How to Beat a Cold & The World’s Healthiest Diet

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1:01welcome to the wellness scoop your weekly dose of health and wellness inspiration and as always we are here as your hosts i'm ella mills and i'm rianna lambert and after a decade in the wellness industry we know how overwhelming and confusing health advice can be and that's why we created this podcast to cut through the noise and make healthier living simple fun and personal well welcome everyone happy monday if you're listening when this comes out we are thrilled as always to be here today um we had such amazing feedback again still coming through on our episode on azempic and weight loss drugs so thank you again so much for listening it feels like these q and a's those weekly episodes are really cutting through and making such a big difference so reminder if you want us to talk about any headline any question any trend anything at all please comment on apple or on iTunes, podcasts, or just send it straight to me, ella at deliciousieella.com.

1:58We love hearing from you guys. We really do love hearing from everyone. It just picks my mood up, Ella, you know, because sometimes you have difficult weeks and you can be so busy and it really does help, doesn't it, to have the wellness cube, guys. So, Ella, what do we have coming up in today's show? Okay, we're going to be talking about the diet that could save 40 ,000 lives a day. Should we be worried about all the supplements that we're taking? Is there such a thing as too many supplements? What actually works for beating a cold as we head into cold and flu season? The truth about immune boosting routines and wellness and why supermarket fear mongering just will not go away.

2:42So Ella, it has been a crazy busy week. What have you been up to? What have I been up to? There's been so much going on. I almost can't really remember us and it's a blur. Birthday parties. Yeah, a birthday party. We had Elsa from Frozen. Do you know, I used to do those gigs in the summer holidays. Did you? I used to dress up as Elsa in a wig and sing Let It Go. Oh my gosh, it was so fun. She turned five, our youngest daughter, and so was like all her little pals from reception and they had the best time with Elsa. It was so sweet and I think we obviously had this like idealised view of moved to the country, but then we had her godmother there and her children and her cousins and some of her new friends from school and they were running around the garden and afterwards and that we had a bouncy castle and it was just heaven and very kind of validating that we made the right decision.

3:32We also did a great event in the John Lewis, one of the John Lewis shops to celebrate the new collaboration and there's over 60 products in the Deliciousie Ella John Lewis collaboration and the thing I was fixated on when I first started speaking to them two years ago is as probably anyone who's ever heard me talk before knows I'm obsessed with batch cooking it's really my like inner granny an old lady coming out maybe right there but I just find we were talking about it before we started recording like our intentions to eat well are high but the amount of food noise around us in terms of just how many not particularly healthy foods are literally inundated in your face all day every day.

4:12It's not easy. And then you throw in emotional stress, overwhelm, exhaustion, and making healthy choices. It's just not straightforward. Whereas when I've batch cooked and I get home at the end of the day and I have something delicious that's ready to go, it just makes all the difference. And so I wanted nice freezer storage, basically, long story short, instead of freezer bags, obviously for plastic and in sustainability, microplastic issue, but also just so I understood what I actually had. So we did the silicon freezer to storage and all the products there are bestseller amazing so everyone has an inner old lady coming out but you know what I think that times are changing and the batch cooking lady is becoming the young lady too yeah we're all in it together we're all in it anyway I was just absolutely thrilled of everything that's our number one it's a shift it's a shift isn't it things are changing what about you it was crazy I don't think I recapped on what happened in France because I sat on this amazing panel with the heads of the scientific community from this very large food company and everybody had flown in.

5:17People from Singapore were there. I met other nutritionists and dieticians from Brazil who came over to say hello to me after I'd done my speech. It was the most overwhelming day. But what we were learning about was the impact that AI is now having on the gut microbiome. And there's a new lab that's opened in Paris called the One Biome lab by Danone. And they have leading research in the world. I mean, Danone even own certain strains of bacteria. So the discovery of Acomensia, this one strain of gut bugs that comes out almost like a garbage truck at the end of the day and clears away, you know, the bad and keeps the good.

5:51And they're going to be adding that to probably products later on. I met and was sat next to Wilhelm, who discovered Acomensia. For me, as a nutritionist, it was a very geeky moment. I was sat next to this guy that discovered a gut strain. And Andrea on my panel works in the Singapore lab. And they're looking at AI twins. So this could change the face of not just gut health, but also cancer research. Because if we are able to use laboratories to create identical microbiomes of ourselves or versions of ourselves in testing, it means that research can go to the next level. We don't have to use human participation.

6:28And this also could stem a lot further because I also attended an event with Eat Well Global last week on AI and the nutrition industry, on animal testing, on makeup products, for instance. Why are we still testing on animals in 2025? And with AI technology, we can basically help the environment, help research. I'm very passionate about it. I learned a lot. It's really exciting. I think also there's so much nervousness around AI. And so having these like positive stories is also lovely. The only positive thing I can think of, but I really like it. I feel like we all need positivity at the moment.

7:03When I look at people's questions and comments, there is so much of, I've lost my motivation now that it's dark and cold and I feel you. I think we all do. So we're going to try and make this really positive. We are. One positive thing everybody can do to feel better is donate any cereal boxes, cans you've got to your food banks. This is the time of year where we're all collecting. It's kind of harvest time. Pop down to your local supermarket. they often have food bank charities there and any cans that you've got beans pulses lentils anything take it to your food bank it's like a feel-good deed we did it yesterday for the harvest festival the kids school did you see that cereal box run that that school did that's going viral yeah like a domino domino effect of cereals going through the school

7:47okay right the health headlines that matter so if you're new here this is the section where we break down the biggest health stories that are making news, the things you guys have read about, might be wondering how it fits into your life. And Rhi, on the agenda this week, we have got something huge, which is a new planetary health diet that could save 40 ,000 lives a day across the world. So this is a new landmark report that has just come out and it's huge. We mentioned it briefly last week and said we would do a deep dive this week. So here we go. Here we go, everybody. It is absolutely imperative that we have research that shows us how to support our changing world.

8:22Now, I can't be the only one that feels a bit of climate anxiety. I think that's definitely a thing. We cannot deny the fact of global warming, although I know there are people that deny that out there. But the research was produced by 70 leading experts from 35 countries and six continents. And it builds on the Eat Lancet report that I actually used extensively to write the science of plant-based nutrition. encyclopedia. And that came out back in 2019. And what we have is a diet that supports biodiversity for the world, tackles the climate crisis, and roughly a third of global greenhouse gas emissions you see are caused by deforestation, wildlife loss, water pollution, all because of our diets.

9:06And research is really clear that unless we change the way we eat, we are not going to be helping the planet. It's not just down to China or America. It is everybody and how we see the world of food. And I think the important thing here is it's coupled with then how do we improve our health? Obviously, as we've talked about a lot, we have a collective global crisis with our health as well in terms of what our diets look like. And that what the Lancet are doing here in their second report following as we said, the one from 2019, is trying to find the planetary health diet. So what is the diet that is healthiest for us as people and to prevent us from getting the kind of the most common diseases, but also extend our health span, which is so important, and at the same time support the planet and climate change.

9:57And I think the key thing here that came out from this report is the planetary health diet could, as we said, prevent around 40 ,000 early deaths every single day. I know. Which we're talking about is 280 ,000 deaths a week. So over a quarter of a million deaths a week, a million deaths a month or so. I mean, these numbers are absolutely huge in terms of the effect it could have. But whilst doing that, it would also roughly half food related climate emissions by 2050, which is really saying those accounts are such a huge part of the total greenhouse gas emissions. So this is something that is so beneficial for everybody, everything, everything that lives on this world, essentially.

10:39And I think it's really extraordinary how they've brought all of these experts together from around the world to find what is the genuine solution. And I think we live in a world where we're always looking at problems, we're always looking at the negatives, we're always like, these are all the issues that we have. This is an actual solution. And to me, we'll go more into what it means. But it's like, how on earth do we get people to adopt this or adopt it most of the time because it's pretty reasonable in what it asks of us. I mean I thought it was in 2019 as well and I was really excited when that one came out and I equally am for this as well because it all works as a big wheel everyone listening in COGS.

11:14We discuss UPFs, that is a reason our food environment's not great as well, you know the amount of those. That also has a knock-on effect on the environment and what we're talking about here with the planetary diet is more whole foods and actually what Professor Walter Willett who is an absolute legend from Harvard, he was another co-chair he describes it as it's not a deprivation diet and I think Ella's right with looking at positive things because often the media like I said with Nanny State they pick up on anything like this that's actually positive and going to drive change and try and find a negative spin on it in order to draw attention to it because negative news spreads six times faster than positive news and we know that for a fact so he said it's not a deprivation diet this is something that could be delicious, aspirational and healthy.

12:00It allows for cultural diversity and individual preferences, which provides flexibility. So once again, it leads back Ella, doesn't it, to the same things we're discussing all the time, which is more fruit and veg, try and get at least five a day, whole grains, nuts, legumes. But the things that are different is that dairy is just one serving a day. So you choose between having your yogurt or your cheese or your milk. And what's interesting is that actually goes against current advice we have in the UK for children, which says three servings a day. And I think we need to readdress these because they're very outdated.

12:40Eggs, three to four per week. Chicken, two portions a week. Fish, two portions a week. Red meat, once a week, which is what I've always said to my clients. So basically around three portions of animal produce a week. Most people are consuming three a day. And Rhi, you noted at the top, obviously it includes fruit, veg, whole grains, nuts, legumes. But interestingly, as you said, chicken, for example, they're saying two portions a week, fish, two portions a week. Legumes, so that's your chickpeas, butter beans, black beans, lentils, etc. One portion a day. I know. Which is very different. Because it's protein and fibre.

13:15Exactly. Nuts one portion a day as well. Whole grains three to four portions a day. Fruit and veg at least five portions a day. So this is just a kind of re-tipping. What it's not saying is you must become vegetarian or you must become a vegan or you must never do X, Y or Z again. But what it's saying is we need to readdress the balance. And I think, interestingly, what it also showed is that people in the US and Canada eat seven times the red meat allowance that this is proposing, which is the one portion a week, as you said, Rhi. In Europe and Latin America, we eat five times more and in China, four times more.

13:48If we all shifted closer to the levels they're recommending, the one portion a week. So, for example, in Europe, we cut down by a huge amount because we're eating five times too much. alongside introducing more sustainable farming and cutting down on food waste. The reminder of food waste was a country. It would have the same global greenhouse gas emissions from food as China. It's a really big problem. But emissions would then cut by half by 2050. So it's in our power. And I think this is a bit that I just find so interesting. It's like the other co-chair of the commission, Professor Johan Rockstrom, said what we put on our plates can save millions of lives, cut billions of tons of emissions, half the loss of biodiversity and create a fairer food system, which is obviously very important.

14:27The evidence is undeniable. Transforming food systems is not only possible, it's essential to securing a safe, just and sustainable future for all. And I read it and I feel this just like burning passion to be like, let's do this. It's not, I don't want to say it's not that hard because as we know there are financial implications, economic issues, we know how difficult the food environment is, but it's not a diet in the sense of the word diet, like Atkins diet, Dukin diet, keto diet, these fad diets with dogmatic strict rules. This is a gentle guideline for the rest of your life on how to support the planet and your health in a way that benefits you and everybody else, which I think is like a very reasonable way to meet people.

15:06I remember being so excited in 2019 thinking my book's going to change the world, a science and plant-based nutrition. And then I just felt like the government didn't even listen to the Eat Lancer report. I agree. I remember when that report came out in 2019 and I thought this will change the world as well I remember thinking right this is from the Lancet like the kind of most respected or one of the most respected medical journals from some of the most respected professors researchers scientists from some of the most respected institutions all around the world and they're coming together saying look guys this is a reasonable request and yet it literally feels like nothing's ever landed on deaf ears more and I can't quite figure out to some extent why.

15:51Is it money? Is it animal agriculture industry that isn't driving or obviously not wanting this change? Because we have to remember the food poverty aspect as well. This has to come from government because currently at the moment, the wealthiest 30 % of the world's population generate more than 70 % of the food related environmental damage. So just take that in for a second. And then 2.8 billion people can't afford a healthy diet and 1 billion are undernourished. Exactly. Despite, and I think this is a really important thing to take in, and this whole point of how do we create a system that works for everybody, despite the fact that there is enough food being produced globally for everyone.

16:29And I think that's a really, really important point. They're also quick in this report to point out that the food system that we have as a global issue is failing. As we know, about 1 billion people live with obesity now. in the economic cost of poor diets and environmental harm is estimated at 15 trillion trillion not billion trillion dollars a year and transforming i think this is important as well transforming the system would require 200 to 500 billion annually so it's an expensive thing to do but it would save about five trillion in the long term and obviously prevent those millions and millions of deaths can't even work out how many zeros are in trillion that isn't it it's just awful to think it's just so overwhelming isn't it yeah so unsurprisingly obviously when this report came out it called for wide-scale policy reform to address all these imbalances the thing i would say is that we obviously every week sit here and we look at like what are the headlines what are our listeners seeing and might feel like they want cleared up or have clarity from how do we kind of cut through the clickbait and create actionable change for people i didn't really see anything on this i was going to say.

17:35I don't think it had any pickup whatsoever. I don't think it had any major headlines this time around, whereas in 2019 it did. I literally didn't see anything. How disappointing that it's not even Joe's killer bar got way more traction than this humongous, amazing research that came out from The Lancet. It's such a good point on that. And in terms of our desire to create kind of negative clickbait, you know, there's a headline I read yesterday, and it was like, Joe Wicks saved us in lockdown. Can we trust him now? It's just all this kind of quite like stirring the pot, quite, yeah, clickbaity.

18:09Actually, the article wasn't negative, but the clickbaity headline is obviously inherently negative and wanting you to click on it to see, can you trust him? I saw AI generated images of it. Oh my gosh. And then you have this, which is like, okay, guys, this is how we save lives, how we support the planet and how we totally transform our collective health in a way that feels like a reasonable shift for the long run and it gets no attention whatsoever? Well, I've got something positive to bring to the table. So my friend and colleague, Rosie, Rosie Martin, she is the most incredible dietitian and she was there at Stockholm.

18:46She said there were even discos at the end. They were really trying to get the mood of all the participants up that were there on the day to say we can make a change. When they launched the report. When they launched it, she was there for several days to hear all of the information. And I've got a voice note from her recapping her experience. This month, we saw the release of the 2025 Eat Lancet Commission update launched in Stockholm and reported on around the world. It builds on the landmark 2019 report, which asked a really important question. How can we feed 10 billion people a healthy diet by 2050 without destroying the Earth's systems that sustain us?

19:24Because what many people don't know is that our food system is now the biggest driver of environmental damage and it's responsible for about 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. But the good news is that by changing what we eat we could cut those emissions in half, protect the planet's land, waters and biodiversity and prevent up to 15 million premature deaths every year. The report sets out what's called the planetary health diet, a flexible mostly plant-based way of eating that looks different around the world depending on things like culture and cuisine. It's shown as a circle, kind of like a plate, divided into proportions representing each food group.

20:06Behind this update were 70 experts from six different continents who reviewed new evidence across health, climate, biodiversity and also justice. So it included things like fair pay for food workers and also making healthy food affordable for everyone. And wherever you look, the pattern seems to be the same. We're not eating enough fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts or whole grains, and we're actually eating far too much meat, dairy, sugar and relying too heavily on ultra processed foods. So the message from the report is simple. To protect both human and planetary health, our diets need to become mainly plant-based with optional, moderate amounts of animal foods and less added sugar, salt and saturated fat.

20:54At the launch in Stockholm, I guess what struck me most was this feeling of urgency, but also a feeling of hope. So the way that we've eaten for the past 50 years won't continue. Either we actively change the food system for the better, or we do nothing and nature will unfortunately change it for the worse, putting food security at risk worldwide. The hopeful part is that the window for change is still open. But we need to move fast and we need to work together. So governments, producers, educators, and all of us who make choices every day about what we put on our plate. The 2019 report faced a lot of industry pushback, but the evidence is robust and since then it's actually only become stronger.

21:38A global shift towards plant-rich diets, alongside less waste and more efficient food production is essential if we want a healthy and livable future. And the key message from Stockholm was that we all have a role to play in creating a food future that allows both people and the planet to thrive. Honestly, Rosie, thank you so, so much for sharing that. And obviously in such a concise way, because we really can make a change. And I think we should all wellness scoopers everybody listening to this podcast let us spread this news try and really take note that you can still enjoy your favorite foods and items but what about those that one can of beans a day it's like i say in the fiber formula book it is just one extra portion a day of beans and making small swaps a hundred percent so we could include in the show notes if it's helpful what the specific recommendations are but as we said it's basically less meat less dairy products, more legumes, more whole grains, more nuts, more fruit and veg.

22:39Which will save you a fortune in your shopping basket every week. Yeah. And you'll be one of the 4 % of people in the country who get their fiber recommendations. So you will be winning all around.

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23:17When did making plans get this complicated? It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the secure messaging app that brings the whole group together. Use polls to settle dinner plans. Send event invites and pin messages so no one forgets mom's 60th. And never miss a meme or milestone. All protected with end-to-end encryption. It's time for WhatsApp. Message privately with everyone. Learn more at whatsapp.com. Okay, the next headline is, I don't know why it really made me laugh. Re-found it. I was so excited when I saw it because it kind of justifies everything I've always said. It does. And look, we've talked about this a lot and I thought it was really interesting.

23:56It comes from the New York Times and the headline was, A plea from doctors, call it on the supplements. and obviously this was taken from the New York Times so it was doing it from an American perspective but we've obviously got some stats from the UK that we've got as well. It said, as Americans take more gummies, pills and powders than ever, physicians are trying to convince patients to be a little bit more careful at a time when supplement use is at record levels with well over half of US adults taking at least one a day. Doctors are sounding the alarm about the risks of overuse, interactions and poor regulation.

24:28Now I looked it up And about half of UK adults also take supplements on a regular, if not daily basis. So it's essentially the same landscape here. And globally, the dietary supplement market, again, a few different figures, but this was, I felt, the most accurate, was valued at about$192 billion in 2024, projected to reach just over$400 billion by 2033. So this is a booming industry. If I could whistle, I would. I wanted to do it. I was like, can't whistle. You want to do the like, whoop, whoop. Yeah, I was like, whoop. Yeah, I wonder, listeners, like nod along or put a thumbs up. Like, do you take a supplement a day?

25:07But then I guess it's tricky, isn't it? Because if you were a vegan, you want to be taking your B12. It's winter, so we kind of want you all to be taking your vitamin D. That's different, I think. If you don't eat lots of oily fish, then you want to be taking your omega-3. So we're not really talking about those like many. Collagens, creatines, gummies, herbal ashwagandhas. Do you know what? I was with someone on the weekend. They were like, yeah, there's a place near us. They're selling a hot chocolate, like a collagen hot chocolate for seven pounds. Do you think it works? I was like, you know what?

25:40If it gives you a break for a moment, then that works. But for seven pounds, that hot chocolate is not going to transform your life. I was telling Ella, because Ella very kindly got me a lovely matcha before. We were having a little chat on the way to the podcast. She said, oh, my mum popped in at the weekend and she sat down next to me and she said, I just don't understand why everyone's taking all these packets of powder. And I was like, what do you mean, mum? She's like, oh, you know, should I be taking collagen now? She goes, what even is it? And I was like, well, it's fish scales ground down into a powder every morning if you're going for the marine or it's cartilage from an animal.

26:17She goes, what? People are adding that to their smoothies every morning. But I think we are so detached from what these powders are and where they come from that even with limited evidence it just is so unbelievably popular it's exactly that and that's exactly what this article was talking about the new york times they're reporting that essentially supplement use has become nearly universal in lots of parts of society from multivitamins to herbal remedies and doctors really remain very very cautious as you've heard us say probably quite a lot of times and clinicians are now often seeing patients taking very long lists of pills and powders with limited oversight.