Foods That Boost Your Mood, Optimal Sleep & WTF is Looksmaxxing

30:05But if you're not, that sleep deprived, it's not good. Yeah, it's so interesting. And I think we've seen this so many times before, haven't we, that there is so much to be said in keeping that circadian rhythm, that sleep-weight cycle consistent. and how effective that is for our health. But I just, again, it's this, I think, quite intangible link between the different pillars of our health. And this kind of research is interesting in bringing that to the forefront that I don't think you would necessarily immediately imagine that your sleep would potentially predispose an element of poor blood sugar control and therefore put you, I mean, many other things must take place as well to get type 2 diabetes, of course.

30:45But it's just a really interesting and very tangible example about the different pillars of our health and how they all interlinked. And there's no point getting so het up about one and ignoring the other, which I think is our predisposition in the world of health and wellness. Especially with wearable tech and different programs and apps emerging everywhere. It's so easy to get really fixated on one area. Yeah, we're going to talk about that next week, actually, because there's some new research that just came out around the stress that some wearable tech is causing, which is really interesting.

31:14Anyway, I'm going to write that out for next week or the week after. I can't remember. It's coming. Let's make sure that we get that one in there because remember our gut bacteria also thrive on a circadian rhythm. And that's why when we cross two different time zones or we're jet lagged, we experience digestive discomfort and bowel movement changes as well. So really, I think our bodies, we do like routine, even though we pretend we don't and we want to change that routine and we fight against it, perhaps our health is really dependent on more frequent regular wake-ups and a set regime. It makes sense when I think of my children, Ella.

31:49They're much better if they've had certain wake windows and then certain sleep windows. Exactly. And all of your endocrine system, which is controlling all your hormones, all of that is coordinated in your circadian rhythm. So that internal clock in your brain, don't get obsessive about it again, because that's not helping anyone, but you are very, very likely to feel much, much better if most days of the year you go to bed and wake up around the same time.

32:25You didn't start a business just to keep the lights on. You're here to sell more today than yesterday. You're here to win. Lucky for you, Shopify built the best converting checkout on the planet. Like the just one tapping, ridiculously fast acting, sky high sales stacking, championed checkouts. That's the good stuff right there. So if your business is in it to win it, win with Shopify. Start your free trial today at Shopify.com slash win. So good, so good, so good. Spring styles are at Nordstrom Rack stores now and they're up to 60 % off. Stock up and save on Rag & Bone, Madewell, Vince, All Saints, and more of your favorites.

33:08How did I not know Rack has Adidas? Why do we Rack? For the hottest deals. Just so many good brands. Join the Nordic Club to unlock exclusive discounts, shop new arrivals first, and more. Plus, buy online and pick up at your favorite Rack store for free. Great brands, great prices. That's why you Rack. You all know me. I'm about adding more in. not cutting things out, no fads, no diets, just evidence and transparency. And right now in the UK, everyone, 96 % of us, that's 96 % are not getting enough fiber. It's one of the lowest figures in the world and I couldn't ignore it. So we've spent years obsessing over protein and other trends.

33:49And I'm delighted to share that after a year in the making, my new book, the fiber formula is available to purchase. I have answered every question from gut health and energy, cancers and heart disease to aging skin longevity and even microplastics. Built on over a decade of clinical research, it gives you my fiber formula. 30 grams of fiber a day, 30 different plants a week, 30 chews and 30 minute meals plus 60 delicious minimally processed recipes to make it doable. I've done the hard work. So the protein, fiber and plant points are all laid out for you. So the fiber formula is out now, everyone.

34:31If you head to the link in the show notes, you can purchase it from any bookstore or on Amazon. And I'd love to hear your feedback. Let me know how you get on. And it moves us on to our third headline today, which sadly is huge and I'm sure has affected. Everybody knows somebody affected, but one in four breast cancer deaths are linked to lifestyle factors such as diet. Again, important to raise Ella, because I don't think most people are aware your diet can impact breast cancer. And the subheader was essentially the biggest risks are, as we've discussed before, red and processed meats and smoking.

35:06Researchers say as the global rates are rising. Yeah, you know what, whenever we're putting in research and topics like this into the briefs, I always, and I think we both have this moment of like, oh gosh, you know, hesitation. Yeah. Hesitation. Cause I don't want anyone ever to listen to anything we say and feel a sense of guilt or upset or responsibility or anything in that sense that's inherently incredibly negative. And yet, you know, I do feel on the flip side, a sense of responsibility to share the information because I think, as you said, Ria, a second ago, like so few of us are aware of the link between so many of these different facets of health and our day-to-day decision-making.

35:52And equally, I don't want you to go around absolutely terrified of everything you eat, but equally, I do think it's important that we are aware of this and that we have a collective education around the impact of our lifestyle and our health, because it's not right. And I think I feel that quite strongly that it's wrong that we have had such a shift over the last few decades you know particularly over the last 20 or 30 years in our lifestyles in our diets in our chronic sleep deprivation our stress all the rest of it and yet we're not necessarily aware of the impact that that has i think you're right so we were going to bring this article with compassion and kindness as always and just also remember last year we discussed alcohol as an increasing risk for breast cancer so essentially again living a healthy lifestyle, reducing alcohol, reducing red and processed meats.

36:41And this new global analysis was published in The Lancet Oncology. It was led by researchers at the Uni of Washington. It examined breast cancer cases and deaths between 1919-2023. So we've got really recent research here and it used data from more than 200 different countries. So we've got cultural diversity included there. And the same data set was also used to model projections. So they're going to predict what they think is going to happen in 2050. And it did find that 28 % of all healthy years lost to breast cancer are associated with these six lifestyle factors. So we've got red and processed meat consumption, smoking, high blood sugar, obesity, alcohol, and physical inactivity.

37:27And of those, the red meat consumption had the largest impact of all of those factors, actually, which was linked to nearly 11 % of all life loss compared next to tobacco at 8%. So I think it really does reinforce Ella, the need for us all to focus more on plants and fiber again, and a healthy, balanced, flavanol-rich diet. Everything's linking in very nicely here. And then again, with factors like high blood sugar and obesity, I think when you look at this bit together, again, that's just reinforcing this growing understanding, and really talks about it a lot, but that metabolic health, and maybe in a sec, actually, we should have a definition of what that is, because I think that's something you hear about all the time, plays a really big role, not just in breast cancer risk, but in cancer risk overall.

38:12So essentially, the metabolic health is your pathway inside your body. And it's defined as the body's ability to efficiently convert food into energy, which maintains healthy blood sugar and blood pressure and cholesterol and waist circumference. So your foundation is to be overall well. It influences our immunity, our chronic disease risk. So how we process nutrients in our body is the indicator of our metabolic health. And that's impacted by our sleep, our diet, our activity, our stress, all the things we discuss on here. Exactly that. And so I think what they, as I understood it from reading up on this, What the authors of this research really were trying to get across as well is that this is a rising issue and the scale is growing.

39:03It's significant. And in 2023, there are an estimated 2.3 million new breast cancer cases worldwide and very sadly, 764 ,000 deaths. And this is projected, according to this data, to increase to 3.5 million cases. so that's a 1.2 million rise and 1.4 million deaths by 2050 so I think the key here is it is highlighting a really substantial future risk if current trends continue and breast cancer is already the leading cause of cancer death for women globally and there are big shifts that are happening again as we've seen and we've talked about in things like bowel cancer in younger age groups. And so while breast cancer remains more common in women over 55, the rates of breast cancer in those aged between 20 and 54 have risen by 29 % since 1990.

39:57And on the flip side, rates in old women haven't changed substantially. So the huge increase in cases is actually coming from younger generations. And what the suggestion here is, and it's so important to say, of course not all cases are lifestyle related not in any shape or form but the concern is that the growth in this is the reason we're seeing the growth is because of changing lifestyle and environmental factors across generations and it links to the fact that our childhood obesity rates are also rising like we said so those children are going to grow up more predisposed to different cancers so that's why it's impacting younger generations because our lifestyles just on not helping.

40:38And in the UK already about one in seven women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. So it is common and it might be one of the most researched cancers, which we're grateful for, but it takes us to keep discussing this to make sure that we remember that we can do some things within our control. And that is to help spread the message that patterns over time really do help. So essentially it highlights the significant proportion of the burden that's preventable. And that means watching your overall dietary pattern. So thinking about what we discuss on the wellness group, all the fiber, all the flavanols, the different plant points.

41:14Can we swap that red meat for a fillet of fish or some tofu or some beans and pulses? Then our body weight and metabolic health. This is a very emotive issue, I feel, whenever we discuss body weight. And it's not simple. We're going to discuss it later again when we move on to our trend of look maxing but you've got to have a body that works well for you at whatever shape or size that is looking at your blood sugar regulation is directly correlated with your body weight as well and your dietary pattern so just have a think and re can i just add in there what we're not talking about is a completely flat line because i think this is one of the big issues i certainly find in the blood sugar conversation is that it's really important in that we, and as this illustrates, we talk about blood sugar control, but now we've talked about it in a way where we're scared of bananas.

42:01And we've got to see where we need to actually look at it. And just to kind of explain that is that what you don't want to be having is that constant rollercoaster cycle. You know, you've just had nothing to eat for a long time. And then you have, I'm just being flippant, two Mars bars and your blood sugar is going to really spike because it's a lot of sugar you don't have much fiber or healthy fats you know to slow that down proteins and that and then it's going to crash yeah i don't want you to fear fruit so you know eating items like fruit that contain fructose and fiber when you eat which is the gentle rise in blood sugar right like a bowl of porridge with whole milk or some greek yogurt some almonds some berries it will rise a bit that's really normal and then it will fall slowly what you're trying to do is like gentle, lovely, rolling waves.

42:50It doesn't need to be a flat line, but you want gentle waves, not tsunamis. Yes, gentle waves, no tsunamis. And the thing is that blood sugar is not just impacted by our diet, it's impacted by our stress levels, our cortisol response, it's impacted by our sleep, you'll have elevated levels. So it's natural that it peaks and troughs with our diet and our lifestyle factors. But like Ella said, the tsunamis really come from poor dietary habits and sedentary lifestyles more so and a lot of stress than someone that's pretty regulated most of the time. Physical activity, I mean, I've been so poor at it the last few weeks, very poor, not really walking, not really moving.

43:28And, you know, I do feel it. We all need to do a bit more there and smoking and alcohol exposure. So again, just living your best healthy life in whatever way you possibly can get that little walk in, do your fart walk after lunch or whatever it is, your hot girl walk, let's call it that instead. That will help. Reduce risk factors on a light hearted note. Completely. And the co-senior author, Dr. Mary, gave a quote that is exactly that. She said, with more than a quarter of the global breast cancer burden linked to six modifiable lifestyle changes, there are tremendous opportunities to alter the trajectory of breast cancer risk for the next generation.

44:07Targeting the known risk factors through public health policies and making healthier choices more accessible while working with individuals to take action to reduce obesity and high blood sugar is crucial to halting the rise in breast cancers worldwide. Yeah, so ultimately some takeaways I think from the piece is that there is no single cause of cancer, especially breast cancer. Just remember that we are in control of the risk factor. So the risk factor is your lifestyle and you can lower the risk. You can't completely say, oh, there will be people that have lived a very healthy lifestyle and will also get breast cancer.

44:42And I think it's really important to say that there are always anomalies, but you can lower your overall risk. And, you know, this has impacted me personally. I'm sure it has lots of people. We all know someone we've sadly lost to this cancer or has it. And what we need to do is a balanced plant forward diet, support our metabolic health and those not tsunamis, as Ella said. You want those little peaks and troughs, that little wave. get moving. And if you're smoking and drinking a lot of alcohol, I think everyone knows that's not the best decision.

45:15And now we promised you looks maxing. So we are going to dive into that for our trend. I ended up in a hole on this a few days ago. There's a guy, we're going to talk about him in a sec called Clavicula. He is the biggest looks maxer influencer on the internet. I would say, look him up if you can right now before we start talking about this because he kind of emulates everything about this but he's had this huge piece in GQ in the New York Times and clavicular is named after the clavicle so like the sticky outy bone exactly um below your shoulder so I've always had a rather protruding clavicle it's just my genetic makeup but I find this so bizarre honestly I find the whole thing so disturbingly um why are the New York Times profiling him it kind of frustrates me.

46:02I don't even know where to start with this. We should talk about this now or in a minute, but just on that, this was one of my, and I'm so curious what our listeners think when we get to the end of the segment, this is one of my big bugbears with this. Okay. Which is that I feel if this was a woman then, and we are seeing this in the press a lot at the moment, there's a lot of very, very, very famous female celebrities who the theory goes are taking various different weight loss drugs and they are currently so so so so so so so thin there is a lot of discourse online about that being a bad example about these people you being sharing dangerous and body ideals this is awful we can't return back to that which of course is true there is truth elements in that as well regardless of body size or shape there's so much truth in that but why are the women i know being criticized and they they should be criticized in that sense this is a bad example.

46:57It is a bad example. But we seem to have the men setting bad examples. They're not being praised, but they're not being called out, dismantled in that they're more kind of a curious conversation. And I find that really problematic. Men's body image has never been subjected to the same degree of scrutiny as females have done. And equally, I don't think anybody's discussing manosphere as a disordered eating pattern whereas to me it screams it. I think this is exactly it it's with women we're looking at them saying they're terrible examples they have eating disorders we should not be showing this regeneration of younger women or anybody else with men we're like this is quite funny what they're doing that's how I read the conversation going on online and in the media at the moment when we're talking about kind of females taking weight loss drugs versus men smashing parts of their face as part of looks maxing that we will come on to it also stems into the brian johnson conversation we have quite a few times on the podcast with the drive to appear anti-aging to be forever youthful and fit but that's very different he's not as focused on the aesthetic goals he's focused on aging whereas looks maxing is very focused on a stereotypical traditional image of a lean muscle maxed out male figure like um oh what do they call them the leaders are the alphas the alpha male alpha exactly so if you haven't come across it basically looks maxing it's this very very fast growing trend it's mainly online as these things are these days and it's centered around as we said this idea that you are maximizing to a very extreme degree your physical appearance and it's often looking at things like your jawline eye skin physique of course and scoring them so you've got scores for all these different bits and then you're maxing them so you're trying to systematically improve these various different component parts of yourself how toxic can we just stop there the fact you're scoring your but i could not even imagine why picking yourself apart like that must be soul destroying i just it came from this Manosphere conversation, which is how we got onto it when we were talking about that documentary, but it's been repackaged on platforms like TikTok.

49:13It's going to very young audiences, teenage boys. And it's weird because you have this just like, it's like so much of the kind of wellness health industry. You have what's fine. You know, I'm going to teach you how to go or shy your face. It's a nice moment of self-care. And it's adjacent to like obsessive, compulsive disordered habits, which are inherently bad for you. And it's that difficult kind of, for me, it's that really difficult sliding scale. But essentially, the more I read about this, you have soft maxing and hard maxing as part of looks maxing. So it's a two pronged approach. So your soft maxing is things like your skincare, grooming, posture, it's more obvious things, It's dieting, fitness, calorie control, facial tools, and, you know, like, gua sha or massage or whatever.

50:02So that's more kind of normal-ish, although obviously tipping point of when it's disordered, but it's more normal self-care maximizing appearance, I would say. Then you've got hard maxing. And this is like cosmetic procedures, so hair transplants, jaw surgery, chin implants. there's people saying they've smashed bits of their face um like to remodel re-sculpt oh my gosh it's a lot steroids performance enhancers peptides they're all about loads of peptides we talked about this the other day obviously totally unregulated then extreme dieting and supplements again peptides probably come in there and then kind of quite experimental or unregulated different interventions so it kind of sits similar but not the same as that um really disordered bodybuilding camp you know the competitions where you have to you basically starve yourself and you work on your muscle mass to look a very lean aesthetic just for stage and then you some people say they can do that without having disordered relationships if and there probably are people that's quite rare but for the majority that's very disordered but this is like everyday life it's not even just for a competition this is living and breathing this is just where you're saying aesthetics matter above and beyond anything consistently yeah yeah more than anything and so this is the extreme end but the extreme and and this is also important to say or i think it's important to say is that as we know the way that algorithms work today really to get pickup like mr clavicular where he's now what a name i just can't get over the name yeah there was a um really good episode i think it was called like wtf is clavicular on the rest is entertainment which is how i first came across this a month ago or so and it's like if you are extreme you do get this extraordinary pickup these days and so the extreme that they're doing here is bone smashing so that's deliberately hitting facial bones in attempt to change the structure of your face and then as i was looking on some of this up and i was like putting in what people say is medical consensus is clear that this leads to fractures, tissue damage and scarring, not aesthetic improvements, just for a disclaimer.

52:15Invasive cosmetic procedures, as we said, things like jaw surgery, facial implants, limb lengthening surgery, some of them have done. And these are not people who need limb lengthening surgery. Because if you're an amputee, like a double amputee, a single amputee, whatever, you embark upon different things to help that work. This is not what we're talking about. This is not what we're talking about. We are talking about this is purely to look a certain way. Yeah, this is you're a six out of 10 and you need to be a 10 out of 10. I mean, it's so concerning. What even is a 10 out of 10 to the person's eye?

52:44All of this as well, underneath it all, who's it for? The likes and clicks online. And then that doesn't actually mean anything in real life. But then it's to make loads of money because then you're selling it to teenage boys, like be like me, look like me, follow this plan to do that. My boys never, ever see anything like this online. They're so innocent. I cannot, I cannot even get my head around it. And also they do things like excessive chewing to alter their facial structure. something called mewing which is tongue positioning to reshape the jaw the jaw seems to be a really important part of lux maxing like having a really angular um jaw guys you've got to google clavicular have you have you looked him up ray yes did you know but in psychology and this takes me way back to my a levels because i picked psychology it's one of my subjects i remember looking at attraction and we were taught this i don't actually question why we were taught this and apparently women are more drawn to men with a stereotypical jawline.

53:40I don't think any of this is true. And men are more drawn to women with a heart shaped face or a round like face. And that's psychology. I can't remember the theorist that coined that one. It's not Freud or something like that. But I remember in A-level looking at that Ella. So basically, they're leaning off this ancient type of kind kind of philosophy that all men need to look like something out of gladiator film and it's so one-dimensional isn't it because that's not one like an actual relationship it's like oh you have a nice jaw gray that's not going to sustain decades of marriage when you're 90 years old i'm still looking at you for your amazing jawline like it's just not oh my gosh it's wild so yeah mr clavicular his real name is brayden peters he's american and by his own account he began looks maxing at 14 and he started sourcing testosterone and fat dissolving compounds online at that point then he used photoshop to design an ideal version of his face which he's now copied with all these different interventions he was actually expelled from college for possessing testosterone apparently he actually says he thinks he's likely infertile because of his prolonged steroid use and he's also talked about taking things like meth to suppress his appetite so extreme he's publicly endorsed things like bone smashing using a hammer or a fist to alter bone structure i think he's had a double jaw surgery i mean it's yeah i'm not kind of here dismissing a singular person it's he's just very has become the kind of emblem of this movement but it's just so concerning this obsession with aesthetics at the cost of fertility you know it's sort of your genuine health it's so worrying it's this like self-improvement continuum that just starts to really undermine well-being at a certain point look I do not think he's somebody that deserves to be online at all but I think it's very brave of him to speak out to say about the other areas just to give him one little thing there thank you for raising that this has had long-lasting damage on your health because the pursuit to look this way clearly isn't helping the other areas of his life?

55:48Will he actually find someone, be with them if that's what he wants one day? He might not be interested in children, but that's taken away that for him potentially. But if you look at the men that were on the Louis through Manosphere documentary as well, they very much were, I don't know, they were definitely steroid on steroids. You could tell they were probably using steroids, but I don't think they were advertising the bone crushing and all of that's so so extreme but they were definitely leaning towards the kind of body muscle um maximizing and preying on profit and money and look at me i look this way therefore i am superior for sure to anybody else because it was all about how hard they could punch this punch bag and i think it's just obviously it's not a kind of obvious wellness geek topic in some degree.

56:39But I just feel like it's important because ultimately there's such adjacencies between health, wellness, self-care, aesthetics, image. And we've always seen this extraordinary overlap between what is pursuit of health and wellness for genuine like physiological, psychological health, balance, wellbeing, and what is pursuit of health and wellness for aesthetic goals. And I think for all of us, there's an element of overlap between it, you know, for sure. Like I exercise because it makes me feel really good in my mind. I also like, it makes me feel good in my body. Like there's, it's definitely twofold.

57:17And I think that's the case for lots of us, but it's the, the level of overlap feels like it's getting more and more extreme. And I think to me that feels really worrying and such a kind of desperate need to divorce facets of it. I don't know what you think, Rae. It's just shock value here and the deeper meaning underneath it all is that society is still, still completely image obsessed above all areas. But more than ever, because we see our image the whole time. I mean, we're recording online today and like just stared at myself for the last 56 minutes. I'd rather not. Can I add a philosophical element that I also think how fulfilled you are as a person, dictates your drive for pursuit of aesthetic entities as well.

58:04Because, you know, at such a young tender age, you probably, you know, you probably haven't achieved things you're going to go on to achieve yet in life. And I think when there's nothing else to really focus on, but how you look as a currency to survive the modern day world, that's really difficult. And I think that's why it does prey on younger people, particularly because of that reason, how unfulfilled a lot of those men were in the Louis Thru documentary was so interesting because the money clearly wasn't buying them happiness. The only one that slightly had fulfillment was the guy with the family.

58:39He said, my purpose is my kids, this lifestyle. And that was interesting to navigate. But I still, obviously, we didn't agree with all the misogynist things that he believed and said. But yeah, I think as a young teenage boy, impressionable, absolutely horrendous body ideals and role models are becoming fewer and fewer for the younger generations online because the sensible people are not diverse enough to cause extreme in this way to cut through to everybody anymore because the algorithms made it that way. No, of course, I totally agree. And I just as a closing thought, I really, you know, I'm on my Zen drive and all about my mindfulness and all the rest of it this year.

59:17But I do think in my own personal experience, I've always struggled with self-esteem. It's something was incredibly low as a child. And in my teenage years, I was really ill in my early twenties and kind of any shred of self-esteem I had definitely was gone. And I think the, you know, I've, I've tried a big career and a lot of external validation and it didn't fix any of it. And the only thing that has completely rebuilt it is building a relationship fully with myself. And that is through practices like mindfulness and meditation. And they're not magic and they're not going to change anything in 24 hours because nothing can but I think it's so easy in the world we live in today and looks maxing is an extreme example of that to always be looking for external validation and external prompts and cues and and targets and I I agree I just I think ultimately it's all quite fleeting and ultimately the thing that's going to make you feel really happy and that has a really great impact on your overall well-being is ultimately feeling a sense of kind of purpose and peace with yourself and your life.

1:00:21And how difficult is that to attain? Like Ella just said, she went through all of that with the business and all sorts of things, but only more recently have you been able to take the time to actually look at yourself deeply on that level. It's like how for so many people, I just think, you know, we all almost need more guidance, even from a young age at school. They do do it now. Like we said, they do meditation, don't they, in the classes. We need to learn how to look after ourselves and be comfortable within ourselves. And I think it's something that an element has to be taught and an element has to be discovered.

1:00:52Maybe. I don't know. I love it. Everyone, thank you so much for tuning in today. And we cannot wait for you to join us on Thursday for our Extra Scoop. Bye, guys. Have a lovely day. Bye.

1:01:10Spring just slid into your DMs. Grab that boho look for that rooftop dinner, Those sandals that can keep up with you? And hang some string lights to give your patio a glow up. Spring's calling. Ross, work your magic.

1:01:27Hi there, we are James and Dan Tuford of the hit UK podcast, No Such Thing as a Fish. Each week we get around the microphones with our four favourite facts that we've learned over the last seven days and sit down to blow each other's minds. Yeah, here's a fact for you, Dan. in knot theory a circle of rope without a knot is technically a knot but it's called a knot knot very good i go on here as well in 2019 a marathon runner with the words jesus saves written on his bib had a heart attack but was revived by a man called jesus it's amazing if you want to hear more facts like that search for no such thing as a fish wherever you get your podcasts