Can You Eat Too Much Healthy Food? Tofu Myths & Portion Control

0:00Your heart can tell you a lot about your health. Apple Watch Series 12 measures your heart rate every five seconds with the most accurate heart rate sensing in a wearable. So your vitals app, now with heart rate variability, can tell you when something is off. And your readiness score can let you know when to rest and when to push. Hear the story in every heartbeat with Apple Watch Series 12. The features described are for wellness purposes only and not for medical use. iPhone 11 or later required. Based on Apple conducted study of heart rate accuracy, August 2026. Visit apple.com slash apple watch series 12.

0:31fall never arrives all at once first the air then the light and slowly the things you love begin to find each other a jacket meets a dress a hoodie slips beneath a blazer an old cap finds a new scarf because you don't simply step into the season you create it layer by layer until it finally feels like fall find fall your way at ross

1:03Welcome to the Wellness Scoop, your twice weekly dose of health and wellness inspiration. And as always, we're both here as your hosts today. I'm Ella Mills. And I'm Rhiannon Lambert. And today we dive into the most frequently asked questions, recommendations from you in the wellness industry. So let's do it. we're online and we literally has a cat on her head like a scarf hat like a bum scenario a tail that i'm holding down so it's not whacking the microphone um she picks the most cats are very strange creatures ellie you know they have a mind of their own i've never had a cat my dad was allergic so we never like we're cat people but it's so funny she literally like it's like a living breathing sky look very comforting if I'm honest like a weighted blanket I quite want a weighted blanket she is my cat is um yeah she's one of a kind but we have got so much interesting um things and recommendations from you're listening to discuss today and I won't let my cat get in the way of it she's just going to keep me comfort here Ella do you want to read out what we've got coming up today you think we have things to talk about that aren't cats right funny that isn't it how popular cat Instagram accounts are these days.

2:19Yeah, maybe then we would take off even more. Okay, guys. Yeah, maybe. I'm not going to talk about Ree's cat too much. I promise you. I'm just fascinated by her. And I know I just really want to wait a blanket. And that'll be my next Google search. Right. Can you eat too much healthy food? An excellent question. Portion control without weighing or counting. What does that look like? The myths again around tofu, hormones, soy, estrogen etc we'll be debunking all of that for you a little bit about childhood diets and bowel cancer risks increasing fiber when you've got IBS or any challenges with digestive system the baby carnivore trend WTF we could say and a little bit more on weaning and all the rest of it loads of recommendations as always and just a good old chat and an atta a good old chat and Anatta absolutely needed.

3:07I've just realized my recommendation of the week I put in for the wrong week in advance. I watched and I mean, it's kept me up and I should have been looking at Sleep Ella. I just have to go straight in there because it's so good. What is it? What is it? It's called The Blame on ITV. And normally I don't watch a lot of these types of series. What kind of series are we talking about? I'm watching a murder detective series. Look at your face, Ella. Who are you? I've never met you. It's a Rhiannon impersonator this morning. It's also the worst time to introduce a murder thing when you're heavily pregnant.

3:44You want to get the oxytocin up. Honestly, I've been binge watching and hooked. It's Michelle Keegan and Douglas Booth. And at first I thought this is cheesy. This is horrendous. I don't know if I I can watch this, but actually I really, yeah, I got hooked, Ella. I have to shout it out because I think you get really into it. Lots of twists and turns. Okay. He was in a film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, but he looks so like the guy that played, he looks like he was in Gossip Girl. He looks like that type of actor. And to be honest, I think that's where some of the interesting, maybe not good reviews of the show may have come from, the types of casting that they've put in it.

4:27But I really enjoyed it. And I really enjoyed the plot, which is so surprising. And I had to binge watch it. I stayed up till midnight and I'm knackered watching at the end. Really? I just looked up because I'm like, his face is so familiar. I'm like, why do I know you? And it says on, if you go onto IMDb, the number one thing for known for is Pride, Prejudice and Zombies. What an eclectic, an eclectic acting base. What a funky idea. It is. I mean, who knows? So that's my first recommendation. Oh, I really want to watch that. And then I've been having a lot of Epsom salts again in baths because I ache everywhere, like my hips, my back, everything does ache.

5:07So I'm turning to the Epsom salts and the delicious yellow ginger bars. The ginger bars are my go to. They're on my mum tray thing in my bedroom. I'm really enjoying those and making up veggie sauces as well. You know, just chucking everything I've got in the fridge and putting it in a pasta sauce. yay shout out to shella ginger balls i absolutely love that our original products when we launched we had this ginger energy ball and it was my like number one i love ginger i'm also obsessed with epsom salt baths at the moment as well my like dream thing is when the kids go to sleep and like matt's going out for dinner tonight with his friend i'm like already ready for this you get into the bath epsom salt and then i have my ipad at the end and i watch i've almost i finished season two of tell me lies and I'm just like counting down the hours till the end of the day and I'm gonna get in the Epsom salt bath I'm gonna watch my iPad and I'm oh I just love it absolute heaven have you got any other recommendations Ella just before I whiz on to the one from Mariana you know what I am light on recommendations I have to say it's been a bit of a funky funky funky week the only thing I would say is I am just I mean I don't want to sound like the most boring person but I hate social media at the moment oh no and I just really not going on it and I'm just really you know we talked on Monday about reading and I just noticed like how I hate when my attention span gets really short and I just noticed the less time I spend on Instagram and the more time I spend even if I'm on my phone but like I'm reading a newspaper article or I love Sudoku like I'm playing a sudoku or I'm even watching a show I'm concentrating like I'm spending 45 minutes engaged in a plot or I'm yeah doing my sudoku it's not necessarily that my phone is bad it's more this just like ding ding ding ding ding anyway it's not really a recommendation I'm just really consciously trying to do longer form things and loving it.

7:04Do you know what it's important and I'm sure you're not alone with your dislike for the app it's such a funny thing isn't it it's a difficult space. I just find myself like, I just don't, I don't know, like I was making dinner for our family last night. It was so simple. It's just like a lentil pasta, kind of 15 minute, like when, when there's a lot going on. And I thought to myself, I should take a picture of this. I would normally take a picture of this. I used to take pictures of this because it probably is like a helpful idea. It's just like sauteed shallots and onion and a bit of leek and all the rest of it.

7:36But I was like, I just want to be with my family. Like I don't want to be taking pictures and being like, oh, no, wait, guys, sorry. Sorry to dinner, yeah. Also, when I think of shallots, I think of Ella. I love shallots. If someone was like, what vegetable do you want to be? Maybe I'll be a shallot. I think they're really, I like the sweetness. They add such a good base. She's got layers, as Shrek would say. I've got layers. She's nuanced. I love that, Ella. No, you're right. I think it so detracts from being happy and the reality of being attached to a screen is never good. We have a Emily Henry fan in Mariana.

8:14Shall we read that one? Yes, you guys know I was loving all the Emily Henry books. And this is the perfect time for me because I know reading is so good for me and I'm needing a new book. I've got The Calamity Club to read, which is, I'm slightly daunted because it's so big. But my sister-in-law gave it to me and I've heard it's amazing. So after that, this is going to be perfect. Mariana says, since Ella's loving Emily Henry so much, which I also loved, I wanted to recommend once you're done with her books, you read Abby Jimenez. is that how we think we say her name i've never heard of her yeah j-i-m-e-n-e-z also feel good easy read rom-coms just so good love need that's what we need more of easy rom-coms ignore my silly detective stuff at the beginning murder let's ignore the murder why am i jumping on that um right our next recommendation is from jemma she said hello i wanted to share a little game i played with my children over the school holidays to make eating a variety of plant foods fun we wrote all our names on a list and stuck it to the fridge adults and children could take part and throughout the week every time we ate a different plant food we added it to our list oh that's so great so it's who's going to reach 30 different plants first and what surprised her the most was how quickly the kids got involved they started asking for pumpkin seeds to sprinkle on their porridge requesting extra crudités for snacks and trying foods that they perhaps would of ignored before.

9:36And she said it makes parenting feel easier instead of, you know, constantly trying to nag or encourage them to eat something else, which I think lots of us can definitely relate to. She's got three children, age three, seven and nine. And she thinks it's a particularly important way to keep healthy eating positive and enjoyable. With her husband, who's currently sadly living with stage four colorectal cancer. She says, I know I can sometimes become a little obsessive about wanting to do everything I can to protect my children's gut health and this game gave her a way to basically have fun without um having to nag and I'm so sorry Gemma first of all to hear that that must be incredibly difficult and it sounds like you are the most incredible mother yeah absolutely you're sending so much um love to you guys but I love this idea Gemma as you said it's the gamification it's like we're talking about on Monday they're like matching Snow White with an apple.

10:27Like, I mean, I have to say I'm, we're all kids at heart. Like I love the game vacation of 30 a week. And sometimes if I'm bored and I'm like, you know, waiting for an appointment or a meeting or a zoom call to start, I'll be like, Oh, I wonder if I've got my 30 and I'll like count it up. And it's, yeah, it's kind of fun.

10:48Right. Our first question is anonymous today. This goes as follows. I'm in my mid twenties and I try and live as healthily as possible. usually that 80 20 balance i'm young i like to socialize with friends have drinks here and there i try and eat home cooked food for breakfast lunch dinner in the week i exercise most days and i get over 10 000 steps a day whoa you go when cooking for myself i eat predominantly veggie loads of grains veg beans nuts pulses i often bulk cook meals too however i find portion control hard i love food i love making a nice meal every evening it's such a highlight if my meals are large salads and filled with healthy things.

11:23Does it matter if the portions are large? I find if I don't eat a large portion, I'm hungry quickly. I don't want to go down the route of weighing things. I did this before. I found it way too controlling. But how do you know, for example, if you've got too many chickpeas or too many mushrooms? I'm trying to stay healthy. I just really struggle with portion control. So I'd love any thoughts or advice. I just thought this was a really, really nice and sensible question. And I also try to get it. I have to to say just very quickly on a personal note I do remember when I changed my diet and I started eating as the same as you this predominantly like very healthy diet lots of yeah as you said beans nuts legumes seeds all the rest of it realizing the amount I needed on my plate was so much bigger and actually like the density of quinoa for example you know you need you need a really hearty portion of quinoa and avocado and olive oils and tahini and lentils etc or you will be hungry an hour later.

12:16And I actually think this is like a mega mistake people make when they're trying to eat healthily, you know, and there's, I hate them in a way, but I actually find them quite interesting. These videos you see on Instagram where people will weigh up like calories, you know, they'll put in one pipe, like strawberries, lentils, chickpeas, couscous, whatever, and fill a whole chicken breast, et cetera, fill a whole kind of pipe of that to how many calories. And then on the other side, they'll put like pretzels, sweets, you know, etc and you realize to get the same calorific amount the quantity and proportions that you need of healthy foods is enormous the energy density of the meal is just completely incomparable and i think that's what's really interesting is that it's often because of the lower fat percentage in plant-based foods compared to omnibus products that on the plate in a total mean less calories so you kind of can have more but I think a good way of reframing this and it's interesting because I've been talking about this a lot recently on the weight loss journey on nutrition plus but also when I was doing the plant-based encyclopedia I think it's really important to kind of reframe it and instead of saying is this portion too big try and ask yourself is it satisfying you and like Alice said you don't want to eat something then be hungry an hour later and you know look at your meals look have you got on that plant plate any healthy fats is it just a large plate of chickpeas and quinoa because if that's the case where's the healthy fat coming from the satisfaction element from it you know you're better off adding some pumpkin seeds and a sprinkle of this and that and adding a lashing of olive oil or a dressing or something as well you've really got a plant-based eating is so remarkable but you do need a bit of education I think to carry it out really efficiently sometimes.

14:06And there isn't a point where I'd ever say you've had too many chickpeas by 12 chickpeas on a plate. You know, I think that becomes a bit unhealthy when you get to that point. But ask yourself, am I still hungry? Am I satisfied? Am I continuing because it tastes delicious, even though I'm full? And those are nice ways of just, I think, keeping kind of like check on yourself, Ella, I think essentially because the 80-20 approach isn't supposed to become perfectionism again it's really just meant to be a way of enjoying life with all balance within. Great answer Ria absolutely love that yeah and I think also you know what we talked about this before we were talking about kind of wearables and all the rest of it and I have no idea um if you use wearable and the rest of it but I do think there's a lot to be said about also just being a little bit more intuitive as to what feels good for you as opposed to um you know I think lots of us I mean I've never tried weighing my food but it's this idea of like trying to tick a box as opposed to like what feels good and if you have a day like today I think I'm going to be extraordinarily sedentary today I reckon I won't get more than like 1500 steps in I don't plan to do any exercise don't have any time to any exercise so probably won't be as hungry yesterday I walked the dogs I went to a yoga class I was felt like I was on my feet the whole day so I was so much hungrier and so I think this sense of just being a little bit more intuitive as to kind of what we need and how we feel on any given day and not trying to be prescriptive like I must have one snack or I must have two snacks who knows exactly um now we have a question from Heather she's got two questions actually she said the first is that she suffers a bad health anxiety and I've had to I have a break recently from the pod because of the bowel cancer links.

15:50I had a really beige processed diet growing up and I eat pretty well now. But the news of healthy people contracting bowel cancer from poor diets as children has been keeping her up at night. And I'm so sorry to hear that. And she said, as a child, I convinced myself of many diseases, but this one could actually happen to her. So I think she's really feeling that there. She said, I also have a family history of it. is there anything else she's asked us I can do for reassurance to myself or actually get checked for chances and then her second question Ella is on IBS so any tips for IBS sufferers trying to increase their fiber because she loves beans and pulses but obviously it's a bit tricky and she's tried soaking the chickpeas and she's having jarred ones instead of tinned but that doesn't seem to be helping yeah well thank you for that so much Heather thank you for listening as always to everyone who tunes in first of all love that you're listening to yourself so sensible to take a break for anything if it's making you feel more stressed a hundred percent i guess you know you're right we're all predisposed to different things but like i do always come back as someone who's had health anxiety or general health anxiety to like we cannot control our lives we cannot control the future the only certainty is uncertainty that is the only thing we know the only thing we know is to be true is what is happening in this very second none of us know what's going to happen tomorrow none of us know even what's going to happen in an hour's time things change for the better and for the worse in the slip of an instant like they really really do and so i do think there's so much and i know it's not easy about trying to be really present in where you are today because ultimately no one's future nothing about any of our collective future is guaranteed and And so, you know, I often think that like, what a shame it would be if the worst did happen and all the things I spent my life worrying about happened.

17:47But then I'd wasted all the time up until that point, worrying about it that I hadn't even enjoyed, you know, the good time. And I think that's a really, I do think, as I said, the only certainty in life is uncertainty. We don't know. We can't control. It is impossible. We can do our best. but I think trying to kind of surrender to the reality of the fact that we cannot control our lives I think it's a really important factor of being happy I think it absolutely is my um I never actually met my grandfather he passed on as a baby but my dad always says he used to say if you can't control it don't worry about it you know one of those kind of old sayings because I have anxiety for different reasons, as you all know, and sometimes think, well, I can't do anything right now if the world's going to go to war.

18:34What can I actually do? And it's sometimes really helpful to remove yourself. But what I can definitely add to this conversation for you, Heather, is the fact that risk factor does not mean you're going to develop a disease. So just to explain, if you had a poor diet as a child, it elevates a risk, but only if you continue to act upon those same mechanisms your entire life. Then there's also the other factors, of course, that are involved with lifestyle, the environment, genes, all sorts of different things. But you are able to make changes as an adult, which reduce your risk factor too, just as much with exercise and diet and sleep and all the things we discuss on here.

19:16So I just think it's really interesting and actually there is some new evidence emerging about early life exposures including work looking at this particular bacteria toxin called colobactin and whether exposure to it in earlier life can contribute to early onset of these cancers but it's an emerging area and what Cancer Research UK say is very clear is that we do still need more research and the reason these headlines are so prominent at the moment is because of the ultra processed food conversation I believe, and the changes as a society and shift that we're currently making. And that's why these headlines probably do feel overwhelming and all too confusing right now.

19:57And then to answer your question about IBS, I've got a lovely voice note from our gut health dietitian in the Retrition Clinic. Hi, I'm Annabelle Lazarus, one of the gut health dietitians at the Retrition Clinic. thanks re for the great question it can be a bit of a balancing act regarding fiber when you have ibs on the one hand too little fiber can worsen constipation which can make ibs symptoms worse and on the other hand in some people a diet very high in certain types of fiber can also worsen symptoms if beans and pulses are a trigger for you you're correct in trying canned or jarred pulses and then rinsing them really well before cooking or double rinsing them this is because fermentable carbohydrates called FODMAPs will leach into the liquid and then be removed which can reduce the gas produced during digestion which would normally cause bloating or wind.

20:49I'd stick to small quantities of these if they are still a trigger for you such as a couple of spoons at a meal and for some people over time they will be able to gradually increase their consumption of these foods. For people with IBS the key is to increase gentle more gentle types of fibre which are better digested known as soluble fibre. Foods higher in this absorb water and form a gel-like consistency which can improve stall consistency and gut transit time. This can reduce constipation and also potentially abdominal bloating or distension. Foods particularly high in soluble fibre which are usually well tolerated that you could introduce are chia seeds, linseeds, flax seeds, kiwis, oats or psyllium husk.

21:34Some studies show that two tablespoons of linseeds per day could be affected in reducing IBS symptoms and the important thing is to increase fibre gradually. So for example with linseeds perhaps aiming for one teaspoon daily for the first week then maybe building up to a tablespoon per day for your second week and then perhaps two tablespoons daily for your third week. Do aim for a couple of extra glasses of water per day with the linseeds. And it's really important to consume enough fluid in general when you're increasing your fiber intake as not enough fluid could worsen IBS symptoms. So don't make too many changes at once and do increase fiber very gradually.

22:12So your gut has time to adapt to the increased fiber in your diet. Amazing. That was so, so helpful. And also just remind you, if there's anything you're really worried about, you should always go to your GP. You can discuss your family history with them. And the only thing that we also know does contribute and can contribute to risk factor when it comes to bowel cancer, low fiber intake, process and red meat in excess alcohol and excess smoking, excess body weight, physical inactivity. And we also know, as we said the other day on the show, we can start changing our gut microbiome and enhancing it literally today.

22:48And we can change it relatively quickly. And it sounds like you're already doing that, but just to reassure you. Exactly. And thank you, Annabelle from the Retrition Clinic for your contribution.

23:22The features described are for wellness purposes only and not for medical use. iPhone 11 or later required. Based on Apple-conducted study of heart rate accuracy, August 2026. Visit apple.com slash apple watch series 12. Fall never arrives all at once. First the air, then the light. And slowly the things you love begin to find each other. A jacket meets a dress. A hoodie slips beneath a blazer. An old cap finds a new scarf. Because you don't simply step into the season. You create it layer by layer until it finally feels like fall. Find fall your way at Ross.

24:02We've talked about the Way meditation app a few times now because we're obsessed. And I've just looked at my stats and I'm on over 3 ,800 minutes of meditation with them so far this year. I've actually done it almost every single day for six months now, normally 20 minutes a day. And I cannot tell you the difference it's made to my life. I just feel this amazing sense of inner calm, even when life is chaotic. And I don't think I've ever had that before. I feel less reactive, more grounded and just more peaceful in myself. It's become one of the most important, unmissable parts of my day. It really is.

24:35And now you finally got me onto it too. And I started using it because I wanted something to help me unwind at the end of the day. So I've actually been doing the meditations before bed when I'm finding it hard to switch off and it's really helping me get to sleep. So it's become a nice way to shut down at the end of the day. Yeah. And you guys seem to be loving it too, because as a community, you've now done over a quarter of a million minutes of meditation on the way, which is just incredible. And I think you're loving what I love and reloves, which is how simple it is. You don't choose between hundreds of meditation and keep scrolling.

25:07You just do one after the next. You follow the path, each one led by the same person, the founder, Henry. Exactly. You just literally open the app, press play and do the next one. And I think it's the whole simplicity, which is a huge part of why I've actually managed to stick with this every single day. Yeah. So if you haven't tried it yet and you've been wanting to get into meditation to help you with overwhelmed sleep or just finding a slice of peace and calm in the day. You get a 30-day free trial with us. You just go to thewayapp.com forward slash wellness scoop. Yes, that's thewayapp.com forward slash wellness scoop.

25:45Our third question is an anonymous one. Love the podcast. I've been a fan for years. I'd love it if you could answer my question as my sisters just sent me an online quote about tofu, Ella, and said she doesn't eat much of it because of the oestrogen. Now, this seems to keep hitting us, doesn't it? It comes back time and time again. She said there's some information out there that says soy or tofu has phytoestrogens that can be bad for you. Can you please debunk and explain any concerns around soy or tofu? My biggest concern around tofu is how to make it taste nice. I think that is something to be very worried about because I think you can get it right.

26:22And I think it can be so rank at the same time not the same time sorry it's in like it's easy it's an easy food to like you know some foods are just really yummy and then other foods are like you got to get it right and I think bad tofu really is quite rank and it's not the easiest food to cook because we haven't been brought up in a culture where it's the norm whereas over in Asia it's like a household staple like they've been cooking it for so many years and it just tastes incredible in all the dishes because they coat it in cornstarch or they fry it off in a pan or it's got the most amazing texture it can be cooked in so many ways i just don't think that we've nailed it in the uk the switch you know what i'm really into at the moment because my younger daughter's obsessed with tofu is slicing it so so thinly and i mean like really thinly almost like a you know if you've got a pack of cheese like sliced cheese kind of cheddar for a sandwich that sort of thing and then you know a fair amount of oil in the pan and frying it literally two minutes on both sides so it's super crispy and then we've been doing it with like avocado um and she likes with a grated cheddar on it and like a yummy ketchup and things like that in a like brioche bun kind of sandwichy burger sort of vibe five minute dinner so good really crispy and thin I think it's something you have to kind of have a play with have a play with start them off young if you've got kids because yeah my my youngest loves them sliced kind of chunky but they I just bake them in the oven with olive oil and he'll just eat them and he's all he's known so he's like yay tofu and I'm bland olive oil, roasted tofu.

27:48But for him, you know, that hits the spot. Let's debunk the myth, Ella, though, because soy does not contain estrogen. Soy does contain, but they're beneficial for our health, not negative. These natural occurring plant compounds called isoflavones, so almost like think of them like an antioxidant, which belong to a group of compounds we call phytoestrogens. They kind of mimic the structure. And if any of you have got the Science of Nutrition Encyclopedia, have a look at that page. I drew out the two different structures of estrogen and phytoestrogen just so you can understand that eating tofu is not the same as taking a dose of hormones or a hit of hormones in your body.

28:25In fact, having this food type phytoestrogen within your body has been beneficial and reduces menopausal symptoms alongside lots of other areas. So despite the claims about it feminizing men, I think for years it's just been out there as if men eat it then because of these phytoestians they're going to get i want to say this really colloquially but man boobs you know you've seen it all we see it all but there's harvard's review of the evidence similarly concludes that the fear around tofu causing infertility or hormone problems in men just are not supported by the science so you can enjoy your tofu and then just try some great recipes to get it in because it is so good for us so dishes we're talking about the need for plant proteins the other day i like sweet and sour tofu put one in fiber formula i really like but the thing is i love a tofu that it takes a bit of prep like you have to like coat it fry it off and then it becomes like this delicious coated in sticky sauce it's really yummy um but it's hard to just do simply fry it fit little cubes fry it like eight minutes or so till it's all golden and then mix up on the side harissa miso maple or honey and lime juice and then once the tofu is nice and golden pop that in the hot pan for like two minutes and it will coat it oh i love that she even gave a chef kiss like gesture that's because you know what i'm completely um indoctrinated by my children who do that with everything good that i kind of like it's default anyway love it right our next question from kelsey love the pod so much i'd love you guys to talk about starting solids my whole instagram feed is steak bone marrow sticks of butter liver and lamb for baby's first food totally understand the importance of iron at this age it seems maybe a little excessive almost counterproductive to the research on adults diets i know it's a tricky topic but i would love to hear how you guys approach this do you remember there was a trend a little while ago to get children to sleep through the night to give them a stick of butter before bed but i actually literally saw this on my instagram this morning And Kelsey, it's so interesting that your question came in.

30:33Which is a trend, guys, but you should not do. And there was this mom talking about, yeah, trying to get her child to sleep through the night and giving her like a humongous chunk of butter and a steak before bed and being like, that's how I've done it. honestly, I'm pretty horrified when I see these things, especially when they link to children, because I just think how on earth have we got to this point where we're almost experimenting trends on young individuals that can have serious consequences. So it's just pushing an extreme and the absolute unnecessary extreme of life there. So around six months, I can see where these things kind of progress from.

31:12First of all, let's talk about the liver and the different iron things. It's true that babies, particularly around six months, stop getting iron from breast milk and they stop getting it from formula really when the milk goes down, the quantity. But it doesn't mean that every single meal has to be rich. And of course, we know iron comes in two different forms. Heme iron, which we get obviously from more animal produce, it's more readily available. But you can also get it from our favorite chickpeas and lentils and beans and tofu and all the things we're talking about. Weetabix is fortified. Some tofu, lots of different foods contain iron.

31:53But Instagram loses the plot, just loses it completely. Steak can be a healthy part of a baby's diet in tiny amounts, but you don't need it all day long to be a healthy child. In fact, my concern, Ella, is vitamin A toxicity because there's large doses of vitamin A in liver, particularly in offal and all these things that people are now turning to as a trend. I really worry because babies are tiny. Can we just remember the size of their stomach is, what's that big, Ella? A little tiny, a baby kiwi. Baby kiwi. Just remember how tiny these things are. Instagram should not be your go-to for dietary advice.

32:31I've actually to explain it far more eloquently than me because I feel like I just get hepped up with how unethical it is and it upsets me greatly um Charlotte Sterling-Reed who is a baby nutritionist um I've got a voice note from her on these trends hi I'm Charlotte Sterling-Reed the baby and child nutritionist and author of How to Wean Your Baby now my concern with these trends isn't necessarily that meat and bone broth are dangerous per se it's more that I feel these trends are unnecessary they're a bit unrealistic they can be costly to families and to top it all off, they're often based on getting parents to follow these trends via scaremongering.

33:05Some of these ancestral diet trends shun vegetables and fruits and suggest that babies have a leaky gut that needs healing and fixing via meats and bone broth, which actually is not evidence-based at all. Now, I know from my work that weaning is all about balance and variety. We really want to get babies onto a wide range of food right from the start, including veggies, and if you want to, including bone broth too but this is so they build a diverse healthy gut microbiome but also so they learn about different flavors and textures along the way and when trends push parents away from vegetables and fruits and whole grains they're actually removing some of the most important building blocks for a young baby's diet and there is no evidence for that being a good thing to do I need to just stress that there is no one perfect way to feed a baby but looking at ancestors yes that's great for inspiration but actually our ancestors ate a really wide variety of foods too and not just meats and fats so I hope that is really helpful to know amazing Charlotte is the absolute best I was maniacal about following her when I was weaning I was like Charlotte is the guru I was so scared about it yeah me too and I'm very lucky I can just whatsapp her anytime I felt like it's about the best thing in the world actually um Charlotte thank you so much for helping clear that up honestly instagram is not the place maybe for a bit of recipe inspiration once your child's on those solid foods but for following trends that particularly like this could cause toxicity it's dangerous we have our final question today ella from rachel we do in bristol she said i've been trying so hard to make better choices since listening to you guys i love it but i hope without pressure particularly my seven-year-old daughter she's a good eater and will try new things not so much my stubborn three-year-old boy a popular choice for my daughter's breakfast is about 75 grams of confere about 30 grams of granola strawberries grapes blueberries a little squeeze of honey and some chia seeds yum my friend Tommy's breakfast won't help last her through to lunchtime though as the fruit will only give her a short burst of energy followed by a drop is that true is it okay to include the honey it helps her eat it but I've also read it's a free sugar thanks so much for the advice this question I feel like is why we have the show when I was reading it I was like this actually summarizes to me like the passion of the wellness scoop is to help kind of wade through all the various conversations that are coming in here because to me and I can't wait to hear what you think re i'm like first of all if she enjoys this and she's seven you are absolutely winning the number of seven-year-olds that eat like a healthy granola lots of different fruit kefir for breakfast is very limited the amount of food that's good for her microbiome that you're giving her versus other children like you are doing such an amazing job and I find it so frustrating I'm not criticizing your friend but I find this whole thing so frustrating where it's like oh no you know it's not quite right it's got to be this it's got to be that this like pursuit of this elusive perfectionism it's so frustrating and if you're saying she's enjoying it I'm like that is unbelievable to have a seven-year-old enjoying that to me it's like the ultimate win honestly I relinquish the whole how much honey goes on the kids breakfast a long time ago.

36:18Because if it means that they're going to be eating the nutrient dense breakfast that you've got there, that's absolutely fantastic. And it does not negate that. Obviously, within reason with how much you don't want your child having like a half a whole jar of honey in the morning, but you know, a teaspoon of honey on your breakfast that you can't really go wrong. You said a tiny squeeze. So let's start with the fact that you've got healthy fats, you've got tons of good bacteria living actually probiotics in your kefir for your gut. You've got granola, which has an OT base with seeds and nuts, which is fan-blumentastic for polyunsaturated fats, extra bit of protein there.