The Wellness Scoop - Should We All Be Taking Magnesium, Gut Health Tips & The Perfect Snack

Episode Date: September 17, 2026

Should we all be taking magnesium? What does a healthy gut actually look like? And what makes the perfect afternoon snack? This week, we unpack the evidence behind magnesium supplements, explore the surprising reasons appetite can disappear during stressful periods of life and answer your questions on bloating, electrolytes and gut transit time. We also discuss satisfying snacks, the truth about soya milk and whether we're paying enough attention to our digestive health. Plus, we have a new television recommendation to add to your watch list. The Way 30-day trail: https://www.thewayapp.com/wellnessscoop Send your questions for our weekly Q&A to ⁠⁠[e-mail]⁠⁠ Pre-order your copy of Rhiannon's brand-new cook book for kids: ⁠'Ready, Set, Cook!' ⁠ For more from Rhi and Ella:  Order your copy of Ella's new book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Quick Wins: Healthy Cooking for Busy Lives⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Order your copy of Rhi's new book: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Fibre Formula⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up to Rhitrition+ and join Beat The Bloat HERE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hear that? It's your money calling. It wants a promotion. Elevate your savings with the Scotia high-interest savings account. Always earn high regular interest rates that grow the more you save and invest. Conditions apply. Visit scotiabank.com slash h-I-SA to learn more. Scotia Bank. You're richer than you think. Welcome to the Wellness Scoop, your weekly or twice-weekly dose of health and wellness inspiration with us. We're your host. I'm Ella Mills. And I'm Rianna Lambert. And today is one of our

favorite times of the week because we get to have all your lovely recommendations and questions. Ella, let's go. We have got so much to talk about today. Should we all be taking magnesium? How often should we really be going to the toilet, the truth about electrolytes? Why does stress affect our appetite? It's the secret to a satisfying afternoon snack. Is soy milk really a UPF? And as always all our latest recommendations and loads of recommendations as well from you guys today. Yeah, I think we should start with one of them first because we've got a lot. We have got a lot and we also have some really, it's not hilarious, it's absolutely sage listener feedback, but that taps into what we talked about on Monday about us being granola bums.

And also as soon as we finished on Monday, we sent me a picture of a packet of granola bars. So she was like, I really am a granola mum. Okay, so we had a question very recently, this challenge of how do we get those around us, especially caregivers for family on board with like our wishes and, you know, the way in which we wanted to approach food, nutrition. So we had this exceptionally lovely email from Anna come in who said, I heard the email from the lovely lady the other week despairing about her in-laws, sneaking her children chocolate and crisps.

And I really empathised with her as I have had the exact same issue with my own parents. They honestly just don't care about nutrition and want to be the fun grandparents saying yes to them all the time. And I get it. They just don't want to be the ones that are boring and enforcing rules. In their words, that's their job as grandparents. That said, I did, in capital letters, have words with them. Quavers for breakfast and four biscuits in a row is unacceptable for my two and five year old. Enough was enough.

So he set some hard boundaries. Yes, biscuits and gris are allowed, but not multiple and not for breakfast. And they basically laid down some rules that allowed them to still be. be fun but sensible. After all, they don't see them every day just once a week. Yes, it's easier to have those conversations as they're my parents, but I approached it in a lighthearted way rather than judgment or angry, even though I certainly feel that at times. I told them I was a crunchy granola mom. Oh. Yeah, that's why I was like, this is so perfect. Yeah, laugh about yourself when you're having these conversations. Say, look, you know, it's me. You can always be about self-deprecating in that.

Like, I know I'm mad kind of thing. I'm a crunchy granola. mom. I love this. Anyways, I see it as a funny term to encapsulate my food values. To my parents, I'm boring. I'm worrying too much about UPFs and they believe I grew up just fine with their food values. But as my crunchy granola mom persona, I can approach it like, yes, I'm that mom. I'm boring, perhaps over worrying, but that's just me. And they can laugh at it, roll their eyes, but it's better than arguments or worse, sneaky behavior that I'm unaware of. So my thoughts are embrace it, be proud of it, set those hard boundaries, but with allowances for bending within reason. And it's hugely work for us and that's from Anna. Anyway, I loved that email. Thank you for sending that in Anna.

Honestly, I think it will make people feel better because we know how difficult and emotive those types of conversations can be. So thank you very much. We need crunchy granola mum hats. We really do. Maybe that's the next merch at the next live event. We should go. Trends will have moved on by then, everybody. I know. I want to be like hands up if that's you. Rhee, have you got any racks for us this week. So in terms of recommendations, I just want to say sometimes it's just good to let loose and have a nice time with friends. Like there's nothing else really to add to that. Three of my husband's 40th birthday party. It was a lovely day. I had my amazing friend who's a caterer, Susie Florey and she did some delicious food and helped me out. My sister baked a Pavlova

with sticky toffee pudding, cake. So many friends just chatting together. And I didn't like look at my phone the entire day. And it reminded me that just being around friends and not looking at your phone can be so good for your mental health. That's all I wanted to add, Ella. I have, it's just been so busy. How about you? Do you know what? Yesterday, I felt like, have I looked at my phone a bit too much today? And we went out and we went for a lovely dog walk and we went to see some sheep in the fields nearby and we went to this great pub and I left my phone at home. It was so nice. And actually neither of us had our phone. and we both are we just don't need it.

Like, you know, we're together with the kids. Like, you know, anyone who rings us in that time, we can ring them back. We are okay. And I totally agree. It was so nice. And sometimes when it's not there, it's just so much better. Nice happy sheep. Nice happy sheep.

I know. The girls were like trying to make friends with them. And obviously, every time they got closed where the sheep ran away. Love that. They were like, why don't they want us to touch them? And I was like, because they're terrified of you. Oh, bless. Do you know what?

Put the phone down, everyone. Let's just try and make the most of the weekends. The weeks are manic enough. Let's try and have an element of time. Although in our school WhatsApp group, I mean, they'd only start to school for two days and there are like five birthday invites going out. I can't even reply to them yet, Ella, because I can't get my head around the dates. Like, it's intense. I do feel. You might also have like a one day old baby. Well, that's just it. The due date now is, who knows, it's getting a bit difficult to coordinate my diary. We have some lovely recommendations from your listening as well. Shall we start with Suez? Yes, hi Sue. Sue has said, Hi, Ella and Rhee, I was just listening to one of your wonderful podcasts

and when you were discussing TV racks, I have to give a shout out to Ransom Canyon on Netflix. You will love it, we love it. My husband and I are both really enjoying season two, I think even more than season one. It's so good. It's a really good one with family feud, Secrets and Lies, set in a cattle ranch county in Texas,

and I think there's something for everyone. Sue has also said on Terrestrial TV, We'll also really enjoy the undeclared war on Channel 4. A bit of a contrast for evening viewing, but it's really good. And she said, Re, I hope you feel better soon. And Ella, bless your little Spaniel. You obviously love him loads. No update is good news I'm taking with Austin at the moment.

Yeah, I think this is our very, not very elderly, but 11-half-year-old Spaniel, who he found out three weeks ago now has very advanced, aggressive cancer. Yeah, you know what? Honestly, we thought you might have like a week or two weeks and we've had much more than that and I think we probably won't have if he was here this time next month we'd be so thrilled I think it's probably not going to happen but like he's really happy he's still really happy and he is it's funny I remember people when we got our other spaniel last

summer being like basically like you're such a bad person you don't like Disney and you're getting a second dog is that what I said I'm sorry no no different person I'm just joking with you and I'm not trying to be facetious. I just, people quite mean to me, honestly, about getting another puppy and that it was so unkind to Austin. Yeah, quite aggressive messages about it. I've never seen love like it. Like, they are. First of all, they've, having puppies as captain way younger

because he, like, runs around with them and plays with them. And I think if he was on his own, he would just sleep the whole day now. So he's having so much more fun. It's the grandparent. What's it called? The hypothesis. Yeah, grandparents with kids. Yeah. him young for sure he's like charging in the way that he never when he like gets down low and plays it's so sweet but they like literally just sit there and kiss each other so he's really happy

and you know what there's just a lot of joy in that so let's start tackling our questions this week now our first question here is actually an anonymous one ella it is indeed and they have said I've listened to your podcast right from the start so thank you and I love the thought provoking and very topics you discuss each week. I have a question about poo. A while I go out of interest, I did the sweet corn test. Really in a sec, you'll have to remind us what that is, and was surprised to see that it took seven days for the kernels to pass. On reflection, I realized that I commonly do what I describe as a substantial poo every three to four days. Shortly afterwards, during a routine colonoscopy, which showed no issues, amazing news, the doctor made a casual comment that I had an unusually

long colon. I eat what I believe to be a pretty good diet, lots of fruit, veg, beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, cemented food, lead protein, etc. Very few processed foods. I drink lots of water exercise six days a week. Whilst I don't think I have symptoms like constipation, I'm curious to know if this whole picture is anything I should be concerned about or do anything about for my long-term health. Such a good question. Thank you for sending that in because I think that's going to reassure so many of our listeners.

I totally agree. It's such a great question, but I feel like there's loads of questions in here. Rhee, can we start with, number one, what is the? the sweet corn test. So the sweet corn test was one of the original methods that we would use in clinical practice just to see your gut transit time, which is how long it takes from mouth to anus essentially for food to pass through. And sweet corn is a fantastic example because it's very difficult for the body to break down. It's also colourful and it's easy to spot in your stalls when you have a bowel movement. So that's what the sweet corn test is. You can do it at home if you have a few spoons of sweet corn

with your meal and then you keep a store diary and you're monitoring, you'll be able to find out how long that takes. And what's normal? This is just it. This is what I want to really reassure everyone listening is that I think you've found your normal because three bowel movements a day to three a week is normal for people. Honestly, the fact that you're, did you say you go every three to four days? That might just be your normal. And if you have an unusually long colon, that definitely is your normal. I think people forget that our intestines and the gut is humongous and we've all got different sizes. Some people have really shorter ones that are caused for concerns. Some have longer. And that's why digestive habits are not the same. And we shouldn't be comparing to one another.

However, with the lack of fibre consumption in the UK in general, most practitioners lean towards, look, we can be doing more for our gut health here and more for our bowel movements and more for our stool weight, which is heavier stalls are associated with better long-term health outcomes, interestingly. I want to pause you on that rate because I think that's really interesting. So basically, just being honest, a bigger, fat, a chunkier poo. Yeah. Like a nice, chunky big poo. That is a good sign of health.

No, I'm sorry. I think it's so weird how we get weird about talking about. It's true. We all poo. So what we are nice, obviously not the sole indicator of health, but one nice indicator of health is a big chunky poo. Look at the stool chart. As long as it's like a smooth one, it's not coming out in little bits. And yeah, you want to be getting that nice consistency and a heavier weighted poo, essentially. And I wrote about this in the book because in some tribes in the world, like the Hadza tribe, which are one of the most researched indigenous tribes still today that are over in Tanzania. And they consume about 150 grams of fiber a day. But their gut has adapted to it. And they have very heavy stalls. And that's associated with better long term health outcomes. So, clinically for everyone you are unique.

The only concern with a long colon or a longer, longer intestinal tract, is that you do need a lot of fibre to keep your bowel movements definitely hitting that three to four days. That's the only concern is the emptying of them. But it sounds like you live a wonderful life that's healthy with lots of food. And that's great. That was such a good answer. I hope that was helpful for everyone.

We all just want to be part of like crunchy granola mum crew and have big chunky puns. Right. Moving on. Zoe has said, my good friend who is also a wellness scooper, I'm thrilled to hear her, is going through a difficult time at the moment. This has meant she's struggling to want to eat and has completely lost her appetite. She's also a pilot and that means her shifts are ever changing, making it more difficult to keep a routine. Have you got recommendations for her for easy snacks and meals to keep her going and support her during this difficult time? So hard. Oh my goodness. I've had clients that have been pilots. one of them, how funny that I was on the plane on holidays before I had kids. And the lady who was flying my plane was one of my nutrition clients. No. By coincidence. Pure and utter coincidence. It was. Oh my gosh. I know. Incredible. I couldn't actually believe it. But it was a very small world. Whenever we're in the airport and the girls see a lady pilot, they're like, oh my God. They can't

believe they think it's so cool. And one time we were at baggage reclaim and there was a lady pilot and she came up and she was like, I love deliciousiella. And honestly, she could have been Brad Pitt for the girls. They were not that they had any idea who he is, but they were like, oh my gosh, a lady pilot knows you. Because it's one of those industry still that's so maldominated and it's so fantastic to see the different genders. But I love that story. And also it is very cool and very difficult food-wise. The cockpit is tiny. I mean, they're stuck there for such a long period of time. And obviously they'll have to stretch her legs and take breaks, but transporting food and having it in such a tiny space. And also what you're allowed through at each end at different

times and what you can grab in an airport. There's so many factors to account for as a pilot. I've gone off topic to, sorry, Zoe, what was your actual question? The actual question. And you've probably then done this. Working with pilots is really good advice on snacks that will help her during this difficult time she's going through. But I also think before we get into the practical details, it would be interesting because I don't think that, Zoe's friend is probably alone in this in a bit of a 101 in why some people completely lose their appetites when they are struggling, overwhelmed, stress, just having a tough time. Oh my goodness. Responding to stress or grief or anything or, you know, adrenaline. I'm sure being a pilot, there's so many obstacles

that come all the time as well. You're firefighting occasionally. You're tired. There's tiredness also impacts our appetite signaling. So digestion, blood flow is drawn away from digestion in times of chronic stress or in times when we're in that fight or flight state. And it doesn't help. And I think flying alone has so many other issues of air pressure and hydration and water retention and all sorts of symptoms you're contending with alongside the psychological and physiological responses to everyday life you're also experiencing like stress and some people's appetite can dip others it can increase but either way anxiety and a disruption to a regular circadian rhythm is an issue and one of the hardest things are people that have to cross time zones for work frequently or they're

placed in a position where they can't stick to normal eating times. Like if you're a lawyer and you're in the court for a long time or something happens or you're a surgeon, you're a pilot, these are those typical types of jobs in clinic that we see or even at work when you've got crazy busy days. You can't factor in time to eat. Our gut bugs love regular routine. They love rhythm. They love those certain times and you experience more digestive symptoms. Circadian rhythms also influence our gut bugs are sleep wake cycle and when you're crossing time zones it's just out of whack and the best advice that I can always give is to try and stick to your time zone diet depending how long you're staying the other end and how practical that actually is depending on you know how many hours

ahead or behind you are compared to your hometown town gosh how many tongue twisters there had to think about how to say that your hometown town your hometown time that's it your hometown time it's a tongue to us. But really, when you're working with pilots and surgeons, and as you said, people with these more challenging kind of restrictions in terms of being able to get things to eat, what are your recommendations for easy snacks? Food anchoring items, that's what we call them, really easy to transport things in thick skins like bananas that you can have with a pot of snacks alongside. Now, pilots can't take nuts on the airplane. There's all those other things as well to consider. I've had pilots take cans of tuna before and they just have to apologize for the smell to their co-pilot if they're not

a fan of what they're cracking open in the tin. This is where UPF products come in handy, but picking the better of the two pots of yogurt and things you're able to keep with cabin crew in the fridge and then they can nip out and have the yogurt. You can get soy or dairy, whatever your preferences alongside the snack items that you've got there as well. Pots of hummus that you can take on yourself that you can usually get through. Customs. liquids are always a bit of an issue. It's not always the most practical thing, which is why sometimes the pouches of yogurts,

for some reason, are easier to get through. And selecting, you know, like going for like a, sorry to put you on the case, but a delicious yellow cereal bar of no additives or something compared to one that contains a lot of emulsifiers that might irritate your gut when you're in the air. And often I'm telling them to try and cook bits that they're definitely let through,

like your cruditets and like a salad with something that keeps it, you're not going to reheat because you don't want to reheat things in the house. Something like a kind of quinoa lentil salad. Pastory salads, things that keep a longer time that you don't mind the chew. Orzo. Exactly. Also the consistency. Orzo is dead for a long time.

And then I actually advise them not to have things like onions in the air and garlic within it. Just because it's harder to break down, you want things that are going to be a little bit easy in the digestive track. And that's individual. I could go on about it for a. but generically speaking, you've got to think outside the box when you're in these types of roles. And then maybe a little treaty thing, your favourite chocolate or something, I imagine. You could even take your favourite cereal in a little box, you know, the really sugary ones, you know, whatever.

You just whatever you can pack in your back every now and again. There's no harm. And also, Ria, I imagine you would say the same that, like, if you're really struggling with your appetite, like, that's not really the moment to be so worried about perfect diet or, you know, it's no such thing. But, like, enjoy something and eat. Having a nibble of something you enjoy at that circadian rhythm time is more beneficial than just skipping it and then being in a worse place the other end. Sometimes there's a bit of methodical thinking that comes alongside the decreased appetite.

You don't need to have a massive meal. Yeah, it's also just the ultimate example of like, yes, Kina and Sweet Potatoes are great. But if you've got no appetite, it's so much better just to have a nibble of something. Your summer travels deserve an upgrade with select Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac vehicles connected by OnStar, You can stream, game, and more on the go. Whether you're headed to a music festival or a cottage getaway, you can access hundreds of apps on Google Play right from your center display. Explore OnStar Tech today at OnStar.ca and discover how to take your summer to the next level.

OnStar. Better never stops. I am genuinely so excited about today's sponsor because it's the way. Honestly, if you have listened to me anytime over the last few months, you know I have become, a little bit evangelical about this app and I honestly recommend it to everyone my friends my family people on Instagram everyone and she recommended it to me so it's true I've heard so much about it it's just because it has had such a big impact on me I've meditated on and off for 15 years or so now but using the way it's honestly the first time we've become so consistent with this daily practice and I've just seen the most unbelievable results as a result of that the app is just incredible

And what I love is every day you open it and there's a meditation waiting for you. So you don't scroll that you don't have to choose between hundreds of options. There's no wondering what to do. It just takes you on a path. Well, I think that's why it works so well because, you know, most of us just don't need more big decisions every day to make, Ella. No, exactly that. We've got decision fatigue, haven't we? So this is so nice because you just follow this path of meditation, which is led by Henry, the founder, who's just the most amazing teacher.

and he makes it seem somehow just incredibly simple but exceptionally profound at the same time, which is a very rare skill. And I've been using it too. Yes, I've now finally begun a meditation journey and I've been doing some of the shorter practices on busy days because I completely understand why you talk about it so much, Ella, it really is a nice intro in for me. Yeah, it is and I'm so glad anyway. It's helped me feel so much calmer, less reactive, more present.

It all sounds like huge claims, but I just say, please. please, please try it if you're struggling with stress or overwhelm. You just got to give it a go. And the lovely thing is that everyone listening can definitely try it themselves. Exactly. So you can get a 30-day free trial. So just try it every day for a month. It'll change your life. All you do is head to thewayapp.com forward slash wellness scoop. Yeah, that's thewayapp.com forward slash wellness scoop. We have a question on postnatal depression actually here. And I think that's the way app.com forward slash wellness scoop. here. And I thought it's something that's been in the media a lot, Ella, at the moment,

that obviously I myself being pregnant, I've tried to kind of avoid these particular types of headlines. But in the UK at the moment, we do have what's called a maternity crisis. Not helpful for anyone like myself right now, anyone else listening that's trying to conceive or have a baby. But I think it's important to highlight that there was a recent survey that came out that said many cases of PTSD and post-nated depression are going missed and mothers are not, you know, not aware of their symptoms and not receiving any support. It's a nice question, isn't it, to include today because I think it might help anybody that's in this situation. Yeah, and I think all of this stuff has to be, you know, it's not just postpartened, like general mental

health, challenges, depression, anxiety. Like, we've got to just normalize the ability to talk about it because, you know, ultimately I'm sure we're all experience. I mean, I had really bad postpartum anxiety. Like, you know, and other people have had these at different places in their lives. And I think it's just so normal that we create such compassion and empathy and openness in the way we talk about it. So this question was, I think I'm starting to develop postnatal depression. I'm lucky in the fact I think it's mild and I've got good support around me. Like my good friend, I noticed my appetite disappearing, even though I'm exclusively breastfeeding. So I know it's important to keep good nutrition up when I don't feel like eating. Something that's helped me so far is making overnight

oats the night before with jumbo, oats, chia seed, flaxseed, hemp seed, desiccated coconut, frozen raspberries, kher, Greek yoga and oat milk. Sounds fantastic to get maximum nutrition in the morning. If it's there and ready, I'm much more likely to eat it, even if I don't want to. Have you got any other tips? I love that. And I think before we go on to our nutrition tips, I thought I'd also just get a voice note from a peri mental health midwife, just to explain a few of the signs and symptoms and how normal this can be. So my midwife, Darcy, is very kindly agreed to give us a few words here, Ella that we can play in and we can do our foodie tips. Hi, I'm Darcy Croft. I'm a specialist midwife in maternal mental health and the founder of two brands, Isamom, a pregnancy

hydration brand and mothermind, a place to help support the psychological side of pregnancy, birth and beyond. Now, you've said this feels like mild postnatal depression and it might well be. But from a clinical point of view, the first thing I'd always want to establish is whether this is actually postnatal depression or is something else going on that looks very similar, but would actually need a completely different treatment. Because if we treat the wrong thing, whatever's actually underneath just keeps building, and it gets harder and harder, not easier. So here's where I'd start.

Go to your GP or your midwife if you're still under midwife care. And I say that as someone who runs a private midwife practice, this exact conversation working out what's really driving symptoms comes up with the women all the time. You're going to ask for blood tests alongside a chat about how you're feeling. Not instead of it. You're going to ask them to check your thyroid levels. Check for low iron, B12, vitamin D,

because it is so common for these to be running low after you've had a baby and they can look almost identical to low mood and fatigue, and every one of them is treated completely differently to postnatal depression. Throw in a bit of broken sleep into that mix too, and it can create most of the same symptoms on its own, so you can see how easily it is for the wrong label to be stuck on. The second really important thing to ask yourself is, how does it feel to talk or think about the birth experience itself?

If it's hard to go there or if it brings up flashbacks or panic, then it's not necessarily postnatal depression. It could be unresolved birth trauma that you're suffering from. This responds really well to trauma-focused therapies. So this is like EMDR, trauma-focused CBT. And the good news is quite often you don't even need a GP referral to get that extra help. You just go online, search for NHS talking therapies, and you can make that referral yourself. and access support.

I believe if you're in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you will need your GP to support you with that referral. And if you're listening outside the UK, you can go to Postpartum Support International. That's got coordinators in 60 countries. Postpartum.net is a good place to start. And alongside all of that, nutrition and hydration are the foundation

everything else sits on, especially when you're breastfeeding. This is when depletion risk is at its highest. So please, please, please get proper advice on this from someone who is actually qualified as a nutritionist, not just someone who pops up in your algorithm with absolutely no credentials to their name. My main takeaway is get the right diagnosis, get the right treatment, which actually works and works fast instead of dragging on for months and definitely don't settle for someone telling you that it's probably postnatal depression as an answer without thoroughly exploring. a differential diagnosis, because knowing what's really going on and knowing where you can get help, that's what lets you experience the highest version of motherhood rather than just getting through it. And if there's anything this world needs more of, it's happy mums.

Thank you so much, Darcy. I think it's really important to discuss. And I think, Ella, do you want to start with ways to make nourishment simple? because I again, I think it's the pressure people see, oh, and postpartum, I have to eat this, I have to eat that, I have to tick box this amount of protein, and sometimes it's going back to what you like. Yeah, and again, I would say that this isn't just like a postpartum challenge.

It's a when life is overwhelming challenge, isn't it? And especially if you're one of those people that when life does get overwhelming is less inclined to have an appetite versus getting hungrier, I think it's particularly important. And I totally agree with that idea. Like if it's there, because you can rationalise for yourself, it's probably a good idea. You're so much more likely to eat it.

And so I always just deploy the like cook once, eat twice, slash three or four times. So when you are cooking something, or maybe you've got a friend or a partner, you know, whoever else, who can make something, then just something simple even like a doll. That's the kind of recipe where you can make literally four times more and pop it in freezer bags or Tupperware's in the fridge.

And actually, like, you've chopped a bit more garlic or opened another tin of tomatoes, had another teaspoon of spices, like, chucked in a bit more of the lentils. Like the prep time to make probably four times as many portions is probably an incremental, like two minutes. Maybe you've chopped another onion. Like, it's really minimal. And then you've got so much nutrition kind of ready to go when you're overwhelmed. And I think it's the same.

Like, you can make three days. of overnight oats and a go, yeah, said maybe you've got someone in your life who's supportive who can make a batch cook meal for you. And like, yeah, maybe it feels a bit boring eating and repeat, but you've got something there that's nourishing. That's good for you. And again, I feel like, as we just said, it's like not the time to be like, if I got 30 plants, it's like, nope, you've got something. And that is so good. And I also think, and it's the same, like, when life is busy, it's really easy to want to do it quote unquote perfectly or as the internet does it. But you know what? Like if you just eat a piece of toast with peanut butter, that's great.

Like, slice of banana on the top, even better. Like that's not a bad meal. And I think that we often have this sense of like, no, no, no, a good meal that involves X, Y and Z. And it's like, no, peanut butter and toast with some sliced banana, excellent. I think it's so true. And also, maybe if you're able to ask for help or get a friend or someone to bring over some meals or get some meals from cook or something out of the freezer. And then with mental health, of course, there's some links with, of course, vitamin D. The weather's shifting now. We need to start thinking about supplementing our vitamin D.

I'd probably say end of September because we've had a lot of heat waves and a very strange weather here in the UK. But omega-3 is beneficial vitamin D as well. When it comes to nutrition for depression, it's overall supporting your gut health with diversity. So just chuck on what you can, when you can. Don't worry about perfection. It's just more important you keep your energy up than anything. And if you are struggling, like Darcy has said, it's hard.

And please contact your GP or your midwife and they should offer extra support. And as we just said on vitamin D, as that reminder, as we go into the colder months, if you live in the northern hemisphere, low vitamin D levels are associated with increased symptoms of depression, anxiety, low mood. So it's obviously often not as simple as take a supplement. But equally, those building blocks are essential. So go out today and get yourself a vitamin D supplement ready for the winter. The next question is from Nicola. And she said, I wondered if you can cover what evidence there is linking magnesium to sleep.

We've had a lot of sleep questions recently, which is good. There are lots of expensive magnesium supplements out there, but are they worth it? Should we be getting a recommended magnesium from our diet? She says, I'm also a migraine sufferer and have seen lots of claims around magnesium helping to reduce the frequency of migraines and headaches. But again, I'm unsure of how much scientific evidence there really is to support this. And I'd love your thoughts and she loves the pod. I love that. I mean, honestly, magnesium is everywhere.

As you may or may not picked up on the last few weeks, I, while we were moving house and there was so much going on, really struggled with my sleep for a little while. And I have to say, like, the number of people who told me, oh my gosh, magnesium changed the game for me was really high. It hasn't done anything for me. personally, but anecdotally speaking, the number of women who's saying it's helped them, I was really struck by. But I just want to say one other things as well, I was really struck. When I said I'm having trouble sleeping, the number of people who said they're having

trouble sleeping was extraordinary. It's so common. And it can be like that for various different reasons. You know, if you think about what goes on in life day to day or hormonally for women as well, I do wonder if we could have a look at the gender divide if sleep deprivation affects men or women more for various factors. But let's break it down in terms of magnesium as well. So there's many, many different areas of research here that we could look at. But essentially, it's a mineral that is essential, which means you do have to consume it day to day within our diet. And most people, generically speaking, do get enough. but there's hundreds of different reactions in the body.

And the reason people talk about magnesium is because it links down to your energy production in your body on a cellular level. So I won't get into the, all of it too much. But a recent review of skeletal muscle health basically said that, you know, magnesium helps with what we call homeostasis, keeping everything in the body very balanced. And it helps with our muscle contractions, our energy metabolism, how we recover. And I think the reason. that you may have heard about migraines is because magnesium is often associated with being relaxing

and that for relaxing your muscles essentially. And I think that may be where you potentially could have heard of that underlying truth there. But there's been countless research linking, you know, muscle fitness and sleep. And we haven't had any conclusive outcome from a majority of scientific trials that magnesium is really strongly associated with. better sleep despite, despite what everyone says. And there is more research for muscular soreness after recovery. But again, you know, it depends on the type of magnesium you can take, the type of trials, all the different sorts of things. And in fact, one RCT, so one randomized control trial of magnesium and zinc supplementation found no significant reduction in anxiety

or postpartum depression. We can link to the question before because I thought that would be quite helpful there to mention as well. So like Ella said, she hasn't found any evidence. I think it really is a case of marketing hype massively with magnesium supplements. Think in your diet, it's more effective from food anyway than the type of magnesium you consume. Too much magnesium can become a laxative. It's not great for you to actually have too much of this. Nuts, seeds, beans, poulcers, dark leafy greens, whole grains, even dark chocolate contribute to your magnesium within your diet, all the yummy foods and taking a supplement, there's no guarantee that's even going to be replenishing the magnesium that potentially your body needs. It also depletes when you're stressed.

Magnesium does deplete when you're stressed. So I do see in chronically stressed individuals, there might be some benefit. I'm a fan of Epson salt bath cellar. I do actually do that for myself when, you know, after hosting my husband's party at the weekend, my, I kid you not, my hips, my thighs, my back, everything was aching. so much I ran a bath last night and put Eps and salts in. So I think it's more holistic than evidence-based at the moment with magnesium. And also, though, there are many different types of magnesium. So if you are going to try it, is there magnesium glycinate or glistenate or glistenate?

Glistenate. Not citrate, yeah. Yeah. That's more potentially connected to helping the nervous system and therefore by proxy potentially you know, being a support, but obviously it's more multifaceted than that. But magnesium citrate, as you said, that is the one that is more involved in upset tummies. So just have a nice distinction of that. If you are, you know, you are coming to try it, that's an important, very important distinction to make. Your sleep pathway, like your tryptophan and the hormones

that are involved with melatonium, so triptophan plays a role in melatonin production and that comes from different proteins and amino acids. Having a balanced diet throughout the day is going to be 10 times more effective or impactful than any type of supplementation. I just think we forget that sometimes. And sometimes it is just that other factors are impacting our sleep more so than the dietary ones.

And we have to remember that those other factors, I know they're the tough ones to tackle. You can't control them, but they have a bigger impact a lot of the time. No, in some like, you know, sort of regulating breathwork or calming meditation pre-bed in terms of your nervous system is probably going to be more effective. Join Ella's breathwork course or like you can do these all the way. The way app is amazing. That's what I do before I go to bed and it is especially if you've got a

busy head. It's amazing at switching your nervous system into a kind of calm regulated state. Okay, Caitlin says first of all, thank you so much for providing us with the thoughtful balance podcast. It's so needed. I got my love of food nutrition for my mum, who worked so hard to give our family healthy and balanced meals when I was growing up. I truly believe she was ahead of her time and I was lucky enough to be eating avocados and sweet potatoes in the early noughties, although I didn't appreciate it at the time and begged for cheese strings.

As an adult, I feel extremely grateful for the example that she said. This is all just to say for anyone listening who feels like they're working hard to improve their family's diets and battling the cheese string type arguments, which I'm sure we all relate to, it will be worth it and hopefully on still a love and appreciation of food nutrition in the future. My question is actually from my husband. He eats a balanced, healthy diet, but finds he gets extremely hungry around 4pm each day and often craves cheese on toast. Do you have any ideas for satisfying snack for around this kind of time? Something we can take to an office. I've got written down here because cheese string story. Yeah, she says cheese string story.

What's the cheese string story? The cheese string story, now I've actually written it down, is not as interesting as I thought it would be to retell. So just say, re, don't bother next time if this is really lame. My kids had a playday over the summer holiday and discovered cheese strings for the first time in someone else's house. And it became a bit of a novel item. I personally used to love them as a kid. I used to love making all sorts of patterns and thinking I could do hairstyles with them, you know, whatever. But now, because they're novel to my children, cheese strings are the item I take after school as a treat item. And it's, you know, something that I don't mind. I'm like, here, it's a bit of processed cheese. It's not the end of

the world. That's a bit of a protein hit after school. If that's what they look forward to as a snack, that's fine. So there's nothing wrong with these things. Every now and again, it's a really boring story. I actually do recall it. Really? I liked it. Yeah. Who else didn't make a funky hairstyle out of a cheese string when they were kids. Let's talk about the snack, Ella. There's nothing wrong with cheese and toast, depending how much cheese and what type of bread and the portion size of it. But obviously, you don't want to have the same thing every single day. No. And also, I imagine when you're in the office making Chees on Toast, it's not the easiest thing in the world. How are you doing that? It's really great to eat at four o'clock. Like, I don't

know how many people who can actually manage to go from lunch till like an 8pm dinner. I mean, I've never eaten at 8 p.m. But I are with the kids at 5 now. I think that's completely normal. So eating something really proper, I feel like it makes a huge amount of sense. And actually having a kind of wrap or a sandwich along those lines. I think that's brilliant. Yeah, me too. I mean, it depends on how healthy your husband is. You know, for instance, everyone's got different metabolisms. My husband could eat, yeah, an actual dinner-sized portion, probably at four o'clock, and then have another one at 8 o'clock, and he's just got that type of metabolism and build. I think everybody's just very different. So just think as long as there's protein and fiber in that snack, that's beneficial

for his gut bacteria, and it's not interrupting your healthy, delicious dinners, or nourishing enjoyment and social time together in the evening, then I think that's okay. But I also love that your mum is a trendsetter. So that was wonderful to hear as well. Okay, so next up we have Kirsty. Since taking a few prescriptions of antibiotics earlier in the year, I've experienced bloating like I never have.

I've begun a probiotic, but I'm looking for advice because in the morning, if I drink lots of water, it seems to make me feel bloated. I've had lots of chat recently about electrolyse. I don't know if I've heard you mention them yet on the podcast, what's the scoop? I mean, we have delve. If you go back to last year,

when electrolytes first became really, really trendy, because it's quite a booming business, isn't it, at the moment? And we have mentioned it and we have broken down the research, Ella, haven't we? Yes, we did. We did it early last year. So we'll do a quick snapshot now. But if you want to hear more, go back to that episode. But for what it's worth, according to some various different research,

I've done the global electrolyte drinks market is valued at approximately, or was valued at approximately, $39.9 billion in 2025, estimated to be worth $43 billion by the end of 2026. So electrolytes are mega business. But not needed. I mean, look, I'm just going to throw it out there. Like, after I had horrendous stomach bug this summer, I was straight to boost to buy dioralite, like, for sure. That's good.

If you're doing an Ironman, you know, and you are sweating extensively. If you are in 50 degrees and sweating extensively, all things might change. In labour, they could be beneficial in labour, electrolytes. Yeah, I mean, if you're running a marathon, you know, if you're doing things that are like highly taxing on your body, I'm not like half an hour in the gym, highly, highly taxing, it could be different. But they are literally everywhere. and I think it's fair to say the average person doing a normal day just doesn't need them.

The idea that you're dehydrated or you're not hydrated if you don't have electrolyse is one of, I think it's probably up there with like most effective like it's kind of 10 out of 10 to the marketing teams

because it has landed and like it is not true. You are hydrated if you have drunk enough liquid. I find it quite infuriating this trend because you don't need them unless you're exerting yourself. And like Ella said, there's significant amounts of sweat or specific situations. Just to feel healthy, especially after antibiotics, electrolytes are not going

to help with bloating. It's such an interesting one. And that's a very common side effect of antibiotic use as well. The most beneficial thing you do is take a probiotic alongside an antibiotic when you're taking that and really work on the diversity of your gut bugs to try and help support them and repair. Because obviously, when you take an antibiotic, you wipe everything out, the good and the bad. You can't just target the bad bacteria within the gut. And that's necessity, but electrolytes really frustrate me. So essentially they're the minerals, the salts, the natural salts in the bodies, sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, magnesium. We need them to keep the homeostasis in the body, the balance of our blood pressure, our kidneys. But what I

want to remind you is that inside our kidneys, we have millions of neurons and nephrons, sorry, that are filtering through and doing their job very effectively every day. And it also plays the direct role your kidneys with your blood pressure. And also, everyone's already consuming too much salt within their diet. And even as someone myself who has low blood pressure consistently, I definitely get enough salt as well and wouldn't benefit from electrolytes. So if I could just explain that they're constantly filtering your blood and then they know how much urine output to give, they know what to do, they produce hormones within your kidneys, aldosterone, ADHD, is part of a really clever, intrinsic regulated system in your body.

And if you're adding more salts than you need every day, that's doing more harm than good. And it could be contributing long term to increase blood pressure and other poor side effects you don't see initially. And I do genuinely get concerned about this electrolyte trend. I'm going to find a video that I saw of a doctor doing a really good explanation of this and I'll bring it next week and I will play it for you because actually you can get worse bloating taking electrolytes because you've got more salt and more water retention. So it's kind of got the opposite effect. I love it.

Incredibly helpful. Okay. And our final question today comes from Lisa. He said, I'm loving your podcast. I've been listening for a few weeks now and working my way through all of your episodes. Whilst I don't follow a plant-based diet, I do want to eat less. or cut out dairy fish and white meat. I've cut out a UPFs as much as I can.

I'm trying to increase my fibre and get my 30 plant foods in. I've got a question about soy milk. I've started using this daily for my overnight oats rather than dairy milk. However, I've read somewhere that it's UPF because of the industrial processing. Please, can you provide some more information on this? Oh, honestly, the UPF conversation with soy milk and baked beans and all sorts of things, it's going to be processed because, you know, you're trying to milk a bean. Essentially, you know, you do you know what I mean?

Like, you've got to make it, you've got to hull it down, you've got to create a process, and then you've got to fortify it. So you've got to add a few nice things, you know, a bit of iodine in there and extras that you can fortify to a nice soy milk. But it doesn't make it bad for you. It's the only things to look out for in UPF milks are added sugars a lot of the time, just to amend the taste because soy milk's got a very distinctive taste. It's not everyone's preference, which I think is where oat milk,

gained popularity because it's naturally a sweeter palate than soy milk. But soy milk, nutritionally speaking, is the best equivalent to a cow's milk replacement because it contains a lot of protein as well. You can definitely look at it as being beneficial as well for things like menopause and perimenopause. It contributes to the soy intake every day as well. We've got the evidence there. So go for unsweetened, fortified soy milk, I think, is totally fine and don't fear that. That's a UPF that has a fantastic place. If I remember correctly

from research a couple of years ago, the M&S own brand one is particularly good and then also just to update you because they had a quick look while we was talking us through something, it is true, women report struggling more with sleep than men and they're statistically more likely to report sleep

disruptions that are tied to stress, anxiety and depression than men. Partly because women often shoulder a larger share of nighttime caregiving and mental load leading to frequent interruptions and they do face a higher prevalence of insomnia. Obviously, this is also then exacerbated by fluctuations around menstruation, pregnancy, menopause. Basically, our whole lives, our brain chemistry changes, our entire lives.

Because I know my brain's changed again because I'm pregnant together and then your brain changes. Isn't it wild? Like, it's crazy. So there we go, guys. The electrolyte market is going to be worth over $4 billion and women do have a harder time sleeping. I feel like those are two core facts for the day.

They are. It's not in our head. And we need to have big chunky poos. Those are the takeaway. Heavy, heavy poos, heavy poos. Call it heavy. Heavy good poos. Look at the Bristol Stool chart. Do the sweet corn test. Everyone, we love your questions and your recommendations. Please keep them coming. And we look forward to seeing you back here on Monday. Yes, we are going to talk about all sorts of things, including some links between chewing gum and heart attacks and how to eat for your age. key changes to maximize your health. So we will see you back here on Monday. We cannot wait. Have a fantastic day. Have a good one. Bye.