The Body Image Battle, Electrolytes & TikTok’s Food Fight

24:18Well, there's also health measures that have been putting place away in children in schools, which were heavily fought against, you know, in this country by health professionals because of this internal idealization of weight dictating health. Anyway, this is a huge, huge discussion, but well done ASA for actually starting to make a move in this direction. 100%. And I think certainly I find it really worrying when you're seeing how young this affects people. And obviously I can't help but think about my children. I hope this is just a sign that maybe we're going to move forward with a different way of thinking about body image.

24:51But it's also difficult you know I know next week there's a head time we want to talk about in terms of obesity and impact on lifespan and just like you're saying with eating disorders not being a choice obesity isn't you know it's not straightforward as saying that's a choice either but equally again it's this really complicated world that we live in in health and wellness where on the one hand we have rising rates of obesity and a issue around our health as a result of that and a real pressure on the NHS and health services around the world and on the other hand And we're seeing an increased rate of eating disorders.

25:22And so for me, it just drives this passion of like, how do we find this middle ground of encouraging people with healthy eating, with making it feel more accessible, more approachable, more widely available for everyone in order to kind of, yeah, just make it all a bit more straightforward and support everyone on every end of the spectrum. Exactly. So remember, if you are at home, just try and refrain from discussing your shape, weight or size around another or commenting on someone else. is probably quite a useful thing. The language we use in this area of discussion is also very impactful. So Ella.

25:54And can I add one more thing on that as well? I think like I did this a year ago and Instagram flagged me as having kind of, I can't remember, but red flag behavior essentially because I went and I just unfollowed so many people. I just thought this is not positive. Like seeing this person is not giving me a great sense of self. This isn't something that's helpful for me. And I think sometimes, you know, I think the late night scrolling you referred to earlier, we all do it. And sometimes, as we saw the other week, we're not in a great mental headspace on the whole. Once it gets near midnight, that's a fact.

26:28And so I think sometimes looking at this, we think it's interesting content, but it's not good for our mental well-being. And there's a kind of unrelatability to it. It just makes us feel a bit bad about ourselves. So if there's people you're following, and it may or may not be their fault, they may not be doing anything wrong. But for whatever reason, it doesn't help you feel great in yourself, in your body, in your own well-being. just get rid of it you don't need it. I've got so many muted accounts so many just seeing you say that makes me feel so much better because especially with like people doing body weight training after having babies and then they look you know like they've never had a baby so early on I just found all of that so triggering when I had kids so I love that.

27:03Do a cull. Do a cull exactly and one more food for thought definitely is of course we come in different shapes and sizes some people will naturally be slim and that is their build and that is the way they are designed to be so let's just be nice to each other about body shape and size.

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29:52Headline number three, Ella, how parenthood changes the brain. I'm so excited to be talking about this because I am a different person now. Oh my gosh, I'm unrecognizable. And I think before we get into this, also keen to say obviously lots of you listening don't have children. You don't need to have children to think this is interesting, I think. We wouldn't include it otherwise. But I think it's more about our brain and our brain's ability to change, which to me is absolutely fascinating. And I actually missed this piece of research. It came out mid last year. But then I saw a piece in The Times last week by The Times' science editor, Ben Spencer, and the title was How Being a Parent Physically Alters Your Brain, Dads Included.

30:34And it just caught my attention because obviously people are always talking about baby brain as something really negative, you know, feeling forgetful, scatty, etc. But actually, this was showing that there's increasing evidence to suggest that having children causes major changes in the brain for the positive, which is pretty cool. I mean, I can't wait to delve into this because I feel like I've become a hypervigilant mess. So let's go there. So a study published in Cerebral Cortex looked at 40 first-time fathers. So it is a small sample size, but very exciting nevertheless. Hopefully we'll get more.

31:06And it scanned their brains before and after the birth of their child. And it did find a reduction in gray matter volume. So gray matter is the area in the brain that lots of neuroscientists look at. And it found this particularly in the cerebral cortex. and that's the bit in the brain that controls memory, decision making and emotional processing. So scientists actually believe this isn't a loss like Ella said but it's a refinement process called synaptic prunings. We've all got these synapses in our brain and they send lots of different messages and signals and the brain basically removes connections that it doesn't want anymore to become more efficient so it rewires Ella so it prioritises caregiving.

31:47Isn't that extraordinary? As I said, I think to me that was what was interesting, whether you have children or don't have children. It's just these abilities that our bodies have and how absolutely brilliant they are. Like the idea that you have a child and the gray matter in your brain changes and rewires to make you more efficient because it knows about the juggle. The brain knows about the juggle and it needs to make it a bit easier for you. I just thought that was absolutely extraordinary. But it's not just that structural change as well in the synapses. It's also hormonal shift as well. And I think when we talk about hormonal shifts, and obviously we were talking about this and trying to do an expert scoop on the impact of our hormones and our mood, we're so often talking about the impact of hormones on female well-being, not just with kids, but as we were saying with our cycle and periods, etc.

32:31But in this case, fathers experience a rise in oxytocin, which is the bonding hormone. and when they hold their newborns and their testosterone levels drop, which reduces aggression and increases nurturing behaviours. So again, there's just this sense of how amazing the body is at continuously being able to change and adapt to needs as you go. I mean, I find this really interesting because I'm sure lots of people listening will be like, look, this definitely wasn't the case for me. I deal with the mental juggle, I deal with the load. And we appreciate that there's still a huge gender divide in the role of parenthood.

33:05for so many reasons. This country just does not seem to support it in a very good way for structure and working and all that sort of thing. But it's nice to see that men are taken into consideration here as well. And obviously, we need tons more research on women. So it's just a stepping stone in the right direction. And what was also fascinating here is that the brain changes aren't exclusive to biological parents. And that's what Ella was saying is that literally, it can be research on same sex couples, adoptive parents, or anyone that takes on a primary care giving role. So you could look after your nieces, your nephews, and you develop those similar neurological adaptions.

33:41So our brain basically changes based on the people we spend the most time with as well. The other bit that came out on this is that parenting might actually be good for your brain. So there's something called the Biobank in the UK, which is a huge collection of individuals. Funnily enough, my mum is in this study, which she loves. She's like a massive fan. She's always telling us about it. But they've been studying these people. I think she's been in it for kind of 15 or 20 years now. So often when you read research that's coming out of the UK, it's about this group of biobank people. Anyways, 13 ,000 of these people in the UK biobank found that parents, especially those who had raised multiple children, had a younger brain age, quicker response times and better cognitive function than non-parents.

34:21So like you read, when you're in those early years and it feels a bit like survival mode, just know that science is suggesting parenthood can actually sharpen your brain and improve long-term cognitive health. I mean, anyone listening that doesn't have kids, you want to come do some babysitting, let me know. You can borrow them. Take them for the day. No, it's really exciting research. And I think it moves us nicely on now to discuss what is trending in wellness.

34:50OK, one thing that's trending in wellness that has been flooding our messages this week that we don't have on the agenda for this week, but we promise to give you next week is this trend of feeding your child a spoonful of butter. before bed in the hope that they sleep. Awful, Ella. It's quite something. Anyway, we're going to get a paediatric dietitian to come and give us the lowdown on that. So we will read that out for you next week. But what we are talking about today is white versus brown rice. I can't quite believe we've written this in the script. Like this just, to me, summarizes the absolute absurdity that is this industry today.

35:24There are so many debates to have. As we were talking about earlier, there are massive challenges with eating disorders and body image. There's challenges with our mental health, with obesity, with metabolic disease. There are so many challenges with our health. And whether you're eating white versus brown rice just isn't one. Honestly, when I saw it and I sent it to Ella, I was like, is this for real? How am I actually reading this? And what you found, because Ella does a load of amazing research, is even Joe Rogan has spoken about it. Oh my gosh, everyone's talking about it. So give us the lowdown, white versus brown rice.

35:54Why are we talking about it? and what is the deal? Do you know, I've got to be honest here. I haven't looked in depth at this because I knew I could just kind of speak about it, but I love the notes that Ella's got because white rice and brown rice, essentially it's the grain and it's whether you've kept the endosperm or the bit of the fibre around a grain or you've stripped it. Just like with bread, you either have brown bread or white bread. So I find it bizarre. And also, this is also cultural, which we haven't brought into this discussion either, is that white rice is such a huge part of different cultures and their diets.

36:23and they'd laugh if we said, you know, you have to swap white for brown. But that was where we started. Like 10, 15 years ago, white rice was the quote unquote villain and brown rice and these whole grains. As you said, it's the same grain, just like whether it's wearing a coat or whether it's taken its coat off. You can think about it like it's hot and it's taken its jumper off. And now we've had this switch according to TikTok and people are pushing white rice versus brown rice, talking about arsenic, talking about lectins, talking about shredding your gut. Yeah, no, that's insane. And thinking that rice gets stuck inside your gut or stuck to the cell wall, it's very bizarre.

37:02Look, this doesn't happen, guys. So white rice is actually something we recommend in clinic if you're struggling with IBS, irritable bowel syndrome, at the point of time, symptoms with your gut health, because it's easier to break down, because it's had the fiber rich part removed, which is what we spoke about before. The coat is taken off to make it easier to digest. But for those of you that have a really, you know, great digestive system at the moment, you're doing well, it would be good to introduce bran rice because bran rice retains, you know, all of that fiber. It's got all the extra nutrients and magnesium, potassium thrown in, tiny bit of iron even, obviously plant iron, different B vitamins.

37:36So it's actually a more nutritionally dense option of carbohydrate than white. But if you're having a hard time and you're having a flare up, then white rice is just an amazing thing. Have you ever heard of the brat diet when you're poorly. Yes. What's that bread, rice, apple and toast? No bananas. Yes. Basically, it's like what your mum used to give you when you had norovirus as a kid. It's because it's easy. It's a way of getting different electrolytes, which we'll go into later, but different potassium and different minerals in that are easy to digest. So essentially, white rice has the glycemic index.

38:08So we're talking about blood sugars in the range of 73 to 4. and brown rice is categorized as a medium GI food of 68 to 4. So also it's because of the fiber. It's just a no-brainer to me. The calories are practically the same, give or take 10 calories per serving. So you either go for more fiber or you don't. You choose. And so not to freak people out with the white rice being higher because we were talking about blood sugar last week, this is also assuming, obviously, like as you said, like white rice is such a huge part of Asian culture in particular, regular people don't eat white rice on its own so much and that's obviously where we were talking about blood sugar last week and trying to kind of have a really nice balanced blood sugar the recommendation obviously is that you're having your white rice with some healthy fats with some proteins etc which is obviously how it would be as a normal part of a meal so in terms of this kind of it just feels like a very reductive conversation doesn't it it is and you know I was speaking to one of my friends who's from Taiwan actually and she was saying you know we just could not imagine cooking a brown rice.

39:12They have congee, these amazing porridges in the morning. It just wouldn't work with brown rice because of the fibre. It doesn't retain the moisture from different foods. It doesn't suck it all up in the same way that white rice does. So each to their own. But I'd love everybody to have a bit more brown every now and again. So please don't worry. It doesn't shred your gut. It doesn't have dangerous levels of arsenic. And what about lectins? That's something that people are talking about. I feel that's a trend. It's probably a whole different topic. But give us a kind of 101 because people are also saying the problem with brown rice is that it contains lectins.

39:41Some people are saying lectins are trying to kill us. It's the plants coming to kill us. Are they? The anti-nutrients. Yeah. This is what they call the anti-nutrients and I wrote about them in the Science of Nutrition books. But I find it very bizarre because essentially lots of things come with powerful protective properties. So imagine a plant in the wild. To protect itself, it has to have these amazing, what we call anti-nutrients and properties that are poisonous to other animals or creatures to touch because that protects them. But that poisonous feature of that plant could be an amazing antioxidant that humans get the benefits of when they consume them.

40:15So I think this argument of lectins and tannins and things in tea and different properties being bad for us has stemmed from an evolutionary perspective of, you know, it's poisonous for the plant, for other creatures in the world to consume. But to humans, it's not. And actually, it doesn't leach all the other nutrition, which is the concern of lectins when people are having lots of plants and beans and pulses and all sorts of things. You hear it all, phytates is another one. You know, you hear all these words being thrown about on TikTok and thrown about on Instagram. But essentially, they're just properties that, yes, they do take a bit of time to break down in the body.

40:50But that's what makes plants so powerful and amazing is that they have these properties within them that we can just about break down. and yes timing with some things like you shouldn't drink a cup of tea with your meal that contains iron because the tannins in the tea will prevent the absorption of the iron in your meal but if we look at life in this reductionist way so even me saying out loud I'm thinking this is too much you know as I'm explaining it to you I'm like people don't need to know and that's the thing you don't need to know about leptin's you don't need to know about phytates and you don't need to care because the most important message is that you're eating more plants in your diet because any positive impact of eating the plants in the first place is going to massively outweigh any potential nutrient decrease of absorption from having one of those properties.

41:36And the evidence is also so clear, so robust, so overwhelming that diets rich in plants, like plant first diets, are the healthiest in the world. I'm not saying you have to be 100 % plant based, but plant rich, like your Mediterranean type diet, which is filled with lectins. I just can't believe I'm even discussing it out loud, Ella. It's just proven to be so healthy. So I think you're so right when you're like, just stop worrying about these words. Although, sorry, little caveat, you shouldn't give rice milk to infants because there are tiny traces of arsenic that we get from rice. But it doesn't harm us as adults.

42:11But definitely for children, just probably don't use that as an option for younger children. OK, that's great advice. So, yes, choose brown rice actually when you can, because it's got loads of fiber in it. and it's got these added vitamins and minerals, which most of us don't get enough from in our life anyway. But don't be scared of white rice either. It's delicious. How are we even discussing it? I just cannot get over the fact lectins have become a social media thing. It's just, as I said at the top, it's like, it's insane. There's so much to worry about. There's so much shift that needs to happen in our diet.

42:39And which rice you're consuming, just if that's where you've gotten to is your biggest problem. Like you're doing so well. You know, if you're eating a healthy diet and loads of loads of fiber and like healthy proteins and fats and all the rest of it. And your biggest concern is which rice you're eating. You've done so well. Stop worrying and enjoy your life. Yeah, brown rice is no villain. Which moves us on to the one that I've almost been, I've been excited to discuss, but dreading it. But it's definitely taken off, hasn't it, Ella? Electrolytes. Oh my gosh, they're everywhere. The trend of electrolytes is just booming.

43:15So I actually, this really shocked me. I didn't even know if you could have a global electrolyte market. But guys, there's a global electrolyte mix market. Just in time for the meteor to come. Electrolyte market boom. Maybe we need a meteor to kind of get us to see sense again. But the global electrolyte mixes market, if that is a thing, which it is, it's worth$36.5 billion as of 2023, up to$40 billion or so in 2024. so it's growing and there is just this absolute boom in interest in it if you're on tiktok you 100 % will have seen it there kind of every wellness creator seems to be talking about it there's so much online about it tell us re about electrolytes again can't believe we're going into this but okay here we go so buckle up here we go buckle up for electrolytes so electrolytes are minerals everyone so they come with an electrical charge and they regulate different things that happen in our body.

44:13And that's why we call them electrolytes. You know, you find them in traces in your blood, in urine and in sweat. So that's the link with the gym there is that they play a crucial role in rehydrating after you've done a vigorous workout. But you know, they do play a role in nerve signaling and muscle contractions, hydration, pH regulation. So your GP will always be aware, you know, if you go to the doctors, they will always ask about key electrolytes. And you know, everyone listening, you've probably heard of sodium, potassium, you've heard of chloride, calcium, magnesium, phosphate, bicarb, all of these things are electrolytes.

44:44And we do naturally lose them through sweat. And when we're poorly, I think a good example is taking like a diarolite is the most commonly known sachet. You know, if people have got diarrhoea or they're feeling really poorly, you take that to help with rehydration after you're poorly or you've been sweating a lot. But, you know, you find them in a balanced diet. You can get them in fruit, you get them in vegetables, you get them in dairy, high quality proteins. Do you get salmon brown rice? You do. You do. You get your electrolytes. And this is what... So the hype. Let's go into the hype because they are ultra-processed.

45:19So this is what I find weird is you see people on social media, this is really hypocritical, really prominent accounts. I won't name it. It's really obvious. You have their own powders and pills and concoctions. They are keto and they don't touch ultra processed foods, yet they sell their electrolyte sachets, which are full of artificial sweeteners, additives, colorings and all sorts of things out there. And they are marketed to you all listening as they're going to boost your focus, your energy, your hydration. Have you seen any other claims? Bloating, I think as well, like water retention. I find that crazy.

45:55It's definitely pitched as one of these like magic answers, quick fixes. don't worry that you're exhausted and overwhelmed by life like drink some dioralite and all will be well and I also think dioralite's so funny because like I'm sure you were the same and loads of listeners you know it's the kind of thing as you said like when you had norovirus or like really upset tummy as a kid it's the kind of thing your mum would give you and dioralite's like really unsexy you know it's like so uncool there's nothing cool about dioralite you're like mum gets it from boots when you've got norovirus and now it's been repackaged into these like super chic sexy it's no different to dioralite which you can buy very cheaply in boots and as i said i'm sure we were all given or buy for ourselves when we're poorly they've had this rebrand dioralite's had a rebrand this it has essentially you guys you're all buying glorified dioralite um so i think that is the best description of it it is it is rebranded dioralite yes it is also if you really need it like buy dioralite.

46:53It's much cheaper. So who would actually need this? This is, I think, a really important thing to answer. Most people don't need extra salt, sodium, which is in most electrolyte sachets because it's already abundant in our diets. In Western culture, it's everywhere. Magnesium, marketing will tell you you're lacking in it. However, you're probably not. Zinc and magnesium are both minerals involved in tissue repair and deficiencies are rare. Older people might have more of a deficiency of this because their absorption becomes more tricky as we age. But, you know, you get them in cereals. Magnesium is really abundant in a healthy diet, isn't it?

47:28Because it's in your leafy veg, your legumes, nuts, seeds, whole grains. But everyone eats cereal in the morning. Most people in this country, they get it in there. And that's what I find really interesting about this is that unless you're an endurance athlete or you are sick, you probably don't need it. And now this is the danger that I find really interesting. So sodium, so salt essentially cannot be lost from our body without water anyway. So most people just end up taking these sachets and then storing too much salt. And the kidneys play a crucial role with our overall blood pressure, our hydration status, our heart.

48:01The hormones all talk to each other and they work with our calcium levels. There's so many different areas here. So when you consider your heart is a muscle, your body needs, you know, different levels of different areas to go in and out of your heart and your bloodstream and sodium levels are regulated by a hormone called aldosterone. And that's the hormone that's released from your adrenal glands. So on your back, you've got like two little tiny balls on top of your kidneys. And that's where this hormone is released from. It's the same as your adrenaline cortisol. And they detect the electrolytes in your blood and they do a very good job by themselves of recirculating or storing.

48:37So if you're there messing it up by adding in more and more of these glorified diarylite sachets, you're basically just paying for salt water and increasing your chances of poor health oh and heat stroke if you have heat stroke you should take these salts obviously but people just don't need them Ella yeah I think this is one you can kind of as you said obviously if you're an enduring athlete and you're doing really really serious serious serious exercise this is completely different obviously at that point you need like quite specific nutrition diet supplements etc but for normal people who are going to work who are having fun with our friends who are living their best life, I hope.

49:13Not like me in my bad mood. No, no. If you're Ella today, definitely you don't want to take a thing. But I joke. No, but if you're living a normal life, you know, doing normal things, getting your exercise from dance parties in your kitchen or going for a walk or going on the treadmill for 20 minutes, you know, doing a 5k run, going to a yoga class type thing, you just don't need it. There's just no need. You're not losing enough. Again, it comes back to the basics, like eat a healthy diet and you're going to be getting all the minerals you need and if you're poorly and if you need that boost buy dioralite and just remember that what's being sold to you is rebranded dioralite.

49:47And a huge word of warning guys to everybody listening is that if you have high blood pressure do not go near these. If you are salt sensitive and you know your diet is full of salt please do not add these into the mix. Ella what is this picture? Sorry. This was added in by Lola who is helping us out a bit with the podcast from of our plants team and it's of a new influencer electrolyte brand and it kind of just sums up like the intensity of the marketing and yes just these huge marketing campaigns that are going on behind these products to get you to buy them and to the point like this one in particular has an email waiting list of over 4 000 people on it it's very fitspo isn't it it's super fitspo and it's really pitched as again as these things that will solve your life and electrolytes just won't solve your life.

50:37No definitely not. Yeah very interesting you see the types of influencers that are pushing this are often gym gear yeah and if you do see anyone that looks credible pushing it I would question them. Okay so we're going to move on to our last section which is our listener questions and we actually had quite a lot of similar questions on supplements so just to take two from you in the last episode you touched upon green powders but I wondered if you'd consider doing a longer podcast on supplements, which I think is a great shout and definitely an idea for the expert scoop. They said, I know supplements are very unique to the individual, but it really is a minefield.

51:10100 % agree with that. I wondered if you suggest any sort of testing to see if you're deficient in something. As a vegetarian female in my late 30s, exhausted with two small children and running a business. I did not write this, but it sounds like you. It's confusing to know what to do. And then she says some of the things that she takes and then very similar question from someone else who was talking about testing and a test that involves sending some strands of hair and they were saying I'm really doubting the accuracy slash science behind this however my results show I'm deficient in a few different vitamins and minerals.

51:42I eat such a varied diet made up of loads of different plants, whole grains, beans, pulses etc so I'm really really surprised even though I'm doubting the accuracy I'm now slightly concerned that I'm lacking these things I want to have it checked properly. I got in touch with my GP who will test my B12 levels but nothing else. I'm looking online but can't see anywhere offering full vitamin and mineral tests. There are some DIY kits but I'm not sure who to trust. Is there an affordable and trustworthy way to test if I have any deficiencies before I supplement unnecessarily? What am I filled? I mean let's start with listener question one with the busy mum of two, late 30s, knackered.

52:18I mean it is an exhausting period of your life so it may just be that it is exhausting and sometimes we have to go easier on ourselves before we jump to the conclusion of something wrong with us because we are tired like ella and i are exhausted all the time we are always exhausted always tired but i don't doubt that you are feeling that way and it is really really difficult and of course no one should offer you bespoke supplement advice without knowing your health history there's so much involved and this is why supplements are crazy they're so unregulated because anyone can buy one over the counter that's why i like the second question saying before I start supplementing unnecessarily because let's talk about the supplements that we all need or most of us need like vitamin D.

53:02There's very few we all need if you are vegan or plant-based and don't get a lot of healthy omega-3s and the conversion rate of plant-based amigas is a lot slower than the ones you would consume via the carrier of a fish or something. So omega-3 is really really important. Omega-3 you get walnuts and you get avocados, oily fish I would 100 % recommend problem is it's expensive and actually good quality omega-3 supplements are pricey so something to consider bulking up in your diet flax seeds that's cheap away a big pack of cheer seeds it's probably all going to be cheaper than getting a supplement vitamin d there's no question in it there's nothing to question everybody should be having at least 10 micrograms which is the recommended dose a lot of people say you need higher you it's just not worth getting higher until you've had a blood test.

53:50So I'm surprised. But other people don't need a blood test to take the recommended amount. Children, it's the same. Babies. We're just not getting enough sunlight, unfortunately, in the northern hemisphere. We don't get any. And now we have sun cream in the summer. We definitely block the absorption of vitamin D. And vitamin D plays a role with your immune system, plays a role with your mental health, your bone health. There's so many links in so many different areas now of vitamin D. They are the two that I would say everybody needs. Now, when it comes to being vegan, B12, B12, iodine, selenium and zinc and potentially iron are all the key areas.

54:23Some people will always be predisposed to being anemic and they eat loads of iron in their diet. It's just the way we're built. So definitely check with your GP there on that one. I'm amazed this GP will only test your B12. That's really odd to me. You can always ask your GP to tick other panels. There are some nutrients you cannot measure in blood like calcium. in certain areas. But guys, most of you taking a multi-vit can do more harm than good, because all the different nutrients compete. And you've got to weigh up how good is my diet versus how much filling of the gaps do I need. And this is why I built Retrition Plus.

54:58I mean, I'm not in a position now to be kind of sold out. But you know, we've sold out. So only a few pregnant multis left. But yeah, unless you're pregnant, unless you're aging, you've got a certain condition no one needs extra stuff on top of vitamin d or if you're vegan or plant-based the other areas there that i've just discussed should we do hair tests very quickly yes tell us about hair tests so i have been seeing hair tests since i first went to university you know a small lock of your hair is sent to the lab and apparently it scans the energy fields in your hair you know this like the use of apparently there yeah yeah i mean look it used to be used for drug use.

55:36So if people are recreationally taking drugs, like for lead and mercury poisoning, but it definitely is not an accurate way of saying if you've got an allergy or intolerance, there's just no science behind a lock of your hair containing any of that information. The only way to truly know, and believe me, if we knew, we wouldn't be spending a fortune on the NHS. If there was a test kit we could send home to everybody, obviously we would. It's a no-brainer. but the only way of doing it is please keep a food diary first before you book in a blood test with your GP or anybody because otherwise you're not going to have accurate levels in your body of what's going on.

56:12Then you look at the supplement options after the blood test to tell you if you're deficient or if you're low or if you really need some support. Then you start to look at your diet, take a bit out and then start adding it in slowly. It's elimination and most people should do it supervised. Okay so the advice is basically don't start supplementing unnecessarily. really look at your diet, get as much of a balanced diet as possible so that you're getting on those different vitamins and minerals. Everybody go get vitamin D if you're not taking it already. Be very conscious of your omega-3 intake, potentially something to supplement.

56:46And then if you're plant-based, exactly, then you definitely need B12 and be very conscious about the other vitamins and minerals. Wording on vitamin K just quickly, because a lot of people sell vitamin K or vitamin D, and I did so much digging into this when I built Retrition Plus. But you know, you only need one microgram a day of vitamin k for each kilo of body weight and most people get that so so easily and actually it's stored in your liver for future use any excess you get so you can do more harm than good by taking vitamin k with vitamin d because it starts to build up because it's a fat soluble vitamin in your liver and people don't realize that they see it everywhere k helps absorption it doesn't directly do that where do you get it from in your diet in your diet you get vitamin k from your leafy greens you get it from cereals again most people are having that every single day.

57:30So you're definitely getting it. Interesting. We're going to pick up on creatine next week as another supplement that people are curious about. Although we said that's a good one. I've got good things to say about that. Yeah, I do. Finally, something nice. So we'll be talking about that next week. We'll be talking about walnuts. We're going to be talking about lifespan and obesity. I think we've already got a packed show and we haven't even started writing the script yet. There's always so much to say. We have faded it into an hour, though we're getting better at this. Guys, honestly, it started off in a really foul mood and I'm so happy now.

57:58So thank you for listening. Thank you for the show. And don't forget to tune in to the Extra Scoop, which is coming on Thursday. Yes, our first Extra Scoop. So you guys can have us in your ears multiple times a week. And keep the questions coming. That was a tough one for me, actually, because there's so much information to get across. And I should have also said with vitamin K, it's also in vegetable oils, which most people get, especially if they have good or poor diets. Yes, you don't need to worry about that. And hope you guys have a great week. Thank you for listening. We appreciate it so much.

58:27and just a little question. If you have enjoyed it, please do rate it, review it, share it. It honestly makes all the difference. If you think it's worth five stars, it'll take you 10 seconds to do it for us. And I promise you, it makes more difference than you'll ever know. So thank you. Thank you.

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1:00:13Well, I just got back from vacation and I think I left them in my hotel room. And dude, I need to replace these shorts. I wear them like every day with that Lulu hoodie you got me. Could you send me the link to where you got them? Thanks, bro. Talk soon. Looking for your newest go-tos? Shop Lululemon's bestsellers now at lululemon.com.