Body Scans, Brain-Boosting Foods & The Truth About UPFs

27:23And it was so efficient during mentally demanding tasks. So basically, our brain activity is going boom every time we have some walnuts, Ella. Yeah, so you've got efficient brain, better memory, faster reaction times from having a handful of walnuts it's just no-brainer so oh gosh excuse the pun it's a really good pun i do this sometimes and i cringe at myself oh my gosh i love it but no they're nutrition guys protein polyphenols omega-3s we just all should be getting more nuts and seeds anyway but ella tell us how we can incorporate these into our diet as well as just a handful in the morning yeah it's such a great question and we love this kind of stuff don't because it's so easy to do.

28:05But I'm like you, I'm going to be honest, I don't love the taste of walnuts just on their own versus like almonds, so delicious. Same, cashews, hazelnuts. Pistachios. Oh my gosh, pistachios. Zaki takes them all out of my nut jar, all the little green ones, they're gone. I'm like, damn it, he's had all of them. They are so delicious, aren't they, pistachios? But so some easy ways to eat some more walnuts. Obviously, you can just blend them into smoothies. I do think if there are things that you know are so good for you, like chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts that you're not kind of throwing on every meal.

28:36Chucking them into a smoothie is such an easy way to get more of it. As you were saying, top it onto your porridge, or if you're going to make granola, add walnuts, for example, to the granola mix and making granola at home couldn't be easier. You're literally putting oats, nuts, seeds, whatever you've got. You can use loads of different leftover packets of nuts and seeds. Mix it all up with a little bit of maple syrup or honey and a bit of coconut oil, cinnamon or vanilla if you've got it, and roast it about 180 degree fan oven for 20-25 minutes. I mean, it's so, so easy. And watch it, right?

29:06Because it can go quite quickly. Yeah, it can go quite quickly. Maybe stir it halfway through. Then you can add raisins or anything, apricots, etc. at the end if you want them. Organic apricots. Unsulfured. But that's such an easy way to do it. You can make energy balls or granola bars. And then one of my favourite things to do is a mushroom and walnut ragu. It is so delicious. It's one of my favourite, favourite recipes. We've been making it for years and years and years. Make it here, make it here. Definitely. I still owe you a cheer pudding. But you chop the walnuts up really small. And then when you stir them through and you add them quite near the end, it gives us this really hearty, I don't want to say meaty, but kind of, for a better word, meaty texture.

29:48It's so good. Well, you can taste. When you crunch into a walnut, the reason it's not got the most palpable taste compared to an almond, for instance, is because of that fat percentage within it. So our brain is 60 % fat and the healthy fats in the walnut, you can taste the texture when you sink your teeth into it. You can almost taste the oil, the natural oils within the nut. So it's not for everyone. But if you incorporate them into dishes like Ella's walnut ragu, which sounds insanely good, then yeah, no brainer. I went out and bought a large bag of walnuts when we popped this in the brief.

30:18And I've had them every day and the kids have snacked on them. How are your reaction times? Well, I can't say I've noticed that yet. It's coming. It's coming. In the gym, actually, when I was hitting that punch bag, you know, maybe. That's why you can't write now. That's why I can't write. And my thumb feels, even trying to sleep at night, you know, when you put your hand on your bed next to you, it hurt. Oh, my gosh. See, I just can't do exercise like that. I just so don't have the patience for it. I got really into it and I was like punching my gym PT, like get all the frustration out. Oh, my gosh.

30:50Okay. You can punch out or dance out, whatever floats your boat.

30:58It is so important to me that my home feels like a calm and cozy sanctuary from the chaos of the world. I found that beyond decorating, sensory things like warm smells and soft textures make the biggest impact for that. And especially as it cools down outside, I'm looking for the best ways to snuggle up on my couch. I recently moved and one of the very first things I added to my new living room was my bubble cuddle blanket from Cozy Earth. It's a faux fur material that is so incredibly soft and has this cool bubble design that makes it look and feel very plush. It's a mid-weight construction so I've honestly decided against getting a weighted blanket because it's not too heavy but you still get that feeling of security when you lie under it.

31:39My roommate has said it's her new favorite blanket and we've been keeping it on the couch at all times instead of the blanket basket with the rest of our options. I've also been loving my bamboo sheets from Cozy Earth. The temperature regulating capabilities were great for the summer and now that it's getting a little cooler at night, I'm just really appreciating the softness of the sheets and pillowcases. It's like I'm slipping into a cloud every night. Plus, you can try them risk-free with Cozy Earth's 100-night sleep trial. If you don't love them, you just return them hassle-free, but believe me, you're going to be hooked after the first night.

32:09So if you're looking to make your home a little more cozy this fall, head to CozyEarth.com and use my code SCOOP for 20 % off. That's CozyEarth.com code SCOOP. And if you get a post-purchase survey, make sure you let them know you heard about Cozy Earth right here. Because home isn't just where you live, it's how you feel. So let's go home with Cozy Earth. Eczema isn't always obvious, but it's real. And so is the relief from EBCLIS. After an initial dosing phase, about 4 in 10 people taking EBCLIS achieved itch relief and clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks. And most of those people maintain skin that's still more clear at one year with monthly dosing.

32:48EBCLIS, LibriKizumab LBKZ, a 250 milligram per 2-milliliter injection is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older who weigh at least 88 pounds or 40 kilograms with moderate to severe eczema, also called atopic dermatitis, that is not well controlled with prescription therapies used on the skin or topicals or who cannot use topical therapies. EbGliss can be used with or without topical corticosteroids. Don't use if you're allergic to EbGliss. Allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. Eye problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have new or worsening eye problems.

33:16You should not receive a live vaccine when treated with EbGliss. Before starting EbGliss, Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. Searching for real relief? Ask your doctor about EpGliss and visit epgliss.lily.com or call 1-800-LILY-RX or 1-800-545-5979. Okay, headline two. I think if headline one was really optimistic and a nice example of the simple things we can all do to improve our health, headline two is kind of the opposite. And it's pretty sad reading, to be totally honest, but it was absolutely everywhere. So we felt it was very, very important to include. And again, it just shows this balance between let's not be the worried well but equally we've got to radically collectively change our diets and that is because life expectancy growth has stalled across Europe and England has seen the sharpest decline and this does collectively mean that Europeans now looking to have a lower life expectancy than their parents which is a really really sobering thought.

34:09There's obviously so many factors from that but what we've got here is the data from 1990 to 2011 at first life expectancy in England increased by approximately 0.25 years. But the problem between 2011 and 2019, this is obviously pre-COVID data, so I can imagine it's got worse, this growth rate diminished to just 0.07. And in a study of 20 countries, all except Norway, experienced a deceleration in life expectancy improvement. So the biggest factor here, the elephant in the room, is basically that ultra-processed foods, as I'm obviously writing about in my next book, The Unprocessed Plate, but our diets are just not good, are they?

34:50They're not. I think the fact that England's faced the steepest decline is really, really sad. And just to quantify if it's helpful to anyone, this growth that we were having between 1990 and 2011, the 0.25 years annually that we were adding to our life expectancy, that's obviously equivalent of three months a year. So, you know, it was really making a meaningful difference to how long we were living whereas as we said it's now 0.07 years added per year so it's a really stark change and as you said on the elephant in this room and again like it's absolutely not an individual's fault but the reality is the proportion of obese adults in england has nearly doubled in that time so it's 15 in 1993 and 29 in 2002 and there has just been for a multitude of different reasons but there has been a surge in obesity and that's obviously linked to poor diets we've got a lack of physical activity going on and we've seen a huge increase in preventable diseases like heart disease and cancer obviously not all cancers but many being lifestyle related at this point and there are countries like Norway and Sweden who are continuing to make progress with their life expectancy but generally speaking and as a European and population, we are really, really struggling.

36:06It's amazing when you see, I mean, well done, Norway and Sweden. They always seem to make these incredible progressive steps forwards. And in this country, we just step back and we have to treat this issue with kindness, I think, first of all, compassion, because nobody chooses this, just again, to highlight that fact. And the pandemic, everybody had something happen to them in the pandemic, mental health wise, physical health, you name it, it impacted every single person in the country. So it made existing health disparities and weaknesses worse in the healthcare systems. The response, the UK government's developing, as we discussed before, you know, the 10-year health plan to focus on preventative measures.

36:45But what I worry about, Ella, is that this, again, the divide's getting wider between the socioeconomic situation and also between the access to healthcare is getting further and further away. People that really need the NHS are on such long waiting lists and people that can afford private are just heading towards private. And like you said, people are leaving the country that have the higher bracket that would support these systems in the first place. So it's not just limited to Europe, but obviously the US is experiencing this stagnation in life expectancy. And what I find, I want to say this in the right way, concerning on social media, when we look at these big health headlines, is not the glorification of a poor diet.

37:30But like, we're first to put our hands up and say that no one eats perfectly all the time. It's okay to enjoy enjoyed items, you have to, it's okay to have McDonald's every now and again, if that's what you really love. But it is not okay to have it every single day. And there are some corners of the internet that really praise those behaviours. Exactly. I think well said. And it's a really interesting balance. And I think the word balance is so overused that it almost doesn't mean anything to anyone anymore. But it's exactly that, which is that it's not about each individual meal, but it is about what you choose to eat as a general rule is so incredibly important and kind of can't be stressed enough.

38:09What you do on occasion is of really no consequence to most people if they're already in a good state of well-being and a good state of health what you do on occasion then is of as i said almost no consequence but what really matters is what your daily ish habits are because we have an aging population and as you know my master's degree was in obesity risks and prevention and my master's degree now would look so different because of the data we had 10 years ago that long no 10 years ago i did the my master's in gosh 10 years ago. And now it's become even just, it's just got worse and worse and worse and worse.

38:44And no strategy the government's used has worked. And I think there's just such a divide between the different corners of health. Mental health is pigeonholed into its own category, whereas actually mental health, as we know, is linked with diet, is linked with sleep, is linked with physical activity. And instead of putting all these elements together, we just don't seem to know how to bring them together in this country and clearly the rest of the world. Anyway, on a positive note we're hoping that by talking about this it just makes you think I might add some walnuts if I'm able to or I might just have my porridge and not worry about those oat messages that my blood sugar's going crazy because actually porridge is a better choice than a chocolate bar on the go absolutely I couldn't think of a better I want to say like obviously except for because it's so confusing everything not obviously anymore because you can buy protein chocolate bars and you can buy the most extraordinary like protein bars that have not a single real food zero carb on them so people think or zero sugar and you turn it over and the number of artificial sweeteners etc like it reads like some kind of nuclear reactive agent or like a nuclear bomb i mean it's like it's just so far removed from food so you say you know cheese oats not chocolate bars but as i said i don't think it's even very obvious because the claims are now so compelling as to why you would buy something.

40:02But when you turn it over, it's just absolutely awful. I know. And if you're in a position where you are able to, you know, afford a nice food shop, just try and maximise on that, I think. And let's spread. Education is power at the end of the day. And don't forget the boring things like batch cooking overnight oats or prepping little bags of smoothie ingredients with frozen fruit that you can chuck into a blender, sipping on herbal tea, drinking lots of water, going for a walk on your lunch break, popping some walnuts on your porridge. These are such simple, simple things, but they add up. They mean so much.

40:36And you might inspire the person sitting next to you at work. I agree. Spread that message. And it leads me on to dissecting the headline. So the headline doesn't always reflect what the study says, which is so intriguing. So Ella, I'll let you lead on the fact that dairy milk intake may reduce bowel cancer risk. Let's go into this new headline. I think this is a really interesting headline. I'm sure loads of you guys saw this because this was absolutely everywhere over the last few weeks. And it's, as Ria said, I think it's a really great example of where the headline doesn't really match the content of the article.

41:10It's not wrong, but it in no shape or form summarises the reality. The reality of this study was that calcium is being shown to reduce bowel cancer risk, not exclusively dairy milk. Now, I'm not demonising either side. We talked about milks the other day, but I think it's just an important point. This isn't actually about drinking cow's milk. This is actually about eating enough calcium. And I think as well, it's important to give the context of this, which is that actually really unfortunately bowel cancer is one of the often more lifestyle related cancers that is absolutely on the rise. It's expected to reach 3.2 million global cases by 2040.

41:49It's the biggest rise in cancer. Yeah. And the reasons remain a bit unclear for that. But it's also rising incredibly sharply in younger people worldwide. So between the early 1990s and 2018, the number of UK adults aged 25 to 49 diagnosed with bowel cancer rose by 22%. So it's a very, very relevant thing to be talking about because it's such a relevant topic. And again, that's something that's been in the papers a lot when we're talking about this rise in cancer in the under 50s. Lots of it is about this massive rise in bowel cancers. But it's linked as well, isn't it, to the life expectancy?

42:23So go back to the headline we had before, which discusses obesity, but also the fact that our life expectancy is lower than our parents. At the same time, as a result of our diet and our lifestyle being so poor, we are increasing the rise in cancers as well. So this is having a knock-on effect, guys, not just in your weight or the other comorbidities that come with that. We're talking about actual damage to your bowel, rising risks. You know, it's the ultra-processed food consumption here. So the study acknowledged that 30 grams of red and processed meat today was linked to an 8 % increased risk.

42:57And then 20 grams of alcohol a day was linked to 15 % higher risk of bowel cancer. And let's be honest, everyone in the UK, once you hit 18, it's like this booze fest. Although, thankfully, as we discussed, sobriety is increasing and this isn't as popular. But lots of people are drinking. And red and processed meat is a huge part of youngsters' culture when they go out. We were just talking about our kids' pack lunches and my girl's a vegetarian. But the standard pack lunch at school is a ham and cheese sandwich when they go on school trips. Always. Sky just gets a cheese sandwich. But processed ham, that is the standard pack lunch, which is actually, again, just if we're being frank about this, astonishing.

43:36Because we know processed red meat is very, very bad for us. So why that's the standard meal given to children as pack lunches just boggles the mind. It upsets me. I feel as well. It's like we're ignoring all the evidence. I'm owning my opinion here. I think we're owning it this week. And I agree. You told us to. Yeah, you told us to. So we're doing it. And I'm the same. I always opt for the veggie option for Zachary because I don't want him having ham. And it's the same at children's birthday parties. It's the same everywhere I go that there is an influx of ultra processed foods and processed meat.

44:09And it is the only classified class one carcinogen that is out there researched. You just cannot deny the robust evidence. But what was interesting about this headline, before we digress completely, is the suggestion in the paper that you had to have a large glass of milk daily, which I found fascinating, to reduce the risk by nearly 17%. Let's go back to the stats here that you reduce your risk by 15 % already by the alcohol and again a further nearly 10 % by processed meat. So a glass of milk, you can get calcium in so many other areas of your diet, Ella. Yes. So the research, exactly as you said, was showing that drinking about 300 milligrams of calcium from this daily glass of milk would work because it would help potentially neutralize bile acids and free fatty acids in the colon, which could otherwise contribute to the cancer risk, which is really interesting.

44:59And the research was led by someone called Dr. Keren Papier at the University of Oxford. And they were analyzing dietary data from over 540 ,000 women over nearly 17 years. So it's an extraordinary study. I mean, it's really, really meaningful. And as you said, it confirmed those three things. It confirmed that alcohol and red or processed meats do raise and meaningfully raise bowel cancer risk and calcium has a protective effect. But they also absolutely acknowledge that their calcium does not have to come from milk, which I think is really important to acknowledge because I don't know how many adults enjoy having just like a big glass of milk.

45:35Do you think the press did it because most people still just think calcium milk? So therefore, let's put that in the headline. It's accessible. Yeah, because it makes it really understandable, doesn't it? And it's also such a kind of easy to grasp premise. It's just a large glass of milk. But it's not educating people because, you know, you can get calcium from leafy greens. You can get it from, you know, a tin of sardines or something, salmon, nuts and seeds, legumes, all the fortified drinks we discussed in the other episode. And soy. Soy. But it has to be the tofu. You have to have calcium enriched on the packet, which means you are opting for a more processed version because you're adding the fortification within it.

46:10But honestly, guys, be aware of calcium, though, because you can't measure it in your blood. So it's actually something that a lot of people do fall short on when they emit dairy, actually. But you can get it in so many other areas in your diet. It doesn't have to be a glass of milk. What would be your top tips to include it? My top tips is going to be look at the plant points, but get those nuts and seeds. Because honestly, if you're just adding those to most meals that you have and you're getting your veggies, again, it's the boring message of, you know, healthy, balanced diet. But if you eat fish, I think one of the really easy accessible ways of getting it is having those bony fish, like the soft bones that people get in sardines.

46:46A lot of people really enjoy those. They're really affordable for people, those tins of sardines, rather than, in fact, probably a bag of nuts, which is probably more expensive, which is ironic, isn't it? And are there any particular nuts that are really good for calcium? Absolutely. Almonds are really, really good. And delicious. And absolutely delicious. Absolutely. But instead of focusing individually, just try and increase all your portions of these foods, honestly. And if you want a proper resource, you can always look for free on the NHS website. My books, The Science of Nutrition, all have calcium graphs and details.

47:17Just, yeah, go and have a look. There's lots of sources, guys. Do you know what? It's the thing I like about the aim of getting 30 plants a week is that what it does in trying to focus on having that variety, you know, switching up the nuts you put on the porridge. or instead of just having peanut butter and toast, you have cashew butter, almond butter, etc, etc. Buy different frozen fruits for your smoothie, these simple things, or swap around the veg in your stir fry. Is that as a result, you get a much better balance of vitamins and minerals as well. But you don't have to get so bogged down in all the kind of nitty gritty of the science, which again, is quite overwhelming for busy people.

47:50And instead, I think when you really focus on getting that diversity of plants, you end up by proxy having such a great influx of other nutrients. nutrients. Because let's be honest, this headline here, well, yes, we all need to eat a healthy, balanced diet. And if we reduce the alcohol and red meat, we wouldn't even be in the situation in the first place where we're increasing the risk. So one of those headlines, eh? We, when we started the show, thought, well, we have enough to talk about every single week. Like, will the headlines keep coming? And oh my gosh, they come thick and fast. Each week, we just have to cut six or seven topics because we can't fit it all in.

48:24But we will now move on to what is trending in wellness. So the first thing that we're going to talk about is what we said we'd pick up on this week, which is butter before bed for babies. OK, you may or may not have come across this, but we wanted to unpack it quickly. I'm going to say it's a bizarre, personally I feel it's bizarre, new trend that's really taken over social media. And it's the idea that parents give their babies spoonfuls of butter before bed in the hope it will help them sleep. And we all get it, like trying to help your children sleep feels really important. Oh, I mean, if only I was up all night with my youngest last night.

48:58But the trend starts in the US after a paediatric natural doctor, Alana Rumel, claimed in what's now a completely viral video that butter before bed helped her son sleep through the night because of all the fats keeping their babies full. And then since then, TikTok and Instagram have been just flooded with parents trying it with millions and millions of views on hashtag butter before bed. I just want to start before we get a quote here. Look, we start furring our arteries is the phrase, you know, from the minute we're born all the way up with the saturated fat that we consume. And by giving a baby that much saturated fat and butter, it just can't be good for them.

49:35I find it quite disturbing. Like I understand and I get it. Like didn't our parents used to give like whiskey or something when we were teething? Yeah, I think maybe or maybe grandparents. But yes, I think that was the idea. They'd like dip a dummy in a bit of whiskey. So it's kind of like the same things happening in like different form. Now we're going back to butter instead of alcohol for babies. But we wanted to get a child's nutritionist to give you the viewpoint. So we've got a leading baby nutritionist, Charlotte Sterling-Reed. If you don't follow her on socials, she is phenomenal for resources.

50:06She's got great books, but she also gives so much free content to everyone every day. She helped me so much when I was weaning. I obsessively followed her. She's so good. We love Charlotte. She's incredible. So she has got a voice note for us. Here's the 101 on butter before bed. Sorry, there's no solid evidence that giving babies butter. Oh, sorry. It's on speed. It's on speed. Sorry, Charlotte. It's on 1.5. Do you listen to things like that? Sometimes. Oh, my gosh. Because I'm on the go. So overwhelming. Charlotte, I adore you. I'm sorry. I just... Anyway, here we go. Here is the voice note in one normal speed.

50:36So there's no solid evidence that giving babies butter before bed will help their sleep. and actually focusing on a balanced diet with much healthier fat sources such as olive oil and nut butters and avocado is a much better approach. Plus, the potential for choking hazard is also an important point as well, especially for younger babies still learning to eat. It's always really good to be cautious with viral trends that promise these quick fixes, especially around a topic like baby sleep. There are so many factors that play a role and so many things that will impact your little one's sleep. And there is no food that is a magic solution, unfortunately.

51:09I hope that's helpful. Can I just say we could delete baby and we could delete butter from that. And it's the exact advice that we would give across anything, isn't it? There is no magic solution. We totally get why you want it. Unfortunately, things that go viral generally aren't quite what they seem to be. So I think take that and apply to all trends. Absolutely. And a choking hazard for babies. Please remember that one because I don't think that's something most parents would think of. They can't swallow it. That was my other real health anxiety. Oh, my gosh. Weaning and choking. I still cut every grape into tiny pieces and the carrots are so thin.

51:45Me too. Me too. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, that's a big fear. Okay. So I think, as I said, I think take everything that Charlotte said and apply it to basically all trends. If something promises to be a magic answer, a quick fix, to answer all your problems almost immediately, it probably isn't all it's cracked up to be. But what about creatine? Because that is everywhere. Is that all it's cracked up to be? Oh, here we go, Elle. I feel like every week I'm put on the spot with a new exciting supplement. I know. I'm like, tell me, tell me. Tell me. I know. Look, let's be positive, though, because creatine is actually one of the supplements that I can say there's really robust data for for different areas.

52:23So just so you know, we do make it ourselves in our body, creatine. What is it? It's like a naturally forming amino acid. And we already have them in our body. And, you know, we don't need to get it from this powder that most people are getting. You know, you can find it in animal-based foods if you eat animal produce like meat and fish. You need to get around three to five grams of creatine from our diet. And that's kind of the same as a normal dose you'd get in a powder anyway. This is why, you know, the case of creatine is more for sports nutrition. You know, it's more for people that are athletes and you have to understand a food-first approach.

52:58But additionally, vegans and vegetarians might have slightly lower levels of creatine because they don't consume that animal produce. and therefore, you know, the effects of taking it, they might have more significant results. But basically, it's linked to improved exercise performance because it helps boost our metabolism, the ATP production. So if those of you remember when we discussed the NAD plus supplements, the NAD supplements, that that's to do with our energy production. And essentially, creatine helps our energy production, giving our muscles more energy for those short bursts of intense activity.

53:30But let's be honest, people that are doing that type of energy burst, it means better strength, power, endurance during workouts. But most people not doing workouts, let's just be clear, don't need to be taking it. And it also is good for people that are trying to grow muscle. So potentially, you know, if you're doing enough in the gym, that could be good. And what I found really interesting, Ella, that I know you flagged as well was brain function. But I will say the study we have for improved cognition was in older adults and those who are sleep deprived and I thought oh my gosh maybe I need this and in other states of mental stress so it's not just for every average person out there thinking I'm going to take creatine which is what I've seen on the internet I've seen so many influencers saying I'm taking creatine it's boosting my brain health it's literally everywhere at the moment and then when I was looking it up for the segment I saw literally from the last two weeks article in Vogue, GQ, Evening Standard, Men's Health, Women's Health, The Washington Post and National Geographic amongst many others but Obviously, those are all leading media titles.

54:30And they'd all written about it just in the last couple of weeks. I mean, it is everywhere. As you said, I've seen so many influencers talk about it. I actually know so little about it. Just to get a recap of it. Basically, your body has it. Your body's forming it naturally. You don't need it in the sense of vitamin D, for example, in the winter. But what it can do, and as you said, there is genuine research on, really well researched and studies, is that if you are very, very into your exercise and very, very into your performance, as you said, you're an athlete or kind of amateur athlete, then it can genuinely be helpful for enhancing performance and building muscle.

55:07Yeah, no, absolutely. A hundred percent. But, you know, there are also cons to creatine. You cannot take any supplement and expect it to just be positive. So it's linked to digestive issues. So in rare cases, if you take too much, which can happen, you know, it's so easy for someone that's not measuring out their portion versus their size, their shape, the activity they do. It can cause bloating, cramping, stomach discomfort. So potential kidney concerns have also been linked, but it's been shown to be safe. So a 2021 study said that if you stick to the recommended dose of three to five grams, guys, you have to measure that because three to five grams is nothing.

55:45You know, it can be so easy to go over that amount. And that's when you're putting yourself at risk, really. And then, of course, creatine pulls water into muscle cells so you can get a bit of increased water retention but I reiterate myself once again that even though you see headlines saying it's great for cognition it's great for brain health it's so good for when you're in the gym once again unless you have a goal you probably don't need it and if you are vegan and vegetarian and you work out it might be more beneficial for you than those that eat an animal-based diet an omnibore diet and also I think the thing I always feel with all of this is like you're absolutely right there is some interesting maybe indicative research about brain function but also think about your walnuts you know and all those other simple things that are really really well researched to support your brain function exercise etc and I feel once you're doing all those things layer on if you want to with evidence-based practices but if you're not doing all of those things start with those basics building blocks first and see how you feel because you may not feel you need to then buy some more expensive things.

56:51Oh, 100%. So would you try it, Ella? Great question. No. You're so like me. And everyone's like, do you actually take much? I'm like, you'd be amazed I take nothing but vitamin D. Yeah, me too. And then I use those omega-3 drops. Yeah, and omega-3. Some vitamin C when we're coldy. I know it takes to improve. But for gut health, which again, we'll talk about this because we've had a few questions, has loads of research and proper papers behind it. There's no data we can talk about. We should definitely do that one episode. Yes, absolutely. Because it's amazing. It's an amazing, amazing product.

57:22But anyway, I just feel like my life is so busy. I don't need to add in things that I don't need. And I'm just not interested enough in my gym performance. I said I'm really enjoying exercising, but I'm just not interested enough in building muscle to want to take something that, you know, and Amusu was saying like ultimately that sort of product is ultra processed and they normally have flavorings, et cetera. are added to them and I just don't I don't really feel like I need that in my life. Yeah not for us but I appreciate that it's beneficial for my athletes or for those of you that work out better than we do.

57:55That's a great way of putting it and I think that was a great summary. Okay and then we're moving on to our last part which is our listener question and I thought this was a great great question from our listener and they were referencing the fact that last week we were talking about 70 % of children's diets coming from ultra processed foods. And they're basically curious about what exactly counts an ultra processed food, a UPF, but I'm sure they're not alone. Some research from last year showed 77 % of British consumers were aware of ultra processed foods, but I think not everyone understands exactly what we mean by that.

58:25And I felt like this question summed that up. She said, hello, long time follower and podcast listener here. So thank you for that. Quick question on your podcast from last week where it referenced the study saying that 70 % of children's starts are coming from UPFs. what is the definition of a upf in the study i.e is it anything made in a factory e.g. a can of chickpeas i don't know why i said e.g. instead of for example um yogurt slice of bread etc i found the stats super scary and when i shared it with my partner he was like well everything counts as a upf so of course most calories are coming from it i just wondered if you could clarify what the definition is links to the studies in the show notes would be great as well if we can do some more research.

59:04Love your work. Love the new podcast. Embrace New Zealand. And I just had my mother-in-law bring me a bunch of DE muesli bars when she came. We love you. We love that. Rhi, will you talk us through maybe the NOVA classification system? Because that's really the foundation of understanding what is and isn't an ultra-processed food. But just for your kind of reassurance, a can of chickpeas is not. Yogurt and slice of bread can be and cannot be. Yeah, exactly. And there's no one universally agreed definition. So please don't worry. It is really confusing. And that's why I've been delving into my new book, The Unprocessed Plate, because it is really, really a minefield.

59:41So Nova was developed in Brazil. Carlos Montero and his team were looking at the state of the population and diets over there. And they found a way of classifying food and showing the ratio of ultra processed versus minimally processed. So if you start at the very bottom of the processing industry, the world of manufacturing that Ella knows very well, and that's minimally processed foods. And that includes fresh or frozen, you know, fruits, veg, grains, meats, eggs, and basically plain dairy products. So they might have been washed or picked from the tree and pasteurized, but they haven't got an extra ingredient.

1:00:17That's your key there to number one is there's no ingredient added. Yeah, so there's no ingredient for these things. It is a bag of carrots. It is a carton of eggs. It's just yogurt. Exactly. It's milk. And that is it. It is a single ingredient list product. Which is what most of our diets used to consist of. Then welcome the amazing development of technology. And you've got processed culinary ingredients. So these are things, this is category two, that we use in cooking. And we don't really have them on their own. We add them like salt, butter, sugar. Olive oil is classified here. And this doesn't make these items bad either.

1:00:52These can be really healthy ingredients to add to things and really easy to cook with. Flour is a good example. Yeah, items you would put in a cake essentially and make a cake from scratch with. Then you get number three. Now we're moving up the chart a bit here and this is when things sound contentious but again they're not because things like your canned beans, your chickpeas, often they'll have something added to preserve them. But that could just be water in the can. It could be an extra bit of salt within that water within the can. But that does classify it as a processed food. fresh bread made with simple ingredients, cheese, homemade soups, all of that.

1:01:28The easiest way to think about this, and basically one, two and three are just not a problem. No, they're fine. And three is a lot of supermarket foods, all delicious yellow products fit into three. They're things that essentially you could make at home using homemade processes. And I think that's something that people don't talk about enough. And I think, for example, like the shape of a pop chip is really interesting. That's actually an ultra processed food. It doesn't matter what the ingredient list is. You cannot do that process at home. Basically, this is things like, as you said, soup, or it can be a kind of high quality meal that's been pre-prepared.

1:02:03It can be some mousses, some granolas, bars, those sorts of things. But it's used. You could replicate it at home with the same ingredients. Or as you said, it could be chickpeas in a can. Those can be yogurts with like actual strawberry added to them. Yeah, it could literally just be that. So it's things that feel familiar. It's the easiest way, I think, to think about number three, because I think that's the more confusing category before you get to number four, which is where the problem's slightly more set. Because there's so much nuance in number four, Ella, and that's what I want to delve into in the next book.

1:02:34And in number four, ultra processed foods have saved lives. But these are the ones like baby formula as an ultra processed food that saved literally hundreds and hundreds. I couldn't even tell you how many people have probably given formula to their children. Myself included. Exactly, and me. So these are highly processed products made with industrial ingredients. They're the ones that have the emulsifiers, the artificial sweeteners, the preservatives, the flavor enhancers, the modified starches, which individually on their own are actually very clever inventions by chemistry and science and all of that sort of thing.

1:03:05But if you pack them into a packet that's hyper palatable, the shelf life, it could sit on the shop for like a year. and of course sugary cereals are in this category a lot of the unhealthy items because they often come alongside high salt high fat high sugar items and these are the things like the processed meats that are the carcinogens that we discussed earlier a lot of soft drinks so ultra processed foods essentially in most cases there's a few exceptions like bread and you know packaged bread or baby formula that we use but most of them are just not the healthy items you want to have every day with exceptions.

1:03:39I have to add that in there. Yeah, don't stress about what you have on occasion, but they're not what you want your diet to be made up of as a general rule. And I think for me, the easiest way to think about the differentiation between three and four is can I make this at home? And if you can make it at home, and someone else has just done some lifting for you on a busy week, that's great. It's likely fitting into number three. If you cannot make it at home, you can't make Bringles at home, you can't make Diet Coke at home. You can't make the sweets that we love to eat exactly then ultimately it's an ultra processed food and we all eat them in some cases and there's nothing wrong with that it's not about terrifying people but ultimately as a general rule you want to be choosing ultra processed free as the basis of your diet and it is incredibly important and there is increasing amounts of evidence as to why we want to do that but so but is it the so you can go back to your husband and say no it's not true everything doesn't count as a upf so it shouldn't be that most of our calories are coming from it.

1:04:33In fact, it's just the heavily industrialized products that don't really resemble food. And I have been to many factories and you wouldn't believe some of the things you see. I still remember there was some meat mimics and it was just this, it looked like cement going round and round and round and eventually being made into kind of quote unquote burgers and sausages. And like once you've seen it, you just can't eat that. I mean, it's so far from food as we understand food to be. And it's been really interesting seeing the kind of manufacturing side of it. And it's really quite shocking. But I think the other thing, and we should go into another episode because it's long, but the thing that I've been really shocked by and that people aren't really, I don't believe, talking about and I think isn't very transparent to consumers as well is like the processing aids involved in things.

1:05:21And that's something we look at a lot, like often actually to create something, 10 processing aids had to be added at a point in the manufacturing process where ultimately you cannot do that at home it's not possible and so exactly you need you need all sorts of things to help you along the way and and it takes food as it's just so far from its natural form I think ice cream's such a good example isn't it of ultra processing food at its finest of like the complexities of food science to keep it cold keep it all that sort of thing but anyway I hope if that's helped answer your question, it's a really, really good one.

1:05:57And it's something obviously with my book coming out, I'm really passionate about and Ella's so passionate about because you do such a good job with Deliciously Ella. You keep them all out of the bars. My favourite things. Yeah, we just want to help people choose less ultra processed food. And ultimately, as I said, the thing for me is the bigger the company gets, the clearer it becomes. You don't need to use them. And I feel really proud of that. Well done. So anyway, thank you guys for listening. As always, we'll now be back on a Thursday for the Extra Scoop. So you can get more of us. you can learn more you can feel more empowered and thank you guys so much for listening thank you for your feedback again just a kind of quick request please rate it review it share it pop it on your social subscribe follow whatever you want to do give us some love some interaction it means everything and we'd love to hear your feedback on the extra scoops if you like the guest if you like the content what type of questions you want do just drop them on your podcast app or send us a DM yeah this is a community group this is a community podcast we wanted to help you have a great week guys thanks for listening

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