Can Fasting Fight Dementia? Have We Got UPFs Wrong? & Beanmania

0:00Plan B is a backup birth control option that's there for you when things don't go according to plan. It specifically works after unprotected sex and before pregnancy occurs by temporarily delaying ovulation. Plan B is available nationwide at all major retailers and through delivery apps like DoorDash. No ID, prescription or age requirement. It's the number one OBGYN recommended brand of emergency contraception and it won't impact your future fertility. That's Freedom the B. Use as directed. I am genuinely so excited about today's sponsor because it's the way. honestly if you have listened to me anytime over the last few months you know I have become a little bit evangelical about this app and I honestly recommend it to everyone my friends my family people on Instagram everyone and she recommended it to me so it's true I've heard so much about it it's just because it has had such a big impact on me I've meditated on and off for 15 years or so now but using the way is honestly the first time I've become so consistent with this daily practice.

1:04And I've just seen the most unbelievable results as a result of that. The app is just incredible. And what I love is every day you open it and there's a meditation waiting for you. So you don't scroll, that you don't have to choose between hundreds of options. There's no wondering what to do. It just takes you on a path. Well, I think that's why it works so well, because most of us just don't need more big decisions every day to make, Ella. No, exactly that. We've got decision fatigue, haven't we? So this is so nice because you just follow this path of meditation. which is led by Henry, the founder, who's just the most amazing teacher.

1:37And he makes it seem somehow just incredibly simple, but exceptionally profound at the same time, which is a very rare skill. And I've been using it too. Yes, I've now finally begun my meditation journey and I've been doing some of the shorter practices on busy days because I completely understand why you talk about it so much, Ella. It really is a nice intro in for me. Yeah, it is. And I'm so glad. anyway. It's helped me feel so much calmer, less reactive, more present. It all sounds like huge claims, but I just say, please, please, please try it. If you're struggling with stress or overwhelm, you just got to give it a go.

2:12And the lovely thing is that everyone listening can definitely try it themselves. Exactly. So you can get a 30 day free trial. So just try it every day per month. It'll change your life. All you do is head to thewayapp.com forward slash wellness scoop. Yeah, that's thewayapp.com forward slash wellness scoop.

2:35Welcome to The Wellness Scoop, your weekly dose of health and wellness inspiration. With your hosts as always, I'm Ella Mills. And I'm Rhiannon Lambert. And after a decade in this wellness industry, Ella and I both know how extremely confusing and overwhelming nutrition and wellness can be. And that's why we're here to cut through the noise with our podcast.

3:02so ella what do we have coming up in today's show oh guys we have got some super cool episodes coming up actually this one included okay so we're going to be talking about a new study looking at whether fasting can help protect against cognitive decline obviously there's been so much about fasting the last few years so interesting to add to that conversation are some upfs actually perfectly healthy that nuance i think we're bringing into that conversation which I'm excited to discuss. What do the latest weight loss drug safety reports really tell us? Why Britain is in the grip of bean mania, our obsession with beans continues, how matcha went completely mainstream and are our changing wellness habits reshaping the high street.

3:42So we have a little like high and low, everything in between today. Which is perfect. And Ella, first of all, what have you been up to? Because, well, I know perfectly well you've been moving house, so it's been a different summer for you. it's so funny so with our script we have like segment one updates recommendations thoughts that we want to talk about any feedback from you guys too headlines etc my section of this and I know it's just as I am so all over the shop that's it it's what she's got today and you know what I think we've all got those types of feelings and this episode comes out the first week of September for you all and it's one of those overwhelming times I think as well Ella isn't it there's so much change.

4:22It's like the start again of the new kind of season. Yeah, exactly. And as we always say in our intro, we want to keep this personal. So yes, we were moving house last week. We are now in, I just love where our new house is so much. Like we went to this pub on the coast yesterday. It's 25 minutes from our house to be at the beach. The girls were like, it's like we live on holiday. And there's just so many like gorgeous little villages near us, most amazing pubs like I've never had such good pub food ever I'm coming yeah honestly really like it's stunning the wall's amazing like so happy but just getting our bearings and obviously when your life is in a box and then so much of our stuff's going to storage I just felt really overwhelming and then on moving day we found out that our old dog or older dog Austin has very aggressive cancer and you know, really doesn't have long left at all, which has obviously just been devastating.

5:19So that, you know, I was saying to you a second ago, like when one thing in your life is changing or feels uncertain, you kind of need the rest of your life to feel a bit more grounded to cope with it. And I feel like I just couldn't cope last week. I was like a shell, a wreck of a human. But I feel like I'm coming back to myself today. It's so interesting. First of all, it's devastatingly sad, but I often find when we go through these massive life transitions, life never gives you one thing at a time and it throws several obstacles. It's almost there, isn't it, to challenge us and to test our emotions.

5:55And I feel like I can relate my, you know, your whole life when good things happen, bad things happen too, or sad things. And yeah, part of being a human is just these crazy rollercoaster of emotions, Ella. So we're all there thinking of you guys and Austin, gosh, just love him. So yeah, fingers and toes crossed that everything there will run its course as smoothly as it can. Yeah, exactly. But Rhi, how about you? So - You've got good news, fun news, big news. Mine is huge news and mine is scary in a very different way, Ella, because it's a complete and utter career changing passion project moment.

6:36So for over a year, Ella's known about this behind the scenes. And I've shared with you all listening on the Wellness Scoop that, you know, I really wanted to throw myself behind children's nutrition. I've teamed up with several charities and I work alongside VegPower, the Food Foundation, trying to change things in schools for children's nutrition and contribute in this area. So exclusively for Wellness Scoop listeners first, you all get first dibs on this. so I'm not announcing on socials for another week, but please do head over there when I do. You can pre-order the first ever nutrition cookbook in the UK for children called Ready, Set, Cook.

7:17It's out there. It's very, very overwhelming just to let you all know that there is a lot of pushback in, for some bizarre reason, educating children about nutrition. and it's because globally it's difficult you know this is a global book with DK my publishers and you know things are different in Germany and different in America with children's nutrition and different in the states and everybody has a different approach to it but one thing I know my publishers and I've been really keen to emphasize is that things aren't getting any better and if we don't look to help the future generations and they don't have the life skill to navigate cost of living crisis, you know, of cooking and understanding, like I've broken down in the chapter that food for thought, food, the recipes there can help your brain or food for your tummy.

8:10We can talk about those bugs in your tummy or food for your heart, your health, that sports day race is targeted at ages six to seven plus, which is primary school age, which is totally neglected. Ella. I could talk about it forever, but if you all really, if you have nieces, nephews, you know anyone with kids, if you do want to hit pre-order, I'll pop the link in the show notes. I really, it's a huge gamble for me. I've never worked in the children's nutrition space. It's coming out in January. It's going to be, well, I'm choking up a bit, Ella, I'll let you take it. I feel very nervous. Well, first of all, biggest congratulations from me.

8:48And I think probably on behalf of all of our listeners as well. Yeah. Ready, set, cook. I've seen the cover. It's amazing. Definitely. I'm pre-ordering a few copies obviously for myself, but as you said, nieces, nephews as well. Look, as Ria said, it's such an interesting topic, the children's nutrition, because there's such huge pushback on it. It's interesting. We had a listener email, for example, I was looking at last night from someone they had been traveling. I really want to say it's EasyJet, but I could not be EasyJet. So I don't want to point fingers in case it's wrong, but like there was a kind of children's snack box.

9:20And the listeners first were saying, do they really need five different treats in one box? Like the landscape for children's food is horrific, absolutely horrific. And, you know, I've also like so noticed it, I don't know if you have as well, really like over the summer holidays, you know, the summer holidays are long and you're trying to come up with ideas and like entertaining the kids. And, you know, sometimes it's just like walking around the supermarket of like, what can we get for dinner tonight? Or, you know, you go somewhere, you stop at the petrol station or what, you know, forget petrol, whatever it is.

9:53And it's just the influx of rubbish. And all day, every day, they're like, mommy says no all the time. And I'm like, you actually eat a lot of treats. Like if I laid out the treats you eat, it's actually, I think it's still really quite a lot. But if I said yes every day or all day, every day, it would be so horrifically bad for you. So yeah, it's so important. It's so needed. I can't wait to get my copy. I completely agree with you. We have a big issue and it's hard as a parent. And this is about positivity. So I want children. It's not about what I'm taking out. It's about how they can make it themselves or alongside their adult and feel really empowered with, you know, the fun facts that kids get really fascinated with, like, oh, how long is my intestine?

10:39Or wow, I didn't know that blueberries are good for my brain. All those little rand effects. It's about joyful food, celebration of food. I hope they love it. It's really, really positive and it's really simple. And I didn't want things to be expensive because I know now, which we're going to get onto across the Wilder Scoop episodes in the few coming weeks, food's not easy. So I've factored that in as well. Anyway, enough about me and the book. Let's get our listener feedback because this is incredible um ella we've got some lovely feedback i saw this email and i just really wanted to share it with re particularly because it's so lovely this was from emma and um what she said was about eight years ago my second year of uni i started listening to ella's original podcast with matt and as someone who was struggling with brain fog and anxiety listening to this podcast opened up the door to understanding how to eat properly inspiring me to start exercising as someone who'd never consider themselves particularly sporty and how to manage and prevent stress from taking hold.

11:41It awakened a real interest in health and wellness and I've continued trying to learn as much as I can since. I've been loving listening to you both on the Wellness Scoop and I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated with the disparity between the evidence we now have about living healthily and the policies we have in the UK which just don't reflect this. I always thought it was just too late for me to pursue anything related to health professionally as I had neither the relevant degree nor the work experience. However, earlier this year, I found it's possible for someone like me to study a master's in public health.

12:11So I applied in June and after two months of waiting to hear back, I've been accepted onto the course. I wanted to tell you both as it's really thanks to you both for inspiring me to go for it. Ultimately, I want to be able to shape and implement health policies based on evidence that we have and make it easier for people in this country to live healthier, happier lives. I realize I'm going into this full of ideals and little knowledge of the reality of trying to push things over line but I'm excited nonetheless yeah makes me feel really teary congratulations Emma we are so thrilled for you and keep us updated how you get on I would say it's kind of like anything in life it was like when we started our business you do go into it not naive I don't mean that in a condescending way but you're new to it so you're kind of optimistic like I can change the world you need that you got to believe you can change the world to really do it.

12:58I completely and utterly agree. I mean, that couldn't have been a nicer bit of feedback after what I've just shared actually, Ella, as well, that it goes to show it's a ripple effect. You know, one person that you help on with your new qualification is another person that can help another person that can help another person and spread the news. And, you know, that's what we really need in society. So thank you for sharing that.

13:23Okay, here we go, everybody. We're going to dive into our first headline that matters today. Okay, Rhi, this I feel is what you have been talking about actually quite a lot, but it's a humongous study made all of the headlines. Two examples of said headlines, good diet matters more than how processed food is. That was in the Times. Forbes had the exact same study under the headline, new study suggests ultra processed foods have a place in healthy diets. And I wanted to include those two different headlines. I feel like it shows how you can have the exact same study and one basically says good diet is very important and one diet says like fill your boots with upfs i just think that's an important thing of like how headlines can be confusing yeah essentially what's happened here is there's a huge new study um conducted by harvard that has just been published and what it suggests is that the nutritional quality of our overall diet matters more for our health than whether the foods we eat are classified as ultra processed.

14:23And I think this is so important because as we talked about a lot, the UPF conversation obviously has got so confusing. We've lost a lot of nuance and we kind of reached this moment where like a fortified whole grain cereal or tinned tomatoes that have citric acid in, we're kind of scared of and we're almost seeing them in the same box as like Coca-Cola. And actually the two are so different. And we get a lot of emails from you guys about that. Like, you know, what happens? You have this citric acid in my tinned tomatoes or, you know, equivalent of that, like all this fortified whole grain cereal or soy milk, et cetera, et cetera.

14:57So let's dive into it. Let's do it. And it builds really nicely onto, I think the first summer we launched the wellness scoop. So last summer, 2025, we also covered these sorts of nuances, I think, in depth. And if you listen back, Well, that was when UPFs went mad, wasn't it? I feel it was last year that UPFs kind of hit the mainstream. Yeah, we did our live show, didn't we? And we did a huge section because my book, The Unprocessed Plate, was out and we were talking about UPFs. But I think what we needed was data. And I remember we kept saying, we just want to see more data that accepts this nuance and we have it.

15:31So researchers from Harvard analyzed the eating habits of more than 200 ,000 US adults. the data was running from three huge long-running studies so it followed people all the way from the 80s to 2020s today and those findings were presented recently in july at the american society for nutrition's annual meeting now the two things that they looked at separately first of all the nutritional quality and this is what ella and i wax lyrical about is that you know it's about the overall diet. And they were particularly interested in the plant-based portions. So whether they were eating what we talk about here, the fiber, the whole grains, the fruits, nuts, veg, legumes, all the healthy kind of fats that you want in your diet, like olive oil and things.

16:18Then secondly, the second group was looking at how classified on the scale of process the item is based on the NOVA scale. Now, NOVA is the one that we speak about that often researchers refer to develop by Carlos Montero in Brazil. And that classifies foods on a scale of one to four of how minimally processed all the way up to ultra processed a food can be. And category four is what's often picked up by the media and are very, very confused because you can have a tin of baked beans being in category four alongside a Mars bar. Exactly. So essentially anything that has an industrial ingredient in like, as I said, citric acid.

16:57So if that's technically been added to a tin of tomatoes, you would officially therefore have that in group four. But obviously that sitting alongside Coca-Cola is not really the nuanced approach we all need. And so what they did therefore is they compared four types of diet. They had one healthy and minimally processed diets. They had two healthy and ultra processed diets. They had three unhealthy and minimally processed and they had four unhealthy and ultra processed. I think the bit to clarify here with the like unhealthy and minimally processed, what they had there, for example, they were saying is people who eat loads and loads of like, and hear me out.

17:38Okay. Cause this is the study, but it's things like loads of white rice, orange juice, you know, tons of potatoes, homemade desserts, cookies. So it's minimally processed 100%, but it's on a broad scale classified as unhealthy because it's lacking in your whole grains, your fruit, your veg, your nuts, legumes, healthy fats. So it's not particularly processed, hence being in that group, but it is much more focused on foods that are just poor in nutritional quality overall. And that's, I guess, the really interesting part of this study is that what they saw is that the overall diet quality is what was actually associated fundamentally with better or worse health outcomes, not the amount of processing.

18:28And I think that's really, really interesting. So they're seeing healthy and ultra processed have much better health outcomes than unhealthy and minimally processed. It's always like looking at the ratio of your plate, isn't it, across the day? Remember the 80-20 phrase of nutrition, which I've always quite liked in my clinic. There's nothing wrong with it. 80 % of the time, try and eat those deliciously nourishing, joyful foods. But alongside your 20 % of, and I'm just plucking the 20%, that number will vary for all of you, of course. But alongside the Coca-Cola and the cereal pops or the other cereal pops.

19:04Gosh, I'm really making up words today. You know what I mean? I think you know which cereal I mean. You're very pregnant. you're allowed to make up words people eating the healthier diets had um lower rates of heart disease type 2 diabetes premature death so basically all the comorbidities that we associate at the moment with uh probably obesity and living in an obesogenic environment and the fact that the processing food wasn't the contributor to those risk factors it is the overall diet. And I think when we talk about overall diet, it goes back to the old school nutrition train of thought of too much salt, too much sugar, too much saturated fat.

19:46And what we want, like Ella said, is those lovely fibrous items, the veggies, the fruits, the whole grains. I mean, I would argue that just having a plate with more fiber and not adding an extra sprinkling of salt on it is a lot more effective than worrying about the citric acid, like you said, in your orange juice. Exactly. And that's what they saw. So foods like fortified cereals, whole grain bread, tinned beans, some plant-based dairy alternatives, like we said, things like soya milk, they technically are in your NOVA 4, your ultra-process category, but they're providing fiber, vitamins, minerals, protein, valuable nutrients.

20:24And that was not having an impact on diet. So I think it's just overall what I think this humongous study showed is that essentially is what you're always saying, really. Like not all ultra processed foods are nutritionally equivalent. They are not created equal just because they're technically UPFs and technically in the same bucket. We shouldn't treat a fortified whole grain cereal and a sugary fizzy drink. They are not the same thing. I'm rejoicing, Ella. Yeah, I feel this is really important. It's not the easiest message I don't think to get across. And I also don't want anyone to go home scared of white rice and potatoes.

21:03I eat lots of white rice and potatoes, love them. They were just used as an example of the fact that if your diet is predominantly like white flours, white rice, white potatoes, although it's minimally processed, it's not nutritionally dense. Anyways. And so I think it's, I mean, ultimately it shows sort of common sense to some degree, but I do think that, as I said, I think because the UPF debate became so hot and heavy, there has been this lingering fear of anything with any upfs in and ultimately we don't need to be worried about that what we need to maybe not worry about but be conscious of be um active about is having this nutritionally dense diet what you add on to it is much less relevant yeah nicely summarized because when um if you rewind to last summer whenever i was interviewed about the unprocessed plate.

21:56The questions I would get is, well, what do you think about these viral accounts that are going down the supermarket, you know, and saying that foods are toxic? And this is what Ella and I are trying to explain is that - I hate those videos. I dislike them so strongly. I cannot even tell you. I felt the damage and added confusion and level of chaos they have caused to parents. I mean, we've seen new products emerging in response to this that are no better for everybody nutritionally speaking because they claim to be lower in UPF ingredients and it's caused a massive shake-up it's amazing actually the power of social media if we look at it that way the fact that these types of accounts did shift a sort of change in supermarket or shoppers habits I don't know how to describe it but essentially food isn't black and white and that's what we are trying to say is that having those baby bells is not the end of the world.

22:50Having that tomato pasta sauce sometimes in your cupboard is really not the end of the world. You don't have to make your own homemade Nutella. Exactly. You're using a tomato sauce that has a few additives in and you've got a tin of lentils with it and some whole grain pasta and a chopped onion and a garlic and some grated courgette and parmesan. That is a great dinner. And the proportion of UPF in your sauce versus your overall play is incomparable. And so So I think that's what we have to stop worrying about. Yeah. But the issue that we do need to worry about is that 70 % of children's diets are made up of chicken nuggets, chips and things that aren't nutritionally dense.

23:28And they're the UPFs that we have in abundance. I'm just picking out those items because I think they're great examples everybody knows. And unfortunately, we're consuming rather than it being 80, 20%, it's 70, 30%. 70 % of kids diets are full of the Coca-Cola, the pops and all the other stuff. And only 30 % is the veg and the whole grains. And we just need to flip that ratio. That's what it's all about. Yeah, exactly. It's almost 60 % for adults. So it's, yeah, loads to do. But I think that was really helpful. I hope that feels kind of reassuring and helpful for you guys listening as well, that what we don't need to be freaked out about is like a singular ingredient in a really healthy diet just like you don't need to like be worried about going out for pizza on friday night and having cocktails with your girlfriends like that's great that's part of balance that's part of life we just want nutritional density where we can

24:28plan b is a backup birth control option that's there for you when things don't go according to plan it specifically works after unprotected sex and before pregnancy occurs by temporarily delaying ovulation. Plan B is available nationwide at all major retailers and through delivery apps like DoorDash. No ID, prescription or age requirement. It's the number one OBGYN recommended brand of emergency contraception and it won't impact your future fertility. That's freedom to be. Use as directed. Now on to our brain health for headline number two which is restricted eating hours may reduce cognitive decline in older age.

25:09Now it's another fasting headline and this came from The Guardian. I don't know if it's just me and like you know when you start thinking, I can't remember the name of it, but you know when you start thinking something you start seeing it all the time or you start noticing something it's like you notice a Dalmatian and suddenly you always see a Dalmatian dog. But I feel like I'm seeing fasting really come back. There's a lot about fasting at the moment in terms of headlines. This was looking at obviously not just what we eat but when we eat it and whether time-restricted eating could potentially have any benefits for brain health as we age.

25:41We have kind of mentioned this before, but just important context, probably can't say enough. Dementia is the leading cause of death now in the UK. It's the seventh leading cause of death worldwide. It counts for nearly 2 million deaths globally each year. And then there are some huge risk factors. Obviously, age genetics totally outside of our control, but research at the moment suggests nearly half of dementia cases potentially could be prevented or delayed through modifiable lifestyle factors. Obesity and midlife, for example, has been associated with around a 30 % increased risk of dementia later in life.

26:14So this is obviously something that there's a huge amount of time and money and research being looked into at the moment because it's an enormous issue both with our health and wellbeing, but also economically as well for us to collectively solve. One strand of this was looking at whether or not the timing of our meals could make any difference. Which is interesting because I think if you reverse the clock to research 20 years ago in dementia, maybe even a decade, they were more focused on the fact we're an aging population. Whereas now we're realizing, oh yes, we are an aging population, but how we live our life, the quality of our life, like we just said in the previous headline, the overall quality of your diet, how much you move, the different, the way we choose to live our life can massively impact the long-term health outcomes.

27:03So it was a small trial, but it was a randomized control trial, which, you know, I love. It consisted of 47 women. So we're looking at females here, age 50 to 79, who were living and they were already with overweight and obesity. So they were already in that category. And everyone there was encouraged to reduce their daily intake by the classic 500 calories, which is one of the commonly researched methods with time-restricted eating as well with the calorie control. And they did that for six months. But 26 women were also asked to restrict all their food to the nine hour window, which would mean they ate between 10 to 6pm.