Psyllium Husk, The Cost of Over-Optimising & Health Hacks

0:00When you want your spring break to feel like and your kid's pool day to feel like and your hotel bed to feel like and room service to feel like because at Hilton, hospitality feels like Your cabana's ready. Would you like fresh towels? It matters where you stay. Book now at Hilton.com. Hilton. For this day. at blinds.com it's not just about window treatments it's about you your style your space your way whether you diy or want the pros to handle it all you'll have the confidence of knowing it's done right from free expert design help to our 100 satisfaction guarantee everything we do is made to fit your life and your windows because at blinds.com the only thing we treat better than windows is you visit blinds.com now for up to 50 off with minimum purchase plus a professional measure at no cost.

0:58Rules and restrictions apply.

1:02Welcome to The Wellness Scoop, your twice weekly dose of health and wellness inspiration. And as always, we are both here as your hosts of the show. I'm Ella Mills. And I'm Rhiannon Lambert. And today we answer some fantastic questions from you all and share what we're up to each week. So let's do it. First of all, we have so many recommendations from you guys to share today. Rhi, your book is out today. We have to say the Fibre Formula is out in the world today. Congratulations. How is it March the 12th? I actually can't believe that we're here. Thank you so much. And everyone that's sending feedback, oh, you've got it.

1:41I appreciate it so much. So go, go, go. It's out in the world. Yeah, if anyone is trying to kind of increase their plant points, just gently improve their health. Obviously, as you've heard from the show, So fiber is not because Reece written about it. It is such a foundational part of our health. So if you want to learn more, it's an amazing resource. Thanks, Ella. I think it's just a little reminder. It's not just about our digestion. It's about our heart health, our hormone function. It's about reducing risk of cancers, how we age. We can live longer, our skin. So many different factors, but it's all in there.

2:15Ella, have you got any recommendations before we move on to those from our listeners? I mean, it's a lowbrow one, guys, and it's not exactly original. but I binged all four episodes of The End of Bridgerton season four in a day over the weekend, stayed up so late. Oh my gosh, it is so good. I mean, I enjoyed the other seasons, but I wasn't like obsessed with them. I was obsessed with this. Obsessed. Me too. Do you know what? I didn't get into it at first because I thought it was just a direct copy of Cinderella, but then I became hooked. The ending was really, really good. I loved it. And because I think the first season of Bridgerton was sort of slightly like ironic almost.

2:56It was almost a satire. It was sort of slight. Well, I thought it was kind of slightly satirical and kind of ridiculous. And everyone was like, it's such a bonk buster or whatever. But it was like it was a bit much for me. Whereas I really found season four like such an uplifting watch. And, you know, as we said in Monday's episode, the world is a very scary, unstable place at the moment. and these just lighthearted feel good things to end the day on I think they're really important and I just I really really recommend it honestly yeah really good it's nice to have something that's almost like a fantasy period drama just something that's you know obviously really beautifully costume design the set design everything is colorful and bright and romantic and it's yeah lovely.

3:42Rhi what have you got for us? Right well I had a bit of a bit of book drama Ella. This Rebecca Yaros series, I started... The fourth wing series. Fourth wing series, my first ever, what was the genre called again? Romanticy. Romanticy. Okay. So I was hooked. As you all know, I read the first two books in like a week. And then I'd ordered the third book, but really sadly, because it was out of stock on Amazon. Oh my gosh, it's out of stock. It was out of stock. I couldn't get it in my local bookshops. I went into London last week. She's to Hammersmith and I was looking um where's my nearest bookstore anyway I found a version of it online and it came and it was in Italian and I was devastated so that was my oh my gosh that's so disappointing so disappointing but now Onyx Storm has arrived and I got the Waterstones copy I'd ordered and it's a really fancy hardback with beautiful like illustrations on the paper on the site it's like a collector's edition it is and I'm going to start reading it today so everyone that's commented on it because I know so many of you wellness scoopers are also hooked on these series I'm on the Emprium one how many books are there there's so many this series apparently she's going to do I think it was like five books six books so I've got loads to look forward to but she's writing them now oh is this the last available one yeah we've got to wait now for the next one but Margot Robbie was seen on an interview for Wuthering Heights also obsessed with this author but the other one A Court of Thorn and Roses so she's got many different series I don't know how Oh, that's her as well.

5:13Well, that could be, is it Sarah, someone that wrote that one? Yes, A Court of Thorns and Roses. I think it's the same kind of romantic-y genre. Yeah, Sarah J Maas. Yeah, exactly. So I've got that to look forward to as well. Then there's an ACOTAR series or something. I am now officially in this world and I'm a fan, essentially. I'm in the fandom. I can see. You can buy a box of five of The Court of Thorns and Roses paperback box set. The first five books of the hottest fantasy series is how it's felt. Also her book, so Rebecca Yarris is one that I'm reading at the moment, isn't it the most successful book of all time in terms of that genre?

5:49There was a stat, she sold so many copies when it first came out. The most popular trend-setting romanticity books currently dominating the genre are Fourth Wing and Iron Flame and then A Court of Thorns and Roses. You're absolutely right. So I think they're going absolutely wild. Sold over 12 million copies as of January 25. and that was last that imagine how many it sold now 2026 it's absolutely crazy and now we have lovely recommendations from you all and our first is from olivia and she said that ella mentioned about jotting down your 30 plants and notes on your phone well done ella she said so i wanted to recommend a free app i've found called 30 and it has every plant i could think of and more that you log through the week and one it keeps a tally for you and two gives inspiration for more fruits some veg to try.

6:35I thought that was such a good rec. So that's 30. If anyone wants to try a more sophisticated way of keeping tabs on their 30 plants and get some more inspo versus my just very basic notes. So absolutely love that rec. Thank you so much, Livia. And it's so nice getting your recs guys. So please keep them coming. We are hello at wellness-scoop.com. So our first question today comes from Emma and loved this question. She said, well, we have friends over for a catch up, a short kind of chill out is what I'm understanding as to be. I never quite know what snacks to offer. I dream of being a juiciful host.

7:10For drinks, we don't have things like Coke or Pepsi or lemonade, just water, kombucha, teas, coffees, some squash maybe. Snack wise, it's usually mixed nuts and dark chocolate. We don't have cakes or sweet treats. It's rare that I bake though, as my partner and I are much more savoury people, so things might just go to waste. So what would you recommend? I keep in the house at all times for those surprise and hungry guests. I mean, you do sound like the dream host. I've got to say, it sounds like you're already doing a fantastic job. Ella, this is your type of question. I want some more inspo from you, please.

7:43First of all, Emma, I aspire to be like you and be ready to host at the drop of a hat. So I think that's just absolutely fantastic. Personally, for me, I am quite, I would say, a lazy host. I really love having people over I think I said on Monday we had loads of different family over over the weekend and it was so so nice but I am definitely like a simple person you know we had I think there were nine of us on Sunday and I just made like a massive mushroom lasagna with a lovely rocket salad it was quite simple in the sense that I made it all before everyone came but it meant when everyone came it was like all neat and tidy and just pop something in the oven I always do that prep before they come me too I'm not the kind of person that would make like eight different dishes when they come over it just stresses me out and then I'm a bad host because I'm a bit like anyways but what I like if it's more like snacky situation and what I would recommend is doing dips I'm always thinking people are so impressed by dips and obviously you can make a simple hummus it's very easy to do homemade version you're literally like garlic cumin tahini and chickpeas olive oil lemon blitz it all up super super easy but you can make it fancier than that like a quick hummus upgrade so you could add in you know a jar of roasted red peppers for example into that or roasted beetroot I wouldn't do them together so either roast a red pepper one or a beetroot one pink hummus how delightful it's so amazing or the even cleverer thing to do is make one hummus then make a big batch of it pop some of that just a little bowl olive oil on the top maybe a few herbs to garnish it then pine that exactly and then do a second keep the same base recipe but tip in your jar of like flame roasted red peppers and then you have red pepper version as well and that looks so fancy but it's literally the same thing with just one extra thing so i love that because then on the side you can do a few different crudités and again you can do your cucumber and carrot but you could also do something like radishes for example just to like look again a little bit fancy and you can serve with those um i think i did it in the unprocessed plate book if you get wraps if you don't have time you can cut them into triangles glaze of olive oil and just bake them for five minutes and you've made homemade crisps.

9:51Exactly. Or like, yeah, some crackers. I love the Peter's Yard sourdough crackers at the moment. Me too. I've always loved those. Yeah, Matt and I are obsessed with those at the moment. So anyway, but you can do like a really colourful plate. You've got two different coloured dips. You can sprinkle some, yeah, seeds, herbs, et cetera, on the top, a little drizzle of olive oil. And then you'd have colourful veggies, you'd have crackers, you could have some chips, et cetera. And suddenly you've got this like beautiful colorful rainbow spread but I don't think it's going to take you more than 10 minutes to do it but you're going to look like the host of dreams so that's what I would do I love that Ella and you've also mentioned as well one of my favorite dips which obviously I've done a lot of recently is the whipped white bean one you know just blending a jar of butter beans all together I wrote down so many different dip ideas but you know what I like to put on top of that at home is um that hot honey dressing because oh the hot honey I mean it's so easy you just add the honey to the saucepan or a few chili flakes and it is honestly transformative when you drizzle that on top of a dip on the table or something that makes you look yeah that's brownie points yeah the honey that hot honey i've been buying is from a brand called wildebe w-i-l-d-e-r-b-e-w you can buy it in lots of like i found it in a farm shop near us but you can buy i think in waitrose as well anyway oh my gosh it is excellent i put on everything even just like simple you know like make for supper rice and some peas and edamame cooked in the rice and then just some like miso tofu or something and then hot honey over that oh yeah i might have that for lunch today and also if you're sometimes just really scratched for time and you don't have much time i always have in my freezer those margarita pizzas but the brand with no additives emulsifiers crossed across your malika they are such a great brand because i always get those out because you know everyone's going to eat a bit of pizza when they're hungry when you have time then to do other things in the kitchen you can just quickly put that in the oven and it's just a winner to always have a little bit of that as a backup I think.

11:48Do you know I'm really going on a tangent here but you know one thing I've been making for the kids on that which is just a tip pizza pizzas. I love those. Yeah I just do like a little around the crust on them take off the top layer pop tomato sauce and then the kids are veggies so then they have mozzarella in there pop in the oven five minutes later it's ready and it's they are obsessed it's the easiest type one i'm lazy those are my uni afternoon lunches pita pizzas and i used to buy this is so gross but from what i like it but some people might find it really gross i buy a jar of those like caramelized onions i used to go i love caramel yeah the co-op on the corner from my uni used to have it and i would always pop those on with the cheese and the pizza with a bit of goat's cheese and that was just my staple and sometimes I'd add sweet corn to it because it reminds me it reminds me of the pizza express one the padana and that's such a nice pizza so make your pita pizzas padana pizzas I love it but yeah Emma basically I would do like a smorgasbord of colorful crudités beautiful dips and crackery bits to dip in it it can be literally all store cupboard ingredients basically love ready in 10 minutes but it'll look you you will be the host of dreams you aspire to be, I reckon.

13:00I love that so much. So our question number two is from Becca and she said, myself and my sister-in-law, Eleanor, love your podcast. Please can you talk about psyllium husk and the benefits of adding it to your diet? I have seen a lot about it recently. Thank you. Yeah, so we have had so many questions generally on psyllium husk. We promised on Monday's episode we'd talk about it today. Sophia sent a similar question yesterday. I have a question about facilium as a fiber source you mentioned that supplements shouldn't replace a healthy diet but i was wondering if facilium is considered a supplement i eat plenty of veggies and fruits and bury my diet but sometimes i add a bit of facilium to boost my fiber intake and i find it really helps with my digestion i'd love to know your thoughts on this thanks so much for all you do for raising the awareness about various health topics in a way that feels easy to understand and not overwhelming so thanks for that sophia re i'm going to pass this to you because i feel like you're going to be a psyllium husk expert.

13:54Do you know what's sad is that I feel like I've had so much psyllium husk in my brain over since writing obviously the section in the book and then it bombarding us in the media. It's a great question. So thank you, first of all, because you know, psyllium husk is a fiber supplement. I have to stress that and you're not giving your gut diversity. But of course, it has a really great functional role in what it actually does. So it's the concentrated source of soluble fiber rather than an isolated one. So in your stomach, psyllium husk binds of water and creates like a gel. If you actually just pour it in a glass of water, you'll see it do this really effectively.

14:29You see it sometimes in recipes to create that kind of egg-like effect where you're bringing everything together and sticking it together. Yeah, I put a few in actually in the fiber book, knowing that people would have this now as like a, It's becoming a store cupboard essential alongside chia seeds in, I think, the wellness world anyway. But it's from a plant. It's called Plantago Ovata plant. And it helps us lower our cholesterol, of course, because of all that binding in the gut. And it's got loads of roles. I'm reducing the amount of sugar that's released after a meal. Our postprandial response.

15:00It contributes to helping us feel full. And like you've said in your question, bowel movements. So physiologically, it behaves. Sorry to interrupt. Interestingly, it can help for both constipation and loose stools, though. that regular so really supporting regular bowel movement either which way which is quite interesting with the binding it's amazing and that's why it is so similar to things like oats as well and other really popular um sources that we've got different types of soluble fibers and starches like beans and pulses that said um it doesn't replace the whole food so it doesn't have all those the plant diversity it doesn't have the polyphenols it doesn't have the antioxidants the vitamins the minerals and it doesn't really feed the microbes.

15:40And I think that's the really important thing that because it's one single strain, we need so much diversity in our diet. So I look at psyllium husk as a top up for digestive aid rather than feeding your gut bugs. And I think that's the really big differentiating factor for people. It's not going to help your gut junctions tighten or keep inflammation low and all the promised benefits of fiber on its own because it is just to top up for your food. So if you are taking it, start small, plenty of fluids, of course, because it needs a hell of a lot of water. And it is a better approach than a laxative.

16:17It's better to try these sorts of things in your diet than resorting to medication. But please don't look at this as solving the fibre gap. So one fibre supplement will not fill the fibre gap. Yeah, it's really interesting because we often talk about how there is this awareness that fibre is really just for regular bowel movements and to support your stools but actually fiber is so much more than that as we always talk about it's about feeding that gut microbiome and that gut microbiome being so linked to metabolic health brain health mood you know literally it's unbelievable the connection it has to basically your entire well-being to some extent and i think what's interesting with all these fiber supplements isn't that they don't potentially have a role for some of us but that they're much more focused on bowel movements like as we think of fiber being that kind of more basic function where it is about your poo and about which is really not trying to devalue that like actually also for how we feel in ourselves regular bowel movements and feeling like that's working well for you is actually really really important so it's not to devalue that but it's just it's more one-dimensional as people initially thought fiber was as opposed to having the all singing, all dancing party for your microbiome.

17:28I agree. Look at that party. And as Ella and I said the week before, the pet, if you want to feed that pet that you've come up with in your gut, you wouldn't just give your, well, actually, my cat's particularly fussy, but you wouldn't just give your pet at home one type of food forever for eternity. Hopefully you want to try and get a bit more variety in there, especially for our tummies. So just remember, there is going to be a hype, everyone. We are going to be seeing a boom. I've seen so many supplements hit the press saying you know we're going to keep you regular and we're going to help you poo and but that's only one part of the equation with fiber yeah it's not helping with your aging your brain health reducing bowel cancer risk the inflammation the estrogen the menopause support all those different types of things that is just helping you go to the toilet by adding bulk it's not feeding anything and that in itself can be beneficial it's just not the whole thing.

18:17It's not the whole story, it's a little piece of the puzzle.

18:24If you want comfort that carries you from morning to night, Cozy Earth has got you covered. From soft supportive socks for your steps through the day, to breathable comforters that help you rest deeply at night. What feels like small choices can make lasting differences, so every detail from Cozy Earth is intentional. Cozy Earth's designs focus on comfort in those details. For example, their comforters. I don't know about you, but to be honest, I don't give a ton of thought to something like my comforters, but how you feel every day does begin with how you've slept the night before. And Cozy Earth's comforters are a foundational essential.

19:00Their thoughtful construction creates a cloud-like feel without heaviness or overheating, so you can actually unwind and wake up feeling restored. I've definitely noticed an improvement in my sleep since switching to the Cozy Earth Comforter and if you want to try them for yourself they offer a 100 night sleep trial so if you don't love them returns are easy but after feeling this level of comfort you won't want to let them go Discover how care in every detail transforms simple routines into moments of true comfort and ease Head to CozyEarth.com and use my code SCOOP for up to 20 % off That's code SCOOP for up to 20 % off And if you get a post-purchase survey, be sure to mention you heard about Cozy Earth right here.

19:39Experience the craft behind the comfort and make every day feel intentional.

20:04the 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. 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 and I'm delighted to share that after a year in the making my new book, The Fibre 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.

20:55Built 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. If 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. Which leads us on to a question that's very different, Ella, from Ellie. She says, hello, both.

21:35I was wondering if you'd ever cover your moves to outside of London. Ella, I know you talk a lot about moving to the countryside and Rhea, I'm assuming you live outside of London too, as you talk about your commute. Sorry if I'm wrong. Among the themes of slowing down and being deliberate, I think this speaks to a wider theme of people having slower lifestyles and therefore looking at different ways and places of living. And with regards to wellness, I think this is pretty relevant. I'm 27, currently living in London, and my partner and I are looking at buying our first house. Oh, wow. And it's such a big conversation about where we go.

22:07We're both from London, but I love the idea of a slower pace of life in the countryside. Would love to know both of your thoughts and experiences here. It's such a nice question. I look, there's no one way of doing life. I think that's always is the key thing to say. And I think personally, I feel like life is filled with all sorts of different chapters. You can do it all across the breadth of your life if you're lucky enough to have a long life, but you can't do it all in any one go. And I think for me, living in London from a career perspective was absolutely phenomenal. And I don't think I would have had the same success not being in London.

22:43I think ultimately the level of FaceTime in the office, the ease of being able to be there the whole time, not having the nightmare that is British trains, you know, really, really that kind of ease. Oh my gosh, it was unbelievable. I said yes to everything. I just threw everything at work and I would never have been able to do that had I not been in London, if I'm honest. And I know not everyone will agree with that. That was just my personal experience. I've been pretty honest about it that I went too hard and I completely burnt out. And for me and for both of us and in my family, I think the decision was that this first, that chapter of our life was work was the priority and everything went into building delicious cielo and it was the most extraordinary experience but we couldn't live at 24 7 work forever and we were both really really burnt out and we needed a change of pace and i think for us that looked like moving out of london and having a really deliberate shift in pace and a deliberate you know i say no to many many more work things and i say yes to you now just because of the reality of just not being there and being able to do it.

23:48But equally, this was a decision, Ella. I remember that when we first started the podcast, you were like, no, I'm not going to move out of London. So it took a, you know, it happened quite quickly when it did. For sure. And I was really nervous to do it. And it's such a huge life change. I'm a really introverted person. And I think my only experience in the move, I'm so curious how it's been for anyone else who's moved out of the city. But I'm a really introverted person, as is my husband. and so we like quiet like we love in the evening the ease of just sitting and having a cup of tea and reading a book or watching a movie and just completely like quiet we both revel in the quiet and the stillness I think as an extrovert we have a little bit different but I think from a wellness perspective the ease of being in nature of being outside of being able to have that grounding and that quiet it has been absolutely unbelievable that's not to say you can't have amazing wellness and health in your life if you live in a city.

24:42But for me personally, that quiet has been unbelievable. It was a terrifying decision. It was the best decision I've ever made. As a friend and perspective looking on, I think it was the best decision Ella's ever made. Obviously, apart from building Delicious Yella and having your amazing family, it's not, you know, there's so many good decisions you've made. It's true. But it was a particularly good one. And for me, I moved in lockdown actually in 2020, just a bit further out. And that's all it takes is a garden. For me, it was lockdown. Like so many others, it was not having any outdoor space.

25:16It was just being in the flat. It was having children. If I'm being completely honest, it was having my son in lockdown that was the catalyst for me. I don't think I either could have moved out before having kids. I really would have struggled, you know, my husband and I with our work. And it was really tough for my husband, actually, especially in the first few, well, yeah, three or four years, he had to commute in every single day and he'd be gone before the children wake up and be home after they're in bed. And that's the nature of moving out. You have to consider, you know, you have to consider the cost, you have to consider the working hours.

25:50Does it fit with your lifestyle? But for me, as someone that's like a hybrid, I can work in town and work at home. It's perfect for me and for my family. But, you know, we're in our 30s now. And I think if when I was 27, I don't think I could have moved out of London at all, actually thinking about it. It's so individuals. I think hearing our thoughts, you know, we've got different circumstances to what you probably have as well in your life. And is it for health reasons? Is it just purely that the slower pace? Because I have to say it is a slower pace and I love the disconnect. I love leaving those smells on the street.

26:27I don't want to get wafted my way. I mean, I just love walking down a road that isn't packed. But I don't get my energy from a kind of busy external stimulation. As I said, I'm an introvert. And I think it was that realisation that therefore, like, I get more energy from quiet. I don't like leaving the house. I've got to be honest. I don't I don't like to go. I mean, I'm at risk of being like 100 % a hermit. Yeah, but Fern speaks about this two phone cotton. I always remember talking to her. I just don't invite me to things in the evening, you know, unless I really have to go. I just want to be at home with the family.

27:00And that is exactly how I feel as well. Me too. Yeah. I think we're kind of extroverts. Remember, we were speaking about that. Introverted people who are able to perform to an extrovert capacity in different situations. So it's, you know, I've got some friends that I cannot imagine ever moving out of London. And actually, all of my husband's family live in London. And we were, I was a bit of a black sheep, you know, taking him away, essentially. But it's the best decision for our family. And I I have zero regrets. I love it. Final thing on it. I think certainly for me, for my children, it has been a really beneficial experience.

27:36I am no secret, highly strong person. And I just felt quite anxious. I was always like, stay where I can see you, stay where I can see you. And I love that they can go into the garden by themselves. And, you know, yesterday was nice weather for the first time. And they were just in the garden by themselves for a couple of hours. and like you hear them shouting, but they were just having such a nice time. They were playing hotels in the Wendy house. That's such a nice freedom for them. And I think we're all benefiting from that. I think a bit of outdoor space. And I think Ella and I both acknowledge the privilege here.

28:09Like it's huge. I just remember that feeling in lockdown with no outdoor space. And I really felt, you know, the world isn't fair, but if you are able to give yourself that extra bit of space, I think that is pretty transformative. But it's a really good question, Ella. It's really got me thinking about so many things. And then we've got another question here from Merit. She said, I was recently diagnosed with osteopenia at a relatively young age. Rhi, can I interrupt you? Will you just let our readers know exactly what osteopenia is? Yes, of course. So this is to do with our bone mass density.

28:42And as we age, this does decline, naturally speaking, you know, bone mass. And that's why we actually have one of the highest rates in the world in the UK of fractures, bone fractures, which is called osteoporosis, a condition of the weakening of the bones as we age. But osteopenia is almost like halfway towards osteoporosis. So you can get on the NHS, but probably a very, very, very long waiting list. And you need a tick box to get a DEXA scan, which will measure your T-score, which is how dense your bone currently is. Now, many factors influence this. In the retrition clinic, we work with eating disorders, of course.

29:18and a lot of people that have anorexia or specific eating disorders of low with a serious chronic amount of restriction often have weakened bone density and it will sadly impact them as they age. Under the age of 25 you can correct this, over 25 more difficult but this question here from Merit said that having osteopenia at a relatively young age this obviously raised some concerns for me. I'm wondering now how I can best support my bone health through nutrition and lifestyle, how can nutrition be optimized to improve or maintain bone density and what does the role of protein calcium vitamin d vitamin k2 and other micronutrients play i thought this was such an important question when i saw it because obviously as you said as we age um and that's hopefully going to happen to all of us that's such a blessing it's a privilege to age i love that a privilege to age it really is but this is so important and again you know we talked a lot on Monday's episode about how wellness is flossing and brushing your teeth as it is meditating, as it is exercising, as it is broccoli.