Britain’s Health SOS, Stress & The Cortisol Craze

0:00Girl, winter is so last season. And now spring's got you looking at pictures of tank tops with hungry eyes. Your algorithm is feeding you cut-offs. You're thirsty for the sun on your shoulders. That perfect hang-on-the-patio sundress. Those sandals you can wear all day and all night. And you've had enough of shopping from your couch. Done hoping it looks anything like the picture when you tear open that envelope? It's time for a little in-person spring treat. It's time for a trip to Ross. Work your magic. With Plan B Emergency Contraception, we're in control of our future. It's backup birth control you take after unprotected sex that helps prevent pregnancy before it starts.

0:40It works by temporarily delaying ovulation, and it won't impact your future fertility. Plan B is available in all 50 U.S. states at all major retailers near you with no ID, prescription, or age requirement needed. Together, we've got this. Follow Plan B on Insta at Plan B One Step to learn more. Use as directed. welcome to the wellness scoop your weekly dose of health and wellness inspiration and as always we're both here as your hosts i'm ella mills and i'm riannon lambert and after a decade in the wellness industry we know how overwhelming and confusing health advice can be and that's why we're both here with this podcast to cut through the noise and make healthier living simple fun and personal.

1:29So welcome guys, just the nicest way to start a morning, isn't it, Rhi? We have got so much to talk about. I was working last week on the script on this one and it was WhatsApping, Rhi, being like, oh my gosh, there's so many. I felt like it was like exploding off the page and I was trying to be like, oh, I want to talk about this, but we just know way we can fit it in. So let's see how we go. At the moment, this is what we're planning to have coming up in today's show, Ru? Yes, so it is jam-packed, but we will see how much we can get through. So we have got why Britain's health is flashing warning signs, the school lunch gap that nobody's talking about, a smoke-free generation.

2:07I mean, is it really? Finally. Vaping has just got a lot more expensive and there's so much we can discuss on that. Social media bans for teens or not really again. how effective is that actually going to be and the truth behind the new cortisol craze yes this whole cortisol face cortisol belly you know i don't spend huge amounts of time on social media but when i do that is targeting me like there's no tomorrow i think it's wild what targets us like different people because i remember seeing it a long time ago cortisol um belly but cortisol face this is all new i don't know if it's off the back of a zempic face but we'll go there All the clips start with, you're not fat.

2:50It's just horses. Sorry, I shouldn't laugh because it is probably something that actually really impacts people, but it is just crazy what comes up at the moment online. It's wild. It is wild. How are you though? We just had a long weekend in the UK. We get a Monday off, which is pretty fun, although it makes Tuesday morning a little rough. How are you? How was it? How's your week been? What have you been doing? I bet you've always got so much to tell us. There is always a lot going on. I feel like the children are never in school. You feel like there's Easter holiday and then suddenly a bank holiday and then you know there's May half term.

3:24So it is definitely a case of work by night for me again. I feel like I'm back to my early graft days and play with children by day. I mean, that's the routine. Although I had my first ever Mexican brunch at a friend's house. Yum. What did you eat? absolutely delicious so Laura my friend is Colombian and she did this delicious spread and everything was brightly colored you know she's got the most beautiful vibrant plates and she did lovely um homemade salsa uh black beans we had avocado we had eggs we had wraps it was just all the fresh herbs and it was honestly so delicious and it reminded me why don't I do Mexican brunch ever like it's just something that I just do not do enough in my life it was really 10 out of 10.

4:09Loved it. And then I finished writing a huge chunk, Ella, for a big project. A lot of writing this weekend. And David Attenborough turned 100, Ella, this weekend. I know. My kids' school have been, like, they're doing like a party for him. I love that. I mean, not for him. He's not coming. He's going to the girls' school. He's going to their primary school. No, but like, they've been, since they went back to school after Easter they've been they're only in reception in year one so super early but they had this especially by Georgia in reception this whole focus on it and she's come home and she's like we can never use plastic ever again there's plastic in the sea it's killing the turtles she's very um earth hero that's what we call them oh my god she's the most empathetic person I've ever met and she gets really really upset the idea of anything hurting animals and so she was like devastated she couldn't believe what was going on which is so cute and then they were making things out of recycled stuff so um she had to take in an empty milk carton this morning these are the things that you're like i set alarms on my phone but why is the alarm going off and oh yeah to take an empty milk carton to make an elephant obviously yeah you know like you do it's really cool um so yeah happy birthday david attenborough happy birthday david attenborough because i think what a legend and how much he's done for conservation and the planet i mean raising awareness just the same as jane goodall we sadly she passed this year and she was another incredible lady so we've got these amazing voices inspiring us and i've also started home workouts ella just like 20 minutes once a week alongside the gym when i can't go and i haven't done that in several years so maybe the sunny weather that we had just helped pick up my mood and inspired me a little bit i I love that.

5:54I told myself I'm going to do a home workout when we finish recording because we're remote today. Well done. She's all braided up for it. She's got her hair and a little pigtail. She's ready to go. I'm still not ready to go. How was your weekend, Ella, aside from milk cartons? Do you know what? It's been a really odd week or two. Felt very kind of topsy-turvy, all sorts of like moving parts. But then we had such a nice weekend with friends. And it's that thing, sometimes you just need that distraction. Anyway, my sister and her boyfriend stayed all weekend and we had different friends come visit with their babies and it was so sweet and lovely and very idyllic being in the country so awesome yeah we're kind of medium on this game how nice though because usually ella and i'll be like oh we had to do this it's a man it can be quite manic and actually um it's really lovely and i really appreciate those times when there's nothing too dramatic i know behind the scenes we obviously all have a lot going on but no drama.

6:48I've had lots of drama. Yeah, Ella's had a bit, but on a base level, we're doing okay. So that is good. Ella, shall we move on to the health headlines that matter today?

7:04So we have got one pickup before we go into our many, many, many headlines. And this is something that we found, which I actually, I knew about some of it, I didn't know about all of it. And it's really interesting. Obviously, last week we were talking about school food guidelines and, you know, I think our kind of honest assessment was great that we have some new guidelines in the UK, great that they're updated and they're inherently more positive, but they are guidelines, they're not requirements, which I think is really, to me, a really important point because I don't want to say it's just all wishful thinking, but equally, you know, given what we're going to talk about later in the state of our collective health.

7:43Personally, I feel like it needs to be stricter than recommendations. But then there's been, because of all these conversations about our school meals, some in-depth reports about what other countries are doing and what they're doing well. And I think it really highlights the gap potentially. I mean, it's huge. I just feel like we can gather a lot of inspiration from other countries because obviously nobody's perfect, but it's so interesting. You know, you get these headlines coming up, like there are four course meals in France served and dietitians in Japan that put school dinners in the UK to shame.

8:17And do you know, it is true because the proposed changes that we have here, I mean, yes, they're cutting a lot of things out, which is good. Less sugar, you know, few deep fried foods, adding, of course, more fruit, but we're still only spending£2.50 a meal on children. And that's interesting in itself because the cost of living and what we know it now costs to feed people in this country. And in France, school lunches are often structured in this four-course meal way. So typically, they'll have vegetable starters. I mean, it makes sense to me because kids are going to eat their crudités and all the different stuff.

8:52And then you have a main, they might have some cheese and dessert, which is more focused on fresh seasonal ingredients. People are basically given proper time. Kids have time. And I feel like we don't have enough time at schools as well at the moment because how full the curriculum is to allow for a longer break in the afternoon for food. And I think it's treated in these other countries, Ella, like culture, like it's part of the way they live life. They take their time over food. Here, we're lacking everything from the actual nutrition on the plate to how we associate how and why we eat and why it's important.

9:30Yeah, it's really interesting. And I'd be so curious what you guys listening think. It's definitely something that's always struck me as one of many, but one of the more structural reasons behind the real challenge. Because obviously the UK, along with the US, are particularly struggling with their health. And I think we're going to actually talk about this a little bit later. But it is important to say it's not actually the standard in every country to be going so backwards with their health than we're doing here. We are unfortunately a little bit of an anomaly. And I think it's interesting that we don't have as strong a food culture as many other countries do.

10:07And we don't necessarily, and I'm not talking on an individual basis, but collectively have the same kind of like respect for cooking and seasonal ingredients and sitting down. And I think those school lunches are interesting when you look, as you said, in France, where I think people would generally say, and obviously this is so generalist, there is a very strong food culture and a real respect for cooking and the produce used. And they're sitting down with this four course meal as though, again, you're embedding the sense that food is a key part of culture. And it's important. Exactly. And in your life experience.

10:41Not just a rushed experience, which I feel like that's what children experience in canteens here, because in Japan, Ella, all the children nearly opt for school bills. So it's like something they all just, they know that they're good. Japan has this extraordinary thing where you have a nutritionist in almost every school. And then if that school doesn't have its own nutritionist, there'll be a nutritionist for that district. And the nutritionist, as far as I understand and everything I've read and understood on this over the years, is that these are obviously licensed professionals, but they're responsible for signing off and designing these daily meals and ensuring their balance, their fresh, and that they definitely meet the government recommendations.

11:20And I think that's so interesting. Whereas what we're doing is we're like, here's some guidelines, but schools are so overstretched, really like challenged. And then you want them to implement all of this. Without training, support and extra money pumped into the chefs with the nutrition, because what they do in Japan is they even these people that Ella have mentioned. So the nutritionists or the professionals, they often teach classes about food, monitor food waste, help children actually understand what a healthy diet looks like, Ella. And across Europe, you know, we said we have two pound 50 per mil.

11:51They're spending around five to eight pounds per mil. I mean, that in itself allows for better quality ingredients. and when you zoom it all out the pattern is clear isn't it that we are um needing i think drastically to open our eyes yeah and obviously all these things you know not that you can't change a habit but habits started young are hard to break and so this is so important and i think often it's also this really interesting conversation of like well you know we can't afford to spend more in meals or we can't afford to employ these people to oversee menus but then when you look at the economic cost of our health crisis and the billions and billions it's costing.

12:32It's so enormous that actually these more kind of downstream early years interventions are actually interesting in terms of turning the tide and changing the trajectory because otherwise, you know, the bills are picked up later on. Because this is preventative health. And until we start looking forwards, it's not just because Ella and I have children. This is because we want a healthier nation. And yeah, because of the huge economic cost of our health crisis, you know, what children eat in schools actually ends up affecting everyone's tax that they pay and the service they can have in the NHS or the rest of it when you when you really start putting it together.

13:09So it's very interesting. And it links on perfectly to our big juicy Oh my god, there's so much to talk about headline number one. I know, you know, I nearly did a Instagram thing on it. And I thought, no, we're going to discuss it here on The Wellness Group, where we have time for the nuance, the empathy, the kindness, but also the shock factor, because people in the UK spend fewer years in good health than a decade ago. Now, we had a similar headline last year that said it's the first time that our generation are not outliving their parents in some cases, which we discussed. But the Health Foundation says Britain is going backwards compared with most other rich countries.

13:49So most of us over in the Western world, Britons now can expect to live fewer years in good health than they did a decade ago. On average, we're only living healthily until around 61 years old, which is about two years less than previously. Yeah, and that's two years less in just a decade. So it's pretty quick in terms of the change. The think tank that produced this defined your healthy life expectancy. Essentially, it's that health span that people talk about, like how many years do you live in good health? so free of illness or walking well, not being in pain, not having chronic health conditions, et cetera.

14:25Not things that you're born with, of course. And obviously this gives a much more complete picture of our national health and life expectancy, which I think is really important. And I think, as I said, one of the things that I feel was really important to highlight was that the UK is only one of five countries where this health span, these years of healthy life, has declined. And the rate of decline is so stark. So when this was done a decade ago, we ranked 14 out of 21 countries for healthy life expectancy. We're now 20th of 21 countries, only the US are below us. It's just shocking, isn't it?

15:05That's just so, so shocking. And then you've got other countries like Japan, Norway, Spain, they're just seeing this steady improvement, like their health span is getting better, our health span is getting worse. Because we have, whenever we try to do something good, we have nanny state arguments. And it's just, it's absolutely absurd that I get quite frustrated about it, which is why I'm glad we can talk. I honestly, writing up last week, like raging. And I think there's also two other caveats to say, A, this point that we are an anomaly. We know this is not the norm of most countries in terms of our health span getting worse.

15:41Number two, what they've shown is this is not driven by COVID, which I think people are very quick to say. And number three, our overall life expectancy has remained pretty stable. So again, it's not that. This is really lifestyle factors that are changing this trajectory. And I think Kate's in point by the fact that we have this steep decline and other countries are having a positive growth of healthspan. Let's tell them Norway saw an increase from 70 to 71 and Japan, they're now living up to 73 in good health. They're going up, Ella, up, up, up. Yes, so Japan's got a kind of solid decade on us.

16:17Now, the other thing is absolutely crucial to talk about that is so concerning. We obviously, again, last week when we were talking about school meals, we're talking about this discrepancy as well of the number of portions of vegetables or fiber intake, for example, in affluent areas of the country versus more deprived areas. And this is so stark in this data. Now, all of it isn't great. Like our health span is not going forward anywhere. But there is an almost 20 year gap in health span between richer and poorer areas. In the UK, we're discussing. In the UK. So some places like Richmond in London, which was topping the list of more affluent areas with good health span, that's looking at a health span of almost 70.

17:04And then some more deprived areas of the country are dropping down to 51. So this is so concerning as well. and the decline is so significant that 90 % of people in this country are suffering from illness before our state pension age, which is 68, to 2.8 million working age Britons now are too ill to work. I mean, the scale is so huge. And as I said, the economic impact of this is enormous. And interestingly, there was a quote from Dr. Jennifer Dixon, who's the chief executive of the Health Foundation who did this report, who said, these findings reveal a stark truth. The UK's health is going backwards.

17:45The lights on the dashboard are flashing red. We're the most obese country in Western Europe. Mental ill health has surged to unprecedented levels and more people than ever before are living with chronic health conditions. Yet they don't pump any funds into nutrition education, getting our kids cooking, looking after us. By the way, the state pension age is actually 66. And I think responding... I'm sorry, I can't read. No, it's fine. I just want to say it in the notes. I can't read. Sorry, guys. Don't want to add another few years to everyone listening, you know. But honestly, I think the government's already.

18:16No, the government's response made me even more cross. I find it very, very, very distressing. Yeah. So the Department of Health and Social Care said it is a disgrace that as a nation we have become unhealthier over the last decade. Obviously, we all collectively agree with that, which is why we're committed to tackling health inequalities and building a healthier Britain. The government is already delivering radical measures. Really? Really. So, the generational ban on smoking, yeah, that's great. And clamping down on junk food advertising targeted at kids to help parents raise the healthiest generation of children ever.

18:51Oh, it makes me mad. It makes me mad, Ella. The idea, sorry, that we're going to raise the healthiest generation ever by not letting junk food advertise on TV pre 9pm, but like the brand can still show up, but the specific products can't. I mean. Can we remember how long it even took to get that tiny movement through? Like we've been pushing for years, Bite Back campaign for years, and they're taking credit for only a fraction of work that isn't. That's not going to create the generation of healthy children. like it's awful it sort of boggles the mind like the scale of the issue is so humongous it's so alarming exactly like um the quote we just had like the dashboard is flashing red it's like sos oh my god we have got to change this is so crazy yeah you know what we'll do i've got it we've got a generation who we are doing such a disservice to we have a broken food culture you go into a garage or convenience store and the only thing you can buy is UPFs and healthy food's getting more and more expensive but I think what we'll do is we'll just we'll just stop ads for food before 9pm and that will solve it like what on earth and I have worked in the food industry for almost 15 years like it's not coming from there I can tell you that now like without regulation it's just like what happened with smoking the food industry are not going to do this.

20:21This is not a charitable industry. This is a for-profit industry that want more profit. That is what drives them. They can say all the right things. That is not how this industry works. If we want change, we need regulation and proper regulation, not banning ads before 9pm. And this is why we should be investing in cooking skills and good food, because some people in this country in those lower income areas that are declining and declining in health, the only good male children will get us at school and our government can't even invest in that I mean I cannot it's deeply deeply upsetting but it also you know let's use this as a reminder to wellness group listeners too that it's wonderful you're all here and I think we're all in a sort of bubble actually because the people that need this information are probably the ones that aren't really listening here and if we can just spread the word and try and educate and try and just emphasize that tiny changes can have big results honestly the systemic change that is needed to get any meaningful action underway is magnificently huge and while there have been commitments to move forward which we are delighted about we're not saying i'm not well i'm delighted there's some action but we're not delighted that it's not enough and it is deeply upsetting so i'm not delighted because I just think there's a moment to say that we need more we do you know and I think up until this point it's like we're just giving recommendations and we're giving guidelines and we're saying like let's do more yeah it's pathetic you know it sounds so nice and I get it on a piece of paper like how how great but it's not working and when something's not working to this scale like you need drastic action and drastic action just isn't banning ads before 9 p.m.

22:06I think all of that's laughable like honestly their response and that quote and if that's what they have to say it's absolutely laughable we have to do something about the food system you need clothes like you can only sell x percent of like sugary items you know x percent of every like garage forecourt needs to have fresh food and there has to be very strict it's not to say like these you know sweets will become illegal but it is like the proportionality is so wrong when you work in the health and wellness industry, and I also just want to say one more thing on this before we move on. I also think this is obviously, it's a kind of separate issue, but except it's obviously such an adjacency.

22:46We're at a point now where the wellness industry is a multi-trillion dollar industry. So McKinsey value at 2 trillion, other reports put it over 6 trillion. So these, you know, the wellness industry is enormous. And I just think that it's so ironic, right? That if you look at kind of 2026 trends and what to watch longevity is top of all these lists and so we have this kind of complete irony of the fact that we are just getting sicker and sicker and having such a health crisis as this industry gets bigger and bigger and bigger and becomes multi-trillion dollar with you know growth coming from longevity as our health span collectively declines and i just look at this.

23:29And I'm like, I also think we have to have, you know, as much as food manufacturers aren't doing the right thing and brands and all the rest of it. I don't think the wellness industry is doing the right thing either, because what they want is also to sell you stuff. Like everyone just wants to sell everyone's stuff. It's like, we'll talk about later with cortisol phase. It's like, they just want to sell you a plant or a protocol or a gadget or something. And it's like, I know we live in a capitalist world. I know I've been a beneficiary of a capitalist world. Like I'm not trying to be a complete idealist here, but I do just think there's a moment where kind of profit comes before morality.

24:02And I think that wellness industry is tipping into that where it's kind of laughable that the trend of longevity when our health is getting worse. And when I was looking at this and like Forbes or Vogue or Financial Times, all of these, you know, huge publications talking about longevity as a trend du jour. and yet you know what often they're referring to is like peptide stacks and longevity clinics which cost thousands of pounds and biohacking and it's like what are we doing but that's why we're here everyone so so that's this is why the wellness scoop was created because of that huge dichotomy because of this multi-trillion whatever value you just said this crazy industry is worth but when i think about nutrition i separate it in two camps because of that reason public health nutrition to me is not the wellness, the worried well.

24:50It's not that. Public health nutrition is the inequalities. It is getting basic vitamins and minerals into people that really aren't getting any. And that's why we've got a huge issue because nobody is linking between the bridge. There is no bridge or access between two interflowing areas. And equally, one is all about monetization and not health. And the other is just completely and utterly flawed. So we are at a bit of a crisis point there.

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27:10Your style can make you cash. Start selling on Depop, where taste recognises taste. Maybe we should move on to headline two, which is completely opposite to the overwhelmingly distressing headline we just discussed. But equally, we've got a bill banning. So people born after 2008 from buying tobacco. And that's gone through in Parliament. And I guess that is very positive, but it just feels so archaic as well. because to me, I just feel like this is something that we've known and needed since I was a teenager. It's really positive, obviously, because what we can see is that it is possible to take action.

27:51But I think also it's kind of sad in a way if we step back, because just looking at like some key dates in the smoking ban timeline, it was 1988, so many years ago, that the US banned smoking on domestic flights of less than two hours. It's always so crazy to me that you could have done that they extended that to domestic flights for up to six hours in 1990 1995 australia banned smoking on domestic flights british airways banned it in 1997 i know it's not shocking i can't get over it china banned smoking in the cockpit in 2017 whoa apparently it finalized a global shift but i think what that shows is like just using you know that as an example like how long it's taken from realizing smoking was bad for you to packets then going, you know, behind the tills and not being branded and advertising up into the point where now we're actually going to stop a generation of children smoking.

28:46Like it's taken decades and decades and decades and decades and decades to get to this point. So it sort of feels like maybe it will be our great grandchildren who have regulation for their food. Yeah. I mean, looking at it that way. So I remember the school I went to all the uh there were certain kids and they'd always smoke every single day in the toilets and um they disappeared I was very fortunate not to be born into a smoking household actually the thought of I've never had a cigarette it makes me feel sick I'm one of those like prudish like as a singer you know I didn't want to smoke but honestly the thought of sitting on a plane surrounded by cigarette smoke I just wouldn't book the flight but it was cool it was seen if you look at films that back in the, what, 50s, 60s, you've got Grease, you know, with John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John.