The 75p Health Trick, Vagina Lollipops & Gut Secrets

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0:40Introducing the new Sleep Score on Apple Watch, iPhone 11 or later required. Welcome to The Wellness Scoop, your weekly dose of health and wellness inspiration. And as always, we are both here as your hosts. I'm Ella Mills. And I'm Rhiannon Lambert. And we've been here for a decade in the wellness industry, and we know it's overwhelming and confusing. so that's why we created this podcast to cut through all the noise and make healthier living simple fun and personal and we just love it don't we we're just saying before we start recording this is such a highlight of the week and guys i think we're gonna hit five million downloads before we hit our first year in january which is so mega and i know someone that's often like quite tough on themselves that is quite something five million downloads in our first year so just a mega thank you guys for listening for tuning in for supporting us we can't tell you what difference it makes it brings us so much joy so thank you five million well let's keep bringing you the best shows ever because it is a highlight for ella and i to be here so we feel very very blessed and today is a really fun one we're going to be talking about vagina lollipops and colostrum courtesy of courtney kardashian we are going to be talking about the gut microbiome and how it might actually shape our personality not just things like our immune system and our mood.

2:00The 75p Mediterranean diet trick for better health which is an article Rhi was working on which I'm very excited about how walking 3 ,000 steps a day might be linked to Alzheimer's prevention and the fact that the colostrum market is worth 1.8 billion. I mean who knew we'll go into what the science actually says about that.

2:23first up re how are you i'm good i'm just so astounded by all the figures we're revealing on today's show you know 1.8 billion such a big number and 5 million downloads i'm good ella it's just been as usual a manic week but i've been sticking with my evening routines it's been making a big big difference i am noticing and this is anecdotal everybody a difference in my skin with my red light mask. I really am. I really notice it when I do it. Yeah, if I'm consistent with it. In some weeks, I might only make it twice or three times with the new one that you can wear every day. And I'm really feeling much better for it.

3:00But I invested in a pillow scent, Ella. Tell us about that. I've turned it into a bit of an insomniac and got into a few bad habits as well. So my evening routine was going really, really well. And then I think I was just feeling a bit of anxiety or overwhelm at the end of the day. And I was like, right, I need to switch off okay, I've been trying to read my book. I'm really struggling. So I thought, why not? I had these pillow sprays just sitting there that I bought years ago, probably when I had the babies. And it's lavender and you spray it on your pillow and it feels like I'm in a spa. It's kind of like a little spa thing for myself.

3:32I love that. Wait, quickly talk us through your evening routine. I think everybody loves morning evening routines, myself included. Evening routine is good. For me, it's always a cup of tea, like a licorice and peppermint that we've mentioned before, a tea pig's favourite. best tea on the planet if you haven't tried it tea pigs peppermint and licorice tea they're pink the label oh my gosh it's best tea in the world i'm absolutely obsessed i have been for years obsessed with this particular tea so i start with that i might have a cube of dark chocolate also a date nut butter whatever it is in the evening get upstairs do the usual shower makeup off all that sort of thing if i'm wearing makeup which to be honest i try not to these days anyway but it's more that when I get into bed I put my phone away first of all and play an audiobook in the corner of the room while I'm doing my light mask because I find it really hard to read when I've got this thing on my face so I put the audiobook on in the background get into bed and then I do the stretches this is new for me this sounds so bougie honestly it's not I've just led there and I do my kind of twists which I'd forgotten all about but Ella's a yoga teacher so she can tell you that back twists have a special name.

4:40Oh, it depends which ones you're doing. But I love that because our spine health is so important and most of us are slouching all day over our computers, over our phones. Tech net is very real. Yeah. I love this. Okay, and then what happens or is that the end? So funny. It's like bedtime with Rhi. Well, I do my twist. I put a pillow between my knees because ever since I had kids, I don't know if it's a thing, but I find that when I sleep on my side, you know like in the um fetal position yeah that's how I've always slept on my side and I have to put a pillow between my knees because my joints otherwise I get a bit achy I stretch I do that I've sprayed my pillow mist and it's just a really nice way to end my day I love it I'm such a morning routine gal and my bedtime routine just to make everyone else feel okay my bedtime routine is appalling take dogs out to the toilet scroll my phone a bit more go straight to sleep it's absolutely there is no wind down I think I should start bringing it in we all do it though and I have to say I was sending you headlines last night and you sent me one I'm just looking at our whatsapp at 10 28 I'd sent you one at 10 past 10 so the routine didn't start till quite late last night they're good headlines everybody I also put up a petition that I really want to put in the show notes about firework displays so if anybody like me feels that fireworks I know they're wonderful and I go to a display with the kids we went Ella to a really lovely one but there was someone doing fireworks on my road at like 11 o 'clock which woke everybody up and then there's the animals my cat absolutely hates them I'm sure the squirrels and the birds and all the wildlife do so you can sign a petition if you want the government to try and look into local displays only please don't hate me no you just love animals and I so appreciate and respect the empathy and I love it so we'll put that in the show note.

6:29Rhi I went to a red light class you know last week we talked about a red light infrared class and believe it or not I live in like pretty remotely like near a really small village and some another of the mums I've met at the girls new school whatsapped and was like this is a great class I think you'll love it so I went on Friday and it was a red light power plate class so guys I tried two trends in one and it was absolutely extraordinary. I can't comment on the difference that the red light made or didn't make. It's hot, but not like boiling. It does help you get a little sweat on. But a power plate class, I have never done one.

7:07Have you not? No. Oh my God, it's so weird. Your whole body's like vibrating. I love power plates. But where are the red lights? Just around the room. I actually loved it. I'm going again this afternoon. Amazing. Power plates are incredible. I used to work at a power plate studio in transition zone in Parsons Green when it first opened. So you've done your red light. Yeah. Did you sweat? But we'll do a section I think we should do on power plates and lymphatic drainage because people ask about it so much, which is what power plates meant to be good for. I did sweat because I'm not, you know, I'm quite, I think I've made it quite clear, I'm quite a low intensity gal when it comes to exercise.

7:42So as a result, I basically never, ever sweat when I exercise because it's all like very gentle. And so I did actually sweat, which is probably very good for me. and I have to say I did feel really well afterwards and it was fun. I'm so proud of you and the cookbook as well. So you've been doing that at the same time as getting ready for the launch of the cookbook. You've been sweating it out on the power plate. Sweating it out on the power plate. It's just coming out in a few weeks now, quick win. So it comes out on the 18th of December and I just wanted to say, obviously everyone's thinking about Christmas probably.

8:11Basically we've managed to do, found this amazing shop, an independent bookshop based near Bicester in the UK and what they can do is that they can take dedicated messages so you can if your like sister or your best friend or something likes the delicious yellow cookbooks like sell cookbooks you can get it for them and i'll write the message she'll be like dear sarah merry christmas xyz love ella and you know if you want to put your name in it so whatever message you want dedication i can go and write them there's obviously because it's a bit of a lengthy exercise a limited number but if you want to get that for someone for Christmas it will arrive in time with a personalized message and we can send them anywhere in the world so I will put the link in the show notes for that but otherwise you can just google Coles c-o-l-e-s bookshop quick wins signed edition or something like that and you'll get the link as well but I'll pop it in the show notes if anyone wants like a proper dedicated personalized copy pre-Christmas for the brand new cookbook I can do that for you was quite fun.

9:10I've never done that before. That feels like we've done the whole podcast already. So we've got the most amazing recommendation that Ella can give you for Christmas. You know, I've given you a firework display link and you've got our evening routine and PowerPoint recs. There we go, guys. I know. I've got so many other recs, but I'll bring them on Thursday. Basically, I've been super into sourdough. Complete fail on water kefir, though. But we can discuss all of these recs on Thursday. But your sourdough looked so good. Oh, my gosh, it was so good. I was so proud. Got another one bubbling away in the background, just fed my starter after the show.

9:47Okay, right. Headlines today. This, if you're new, is the section where we look at the health headlines that we think are the most important of the week. You know, we know there's so much in the news on social media about health and wellness, and we want to kind of tell you what matters, what it's all about, what the facts and figures actually say and what to bring in or not into your own life so the first headline we have this week refound and i think it is so cool could the bacteria in our guts help to shape our personalities now obviously gut health is such a front and center topic at the moment we're talking those about plant points you know getting your 30 plants a week how important fiber is even though we're all struggling with it we're talking about how our gut health affects our mood our mental health our anxiety even as well as our immune system exactly our energy our sleep all of it but also potentially our personalities it's amazing isn't it as a new study from researchers in ireland and finland found that rats were given gut microbiome transplants and by transplants i mean from human toddlers they took samples of their poo essentially and transferred it over to a rat now this sounds really crazy i I know.

11:00But we have been looking into fecal transplants over in different countries at the moment. And they found that these human toddlers transplants gave the rats more energy. They became more explorative. So that's the first bit. And I think the important note there is, A, I think the fact that people are researching this so much speaks to how important gut health is in terms of an area of research. but the second thing is is that the toddlers from whom the feces were taken were really exuberant so these are like they're giving the rats the super outgoing children's poo essentially and then that made the rats way more explorative so they were giving them like the most outgoing children's poo these samples that are just so miraculous because the rats with the toddler microbiomes were far more confident curious they explored new environments more equally I mean, the researchers described it as they were poking their heads through more holes on a test board.

11:58Now, it is hard to apply animal research to human beings, of course, but the authors did conclude that the gut microbiota, so that's the kind of world and the environment, the entire kind of colony of gut bacteria within our gut, the composition of it might be linked to a certain temperate trait. So essentially, it's trying to say that perhaps our emotional reactivity and the way we self-regulate is linked to the makeup of our gut microbiome, which is absolutely fascinating. Because over the past decades, obviously, the research that Ella said at the beginning with the SMILES trials with mental health, we've got data on stress and how that impacts our microbiome.

12:37And one 2024 study found that rats and mice raised in sterile conditions, so without any microbes essentially around them. They were more anxious and less sociable. And I do often think, Ella, you know, growing up with all of these harsh chemicals and cleaning products, and I know we've discussed before making eco switches in the house. I just don't think we realise the impact it could potentially have on a microbiome. It is extraordinary, I think. And again, I know we sometimes in this sort of facet repeat ourselves. So bear with me, guys. but I think what to me is so relevant here is that again I always feel like there's a disconnect between you get home you've had a long day at work you've got loads to do at home you're overwhelmed and you're like oh it doesn't really matter what I eat for dinner like I'm just gonna eat a piece of toast and it's like actually feeding your gut is so incredibly important because as we've just talked about it is linked to so many facets of our mental and our physical health and it's almost it's like we don't give ourselves a fighting chance at feeling grey if we don't feed our microbiome properly and that comes from getting enough fibre, getting enough plant points and I know it sounds basic and I know in that sense we repeat ourselves, it's just that it's connected to almost everything and that's what this research shows, like even how outgoing we are might be related to our gut microbiome which is so dictated by how we treat it on a day-to-day basis and it food is so important in that but of course you know stress etc play a big role as well and i just think it's absolutely nuts if you think about the effect that yeah what you choose for dinner might have on your emotional balance because of the way it feeds or doesn't feed the little bugs that live in your tummy i know and how we're brought up how we're raised the entire world of food that we've had and how that potentially might shape our personality it's such a huge scientific leap to make and of course you can't compare animal data to human data but it's really fascinating and I've discussed these types of bacteria before and Tim Spector mentioned it on our episode if you go back on gut health but there are certain bacteria like Accomensia and Oskillospia which are more abundant in sociable people so if you've ever wondered why some people are just more outgoing than others by nature it's just that we're given different bacteria strains and it's not necessarily a bad thing or a positive thing yet we don't know the links here but we do know that when it comes to mental health that that link is really getting stronger and stronger by the day and with research like this possibly helping to buffer inflammation stress responses it's so important to remember that the bacteria isn't the cause and effect and it doesn't define the overall personality but it can influence and I think what you just said if you've had no time this morning for instance I don't always win at this but I didn't really have time for breakfast but I grab two dates because that's easy to put in your bag on the go and I know dates are high in fiber I know I'm feeding my gut microbiome I had a bit of pistachio butter with it because I'm obsessed and you could just literally put in your bag on the go some nuts and major dates and know that you're getting that's probably around like seven grams of fiber for sure or like last night I prepped um Monday's always a rush in our house so I prepped porridge last night and I mashed a ripe banana, did some frozen blackberries and blueberries, oats obviously, some chia seeds and some nut butter, mixed that all up with some milk and a little bit of yogurt as well, popped it in the fridge and then all I did this morning was take it out the fridge, pop it in a pan and like three minutes later, because it was jumbo oats but obviously they've soaked overnight so they're soft and like ready to eat and they just need heating up and we have you know mega plant point breakfast high in fiber but no faff whatsoever and it only took me like two or three minutes on sunday night to prep but having it ready to go those sort of things make all the difference and one other note sorry we forgot to say as well is that whilst this study was done on rats they have done human clinical trials with fecal transplants before looking at other mood disorders so it's not like it is a leap obviously to take this from rats but it's not out of context I think that was an important add-on.

16:46Yeah and it just when you were saying that it makes me think of what makes me very sad about the food landscape in this country and again I look at nurseries so I went into my son's nursery and I was so disappointed even after the new September guidance came in to still see them being served. I don't want to sound too negative and I don't want to come across as insensitive just to put that out there but I feel it's very important to nourish our children because they're the future generations and they deserve better than a bowl of rice krispies with no fiber in for breakfast or cornflakes like if you are sending a child to nursery and that is the breakfast they're going to get that day it's not okay and there is new guidance to say that fiber needs to be prioritized i've gone off tangent a bit but i feel like this is a space where it's so important to raise awareness that we need to be thinking on a larger level come on everybody fiber is important and it's not just because I'm writing a book on fibre.

17:41It is genuinely because... Because your gut influences so much and so you've got to feed it. And I felt for children that don't have us making them porridge every morning, you know, and I think they're going to these nurseries and they're just being fed no fibre cereals. It's essentially just glucose going into the milk, lactose, and just getting a sugar spike with no fibre. And there might be a little bit of fortification. It's even worse, really, exactly, because the little sprinkle of some kind of multivitamin added means they make all sorts of claims on packs, which is where it becomes criminal.

18:09maybe not criminal but really morally wrong give us some tips ella i want five tips for gut health let's put it out yeah exactly as we were saying like this gut brain axis just shows like our health is so connected small consistent choices makes such a big difference like we're saying like dates and nuts on the go like prepping a porridge or you know for lunch today i've got a busy day it's back to back but i had five minutes before this i cut up loads of veg i can slow cook them in the oven and then i'll blitz them all up into a soup again i'll get like eight plant points for doing next to no work.

18:39So if five tips, I think for a better gut health to take with you, 30 different plants a week for microbial diversity. And remember that is not just like fruit and veg, that's cinnamon, that's basil, that's dark chocolate, that's coffee, lots of wins in there, but adding loads of herbs and spices and stuff like that. And even just like mix it up. So use red onion, normal onions and shallots, for example, across the week, that's three different wins but you can just mix those up in different recipes 30 grams of fiber a day whole grains beans fruits veg etc if you're having a plant-rich not wholly plant-based but plant-rich diet that's actually so easy stay hydrated because you need that for the fiber to be effective essentially it's key try and get some fermented foods in i know tim specter said three portions a day i think that's quite a big aim for most people i don't do it just holding hands up i I don't.

19:35I'm lucky if I get some kefir in every day. But I think if you could aim for three a week to start with, that would be excellent. And then manage stress as well, because that really impacts your gut. So some active stress management, some time in nature, some mindfulness, some gentle movement, restretches, just a little bit of self-care. It's the days where you don't do that. It's the days where I don't get enough steps in. I don't really walk or get enough fresh air that I feel my worst. And I think we all do. It's just so easy, isn't it? to fall into that trap so i hope that this is a really exciting reminder that you know what we yes it impacts so many more areas of our lives than you may realize 100 and that baseline of like good habits is key for us to feel good and i think it is kind of almost in some ways as simple as that and that moves us on actually so nicely to a piece that we contributed dare i say in the daily email um but there's 75p Mediterranean trick for better gut health and weight balance and this was an amazing piece right I loved it you initially put it in as like a small segment I did this is phenomenal we need all of this don't shrink it down this is so helpful and obviously we were talking about the Mediterranean diet a little bit over the last few weeks um and about the fact that it doesn't need to be expensive it's actually the antithesis of like superfoods and kind of things like that again it's about these small consistent tweaks habits that add up over time and again it's very fiber focused and I know there are some bits in the piece you really really wanted to highlight around that yeah a hundred percent I think honestly sometimes what I'm asked to contribute to different features I just think wow I'm going to reach more people sometimes of different publications and I think messages like this are so important and believe me I think really hard before I say yes or no to which articles you do because this is so positive this is positive nutrition this is about let's make it accessible let's make it available what can we all do and a 75p trick really is a win okay yes so let's start by highlighting the fact that most of us in Britain only to around the 20 grams I'd say less of fiber a day so when the NHS recommends 30 we know that 96 % of us are just not getting the fiber we need that is the statistic in this country and I'm so happy finally that people are writing about it because it's fantastic so you've got pulses of course that Ella and I love she always talks about her crispy lentils and you know I'm talking about for my new book the fiber formula recipes with as many of them as you can get white beans chickpeas are easy ways to kind of close that gap they're also budget friendly now the reason for all Ella and I do is talk about beans but for good reason because one tin of pulses just costs 75p and that addition to your diet alone is all you probably need to make a really good start so what you can add in not what you need to take out when it comes to looking at your overall diet because i think white beans in particular are such an easy example so i love butter beans they can be creamy in a dip you can roast them in the oven like roast potatoes that's one of my favourite things to do and they kind of crack and they're soft in the middle.

22:48You can add them to any sauce. Yesterday I added them into a curry I made for my cousin. She came over with her son and I quickly made her a curry and I was like oh let's just add some white beans in there. And I think on that to say it's like half a can of chickpeas contains sort of six to seven and a half grams of fibre. So that's massive. I mean to your point where you're almost closing the gap in the fiber deficiency just from half a can of chickpeas so at this point we're like under 50p and I think what's great about these things as well which you had in the piece I think was so nice to highlight today is that as well you don't have to kind of as much as I love them you don't even need to make them the center point of a meal you can just blend them into sauces and soups for example so like that adds obviously you're getting your fiber you're getting some plant protein so good for your gut health but it also makes them more satisfying so if you are for example like i am doing today making a super easy what's in the fridge soup you know you roast garlic you roast carrots you roast some onions or shallots or something then you just chuck in a tin of butter beans for example or a tin of white beans as you blitz it all up it makes it creamier it makes it heartier it's going to keep you fuller for longer and then you're getting the fiber that you desperately need and it's a doddle.

24:04I think where we've gone wrong for so many years is because we are overeating meat and that is fact you know it came out in the New Lancet report that we discussed in Stockholm where we had our dietician Rosie that came on to give us the feedback Rosie Martin on the research from that day for the planetary plate how to eat more sustainably and the cost for one piece of chicken that goes on your meal on a plate compared to a 50p portion of beans and pulses in terms of getting the protein you've already got it if you're adding more beans and pulses at a more affordable cost for your wallet for your family and it's almost as if maybe maybe there's an underlying message that beans were seen as peasant food across the years and therefore it feels more special to splash out on a portion of meat most of the time rather than going to that can how could it be healthy it's in a can you know there's that misconception around processing in ingredients and i think there's loads of nuances with food that lead us to make these choices yeah they're not exactly being very sexy in the past have no and well like you said with the recipes though they're so delicious and they contain plant iron if you combine your beans with some tomatoes some source of vitamin c you'll also get an iron as well they are a nutrition powerhouse that is so underrated so blend them into things guys put them in chilies ragu's but blend them into things like soups it's soup season if you're making lots of soups just add in a tin of various different beans also lovely way to get your 30 plants because you can use different ones throughout the week if you're making a couple of different soups each week get going on that and then your two other tips on this article which were just really nice to give a shout out to add don't restrict so think about adding in extra plants so extra veggies at dinner fruit with breakfast the portion of beans as we said in your soup or your salad think about the small additions that help your gut versus particularly as we go into Christmas and everyone's like oh it's party season and then people get to January and they're like oh my gosh my jeans don't fit I need to go on a crash diet don't worry we'll cover all of that for sure but think about just like little add-ins as we go through Christmas season that keep you feeling good and energized and regular and some beans and pulses are brilliant for that as well and then the other thing you had was using smart affordable swaps which i think again is so nice yeah don't underestimate if you've got a freezer of frozen vegetables don't be scared of those cans please honestly they're a good source of food at a cost and there's nothing extra that goes into a lot of it check the ingredients but if it's just beans in water that's completely okay it's minimally processed and you know accessible staples swapping your refined carbs for your whole grains we talk about it a lot and ella did a kind of deep dive into was it barley yes oh my gosh i love pearl barley yeah me too One of my favourite ingredients, I've been making a roasted squash and barley risotto quite a lot recently.

26:59And then you pan fry sage leaves until they're really crispy with pine nuts and chilli. Someone in the Spotify said after you'd done that deep dive, I was reading our Spotify comments, mentioned that they've been cooking with it nonstop. In fact, everybody, if you are concerned just in advance about the New Year, the Christmas period, drop all your questions. We'll go through this together. We'll all be here together as we go through the Christmas and New Year period. 100 % we'll be here all the time guys we just love the wellness scoop we're never leaving we're never leaving

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29:29My daughter said this morning, it's raining cats and dogs. Did she? Where did a five-year-old get that from? But it is raining cats and dogs today. It is absolutely miserable. And I think this feel-good episode is everything certainly I need in my life. But guys, we talked about walking recently. We have more studies coming out on walking. This one's related to Alzheimer's. Walking 3000 or more steps a day may slow progression of Alzheimer's as a brand new study. And just to link our first and our third headline, I think it's so interesting this point that like we've looked at how gut health is related to so many different facets of our health.

30:06And I think we're seeing the same with all the different studies we've covered this year on walking and like very, very basic movement and exercise being related to so many different facets of our health. And now we're talking about Alzheimer's, which is extraordinary. As human beings, evolutionarily speaking, we are designed our skeletons to bear load, to have weight bearing exercises, which is walking. You know, I don't like using ancestry terms with diet because we've evolved and we've adapted in different ways. But our skeleton hasn't really evolved that much over the period of a few thousand years.

30:40I'm not an expert in this field at all, but I'm just saying we are designed to walk. So it makes perfect sense that we should be doing it. Because as we said last week, people who walked for at least 15 minutes without stopping, so they could go at any pace, really. But as long as you just keep going, we're 80 % less likely to die from any cause and 70 % less likely to develop heart disease than those who only walked in short bursts. And it's really, really important that we're using our body in the way it's designed. But shifting from the heart to the brain here today, which is what we're discussing, a new nature medicine study found that even modest amounts of exercise can slow the progression of Alzheimer's, Ella.

31:20And it makes sense to me. and the data here it's modest but still okay from 296 people aged 50 to 90 so in that bracket where we've discussed before we know it's really important the behaviors you adapt at that period in your life particularly they were cognitively healthy at the start of the study and then they were followed for 14 years we love long-term data that's really good and of course it will be hard of people that drop out, people that stay within the study. But overall, they found that walking around 3 ,000 to 5 ,000 steps a day delayed cognitive decline by about three years. And if you did 5 ,000 to 7 ,000 steps, it was up to seven.

32:04So higher step counts were linked to slower cognitive decline. And I don't want you to worry too much about the exact number. I just think we need to keep walking. A hundred percent. And they were also linked, as you said, Rita, slow cognitive decline, but then less build up of this thing called tau proteins, which are one of the biological hallmarks of Alzheimer's. And so that's what they were looking at specifically in this study, which is absolutely fascinating. and you know 5 ,000 steps a day is about an hour of walking you don't have to do that obviously all in one go so maybe two 30 minute walks but goodness me I mean the impact that it could have and I think on the other hand those in the study who are more sedentary they experienced faster decline and a greater accumulation of these tau proteins and so the researchers can't fully rule out that early brain changes might cause people to move less the evidence though strongly suggests that physical activity is a genuinely protective mechanism and exercise seems to help by improving blood flow to the brain, reducing inflammation and increasing the levels of hormones and growth factors that support neuron repair and resilience within the brain.

33:15And the takeaway is that basically, you know, we're talking about like a 30 minute walk, you know, things like gardening, obviously, housework, ironing, you know, sorry, hoovering, the house, you know, keep moving, you know, these things all make a big difference. It's extraordinary. I mean, walking is, walking is like it's a super tool for health it is it's a toolkit that i think we've just the life that we lead now in modern society is adapted in such a way it doesn't encourage it you know sometimes if you might live in a built-up area and there's nothing enticing you to go out and pound the the gray pavements and i do think that so much more needs to be done to encourage this to find local spaces of green i'm really passionate about that but you know you love gardening ella yeah my new hobby this is your new hobby i finally braved cleaning my washing machine properly at the weekend well done i know well you know i feel like when i moved house i had a baby i just kind of neglected things and i was in survival mode and now i'm in i have time to do things but my goodness me i was breaking a sweat just scrubbing the plastic lining around my washing machine so it's little things and if you look up tau proteins t-a-u you normally see like a scribble i remember doing it in immunology a kind of scribble of structures on a page but it's really really fascinating when you look at the brain and there's so many benefits Ella so let's list off a few of the amazing reasons why we should clean our washing machine garden and walk more exactly I think it was I was thinking about this as I said as we were going into Christmas and where Christmas is always just like the wildest time of the year whether you like Christmas or don't know Christmas celebrate or don't celebrate, that part aside, it is always just so busy because there's always like an office Christmas party.

34:58There's a family something. There's, you know, if you've got kids, you've got all sorts of events going on at the school. Everyone's trying to wrap up to like take a minute off work probably. And so you suddenly have this like scurry of activity and it just feels like that time between now and sort of just before Christmas. It's just everyone is always burning the candle at both ends and so I think it's a really nice reminder to make a soup with beans in as we said and to not worry if you can't get to the gym or your regular spin class you enjoy or whatever it is the exercise you like but that maybe takes a bit more time a bit more structured I think it's nice just to remind you that walking is phenomenal and we just had a kind of so many stats on why walking is good for you that this is just the top line but unsurprisingly supports heart health because it strengthens the heart and circulation lowers blood pressure so that all reduces your cardiovascular risk it strengthens your muscles and your bones which is helping maintain mobility balance bone density obviously especially important as we age exactly and improving our moods so your endorphins your ecto-canoboids in your brain the serotonin all those sorts of things that do reduce our anxiety and stress and i wonder if my sleep quality yellow hadn't been good recently you know i said i feel a bit like an insomniac because i just needed to move a bit more because it does help regulate our circadian rhythms helps us fall asleep faster and eases joint pain so it sounds counterintuitive doesn't it if you have joint pain you need to move more but we now know that studies show that walking does reduce arthritis related discomfort now that is obviously going at your own pace and dependent on different conditions we're just generalizing here with the research but walking five to six miles a week can even help prevent arthritis from forming it lubricates the joints especially around the knees so perhaps i'll be getting rid of that pillow between my legs the more i walk over over the next few weeks i love that i mean the list literally goes on yeah walking boosts immune function people who walk at least 20 minutes a day five days a week have 43 fewer sick days it helps you know with cravings a 15 minute walk can curb sweet cravings when you feel stressed it can improve your posture it boosts creativity as we know it supports your gut health because gentle movement is great for digestion it promotes longevity protects against fatigue because it's increasing oxygen flow like it is just phenomenal so if you are overwhelmed the next few months don't stress about getting to the gym just go for a walk and don't do a me because i have been in the midst of book editing and I find it really hard when I know that I'm in a rush.

37:39You know, I've got to pick up the children from school at a certain time. I've got a window to work. You've got to smash it out. Sometimes I feel I can't get away from my desk. And I'm sure lots of you feel like that. Perhaps you're in an office environment where you only have a set time. Try and take this as motivation. We can all somehow do a little bit more.

37:59now we're going to move from our headlines to what's trending in wellness and it's a there's no clear segue from this i feel like our headlines this week are like deeply balanced we can do this let's make soup let's get walking let's remember how important our gut health is to a vagina lollipop so really you sent me this what's trending in wellness ria speechless and I can see it again in her face today. I don't know why I get so embarrassed. I talk about things like this all the time. But, you know, I just can't believe I'm seeing it again. So I saw it on Apple News. My friend Pam sent this over to me.

38:35She said, really? I was like, oh, my goodness. I have to send this to Ella. So it's a Kardashian trend again. And it's almost taking us back to the Gwyneth Paltrow era of, what was it called? Jade eggs. Jade eggs. Steaming your vagina. Yes. which some of those are actually based on really ancient traditions. So whilst like she was eventually sued because of the jade eggs, because there wasn't a huge amount of the scientific evidence that she was talking about, that does relate to, and I think it's important to say some more ancient traditions. Vagina lollipops have no such rooting. They really don't, everybody.

39:13So Kourtney Kardashian has a brand called Lemmy. Lemmy. Is it like let me, but without the T? I think it's like let me. Like, let me do this. Yeah, let me brand. And there's different trends here. So one that I find quite disturbing, which is colostrum, which we mentioned at the beginning with the amount of money. And then we move on to equally disturbing, but in a different way, vagina lollipops, which is more amusing to me. So shall we start, Ella, with the vagina lollipops? Yeah, let's go vagina lollipops first. Okay. It's just odd. I think if we're actually just like boiling it down, I just find this really strange.

39:47So basically, these are part of Kourtney Kardashian's new Lemmy Purr range. So like, let me purr. And they're basically probiotic lollipops for vaginal health. So they contain vitamin C, probiotics and pineapple, with the claim that they balance vaginal flora and make everything taste and smell sweeter. I guess we're picking this up, not because this is about like, you know, scrutinizing any specific person. I watch the Kardashians, I'm the first to admit it. but because this has gone really viral surprise surprise because it's a pretty kind of out there premise and I think it's important to break down whether or not people need to be taking essentially vaginal supplements for health and well-being kind of yeah gynecological health and well-being which really obviously will have lots to say on Grazia did a review of this and they did I think put it quite perfectly they said Rita we'll make this one quick we're sure you're bored too, bored of yet another frankly ridiculous beauty and wellness trend perpetuated by the Kardashians.

40:49Essentially then going on to say this is insane. Rhi, tell us why we just don't need to be taking vaginal supplements. So essentially speaking, you know, and I'm not a gynecologist, but I find it really, really interesting that these concepts come about. And I think the Kardashians are very clever. We have to remember as well, they're businesswomen. They come up with ideas to stir the pot, you know, things that are going to be interesting to us. And I think that's really important to discuss, first of all. But there's no evidence, first of all, that when you take a probiotic orally, for lots of different reasons, especially in like a lollipop form, that's what it is, right?