The Wellness Scoop - Reversing Inflammation, Power Naps & The Fall of Weight Watchers/Diet Culture 

Episode Date: May 5, 2025

In this week’s episode of The Wellness Scoop, we’re diving into some of the biggest shifts and studies shaping the future of health and wellness. We look at a powerful new study showing how switching to a traditional diet for just two weeks can reduce inflammation and boost immunity — without supplements or complex protocols. It’s part of a growing movement back to simpler, seasonal, plant-forward eating. We also explore the link between high blood pressure and dementia risk. A large-scale trial found that addressing cardiovascular health in midlife — through medication and lifestyle changes — could reduce dementia risk by 15%. We break down what that means in practical terms. WW (formerly WeightWatchers) is reportedly heading for bankruptcy, and it’s raising big questions about the future of diet culture. With the rise of GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy, we’re seeing a shift toward science-backed, compassionate health strategies that move away from guilt, tracking, and restriction. Rhi brings back a fascinating study on daytime napping and brain health — showing that a short daily nap may help slow brain ageing and preserve brain volume. Plus, we look at the wellness trends forecast for 2025 — from high-protein breakfasts and mastic gum to brain flossing, okra water, and metabolic tracking tools. What’s worth paying attention to, and what’s just another layer of over-optimising? Recommendations: Batch-cooking quinoa! A real time saver for when you're having a busy week Sparkling water, super tasty and without additives. Panorama's investigation into baby food pouches - worth watching ahead of the discussion next week Live Show Tickets - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://cadoganhall.com/whats-on/the-wellness-scoop-with-ella-mills-and-rhiannon-lambert/⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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loved ones tomorrow. We are your local Dignity Memorial provider. Find us at DignityMemorial.ca. The Dignity Memorial branding is used to identify a network of licensed funeral, cremation and cemetery providers owned and operated by affiliates of Service Corporation International. 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 confusing health advice can be. So that's why we created this podcast to cut through the noise and make healthier living simple, fun and personal.

So welcome guys, as always, our favorite time of the week. Hopefully, and make healthier living simple, fun and personal. So welcome guys, as always, our favourite time of the week, hopefully yours too. And I have a quick favour to ask before we get into the episode. We are desperate to get this message of simple, accessible, day-to-day pressure off wellness, the little habits that add up to as many people as possible. And what makes all the difference in the charts is if you guys can interact with it. So if you are genuinely enjoying the show, please think about clicking follow on Spotify or Apple, wherever you're listening to it's just around where the images takes one sec. It just means the episodes will automatically appear for you.

It's free to do. Or if you're really loving it, maybe even leave us a review, rate it. Honestly, it makes all the difference in the world. And so we would just so appreciate it. And then of course, please share it as widely with anyone you think would help. Oh, well done. I think it's really hard for us to say, please do it.

But honestly, it does make a difference. And we are finding in this ever changing world, especially with podcasts, and Ella and I have been in this industry for so long now, that your support is just invaluable. And we also can't wait to see you on the 14th of June. I know it's coming up. So we are going to all be together very, very soon for that live event. As always, we'll pop the tickets and the show notes if you want to come and join us. And before we get into the episode, and there is so much to talk about, so we will

not waffle for long today, but I had one listeners message I just really wanted to share because it honestly just made my week. She said, I am such a wellness scooper. The first time we've heard that, I just also wanted to call that out. Oh, that's now a thing, I love that. I know, so we officially such community.

Your podcast came at such a good time last week. I'm absolutely exhausted with all the protocols out there to constantly be optimizing. I feel so supported by what you were both saying. Thank you. I've gotten out of a few unnecessary supplements, stopped freaking out about protein intake and simply switched the focus to even more plants and fiber. So thank you. Keep up the fantastic work of breaking through the mess and misinformation." And I just love that. And there was a second one that said, thank you both for reminding me to be content with my life, making me realize I'm actually doing a really good job already of trying to look after my family's health and for making me feel a little bit better. And I just love that. That was talking about how there's just so much out there about trying to achieve an impossible lifestyle. And if you're new, that's what this is all about. We just want to make it feel plausible, exciting, and we want you to leave feeling empowered.

all about. We just want to make it feel plausible, exciting, and we want you to leave feeling empowered. We absolutely do, Ella. Thank you so much. We do read every single one and there's so many messages and DMs. I will say as well, if you do want to ask us a listener question, it's a bit easier for us to pull them from the Apple reviews or the Spotify reviews rather than our DMs. I love reading them, but oh my goodness, I wish I could get back to you all. It's hard, isn't it Ella? It is. So yeah, if you pop your listeners' questions there, that would be ideal.

But Rhee, what have we got coming up today? Oh, it's a good one guys. We've got, can a traditional diet really reduce inflammation in just two weeks? What does Weight Watchers Collapse say about the future of diet culture? Could a 30-minute nap really make your brain up to six years younger? I mean hearing that Ella I can't wait to discuss this one. What are the wellness trends set to shape 2025 and are they actually worth our time? Is protein popcorn the next big health snack or just more marketing?

And why managing blood pressure in midlife could protect your brain from dementia. So we have got a jam-packed show, Ella. Ree, first of all, how are you? What have you been up to? Any recommendations for us? I mean, I've had my little one turning five, so I've been hosting parties for his school friends, family, and we've just got off Easter holidays,

I guess, really. We went to Disneyland Ella. How was it? Okay, so very, very quickly. I wanted to share with you my experience in this one particular scenario. I just thought it was very reflective of the change that still has to happen in terms of nutrition and food. So you'd expect Disneyland, by the way we had a great time, just want

to caveat, it was magical. I will have those moments and memories with the kids forever. Like they both believe that Mickey Mouse is real and you know meeting Daisy Duck was the highlight of my two year old's day. But there was a restaurant in Disneyland, one of their brasseries in the village and you'd expect it to be very child friendly, you know it's Disneyland. And I look at the children's menu and there's just two options mussels and chips or chicken nuggets and chips. So for most people out there you know if your children eat meat they probably will eat chicken nuggets but you know my kids don't eat meat and my eldest was able to eat mussels and chips

he's got quite an eclectic taste but I don't think most children really would go for mussels and chips. Anyway my two-year-old definitely wouldn't Ella so I said to the waiter I said um oh excuse me do you have any vegetarian options you know from my child on the children's menu? No. He just looked at me said no and walked off. He walked off. I had been completely like slighted. I still can't get over it. I'm almost reeling from the experience, but also in shock. And I said, oh, is there not anything anywhere?

He said, oh, over here, there's a few vegetarian, gestured over to part of the menu. And there was an adult dish of ravioli with cheese. I said, okay, wonderful. Could I please have that in a smaller portion then for my child as part of the kids menu? No. I said, oh, could you just do it as a smaller portion? No. I said, okay, well, I'll order the adult

portion then for my two year old. And I feel like it was just a really reflective experience of me even asking for a vegetarian option was obviously quite shocking to this waiter. And I imagine at a place like Disneyland, it's a global franchise, you probably get people from all backgrounds, all ethnicities, cultures, different dietary preferences. I still can't get over the fact we're in 2025 and asking for a vegetarian option on a menu,

it's shocking, let alone if you're vegan, I dread to think what you'd do in Disneyland. Yeah, it's really interesting. It feels like parts of the world has changed so much and then other parts not so much. I think it's what we talk about so much, isn't it? Where actually lots of people had the desire to make healthier choices.

But so often those options just aren't available. And so it becomes really difficult. What do you do? Prep all your meals and take it in a Tupperware. That feels quite sad. And you can't either. So at the hotels in Disney, you can't even just get a banana or an apple in the breakfast buffet to take with you in the afternoon. So it was really very enlightening.

But anyone going, it is magical. Please don't let me detract from your experience. But I really wanted to share that in a reflection of nutrition in 2025 and how it is tough for people. Yeah, that's very, very interesting. Anyway, Ella, moving on, I'm preparing for this parliament talk. I'll talk about it another week. I saw you were so busy with plants. You've just come from a talk this morning and we're recording in the morning today. I absolutely love the idea.

It's just just a small talk for parliament. Let's move on. It's a pretty big deal. Just FYI. I'll get into it next week. OK, I'd love more than one second on next week, because that sounds like a very cool and very big deal to me. And you always downplay your achievements in that sense.

Yeah, not a lot for me. We've just come from a talk about my new book, which is really exciting. I'm officially halfway through recipe testing. I have six weeks through the other half, so I'm gonna be cooking and eating a lot in the next six weeks. So yeah, timeline is tight, but I'm going to be cooking and eating a lot in the next six weeks. So yeah, timeline is tight, but I'm thrilled with what we've got so far, which is absolutely amazing.

It looks like from seeing your clips on stories and obviously chatting to you, that it is going to be a real game changer and making, you know, healthy choices, I guess, less stressful to think about. Fingers crossed. Yeah, fingers and toes crossed. I'm sure it will be, Ella, a huge success. So recommendations this week, Ella, what do you have for everybody? Okay this is hilarious and very on brand recommendation I would say. It's to batch cook quinoa. Yes. That's like the niches of recommendations isn't it? So quick to cook compared to everything else. It's so quick to cook and I think because there's lots of things going on at the moment and I'm not really really stressed but I just find myself kind of a bit short on time and end up just eating

a lot of toast, might have hummus on it, might have avocado on it. It's not bad. It's just, it's not great for getting the 30 plants a week as kind of the same things on repeat basically. And I was doing some recipe testing and I was making some quinoa. I hadn't made quinoa in ages and I was like, gosh, it's so, you know, it's nutritionally complete. It's really high in protein. It's packed with vitamins and minerals. It takes 10-12 minutes to make and then for the last three minutes of boiling it I chuck in some frozen edamames and a tin of chickpeas, lots of lemon, olive oil, salt and then you can put a dressing or you know a dip etc with it chuck anything on but I've had a batch of it in my fridge all week. And like last night, I got home, super full on day of starving.

And in three minutes, I had a really nutritious, delicious dinner. And I felt so chuffed because it's just so easy to batch cook, unlike rice, you don't worry about it being cold, et cetera, or reheating it. Anyway, batch cooks and quinoa. It's a brilliant recommendation. And to people that have probably maybe or maybe never tried to cook quinoa it's the same as rice. You just pop it in a saucepan with boiling water but it

takes literally like what five minutes? Yeah about 10-12 minutes to cook so easy and then you can add peas, edamame, chickpeas etc. to the pan as it boils. And a complete source of protein. Ella I love that. It goes to show it's the simple little things in life. It's funny you say that because I did quinoa for the kids this week but they didn't eat it because I hadn't cooked it in so long. So I need to keep offering it again to become a familiar, you know, Yeah, exactly. thing again in their diets.

My one this week would be my sparkling water obsession. You know, you can buy like those flavored sparkling waters, but they don't have artificial sweeteners or colorings in them. And that's what really appeals to me, that it's just infused with natural flavours. So, you know, there's a few of them, there's loads of them actually, like aqua libra or dash. And I always have a fridge full of them. And with the heat wave we're having as we're recording,

I just always fancy something about sparkling water. Yeah, it's so delicious. I love that. The kids love it too. Did you watch the Panorama documentary this week? No, I haven't yet. And if anyone is listening and they're not in the UK, Panorama is a BBC show that's been going for decades. And they make documentaries into relevant topics.

And it can be anything from something culturally relevant, like baby pouches, to something political, economic. It goes on forever. Funnily enough, in my dad's early career, he worked on the show. Yeah, but anyway, they did a big show this week and we're gonna cover it in detail next week. So I've got my homework to do, I've gotta go and watch it.

Maybe you guys will too, ahead of us chatting about it. But it basically revealed that baby pouches, which are everywhere and no judgment for using them. But I think people use them because they think it's convenient. But the reality that came out of this documentary is that actually the promises that they are actually giving your children fruits and vegetables unfortunately isn't essentially the case in the sense that they are missing masses amount of nutrition. Yeah, it's really shocking and it's really sad.

You know, I used to work in this industry five years ago and I had all these hopes for, you know, we launched multi-grain quinoa pouches and we made the first ever recyclable pouch and then just to see this industry go downhill and not offer parents the great option is awful. But we'll talk about it next week because I think Ella and I have a lot to say on the subject. Okay, Reece, so what have we got coming up in the health headlines that matter today?

Hit us with the first headline. So we are talking about the fact that if you tackle high blood pressure, you can help to reduce dementia risk. And this is the largest study of its kind. And it found that the risk could be brought down by 15% through medication and diet. So dementia is currently one of the most urgent public health challenges of our time and it's devastating for anybody that's impacted by this. I think we all know somebody

now and in 2021 the World Health Organization estimated that 57 million people were living with the condition globally and that number is actually expected to rise to more than 150 million people Ella by 2050. So while age does remain of course the biggest risk factor there's obviously things that we're doing throughout our lives that perhaps we could speak about and around half of the cases research suggests could be prevented or delayed by addressing 14 modifiable risk factors Ella and one of those was high blood pressure. Yeah as you said I think it's a really interesting topic to talk about because to Rhee's point

almost everybody knows someone or unfortunately will know someone likely over our lifetime many more than one person who is impacted by this. And obviously, the consequences are devastating. And I think it's one of those interesting ones where some of it absolutely, there's no prevention whatsoever. But to this point, around half of cases could be prevented or delayed. And I think that's something that we would all love

the ability to have some level of control over. So this new study that Reeve was referencing was published in Nature Medicine. And it does provide some of the strongest evidence to date that managing blood pressure, crucially in midlife in particular, can lower the risk of cognitive decline later on. So this trial involved nearly 34,000 adults aged 40 and over. And it was done in 326 rural villages in China. So it was one of the first large scale, randomized controlled

effectiveness studies to demonstrate reduction in all cause dementia through low blood pressure. Yeah. And in one of those groups, over 17,000 participants, this is a huge amount of people guys. They received an intensive intervention that included free or low cost medications. That means more people can access it. They had regular health monitoring and coaching to support adherence to this, of course, and lifestyle changes such as weight loss, reduced salt intake and alcohol, things that we all talk about as public health measures. They were all reduced and the other group received standard care. Now when I say standard care, obviously it's going to be different in China to what we

have here as well. So we have to remember that that's reflective. But after four years, those in the intensive treatment group, so the ones getting more support, you know, the cheaper medication, reducing the salt and alcohol, they were 15% less likely to develop dementia and 16% less likely to experience mild cognitive impairment. So it just goes to show Ella because in the UK, one in three adults live with high blood pressure. And we know it's because of poor diet, smoking, I mean, stress. Gosh, I feel like I'm stressed all the time. Even I worry about it. And we know the study

doesn't isolate the individual effects of medication, of course, versus lifestyle change. But I think it's really powerful by saying that if we just have more support, it is helpful for our health. For sure and I think it's all this laddering up isn't it of research which is what we want to bring you each week. That there's not one magic answer but it's part of a kind of body of evidence of research to show these small interventions that we can start to make in our lifestyles, managing stress, changing our diet to lower our blood pressure, etc. is so powerful. And again, not to like labour the point too much, I feel like I keep going back to it. But when wellness is so associated digitally with aesthetics, I think

this is such an important reminder of the fact that actually what we're talking about here is altering our lifestyles or improving our lifestyles to ward off or prevent or delay potentially the kinds of diseases that none of us want or none of us want our loved ones to get. And there's no crystal ball, there's no guarantees of anything in life. But if you can make small interventions to really give yourself the best chance at longevity and a great health span. I feel like we should all be doing it and encouraging each other to do it. I mean, the biggest tip I could say is just don't add extra salt to your meals when you're at home, especially if you're already using it when you're cooking.

Just try and focus on the fibre, which we talk about every week. Go back and listen to a few of the episodes, keep your water high and just think, you know, it may sound really boring, but that is going to make a difference on your blood pressure and your long term health. So Ella, it does link nicely to headline two today. Ella Miller I was just thinking the same thing. We've got a really nice segue here, which I didn't plan when I was looking at these notes. But I think the second one really comes into play to the same point of the boring stuff, as you just called it, Rhee, is the good stuff. And I think that's the message of today's episode. Boring is fantastic. So this headline

was actually, I think it was from a couple of weeks ago, but we kept moving it because there was so much to talk about. And I thought, right, this is the week we've got to get it in. And there's two interesting bits at play here. So the headline ran, Forget Mediterranean Cuisine, Here's the New Health Diet. And we'll talk about what actually this new health diet is in a sec, but I wanted to pick up on the headline because a similar thing was in a few papers, so it's no finger pointing here. But it is the perfect example of why so many people are confused about health and wellness. Because this data was actually referencing a diet that comes from people in Northern Tanzania,

a group of people called the Chagat people. And it's a traditional diet and it includes things that are obviously much more local to that part of the world. So it's things like boiled cassava, bananas, peanuts, some fermented drinks made with local bananas. So not things that are included in your traditional Mediterranean diet, for example, which is looking much more

like olive oil and things like that. And your peppers and those traditional fruit and veg associated with that part of the world. But we're actually talking about exactly the same thing here, which is that a largely plant-based, fiber-rich, natural diet that's really, really limited in or completely eschews ultra-processed food. And I think the headline is so funny because it's essentially saying, guys, forget the Mediterranean diet. It's rubbish. Let's move on to a new one.

But actually, what we're saying here is, no, no, no, he's just further evidence that going back to our traditional way of eating, and you see it in the Nordic diet, the Scandi diet, the Icelandic diet, this one here from Northern Tanzania, from the Mediterranean diet. When I say they're the same, I don't mean it in a kind of deeply reductive, completely ignoring people's cultures way. I just mean it's the same in terms of going back to this whole point of basically a supernatural plant rich diet, not UPFs. So carbs, veg, bit of protein, nuts, seeds, and it's in every single diet that's good. To be aware of headlines, but also I think it's just evidence as to why people feel confused

because if you only read the headline, you think, oh, is the Mediterranean diet not very good for me? And that's nothing to do with this whatsoever. Do you know what's quite concerning? I've seen a lot of videos going viral on TikTok at the moment by people saying, oh, the Mediterranean diet isn't what researchers thought it was. And I think maybe it's borrowed from this headline. I saw somebody tried to say that the research at Ansel Keys explored the Mediterranean diet at a time where everybody was fasting. So it wasn't reflective of the actual Mediterranean diet. And I'm just seeing all of these things circulating and I'm thinking, come on guys, we're just trying to say eat more plants and then you up your fibre and

you get protein from that too. So the results were dramatic. They basically had two groups of people one following the traditional diet which we've mentioned with all the lovely you know fresh produce nice ingredients versus one that had a traditional Western style diet and you know they switched them over and saw different results. But ultimately, if you eat well and you follow the traditional healthy diet, which by the way guys is also like a Mediterranean diet, it's not just a Tanzanian diet like Ella said, they had better blood sugar control, they had a stronger immune response, things that lasted for at least a month after the study ended. Meanwhile, those that had actually had to follow,

I'm really sad for these participants, had to follow the Western diet. It's almost embarrassing. They had sharp increase in inflammatory markers and signs their immune systems became less resilient. So it's not about one country's cuisine being better, like Ella said, it's just purely the fact the Western diet is not good for our health.

It's just not, I think that is just full stop isn't it at the end of the sentence. We don't really want to hear it but it's true and I think the more quicker we accept it the better. And I think that was what's so interesting to me about this study was taking a group of people, so taking a group of Westerners who eat the standard Western diet and putting them on this traditional Chagat diet and then the same time taking the Chagga people from northern Tanzania and putting them, poor things as you said, on this Western diet and they're eating roast beef, mashed potatoes, fried eggs and chips, was what they were saying. Which we would also consider pretty standard

food and within two weeks they had a sharp increase in inflammatory markers, signs their immune system was becoming less resilient. And that was in two weeks. And we're not trying to judge. And I think it's important to remember the moral discussion of food we always caveat and come back to in the fact that it's the lack of education. It's the fact that we're not told it's okay to have the fast food once or twice a week, just not every day. And it's when this eating behaviour and pattern of what we call a Western diet now that does involve, you know, mashed potatoes

and red meat sounds normal to people. And it probably is part of a normal diet, but they don't realise how much saturated fat and salt, depending on how you make your mash, goes into these items. And it's the ultra processed foods. And it does link to a headline we're probably going to put in another time. There was a really scary one the other day that literally said on the BBC ultra processed foods may be linked to early death. So I think 18,000 early deaths just in Britain. Yeah. As you said, I know that's a moral discussion and it's not to judge people, but it is to say, whoa, whoa, whoa, we got to stop. We have to turn the tide like not on an individual criticism. It's not about chia seeds.

This is it's not about us saying you have to eat chia puddings because we're not being elitist. We're literally just saying we need to reduce the amount of ultra processed foods we're consuming with the salt, the fat, the sugar and the extra ingredients. And we need to be more like these other cultures in the world. I mean, look at the Japanese culture, look at East African diets. Oh, I just want to live there and eat all their food. Yeah, and I think that's the exact point,

as you just said, that it's like in two weeks, they're seeing this massive reduction in all these kind of negative biomarkers, inflammation, et cetera. And they're not taking green powders, they're not doing funky protocols, they're not following trends, they're going back. They don't need creatine powder,

and they don't, I'm not saying that's bad by the way, guys, I have to caveat everything I feel, I'm on edge, but they're not taking collagen to be healthy in East Africa. Nor are they doing 5am LED masks. So I just think it's, oh we just got to get back to our roots in so many different ways and not to overly simplify it, but I think this study to me was just really indicative of A, how confusing the landscape is to navigate when you read headlines, but B, the fact that, oh, we're just getting it wrong and wrong. It was such a bad headline, such an awful headline to say it's not the Mediterranean diet.

Isn't it? No, but it's so click baity, isn't it? Because everyone's heard about the Mediterranean diet. And so it does stop you in your tracks. But the problem is, if you don't have time to actually then read all the information, then you're just leaving thinking, oh, it's funny. I saw today something saying the Mediterranean diet was bad for us. I mean, I have a lot of people message me on DMs

from the show, so thank you for reaching out, always asking me where did you get the research from, where are the studies from? And I just want to remind everybody that this is a show where we discuss the headlines in the papers, and I wouldn't actually want to give you headline articles, even individual studies that are cherry picked, because it's all about the wider picture. And if we're talking now, for instance, about Weight Watchers, so let's move on to

the next headline, Ella, because this is also a classic example of a Western diet. This is fascinating. Talk about bigger picture in terms of kind of cultural landscape. I actually missed this. And when you sent it to me, I then went into such a rabbit hole because I thought it was so interesting. I didn't believe it when you sent it to me, I then went into such a rabbit hole because I thought it was So interesting. I didn't believe it when I read it. No as to where we've gotten to in our culture So wait watches which also was news to me rebranded to WWW But I think for the sake of people's understanding, let's keep calling them wait. It was a few years ago rebranded I think it was WWW. But yeah. So they are reportedly and I stress reportedly preparing to file for bankruptcy and this

isn't you know we're not a business podcast we wouldn't usually cover that sort of thing but as we said I just think it's a very interesting indication of the speed of change in the world of wellness especially around weight and the diets and the way we think about it. So according to the Wall Street Journal, the company is facing more than $1.4 billion in debt and could be soon handing control to creditors because if their ongoing negotiations don't work out, unfortunately the company will no longer be viable. And I read a very interesting piece in Forbes about this. It was very powerful and it was essentially pointing to the fact that this isn't a story of kind of one brand's

collapse. It really reflects this cultural shift that we're seeing. And for decades, dieting was kind of all about how strong is your willpower? You know, feel guilty if you fall off the bandwagon and you've got to stay on track. And only our products, that's definitely what they were about. And be very regimented essentially. And that was kind of indicative of a whole culture really. I was so sucked into this particular company when I was a singer because I thought without my nutritional education as a teenager they were healthy. I just used to buy their wafers and their products because I thought they were healthy. Yeah interesting but it was all

about calorie counting. And that's I think the point is that basically the industry has moved away over the last decade from these kind of shame based approaches. And it's quite kind of sad calorie counting. And where as you were saying, like people didn't have as much information available to them towards a model that's so much more grounded in science, be that our understanding about calories not all being equal about ultra processed foods, which lots of these are. And then also the development of science with a Zempig and all of these weight loss jabs and weight loss medications that have again just totally changed the landscape. And as a result, you've got that kind of more scientific intervention or you've also got

conversation around kind of more sustainable health, not being about perfection, delicious recipes instead kind of working with your body. And as a result, that kind of shame based point system type approach feels like it's lost its ground. I know and you know there's always two sides to stories like this. So we're not just going hooray wait watch this because that's not what we're saying at all. I'm actually really sad because there will be people that may have benefited from this

program even though that was the approach we cannot take away that it probably had many successes for some people. But it is the underlying narrative like Ella said that it probably had many successes for some people. But it is the underlying narrative, like Ella said, that it's based upon, which is not healthy or long term in terms of mindset. And it was Oprah, wasn't it? Didn't she used to represent the brand? That's right. So Oprah was one of their big spokespeople and a big face of the brand. I think she was definitely the most well-known ambassador and then probably a year or so ago she lost a lot of weight and she revealed that weight loss was actually from using one of these weight

loss medications. I don't know if it was Wegevy or Azempic or Monjaro but one of those kind of big branded ones. While she was signed to Weightwatch. And she so she's then stepped down from the Weightwatch because she was on the board and the company shares dropped almost 20%. And I think that was all I feel like if you kind of look at the story, it's almost the time in which it was clear that they'd already rebranded to WW trying to get away from weight and kind of the shame and move into the more kind of wellness industry, a bit more positive.

But you can't hide roots like that. I think it's quite hard to pivot to that extent, isn't it? I have such toxic memories of this particular company from my singing days, and I've seen it impact so many clients in the Retrition Clinic. And I find it fascinating the celebrity endorsement, like 20 percent is a significant drop. So it goes to show. And we're going to talk about a big celebrity later on in the show and the brand that they've just brought out but using somebody that says oh it works for me it works for you it's just never really the case is it? Yeah it's very interesting I would be very curious any of our

listeners who've used it. I haven't bought their products but I feel like it's very representative of a time which many of us and many of our listeners grew up in in the kind of of a time which many of us and many of our listeners grew up in in the kind of noughties, nineties. It was the first. Yeah, and also where it was just filled with this like we weren't talking about health we were talking about weight and we had you know special K the red woman where you just say special K for breakfast and dinner and lose a dress size in two weeks. I remember on the front of the package. Yeah and she like wafted out the swimming pool in her swimsuit. She was beautiful.

Yeah, there's a lot of wafting. But clearly wasn't eating special K. Well, also, if you eat one teeny, teeny, teeny, teeny tiny bowl of cereal for breakfast and dinner, you will lose weight. You won't be healthy and you won't be missing K, you will lose weight. And I feel like it is that, you know, and there was the size zero aesthetic, you're kind of Kate Moss, that has we called it heroin chic. At the same time as you had all the magazines that was certainly...

There was no nutritional narrative. Cellulite and those rings of shame. So it just feels like a very toxic culture, I think, that so many of us grew up in where, I don't know if many of us realized it, certainly I didn't at the time, but I think subconsciously we're taking in very, very detrimental images about weight and women's bodies and associating what we eat with solely with aesthetics. Do you know something really awful? Yeah. So in my head, when you said, you know, we've all grown up with it, the one thing I remember from the magazines that as a singer, I thought, right, if I'm going to make it in this industry, Britney Spears does a hundred crunches a day and her favorite ice cream is cookie dough ice cream. And she weighs X amount. And I knew, and I remembered from reading it in a magazine.

And that was on my mind when I was in the music industry all the time. So it's amazing. The culture that Weight Watchers particularly stems from is at a time where we were just consuming these tiny sound bites of information. We had no context and the products were just ultra processed. There were chocolate puddings. I was eating chocolate puddings and like strawberry rice cakes and caramel things that obviously were just chemicals and additives. Yeah and the whole conversation was like making yourself as small as possible as opposed to

strong, empowered, healthy, like really energised, ready to take on the world and achieve great things. I'm so happy we're not there now and that we've moved away from that. That's actually quite a happy thing that we're finally... It is a happy thing. And as you said, obviously, if it does go into bankruptcy, there's huge repercussions and we'd never rejoice in that. But I think that's probably an end of an era that is a healthy move on for the world, because I think this whole calorie counting, weighing portions,

making yourself as small as possible instead of as healthy as possible. I agree, but on the flip side, Ella, there's a move towards the weight loss jabs, which I actually have friends, and I know we both know people that they've been amazing for. Yeah. Yeah, there's also big consequences of that, and it's a whole other rabbit hole we could go down. Yeah, and we talked about this in a month or so ago that there is a kind of circling of size zero coming back. But equally, there are lots of conversations around feeling strong in yourself. But then also it goes into the whole protein industry. So where does it end?

It does end. That's why we're here. We're here to try and find some kind of angle, some line of sight for you guys. But that culture that we all grew up in was, it was odd. And I think it probably had kind of deep ramifications for so many people. And I think Weight Watchers was quite representative of it. I'm excited to quickly share with you all that you can pre-order my new book, The Unprocessed Plate Now. And Ella and I discuss this all the time that the world of food and nutrition is currently full of conversations surrounding ultra processed foods and this is for good reason and in my book The Unprocessed

Plate I dive into what UPFs actually are, explore the latest evidence on how they impact our health and most importantly how we can reduce our reliance on them without overhauling our entire lives and remember there's a lot of nuanced guides, there's a privileged conversation, lots of things here. But I want to cut through the noise and offer actual practical solutions. There's incredible diagrams to make the science more accessible and there's 60 amazing recipes, family friendly, everything from breakfast, weekday dinners, quick lunches, simple swaps and snacks and things you can have on the go that makes such a difference.

And trust me, whether you're a busy parent or you're just trying to reduce these in your diet on your everyday workload, this book is here to support and empower you to get back to basics with food without the pressure of this perfectionism. So if you want to feel more informed and inspired in the kitchen, then you can pre-order your copy of the unprocessed plate now. It's out June the 19th. And back to me and Ella. Moving on to nap time, Ella.

I mean, if I could, I would. So anybody that is able to do this, please do. So the headline is a little nap might go a long way. I know. I'm not a good napper. Please do so the headline is a little nap might go a long way. I know I'm not a good napper. I must say my husband's a sensational napper like a weekend. Do you think men just are like my husband could just fall asleep on the airplane no matter what noise, even if he was next to the children, whereas I just cannot do that. He could sleep on a wooden floor.

Yeah, I'm at every weekend he just passed out. Whereas I can't switch my brain off like that. But this is actually technically not a new headline, but resource circulating. And I thought as well, like, God, it's such a great one to bring back again, in terms of this, not the easiest thing to bring in, but on a weekend, possibly. Another example of like a small habit, and this is from 2023. It was published in Sleep Health Health and it found that napping during the day might slow brain shrinkage and potentially cancel up to seven years of aging. Oh there you go, better than any collagen supplement. I mean I feel like I need to hire

childcare just so I can go and have a nap every afternoon. Yeah forget expensive face creams, just a quick nap and there we go. Oh and researchers analysed a lot of people in one, guys, 400,000 people in the UK, and they were aged between 40 to 69. So focusing on those with a genetic tendency to nap, which I found fascinating. I mean, I wish maybe we don't have it. I don't think I have it. We don't have it. Those genes skip me.

We don't have it. And they found that habitual nappers had a larger total brain volume, roughly equivalent to a brain that's 2.6 to 6.5 years younger. And I was at the school gates the other day and I know a friend who's the wife of a premier league footballer and they or he religiously naps. Like it's the whole family thing is after school pickup, they go home and sleep. Really? Yeah. How long for?

I'm not, you know when you just don't. Get the deeds. I know. Next week, tell us. And it's interesting any sports person I have ever worked with, they do sleep a lot. And this is where we're going wrong. Oh my gosh, interesting. There is no way, literally no way I could get get my children home and say, time for bed.

Same, but they're a big family of nappers, but then they stay up really late. So I think there's obviously something about this lifestyle and does it originate in the Mediterranean? You've got siestas, 30-minute-long siestas. But the fact it's linked to brain health, and by the way, they didn't find changes in cognitive performance like memory or reaction time. That's a change. I mean, I would love to have that type of response. But they did note the link between the volume of the brain. And that means that napping does

provide some protection against what we discussed earlier, dementia, so neurodegeneration through compensating for poor sleep. So perhaps another factor we should have mentioned earlier is we just need to sleep more. We do, we just need our foundations. We all desperately need our simple foundations. Easier said than done. But maybe this is your weekly reminder to try and carve in little moments where you can to look after yourself, because my goodness, it's so worth it not to be the special K lady, but to live well into your 70s. Oh, I hate that we even have to mention her now.

You know, she's iconic. She is iconic. And it's just one of those parts of the awful diet culture that is even have to mention her now, you know. Oh, she's iconic. She is iconic. And it's just one of those parts of the awful diet culture that is just going to be remembered forever. Did you ever do it, the special K? Gosh, no, I think I was a kid. I did it. Did you?

Yeah, we were teenagers at school and everyone did it. I mean, I think I say did it for like two weeks. I was really lucky in a sense. When I was a teenager, I wasn't surrounded by diet culture. It was only when I was late teens, like 17, 18 in the music industry, where it suddenly hit me and that's where I found Weight Watchers. So at my school, I don't know how, but I managed to avoid all of that, which I know is very rare.

A lot of the cases we see of people that have experienced, like you said, it starts at secondary school and they're all experimenting with these diets where they were back then. Yeah, I remember we kind of shifted from like how much Nutella toast could anybody eat in a break time to them being like, oh, I'm having special K. Yeah, it was a really stark, I reckon it was like 15, 16, but it was a really stark shift. Yeah, I'm not surprised at all to hear that. And talking of trends, so let's move on to what's trending in wellness. We've got some good ones in trends this week. It's gonna be a chunkier trend section.

Okay, we can't not talk about this. We talk about protein a lot at the moment, but hello protein popcorn. It just made me laugh because I just can't get my head around the fact we're even at the point where we've gone from protein chocolate bars and we're now popcorning. I'm just going to give you one theory before we go into what we've actually got in the

nose, which is that I think we have got so far removed from our simple habits as per that conversation on that switch to a kind of traditional Northern Tanzanian diet that we don't even know what has seven grams of protein anymore. So we've forgotten that like a sprinkling of seeds and lentils on the recipe can give us the same thing. We think we have to get it. So we need it from popcorn. I think it's also the almost the Weight Watchers effect of I was buying chocolate yoghurt flavoured yogurts and desserts and I thought it's OK because they're calorie counting and it's the same principle it's okay because it's protein. Yeah I haven't

tasted it so if anyone has tasted it when we get to the end of this please tell us because it will be really interesting to hear but basically Chloe Kardashian of the exceptionally famous Kardashian family has got a new snack brand that's making loads of headlines in the US called Cloud. And because it's a Kardashian brand that's spelled with a K, so that's K-H-L-O-U-D. And it is the latest thing in this protein obsession that we've got. And it comes in three flavors, you'll be thrilled to hear. White cheddar, olive oil and sea salt, and sweet and salty kettle corn. And the thing is, it's only got, and I say only, but it's seven grams of protein per serving, and that comes from cloud dust.

Cloud dust, sorry. I don't want to love, because genuinely guys, I don't want to come across in a very judgy way. I just cannot get over, cloud dust Ella? Sorry, what is cloud? I'm trying to be nice about it, but. Yeah, it's cloud dust. Is it just added protein powder sprinkled over the popcorn?

Is that what we're paying for? It's a kind of proprietary blend with milk protein isolate. And that's obviously what gives it its protein on because obviously popcorn is not high in protein at all. But it's a really good source of fiber. I will say I'm all for popcorn. Oh, no, I like popcorn, too. I think popcorn is really nice. I'm not anti popcorn in any shape or form.

I just think some things are meant to be enjoyed as they are, and some things focus on your protein. And I would say I'd leave popcorn alone. But this is what I thought was interesting about it. So in the announcement, they've said that the ingredients, you know, the kind of direct quote is, it's made of the ingredients you can pronounce, which is really interesting because I think sodium phosphate and milk protein isolate. Yeah ingredients you can pronounce, which is really interesting because I think sodium phosphate and milk protein isolate, yeah, you can pronounce them, but they're not staple kitchen cupboard ingredients. And sodium phosphate is an ingredient that's very standardly used in the food industry

to improve texture, retain moisturizers, thickener, or emulsify it. So again, especially when you can buy popcorn, that's just corn and a bit of sugar and a bit of salt, but as in it's a very simple ingredient deck. I feel like- You can make it at home by just popping some corn and adding some protein powder. Yes, I feel like you're making it ultra processed,

personally, with no real benefit, because you could get seven grams of protein from two tablespoons of peanut butter, half a cup of beans, two tablespoons of hemp seeds, quarter a cup of mixed nuts. You can get seven grams of protein from many things, half a cup of oats. I know, I know. I mean, you know this more than any of us do. I know.

Even two slices of bread contains more protein than Chloe's popcorn. But I think Chloe clearly loves popcorn. Maybe she's just like, do you know what? I love popcorn and protein cells. How much is it, Ella, do we know? Oh, I don't know. The reviews said it was really nice. And it's not, as you said,

it's not, we're not here kind of slamming her. I just think it's, I think it's a reflection again of this world of optimization. It's like, what is wrong with popcorn as it is and making it taste really delicious. Whereas it feels like we just have to keep optimizing things and we keep doing that in place, I think, of making, you know, a quinoa salad with some lentils and a tahini dressing and

all the rest of it, or snacking on a piece of toast with peanut butter. And there's nothing wrong with popcorn. It's just the fact that it feels like instead of going back to our basics and cooking and being more knowledgeable, we keep trying to buy our way out of our bad diets. And I'm just not sure you can. This all stems to relationships of food, the diet culture industry. This is dark culture again, but in a different form. It's not a shaming one. It's a trying to lead off the back of the protein industry, which is becoming very synonymous with the messaging.

I've got something to play for you, Eleanor. I don't love rock music in this way normally, but this song, clearly, if a rock band has taken it on, this is a message that needs to be out there. ["Stop putting protein in everything"] ["Stop putting protein in everything"] So, it's a song. ["Stop putting protein in everything"]

It's an actual video. ["Just let a brownie be a brownie"] Ha ha ha ha! ["Every day really needs protein"] It's an actual video. Does a pancake need protein? No. Do you see what I mean? So we can't be the only ones discussing this because if a rock band's made a song, it's quite entertaining. It's so good. Do you know what, as a kind of food for thought on this section for our listeners and for myself and for you and everyone, I feel like what we need to do... Is stop putting protein in everything.

No. Yeah, that. No, I feel like what we need to do is we need to go back to simple ways of living our lives where we get those basics in and we focus on our boring, boring wellness habits like our carrots and all the rest of it. And then we just enjoy our brownie and we just enjoy our popcorn and we just enjoy our slice of cake or whatever it is. Maybe you don't have a sweet tooth and none of those appeal and it's just, you know, ready salted crisps or it's salt and vinegar crisps or whatever it is. I think we just need to go back to like, let's fill our plates and our weeks and our meals with simple nourishing ingredients and then enjoy your treats.

Don't feel guilty, but don't feel like we need to keep adding in. A Mars bar doesn't need protein. Like if you want to have that as part of a balanced diet, go for it. But before that, like load up on the good stuff. And I think that's where I would finalise it. It's like, let's stop trying to get our protein, our vitamins from our treat foods. Let's just enjoy those for what they are. And then let's just fill our diets with the good stuff. We need these constant reminders like this podcast, guys. So it's so good for Ella. If

Ella and I struggle as well, and we're in this industry, I can only hear how frustratingly overwhelming it is for you all listening because it's very hard to be in the moment. It's very hard to not be addicted to our phones. It's very hard to eat well because the world deliberately tries to make you buy that protein mass. But it's hard. Or as pay your Disneyland experience. Exactly. There's not huge options available. There wasn't something. There wasn't anything else. So just do what you can and rejoice in that extra can of beans you got in this week and that is a little win. 100% celebrate every win you guys are doing so well.

Pat myself on the back as well in that. Yes, yes. With my batch cooked quinoa. Well done. Which I'm feeling so smug about. Which I will now do tonight. Do it, obviously. So it is a win.

You're gonna feel so good this home next week. Okay, Rie, I've got something fun for you. Okay. So Rie was on holiday this week in Disney. So I found this article and I thought we could take her through it and get her opinion on it all. Oh, thank you. So the Sunday Times had the nine hot wellness trends

for 2025. Some familiar themes in here, but actually quite a lot of things I had not come across. You may have, some of you listening may have. Okay, so the first hot trend for 2025 is the really big breakfast, but it's not just a really big breakfast. It's something called chrono nutrition, where you is rolling her eyes. I wish you guys could see that. Okay. So it's all about starting your day strong, which I like, but it's basically the idea of linking your kind of breakfast into syncing with your circadian rhythm to support

your metabolism and curb afternoon cravings. And that means you're packing your breakfast with like 30 grams or so of protein. And the idea is that doing this will improve your sleep and your energy. And then you can now buy tailor-made plants around your chronotype to get personalized benefits of this chrono nutrition big breakfast. I'm seeing head shaking. What's the lowdown? I mean, it's hard enough for people to fit breakfast in anyway, isn't it? I mean, my initial reaction is, first of all, Chrono Nutrition's been around for years. We don't have enough research behind.

It's all about the timing of when we eat or looking at your DNA. And we just do not have accurate data to say that from taking a sample of your blood or for looking at specific times it's going to directly influence your genetic makeup and what people don't understand is support metabolism is such a classic line that you get. You can't say boost so they've written support quite rightly because you can't don't want to boost your metabolism really but metabolism is just how you digest food it's just how you digest your fats, proteins and how you make energy in the body. So it's not linked to weight loss. I think most people see metabolism as this halo connection to

weight, don't they? Yes, you said a fast metabolism equals then? Weight loss. Yeah, that's what people think. And I think again, that might be a 90s messaging thing. I think it's I was just thinking I feel like this is a full circle. I think it's full circle. I think it links back to that. And again, the protein craze of let's have 25 to 30 grams of protein at breakfast. There's nothing wrong with that. That is actually quite a good thing to do to have around 20 grams in the morning and

always make sure that breakfast isn't just a bowl of cereal. It should be cereal with yogurt with fruit if you're able to. But what a privilege is that for me to even say that out loud. This, there's zero evidence. Let's move on to the next one before I waffle on, but chronotype, guys, isn't a thing yet. I do know some people that call themselves DNA nutritionists, and it is interesting. You can pull some things from it, you can, but it takes a one-to-one consultation, a lot of money, and...

Blood tests and kind of detailed understanding. To understand a little bit more about your body where we can make educated guests work. But instead focus on putting seeds on your porridge, nut butter, some fruit. Try and get a good breakfast in would be my thing. Easy wins on what you're already doing. OK, second one I loved, I think you'll love too, resting is the new working out. So recovery is no longer a side note, it's the main event. Yes, please. Yeah, I love that. But basically the idea that actually there's loads of money in wellness

studios essentially doubling down on this whole nervous system support, muscular recovery. And that's things like hot cold therapy, stretch work, the LED light mask, compression boots, lymphatic massage. You know, there's basically is lots of new studios opening lots of money going into this and all focused on rest and regeneration versus just high intensity, which is I think what we've more associated those sorts of studios with. Wonderful. Do you remember the hit era when that first, I think it was, Joe Wicks won't mind me saying, Joe was doing all of that at the start. It was very trendy everywhere

and it is just as important to rest. Love it, Ella. I'm all for it. We should do an episode actually on nervous system because I think it is really interesting that like rest and digest. Can we just together record from a place with a compression thing on our legs? You know, just sit and chill for the hour

and report how we feel. The dream. It's such a nice idea. But yeah, I think anything that gets you out of that stress, nervous state is gonna be positive for you. So I thought that was a really nice one. Okay, swap squats for rows. Back health apparently is the trend for 2025

coming into focus. And again, I actually am massive advocate of this one as so many of us spend super long days sitting and unfortunately scrolling as well, but obviously then doing work on computers. And there's a big focus in personal training and a lot of the conversations around shifting attention from just strength through the posterior change, etc. to actually focusing on supporting posture, preventing injury and building functional strength. Couldn't agree more. Mobility, it's fantastic.

What a lovely trend that we're finally moving away from just having a big bum, which I think is where squats are so direct. I don't know if you're being fun, but I think that's where the squatting hype. I mean, it is important to squat. There's all those research, especially over in Asia and different cultures, where they can squat up to their, like, 90s or something. And it's really good for your bowels as well. I'm not disputing squats are good. I'm just saying I think it was jumped on as a trend for a big booty.

And now we're looking at aging well. Yay. Which is amazing. My posture is absolutely appalling. Me too. But the kids, they naturally have it. At what age do we lose that? Because their backs are like straight as anything. I know. And I think it's so much all the hunching over your phone. Anyway, I thought that was a really nice one. Okay. This one, I'm not going to tell you what I think. It's interesting. Okay, but it's out with the Wrigley's in with the Mastic and with Wrigley's I mean gum. So there is a new gum in town and it is made of tree resin. So Mastic gum,

I hadn't heard of this, but it's sourced from the Mastic tree in the Mediterranean and apparently has actually been used in the Mediterranean for centuries to support oral and digestive health because it contains antimicrobial and antibacterial compounds and that's what's driving its recent popularity. And people claim that chewing it because it's super tough to chew versus your conventional chewing gum, which kind of dissolves quite quickly, chewing it regularly can help tone facial muscles and define the jawline. Caveat science is limited. But that hasn't stopped you from gaining loads of traction as a natural tweakment alternative. Several thoughts.

Mastic from the word mastication, which means to chew in scientific world. It's not good to chew and not actually swallow anything because your digestive system starts to prepare for a meal that's never going to come. So you might experience IBS or trapped wind and all sorts of things from just chewing. and not actually swallow anything because your digestive system starts to prepare for a meal that's never going to come. So you might experience IBS or trapped wind and all sorts of things from just chewing. If only it were that simple that chewing would tone my jawline as I age, I mean that would be fantastic. But it is true that moving your jawline and releasing tension and perhaps chewing, I've been told, this is my singer days, I was always told when you warm up, you'd always muscle movements on your face, you stretch your jaw, you do lots of yawns,

so that could also help wake you up for the day and give you the best possible day ahead. But you can't essentially chew your way to a face lift. Makes me think of resin that comes in like a violin case that you like clean the bow with or something. It's really interesting, isn't it? Yeah, I didn't think it sounded as delicious. Okay, floss for your brain. So brain flossing refers to listening to AD or bilateral audio, which is sound that moves rhythmically

from one ear to the other through your headphones. Now it was originally used in EMDR therapy and apparently it's become very, very popular. Again, I haven't tried it for managing stress or calming the nervous system. TikTok's again, one of those tools that takes things from the niche, the mainstream, and that's what's happening at the moment. And people are including a lot in their wind down routines. I want to try this one.

Me too. Bring on our tech episode because I just don't know. I mean, I love the idea of EMDR therapy anyway. I know that's really effective for some people with trauma and I want to try it, but I'm intrigued by this. And then you've got people saying you shouldn't wear these headphones because they're bad for you. So, you know, it's just, who knows Ella. Okay, jury's out, but anything that's good

for your nervous system could be positive. Yeah, I want to try it. I'd love to try that. Okay, we've got a couple more. Glug down some okra water. That's gonna be a trend. Okra water is a trend for 2025. Yeah. So to make it, if anyone wants to do it, you soak sliced okra, the vegetable,

overnight in water, and then you strain out the solids. So just pour it through a sieve. And that is apparently might help with your digestion, blood sugar control, and hormone balance. Okra, it's rich in antioxidants, fiber, mucilage, which is a gel-like plant compound that could support gut health. Again, maybe I'll make a song for next week. It sounds really, really great. Oh my gosh, you're actually going to do it. I just don't think I want to drink okra.

You know, I like okra and I don't want to drink it. And also it won't help with hormone balance, guys. That's not true. But it probably does contain antioxidants. I tell you what's delicious, those okra fries. Yeah. Do you know, I really like okra. It's so underrated and I don't think it's part

of the diet here in the UK. You can definitely get it because lots of people do still consume it of course, but is this just a celery water hype again? Look, let's mark our words. We can revisit these at the end of the year guys and see what's made headlines and not over the years, but I don't believe that will be a big trend this year. Maybe it's a cultural thing like aloe vera water is really big over in the Far East. Maybe it's something that is big somewhere else in the world we don't believe that will be a big trend this year. Maybe as a cultural thing, like Aloe Vera water's really big over in the Far East. Maybe it's something that is big somewhere else in the world we don't know about. Maybe there's a tradition there.

Exactly. OK, we've got three more. Tailor support for your reproductive system. So there's growing demand for cycle-specific and fertility-focused support. So there's lots of brands creating kind of targeted supplements for hormone balance. So looking at different things throughout the month, as well as kind of full spectrum care for new mothers, pelvic health support, etc. Well, wecky, you can't go wrong. Let's bring on more research for women. Sounds great.

I know. And I think it is really interesting as per the episode we did on our monthly cycle that actually your body changes so much if you are having a period and reproducing cycle. And I think the more knowledge I love the focus on that, because I think that changes so much if you are having a period and reproductive cycle. And I think the more knowledge, I love the focus on that because I think that's so much about empowerment, like knowing why you're really grumpy one day or why you're super outgoing and like ready fraction and other I think is so powerful

for connecting to ourselves. So I like that one a lot. Okay, souped up water supplements. So as we know, functional powders are on the rise, again, set to be a big thing this year with increasingly specific bands that support everything from gut health to cognition. And I think that is set to be just bigger and bigger and bigger, big thing on convenience where these little pouches of powders designed to slip

easily into your water bottle and daily routine. Hmm. I mean, people say no harm, but there is a harm if you add a fat soluble vitamin like vitamin D to a drink where people could consume too much. I've always, the health professional in me cannot just say everyone should be going out to drink these. Some of these ingredients could potentially interact with medication somebody's on, but in general, I don't think there's anything wrong with adding these types of prebiotic fibers like mushroom extracts and things.

I don't know if it should be part of your daily routine would be my question, just purely because we don't know. And we don't know the quality, where they're produced. I'm so on the fence with all of this, but I love, I saw Ellie Golden released. I got really excited because if you're listening, Ellie, she saw my Insta stories and I was like, oh my God, there's Ellie Golden, I love Ellie Golden released. I got really excited because if you're listening Ellie, she saw my Insta stories. I was like, oh my god, there's Ellie Golden. I love Ellie Golden.

And then I clicked on her page. I was like, oh, she's just released like a mushroom blend, like a hot chocolate thing. And I thought, I'd probably drink that. Where's the harm? That looks really delicious. So I agree this will probably be a trend. Yeah, I back that up to the trends. Okay.

And last one is apparently there is a new must have gadget for this year. So if 2024, the gadget was kind of those continuous glucose monitors and it felt like that was everywhere, we've talked about that a lot. 2025, apparently the trend is going to be all about metabolic health. And there's a new device, which is a portable metabolic coach. And it's called Lumen, and it gives real time feedback on whether you're burning carbs or fat by analyzing your breath. So,

Surprise Prizes is linked to an app where you're going to get all the info and then it will offer you personalized suggestions for what to eat and when with the goal of improving metabolic flexibility. And I want to know what your thoughts are on the word metabolic flexibility. The idea that it's your body's ability to switch efficiently between fuel sources. So the device costs £280 and then I imagine there's a subscription fee. As with most of these things that come out, there's an element of truth which makes it really marketable because when you're in a laboratory and you're studying nutritional science we do take various readings using breath, but it's in a certain chamber or a

certain device, it's measured accurately in a certain chamber or a certain device, it's measured accurately in a different environment and you can work out certain energy and different units of measurements from taking your breath. But for every person at home with this device to do that accurately, it cannot possibly tell you what you should eat and when in that specific moment because that's just one marker in your body. They don't know anything about your daily lifestyle, what you're doing, your genetics, your predispositions, your health conditions. We just don't have research for it yet. I wonder if this was a featured paid post by the company to get into the trend article.

I don't know. I think there's so much on this kind of thing at the moment. I can definitely see it. Because it sounds like an ad. Lots of it sounds like an ad though. There's loads of companies with chrono nutrition and things like that. This was the singular one doing it. But I could definitely see that. I feel like we've had sleep devices be absolutely normal. Well, first of all, steps, then sleep, then blood glucose. So I think the idea that you're then going into kind of metabolic health to me feels like a logical progression of devices.

The next trend, metabolic trend, but guys, are they doing it in Tanzania, Japan, the Mediterranean? Do you think they want to measure their breath to then tell them when to eat? Do we think this is gonna last? Yeah, it's just, let's get back to our basics. Okay, on basics, our listeners question of this week.

Hello, I'm really, really enjoying the wellness scoop. We love to hear that. I look forward to Mondays now. I just wondered, what are your thoughts on smoothies? I think when I was younger, the fad was smoothies. Then it came about in the media that you should eat the whole fruit instead of blitzing it, etc. And I just wondered what you both think of it. I know Ella has mentioned a few times in the podcast about making smoothies. Is there a difference in eating whole fruit compared to smoothies? I still have doubt in my mind when I think of smoothies. Well, yeah, I mean, I'm all for smoothies, but I'm not for the commercialised bottle smoothies that are just made from purees, extracts and our condensed form of sugar with

no balance of vegetables and other things in them. You can have those in small amounts. There's no harm like buying a bottle of that. But to have it as a daily thing and think it's healthy for you is very, very different. So fruit contains a sugar called fructose, which is metabolized in your liver. And it hits your bloodstream quite quickly. So it causes quite a sugar spike. When you have a smoothie, the difference is you wouldn't probably, just like with juicing, be able to eat six oranges in a row,

but you could drink six oranges very quickly. So it just means effectively in a smoothie, you're consuming a lot of sugar. You're also breaking down the fiber. So the outer cell wall of the plant is affected when you break it down. You blitzed it up, you've taken away that one part of our digestive system's job and chewing in our mouth because we're just drinking the food instead.

Does that mean it's bad for us? No, because it's how you make it. Ella's got so many delicious recipes with smoothies and I've got a few. It's how you make it. Try and maximise on your smoothies. Max them up. Get your frozen berries. Get those antioxidants in, but add some kefir or add some nut butter to add a bit of protein fat to slow the release, add some seeds, things you wouldn't normally eat. Like I chuck veg in because I can disguise it with the taste of the fruit. But you don't get that in the shop-bought versions.

No. And I think the fundamental difference is that, and I remember the headlines that you're referring to, which is the, when smoothies had been so popular and suddenly it came out, a bit like the baby pouches panorama we referenced in the beginning, that actually they didn't that you're referring to, which is the, when smoothies had been so popular and suddenly it came out, a bit like the baby pouches panorama we referenced in the beginning that actually they didn't have the same nutritional benefit of eating a banana. But if you're making it at home and you're putting in, as you said, frozen berries, you're putting in nuts,

you're putting in seeds, you're putting in yogurt, all the rest of it, you're getting a huge amount of nutrition and like, yes, you could eat it all. But when you're getting a huge amount of nutrition and like yes, you could eat it all. But when you're busy and there's a lot going on, it's such a convenient and quick way to get things in. I will say for most people, I don't recommend in the clinic having a smoothie every day for breakfast or as a meal replacement, purely because it is good for your body to chew your food and for different people, different digestive states that they might be within. So maybe just have a smoothie every now and again and look at

it as a nice refreshing way to use up that piece of fruit or veg that you've got in the house rather than it becoming a must have wellness item. That's really nice advice. If you are going to get a veg in your smoothie, frozen cauliflower is great. It sounds revolting. It does, yeah. Sorry, I was just wondering if that was high now. But I sweat you cannot taste it. Really? Oh my gosh, you can't taste it. You just cut up a raw cauliflower into florets, pop it in a freezer bag, keep it in your freezer and it's just a really easy, so I'll do it for the kids smoothies as well. I've never done that, Ella. Never. Cooked first, cooked or just raw? No, just raw. I mean you could steam it and then do it. I'm lazy and I don't. But it's a really nice way of getting veg in there and it has to be frozen. Please do not put it in an ambient room temp collie. But if it's frozen, it adds to the creaminess and the thickness. It tastes of nothing. But it's a really nice way of getting more veg in there there. Yeah because the taste is less compared to broccoli because I do add some cooked broccoli

bits but I have to then up the fruit quantity to disguise the bitter salt. Yeah you could do your like classic banana peanut butter frozen berries and then pop in some frozen collie. I love that guys. Right let's get smoothie making everybody. So to finish today's episode keep your questions coming but direct them to the Apple review or Spotify, but if you can, so we can definitely not miss any of them. And then hit subscribe. Yeah, please follow the show, rate us, review it, share it.

It means everything to us. So thank you guys so much for your time. And yeah, I'm feeling really positive. Me too. And we'll see you next week. And don't forget, our extra scoops are on every Thursday too, so you can't miss us.