Latest / The Dr Louise Newson Podcast / 65 – The truth about food and health with The Happy Pear

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65 – The truth about food and health with The Happy Pear · The Dr Louise Newson Podcast

0:00
So today is a really special podcast because I have two
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guests. I have Steve and Dave, the happy
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pair. They are really inspirational
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and if you're not excited about food after this podcast, you
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never will be. We talk about how to eat well,
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how to have a good life, and more importantly, how to be
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happy. So enjoy.
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So you're both here in the studio.
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We did a podcast a while ago, but you were remote.
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But I have met you many times, it feels like in real life.
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But you're now here in London and it's great.
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Yeah, it feels really, really lovely to be here in this.
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It is like my living room. Jack has made it like my living
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room with some pictures around. It's all very nice.
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Oh yeah, your husband looks great in that one back there.
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With his short hair. So Steve and Dave, the happy
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pair, we just want to talk about like how to be healthy and happy
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because the older I get, the harder it is actually.
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You think the harder it is? I don't find it so hard, but I
0:57
think it's harder for people to change.
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And I think there's a lot of noise out there.
1:01
People are like, oh, what do I eat?
1:04
What do I exercise? What do I do?
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And it's interesting because someone recently said to me, all
1:09
you do is talk about hormones. And I was like, hang on, like
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the non negotiables in my life are eating healthy, exercising.
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I still do yoga, I still do my head stands.
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I don't eat processed foods. I don't drink alcohol, I don't
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smoke, I don't do caffeine. Like what?
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What what what? I said but.
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That where do you get fun? From Yeah, besides, I don't have
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fun, but but it's like that's really important for me.
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And the more I talk to some people, the more I realise
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people don't have those lifestyles and they don't know
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where to start. Do you see what you mean?
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And it's like like you can look at you 2 and go, oh, it's so
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easy for them because they look super healthy.
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They eat really well. Good genes.
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Got too good to yeah and all that stuff.
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They live by the sea. Yeah, Yeah, we were.
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Talking earlier and I was kind of saying I think we need to
1:53
rebrand vitamin C and call it like community the C stands for.
1:57
Community because we we. Forget, like, as humans that
2:01
we're social species. And when I say community, it
2:04
doesn't necessarily mean people. It could mean connecting to the
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land, it could mean plants, it could mean an animal.
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But it's this sense of that we're a product of our
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environment. Like.
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If you live in a place where people love to drink beer and
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love to have chips and love to eat doughnuts and love to talk
2:21
politics, you're probably going to end up doing something
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similar. Whereas if you hang out with
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friends who are, you know they love to run and exercise and
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talk about vegetables and wonderful.
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Things like that. You're more likely to do that
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more often. And I think it's it's this is
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often forgotten. Many people go let's.
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Eat the vegetables and it's. Exercise.
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But I think it's the single biggest thing that you can do is
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to find people that live the way you want.
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To. Yeah, it would.
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Sounds like a cliche. I would probably say that I
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think it's, it's a case of like if I look at our lifetime, we
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were discussing coming up here kind of saying that when we used
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to trick or treat at Halloween time, we used to get satsumas
2:56
and monkey nuts and apples and we might get a couple of sweets.
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What's a monkey nuts? Monkey nuts like a peanut in a
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shell. Like we're 46 and recently we
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were trick or treating with our kids and you know, within an
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hour they had and Theo had something like 4 kilos of
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chocolate bars and 196 little bars like, and it's like that
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was in an hour. And you're kind of going like,
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that's just an analogy of how our food cultures change in our
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lifetime. And it's not surprising that
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over my lifetime, obesity rates have gone from 5% to nearly 30%.
3:26
Type 2 diabetes has gone from 2% to 8%.
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And my own belief, having worked in the food industry for more
3:33
than 20 years, is that I think the food system and how we're
3:37
eating is, is a huge contributing factor.
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And I, I think more than ever, like our message is about
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helping people cook more from scratch at home.
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Because if you outsource your health to the food system, which
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most of us are doing because we busy lives and we're both
3:51
parents are working and kids, you know, lives are busy that
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we're outsourcing our food choices to the food system and
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just buying easy stuff in process.
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Oh, that tastes good, I feel. Crap.
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And it's. It's 100% understandable, but
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what our message is about? Like.
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You need to be intentional about your food choices.
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If you are not, you know it's. It's more likely that you will
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reach some form of disease, that your food choices are a
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seriously contributing factor to it, but it's so.
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Important. And someone said to me the other
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day, oh, I've just read that doctors are going to learn about
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food. It's like what?
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Like it's ridiculous that so many people that have basic
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education and you know, we, I'd learned a little bit about
4:31
nutrition medical school many years ago, but it wasn't much,
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it wasn't enough. I mean, a lot of what I know is,
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is taught myself and but I, I, as you might know, get migraines
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and they're a blessing and a curse.
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I mean the curses, they're horrendous.
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The blessing is I can't eat processed foods because they
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will trigger migraine. So if I go out here and buy a
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ready made sandwich and a packet of crisps, I can pretty much
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guarantee I'll get a migraine later.
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So I can't. That's why they're a blessing.
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So I have to eat really well and my daughter's the same.
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And last night I had to come down from from home to to London
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and I was cooking like some casseroles for putting all in
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freezer things. That's in the freezer already.
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Good job. I know.
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But it's like, but I do, I've always done it since the girls
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doing like batch cook. So it's just hacks, isn't it?
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So then she's got food, it's got loads of vegetables in, it's got
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couscous or orzo depending on what I was doing.
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So it's got everything that she needs and it's all there done.
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She gets migraines as well. She's out playing music all day.
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Where does she get food from? It's impossible.
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It's even hard to buy fruit now. So it's you can buy some nuts as
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a snack, but not to eat properly.
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And she's got really high metabolism.
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So I really, really make a huge effort with my diet.
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But I have to because of migraines.
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But if I didn't have migraines, I would probably think, oh.
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It's not that important. Doesn't matter, does it?
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You know, when you're young, you can get away with so much more.
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But I worry about inflammation in the body.
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A lot of these processed foods increased inflammation, don't
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they? I was.
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Going to just tell a story, just just to kind of illustrate this,
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like back 12 years ago, Like we started a vegetable shop over 20
6:09
years ago for social change and it was really about helping
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people eat more veg. So it was very much intentional.
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We had changed our diet and we were like, OK, we want to change
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the world and try to make people healthier, happier, like
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something out of Walt Disney. And we found like a kind of 10
6:23
years in, it was like, I don't think we're having much and
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maybe it's five years. And we were, we were like, we're
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not having enough impact. So Steve said to me one day I
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was reading a book to book by this doctor, Doctor Dean Ornish,
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an American doctor. And he had showed in the
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lifestyle heart trial that you could reverse the indicators for
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heart disease by putting people on a, a whole food based diet.
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And it was like, and Steve said to me, one day a lady came in
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and she said, I've lost two stunning Weight Watchers.
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And it was like, oh, that's amazing, Mary, amazing.
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And Steve said to me, I wonder, like, can we do something
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similar? Like people love measuring the
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improvement in their health. And we had a vegetable shop and
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I was cooking in the kitchen and Steve was working at a vegetable
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shop. And we kind of said, well, why
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don't we try to run a course? Let's see if we can run
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something. So we literally called down to
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the doctor that morning. It was a Monday morning.
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We're knocking his door and we're like, how you brand?
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We're the last nappy pair. We want to got this idea.
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We want to try to reverse heart disease with food.
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Can you help us? And he's like, I'm very busy
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lads, I'm very busy. Try Angela sees a nurse.
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You might be able to help you. So you're not going to Andrew's
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door And we go Harry, Angela, hey, we're the lads and happy
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pair. We want to reverse heart disease
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with food. We're looking for a nurse to
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help us. Will you help us?
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And she said how much you gonna pay me?
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I'm very busy. And Steve said I 50 or my wallet
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will give you 50 or And she said, OK, right, I'll do I'm in.
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So it was pre social media. So we literally created signs
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and we put signs on lamp posts, like posters on posts and we put
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them out there and we said free reverse heart disease, 4 weeks,
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skinny, delicious, you know, whatever.
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It was a four week experiment and people came along the first
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night and Angela measured people's cholesterol, weight and
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blood pressure. So it's starting measurements
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and they came upstairs to us and it was all about teaching people
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how to cook exactly that you were saying it was like tasting
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food tasting food because people kind of were like they were they
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were kind of first this be entertaining those happy pair
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lads. They seem to be fun.
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It could be interesting to see. I'm a bit I don't know what's
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going to happen. Curious and skeptical,
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skeptical. And we were, we kind of gave
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them recipes and meal plans and it was porridge and it was
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eating, you know, I've making vegetable soups and pad pies and
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cooking lentil stews and minestrones.
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And it was very like people like, oh, that tastes really
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nice. And, and it was very much about
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eating Whole Foods. So real foods, cutting out
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processed foods, reducing or cutting out animal foods.
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It was very much focused on the tasty, healthy Whole Foods.
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And for four weeks, they did this.
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They came once a week and we espoused the, you know, the
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benefits of vegetables. And at the end of four weeks,
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Angela, the nurse came back and measured Evan's cluster wet and
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blood pressure. And we, as I said, this was 12
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years ago, so we'd. Starting measurements and we'd
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finishing. Yeah.
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And we didn't know it was going to work like it was pre.
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It was a long time ago. And not surprisingly, there were
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incredible results. And cholesterol in most people's
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cases dropped and blood pressure dropped.
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And it was. It was just a really a great
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reminder of just the simple power of our food choices in
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just four weeks. I see a lot my, my older two
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children are 23 and 21 and a lot of their friends who started off
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at university, you can see now the ones that don't eat well,
9:16
that drink a lot, you can, you know, you can see it in their
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skin. And then you think, gosh, what's
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going on internally, you know, because you can get away with a
9:23
bit, but it does catch up. And, and I think you're right.
9:27
Also, they're talking about the taste of food because food is a
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pleasure. And I think there's a there's
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been a lot going on even since we last spoke with the GLP ones.
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People are literally starving themselves a lot.
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And you know, like you say, I don't have much fun in my life,
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but I do enjoy eating. I enjoy really good food.
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You know, it's it does make you happy, of course.
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It does when you're more hungry, you get more pleasure from
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simple food. And I think in modern day
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society, many of us, me included, are regularly
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stressed. We're overwhelmed because life
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is busy. There's so much information
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coming at us, so we often turn to food for a quick I feel tired
10:02
that chocolate loves me. Oh, I love chocolate, you know,
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or whatever it might be, but. It's seen as a reward.
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Yeah, of course. But the wrong foods are seen as
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a reward as well. And I, I find that real shame,
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isn't it? Oh, you've done really well.
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I have a sweet. You've done really well.
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I have a, you know, and it shouldn't be like that really.
10:21
I think I was talking to my husband actually recently and we
10:23
were saying how our lifestyles have really changed.
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So when we were junior doctors, we'd quite often drink a bottle
10:29
of wine between us because we deserved it, because we're done
10:32
on call and we're really busy or whatever.
10:34
And then I'd often get home from work and have a cup of tea and
10:37
biscuits that are dunk in my tea and eat.
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And you can't even just eat 1, can you?
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It's always a few and we were just laughing because I never
10:43
buy biscuits. Like I, I bake, so I'll make
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flapjacks or whatever, but I, I just never buy any of that
10:49
stuff. But we've almost gone backwards
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or forwards depending on how you look at it.
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Whereas actually 20 years ago there weren't even the choice of
10:57
biscuits that there are now. It wasn't so easy to to, you
11:01
know, this, the snack choices are just overwhelming.
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Like I when you go and fill up with petrol, like there's
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nothing in there that I would eat.
11:08
The colours of the drinks are just like wild.
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Like why would you have a bright green drink in your system?
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You know, it's just. And they're.
11:16
Not even foods, are they? Well, I think that I think it
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comes back to the point of being more intentional, like I think
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we need to. And it's the same message you
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hear with being mindful about, you know, you're asleep or being
11:28
being intentional. Like most of us are going around
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and we eat the same foods week in, week out.
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We eat the same breakfast, the same lunch, the same three meals
11:36
that we cook each week or whatever we buy.
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And you know, it's the same thing.
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And our message is that you become the compounding effect of
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what you eat on a consistent basis.
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It's the biggest contribute. Your body is literally built on
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the foods that you eat. And at some stage it is like it
11:53
will catch you and you will literally become the foods you
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eat. So our message is to it's not
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about vegan, it's not about vegetarian, it's not about any
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of those things, but it is about eating more Whole Foods.
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And by Whole Foods you might go, what's a whole food?
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Like, is that a HOLE? Or what's a whole food?
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But it's really like, it's your fruits, it's your vegetables,
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it's your beans and legumes. You know, like not 9 out of 10
12:17
people in the UK don't get enough fiber, like 90%.
12:20
And like vitamin F is yet yet as a society, they're so focused on
12:25
protein and like it's very difficult not to get enough
12:27
protein, assuming you're eating enough calories.
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And they're not just all processed foods yet fiber.
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Nearly everyone is not getting enough.
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And that's what feeds the healthy strain of microbes in
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your gut. You know which, which is such a
12:41
country factor to your immune system.
12:42
But anyway, back to OK fruits, veg, beans, legumes, the whole
12:45
grains, nuts and seeds. And it's not an all or nothing
12:47
thing. It's not about being a
12:48
puritanical monk or a pious righteous person, but it is
12:52
about if you want to be healthy and feel good in your body and
12:56
being be vital and vibrant for as long as you can.
13:00
Like taking responsibility for your own food choices is so
13:03
important. I'm really excited to announce
13:08
that I've written a new book. It's called Power of Hormones.
13:12
It looks at how hormones actually work in our body and
13:15
why so much of what we've been told and taught, especially as
13:19
women, has actually been wrong. I explore the science, the
13:23
history, and the uncomfortable truths about how hormones have
13:27
been misunderstood, under taught, and often dismissed
13:31
within medicine. There are some stories that are
13:34
actually quite shocking, frustrating, and I think
13:37
essential for us all to know. This book is about understanding
13:41
your body and hormones in a deeper way, about questioning
13:45
symptoms that haven't always served women well.
13:48
If you want to be among the first to read it, you can
13:50
pre-order Power of Hormones now through the link in the show
13:54
notes. I know it's really cheesy to
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say, and this is really obvious for people listening I'm sure,
14:01
but you do feel better when you eat better 100.
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Percent, we have a food business and we started with a fruit and
14:06
veg shop and expanded into products and we have a course in
14:10
an app. But four years ago we started a
14:12
four acre organic regenerative farm and we've had a vegetable
14:15
shop for 20 years. So I thought I know a lot about
14:17
vegetables and we've been a chef for 20 years cooking with
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vegetables. So it's like I know vegetables.
14:22
And it was only since starting the farm, I realized I know
14:25
nothing about veg was nothing. And like how ultimately we're
14:30
farming vegetables, but what we're actually farming is
14:32
healthy soil because all nutrition or virtually all
14:36
nutrition comes from the soil. And and we've gone through a
14:38
process of working out through help of many experts how we can
14:41
re mineralize the soil and how we can get more microbial
14:45
biodiversity in the soil. And as a result, they work in a
14:49
symbiotic relationship with the plants and they provide the
14:52
plant with chemicals that will protect the plant.
14:55
So it's, it's this incredible intricate relationship, but it
14:58
all starts with biodiversity and biodiversity in the soil.
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And the only place we will find a similar biodiverse and
15:05
ecosystem is the human ghost. And literally like we are what
15:09
we eat. And it's also we are what our
15:11
food eats. And by that I mean like I can, I
15:15
can eat a carrot that is grown in, you know, sprayed with all
15:19
sorts of different things and designed to look beautiful.
15:22
And I think and it, and it's great and it's affordable, but I
15:25
can grow a carrot that was grown really healthy, nutritious soil.
15:27
And it's quite different. And and for many of this might
15:31
sound a step too far, but I guess it's a reminder that at
15:36
one point we all used to grow our own foods.
15:38
And through this relationship, we ate in season, we often were
15:41
hungry. And as a result, when we did eat
15:43
soup, we were so grateful was like, Oh my God.
15:47
So I I guess I don't want to sound preacher idealistic, but I
15:50
think the simple things are often, you know, the classical
15:53
beautiful. And then the things that are
15:55
often forgotten as well, which I think is, is such a shame
15:58
because it is basics. You know, you look at some of
16:01
the food that's covered in plastic that's not in season,
16:05
you've got no idea where it's grown, the soil, the whatever's
16:09
been sprayed on it. We've got really little control
16:12
as consumers now. And it makes.
16:15
It very difficult. Very little visibility.
16:17
And we say that like, you know, Steven talking about our farm,
16:20
like we're in the journey of how can we grow the most nutritious,
16:23
nutritious and tasty veg because there's a huge correlation
16:26
between taste, nutrition and plant immunity.
16:30
We, we call it like the Holy Trinity of, of farming.
16:33
And so we're on the journey of how can we create the healthiest
16:36
soils and we're using like refractometers and SAP testing
16:40
and all sorts of different things to, to actually prove
16:42
that what we're growing is more nutritious.
16:44
Ultimately, all of us, we're alive and lots of us are kind
16:47
of, you know, we're not living in our potential at all.
16:50
And I really believe our food is such a massive contributing
16:53
factor to us realizing some capacity of our potential.
16:57
And that is down to our own level of joy, our own vitality,
17:00
our own sense of connection. And ultimately that it for me is
17:03
real success and real wealth. And I think our food choices is
17:07
like for anyone listening, it's not about perfect, but it is
17:10
like this virtuous cycle tends to happen.
17:12
And it could start with by simply starting, OK, I listened
17:15
to Louise and this happy parallel and they said eat more
17:18
fruit. I'm going to start tomorrow.
17:20
Instead of having a croissant and a cup of coffee, I'm going
17:22
to make porridge. I'm going to try oatmeal.
17:25
I'm going to porridge and I'm going to have a banana.
17:27
And it's brilliant. And maybe do that for a week.
17:28
Half a croissant. And I'm going to have half a
17:30
croissant or whatever it might be.
17:31
And geez, I feel good. Oh my God.
17:33
And my digestion was better and I pooped a little better or
17:36
whatever it might be. And then you like it.
17:38
Just it can build. I mean, it's always a joke.
17:41
I always take an apple to work and I always have an apple on
17:44
the way home and I'm often making calls and everyone's like
17:46
always Apple time. And it's just a hack because,
17:48
because it means that I don't get home hungry, if that makes
17:51
sense. And I, I try and eat quite early
17:53
and, but it still takes half an hour, so whatever to, to eat.
17:57
So it's just, and I always do it.
17:59
If I forget my apple, I'm like, Oh my God, what am I going to
18:01
do? It's ridiculous, but it's it.
18:03
But sometimes when it's a habit, you're not thinking about it,
18:06
you're not having to justify it. And I think that's really
18:09
important. But my my husband actually
18:11
recently, one of his fellows who works with him is from Greece.
18:15
And we got this big pasta. I'm not joking.
18:17
I mean, those people who listening won't know, but it's
18:19
huge tin of olive oil from his farm.
18:23
And I've used olive oil a lot. Oh, my goodness.
18:26
I can't even tell you how amazing this tastes.
18:28
And I just drizzle someone on one of my children's food.
18:31
And Jessica was like, what have you done?
18:33
This is the most like incredible.
18:35
And I filled up a bottle for them of my other daughter who
18:39
lived together in London. And they were like, this is just
18:42
and it was just seeing her pleasure of this food.
18:44
But it was it is amazing. Like it's just and we're very
18:48
lucky because I know olive oil is expensive, but I don't drink
18:50
alcohol. So in my mind, buying olive oil
18:54
is my treat. Do you know what I mean?
18:56
And I can, I can justify having slightly more expensive as in
19:00
buying organic rather than non organic food because I don't
19:04
have a huge amount of meat. But I also don't drink alcohol.
19:06
I don't smoke, I don't go out to the pub.
19:09
So that's my pleasure. But it's a choice thing because
19:11
I realise it's some people listening will think, oh, it's
19:14
all very well for them. They can, you know, buy this or
19:17
whatever. But you know, we all have to
19:19
eat. We have to and we have to make
19:21
choices. And I feel very responsible for
19:23
my children, the people that I've feed as well.
19:26
But also I, I want to enjoy food, but I don't want to spend
19:29
my day hungry. I'm working too hard to be
19:30
thinking about food. So you know your food that's got
19:33
so much fibre and nutrients in, you eat it and you're not
19:38
constantly hungry. Either Yeah, well that that's
19:40
the thing that like like fibers, what's fills you up like it
19:43
really is. And we say this is to we're 46
19:46
years old and we used to play semi pro like we ran 100
19:49
kilometer run there in October across as a heritage.
19:51
I was watching you. We won.
19:53
Our city's family, like we're we've been eating plant based
19:56
for 25 years and people who meet us will often say, oh, they're
20:00
feck insufferable. Like they've got so much energy,
20:03
you know, and that would. Be.
20:04
You know, like we quite we. That would be a common feel that
20:08
off people that are Jesus, these lads are unrelatable and I I
20:12
would say like food is food and movement is such a factor to
20:16
feeling vital and energetic and and even when to bring this back
20:20
to like, you know, disease is so common in a modern societies
20:23
particular like it really is. It's so prevalent, so many
20:26
aspects and it could be mental health, it could be
20:27
psychological, it could be stresses, so many things.
20:30
And when you look at the longest living populations in the
20:33
planet, like their vitality, their immunity, their sense of
20:36
resilience is very rooted in my belief down to their food
20:40
choices. You know, they like Dan Butan or
20:42
one of the founders of the Blues on CSA, 50% of their longevity
20:45
is down to their food choices. And they're like, they're not
20:48
vegan or vegetarian, but like 95% plus of what they eat is
20:52
based around whole plant foods. 50% of their calories come from
20:56
beans and legumes and they're, you know, it's they're agrarian
21:00
based societies where they're grown a lot of their own food.
21:02
And this isn't like grown their own food is not relevant to a
21:05
lot of people. But it's really the point which
21:07
I'm making here is that the opportunity for most of us
21:10
within our food choices and being more intentional and going
21:13
on this journey, because a lot of us are looking for
21:16
connection, connection to, to life for meaning and purpose.
21:20
And I think our food choices is such a gateway connecting to the
21:23
seasons and who grew it and the stories because we're such a
21:26
story based society that you know, if you can maybe get foods
21:30
that you, you know someone who grew it or you were connected in
21:32
some way. And you need the variety.
21:34
Blood orange season has arrived and most of blood oranges will
21:37
come from Sicily. Or like, yeah, Sicily.
21:40
And they are just, you know, the type of orange that you can sit
21:43
down and you can eat eight oranges.
21:44
And it's like, oh, I didn't mean to eat 8, but they just, they
21:47
were so incredibly good. And I think when you do connect
21:51
to the season, there's an innate desire.
21:54
Like I remember we used to go to the Dublin fruit market and
21:57
every morning we get up at 5:00 AM, drive the van into the fruit
21:59
market and you'd buy your fruit and veg and bring it back to the
22:02
shop for the kitchen in the shop.
22:04
And I remember always come like December, January, you just have
22:08
this arc inside you. I really want to eat oranges.
22:11
And it wasn't because I knew it was orange season.
22:14
It was almost like at a, at a microbial level, my microbes
22:17
could go. There's a lot of nutrition over
22:19
there. I think you should eat those
22:20
orange things and you need 5 or 6 of them.
22:23
And I think that happens with the seasons.
22:25
And when we do slow down and get that sense of connection, it's
22:27
the connection to nutrition, and it's also our microbes telling
22:31
us what we need. Yeah, it's so important, really
22:33
important, because our microbes help not just our gut, our gut,
22:37
but our brain or our hormones. Everything can be really
22:40
balanced. So important.
22:41
And we have to feed them. We have to look after them.
22:43
They're absolutely. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
22:45
But your recipes are so super easy.
22:49
I mean, I've got your books, of course, but I love watching,
22:52
being watching your app is great.
22:54
And we've got some of your recipes now on Balance app,
22:57
which is brilliant because I think when people see it and
23:00
watch you, you just, you just say, oh, come on, if these guys
23:04
do it and it's so quick and easy, then you know, you can
23:07
cook quicker than you can scrolling a few things on
23:10
Instagram, can't you? And yeah, people waste their
23:12
time. And I think sometimes people say
23:14
I haven't got time to cook, but if you work out how much time
23:17
they're spending on their phone, they probably have got time.
23:19
We've been teaching cooking for years and I love it Such like at
23:22
a time if you'll do puzzles for mindfulness or like I'm I must
23:25
go meditate. I'm going to do my Pilates, I'm
23:27
going to do my gratitude journal.
23:28
Cooking is an opportunity to slow down and, and for forever
23:31
and listen. And some people might go, I'm
23:33
not creative. I'm an accountant and I'm to
23:36
live is to create. Like everyone listening is a
23:39
creative human being. And I think cooking is super
23:42
such an opportunity to express love.
23:44
It's such an opportunity to connect with the season.
23:46
It's such an opportunity to create something beautiful.
23:52
And so like I'm saying this, first of all to try to remind
23:55
people that cooking is beautiful.
23:56
And for many people it can be a chore and often it is for me.
23:59
So it can be simple and practical and pragmatic, and you
24:02
can cook dinner in 5 minutes, but it can also be a moment in
24:05
your day to pause. It could be a respite, it could
24:08
be an exhale. It can be.
24:10
It can be something more than you even realized it.
24:13
Yeah, I totally agree. I recently did an interview with
24:16
someone and I said I quite often I stayed to my children.
24:20
I wish I could just give up my work and be a mum that stays at
24:22
home and makes cakes and my children go get back out.
24:28
Yeah, but everyone's lovely. Do you make cakes?
24:31
Oh, I love, I'm baking. I really like, I've got a really
24:34
nice banana cake recipe actually that I, I love it, you know, but
24:38
but I like baking and when I like cooking because as you're
24:43
saying, it's a time when I don't have my phone and I don't even
24:47
listen to anything. I just, I like, it's a time
24:49
where I've just me actually like in the kitchen and doing the
24:52
zone and I make lots of mess because I often cook 3 or 4
24:55
things at the same time because I'm quite effective in the way I
24:58
cook. And I've got an Argus, so I just
24:59
put it all in and let it do its business.
25:01
So it's, but it's so I but I enjoy eating and no one else
25:05
cooks at home. So if I don't cook, I won't be
25:07
eating. But it is the process.
25:09
And I think so often people see it as a chore and don't give me
25:13
one. There were times where I really
25:14
can't be bothered, but I still do it.
25:16
But when you're in the flow of cooking and creating it is, it's
25:20
a, it's lovely chemical experiment.
25:22
You see food change, you know you make things and well.
25:25
Yeah. And it's decided to interrupt
25:27
you there. But I really do believe, like at
25:29
some level we are all energy and that the energy and intention
25:32
that we put in things is very much reflected in the foods.
25:35
And like, I do see it as exactly what you're saying.
25:38
Like I cook pretty much every evening at home.
25:40
You know, I'll get home at 5:15 and it's like, well, family
25:43
dinner is so important and I want to nourish my family.
25:46
So I will put on music, I'll slow down.
25:48
I'll, I'll make sure I get my ingredients in the morning or
25:50
day before because I, I don't like leaving to the last minute
25:53
or I'll have my menu planned when I'm cooking.
25:55
It won't be fancy stuff, but it'll be nourishing stuff that
25:59
I'll typically be able to cook in 20 minutes.
26:01
And yeah. And it's, it's a time for me to
26:04
like, I put on nice music. I take my time, I cook, it's
26:06
nice. It's I serve dinner and it's
26:09
like I just. Adore it, but healthy food
26:11
doesn't have to be expensive and it doesn't have to take long
26:14
food. I remember we were, we did this.
26:16
Dave mentioned the Happy Hard course.
26:18
I remember we were doing it for a television show and I remember
26:20
there was a whole group, it was the Menaldi Choir group from
26:24
Westmead. And I remember we went up and
26:27
they were largely doing it not because they were interested in
26:28
health. They were largely doing it just
26:29
because they wanted to be on the telly.
26:31
And this is back pre kind of social media time.
26:33
And I remember there was a truck driver on it and we were telling
26:36
them all the recipes and he was like, not going to do any of
26:38
that. I'm going to just eat porridge
26:40
every day and I'm going to eat vegetable soup and I'm going to
26:42
eat some potatoes. He did it for a month.
26:44
He lost, I think it was 4 stone. If people can relate to stones,
26:48
he is cholesterol dropped, blood pressure dropped.
26:50
And that was an example of yes, maybe he wasn't nutritionally
26:54
diverse, but it was probably healthier in the processed food
26:56
He was eaten prior to that. And it was an example that
26:59
healthier food doesn't need to be perfect.
27:01
It can be simple like and it can, it doesn't have to be time
27:03
consumed. It doesn't have to be match and
27:05
chia seeds and goji berries. It can be simple seasonal things
27:08
like vegetable soup porridge. Yeah, no, I like that.
27:12
I think it's a great way to end thinking about simplicity
27:15
because everything is chaos and everything is complex in our
27:18
lives, so and expensive and making it really simple.
27:22
And I, I always sort of say to patients, if you don't recognise
27:26
the ingredient, if if there's something on the label that you
27:28
don't recognise, just try not to buy it, you know, try and keep
27:32
it really simple. So I'm super grateful for you
27:34
both being here in person. It's such a treat.
27:36
I still want to come over to Ireland.
27:39
And. Yeah, I'd really want to yeah,
27:43
yeah, yeah. I want to come over especially
27:45
maybe with my children as well. But before we end, I always ask
27:48
for three take home tips, but I can't do 1 1/2 each, so I'm
27:51
going to ask for two each from you.
27:53
Brilliant. OK, so you go 1st and Steve, so,
27:55
so two things each that people listening might be a bit
27:59
overwhelmed and go look, these guys are so super lovely and
28:02
they're so super energised and it's really easy for them.
28:05
I don't know where to start. So just basic things that people
28:09
could do to improve because we can all improve what we do
28:13
nutrition wise. But just two things you go
28:15
first. I was.
28:16
Going to say #1 if you listen to this right now, take a deep
28:19
breath. Literally take a big deep
28:22
breath. Now close your eyes and try to
28:24
relax your shoulders. Life is wonderful.
28:26
It's a blessing. All of us could do it.
28:29
Just being more present number one and #2 I'd say is like, as I
28:35
said, like food. Food literally builds the body
28:37
that that you create. So it could start with maybe
28:40
simply is including a banana with your breakfast.
28:42
It could be having an apple on your way home inspired by
28:44
Louise. Or it could be going, I'm going
28:46
to have a look at a couple of those happy pair recipes on the
28:48
Balance app, or I'm going to have a look at something and
28:51
just being more intentional about your food choices because
28:54
it's, there's no perfect, we're all going to die anyway, but we
28:58
want to be as vital and have as much energy as we can.
29:01
And in our experience of 20 years and having thousands of
29:05
people through all of our courses, it's about eating more
29:08
Whole Foods more of the time. Very good.
29:11
I'm going to go. We're social creatures.
29:14
We're all a product of our environment.
29:15
If you're someone that's feeling down on energized, try to spend
29:19
time with people that inspire you.
29:21
And if you find it hard to move, it doesn't mean doing
29:24
triathlons. It could mean dancing, it could
29:26
mean gardening, it could mean going for a walk with an old
29:29
school friend. And I think we live in a time
29:32
when people are pursuing material pleasure and all these
29:35
things. But I think true wealth is
29:37
friendship and connection. And I think it's for anyone
29:40
listening, take a time to maybe get.
29:42
Back to your. Mother or a friend that text,
29:45
Did you reach out to someone if you're feeling lonely?
29:46
Because we are living in a time when many people are struggling
29:49
with loneliness. So I think friendship and
29:51
connection are really, really important.
29:52
And the second one is we're physical creatures.
29:55
We're born in this thing called a body and it's amazing.
29:57
And many of us feel stressed and stress response required
30:02
releases adrenaline, and adrenaline is the fight flight
30:05
or freeze hormone. So it's designed to move.
30:07
So I think movement is medicine. And by that it could mean
30:11
walking, it could mean anything, but just make a conscious
30:15
effort. Even right now we're in February
30:17
and it's raining all the time in Ireland.
30:18
Maybe it's different where you live, but I think movement is
30:21
medicine and movement makes us feel good.
30:23
And if you can move with a friend, I think it feels even
30:26
better. Perfect.
30:27
What a great way to end. Thank you so much for your time
30:30
today. It's been wonderful.
30:31
Thank you. Yeah.
30:32
Thank you, Louise. Thanks so much for listening.
30:37
It would be amazing if you could follow me or subscribe because
30:40
it will really make a difference to grow numbers enable this to
30:44
reach even more people. Thanks so much.