Food, Mood and the 2026 Wellness Trends to Watch!

0:00This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Listening to this podcast, smart move. Being financially savvy. Smart move. Another smart move. Having State Farm help. you create a competitive price when you choose to bundle home and auto. Bundling. Just another way to save with a personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings, and eligibility vary by state. This is the season for all your holiday favorites. Like a very Jonah's Christmas movie and Home Alone on Disney+.

0:36Did I burn down the joint? I don't think so. Then Hulu has National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. We're all in for a very big Christmas treat. All of these and more streaming this holiday season. And right now, save big with our special Black Friday offer. Bundle Disney Plus and Hulu for just$4.99 a month for one year. Savings compared to current regular monthly price. And 12.1. Offer for ad-supported Disney Plus Hulu bundle only. Then$12.99 a month or then current regular monthly price. 18 plus terms apply. Welcome to The Wellness Scoop, your weekly days of health and wellness inspiration. And as always, we're here as your host today.

1:09I'm Ella Mills. And I'm Rhiannon Lambert. And after a decade in this wellness industry, we know it can be very overwhelming and confusing. And that's why we've created this podcast to cut through all of that noise and make healthier living simple, fun and personal.

1:27Today's show is jam packed. And actually, I was expecting when we started the podcast beginning of the year to have tumbleweeds at this time of year. when we started, Rhi said to me, she was like, do you think we'll really have enough to talk about in terms of new wellness news every single week? I think we were kind of up in the air whether that would be the case, but the end of the year is coming so thick and fast. It's unbelievable. So yep, so much to talk about. Rhi's going to give us a first look inside the Lancet's new landmark UPF event that she went to in parliament, which is very, very exciting.

1:58I can't wait to hear about it. The Instagram account where a man sings to animals and why that is pure joy. I don't know anything about this one, but I can't wait. New study linking high UPF intake to early onset bowel cancer. Why art galleries could lower stress and inflammation in just 20 minutes. How speaking multiple languages might slow biological aging. The global rise in children's blood pressure and simple habits that could protect heart health from early on. The emotional beige blanket effect. Some people are now reporting on GLP ones. That was a fab article. Can't wait to get into that.

2:29And the seven wellness trends set to shape 2026 from bone health to fibre. So, Rhi, we've got to get straight on into it, I think. Gosh, so much. And you're right. There are so many headlines. And I feel like the wellness news now is actually filtrating into what's usually Christmas food kind of month. It's really strange, isn't it? Do you know, Rhi, I read something. I will bring it to the show properly next week because this is very top line. I don't have it in front of me. But I was reading an article last night, I think it was in The Times, about how Gen Z are kind of foregoing the Christmas excess, lots of alcohol and hangovers and all the rest of it.

3:05And they're really focusing on making the most of the last days of 2025 to hit their goals, which is so interesting because this time of year has traditionally been kind of, yeah, known as a moment of excess. And apparently that trend is really shifting. Well, I think it's really nice. I mean, yes, let's dive into it next week because there's definitely a lot to unpick and it's really interesting. And I think I'll start with you all by just giving a tiny summary and we'll go into it in more depth next week of the evening that I attended at the Lancet review. So for everyone that doesn't know, the Lancet published lots of work and they had the founder of the UPF score, Carlos Montero, who is a scientist in Brazil.

3:42And if anyone's got my unprocessed plate book, you'll have read all about it, or you've heard us discuss it on the podcast, Ella and I, numerous times that ultra processed foods are category four in what is called a Nova scale. And he had flown over with his team who have developed these incredible three new brand new papers looking at ultra processed foods, what we're going to do about it, how they're linked to chronic diseases and poor health outcomes. And the whole evening was hosted by Dr. Chris Van Tulliken. And there was a special room of people I felt very honored to be invited of scientists and health professionals and people in the industry.

4:19And there were lots of people there who did not put their hands up, who are asked to from big industry as well. I'm talking about the companies that probably own nearly every other company in the world attending. And it was a very, very interesting night. I think one of the most striking parts of the evening was how we communicate this message. And they made it very clear that they don't want to demonize foods as well. So the baby formula example was used, Ella, in the conversation saying, look, we have to start differentiating like they do over in South America on packaging items in a different way.

4:51So what they've suggested we need to do here in the UK, I mean, whether our government choose to listen or embark upon this, I don't know. But they have a different sliding scale. So they'll put what level of processing on Nova the food is one to four. So if it's four, it's like an ultra processed Mars bar, or four could be baby formula. And then there's another sliding traffic light scale of green and amber and red. and within that you can have another marking so baby formula potentially maybe it would be green because it's really beneficial for a baby but also four at the same time and then it would put a Mars bar as probably bright red and again a number four so I think that was a really interesting consideration that they put on how we are looking at recategorizing foods in this country.

5:38It's really interesting because you'll have it again where you'll have every now and again a tin of tomatoes or something like that. And yes, it might have a preservative in lots of dough, but some do, they will have added, might have an added preservative, as I said, or something like that in. But ultimately, whilst it then technically is an ultra processed food, that's probably a cheaper tin of tin tomatoes, allowing you to make a cheaper, more cooked from scratch meal, which ultimately we shouldn't, to your point, again, be demonising. Even if there are better return to as valuable, that's normally the cheapest option.

6:08So it's important not to demonise that. So I think that's really interesting because it is quite unhelpful to some extent at the moment, the kind of black and white nature of UPFs. It's so unhelpful. And I think that's a really good example. Yeah, it's about how can we help people? How can we help everyone navigate this conversation? Because we have the evidence which we'll go into next week. They are harmful in excess. You know, we cannot deny the fact that we need. And that's purely because we're not consuming the nutrients we need to be by consuming these foods. It's not that these foods are inherently really toxic, as people online might want to say.

6:41It's because by consuming them, you are not consuming the whole foods, the fiber, the protein, the vitamins, minerals. But there's one other thing to really highlight, I think, as well, which we'll also delve into, which is the billions and trillions of dollars spent by the UPF industry, which we can go into next week, the stats and figures. the fact that even in my industry nutrition and dietetics some of these huge companies responsible for 50 of the sales of upfs are the ones that fund educational courses for health professionals there's a real dichotomy of how do you break away from this bias you know you can have coca-cola funding a nutrition conference it just makes no sense you know these sorts of things that we see again and again and again the subliminal marketing and bite back the youth company that we've discussed before that campaign for transparency for youth when it comes to marketing ultra-processed foods were there.

7:33And one final thing I want to say, because I want to try and skim over this huge evening and delve into it next week, is one message that really stood out for me, Ella. And Rita, I think Lobo is how you say it? I'd never heard of her before. She's huge online over in South America, Brazil, millions and millions of followers. She's older than us. She's a cook by trade. And she said that ultra processed foods came in when women were driven back into the workforce. So it's a positive change. Females were beginning to gather, well, some sort of equality. We'd argue it's still not there financially, but still equality to go out and work.

8:10Men didn't step up and help fill the load at home. So then cooking became non-existent. Yeah. And people then turned to convenience foods. And she said, it's not a woman's job to cook. and she said unless everybody cooks we are never going to solve the food crisis we have today and that to me I know that there was all this research being presented but to me it really emphasized the wellness scoop and everything we tried to talk about that it's these small things you don't have to be a gourmet cook you can just roast a tray of beans it's the way that we're told and we're taught about food so I'm going to leave it at that because there's so many headlines for us to discuss today.

8:49But it was such a, it was quite emotive, don't get me wrong. There were scientists getting quite angry and emotive about what they were speaking about. There were mentions of names of companies, you know, a few finger pointing to a degree, but also the bigger picture to me was labelling and getting people cooking and money. I can't wait to go into this in more detail next week. But I do think the cooking point is so important. It's something I've always felt so passionate about because I remember early on when I started, it was this sense of you can't be a good cooking unless you are a kind of like fully trained cordon bleu um you know hope for a seller more for me i mean it's just it's such a different way of cooking and it's phenomenal and to be highly respected and it's a real art and a craft but equally i think it then becomes sometimes i think that becomes quite a barrier for people then saying i'm not a good cook so i can't do a simple monday night meal and i think it's really really trying to remember actually all of us can cook those easy meals.

9:47Now, I'm not saying that making like puff pastry, you know, delicacies and beautiful layered desserts is easy. Like that bit becomes complicated and requires huge amounts of time and patience and learning and crafting. But cooking a stir fry or a quick, easy kind of curry type meal, I really passionately believe we can all do. And it's really within all of our grasp. and it's about empowering people, you know, to really differentiate home cooking. I couldn't agree more. And let's hope that everyone listening, we love all your comments on Spotify and we do do the listener questions on Thursdays, but I want to know that this is having a positive impact, you know, just inspiring people to get back in the kitchen.

10:31And you're right, it should be for everybody. And it is so alienating. When I see these accounts of people with always multiple methods and recipes that just seem so out of reach and take so much time, just make your basic even a pesto pasta is a humongous achievement because it's healthy and home cooked and you haven't resorted to a ready meal i totally agree and i think just to just to finish on that and i don't mean this in like a silly way i mean it to myself to you to all of us it's not condescending but like if you do you know get home and you do quickly maybe you blitz up a pesto and so you can put two different nuts in it and you can maybe put a handful of greens in it as well cook your pasta you add some peas or some edamame to it you put that all together you're probably getting five plants six plants in there you're going to get a fiber pack meal it's going to take you 10 minutes or so with very little washing up and everyone in your household will probably eat it and that is something to feel like you are winning you do not need to be doing a nora smith and i'm not knocking her but like you don't need to do a meal that's taken four hours to have a successful meal at the end of the day and i think that's the key thing honestly no judgment lest us all get cooking a little bit more and just do our best and enjoy our christmas dinner because it's a balanced meal if you think about it.

11:42So I have one recommendation, Ella, this week to kick off. I found the best Instagram account in the world. Oh my God, tell me about it. It feels like a really one I need to be getting on the bandwagon of. I found a man that goes around all of the nature reserves and wildlife enclosures and he sings and plays a guitar to every animal imaginable from a parrot to a lion to a monkey to sea lions and the way the animals react. It kept me up. I was going past 11 o 'clock. It's really bad. I was in a proper scroll hole. But in a really lifting way, I was just watching these elephants walk towards this man in the middle of an enclosure and just start swaying and just stop mesmerized by music.

12:28And it goes to show animals connect like we do his name i think he's french is plumes official

12:40and this particular video is a lion walking towards him and the lion just lies down and rolls over and the female comes over to him and lies next to him and they just listen to him playing so plumes p-l-u-m-e-s official so in french official is the most incredible instagram account that's all I have to say I love it a positive scroll hole we'll put that in the show notes as well if anyone wants to get it I love that I stayed up quite late watching videos of a lady who lives in the northern the most northern town in the world so they have no sunlight now until February the sun won't rise and they have these polar winters and it was all her videos of going around living in a polar winter and it was just amazing I love that I have seen those places they say oh you should visit here because you know it's Christmas lights like 24 7 for the whole winter month you'd love it Rhi the Christmas day I thought of yesterday because we went to the tent switching on of the Christmas lights in our local village which was so cute and wholesome oh I love those sorts of things and Rhi quickly I'm going to bring you some sourdough next week I think I've cracked it I know yeah Monday I will be bringing you a loaf of bread they do look very fluffy now like I'm I am watching your loaves they looked really good yeah they honestly I'm like obsessed um we had the my daughter's um school assembly this morning and she was like trying to hurry us out of the room so quickly this morning and i was like i have to feed my starter i must because i must bake bread later it's absolutely ridiculous but anyways yes on to actually important things other than i will be bringing you some bread next week okay everyone now we've got some heavy headlines to move on to but they're very important because it's the health headlines that matter.

14:22The headlines that have been hitting the press, ultra processed foods and the rise in early bowel cancer. So research among women find those who eat more ultra processed foods have a greater risk of early onset of polyps that can lead to cancer. Yes. So we know there's been a lot of headlines over the last 12 months or so about bowel cancer rising very fast, but particularly we're seeing this now in much younger people in under 50s as well and so this felt very relevant so this major new study it came out in JAMA Oncology JAMA is one of the leading medical journals as is the Lancet that we were talking about earlier and what it showed is that women under 50 who eat a diet high in ultra processed foods stand at greater risk of developing abnormal growths in the bowel that can lead to cancer it was picked up absolutely everywhere as I said because this question mark into what is driving this sudden rise in early onset bowel cancer is obviously something that people are very, very keen to get to the bottom of.

15:21So with this, the research team analysed data from more than 29 ,000 women, so huge study, as we would always note, in the nurses' health study too. So that's something that's been conducted at Harvard. And from 1991 onwards, participants completed detailed food questionnaires every four years, noting how often they'd eaten each item over the previous 12 months and then only those who'd had a colonoscopy so had their bowel looked at in detail and had no history of polyps inflammatory bowel disease or cancer were then included it honestly is striking the findings as well so compared with the women that eat you know the least ultra processed foods which is around 3.3 servings a day those that ate the most which is quite a big difference around 9.9 servings a day had a 45 % higher risk of developing conventional adenomas.

16:12And these are the early polyps that can over time progress to bowel cancer. So the researchers, they accounted for things like BMI, smoking, physical activity. And I know that it's just a question that they're taking every four years, but we have to look at the scale of this data. And the association is still held. It's not just about lifestyle cluttering. I think this is really stark, the fact that the amount of this food, like I said earlier, we're just not eating as much of what we need to be. No, and I think it's important to know that research has adjusted for BMI, smoking, physical activity, other things that we know can have an association with cancer, but the association still held as the high intake of UPFs prompting these polyps, which can form into bowel cancer.

16:59And so the authors of the study talked through a few possible mechanisms as to why this might be the case. But UPF is obviously strongly linked to metabolic disorders like obesity, type 2 diabetes, both of which we already know raise bowel cancer risk. But they were also keen to highlight the role of inflammation, which we've obviously been talking about a lot recently, as well as damage to the gut lining and the disruption of our gut microbes, all of which can contribute to abnormal cell growth in your bowels. And I think what's important to say as we talk about, obviously we bang on, I think would be fair to say about the importance of fiber and eating your 30 different plants and why it's so so important to roast those beans and love those carrots and get excited about lentils but it's because these are the foods that feed your gut microbes and that is so critical to good health and because of our high UPF intakes as we know just one in five adults now in the UK for example is managing to eat their five a day and there was a piece of research that came out over the weekend showing we are eating fewer vegetables in this country than any time in the last 50 years.

18:04And I come back to this weird world that we live in where health and wellness dominates headlines, podcasts, Netflix shows, documentaries, you know, celeb magazines, it's everywhere. It's all over our algorithms. And yet we're eating fewer vegetables than ever. So we're not doing our jobs well enough. I see that as, and I just feel really both motivated, but also really concerned about it. And I think they're also very clear to say, and I think it's very important that we highlight this as well, that doesn't mean everyone who eats UPFs will go on to develop cancer. Of course, it doesn't. And I think it's also, it's not about the occasional Mars bar or the occasional sweetie or going to the cinema and enjoying some UPF popcorn.

18:43That's not the problem here. The problem here is the huge intake and then the very small intake. As we know, only 4 % of people get the fiber they need. Only one in five are getting the veggies they need every day. Our balance is so off. And even though the study applied to women, the researchers have said it's basically the same for men too. And this trend of, it's under the age of 50 that's so stark because the amounts of cancer rates rising in that particular demographic, it used to be something that was associated as we age, you know, like cancer and aging very, very closely interlinked. And I think the dietary changes, like we said at the beginning, we have to do something about how we market foods how foods appeal the food environments so what we need to be doing as i know ella and i discuss all the time to be positive to end this discussion is reduce the types of epfs that we we don't really do we really want to call them food it's really interesting isn't it there's a difference between a food and a food like substance exactly like a ritz cracker versus a sourdough cracker.

19:47Yeah, but also like Ritz cracker is still edging towards food. Whereas you do look at Haribo and like Haribo is not food. It's really simple. Like it is not food. It is a food-like substance. It is not food. And I'm not saying like you can never eat Haribo ever again, but it is not food. And I do think, not to be too extreme, and we didn't plan to talk about this on today's show, but like I personally do think this is important. I have seen some things floating around that M &Ms and Cheetos, for example, could have warnings added to them saying like not recommended for human consumption because of the ingredients they contain.

20:23And again, I'm not trying to kind of demonize the whole thing. Like, but it is this interesting thing of those aren't foods. They are so different to a carrot. But I think what's so deceptive, I agree with you completely. And I really hope everyone can see that with, you know, confectionery. But I think what's so difficult about this industry is the foods that look like the crackers, the bread, you know, the everyday meals that appear to be everyday meals. But we know that they're actually potato flakes that are mashed together with a lot of other ingredients to create something solid instead of just a potato that's sliced normally and made into a crisp.

20:58You know, I think it's those delicate differences that unless you're educated in the nutrition industry, it's really blooming hard. And it's so upsetting, isn't it? So I think what we can do is just tell everyone to, like we said at the beginning, we're going to all cook a lot more. We are going to eat a lot more whole grains and pulses and legumes and get excited about our food because I think we need to get the love back. I think we've lost a love. And I know your book's coming out, Ella, with so many inspiring recipes. And I'm writing the fiber formula because I'm so passionate about this subject.

21:30But we really need to remember we need to look after our tummies. We need to look after our bowels. And that is eating happy, lovely whole foods. I don't know how else to say it. I totally agree is how do we reignite a love of cooking again? And I think it is this, I'd be so curious what our listeners think. I mentioned Nara Smith earlier, and you know, if you don't know her, she's like kind of exploded on socials and she's this completely stunning, like wildly beautiful, very young model and mother of three or four small children, lots of small children. And she cooks everything from scratch and that's the whole premise but she'll make like cereal or coca-cola or she'll make oreo ice cream from scratch where she hand makes the oreos from scratch hand make the ice cream from scratch everything's from scratch so some of it becomes satirical because like she'll say my toddler wanted a peanut butter and jam sandwiches and and then kind of five hours later the sandwich is ready because to make every component of that from scratch including the bread takes a long time as i can tell you from my sourdough obsession but i do think i worry i actually it's very fun to consume the content and lots of meals look absolutely beautiful, but it is a kind of three or four hour process to get something on the table.

22:37But the easiest way to reduce UPFs is to cook from scratch more. And how do we get people feeling inspired, empowered, excited to cook from scratch again and not feel like it has to take three or four hours, actually feel like it's not gonna take that long at all. And I saw a stat the other day that was really, really telling actually about all of this. While you find it, Ella, I think the only way is prepping at the weekends because my weekdays, when I get back from work sometimes, if it's late and it's dark, and then I've got to get the kids from school and then I'm rushed off my feet. So I'm trying to do their homework at the same time as cook, at the same time as get them changed or tidy up.

23:14And then it's bedtime. If I hadn't prepped anything, I would just not be hitting these goals. I feel like the work-life balance we have in this country is so backward because we just haven't prioritized the opportunities. And like we said, with women being in the workforce at the same time as men, who is there doing the home stuff. I know. So 62 % of 30 to 45 year olds in full-time work say weekday dinners or a daily stress. Yeah. 64 % of UK adults say lack of time stops them from cooking healthy meals at home. So I think if that is you, just know you are clearly in the majority here, but I just think it's really telling.

23:51And I think that is a big question and interesting one to think about how we answer collectively is like, how do we get everyone feeling empowered and excited and looking forward to cooking as something that they enjoy and something that can be a positive in the day which is so difficult it is but everybody listening let's keep sharing things we've enjoyed tips we're taking home i think ella and i have some ideas which might help on inspiration and keeping you motivated as well but just a little note i really want to say that if you are under 50 or even over 50 you just notice changes in your bowel movements please go to your GP.

24:23Please do not leave it. Anything that's not normal, that's not usual, that's not right, they will not be annoyed with you. Just book that appointment and please get checked, especially any bleeding. Get checked. Do you remember there was that absolutely excellent campaign? It must have been a very long time ago now, which is don't die from embarrassment. Oh, yes. Don't be embarrassed to talk about our poo. Don't be embarrassed to talk about your poo. Which moves us on to something completely different. Thank goodness, Ella, because it was a heavy start. Yeah, let's get positive. This is such a nice one.

24:53And with maybe having a little bit of time off over Christmas, looking to do lovely things with friends and family over the next few months is such a nice one for inspiration, which is going to art galleries can improve our wellbeing. We're going to just do a quick headline on this one, but it's just a lovely reminder again of how, yes, we got to get excited about cooking Tuesday night stir fry, but your healthy habits do sit outside of that. It is a whole lifestyle. And I saw this in the Guardian and it was a study that came out a few weeks ago and it showed that visiting an art gallery and specifically viewing original works and I think the key thing is that is that it's not the same as looking at it on a screen it's going and being absorbed by the art the picture or the painting or the photograph or the sculpture whatever the piece of art is and really absorbing it and they were saying that in that setting in the art gallery setting and just looking at artwork can lower your cortisol also your stress hormones by around 22 % and the people who they were looking at in this it also reduced their key inflammatory markers by almost 30 % so they're going down almost a third it's amazing it's just amazing you know I've never been into art but what I did try recently was frameless in marble arch in London and you can go into these types of art galleries now and for free a lot of the time sometimes the national ones you can go in for free and they've got interactive walls with paintings and music that's playing and that must have the same impact.

26:19So I really just think going out and focusing on something you normally wouldn't like Alice Erdler art, what a beautiful statistic. And I'm sure you'd get something similar from going to listen to lovely carols or to go to a, you know, a kind of Christmassy church service or to go to a lovely play or something. I can't imagine that the impact alone is just from absorbing the artwork. I think it's by being absorbed in something so far away from you and that kind of removes you from your life. And it just feels really like a moment of wow. Yeah. I think those times, you know, we discussed hobbies before, Ella.

26:56If you love going to look at galleries and visit museums, that must be so good for your health. If you love reading, you know, I love singing. Anything you can do for yourself that isn't basically on our phones, isn't it? do you know what it's um so funny i can't sing for the life of me like you literally have never met someone more toned out but everyone can sing it's just people sound different that's what i've always said okay they sound different in my case they sound absolutely horrible but but different i'll take it different horrid but different i think i've said before i've been doing uh therapy the last few months which has been really interesting but the therapist i see is very interested in the nervous system and things like that and she was saying how amazing it is to sing and she said it's so just a kind of liberating and if anyone lives near me they honestly it's absolutely hilarious I'll like go on my dog walk and I'll put my really cheesy playlist in I love like Elton John you know I love Taylor Swift like Lady Gaga I mean I'm really like a cheesy gal and I will just be belting out the hits as I walk with the dogs and it is so amazing you've kind of taken the view oh my gosh I'm loving it I must look insane but there's no one there and who cares it's like well sometimes I go around the corner and someone is there we've all been there and you look around you look oops and I have to say if someone did that in the middle of London you would give them a little bit of a raised eyebrow yeah oh my gosh if I walked around like high park like one of the busiest parks in the world I think it'd be whereas yes I bump into like one or two other dog walkers anyway the only other thing to say on this headline was that the people who were studying the artwork and enjoying the art galleries also reported better mood and a stronger sense of connection so just yeah it's not all about your stuff right it's also about maybe doing something like that on a weekend yeah it's so refreshing we've got to remind ourselves it is that age-old connection isn't it it is trying to fight the modern society we live in and staying connected to what makes human beings human beings which i really exactly really respect get off our screens and do something that inspires us

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