Latest / The Dr Louise Newson Podcast / 289 - Liz Earle: why self-care isn’t selfish

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289 - Liz Earle: why self-care isn’t selfish · The Dr Louise Newson Podcast

1:02
So today on the podcast, I am very excited because I have
1:06
someone who is a friend, a mentor.
1:08
She's very inspirational and I've learnt a lot from her in
1:12
various ways over the years and she's been on my podcast before.
1:16
So welcome back, Lizel. Hello.
1:19
Thank you so much for joining me today.
1:22
Well, honestly, it works two ways.
1:23
You know, you've taught me so much, so I'm really delighted to
1:27
be here. Thank you.
1:28
Oh well, you're inspirational in many ways.
1:30
And one of the things that I've really enjoyed over the years
1:33
knowing you is that you're very evidence based.
1:36
There's lots of people I talk to who take things at face value
1:39
and you don't. And I can see as soon as I say
1:42
something, you're constantly thinking, right?
1:45
Why she said that? What does it mean?
1:46
Let me look at some papers. Let me get back to you.
1:49
You're very calm in your approach.
1:52
And one of the things I've been reading a book recently about
1:55
how to slow down to achieve more, which I think is actually
1:59
really interesting because then you do, you're very considered.
2:03
And I think this is so important when you're talking about areas
2:08
that not everyone's in line with.
2:11
So I'm sort of thinking many years ago you're talking about
2:14
olive oil. Actually, yes.
2:16
And people were more into flora and, you know, low fat spreads
2:21
and you knew that it was the right thing, but we were all
2:26
thinking about low fat at the same time.
2:29
We were. Yeah.
2:30
It it felt really quite perilous back then.
2:33
I mean, this is going back more than 30 years when I dared to
2:37
question the narrative. You know, that saturated fat was
2:41
bad and that actually we should all be eating low fat.
2:43
And of course, well, I mean, you know, from a hormone perspective
2:46
that if you go low fat, your hormones fall apart.
2:48
But actually, you know, we need fat in our brain.
2:51
We need it for our skin, we need it for overall good health.
2:53
And you know, thankfully now I think people beginning to
2:56
realise that it's carbs and sugars that cause the issue.
2:59
It's not cholesterol and it's not saturated fat.
3:01
Yeah, but you were very ahead of your time then, weren't you?
3:04
I mean, there's lots of people who obviously agree and it makes
3:07
so much sense, but at the time it must have been quite was it
3:11
difficult to continue a messaging when other people are
3:14
saying no? It was, well, I don't know, I
3:17
mean, I, I hopefully I am a truth seeker.
3:19
And so I think you know that when fundamentally it is the
3:24
right thing that definitely emboldens you.
3:27
But yes, it, it is hard to kind of stick your head above the
3:30
parapet. I mean, nobody knows that more
3:32
so than you. And it can be quite isolating
3:35
and particularly when you're up against big organisations who
3:38
have a lot of funding, there's a lot of vested interest there is
3:41
the ability to throw rocks at you and to skew information.
3:44
And to, you know, these days it's, you know, it's about being
3:47
cancelled, isn't it? I mean, back then we didn't even
3:49
have social media. So that wasn't a risk.
3:51
But yes, I think we have to be very careful.
3:54
And also on social media, I think as a lone woman, that is
3:57
also potentially quite a perilous place to be.
4:00
So, yeah, but then hopefully there's strength in numbers.
4:03
And I, I think you do kind of find your tribe and you, you do
4:06
realise who the good guys are out there and the ones who are
4:09
really trying and who are evidence based and who have the
4:12
best interests of women at heart.
4:14
I mean, hopefully all of humanity, but you know,
4:16
particularly my tribe is midlife women.
4:18
That's who I'm yeah, who I'm punching for.
4:21
Absolutely. And it is so important because
4:24
you know, when you came to my show and I was talking about
4:27
Semelweis, you know, that amazing obstetrician who quickly
4:31
realised that washing hands save lives, but they didn't know
4:34
about germs then. And he was completely ostracised
4:37
from the medical community and actually ended up in an asylum,
4:41
beaten to death. And many times I've thought
4:47
about am I mad? Am I absolute mad?
4:50
Am I just looking at one part of the evidence?
4:54
Have I not looked at the bigger picture?
4:56
And if I didn't have such a supportive tribe as you like, I
5:00
think I would have driven myself mad just by this one part,
5:04
thinking about hormones. But that's the same with a lot
5:06
in when you're a sort of a thought leader, a pioneer, just
5:10
thinking ahead of time, you know, And I think what's amazing
5:14
with your work is that you are always looking in a very
5:17
considered way. And often it is the most obvious
5:20
thing. So one of the things I really
5:22
want to talk to you is about the obvious things about how to keep
5:25
healthy. Because you know, you talk about
5:28
midlife, but you've just had your amazing book out thinking
5:31
about you on your 60th birthday and your second-half of your
5:35
life. So it's, it's so much that we
5:39
forget because we have this fast-paced life where where I
5:43
say where I don't eat it, but fast foods, processed foods, you
5:46
go into any. I was in the supermarket the
5:49
other day and the colours, the brightness, the packaging, like
5:53
I tend to shop online so I'm not experienced with this overload
5:57
often because it will trigger a migraine.
5:58
But just thank God this all this awful stuff that's going on.
6:02
But it helps us because we're so busy, but it doesn't really
6:06
because it's making us far more unhealthy, slowing us down in
6:10
the way that we're putting on weight.
6:12
We can't think the same way, we're not sleeping the same way.
6:16
So there's things that are working against us.
6:18
So I'm really keen to just learn more about what we can do that's
6:22
very simple. That's not very expensive to
6:26
keep healthy because as we, it's not so easy to keep healthy, you
6:31
know, and we have to invest in ourselves and be true to
6:35
ourselves. It's, you know, the beginning of
6:37
a new year. We always think, oh, it's gonna
6:41
be a better year this year. And various things we can't
6:44
control, as you know. But the things we can are the
6:47
things that can make quite a big difference to us.
6:51
Yeah. And the people around us.
6:52
Because if we're healthier, we can help others.
6:55
That is such a good point. Thank you for mentioning my
6:58
book. And actually, you know, when I
6:59
was writing that I did start the starting point is how do you
7:04
start? And it's about deciding to
7:07
prioritise yourself. And I think the thing that I've
7:10
learned over the years as somebody who's now, you know,
7:13
going to be 62 this year. So I'm, I'm kind of off that
7:16
slightly older generation where being selfish in terms of
7:20
looking after yourself, we're seen as really a bit self
7:22
indulgent and you should actually put everybody else 1st.
7:26
And of course we do need to look after others.
7:28
And a lot of midlife women spend their lives doing that.
7:30
You know, they tend to be the primary caregivers, having
7:32
children, looking after the elderly parents, being active in
7:35
their own communities, their workplace, whatever.
7:38
And so deciding that actually we're going to push ourselves up
7:42
the To Do List is quite a a big thing for a lot of women.
7:47
And actually self-care is not selfish.
7:50
Yeah, it's really important. And if we are not fully capable
7:54
ourselves, then how on earth can we help others?
7:57
So let's prioritise ourselves. Let's switch that mindset right
8:01
now, you know, to quote another beauty giant, because we're
8:05
worth it. We really need to be doing that
8:07
because this is our time and we've probably put the time in
8:11
for lots of other people over the years.
8:13
And this is our time to thrive. And, you know, when I hit 60, I
8:17
realised that I was actually healthier, happier, stronger,
8:22
fitter, more purposeful, more sorted than I'd ever been in my
8:27
life. Definitely during my 40s and 50s
8:30
when I kind of lost myself a bit as so many women do.
8:34
And I thought I, you know, if that's the trajectory I'm going
8:36
on this upward, why can't I be better at 70?
8:40
That's my goal. You know, a better second-half
8:42
is literally, I'm aiming to hit 120.
8:46
Actually, I was speaking at a longevity conference in Oxford
8:49
recently and listening to what's going on.
8:51
I'm, I'm think I'm going to push it to 130 actually.
8:55
But it's not so much just about adding on those years, It's
8:58
about having the healthy years. It's about having full brain
9:01
health, cognitive function, muscle strength, motivation,
9:04
mobility, all of those things. Otherwise you kind of think,
9:07
well, what's the point? So let's age, but age well.
9:10
You're absolutely right. And you know, I often say to
9:14
people you have to look after yourself 1st.
9:16
And it was one of my take home messages from the tour as you
9:19
know, because it feels really self indulgent.
9:22
And it's not self indulgent actually, because I know that if
9:26
we do look after ourselves physically and mentally, we're
9:30
going to have more energy to look after others.
9:33
We're going to be in a better place as well.
9:36
And I've always tried that, even for my patients, because the
9:39
last thing you want to do is visit a Doctor Who's really
9:42
unhealthy because. It's not a good look.
9:45
Is it really you? Know it's not a good look, but
9:47
also it's so easy to say you need to exercise more, but if
9:50
you're not doing it yourself, then how can you really
9:54
understand how to fit it into your timetable?
9:56
Because we're always busy. It's always like, oh, I, I've
9:59
never have time. There's always a reason why.
10:01
Yeah, of course there is. Of course there is, but it's.
10:04
Tiny changes, you know, it's little things.
10:07
It's not a certainly, you know, why do most New Year's
10:09
resolutions fall down? It's because they're too big and
10:12
they're too fast. And actually, you know, just
10:15
pick one tiny thing that you're going to do this week.
10:17
Is it having an extra glass of water?
10:19
I mean, it could be something as simple and as easy and
10:22
accessible and as free as that, you know, is it the fact that
10:26
you're going to turn the water down to cold at the end of your
10:28
shower for 10 seconds to give you that little micro cortisol
10:32
spike first thing in the morning that will set you up for the day
10:34
and that will help boost your blood circulation and help your
10:37
lymphatics and all of that. And then you build up.
10:40
Is it about swerving that muffin or bowl of granola or whatever
10:43
first thing and thinking, do you know what my first mouthful of
10:46
the day is going to be? Protein, I'm going to have a
10:48
boiled egg, I'm going to have some yoghurt, I'm going to have
10:51
a bit of avocado. You know, I'm just going to make
10:53
sure that I don't spike that insulin during the morning,
10:57
which is going to make me crave more carbs.
10:59
So tiny changes. And, you know, I think of these
11:02
things as individual beads in that in and of themselves, they
11:06
are small and insignificant and can get lost.
11:09
But when you add them up and you string them together, whether
11:12
you can make a bracelet or a necklace or whatever, it becomes
11:15
something quite substantial and something really valuable.
11:18
So let's add in these little tiny hacks and be kind to
11:22
ourselves and reward ourselves. You know, put a tick chart on
11:25
the fridge like we used to do with our kids and go, yeah, you
11:28
know, I did that. I've had those 5 glasses of
11:30
water today. I'm winning.
11:32
Yeah. And I think you're right, it is.
11:35
And I've said this before, it's adding rather than taking away
11:38
because it's so easy to say I'm not going to eat XYZ.
11:43
But actually if you do add in ABC, you're less likely to be
11:47
hungry, less likely to have those sugar cravings, less
11:49
likely to want those things that aren't so healthy.
11:53
So it is a different mindset actually, is adding something,
11:57
even if it's really small. I love the idea of building a
12:00
new bracelet or necklace rather than changing the one that you
12:04
like that you've worn for years, you know, because it will take
12:07
over a while. Yeah.
12:09
Because over a while it can take because it takes quite a few
12:11
months, doesn't it, to change eating habits.
12:15
Oh, yeah. To, you know, foods are very
12:18
addictive and they're more addictive than ever now.
12:21
You know, I was watching something I mean, I love crisp
12:24
on Todequin and he was talking about all the processing and,
12:28
you know, just even, I mean, I make cakes for the children.
12:31
We don't buy cakes. And as you know, they're really
12:33
easy to put together. But you look at the ingredients
12:36
of cakes, even just very simple cakes that you buy from
12:39
supermarkets, and you just think actually this is really not good
12:44
and it doesn't taste as nice. But of course it lasts longer.
12:48
But actually a lot of people don't realise that they're like,
12:51
oh really? Gosh, I didn't, you know,
12:53
whenever I make a cake, people are like, how have you got time?
12:57
Well, literally it doesn't take very long.
12:59
The cakes I make are not very 5. Minutes throwing it together,
13:02
yeah. But if you'd never.
13:04
Love sugar, butter, eggs? Yeah, yeah.
13:07
And it's very satisfying. I Love Actually cooking.
13:09
You know, I don't have a huge amount of time.
13:11
And you know, one of the things, you know, people say is that,
13:14
you know, cook from scratch. It's going to take so much time.
13:16
It's literally scramble an egg, you know, and Chuck in a bit of
13:20
grated cheese, you know, serve it with a bit of, I don't know,
13:23
bit of veg on the side or, you know, chop up an avocado or
13:25
something. It is super easy.
13:27
It takes less time actually than unwrapping a packet that you've
13:31
had to go out and buy in a supermarket, shoving it in a
13:33
microwave and waiting for it. And it's, I think it's the whole
13:36
thing, isn't it? It's the plastic packaging, it's
13:38
the ultra processed nature of it.
13:40
It's the fortified with synthetic vitamins which
13:44
actually aren't bioabsorbed. So it's a whole complex thing.
13:47
And just getting back to real food, somebody said to me
13:50
recently about food, their mantra was don't eat anything
13:54
with a label on it because if it has to have a label on it, it
13:57
it's not real food, is it? I mean, why do you need label to
14:00
tell you what it is? It should be fairly obvious that
14:02
what you're eating is whole food.
14:05
Yeah. But you know, things like
14:06
lentils, you know, lentils that are our best friends.
14:08
They're really cheap. I shove them into everything.
14:11
Sauces make dental soup. You know, my Bolognese.
14:14
Don't tell the kids. I hope they're not watching
14:15
this. But it's, you know, it's half
14:16
lentils and it's half. Mine's the same.
14:18
So yeah, they just have no idea. No, I mean, I grate also finely
14:24
Chuck. I've got none of those Wizards,
14:25
so I'm chopping all sorts of vegetables into and it makes it
14:28
cheaper as well because meat's expensive if you have quality
14:31
meat. So then you can, you know, make
14:33
it better. But that's.
14:34
The thing Buy less, but better quality.
14:36
Yeah, I think so. You know, I cook a lot for the
14:38
freezer as well, which is definitely a godsend because
14:41
suddenly when the children are all there and you're busy
14:43
working, Yeah, you've got to have things ready.
14:46
So food, I think, well, of course it's the most important
14:50
thing. You know, we can choose whether
14:51
we drink alcohol or not, We can choose if we smoke or not.
14:53
We can't choose whether we eat or not.
14:55
We all have to eat. And a lot of people I speak to
14:58
are actually not eating enough, but they're trying really hard.
15:02
So I've got patients that say to me, well, I only have, you know,
15:06
fat free yoghurt in the morning and then I have a low calorie
15:09
something bar at lunchtime. And then I'll have a ready made
15:13
sauce with some pasta and maybe a glass of wine.
15:15
So actually they're not eating much, but they're not getting
15:18
much nutrition. So I think the first thing, if
15:21
you agree, is looking at this new year and what we can do is
15:26
adding fresh veg, fruit, protein.
15:29
Obviously we've got to think more about our protein because
15:32
so many people don't have enough.
15:34
But in really simple like 1970s type food, don't you think?
15:41
I do just really stripping it back.
15:43
And, you know, eggs are one of my favorite food.
15:46
You know, they're very sustainable.
15:47
They're just, they're a complete form of protein.
15:49
They have lots of choline, which is great for the brain.
15:52
There's this whole question about, you know, cholesterol,
15:54
but of course, it's that they have the good type of fats.
15:57
And, you know, we need to get away from this narrative.
15:59
And I think it's about not having the processed stuff.
16:03
I mean, the only bit of processed food that I probably
16:06
do use quite a bit of actually is protein powder.
16:09
But I tend to have it unflavoured.
16:11
It's literally like pure casein powder or bone broth powder.
16:15
And I just shoved that into loads of things.
16:16
I put it into my coffee. I put it into soups and sauces
16:20
and, you know, yoghurt. I mean, everything basically has
16:22
a bit of extra protein powder put in it because the midlife
16:25
woman worried about encyclopenia and losing my muscles and
16:29
wanting to have higher protein. And I'm busy and, you know, it's
16:32
easy when we're out and about. You know, most of those snacks
16:34
that we might reach for don't have very much protein in them.
16:37
So, you know, that is one of the things that I do use in the
16:40
house that is a bit more processed.
16:42
Yeah, I shove it on my yogurt in the morning.
16:44
But also thinking about adding things like, obviously not if
16:48
you've got an allergy, but nuts are really good.
16:50
Seeds are really good. Yeah, you know, herbs.
16:54
Even just having some fresh herbs and your windowsill can
16:57
make a big difference. Company.
16:59
Yeah, and spices and all this talk about diversity, you know,
17:02
and having 30 plants a week or whatever.
17:05
I mean, you can have 30 plants a day if, you know, without me
17:07
thinking about it. Because, you know, you can put
17:09
10 different herbs and spices in a sauce.
17:11
You know, you can put 10 different herbs and, well, maybe
17:14
spices and nuts and seeds and berries and all the rest of it
17:17
in a bowl of yogurt. So it's not actually that hard
17:20
to get lots of little things in. Doesn't have to be a great big
17:23
portion. You know, a little teaspoon of
17:26
kimchi, which is one of my favorite kind of fermented
17:28
foods. So good for the gut.
17:30
And we know that the gut oestrogen link is obviously
17:32
really important as well. So we're looking after our
17:34
hormones as well. But one little teaspoon of
17:36
kimchi can have a billion beneficial bacteria in it.
17:40
So it's little teeny things that we add in that will build us,
17:45
make us stronger and fitter. Yeah, and then thinking about
17:48
being fitter. I know your exercise regime has
17:51
changed quite a lot over the last 10 years, isn't it?
17:55
Yeah, it has so much. I used to leap around like Jane
17:58
Fonda wearing leg warmers and lycra.
18:00
And I kind of look back now, I think what was the point, you
18:03
know? I mean, yes, it got my blood
18:04
circulation going and it used up a few calories.
18:06
But you know, I wish somebody had said to me earlier, Liz, you
18:10
need to lift weights. You need to lift weights to keep
18:12
your bone density, to keep your bones strong, to create stem
18:16
cells and just be more resilient overall.
18:20
And so now I was lifting weights this morning and you know, I
18:24
lift, I mean, not crazy heavy weights, but I have, I do
18:28
weighted squats with 20 kilos in each hand, which is more than
18:33
half my body weight. And that's kind of the guide
18:36
that you should aim for when you are building up to lift weights
18:39
is you should really be able to hold half your body weight for
18:42
at least a minute. So that's, you know, if you're
18:46
say 60 kilos, then you should maybe be holding 2 lots of 15K
18:50
weights. And I, I love that challenge of,
18:53
you know, every six months or so, I'll go up a stage.
18:55
So when I started lifting weights for doing squats, I was
18:58
maybe having 10 kilos in each hand.
19:01
And then I went up to 12 and then sixteens and then
19:04
eighteens. And then recently I, I, I bought
19:06
myself a pair of 20s. And that, you know, that was a
19:08
great moment. And I, you know, maybe during
19:10
this year ahead, I'll be upping it to 20 twos in each hand.
19:14
I don't know. I hope so.
19:15
It's really important. As you know, one of the things
19:17
I, as a menopausal woman, are scared about is osteoporosis.
19:21
It's such a common condition. One in two women over the age of
19:24
50 who don't take hormones will have it.
19:26
I've seen so many women with osteoporosis of their spine.
19:30
The pain, the deformity is really difficult to describe and
19:35
many people don't know they have it until they have fractures.
19:38
And fractures in the spine can be very painful as well.
19:42
So anything to keep our bones. But also, like you say, the
19:44
sarcopenia, loss of muscle mass, really important.
19:48
So definitely more and more people are talking about using
19:52
weights in the right way. And it's really important that
19:55
it is done in the right way. But you know, I've got weights
19:58
at home. I do, as you know, a lot of
20:00
yoga, but I also will add in some weights as well.
20:03
But my husband's got weights from university days and they're
20:06
so heavy. I literally move them just
20:08
because he leaves them lying around.
20:09
And when I'm trying to tidy up I'm like how?
20:12
Does he? Yeah, carry these?
20:13
But we are all different and it doesn't matter.
20:16
And sometimes even using lighter weights but more repetition can
20:20
be as beneficial as just trying to log a big weight and think
20:24
you've done it. So you have to be, yeah, really
20:26
careful how you do it. There are.
20:28
Lots of different ways I agree and actually you don't even need
20:31
to buy weights. So using your own body weight,
20:35
just doing squats up and down with no weights at all, just
20:38
doing push ups, you know, start doing them against the wall,
20:41
standing up, up and gets a little bit of strength.
20:43
And then, you know, go down and you can do them on your knees.
20:46
And then you can do, you know, full plank push ups, you're
20:48
using your own body weight. And then if you want to, you can
20:51
think about, you know, maybe buying some weights or not.
20:54
Yeah, absolutely. And there's a lot we can do with
20:56
our own body weight. And obviously I'm biased with
20:59
yoga, but it still is really important.
21:01
And, well, you are as well, Liz. I'm quite a huggy person.
21:04
I often hug people when I see them rather than just shake
21:07
hands. Yeah.
21:08
But actually, as we get older, you can feel whether someone
21:11
exercises or not. And I was in Norway recently.
21:15
These women are really strong, and you hug them and you're
21:17
like, wow, they're solid. Whereas sometimes you hug people
21:20
our age and you can just feel, but they don't have muscle.
21:23
Fragility. Yeah, and that is it's so
21:27
important when, you know, we look at older people sitting in
21:31
nursing homes and, you know, they can't get up by themselves.
21:35
They find it very difficult to be independent.
21:38
And, you know, I think one thing is people think we exercise
21:42
because we want to look really good in a bikini or whatever,
21:44
which is actually not true. What we want to do is to be
21:49
really independent and get out of that chair, go for a walk in
21:53
the garden, be independent when we're older.
21:56
And because we're living so much longer, you know, you talked
22:00
about the longevity conference. People are not waking up to the
22:04
fact that women especially are not aging well.
22:08
You know, the last 10 years of a Women's Health is often in poor
22:10
health because of inflammatory diseases.
22:13
And some of it is related to not having hormones and some of it
22:16
is related to not having the right lifestyle as well.
22:19
And I worry it's going to get even worse because we're eating
22:22
inflammatory diets with more sedentary than ever before.
22:27
And the majority of women are not taking hormones.
22:30
So there's things stacked against us, but we're still
22:33
living longer. So it's it's.
22:37
It is a terrifying thought, isn't it?
22:40
It is and I think it's terrifying These, you know, how
22:42
do we live our our later years? Well, pain free and with joy and
22:48
purpose and all of those things, you know, that that we want to
22:51
live and we probably earned it, you know, and we take retirement
22:55
and unfortunately, you know, that's when, you know, your
22:58
hormones conspire against you and all of that.
23:00
So, you know, I'm very grateful that I kind of, I mean, I wish
23:03
I'd started my hormone replacement earlier.
23:05
You know, I didn't start it until I was kind of early 50s
23:07
and I look back on my perimenopausal years.
23:10
I just thought I was stressed, you know, that's why I didn't
23:12
sleep and I had headaches and had tinnitus and all of that.
23:15
So many Utis, you know, all of that.
23:18
Thankfully, now that is all resolved, so I can move on to
23:21
then think about, well, now I've got some more energy and I'm
23:25
sleeping. So now I can go and lift my
23:27
weights and I can actually be motivated to want to eat better.
23:32
And I do it because it is a form of future proofing.
23:37
And you know, when you think about your body, it's the only
23:40
place you have to live. I mean, it is that is it.
23:43
You know, we have one body. We have one brain, you know, we
23:48
have one central nervous system. This is it, guys.
23:51
So how do we prioritise it? And you know, I take a lot of
23:54
supplements, for example, and people say, oh, you know, you
23:56
know, how do you afford to do all of this and say, I can't
23:59
afford not to. I cannot afford to be ill.
24:02
I'd rather spend my money on that than other things.
24:05
And I think we just need to perhaps take a little bit more
24:09
ownership about how we age and just realise a few of these
24:14
basic fundamentals, you know, food, fitness, hormone, health,
24:18
lifestyle, purpose, community. You know, you talk about
24:21
hugging, but you know, what is it we need to have?
24:24
Is it 7 hugs a day or five hugs a day?
24:26
I forget what the exact number is, but you know, that act of
24:30
just boosting your oxytocin in your brain.
24:32
And even if you haven't got anyone you know, romantically,
24:35
you could hug a friend, you could hug a pet, you know, hug a
24:39
colleague. If that's, you know, allowed,
24:41
you can hug yourself. Even this very action of just
24:45
hugging is creating happy hormones within the body.
24:49
Yeah, and that is so important that I think so often neglected.
24:52
And, you know, mental health has got to come into this
24:56
conversation as well. You know, how we can look after
25:00
ourselves and others. And, you know, I think it's so
25:03
easy to compare ourselves with others and think we're no good,
25:07
We're not right, because you look at all this rubbish on
25:09
social media with everyone having their perfect lives and
25:11
everything else. But one of the books I'm also
25:14
reading is about kindness actually, and it's so
25:18
interesting. Just being kind to people makes
25:22
you feel happier yourself rather than this self critical and
25:26
critical about other people. Because it's so easy to judge
25:29
people in the wrong way. And then that brings you down
25:32
internally and then you start to critique yourself and then it
25:35
down with spiral. So and one of the things I think
25:38
you are always so good at, Liz, is focusing on positive things
25:43
because everybody has got negative things going on in
25:47
their life. But actually for most of us,
25:50
what's the point of sharing them?
25:51
Because who wants to see a negative person?
25:54
You know, you've yeah, you work out who you can share certain
25:57
things with and who you can't. And that's fine, sure, but it's
26:00
also not being shaped by negative experiences.
26:05
I think having anything negative, acknowledging it, but
26:08
turning into a positive way. So some of the things that have
26:11
been very negative to me have taught me resilience, has taught
26:15
me independent, has taught me not to depend on other people,
26:19
you know, taught me just different things about myself
26:23
rather than wallowing in self pity.
26:26
And for anybody listening, there are going to be things that have
26:29
happened or going to happen that are going to really challenge
26:32
you. But dealing with it is very
26:34
important. Talking about it to the right
26:37
people is crucial, but moving forward I think is even more
26:41
important, would you say? I would and it's, you know, it's
26:45
like they say, you know, bullies at school are ones who are
26:48
likely to have been bullied. And I think, you know, when
26:51
people are unkind and, you know, I think a lot of us have
26:55
experienced that. And certainly, you know, if you
26:57
have any kind of profile in the media or on social media,
27:00
whatever, you know, there is a risk of that.
27:02
You kind of almost have to take a step back and think, you know,
27:05
what's going on in that persons mind.
27:08
You know, are they mentally unwell?
27:09
You know, is there some kind of awful situation that they're
27:13
facing that is making them so angry and agitated and, you
27:16
know, get the wrong end of the stick or whatever?
27:18
Or is there a vested interest, you know, something that's, you
27:21
know, kind of hidden that hidden agenda behind that?
27:23
So I think it's really important just to sort of start, try and
27:27
protect yourself and stay distanced from it and realise
27:31
that they're actually do, you know, there are an awful lot of
27:33
good people out there and you know, you can probably, well,
27:37
I'm sure you do get 10s of thousands of amazing comments
27:41
and support. But of course it's the one or
27:43
two, you know, that may be deliberately there to Chuck
27:46
rocks that are the ones that stick and and that you remember.
27:49
And actually, we just need a bit of balance, don't we?
27:51
Remember that most people want the best for everybody.
27:55
Yeah, I think balance is so important and prioritising.
28:00
We only have one life, it's never going to be perfect, but
28:03
optimising it for our future health is so important.
28:08
And there is so much information in your book.
28:11
You're updating it as well, aren't you?
28:12
For a paperback, are you? Yeah, I am.
28:15
Well, no, they're going to keep it in hardback.
28:17
We are doing a big revised section.
28:20
You'll be pleased to hear there's quite a bit of revision
28:23
on hormones as well. Not changing, but actually just
28:26
beefing up great, you know, things that we've become more
28:29
aware of, I guess, in recent years.
28:31
There's quite a big section now on testosterone, which I think
28:35
is really important for women. You know, it's something that I
28:37
benefit from, you know, I'm very lucky.
28:39
I have a very enlightened forward thinking NHSGP.
28:43
It was interesting actually because I, you know, I was first
28:45
prescribed it really very much for my memory and for brain.
28:50
And it was a time when I was single.
28:52
So I wasn't being prescribed it for libido, and it has made such
28:57
a difference, and also with muscle tone and just overall
29:00
vitality. So I think the more research
29:03
that we see coming out, hopefully this year, yeah, about
29:06
testosterone and its use for midlife female health is going
29:09
to be really valuable for us. Yeah, we've, well, we've
29:12
published 1 paper showing about mood and cognition improving
29:16
with testosterone, women who take HRT.
29:18
And we've just submitted another paper.
29:20
Actually it's quite interesting. It's written with some
29:22
preclinical researchers in America who do a lot of research
29:25
in mice and so they look at the effects of low testosterone in
29:30
mice and rodents and show so that actually those that have
29:33
low testosterone have this anhedonia like can't be bothered
29:37
to do anything. So even if you give them sugared
29:38
water, they won't be interested give them testosterone.
29:41
They go straight for the sugared water.
29:43
They more motivated, they exercise more and they've done
29:46
lots of experiments looking at the role of testosterone,
29:49
especially in the brain. So we've written a paper showing
29:52
looking at their Preclinical Research with, you know, the
29:55
effects of testosterone in the human body and our clinical
29:58
research as well. So it's a very meaty paper.
30:01
It's quite hard of it. It's quite technical to
30:03
understand, but hopefully that will be published later this
30:06
year. So that's going to be really
30:07
interesting too because it's just basic, basic, you know,
30:10
science. So which is what this is all
30:13
about. And so, you know, we've talked a
30:15
lot about keeping things basic and I think that's really
30:18
important. We almost need to be go back in
30:20
time. I often think about how my
30:22
parents lived in the 70s. So simple food, simple exercise,
30:28
simple hormones and looking after each other and keeping
30:31
happy. So really key messages that we
30:34
need to remember actually and try and move forward this year
30:38
to be healthier and happier. So very grateful obviously for
30:41
your time again, Liz. But before we end, I always ask
30:44
for three take home tips. So some people might have been
30:47
listening to this and think, oh, it's all very well, she's saying
30:50
that, but how am I going to do? What am I going to do?
30:52
How am I going to start? So what are the three main
30:55
things that you think people could prioritise to feel better
31:00
and be healthier? Well, one of the things that
31:03
I've learnt over the years is that sleep is a superpower and
31:07
we really do need to prioritise it.
31:09
I used to think it was just flopping into bed and switching
31:11
off, but actually it's a really active process and it helps
31:14
regulate our mood, our hormones, our emotion, our weight,
31:17
everything. So prioritising sleep,
31:20
prioritising getting to bed a little bit earlier and think
31:23
about setting up a good sleep routine and there are lots of
31:25
resources you can find online to help you with that.
31:28
I think also the morning routine is actually really important.
31:33
How you set up your day is how you set up almost the rest of
31:37
your life. So people say I have no time in
31:40
the morning. Well, OK, why don't you set your
31:42
alarm clock for just 10 minutes earlier so that you can do
31:44
something simple like drink a glass of electrolytes.
31:48
That's your first mouthful to rehydrate and give you a bit of
31:51
cellular energy in the brain. Open a window, look at the day.
31:55
I talk a lot on my Instagram about this, the importance of
31:58
real daylight, especially the low level ultraviolet and near
32:01
infrared that we get first thing in the morning.
32:03
Get that light into the retinal cells in your eyes.
32:06
Again, it's a free health hack. It's there for everybody, but
32:09
don't do it wearing contact lenses or glasses or through a
32:13
glass. You have to actually open your
32:14
window or ideally step outside. And if you can take your shoes
32:18
and socks off, do a bit of grounding.
32:20
You know, it sounds a bit woo woo, but the studies are there
32:22
that it can lower inflammation in the body and just help you
32:25
feel more connected. And then I think ultimately,
32:28
don't beat yourself up when things don't go right.
32:32
I have a very simple rule of thumb.
32:33
It's the 8020 rule 80% of the time.
32:36
Do you know what? It's pretty good. 80% of the
32:39
time I'm mindful of what's on the end of my fork and what I
32:42
put into my body. 20% of the time it's tequila and cake.
32:46
So it's just keeping that right ratio of 8020 and not letting it
32:50
slip the other way around and just being consistent.
32:54
Just everyday little tiny things, consistently small
32:58
changes add up to a big difference.
33:01
Perfect, really great advice, so thank you ever so much.
33:04
Let's hope we can all do it. Well, honestly, honestly and
33:08
more, more grit to your wheel or whatever it is that you need
33:11
grit with because what you're just carrying us through this
33:15
year ahead and look forward to connecting much more in the
33:18
months to come. Oh, thanks, Liz.
33:24
You can find out more about Newson Health Group by visiting
33:27
www.newsonhealth.co.uk and you can download the free Balance
33:34
app on the App Store or Google. Play.