to know leaving you feel empowered and inspired so we're working on these at the moment hopefully coming in the next few weeks so again you can just have an extra bit of the wellness scoop in your life every week keep feeling inspired and empowered with your health and well-being so make sure you hit follow on this podcast because it's gonna hopefully land we're hoping yeah in a few weeks maybe on Thursdays something, we'll have a think about the day. Exactly.

So to follow us, which we would so appreciate, you can click top right on Apple Podcasts and just under the title and the image on Spotify. And if you are enjoying it, please do keep sharing it, reviewing it, rating it. As we always say, it makes all the difference, makes our day. But Rhi, what have we got coming up on today's show?

We have got so much in store today. So we have got what's better for you, fresh or frozen food? And this is a really emotive topic for so many people, which I didn't realise. So let's go there. We've got NAD plus supplements. What's the hype about? We have got the broken plate report from the government, stress and microneedling. We have also got the hot girl walk, which I'm going to say I've been doing, but I don't want to call myself a hot girl. Why has everything got to be hot girl? What was the other one? Summer something or get hot for summer. There was something, wasn't there? She's just laughing at herself there. I'm just so embarrassed to say I'm going on hot girl walks.

And then the other thing we've got coming up on today's show is a really nice, inspiring headline about the fact that things really do feel better in the morning. What have you been up to this week, Rhi? Oh my goodness, this week again. How are we only six days into February recording this? Because I feel like it's been already such a busy month. But I have done something, Ella, for me, which I'm quite proud of, because as we discussed last week, you know, I've been having all these childcare difficulties, the juggle, and I've kind of surrendered to it now. I'm really looking forward to being able to have more days off work. And then when I've got the limited childcare I have, I'm going to really smash it

or have fun with you in the podcast studio. But every two nights a week, I now go to the local Amdram and I sing and dance. I love it. She's laughing, cringing at me, but it's true. It is true. And do you know what I love more than anything is that there's no expectation to be super fantastic. It is later than my usual bedtime. I go at 8 p.m. and maybe not finished or 10, which is late, but I'm happy.

And when I'm there, I'm not on my phone or I'm not in the house or I'm not in my laptop. And I think what's made such a difference is just being away from all of that and just having a bit of me time. And then, of course, I can go the next morning like I did yesterday. And I hosted a panel, a myth busting panel on oat drinks, you know, the usual rapeseed oil that we've already discussed on here. And I feel really bad actually for oat milk in particular. I know we're going to get into this, but gosh, they've had such a bad rep recently and it's so unjustified and there's no science to back it up.

So my week has been pretty standard and I'm kind of proud of myself. You should be so proud. I want to pick up on oat drinks and oat milk in one sec, but I wanted to just first of all pick up, I was not laughing. I know you're doing the singing and I love it. I just think it's so brilliant because I remember reading something recently about hobbies and about how actually as adults not many of us have got hobbies but also in this world of perfectionism that we live in often when we take up a hobby we feel like we have to be really good at it and I know you're a very talented singer so so you are naturally really

good at it but you are not doing it in any professional guise. You're not doing it as far as I'm saying with like a goal in mind, as opposed to I love singing. It's a part of me that I want to have more of in my life. And I'm doing this, as you said, just for me, just for fun, no other reason whatsoever. And I just love that because I think often I remember when I took up yoga and I was like, cool, so now I'm going to become a yoga teacher and now I'm going to stop being a hobby and I stopped doing it because I enjoyed it it started being kind of yeah it's almost like a game of like how good can I be at it essentially and I know you can't be good at yoga but at this point in my life that was definitely the mindset so I think it's just really inspiring to take up and good inspiration

for the rest of us to take up a hobby that is genuinely just for you with no end goal in mind, but actually something that just takes you out of your day to day and gives you that amazing sense of freedom and headspace. I mean, like a book club people could do. There's so many things, isn't there? But I know how hard it is to even get yourself to that point where you have the confidence to do it. And it is a sacrifice of personal time. And I must be crazy because I've just lost my childcare from March I'm starting this thing two nights a week but I'm happier for it like you said and I also tried my first ever sound bath yesterday oh how did you find out I love a sound bath so I

realized I'm not very good at this and I need to practice because it was only 20 minutes long it was part of the event the oat drink event yesterday And about 15 minutes into the 20 minute session, I finally stopped fidgeting, looking around the room, opening my eyes, closing my eyes and decided, oh, I'm actually quite sleepy now. I might try and relax into this. And then the gongs go and the pretty bird-like sounds and it's time to wake up.

So I need to practice. And I realized meditational sound baths are what I should do more of, maybe not dancing as much. I should be doing sound baths are what I should do more of. Maybe not dancing as much. I should be doing sound baths. Honestly, I swear by five or ten minutes of meditation in the morning. It really, I have such a busy head and I'm such a chronic overthinker. I feel like it goes at about 100 miles an hour.

And especially at the moment because there's a lot of floating things going on in our life. Tell us, tell us what is going on. What has been going on? Oh my gosh, what's not going on in our life. Tell us, tell us what is going on. What has been going on? Oh my gosh, what's not going on? A few things I can't say about yet, which is just such an annoying comment, but hopefully we can talk about it next week on the show with Plants, our brand there, which we've been doing a massive project on over the last five months or so. And we've got, I think, let's see what happens over the next few days, some pretty mega news coming there, which is super, super exciting.

Very knee deep into our new cookbook. Got this going on. And then Delicious Cielo is always busy. So many, many, many things going on. We launched a new bar over the last couple of weeks, which is our original energy ball at Delicious Cielo, which we bought out in 2016. It was the product that started everything. And it came from the first cookbook. It was the community's most popular recipe. Anyway, we've done very, very similar, but into a bar,

which again was community feedback that it's easier to eat on the go, which actually I completely understand. But interestingly, we've launched it into Sainsbury's locals. And out of the 70 products that are sitting in where it is near the front of store, it is the only product that has no preservatives no emulsifiers no flavorings well done i know i'm really proud of that amazing but it's also extraordinary i know we're talking about the broken plate earlier and kind of where food is but i do also find it quite it shouldn't be a standout that really shouldn't so watch this space watch this space people cotton on surely the

competitive brands will be like look they're doing something we should try and move this way I know we'll come on to it obviously later but it's more expensive and I think that's you know to do it and to invest in those ingredients I think that's often a big big blocker for people which I totally understand but otherwise I have to say I've had a very uninteresting week really yeah it's funny you like you know often go online you see people and they're doing these exciting things and I'm like I feel like I've sat in a meeting room all day every day. Let's tell people how our soundcheck went because I think it goes to show that so as Deliciously Ella and a nutritionist myself we don't always have the perfect start to the day do we? No we when we do soundcheck before we start recording and I think with any

soundcheck I've ever done the question's's always, what did you have for breakfast? And what did you have for breakfast, right? Will asked me and I said, well, we're in Ella's office as we record and I have free access and reign to all of her bars and chocolate almonds. And this morning was such a rush. You know, I travel into London and get the train.

I had five chocolate almonds. And I had a caramel slice. I was so tired. And I had a minute before I dropped my nursery this morning and I went to get a coffee she's like can I have some banana bread I was like yeah and I think I'm gonna need a caramel slice this morning I just didn't want to stay up late last night and did my overnight oat potter and you know sometimes we just it just doesn't happen for us all we're not perfect and it doesn't matter and I think that it's nice to bring it in because it's just a

reminder before we get into the show that like to your your point, no one's perfect. Life ebbs and flows. We do our best on any given day. And that's great. That is great. And I look forward to having the time tomorrow because it's my day off with the kids tomorrow. And I cannot wait to make a delicious porridge or something yummy, you know, and actually sit with them at the table and enjoy it. So we all get those days. We absolutely do. And what are your recommendations for us this week? So my recommendations this week, I have to say, I've got to be honest, I wanted to have a read of this book, and I didn't get time, but it landed on my desk, and it's called Grandparenting by Terry Apter. And I was just fascinated that there's now a book in existence for, you know, the millennials, that type of generation

to give to grandparents for advice on how to essentially grandparent. Because I know that it's very difficult family relationships and dynamics are different for everybody. But you know, I, my parents don't live close to me. So I don't have anyone that can do childcare or help me out with the kids as much as I'd like. And I think that's quite a common theme for probably lots of our listeners. If you have a family, you know, how close do you live to your parents? Are you on the same street? Or are you literally like us miles and hours away? Yeah, we're hours away. Yeah, same. And I think that's really, really common. So this book has been written, I think it might be a good one for people. So I'm going to delve into it and then feedback on it next week. But my top tip of the

week is not a nutritional science tip. It's that I couldn't find my keep cup for people. So I'm going to delve into it and then feedback on it next week. But my top tip of the week is not a nutritional science tip. It's that I couldn't find my keep cup for rehearsal. I look all amdram. So I poured my tea into my soup flask. And you know what? It was fantastic because I had this amazing, super hot, perfect tea. Whereas normally, you know, it kind of gets cold after the space of like 10 minutes being in the keep cup and you can use your soup flours for tea and coffee not just soup and you get a bigger vat of it as well it just makes more sense I don't know why I ever had a keep cup that is a 10 out of 10 recommendation I also love this idea especially a vat of like coffee yeah it's huge and I mean it it's like a mini one but it's still big probably like 500 litre worth tea I had nice it was so good it was so good yeah I had all the caffeine I needed and then on Facebook yesterday I sent it to Ella and we'll share it for you but on my time hop on Facebook it

was me and Ella eight years ago when you were sampling at one of those festivals we used to do it was like the balance festival was it maybe? There were a couple, actually there were about eight, I think. That was like peak wellness back in kind of around 2016, 17, where there was like a different wellness festival every single weekend and we were exactly, we were there sampling every time you were there talking. Yeah, we got this little picture together and your reaction, Ella, was, look at us, we're so young. I thought we looked like babies.

Yes. No, it was a great picture it's amazing how how different we look actually we do look a lot younger we do you know and you don't realize it until you actually look back at pictures of yourself we do look very fresh-faced we'll share it we'll do a swipe across yeah no definitely the last half many years have certainly aged me actually do you what? I've got a recipe recommendation this week. Oh, good. I've always got in the back of my mind the trying to get 30 different plants a week, which I'm sure all our listeners are really familiar with. You see like waitrose at the moment doing their big campaign about plant points.

And it feels like it is very accessible information, but I'm always really conscious of it. And at the risk of sounding conceited or arrogant, I find it really easy in my own diet because I eat lots of different nuts and seeds and herbs, et cetera, and obviously fruit, veg. But with the kids, I'm obviously more conscious of it because they, you know, are children and they therefore are like, I don't like this or I don't like that. And they can be quite stubborn in their ways and so I'm always thinking every week okay how can I sneak really different virgin like the base of a chili or the base of a stew for example and um also is one of their favorite ingredients also one of my favorite ingredients if you don't cook with it because it cooks in 10 minutes unlike rice which takes longer and then it reheats so much better than pasta it's a tiny, it's like a rice-sized pasta,

but reheated pasta is not that delicious, whereas reheated orzo, super, super delicious. So I've been making a one-pan leek and butter bean orzo, which is actually a delicious Cielo recipe. I'll pop it up on our Instagram so you guys can get it on there today if you want it. But it's amazing because it's got things like leeks, celery, fennel

which they they don't normally eat but you saute that all up and then you cook it with the butter beans and also in stock and then you add peas and lemon juice at the end that's what we had last week that's what we had when you're in the office exactly and will our producer I said you have to try some of this food he was on his way out but it was so good everybody I ate this last week after so good so simple so easy to do and as I said I've just been into it because it's a nice way to get things like leeks fennel etc which my kids would never eat just like roasted leeks or roasted fennel many children would just eat no because it's not something you cook every day no exactly so that's my recommendation of the week. And I have been like a batch cooking whiz at the moment, which again, it's just making my life so easy.

So my recommendation is that recipe, but also to get batch cooking. And then next week, I am so excited to talk about this, that sneak preview if anyone wants to watch it ahead of time. It's come out today as in the day of recording. So 6th of Feb. I haven't seen it. But Netflix have got a new show out called Apple Cider Vinegar. And Ria, I don't know if you remember, there was a woman, she was an Australian woman called Belle Gibson.

Do I remember Belle Gibson? Oh my goodness. Did you know there's been a Netflix show about her? No. And I'm actually relieved if it is painting the picture because the devastation that that woman caused. Yeah, it's extraordinary. So for anyone who doesn't remember this, so there was an Australian woman called Belle Gibson. And the show, the Netflix show, is based on a book about her, which was written by two Australian journalists. And it's called The Woman Who Fooled the World. And Belle Gibson was an Australian wellness influencer. And she falsely claimed,

although of course, we didn't know that at the time, that changing the way that she ate and changing her life had cured her brain cancer. She built a really big online brand. She had a mobile app that was called The Whole Pantry. And what I remember about it is because it came out at basically the exact same time as the Delicious Ciel Yellow app. And we were, let's be honest, just quite jealous of her success because Apple chose the whole pantry as they're like, you know, when you go into an Apple store, you see on all their iPads and iPhones and stuff, you've got a certain number of demo apps on there. And the whole pantry was a kind of flagship demo app. And this was when, yeah, as I said, health eating had kind of really exploded

and Apple backed it. She had a massive publishing deal with Penguin. But obviously, personally, you know, I can understand how quickly people picked holes in this. My mother-in-law died of brain cancer and this was 2018. She was diagnosed in 2017. And obviously learned immediately after she was diagnosed that there are no cures. Well, actually, interestingly, in Australia, there is a man now pioneering some research where he, through immunotherapy and different ways of looking at things, where he has currently, and my God, I cross everything for him, completely potentially changing the face of brain cancer in the way that it's treated.

And a year or so in, he is currently in remission remission there's nothing there so it's extraordinary but total tangent currently and when she was talking about this there was no cure I mean my mother-in-law was offered I think one or two different chemotherapies radiotherapy and given a maximum of a year to live and she was essentially saying she had the same thing and had cured it through diet and lifestyle immunotherapy is very different to saying green juices and things are going to cure my cancer. Oh, completely different. And what I mean is when I say there's no cure, he is just doing some really pioneering work, which is extraordinary. But with Belle Gibson, yes, anyway, and the whole thing picked apart. There was an investigation by the publication

The Age in 2015 that exposed this complete deception. She had lied to everybody. She had lied her way through the whole thing. The entire story was completely false. It wasn't... She never had cancer. No, it wasn't an exaggeration of the truth. It wasn't a bending of the truth. It was entirely false.

She had never been unwell. She had made up the whole thing. And she had conned millions of people, including kind of massive organizations. Anyway, Netflix have just done the show called App Cider Vinegar, which talks about this. So I'm really excited to watch it. And let's talk about it next week. Definitely. I'll be watching it this weekend then. Can't wait. Funny name title though, isn't it? Apple Cider Vinegar. Yeah. I guess you don't want to call it cancer and you don't want to link it to...

Well, I also think Apple Cider Vinegar has often been been one of i don't know maybe maybe it was part of her regime yeah probably wait and see because i think it's often something that people will take shots for example of apple cider vinegar so i'm wondering it doesn't ring a bell but i'm wondering if there's something to do with that but we will report back 100 yeah and obviously please keep sharing us things everybody because you know we need to hear them our social pages are always the easiest way aren't they Ella to share everything stories headlines I sent you a few messages that people are asking everyone's asking us for glucose spikes as well at the moment I know so let's do glucose spikes next week and I think we should bring your oat drink research into it because that feels like the perfect pairing everyone perfect let's do it okay so moving into the health headlines that matter this is the section where each week we break down the biggest health stories that are making news, the things that you might have read, seen, been curious about.

And Rhi, what's on our agenda this week? Right. So I think we're going to start with talking about mobile phones because you brought this to our attention, Ella, and it's quite scary. And I think people are now finally coming on board with the dangers of having a phone in close proximity all the time potentially. Yeah it's interesting we're definitely I feel we keep bringing headlines obviously each week and then the next week there's more to talk about on each one so I don't want to kind of digress too much because there's so much to talk about in terms of what's been in the news this week but I actually just saw this on my way into recording this morning and obviously in our first ever episode we were talking about phones and how damaging those are to our mental well-being

and for children 100% how addictive they are and obviously there's been this move in Australia to ban social media for under 16s just very interestingly, in the headlines this morning was Matt Dukes, who is the head of counterterrorism in the UK. And he has said, this is a quote, the harm created by social media is similar to the cancer caused by smoking. And that's straight from him. And he is calling for a ban on the use of social media to children. Him and his team are discussing the same policy that they're looking at in Australia, which is this world first ban on social media used by under 16s. They've been giving evidence to the Times Crime and Justice Commission. So really interesting. As I said, it's just something to what I think we'll keep coming back to because obviously it's such an evolving conversation,

but it does feel like this conversation around the danger for our mental well-being and to society of our addiction to phones is really at the forefront of so many conversations, which I am for one thrilled about. I would throw my phone out the window if I could. Yeah, I'm exactly the same, especially for under 16s. I'm actually relieved. Well done, Australia, because I'm really hoping by the time our children, I really feel sorry for the generation currently that have had to battle with teenagers and this issue. You know, just before 16, that age. I 100% will not be giving my kids, if I can help it, a smartphone. They can have like an old Nokia that I used to have with the snakes.

Play snakes. Yeah. I know. But it would be so much easier, you know, to art back to our conversational birthday cake a few weeks ago. It's just easier if we're all in it together. And it's so much easier to imagine to say to your kind of early teenage children imagine the money it'll save us too I know you can't have social media and your friends don't have social media so you're not

left out so anyway it's interesting just to keep abreast of things we've been talking about and on that as well alcohol which feels like the headline that keeps on giving we've obviously been talking the last few weeks about this rise in people stepping away from drinking as much. And again, this was just in the headlines a couple of days ago, where January is obviously traditionally the month of people not drinking. But the latest sales data actually reveals that people drinking alcohol free in December was higher than January. And it was an absolute peak of sales of no or low alcohol drinks. And this is from Tesco, which is obviously Britain's biggest supermarket, who experienced record demand for alcohol-free drinks in the four weeks running up to Christmas, with sales up more than 15% on the previous year, which is just absolutely extraordinary,

as I said, in terms of the speed at which this conversation about drinking less is evolving, just like it is on social media. And it does feel like as a society, and we're going to come on to it now with the broken plate, we have so many issues with the way we eat. But equally, it does feel like we are making real progress and headway in terms of bringing these conversations to the forefront and taking action, which is really cool. Do you not just think that times at the moment, I'm feeling positive about minus what's going on in America. I feel positive right now about 2025. I know. I like to say that until I turn on the news and you think, sorry. I know. And I don't turn on the news. So tell us about the broken plate.

Right. This was very exciting. I mean, exciting, but also devastating at the same time because we've got new data, which is always good. So the Food Foundation have published their 2025 report on trends. And this came out a week and a half ago, I think. I remember getting the newsletter from my Association of Nutrition. And it's about the impact of our food system in the UK. And the report uses 13 key metrics to provide a snapshot of the current food environment and the outcome measures on our diet quality, the environmental impact on our health. And what it basically shows is that eating healthy has never been more expensive, which we all know, and healthier food based basically on its nutrient

profiles. So how many vitamins and minerals it has within a protein, it's more than twice as expensive per calorie as junk food. So it's no wonder that we have problems in this country and healthier options have increased in price as twice the rate of less healthy options basically in the last two years. So the broken plate report, and this was presented in the government, it to spend 45% of their disposable income on food to meet the government-recommended healthy diet, raising to 70% for households with children. How can you spend 70% of your income on food? Well, you can't. You simply can't. Yeah, and we've also got over a third of food and non-alcoholic drink advertising spend

that's on confectionery, snacks, desserts, soft drinks compared to just 2%. So there's such a huge divide on fruit and veg. And this is what was really shocking, Ella, and I think you'll agree here is that three quarters, so 74% of the baby and toddler snacks that have, you know, the front of pack claims on them contain high or medium levels of sugar. And then only 3% of breakfast cereals and 5% of yogurts marketed to children are low in sugar i know i still remember standing we just launched into co-op this was maybe 18 months ago and matt and i spent like an hour in there scouring the shelves just really trying to understand the layout and you know how delicious the ella looked in there and again one of those moments where you're like how are we the only natural product in here

anyways i remember looking at the cereal fixture and just seeing lots of Cocoa Pops packs that had a massive sticker on the front or round on the front that said supporting your family's health and I don't know why it stuck with me so much because it's not an isolated event I mean there's lots of products like that marketed in that way. But it just was really penny dropping moment of thinking, I just don't understand how anyone could ever navigate this. These are cheap. They're really appealing to children. They have no nutritional benefit, but they have a sprinkling of multivitamin, which allows you to make claims about having vitamin D, for example, which allows you to make health claims that feel very appealing and therefore

say things like supporting your family's health. But it's absolutely extraordinary that you're allowed to say things like that. But I think one of the other key findings that was really interesting to me and certainly something I see a lot is a quarter of places, a 26 percent, where you can buy food in England are fast food outlets. And that's remained unchanged in six years and I find it often like I don't know we stopped for petrol last weekend and looking at the shelves in the garage and like unless you wanted a banana or an apple there was nothing in there that wasn't like neutral it was fully ultra processed food to the extremes like really really really unhealthy and as I said when we were

talking about what we had for breakfast and I I had a caramel slice, there is nothing wrong with having a treat, there is nothing bad about that. But the problem is, is it's just so difficult to find healthy options on a regular basis, and therefore make things a one off as opposed to the core of what you eat. And I just think it's absolutely extraordinary. It's the nuance as well involved here where we're talking about, you know, household incomes and inequality as well with health and if you've got the more deprived levels of population where perhaps their children

will only literally eat Cocoa Pops in the morning because that's all they've ever known so they're used to that sweet palate. They don't have the time to be stressing out those options so I'm relieved they are fortified. Just to put that out there, it's great that these unhealthy items are fortified, at least to give children some nourishment. But it goes to show the lack, the financial means, the access to decent food,

the government has to step up because this is such a big, big, big problem. And with people conditioned to junk food already, once you're on that hyperpalatable food, and once your children aren't used to it, and you're used to it, and your life is stressful, your life is hard, you've got no money, it just doesn't make it easy for you.

So anyway, the broken plate is very depressing, but it's data that we've needed for a long time. The health professionals are now pushing, we're lobbying, we're trying really, really, really hard to tell the government, look, you have to support change. They have to sponsor and help companies like yourselves and other companies to make decent switches. And I get it.

In a garage, like you said, you stop off at a petrol station, that item that sits there has to last for forever because they're not a supermarket. They have to have these types of items. But generically speaking, children, come on. Kids deserve so much better in this country. Well, there was a lot of follow up, obviously, in the papers about the broken plate report, because it is shocking. I mean, it's completely, for want of a better word, unacceptable to be living in such a developed country that's so wealthy in comparison to so many other countries in the world and yet the lowest the most deprived fifth of our population would have to be spending 70 percent of their income to feed their children properly I mean that's just as I said unacceptable

so do you heat your house or do you feed your children like who should have to make that decision these aren't choices that anyone should have to be making. And I think, as you said, it just shines a light on just how broken our food system is and how radical the change has to be. And I think I've certainly found it really interesting looking at that over the last however long, the fact that there's this really interesting kind of tussle between people saying we don't want a nanny state, we don't want to be told what to do. But equally, I find it hard to believe without very, very serious government intervention, we're not going to have a problem that's only continuously exacerbated. Like I don't really see a way out without really extreme government intervention in which they have to have negative

VAT on fruits and vegetables. And you have to have really clever mechanisms at place. You know, you have to, in the way that we have taxed cigarettes, like you're going to have to tax very unhealthy food in order to make healthy food cheaper. I think they're not really solutions that people want and I'm not surprised and no one wants to be told what to do. But equally, given the damage that it's causing and the completely unfair nature of it, it's very, very difficult to sit here and think that continuing on the path that we're on is viable in any shape or form. Think of the stretch on the NHS because our diet, as we know, is linked to all these different metabolic diseases. And in the future, that's an increased risk, sadly, of diabetes, of heart disease, of obesity and all these different areas that impact our health and impact the strain on our health systems. And then we're looking at an aging population with a multitude of problems. And I saw in the press yesterday, and a journalist had written, you know, ProcessMeat,

read in ProcessMeat, is so pushed on children today that we're looking at a future generation of majorly high record numbers of bowel cancers. And you just think, what is going on? We're pushing unhealthy items at every single corner onto the future generations. So give us some swaps, Ella. How can we save money and cook better? Well, yes, exactly. Because one of the things I was going to say

is there were so many people then talking about, okay, but what can we actually do today? And what are some things? I want to ask you about fresh or frozen because I know you've been talking about that recently again in the press which I think is a really interesting one because frozen is oftentimes a lot cheaper and oftentimes also healthier but interestingly and this is some research we've done for something completely separately obviously cooking at home is the cheapest way to eat well there's no getting around it now obviously you can then look at all

the problems we have with that in terms of not teaching people now properly to cook at school not making people feel empowered and confident that's also I think it's up to a million people who don't have a frit household who don't have a fridge in the UK again like this inequality making that difficult so I don't mean to push past that but if you are able to cook at home more then that is extraordinary and you can be using ingredients like dried legumes for example which obviously are so much cheaper whole grain seasonal veg but in that and we're not talking about this because because i a plant-based diet but plant-based options are often so much cheaper and when i say plant-based i don't mean meat mimics because those can be expensive i mean switching to using chickpeas or lentils, for example. And there's a few different reports on this.

But actually, it's looked to be about a third cheaper to do your shop as a veggie or vegetarian diet where you're using those plant-based sources of protein. And obviously, also, that's so beneficial for the environment. And we actually crossed it up again. This was something different, but I just thought it was interesting. A winter bolognese recipe we've done, which leeks carrots celeriac just for being super seasonal some herbs tofu tomato and it was about one depends where you shop but like £1.50 to £1.80 a serving but with beef as a traditional bolognese it would be additional 40 to 45p a person making it about £2.50 to £2.20

a serving so really meaningful difference actually and if you kind of replicated £2.50 to £2.20 a serving so really meaningful difference actually and if you kind of replicated £1.75 versus £2.17 across the week for a family of four continuing to swap animal protein for plant protein in an evening meal you'd be saving almost £12 across the week or £600 across the year which I thought was really interesting and again it's not about going 100% plant-based, but it is just an interesting note. It's also better for the environment. And you're not having to store things in the fridge in the same way because you can buy those ingredients.

You can even buy frozen bags and things and use it on the day if you don't have one. But it's the meat. It's meat and fish that you're storing. Because meat mimics have been so kind of had this boom and now they've gone completely bust. And we'll talk about that actually, I think, week but those were obviously quite expensive so I think that people then had this view that plant-based had to be expensive because you had to buy a chicken replica or a bacon replica but actually if you're using as I said like lentils then it's a lot lot

cheaper so many countries in the world look at India and places where they've got a huge vegetarian population they love their lentils and their where they've got a huge vegetarian population. They love their lentils and their pulses. They know how to cook with them so well, don't they? Like the inspiration we get from those recipes. 100%. If you know how to cook with them well, they can be so delicious. So if you want to nudge to try some lentils, let that be it. You're a podcast listener, and this is a podcast ad heard only in Canada. Reach great Canadian listeners like yourself with podcast advertising from Libsyn Ads.

Choose from hundreds of top podcasts offering host endorsements or run a pre-produced ad like this one across thousands of shows to reach your target audience with Libsyn Ads. Email bob at libsyn.com to learn more. That's B-O-B at L-I-B-S-Y-N.com. Tell us about Frozen versus Fresh because I think that interestingly, like in lots of European countries, frozen food is seen as really premium and really positive, whereas in the UK, it feels like we have a really negative view towards frozen food. And I didn't know this until it was actually maybe over a year ago now,

I did a podcast with Shivani Powell, she's Millennial Mind podcast, and we were speaking about frozen food. And I didn't realize the cultural links to it. Because in some cultures, they see frozen food as dead food. You know, food that isn't fresh is not seen as healthy and is not seen as good for you. Whereas you're right, if you don't have a cultural or religious aspect towards it, it is just a more convenient, cheaper way to eat food and the utilisation of technology that's fantastic. And actually, we used to preserve food many, many thousands of years ago in this way. We used to keep food cold and frozen, depending on the climate you live in. People used to ferment things. You know, there's lots of ways of doing it.

So basically, let's use the example of a classic fish finger, which most people would buy. If you pick a good quality one and then you freeze it, it would last three months with the same amount of omega-3 as if the fish were fresh. And that's astounding because most people don't eat food from their freezer in the first place and expect to get the same nutritional benefit. And I think a good example is fruit and things that are really expensive that I know you and I use a lot. Yeah, like big bags of frozen berries. Berries are so expensive. A tiny punnet, you get next to nothing buying them fresh and actually you lose the antioxidant capacity. You lose the nutrition the longer it's sat on the shop shelves once it's been picked from the vine or the stem. And if you have it straight from the

freezer, you're going to get the same if not more nutrition than if you were eating it fresh. So it's just a little incentive to everybody. You can even buy packs of cut onion if you don't like chopping an onion. And then you just get out the quantity you need. Sometimes you need to get the frozen fruit out the night before. Frozen broccoli, for instance, retains a lot of water. So you might want to pat it down with a paper towel before you start cooking with it. And there's all those different things to consider. But in the press, I was basically just trying to convince people that you can save money, be more efficient, reduce household waste,

which is huge in this country. I think a third of the food we eat is thrown in the bin, which is insane when we've got this broken plate that we're reporting right now. And save money and get more nutrition. Just get things out your freezer more I live with my freezer nearly every single week I pull things out yeah me too I mean I batch cook say the beginning like a pro I love batch cooking it's so helpful in freezing things but also I don't know like my girls love porridge before school in the morning and I will chuck in lots of frozen berries yeah and it's so much easier because I always have them I just have the amount I need.

They don't go off. I don't waste stuff. Even bananas when they're going off. So I chop them up like little coins for my kids. And then in the morning, we both put nut butter on them. And then we put them in the freezer and we'll get them out. We'll forget about it and maybe get out the week later. Oh, look, you've got your nut butter frozen banana bites for breakfast today. You know, if there's things going off, use your freezer.

Yeah, no, absolutely do freezing bananas. It's a big one. Okay, so our second headline this week is a really positive one that i saw a few days ago and i wanted to talk about which is that things really do feel better i know morning right i it's not so nice because don't you feel like it's such a kind of um something your granny would say like don't worry darling things will feel better in the morning and And we might roll our eyes. But science actually backs up.

So there was a major new study of nearly 5,000 UK adults, which you will attest to, Ria, is like a serious study. They were tracking their moods over two years and found this really consistent daily pattern. 50,000, I think you meant to say. Oh, what did I say? You said five. Oh, 50. No, sorry. 50.

Yes. Sorry. 50,000. A mega number of people. So there was this really consistent pattern, which certainly I feel like I have in my life. So happiness and life satisfaction peak early in the morning between 6 and 8 a.m., good for us early birds.

Then by 10 a.m., your mood starts to dip. So it kind of dips all day, picks up again in the early evening. It was about 6 p.m., but takes a nosedive at 8 p.m. and hits an absolute low point around midnight. This bit I think was so interesting was that weekends bring more emotional ups and downs than weekdays, which tend to be a lot more stable, a lot more regular. And that happiness, life satisfaction and a feeling that life is worthwhile are all higher on Mondays and Fridays compared to Sundays. And even Tuesdays had a happiness boost. So I think you kind of have a wonder if actually like as humans,

we love routine because most of us have a real routine Monday to Friday and probably less on the weekends. And also seasonal patterns massively at play. Probably no surprise to anyone listening that our mental health was better in summer, lower in winter. Yeah, I mean, I'm always optimistic on a Monday, it's going to be a great week. And then it might peter off for Wednesday, Thursday, and then Friday, I'm like, yeah, it's the weekend. But I think it was just again,

it was like one of those moments where it's just a kind of scientific way of proving that our well-being naturally ebbs and flows. And I think we all expect to be like happy and shiny and really grey all the time. And that is just not how the human disposition is. Which is why we need to do a happiness bonus scoop. Yeah, we do because we all need a bit more how to be happy in our lives. But I just think it's a really nice kind of reassurance

that we're all normal. Like it's normal to feel a bit down. And we need routine. I think it also shows how important routine is right a hundred percent and we clearly thrive on it but also like everything just shifts minute by minute day to day and that's so normal but you can talk to us about this is that one of the reasons the researchers were also saying that this kind of general ebb and flow throughout the day with this peak in the morning is actually

related to our cortisol levels so will you tell us a bit about that? Yeah, because when you wake up, I used to do this in talks a long time ago, and people were interested in this. I felt like if they're interested in this again now, this is fantastic. So you wake up in the morning, cortisol is high because it's a stress hormone. And it's there to help you feel alert. It's there to help you wake up. And then across the course of the day, it's almost like a slide. It's like a playground slide, kind of just peters off and goes down. And you can actually spike this by having a cup of coffee and different things you do throughout the day, any exercise, you can increase or decrease this hormone. But we're actually meant to decrease, we get that 8pm point and we're meant to go to bed.

I almost feel like it's science and our natural internal rhythm saying hey this is when you are meant to sleep and we do have a routine and also our gut bugs have a circadian rhythm and they're very used to time so we've got research now that shows they're awake when we're awake they rest a bit more when we're asleep and obviously they have certain jobs to do we don't know everything just like the immune system has jobs to do when we're asleep and our brain flushes through with gray matter but what's so interesting is that if we stick to the same time each day I know everyone wants a line at the weekend it doesn't happen for us parents so we always have this consistent early wake up but if you do stick to it potentially you can be helping with your

happiness and our gut bugs play a role with our happy hormone serotonin so we've got cortisol happening naturally we're not meant to be stimulating it. This is why we say to clients, stop your coffees from like 11 a.m. because your cortisol is meant to be going down. You're meant to be petering off. And that's going to help you get a better night's sleep, isn't it? If your cortisol has naturally dropped down to a very low level. I mean, I wish that we could get as much sleep as possible. I know as parents, it's impossible. And if you've got a very stressful job, or you're going through menopause, there's so many reasons why we don't sleep as well as we should. But it plays such a role in

regulating these stress hormones, and it can impact how high or how low the peaks and troughs that your cortisol achieves as well. And that's why our appetite is also linked to this hormone. So ghrelin and leptin that makes us feel full and ghrelin that makes us hungry can be spiked by our cortisol levels. And they all work in synergy. When people use the word hormone balance, what they mean is living this perfect 360 degree life where you get the perfect amount of sleep, your gut bugs are very happy, your endocrine system's happy. That's not reality. But what we can do to support it is not artificially spike it throughout the day i always found it so interesting the fact that if you don't get a good night's sleep for example

you're like hungry biologically programmed exactly to be hungry and crave energy more sugar etc and we can all relate to that feeling but again it's just knowing that that's normal there's nothing wrong with you that's just your body but equally i think it's really just that positive reminder as you said in the way that all these hormones are working together but in line with how you eat and how you sleep and your stress etc that it all matters and so much of health and well-being focuses on our diet you know and broccoli and all the rest of it but actually like your sleep is so important it's like a critical part of your well-being as is managing stress etc etc so don't

think that just because you haven't managed to get your five a day or 30 plants a week but you have managed to switch off and get a good night's sleep hey we had caramel slices and chocolate almonds for breakfast but you know what the day will still go well because we're walking and hopefully we'll get a good night's sleep tonight and we'll eat better at dinner 100 broccoli for dinner but, I just thought that was a nice reassurance that it's normal to ebb and flow. There's nothing wrong with you. And if you're sitting at your desk at 10am and your mood starts to dip, that is probably the same as everybody sitting in the room around you. Exactly.

So that moves us on really nicely, I think, actually, to what is trending in wellness this week. Okay, so the big trend I want to talk about is the hot girl walk. Sorry, I can't take it seriously when you say it. Yes. I know. I can't take myself seriously when I say it either. And it's funny because I took myself on a hot girl walk yesterday.

And I was so embarrassed to be like, so I just want want to caveat I don't see myself as a hot girl what did you say that um Sam Greed says talk to yourself kindly talk to yourself exactly yeah Emma Greed who I referenced the other day who's this amazing female founder who doesn't who says she doesn't get imposter syndrome which I'm really look up to her I do and I can't say I'm a hot girl but I want to talk about it because I guess it's perhaps into what we were just saying about prioritizing sleep, for example, and these simple habits, which I know we're both so passionate about in terms of moving wellness from complicated, expensive things to these simple day-to-day things that feel more approachable to all of us. And the hot girl walk is one of them. So we see a lot of mad things in terms of trends. This was a great one for me. You guys might have heard about it. It was a big, big trend last year. We're kind of

a few months late to the party, but I still wanted to talk about it. It's had over 600 million views on TikTok, the hot girl walk. But actually, it's not about looking hot, which just have to clarify that it's actually about getting outside, moving your body and boosting your mood in a very gentle feel-good way so the term was coined by a tiktok content creator called mia her handles exactly like the other girls which i also like as we were saying it's like when you get your 10 a.m dip probably the same as everyone else we're all going through the same things and she started this back in 2021 and the concept is super simple you go, she was saying a four mile walk. That may or may not be plausible for you, but you get outside, go for an intentional walk.

But while you're walking, pop on inspirational podcasts. Hello, the wellness scoop. Or a playlist that lifts you up. Something that just makes you feel really positive. It would be a bit of Taylor Swift for me. You use that time to just clear your head, set intentions and feel good in yourself. I think the hot girl

element was inspired by the Megan Thee Stallion song Hot Girl Summer. But it's just about feeling your best. Hot Girl Summer. That's what I meant earlier. That's what everyone's talking about. Hot Girl Summer. Exactly. So I think the hot girl comes from the hot girl summer. And do you know what? I love this. I love it as a trend. It's more of an inspo for me because I can't just leave the house and walk when I want. You know, you can't do it when you've got children. You can't do it when you've got work deadlines. But it is an incentive to get up on a lunch break or when you're dropping or walk them to school at least an extra five minutes. I'm going to incorporate hot girl walking into my life more. It's amazing. Yesterday I had a back to back day from nine to six.

And I had a 20 minute break from 10 past two to half past two. And someone said, Ella, can you just do this one thing? And I politely said, actually, is it urgent? Because I've got time tomorrow. Can I do it tomorrow? I just want to get outside. And I could have so easily stayed at my desk, had lots and lots of things to do.

And I went outside for 20 minutes, very short period of time. I listened to half of my favorite pop culture podcast. And it just felt so good. And as I said, it's so simple. Didn't have time for it to do a full exercise yesterday. Didn't have lots of time to cook, but I did have 20 minutes. And I felt so much better for it. And I think, again, it just comes back to this idea that we think we have to do all these complicated things to get health benefits but walking is proven to support your heart health lower blood pressure reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes joint health as well exactly naturally boost your energy and bone mineral density other you know if we talk about women not getting enough you know we don't lift weights at least if you're pounding the ground exactly amazing lower stress and anxiety. New one enhances creativity,

which I didn't know because it's such a great way to clear your mind. And if you go for a little walk after a meal, it can help balance your blood sugar after it, which is so good for your digestion, but also helping beat that like 4pm afternoon slump as well. So just a reminder, you don't need to run a marathon, although very good for you. And more people have signed up for the London Marathon this year than ever before. Again, in terms of this trending upwards of health and wellness, we love it. I have to say, I know people actually. I don't normally know that many doing it because it's quite a big thing, isn't it?

It's such a big thing to know. I have friends doing it. Are you doing it? Oh God, no. It was... Sorry guys. I thought you were going to say, I'm going to do it. No. So this was 2018. Yeah yeah so this was just after Matt's mom

had passed away of brain cancer and we were talking to the brain tumor charity and working with them and saying like how can we use our platform you know we were so alarmed at how little treatment had advanced in the last 20 years you know how can we help what can we do and they said you know one of the best things you can do is do something like run a marathon obviously talking about it to a community. Such a great way to raise money and raise awareness. And on the spot, I was like, great, we'll both do it. And Matt looked at me like, sorry, I'd love to sport, but I don't really want to run a marathon. I was like, no, no, we're both doing this.

So he signed us up. I was like, great, put it on Instagram because I hold myself accountable. I think I remember you doing it. Yeah, and then two weeks later, I was like, oops, I'm pregnant. Yes, I remember. Never even put my shoes think I remember you doing it. Yeah, and then two weeks later, I was like, oops, I'm pregnant. Yes, I remember. Never even put my shoes on and made Matt run it. Oh, yes, yes, you did. It was awful.

He hated every second of it. He did raise loads of money, so he was thrilled about that. But it was awful. And I felt so guilty. I'd be like, what can I cook you? I remember getting a little Boris bike and tracking him around the parks of London and bless him anyway no but I can't see myself running a marathon it's not really my cup of tea but what I meant is you don't need to run a marathon you don't need to go to Barry's boot camp etc etc to get health benefits of moving your body let's hot girl walk listen to

the wellness school while you do it and if you do send us a pic because we'd love to hear how you're getting on but second trend is from last week yes we had lots of listeners being like it was a cliffhanger i know i'm really sorry um we just have too much to discuss sometimes we have too much to discuss nad plus tell me everything okay so nad plus stands for i'm going to try and say this correctly for you all nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide. So you don't need to know that. Very catchy. Something that no one ever says.

And do you know what? Even in my lectures at university, they never said that out loud. It was always just NAD+. It's part of what we call the Krebs cycle, the metabolism. It's linked to our energy production. So it kind of happens that any science-y listeners will know once you get to the end of the Krebs cycle, the electron transport chain, you get byproducts of this NAD+. And they're what help us live longer and feel energized. Now, people are trying to replicate this, Ella, which is where, as a scientist, I don't.

In supplement form. And injections. Yes. And injections. And drips. And drips, in Hollywood especially. And I've actually been asked to consult on a company that i turned it down to do this so hayley hayley bieber of course

is recently a fan and says that she will have these for the rest of her life i quote in the press but there's no evidence that this actually works or makes any difference to human lifespan in general it's so unknown If I can tell you how tiny a mitochondria cell is and how tiny these are in your body, there are millions of them. And it's so, so complex that I'm amazed that we're even selling a supplement like this. I cannot get over the fact that science is even considering it because we just do not know. But there's been a record search on the internet for these. I mean, the searches on Google and TikTok for NAD plus supplements is up 226% from last year. And people are searching for their benefits.

And that Google search is 414% increased. Yeah, it's really having a moment, isn't it? I see people, we had lots of listeners ask us to talk about it. I see lots of people talking about it everywhere. As you said, I saw one company that's selling like at home injections that you can do of it there's just no evidence for it whatsoever ella and just to explain like the metabolism is so complex it's where your proteins go your carbs go your fats and your cells use this different energy and if only it were the secret to long life and energy but we simply don't know if even you take a pill that it even makes it through your stomach acid, let alone gets down and is absorbed

where it wants to be. It's almost the same as collagen. You know, it's not going to go straight to your face and plump up your face. You've got a whole body you're absorbing something with. It might go to your little toe. It might go to your bum cheek. Probably people would rather it went there than their little toe. Anyway, not to, I understand everybody. I do understand. You know, I love looking into these supplements.

I find it so interesting when they crop up. And I'd love to see where science goes with our metabolism. But as far as taking a drip, especially, I would steer clear of that because I don't think that's safe. And the pills, you don't know what you're really getting inside them. And the injections, again, I mean, I can barely fit a glucose monitor when I have to try them for work, let alone inject myself. But, yeah, I don't think they're worth the money at the moment. And they're expensive as well. They're expensive because it's really new and unknown.

And if I were a Hollywood celebrity, maybe I would give these things a try with my disposable income. But what are the simple things that people can do? Because as you said, I think we're all the same, right? Like lots going on. You can do this one thing in five seconds that will give you more energy. That is so appealing. I mean, who doesn't want that? I know. But to your point, it's expensive. It's relatively new science. It's very unproven. There's not large studies to show whether or

not this works or doesn't work. But if you're sitting at home being like, but I want more energy. I need more energy. Give us some top lines on what we can be doing. Okay, most Britons drink an average. This is a stat from 2016, one glass of water a day. So people don't realize. You're joking. No, I'm not joking. I'm hoping it's increased, but that's the average. One glass of water a day. That's what I wrote in my first book, Green Irish. I remember that so much. I wonder how many people have run to the tap right now. I really hope. Please just drink the water. We'll get on to water filters another time because I know that question's coming just from saying that and it is actually quite important to discuss. But you need to drink more fluid. So fluids play a role in how we feel.

They play a role in our mood. If you're dehydrated, you will feel fatigued. You won't be able to concentrate as much. You'll feel really moody. You won't be as happy. All of these factors just from waking up in the morning, drinking more water and then setting that intention throughout the day. And then, of course, having something that makes your gut bugs happy because they play a role of our happy hormones. So the more fiber you eat, the more plants you eat. The happy gut bacteria are going to help with the production of things like serotonin. But, of course, that's a small percentage versus the amount we have in our brain currently.

But every little helps. And then if you're looking at reducing sugar spikes and cortisol spikes, stress all depletes our energy. It's depleting things out of our body every time we get stressed. And it's this chronic state of inflammation that can make us feel tired. So my best advice is to drink more water and look forward to your meals. Look forward to them. Try and plan a little bit of it throughout the day so you can maximize your nutrition. And go for a walk, get some fresh air and get moving because when we don't move our body's not happy and we don't get those endocannabinoids in the brain most people refer to them as endorphins that make us feel happy it's such great advice and as you said we're stressed to do like five

minutes of meditation or breathing getting outside listening to a song you love call a friend it's can't really overemphasize it enough. These simple things make all the difference. And I think it's a really nice segue onto our listeners question. And thank you guys. Keep sending us reset like to our social media accounts. We see all your messages. We love them. I really, really liked this question, which was, hi, I'm loving the show. Thank you very very much you spoke about dried apricots and I immediately started craving them I went to two shops and only saw packs with sulfur since I was unable to live without the apricots for some reason I bought them anyways I'm wondering how

you both personally decide when good enough is good enough I know everybody is doing their best with their budget what's available etc and I would be very interested to hear from you both what your deal breakers are and what they're not. Okay, that's really, really interesting deal breaker wise, because you can't live your life analysing every packet, especially when it's an enjoyed item. But the apricot thing came up, I took my eldest, he's four, for breakfast at the weekend when my little one was at Little Kickers. And there was a dried apricot on top of it. And I just don't like the taste and texture now because I've got used to the organic ones that are softer, that are sweeter. Dried apricots just seem so bland in comparison now to me but that's what I've got used to but I would still let him eat it. I'll let my son have that sulphur

apricot and my big compromise is chocolate. So I've got a big thing about the family in the house having if we're having confectionery, trying to have good quality confectionery, I think it matters because it's an item people want more of, they often want to eat more. And the impact of it is bigger in terms of what it gives to your body, it's not always great. So I'd rather them have chocolate that doesn't have a lot of additives in it. And I do look for that. And I look for a high percentage. But I started that way. So it's easier for me to say because my little ones, all they've ever known is darker chocolate. And, you know, they don't have the confectionery. I'd rather buy candy kitten sweets than Haribo, because I know what's inside them. And I want my kids to have sweets, but I'd rather them have the sweets that don't have all the extra stuff. I'm being honest there because I know that people are going to be like, oh my gosh, check you out.

But that's my personal choice. A hundred percent. And everyone has their own things. My kids also love candy kittens. They call them the kitty sweets. Oh, I love that. Yeah, it's funny. Jamie Lang said in an interview in Waitrose Weekend this weekend

that he loved our peanut butter oat bars. And we were like, yes, because we love your kitty treats. But no, I totally agree. I loved this question because I think and I hope this show is helpful in terms of kind of releasing a bit of a pressure valve for people. Because I think once you start reading, it actually all feels quite overwhelming in terms of like toxic things in your cleaning products in terms of the headlines I think it was last week about apple watches having forever chemicals in them that are leaching into your body into all of the conversations on ultra processed food and you start to look at plastic in the tea cups in pret exactly the microplastics that we're absorbing from everything, tea bags, tea cups, etc. Then how bad screen time is for us and how social media is destroying our brain. And then you turn on the news and World War Three is about to erupt. And like, it's just, it can be deeply overwhelming. And I certainly have found that at points. And I think you can get on this cycle of trying to be quote unquote perfect and get 10,000 steps and do 15 minutes

of meditation and get your 150 minutes of kind of more hardcore exercise and do HIIT training and get 10 a day and get 30 plants a week and avoid all plastic at all costs. But you couldn't. I just don't think you can live a functional life like that. Ultimately, if you live in a busy community, maybe you live in a busy city, you've got a full-time job you've got other responsibilities outside of that like everyone can only do their best and I think the point of everything we want to get across to you guys is like it does matter like we're saying like not drinking water matters not eating vegetables matters never moving your body matters it won't make you feel good and it's not good for your health but equally there is a tipping point for all of us what's yours I think for me it is and oh this is so cliche it's probably a terrible answer but

it is balance I think that is what it is for me which is like it's just trying to like going for a 20 minute walk yesterday that's for me is what's good enough is I don't have time to do lots of things but I know I have time to do a 20 minute walk. And that is great. And I think maybe part of the reason I love doing this show is reminding myself, actually, that there's so much evidence that going for walks really good for you. It's therapeutic, actually. We both get a big kick out of doing this show. Just doing this for therapy for ourselves.

And I think that's what it is. It's like, you know, so I absolutely like my kids eat kiddie treats. Yeah, and do you know what? sometimes they have McDonald's and things and that's just the way life goes because you're in the middle of nowhere and that's what there is that's okay but being good enough for me is then making sure at the next meal like I cook something nourishing for us all so that for me is good enough it's it's finding a balance which feels like I'm ticking lots of boxes basically absolutely I think it's a really hard question to answer. And I don't want you to take any of our answers as, you know, everyone has to do this.

They don't. Absolutely not. And it's hard when we share our personal answers. But please don't punish yourself over having a salford apricot. Totally. It's just not life. It's too short. And they're everywhere.

We live in a food system like this. You can only do your best in life ebbs and floats and some days weeks months years it's going to be a lot easier for you to have healthy habits and sometimes it's going to be really difficult and at that point just having eight glasses of water in a day is a real win and you should feel pleased with yourself for that so i think it is it's just about finding i think it's not just good enough for you i think it's good enough for you today or good enough for you this week oh and Ella before we go I forgot to ask you about microneedling your red face yes thank you very much yes you weren't the only person that asked me about it I am always so keen to like be super transparent about everything and I've been doing this for gosh I reckon like two years

now every couple of months and it is just I'm going to call it baby microneedling I don't think that's the official terminology but you can do it where it's very very deep in your skin and you get scars and yeah that scares me I'm scared of needles as it is it's not that at all it's very very shallow super super shallow is it an individual needle can you describe what it is it's not that at all it's very very shallow super super shallow is it an individual need needle can describe what it is like a roller or a okay so micro needling i'm not an expert in it by any shape or form but it's a minimally invasive skin treatment and the therapist will use just very tiny needles to stimulate collagen and elastin production so we can talk about anti-aging at length another day but it's great for keeping your skin happy

and healthy as you get a little bit older I'm absolutely terrified of things like Botox just not for me but this is a an alternative way of essentially keeping your skin looking maybe a little bit younger and healthier I've been doing it for about two years every couple of months the same person have just swear by it has been absolutely amazing I think it's the changed my skin completely but you can do it where it's really deep and you'll see videos of people doing that and it goes super red like what like a big needle yeah they just take it a lot deeper in the skin and that then takes a while to heal what I do is really shallow on the skin you look like a tomato when you leave like my friend Lucy's done it actually I've seen like the bright red face you look like a tomato when you leave like my friend lucy's done it actually i've seen like the bright red face you look like a tomato remember i came home the first day and sky was

like mommy what have you been doing and i was like i can't really explain this so i was like i've been running angel i'm running i'm a bit puffed out yeah exactly i'm just a bit hot and sweaty as we said earlier i'm not really much of a runner but it's gone by the next morning and it doesn't hurt no it just feels like a kind of weird scratching sensation on your skin it's gone by the next morning. And it doesn't hurt? No, it just feels like a kind of weird scratching sensation on your skin. All right. I wouldn't say it's like comfy, but it's five minutes of mildly uncomfortable. I feel like now you compare pain to childbirth every time. Yeah, you do.

So you're like, no, it doesn't hurt. It's nothing. But yeah, it's been amazing for skin. Wow. So I, as I said, not an expert in any shape or form. But for me personally, it has been amazing for just happier, clearer. And then how long does the redness take to go down? Just quickly, because I know.

Oh, 12 hours. Like, I think I did a five, six o'clock. And by the next morning, you look completely normal. So you have to do it that time of night. Otherwise, if you do it in the morning, you are walking around town with a bright red face. Yeah, if you do it in the morning, stay at home. If you do it in the morning you are walking around town with a bright red face yeah if you do it in the morning stay at home if you do it in the morning stay at home yeah oh thank you for sharing that Ella so we've got such a big show next week though haven't we because there's two huge announcements one from me and potentially one from Ella yes everyone keep your fingers crossed we get to that

point but hopefully we've got something big to announce next Thursday as well exactly and of course we will do glucose I promise I think the most asked questions for me have been definitely we get to that point but hopefully we've got something big to announce next Thursday as well exactly and of course we will do glucose I promise I think the most asked questions for me have been definitely on glucose

blood spikes and oat drinks 100% oat drinks glucose and I think we might slip in ashwagandha as well

because that's something you guys were asking about but any other questions comments thoughts we'll watch apple cider vinegar and we just can't wait

to see you next Monday you guys make our week this makes our week I'm obsessed with this show and fingers crossed on the live events. We can all get together soon. See you next Monday. ad heard only in Canada, reach great Canadian listeners like yourself with podcast advertising from Libsyn ads. Choose from hundreds of top podcasts offering host endorsements or run a pre-produced ad like this one across thousands of shows to reach your target audience with Libsyn ads. Email bob at libsyn.com to learn more. That's b-o-b at l-i-b-s-y-n dot com.