Friday Q&A: Emma Bardwell on Demystifying Food & Nutrition

0:00Georgia Dayton: Youth mental health is a complex challenge that requires comprehensive solutions. We must strengthen after-school programs. We must make digital literacy tools available in our schools. We must work with mental health professionals to support children. And we must empower mentors, educators, and parents to keep kids happy. Learn more about our commitment to finding lasting solutions at empowerourfuturecoalition.com slash solutions. Paid for by the Coalition to Empower Our Future.

0:30Emma Bardwell: Are you really buying a car online on AutoTrader right now? Really? At a playground? Yeah, really. Look at these listings from dealers. Wow, your search can really get that specific. Really? And you just put in your info and boom, cars in your budget.

0:44Georgia Dayton: Mom needs a second, honey. You can really have it delivered?

0:47Emma Bardwell: Really, or I can pick it up at the dealership.

0:49Georgia Dayton: One sec, sweetie. Mommy's buying a car. Mommy, look.

0:53Emma Bardwell: Uh, I think your kid is walking up the slide.

0:55Georgia Dayton: Kyle, again? Really? AutoTrader, buy your car online. Really? Hello and welcome to Made by Mamas, the podcast. I'm Zoe Hardman. And I'm Georgia Dayton. And this is your parenting safe space where no conversation is off limits. With five kids between G and I, we have seen a lot. We really have. Each week we'll be joined by some famous faces and experts and we'll chat about the brands and products that have saved us along the way. In short, we're the parenting podcast for you. Before we get started, hit subscribe or follow so you're the first to know when each episode lands. And they're on Tuesdays and Fridays.

1:32Georgia Dayton: And it really helps if you leave a rating and a review. You can also find us on Instagram. We're on at Made by Mamas. But for now, George, should we get into it? Hello and welcome to Friday's episode of the podcast. It's me on my own without Zoe again and I know she is going to be gutted because we love talking about nutrition, health, love like debunking, getting to know what we actually need to know without all of the rubbish. and joining us on the podcast today, someone who absolutely knows their stuff. You can guarantee if you're listening to this that you can rely on what this person is going to say.

2:07Georgia Dayton: She's a registered nutritionist and health writer and a Sunday Times bestseller. It's Emma Bardwell. Thank you so much. Thanks so much for coming on. Oh, well, thanks for having me. Zoe's going to be gutted. Zoe's genuinely going to be gutted. She's really into nutrition, right? She really is. Yeah, she should definitely be here. but I'm going to do my best. What a shame. I know, I know. She would have had loads of her own questions as well. So I'll just have to try and make up for her. Yeah, make up for her. Exactly. But just before we get into the questions from the listeners, because we've had so many, as you can imagine, do you want to just give us a little bit of like about you, how you got into what you do, what you do now, and a little bit about your books?

2:49Emma Bardwell: Yeah, yeah. So I am, like you said, I'm a registered nutritionist, which means that I have a kind of code of conduct that I have to adhere to. And I think you've kind of already touched on it, that there is just so much bullshit and so many conflicting messages out there, aren't there? And I think it leaves, particularly women, because we're very vulnerable, I think, to this messaging, it leaves us feeling quite often very conflicted and confused and kind of overwhelmed and I think for a lot of women actually they don't they just don't know where to start because they're being told so many different things so my my kind of ethos has always been to cut through that noise and just to get to the nuggets right and to kind of pare back all the all the kind of extraneous nonsense that I think there

3:39Georgia Dayton: is so much of particularly on social media yeah I mean I find particularly as a parent you really want to get it right because you want to show your kids how you know the best way to eat you don't want to cause any issues for them like by you know demonizing things you kind of want to have it all together but equally we grew up with like the kellogg's diet no carbs before mobs you know all of this stuff and it's really difficult to forget all of that and just like sort of focus on what we really should be doing yeah I think what has happened though is that

4:19Emma Bardwell: we've we've over complicated things and I think because we've got access to so many different opinions and because everyone eats everyone's got an opinion about you know food um I think that it has muddied the water. And I think really, and I talk about this in my books, really what we need to be doing is to be going back to basics and kind of stripping out a lot of this extra conflicting advice and confusing advice and just really getting back to the kind of simple stuff that we know works. And a lot of that is about, so I'm always talking about protein. Protein is having quite a big moment, particularly last year, but also fiber.

5:02Emma Bardwell: I'm really trying to kind of push that fiber narrative because I think it's so important for so many different things. We need to, you know, be reducing the amount of UPFs that we're having. But even that, I think, is really confusing for people because now they're like, oh my God, I can't drink plant milks, for example, or I can't give my kids fish fingers, you know, which is crazy because they're full of omega-3s they're really convenient you know and a lot of kids will actually eat them and I think most of the time because I'm a parent of two we just want our kids to eat right yeah and

5:35Georgia Dayton: it doesn't have to be perfect all the time yeah and I think you're so right I think because it almost becomes so confusing you then just think oh I don't know I've got no idea I don't know what to do like I love cooking and I'm I'm really into like cooking from scratch I always have done it's not been a big shift for me but I would say since my kids have hit that light my youngest is six

5:58Emma Bardwell: and our evenings are now spent in the car that has gone like way more than it ever had done before

6:05Georgia Dayton: I would always have a proper meal on the table now I'm like oh my god what am I supposed to do because you say like you think I can't give them fish fingers because they're gonna die like with all the chemicals can't give them wraps because again yeah they're gonna die yeah um it's it is really hard to know what to do yeah and I think we we're always as parents we're always

6:29Emma Bardwell: giving ourselves a hard time anyway aren't we so yeah we have to just remember that it's what you and your kids eat the majority of the time that counts um and it doesn't have to be perfect all the time by any stretch. I mean, I grew up in the 70s. I'm older than you. I lived on, you know, absolute rubbish. I was also a really fussy eater. I know we've had quite a few questions actually about, you know, kids who are kind of picky eaters and you do tend to really worry. But for most, you know, most of the time they will grow out of that. You don't meet many adults who won't eat vegetables, for example.

7:04Georgia Dayton: Yeah, that's true. Yeah. I mean, my daughter is really frustrating it does worry me a lot but yeah I mean you'll get there she'll get there you know

7:12Emma Bardwell: and I think just sort of focusing on the things that they do like and trying to kind of introduce new things every now and then but but having those preferred foods in there so that at least you know

7:23Georgia Dayton: they are going to eat something yeah and I don't know how you feel about this but I always struggled with her for with breakfast because she doesn't really like eggs which would always be like my absolute go-to she doesn't even really like bacon or sausages or anything like that that I feel like if I was sending them off in the morning that you know I think oh at least they've had something that's going to fill them up so apart from eggy bread which she willy I'm always like I don't I don't know what to give her that's any good for her but I've started giving her like hummus because now I'm like okay it's not breakfast food right but she likes it and it's got some good stuff in it.

8:02Georgia Dayton: So whatever, let's forget about breakfast. You know, it doesn't have to be at those times of day. Now I just think I'll, you know, if it's a lunch food at dinner time, then whatever. Get it downer. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. Let's get into the questions because there have been loads. Let's start with easy work lunches. Thanks.

8:21Emma Bardwell: Okay. So I'm assuming this is, yeah, for adults, not children. So easy work lunches. So there are loads in my book. I would say, again, you know, we tend to kind of demonize sandwiches and things like that. But actually, a really nice sandwich or a really nice kind of stuffed pita bread can tick a lot of boxes. So at the moment, I am really into it's almost like they call it kind of chickpea tuna, you know, it's like a faux kind of tuna for vegans. But I think a lot of, you know, non-vegans will enjoy that too. So it's basically chopped up onions with some, you know, you empty a can of chickpeas in there, kind of mush it all together, stuff some really nice kind of green, some salads in it, and then put it inside the tuna.

9:12Emma Bardwell: And you can actually toast it on each side so it gets kind of nice and crunchy. So, you know, things like that. I'm also really into batch cooking so for example um these are also really good and again it's a convenience food that i think sometimes we shy away from but those pouches you know those pouches of like quinoa oh my god i live by those they're amazing yeah love them so all you have to do is throw that into a mixing bowl empty a can of black beans in there you know add in some like a kind of lime dressing lots of red pepper, tomatoes, things like that, that will last for at least three to four days.

9:51Georgia Dayton: Yeah, that's good, isn't it? Yeah.

9:53Emma Bardwell: Whack it into some nice containers. You've got them all kind of lined up in your fridge and it just makes you feel really kind of smug and put together when you open your fridge and it's all ready to go.

10:03Georgia Dayton: And also, like I find, if I've done that, like a bit of prep at the beginning of the week, so there's a salad I often do and it's got chickpeas, sweet potatoes, pomegranates feta all in it and it stays in the fridge even if I've only got 10 minutes I'll just spoon it into my mouth when I'm leaving but the weeks I don't have that I'm reaching for chocolate and haribos and whatever and it it's annoying that you have to do the prep isn't it but once you get into like a routine of doing it it becomes second nature and also you get your kind of

10:39Emma Bardwell: favorites too um and you can once you've got the basics then you can kind of keep swapping them and making them a little bit more versatile and adding in your your protein too so with that i would add in you know one week it might be some shredded chicken it might be some prawns you could have you know boiled eggs it's the you know endless possibilities so would you cook like i don't know

11:03Georgia Dayton: a chicken on a sunday or monday and then just shred it up and have it throughout the week yeah

11:08Emma Bardwell: absolutely i think it's amazing you can also buy those rotisserie chickens now can't you in lots of the bigger supermarkets yeah i think it takes a lot of boxes and most kids will eat

11:17Georgia Dayton: that too yeah that's true yeah they will we'll be right back after this short break

11:27Georgia Dayton: youth mental health is a complex challenge that requires comprehensive solutions we must strengthen after-school programs we must make digital literacy tools available in our schools. We must work with mental health professionals to support children. And we must empower mentors, educators, and parents to keep kids happy. Learn more about our commitment to finding lasting solutions at empowerourfuturecoalition.com slash solutions. Paid for by the coalition to empower our future. That's the sound of a big deal. At Wayfair, that sound happens a lot. Dream sofa for half the price? Big deal. New dining table you've been eyeing for months?

12:08Georgia Dayton: Big deal. Finally, picking up those last few pieces and finishing that bedroom? Now that's a really big deal. Whatever your home needs, Wayfair has the selection, the savings, and over millions of five-star reviews to back it up. Shop wayfair.com today before someone else snags your big deal.

12:25Emma Bardwell: Wayfair, every style, every home.

12:27Georgia Dayton: Most all-in-one HR systems are a patchwork of disconnected and manual tools. Rippling is totally automated. If you promote an employee, Rippling can automatically handle necessary updates,

12:39Emma Bardwell: from payroll taxes and provisioning new app permissions to assigning required manager training. That's why Rippling is the number one rated human capital management suite on G2, TrustRadius, and Gartner. If you're ready to run the backbone of your business on one unified platform, head to rippling.com slash AcastBiz and sign up today. That's R-I-P-P-L-I-N-G dot com slash a cast biz to sign up

13:07Georgia Dayton: welcome back to this episode of made by mamas now where were we best quick healthy snack ideas

13:13Emma Bardwell: okay um so i am a bit of a stickler actually for trying really trying particularly you know for adults to eat big meals and not relying so much on snacks but look i am realistic so i i know that There are times where we really need something just to keep us kind of going between meals. So I really like, this is not going to fill you up by any stretch, but those kind of crispy seaweed thins that you can get from Itzu. They're amazing. The packaging is horrific, but they are just a really nice kind of savory, salty, crisp alternative. Trail mix, I think, are amazing. You know, mixed nuts. I often make I don't know if you do these but you can just those kind of bliss balls yeah you know like power balls so you can make them with protein powder and just loads of chopped nuts maybe a few dates in there to kind of bind it all together roll them into balls and again you can put those in the freezer and then just take them out in the morning and you know have them in your handbag

14:15Georgia Dayton: yeah and what about protein powders because again this is one of the things I always get confused about because I think oh yeah I should maybe in the morning have a smoothie with some protein and if I know I'm not going to have time to have a breakfast or something but then I look at what's in the protein bowl and I'm like oh is this doing more like damage what like what should we be looking for are they good ones what are they if there are it's a really good question um I think

14:43Emma Bardwell: that they are brilliant actually I think they get a really bad rap I think they are super convenient you know really quick and a really nice easy way to to get more protein into you um so the ones that I really like are basically you just need to be kind of for me avoiding sweetness as much as possible I think they taste really I always think they're kind of overly sweet anyway yeah um but I know they're quite you know there's lots of different um options out there aren't there at the moment. So things like key lime pie and stuff like that. For me, I tend to go for the ones that are just protein powder and they don't have any additives or sweeteners or things like that.

15:26Emma Bardwell: So there's a really nice, can I talk about brands? Yeah, that'd be great. So Form Nutrition is a really good brand, actually. It happens to be plant-based. So it kind of ticks that box if you are vegan, but it's a really nice, decent amount of protein and it doesn't taste of anything. And then you can kind of add in, you know, all the flavours that you want.

15:47Georgia Dayton: Yeah. What would be your like go-to smoothie recipe? Okay.

15:52Emma Bardwell: So this is actually in one of my books. It is a salted caramel one. And so it's got banana in it. It's got spinach. It's got dates. It's got that pure blend protein powder. And I tend to use plant milks personally just because I don't really like the taste of cow's milk but you know whatever milk you prefer and then I always like to kind of add in some extra nutrients so things like pumpkin seeds hemp seeds super high in protein tastes really good lots of omega-3s in

16:23Georgia Dayton: there as well cool and kids can have that as well yeah yeah yeah that's the thing as well I think so many of us with kids that are doing like three hours of football until nine o 'clock on a Tuesday and then you get home and you think oh my god what the hell am I going to give them but if you can give them something like that then amazing also I think with things like smoothies getting your

16:46Emma Bardwell: kids to with anything actually getting them to actually help you make them or make it themselves then they're really invested aren't they they've picked out you know the ingredients that they really like um so yeah I think that's a kind of a good one for kids yeah definitely my son makes a

17:03Georgia Dayton: smoothie in the morning and it's interesting because he would never eat yogurt in not like normally but he'll put greek yogurt in his smoothie and like others that you know chiasis and all sorts of jazz because he thinks that's quite fun but then he'll drink that and i think god that's actually a hell of a lot like of nutrition in one drink on the way to school and he's excited about it it's really reassuring yeah it makes you feel oh my god you do you think

17:30Emma Bardwell: I think like, oh, wow, look at me.

17:32Georgia Dayton: I don't mind what you eat after this today. Yeah, exactly.

17:35Emma Bardwell: Exactly. No, I think absolutely get them, you know, choosing things. It's the similar type of thing when, you know, they get home from school and they're really ravenous. Just having those kind of snacky plates where there's lots of choice, I think is really helpful for kids. They like to, you know, to have some kind of autonomy over what they're eating rather than you kind of forcing it on them.

17:56Georgia Dayton: Yeah, because that is a thing, isn't it? It's like the demonizing foods. that I find hard. So where do you sit with sugar and stuff like that? The ones that we would deem bad for you, snacks?

18:10Emma Bardwell: Yeah, I think, obviously we don't want to be relying on those all the time. But I kind of like this 80-20 rule for me and for my kids. There's a real kind of prevalence. My kids are a bit older actually, so they're 14 and 18. But there's this real rise in eating disorders at the moment, which is so upsetting. And it's just, it's, you know, every parent's worst nightmare. So I really try hard with my girls, I've got two girls, to, you know, just to be really careful about the language that I use, and not to always be talking about whether something is healthy or not. So, you know, there's got to be some room for some fun foods.

18:52Georgia Dayton: Yeah, yeah. No, I agree, because I find it hard, because you want to teach them that, you know you want to fuel your body so that you can exercise and you can do you know your brain works properly and all that kind of stuff when you like break it all down but equally you don't want them to be scared of food because we know how that feels as an adult let alone as a child where they don't really have any context and also you don't want them like my son does pointing at people's packed lunches and telling them that they're not very good commenting yeah yeah yeah One of his teachers said that she felt judged.

19:29Emma Bardwell: Really? Yeah. What was she eating?

19:31Georgia Dayton: She was eating like chocolate and things like that in class, which, you know, maybe is not the right thing to do either. But he'd be like, oh, you know, Mrs. whatever her name was, you really shouldn't be eating that. You know, my mum said that if you want your brain to work properly, and I thought, oh, God. That's hilarious. Yeah, or at parties, he started doing it. But then my daughter doesn't. So I think maybe it's just...

19:56Emma Bardwell: It's something that we all live with. Like every day, somebody will comment on food, won't they? Or what you're eating. So yeah, unfortunately, it's just part and parcel of life.

20:06Georgia Dayton: Yeah, that's true. Yes. Okay. Are there any essential foods that support women postpartum with PCOS?

20:16Emma Bardwell: Okay. So it's not particularly food. There is a supplement. Remind me if I forget. But there is definitely a way of eating that helps with PCOS. So people with PCOS often have kind of blood sugar dysregulation and it can kind of show up as acne or thinning hair or weight gain, things like that. So the thing to do to really kind of be mindful of is trying to monitor, you know, kind of steady that blood sugar. So kind of minimizing the peaks and troughs. And the way to do that is what I'm always talking about. So protein and fiber. So particularly fiber is really good because it actually, well, both of them, they really help to fill us up and they help to kind of keep us feeling full.

21:04Emma Bardwell: So they're really good for satiety and they can prevent those cravings and those kind of, you know, trying to grab things in between meals, which then puts you on this kind of roller coaster, blood sugar roller coaster. And we really, really want to kind of avoid that as much as possible. But that's for everyone. But you have to be really kind of mindful of it when you've got PCOS because you are sort of less insulin sensitive, let's say. and then there is a really good supplement and obviously I don't know this person's history so they would have to kind of run it by somebody but there's a supplement called myo-inositol which has been shown to be as useful for some people as metformin which is medication.

21:49Georgia Dayton: Oh wow.

21:50Emma Bardwell: Yeah so it's definitely worth investigating.

21:52Georgia Dayton: Yeah I was going to ask you about supplements actually because when I first met Zoe she used to take so many supplements and I'd be like what what do they even do what are they and then you know she slowly got me on board with taking loads of supplements but I now have even now I've got to a point like my husband and I in the morning we're like putting our electrolytes in then I'm putting creatine into my water then I'm putting collagen in fiber that art of fiber and I'm thinking what is this necessary and how much am I spending as well every month on these subscriptions what is like I'm happy to do it if it's good for you yeah but what should we be doing or what is like you know worth giving it

22:42Emma Bardwell: keeping up yeah like the foundations it's such a good question and I see when I have clients you know, often they will come with these kind of carrier bags full of supplements and half the time they've forgotten why they're taking them, you know, in the first place and they're really confused. So I think we have to be quite careful because there's quite a lot of contraindication between some supplements. And I think we also tend to think that because it's a supplement that it's really kind of natural and therefore, you know, safe. But, you know, they are not regulated. So we do have to be quite careful.

23:16Emma Bardwell: And also you have to remember that they are all metabolized through your liver. And obviously that's giving quite a lot. It can, if you're taking shit loads of them, it can be giving your liver a kind of unnecessarily something else for it to do. So to answer your question though, if we want to really kind of keep it basic, it's the boring one so vitamin d particularly now for us in the uk um 10 micrograms minimum but i would get i would actually get your levels checked if anybody's kind of thinking you know do i need it or not i would get your levels checked so that you have you know i always tell people you should know your numbers um because some people will need more than that um i think an omega-3 is quite useful because we don't tend to eat oily fish.

24:05Emma Bardwell: So sardines, salmon, you know, we're not really, most of us aren't doing a couple of portions a week. And there is a plant-based version called algae oil if you don't like oily fish, which lots of us don't. I think for women, particularly postpartum, I think it's worth getting their iron levels checked. You know, lots of us are walking around with kind of, even if it's not anemic, you know, anemia,

24:30Georgia Dayton: I think lots of us are subclinical and feeling absolutely exhausted.

24:35Emma Bardwell: So that fatigue, hair loss, itchy skin, anxiety, restless legs, all of those are symptoms of low iron. So again, get those levels checked before you kind of supplement. And I think like a really good B complex can be quite helpful too. Again, we know that alcohol, stress, it kind of really chews through those B vits. Yeah. So that can be quite helpful. Yeah. But the ones that you mentioned, I think fiber can be a nice top up. Yeah, definitely. You know, we're supposed to be aiming for 30 grams a day. We know that most of us are only getting about 16, between 16 and 18 in the UK. And actually, women are worse than men.

25:17I know.

25:18Emma Bardwell: I think because fiber is, you know, we associate fiber with carbohydrates and women are scared of bloody carbs, aren't they still, annoyingly. So I think, yeah, your fiber is good. What else did you say? Collagen. Collagen. I mean, this is so contentious. There's so much kind of to-ing and fro-ing on the old collagen conversation. The research isn't that great, I'm going to be honest with you.

25:40Georgia Dayton: I know, I know. Yeah. Have you noticed a difference? Yeah. So, well, my husband has more than me, actually, which is weird. So he feels like, there's different ones as well, because we took, we used to take Revive, which is that, like a gel, isn't it? And he said with that, he noticed like his skin was better and things like that. And he doesn't use any like moisturizer even on his skin. So he might be more in tune with it because nothing else is affecting it but then we switched to another one which was elevate and he said that made him feel like clearer and like different i know but then is that just anecdotal i don't know i don't know but i have to say when i was taking revive i felt like my hair

26:26Emma Bardwell: and nails and things like that that's the feedback i get most is that women either are like oh my god you know it's made no difference whatsoever in which case yeah obviously don't waste your money but yeah if you are your n of one experiment is very valid right and if you think that it is helping your hair skin and nails and those are the kind of three things that come up most yeah I think why not if you can afford it yeah that's the thing isn't it that's what I find difficult

26:52Georgia Dayton: because people message in like oh do you think it's worth it and I'm like I don't I don't know if it's worth it but I know that I notice when I don't take it yeah so whether that means it's

27:03Emma Bardwell: worth it i don't know well you know i would say if anyone's on the fence try it for three months if you notice this miraculous hair growth and your skin is glowing it can also sometimes help

27:14Georgia Dayton: with joints people say oh my god i've had like just anecdotal again comments in the gym i've go to this sort of women's weight lifting but quite a lot of people are probably over 60 there but i quite enjoy the chat it's great it is so inspiring as well and some of them will say oh oh, I started taking collagen and now my shoulder doesn't hurt. Oh, right. And you're like, wow. Yeah. So who knows? Are they just hyping each other on? Don't know. It might be.

27:42Emma Bardwell: The evidence is slightly stronger for joint health.

27:47Georgia Dayton: So give it a whirl.

27:49Emma Bardwell: It's quite a safe and well-tolerated supplement.

27:52Georgia Dayton: And what about electrolytes? Because I feel like everyone's taking electrolytes. They are, aren't they?

27:57Emma Bardwell: Nobody was taking electrolytes like five years ago. I know. It's ridiculous. personally I think they are really unnecessary unless you are sweating loads if you are you're living in a hot country you know if you're taking loads of saunas and things like that but yeah I yeah it's not it's a no from me yeah no no I need to hear it I do need to hear it

28:21Georgia Dayton: we'll be right back after this short break

28:28Emma Bardwell: Are you really buying a car online on AutoTrader right now? Really? At a playground? Yeah, really. Look at these listings from dealers. Wow. Your search can really get that specific. Really? And you just put in your info and boom. Cars in your budget.

28:42Georgia Dayton: Mom needs a second, honey. You can really have it delivered?

28:45Emma Bardwell: Really.

28:46Georgia Dayton: Or I can pick it up at the dealership. One sec, sweetie. Mommy's buying a car.

28:51Emma Bardwell: Mommy, look. Uh, I think your kid is walking up the slide.

28:53Georgia Dayton: Kyle, again? Really? Auto Trader. Buy your car online. Really? That's the sound of a big deal. At Wayfair, that sound happens a lot. Dream sofa for half the price? Big deal. New dining table you've been eyeing for months? Big deal. Finally picking up those last few pieces and finishing that bedroom? Now that's a really big deal. Whatever your home needs, Wayfair has the selection, the savings, and over millions of five-star reviews to back it up. Shop Wayfair.com today before someone else snags your big deal.

29:26Emma Bardwell: Wayfair, every style, every home.

29:28Georgia Dayton: Most all-in-one HR systems are a patchwork of disconnected and manual tools. Rippling is totally automated. If you promote an employee, Rippling can automatically handle necessary updates,

29:40Emma Bardwell: from payroll taxes and provisioning new app permissions to assigning required manager training. That's why Rippling is the number one rated human capital management suite on G2, TrustRadius, and Gartner. If you're ready to run the backbone of your business on one unified platform, head to rippling.com slash AcastBiz and sign up today. That's R-I-P-P-L-I-N-G dot com slash AcastBiz to sign up.

30:08Georgia Dayton: Welcome back to this episode of Made by Mamas. Now, where were we? Are overnight oats porridge bad for insulin resistance? I love them, but worry they are bad to have.

30:18Emma Bardwell: It's funny that we're now demonising oats as well, right? Talking about it being peasant food and it's going to spike your blood sugar. So this kind of all goes back to a certain person, a goddess, who's very much talking on social media about blood sugar spikes and things like that. yeah we don't need to worry about oats by any stretch they are you know a carbohydrate source but I think nobody I assume nobody is eating like a big bowl of porridge what so what you add into them will really help to kind of mitigate those peaks and troughs in in blood glucose so I would always say you know I would probably have a couple of tablespoons of oats in my in my recipes so not so many oats but then you kind of add lots of things into them so for example a tablespoon of chia seeds a tablespoon of ground flax then you are adding in your greek yogurt so suddenly it goes from being carb heavy to actually really quite nice and balanced and then kind of i don't know scattering over some berries and things like that maybe some nut butter and that's a really i I think that's a brilliant, really filling breakfast.

31:32Georgia Dayton: Yeah. I love them. I live on them. So we don't need to worry about that at all. This person's also put here, basically, she wants to know how to pack in so much protein each day and the best supplements after surgical menopause. Apple cider vinegar? Question mark. She put basically all the fad stuff. I love it.

31:52Emma Bardwell: At least she knows. At least she's self-aware. Go on, tell me the first bit again.

31:58Georgia Dayton: So she's put - Packing in protein. How do I pack in so much protein each day and the best supplements after surgical menopause? Apple cider vinegar, question mark, pro-pre-prionics, basically all the fad stuff.

32:09Emma Bardwell: Okay. So I think with protein, again, we're kind of going down this protein hype where we've got protein water and protein popcorn. And, you know, it's like, oh, my God, everything's got to be protein. It doesn't really. In my 30 gram plan, I'm talking about each meal being roughly 30 grams of protein. And for your average woman, that is enough. And that's just like a palm-sized piece of chicken, you know, like a chicken breast or a salmon steak or, I don't know, a third of a block of tofu. So, you know, there's no kind of extra help from eating too much of it because what happens is it displaces all the other good stuff like fiber.

32:51Emma Bardwell: so let's just try and kind of keep calm um and and kind of yeah introduce plenty of balance i think

33:00Georgia Dayton: because you do see it like i mean i keep seeing something come off of my algorithm that's like my body didn't change until i stopped eating two eggs for breakfast and then it goes into it that this person now eats 120 or 150 grams of protein a day and now looks like shredded and i'm like what so now you basically you might as well not bother don't worry don't bother unless you're eating like all of this and then I look at and I think how on earth would I eat all of that also without having like thousands and thousands of calories which again is like really confusing

33:36Emma Bardwell: yeah no absolutely I think usually those people are trying to sell you something so it's like oh you know I changed this and then you can buy my diet protocol you've got to be quite discerning I think on social media. If somebody's trying to flog you something, you know, why, what is kind of under their underlying message? I would be, yeah, just a little bit kind of careful about that. Okay. But yeah, it's going back to that other question, apple cider vinegar, I would have it in dressings. You don't need to be downing it. It's really bad for your teeth, for example, takes the enamel off. And then what else did she mention?

34:14Georgia Dayton: Just like in terms of like post-surgical menopause, is there like something, you know, like we talk a lot about different phases of life and how our diets need to change. So if you've, you know, gone into, I guess, yeah, surgical menopause or gone into menopause, what should we be doing?

34:34Emma Bardwell: Yeah. So it's much more of the same, really. It's maintaining a healthy weight. It's getting enough protein, particularly for recovery, because we know that post-operatively, we need plenty of protein. Lots of healthy fats. So things like your oily fish, your nuts and your seeds. I would cook with olive oil, for example, kind of, you know, less saturated fat, more mono and poly, unsaturated fats. But yeah, I would hope that her team are kind of looking after her too, right? Because post-operative menopause is quite a huge thing to go through. And I think quite often women are left in the lurch a little bit, sadly.

35:21Emma Bardwell: So yeah, I would really hope that, you know, her team is kind of keeping an eye on her too.

35:27Georgia Dayton: Yeah, yeah, no, definitely. So as a nutritionist, I'm sure that you asked about weight loss jabs all the time. Where do you sit? What are you seeing? Are there benefits? Like talk to us about them.

35:41Emma Bardwell: Yeah, yeah, they're everywhere, aren't they? I think we probably all know somebody who's on them who doesn't probably have to be on them. So I think that they are brilliant for the, you know, they're doing an amazing job. They're really kind of leveling the playing field in terms of weight management. And so, yeah, I'm working with lots of clients on them, actually. So, I think they're brilliant. I do think they're being a little bit abused, let's say. It's surprising how easy it is to get hold of them, right?

36:11Georgia Dayton: Yeah.

36:11Emma Bardwell: It's amazing.

36:12Georgia Dayton: Well, people are using AI, doctored images of themselves to send in.

36:18Emma Bardwell: Yeah, I think they're trying to kind of tighten this up. But we know that soon there's going to be an oral, like a pill form, which I think is going to be much cheaper and it will probably be even more prevalent.

36:32Georgia Dayton: I was going to say, well, more people do that because I guess having to inject it will put a lot of people off.

36:36Emma Bardwell: Yeah, no, absolutely. So I think what we need to remember is when you're on them, your appetite can be reduced so much that you don't eat enough protein. So you're kind of losing muscle and you're not getting enough fiber. So, again, that kind of impacts your gut microbiome potentially. So, you know, it keeps coming back, doesn't it, to protein and fiber, which is why I've written these books. But, you know, there is a reason for that. So, yeah, those are the two things that I would really kind of encourage people to look at. And also just making sure that they are trying to maintain that muscle as much as possible.

37:19Emma Bardwell: So resistance exercise, super important.

37:22Georgia Dayton: Yeah, it's almost like going on those weight loss jabs isn't the fix. it's just an aid to and then you really have to think about your nutrition and your exercise even

37:33Emma Bardwell: more so probably yeah you absolutely do because you're eating less every kind of mouthful really

37:39Georgia Dayton: counts yeah where do you sit with calories because we've spoken a lot about fiber protein and I sort of said about you know people saying oh I eat 150 grams of protein but then you'd think oh well then I'll be eating way over my amount of calories and then am I you know putting myself like in danger of putting on weight, which we all know isn't healthy for most people. Yeah, where do you sit with the balance? Again, like olive oil, like probably two, three years ago even, you'd see people on the internet going, swap out olive oil for this spray instead and save 300 calories.

38:16Emma Bardwell: So I think we did have quite a few questions, didn't we, about weight loss. Yeah. And so if weight loss is a goal, then being aware of calories is really important. So I include calorie counts actually in all my recipes. And I just, I want people, you know, I kind of remind people that it's not an exact science. It's just a kind of rough idea. But I think having that awareness is super important. For though, like you saying, a tablespoon of olive oil, for example, is like 120 calories. If you're kind of just empty, you know, glugging, you know, you always see in recipes, add a glug of olive oil, that could be 300 calories.

38:57Emma Bardwell: That alone could be enough to kind of tip you out of your calorie deficit. And things like peanut butter, for example. I just think we're not saying, I'm not saying to anybody not to have these things and I include them in all my recipes. but being aware of how calorie dense a food is I think can be the difference between weight loss and and you know and not and weight gain yeah yeah because sometimes you do think like oh you

39:25Georgia Dayton: know add add add for your for nutrition and stuff but then you don't realize that okay your plate is really healthy and balanced but it's you know you're eating 1500 calories a day more than your maintenance is and then your weight's creeping up and you think oh but I'm eating so well it's such

39:45Emma Bardwell: so annoying well yeah because eating healthily doesn't actually doesn't necessarily mean that

39:51Georgia Dayton: you're eating in a calorie deficit exactly like you say yeah um I think for me when I'm talking

39:56Emma Bardwell: about weight loss with people I'm always kind of trying to encourage them to to make that calorie deficit as small as possible. But kind of maintaining that. Because if you are trying to sort of slash your calories too much, it's impossible to stick to. And then you're on this yo-yo diet cycle. And then people are like, oh my God, nothing's working. Well, it is working. It's just the fact that you can't stick to it, unfortunately. So 300 to 500 calorie deficit, I think is enough for most people, most women.

40:34Georgia Dayton: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And what about fasting?

40:38Emma Bardwell: For weight loss, you mean? Yeah. Yeah. So it's interesting because I think just, I think it was last week, actually, there was this kind of meta-analysis. So it's like a pool of all the studies and it showed that fasting was no better or different to calorie controlled weight diet plans. So if it works for you, great. I think it can be a really useful tool. But I do think that, you know, most people are kind of taking out an entire meal and then they can't stick to it. So they're kind of eating twice a day and then it gets to the evening and they're absolutely ravenous and then they find it really hard to kind of hold back.

41:20Emma Bardwell: And then in those situations I think it doesn't work but yeah if you for me the kind of key to fasting is just to it's really time restricted eating so eating within a window and kind of having that 12 to 14 hour fast overnight for me I think that's enough yeah because that's sort of I don't know

41:40Georgia Dayton: like if you eat your evening meal at like six o 'clock and then you don't wake up until six the next day and then you don't eat you know like then you're kind of doing that anyway aren't you

41:51Emma Bardwell: Yeah, exactly.

41:52Georgia Dayton: And not calling it fasting.

41:53Emma Bardwell: But I think for most people, they are snacking a lot. Most people snack at night, probably because they haven't eaten enough throughout the day. Yeah. And that's where they kind of come unstuck a bit. But yeah, having eating, just having your final meal and then putting a real kind of full stop, kitchen's closed.

42:13Georgia Dayton: Yeah.

42:13Emma Bardwell: That's sufficient, I think, when it comes to fasting.

42:16Georgia Dayton: Fine. And then there's a few sort of more specific questions here. So best foods to help kids concentrate, please.

42:24Emma Bardwell: Okay, that's a great one. So things like eggs are full of choline. Choline, as we know, is really helpful for concentration and cognition and brain health. Berries always come up when we talk about brain health. So adding those into smoothies can be really helpful. You can just have them frozen, mixed, then you've got lots of different kinds. And I think most kids will eat berries, right? Particularly blueberries for some reason. They absolutely love them.

42:50Georgia Dayton: I know.

42:51Emma Bardwell: And those kind of dark colors are really helpful because they're really filled with polyphenols, which is really good for brain health. Greens, kind of hard to get your greens into your kids, isn't it? But again, that's where smoothies, I think, can be really helpful. Just chucking in a handful of spinach or things like that or even kind of blending it through a sauce can be quite useful. like a pasta sauce for example calling it you know giving it a kind of groovy name yeah your incredible hulk kind of pasta sauce what else oily fish now that's always going to be a tricky one but some kids will have it maybe in like a fish cake yeah and I have just done this recipe actually I just put it on my Instagram account whereby I mashed a tin of sardines on baking paper put it in an air fryer um air fry it for like 20 minutes and it comes out really crunchy really crisp really nice like if your kids won't eat it you will oh okay yeah because you never

43:58Georgia Dayton: think of your kids wanting to eat sardines particularly or adults really yeah I know Why do we, yeah.

44:06Emma Bardwell: Well, they're all a bit smishy, as somebody said in my DMs.

44:10Georgia Dayton: I like them like on the beach. Yeah. Like that's so different.

44:13Emma Bardwell: Like barbecued. Yeah, that's true. But yeah, try this. Honestly, it's so nice.

44:17Georgia Dayton: Okay, so just mash it all up.

44:18Emma Bardwell: Just mash it with the back of a fork and yeah, just in the air fryer for 20 minutes. And then they are, it's almost like white bait, you know? Yeah, oh, right. Really crunchy, really nice.

44:26Georgia Dayton: Okay, right. Your house will stink.

44:28Emma Bardwell: Oh, okay.

44:29Georgia Dayton: I'll look forward to that. Don't do it in the work, like canteen, whatever it is. People will do that like in a microwave and heat up oily fish.

44:37Emma Bardwell: Well, and eggs on an airplane and things like that.

44:39Georgia Dayton: Yeah, it's not all right, is it? No. My three-year-old loves salami and asks for it daily, but I'm concerned. You know, what do you think?

44:50Emma Bardwell: Yeah, it is a carcinogen, sadly. And yeah, lots of kids do like them. So yeah, I would say to, it's not a never food, but I would say it's an occasional food. you know, and try and kind of steer them towards other protein sources.

45:08Georgia Dayton: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's mad, isn't it? Because kids always like all that sort of processed meat.

45:14Emma Bardwell: Yeah, all of these kind of fall under that bracket now, unfortunately.

45:18Georgia Dayton: Yeah. So in total, like with ham, right, obviously people making pet lunches and stuff, that's a really easy thing to do. I saw on Instagram, so I'm going to ask you if it's good, to buy a gammon joint instead at the beginning of the week, roast it and then slice it. Is that any better?

45:34Emma Bardwell: God, do you know what? I don't actually know.

45:36Georgia Dayton: Yeah, I just wondered because I was like, oh, I wonder. The first one said it's higher in protein, but you don't know, do you?

45:43Emma Bardwell: Well, it's probably less processed, maybe. The issue really when it comes to salami and ham and things like that is that it has nitrates in it. So whether gammon has nitrates in it, I'm going to put my hands up. I'm not actually, I don't know. So I'd have to investigate. And things like bacon, you can buy nitrate-free bacon.

46:05Georgia Dayton: Is that worth doing?

46:07Emma Bardwell: Yeah, it's a better option. You can also get, interestingly, like turkey rashers. Have you tried those? Oh, no. They look just like bacon, but they're turkey.

46:16Georgia Dayton: Oh, I'm going to do that. And they are also nitrate-free. Because my son loves bacon. Yeah. And that's what he would want for breakfast every morning. And we have to, like, you know. Have that tussle. Yeah, I mean like twice a week or something, cool, fine. Yeah. But still, that's probably too much. But then you think, oh, I'd rather you ate something savoury probably.

46:37Emma Bardwell: Well, yeah, have a look at these turkey because you can also crisp them up. And they look remarkably similar to bacon. So he might be open to those. He might be open to it. Okay, fine.

46:45Georgia Dayton: I'll give that a go. I mean, I think that's all we've got time for. But is there anything else that you really want, like the message to get out there?

46:54Emma Bardwell: I think we kind of touched on it. I think there is a real propensity on social media to get very confused. And I think one of the best things you can do is to unfollow or mute, you know, people who are talking in these kind of absolutes. Actually, what you eat the majority of the time matters. You know, kind of hyper fixating on single ingredients just isn't that helpful. And it's not realistic either. So, yeah, have a call. Yeah, because I do think there's been a real shift, like maybe in the last year, 18 months of, I mean, God, like even three years ago, everyone was talking about being vegan and why that was so good, so good, so good.

47:37And then all of a sudden it's now only eat meat.

47:41Georgia Dayton: Don't eat anything else. Don't even eat fruit.

47:42Emma Bardwell: like it and we seem to go through the extremes yeah and when you put it all out you think

47:48Georgia Dayton: that doesn't make any sense this is wild so no wonder people feel so confused so strip it all

47:57Emma Bardwell: back yeah yeah um and the other thing i would say is to eat more fiber because none of you 96 percent

48:03Georgia Dayton: of us are not getting enough fiber give us a few good fiber sources just before we go okay so i

48:10Emma Bardwell: I would say chia seeds, a tablespoon, five grams. Gram flax, tablespoon, five grams. Half an avocado, five grams. Oh, avocado's fiber. Oh, I'm fine. Yeah. Get it into everything. You know, half a can of chickpeas, that's eight grams. You can just kind of, I wouldn't say go from zero to half a can of chickpeas. You have to go kind of low and slow and kind of adapt, you know. But yeah, there's so many different, I've got loads of fiber heroes in the book.

48:39Georgia Dayton: so many so many um sauces amazing and just before we go give us a rough like breakfast lunch dinner

48:49Emma Bardwell: that you like are your go-tos so i really like a chia pudding which might be a bit contentious but i think because some people don't like the kind of texture i think as long as you've got plenty of crunch in there so lots of nuts and seeds on there some berries brilliant so that's my go-to My kids will eat that too, actually. Oh, amazing. And, you know, you can always, you can blend it if your kids or you don't like that texture. And it's actually really nice. My go-to lunch, well, at the moment, it's those sardines. I am obsessed. Just these crunchy sardines on toast with some avocado and like a side of rocket.

49:27Emma Bardwell: Yum. So easy.

49:28Georgia Dayton: Yes.

49:28Emma Bardwell: And then dinner, I really like a tray bake. just whack everything on some lots of roasted veg get your I don't know salmon or your chicken breast in there have a nice I mean just for me just having um like the drizzle of olive oil that you're roasting it in and then kind of maybe adding on like a dollop of pesto or something like that yeah brilliant delicious super super simple love it thank you so much I feel really

49:56Georgia Dayton: I'm inspired now. Hungry. Yeah, and hungry. As always, guys, if you have got any feedback on this episode, drop us a DM on Instagram. We're on at Made by Mamas. And please rate, review, subscribe. That's Zari's line, so I don't know it as well. But we'll be back on Tuesday. Thank you.

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