Eat Love Do – Margaret Bell, Gut Health & Anti – Diet For Optimum Health

Hello and welcome. This is the Eat Love Do Show, exclusive to Women's Radio Station. Um, follow us on all our social medias, Women's Radio STN, that's Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. And head over to our YouTube channel, hit that like and subscribe because it really does help us and we love it when you support the show. This is the Eat Love Do Show, which is what you eat, how you love yourself and others, and what you do on a daily basis to bring more health and happiness into your life matters. I've got a fantastic guest on for you this week. I've got the lovely Margaret Bell. She is a gut health expert and anti-diet coach. I'm very excited to be speaking to Margaret because I know how important gut health is to every single human being on the planet. And I'm sure you guys are going to absolutely love what she's got to share. So I shall stop prattling on and bring her on. Margaret, welcome to the show. Well, thank you very much. Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure. Absolute pleasure. I met Margaret last week on a retreat. And she was doing the food for it and I got chatting to her and just the absolute goals she was sharing and the food she was making was amazing. I instantly said, I've got to get you on the show. So that's how I've met Margaret and she's on. I won't go too much into that because I'll let her share because she is just like filled with so much knowledge and love and I just can't wait till she shares with you. So do you want to just tell people briefly, like why you do what you do, just so they know who you are and why your journey started and then we'll get into it. Yeah, definitely. My journey started God, scaring me over 30 years ago. Scaring me over 30 years ago. When I— When you were 2, Margaret? No, when I was 14. I wish I was 2. I wish I was 2. No, when I was 14. I experienced anorexia at that age through being psychologically bullied at school. Yeah. Took on that I needed to drastically lose weight, even though I know I wasn't overweight, but you know what it's like at that age. Many women out there will actually relate to this, that you do get bullied at school, and it can be something that you take on board quite, quite quickly. So I only ate bread and drank water for around about a year or so. I became quite good at hiding it very, very easily from my parents. But I started to, to eat again, and what really started that search on is my mum was diagnosed with lupus. Right. Which is an autoimmune condition. And at the time, the doctor did say that there's a chance that this can be passed on hereditary through the female side. Great to hear when you're a teenager. Yay! Something to look forward to. Thanks for that. So I started studying the likes of the immune system, which led on to studying gut health. And we're still talking before the internet, so there wasn't really a great deal out there. Fast forward to my 20s, uh, my dad passed away after just 2 weeks. He went in the GP, who very, very quickly just told him to go to AE, and he was told then that he had stomach cancer and bowel cancer, and it was spreading. Within 2 weeks, he'd unfortunately passed away. I binge ate and binge drank for a couple of years because, one, my dad— I was a daddy's girl and it just felt such a big hole to try and fill. Food was a, food was a comfort. Food was there all the time and so was drink. So that's what basically took over. I think a lot of people do that, don't they? They drink to numb the pain and they don't realize, and binge drinking is so socially accepted. Just to go out and get drunk. It's almost— when I know when I was growing up, it's like a badge of honor how hungover you were the next day. And everyone kind of— there's that social connection, and everyone wants to get really drunk and connect together, when actually it can actually be really, really destructive. Like, alcohol can be fun in the right context, but if people are drinking because they need to or to escape, I think that's when it's dangerous. And I definitely did the same thing when I was younger. We would binge drink. So yeah, and that had an impact on my health, so I totally relate to what you're sharing. I can't. Alcohol is the only thing that if you don't partake in, people think, you know, what's wrong with you? Yeah. Why aren't you drinking? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like, I'm not smoking either, do you want to give me a cigarette? So I hooked up with a nutritionist who got me into Understanding what foods were best for me at certain times of the day, which is very much what I advocate, um, with my clients these days. Taking them down the route of being able to find out what food's best for them at certain times, because we're all completely different. Um, started taking running, which I still do today. I think I mentioned before we came on, I've been out for a run this morning. You did. I mean, I could never do that, running in person, not with my knee anyway, but running in the morning. No, the gym I can manage, but run, and it's cold outside and raining at the moment, so I'm very impressed by that. That's good, that's dedication, that's good. But I found that running really helps with, let's just call it the noise in my head. Um, it brings kind of euphoric state, doesn't it, running? Like gives you that high. Yeah, yeah, it very much is a meditation for me. 40 HIIT and, um, I very much— I had married the partner that I've moved down to Liverpool for. We're about 3 years into our marriage, and let's just say it wasn't going as well as we hoped. We were going very much different ways. Um, my career was going through the roof, and I wasn't at home as much, and he had his own hobbies as well. We went on a make and break holiday, and we decided to to part ways. I very much took on a lot of responsibility around that, a lot of guilt around that, and fell into depression. Yeah. Um, I'm not surprised. I think there's so much pressure societally that if a relationship breaks down, that you failed somehow. Yeah. And what's wrong with you? And people always ask, what did he do wrong? Or what did she do wrong? Like, people always looking to point blame and see what happened. What was wrong when there's not always something wrong. It's just two people that come together that are not— that don't work together, and that's okay. And I think this— that's the pressure, and then it leads to, like, you, you got depression from it. And it's— I think we need to— that's why we need to have these conversations to sort of lift that and go, it's okay, every person you date and every relationship you have doesn't need to last a lifetime. And sometimes you have to date people to know what you don't want as much as what you do want as well, like trial and error. Yeah. So I lost my job at the time, which added to the depression. And food at that time took a very interesting turn. I felt that I didn't deserve to eat. Wow. Interesting. That kind of feeling that my life had gone to absolute crap. Why do I deserve to eat? And why do I deserve to fuel myself? When I'm literally, as I saw it at the time, a failure within life. It's interesting what we make up, isn't it? And the pressure we put on ourselves. God, yeah. And to have that realization is empowering. And yeah, so thank you for sharing that. I went to see a counselor who I'm still now and again in contact with today, um, because I do send people her way because she was that good. Um, built myself back up to a point where she said, well, what is it that you want to do? You want to go down the route of choosing what's more gonna light you up? And I chose the road of what was going to light me up. I'd always kept up my studies of gut health and I trained to be an anti-diet coach as well, because I'd— What's an anti-diet coach for people listening? It can be different things for different people, but as far as I'm concerned, it's literally working with people who have had a challenging relationship with food to transform that relationship to food freedom, to have them understand that there is a way through the noise of diets and to find out what's specifically right for them when it comes to not only what they eat but the way they've eaten. Yes, a lot of the diets out there as well, it's like, it's this like cookie cutter type thing, one thing should fit all, and it doesn't, it doesn't at all, does it? And I, I also think you need to eat differently at different stages of your life as well, at different ages and where you're at, um, because your body changes and what you need changes. And people are like, well, I, this used to work in my 20s, 'But you're in your 40s now, so it's not going to work.' And I think it's really good that there's people like you out there that's helping people tailor it to their body at this time, because I don't think people are always aware that that's the case. Very much tuning into your own intuition. Start listening to— not only, obviously, we— some of us know about intuitive eating, but I take it a step further to really start tuning to what your body cues are telling you. You know, is it the time to eat? Is it something else that I need? Or even is, okay, my body's telling me this, so what food do I need from that? So when you're saying that now, for someone who doesn't understand what that means, how would— could you explain it? So what would you mean by body cue? How does that show up or feel? Really just understanding from the fact that, okay, Am I from the likes of being tired, from the feeling of just lacking something that, that's, that's needed to be brought in to their actual diet. Understanding that, um, when the body feels out of sync, what may support and aid them to bring them back into sync. Well, people have specific ways that their bodies will inform them, and once they found out what it is, they'll then know how to— Yeah. Tuning to it, if you like. Yeah, absolutely. From, from the likes of sugar cravings, salt cravings, we all get them. And it's all just kind of tuning into them, thinking, okay, is it really that kind of thing I need? Or let's just dig a bit deeper here. Yeah. So powerful, isn't it? When you start listening to your own body. It sounds a bit trite, listening to your body, but it's like, once you learn how to do it, you can't not do it, can you? Yes. And it's really powerful. So do you want to tell us a bit more about gut health? Because I know you are an expert in this, and it is— I think it's one of the most essential things to help, because I think all your, your health kind of starts in the gut. And if your gut's not right, it impacts everything, doesn't it? Absolutely. Um, it's becoming more and more apparent these days. Um, I mean, we can see different products in the supermarket promoting gut health. But at its, I, I believe in its absolute core is that every, as you say, there's a huge mind and gut connection, but not only that, the predominant amount of our hormones are produced in the gut. And our hormones really, really do control everything that goes on. You've just got to get PMT to realize that. Give me chocolate! Every month, every month, like clockwork. I do chocolate, red wine, and steak every month, and the rest of the month I've got no interest. Oh, man. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So much can be connected to our hormones, and there's even to a specific point that there's a specific area within the gut that deals with the likes of production of our estrogen. So when you think of it like that, there's so much that goes on within the gut that is absolutely key to our mental, physical, and emotional health. Really? That's amazing. I didn't know that. So, um, can you share with us a bit more about that, like, and what we can do to, like, have better gut health and take care of ourselves? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Um, a lot of people think that it's all to do with food. Yes, it can have a lot to do with food, but if your gut is in a stressed state to start off with, doesn't matter what you're gonna eat, it's not gonna get to where it needs to. So fundamentally, to start off with, reducing stress. Yeah, I think stress is huge, isn't it? They say it's the number one killer, and I truly believe that. And I, I've had issues with my gut health over the years, and it's, it's when I reflect on it, it's always been at the points in my life where I've been the most stressed. I think stress is such an interesting thing because you don't always know you're stressed. Some people say, well, I don't feel stressed, because they think they should feel a certain way. But it could be so subconscious, like, and it can be linked to anything, can't it? Like a bereavement or loss of a job, a loss of a partner, a change in your lifestyle, a change of town, like you or, you know, just life in general brings on stress. And I think we get so used to living in that stress state, we don't even realize we're stressed anymore. But if you're getting gut health, I think that's an indication that we are. So yeah, I totally— I'm on the page with that. And it can be the likes of emotional, it can be the likes of physical, and it can be the likes of chemical stress as well, right? So there's three kind key areas when you're looking at stress. Yes, the emotional is huge because I don't think anyone in this day and age hasn't experienced a stress actually being at such a point where, yes, we might not recognize it, but it has risen. Definitely. We're all on the go. We all very rarely stop. Yeah. And when we do, guess what happens? We get ill. Yeah. You go on holiday and everyone gets ill. Yeah. Even when people are resting, they're on the phones doing stuff. So we never really rest because we're just constantly in that fight and flight mode, aren't we? Keeping our adrenaline up here. Yeah. Cortisol levels like, argh. I'm a strong believer in if you get ill, that's your body's way of telling you You haven't listened to your cues. We're going to force you to stop. Yeah, yeah, 100%. So what, um, what, um, advice and tips could you give people to reduce that stress? First, the emotional stress. Um, the emotional stress, um, I teach the difference between earthing and grounding. I don't know whether too many people know these differences. Grounding to me is very much bringing someone back into the moment, back into the present. Because when we're off on a tangent or just not hap— being there in the moment, that's when a lot of stress can actually come from. Whereas if we're in that moment, we can become very much— the stress does start to lower. So the likes of grounding. Literally just take a couple of minutes to actually breathe, wherever you are, and just notice, starting to notice just little things around you that you can see, that you can hear, that you can smell, that kind of thing. So when people are not here and not present, and you mean like when they're like maybe worrying about stuff from the past or replaying something, or worrying about the future, or thinking about and like playing, like when people play stuff in their mind all the time, that they're like different steps and bringing them back to that present day. Yeah, breathwork. Yeah, that's lovely. Powerful, isn't it? Breathwork. Yeah, it's funny because breathing is something you think— we think that we all just do because obviously we need to breathe to live, but we'd be dead. But, um, a lot— we don't breathe properly. We actually don't breathe and be in our bodies. So I love that you, like, you can do that. Yeah, a lot of people— I think the general amount of people breathe from the chest. Yeah. Which actually does bring on stress to start off with. Chest breathing does bring on stress. So, because that's what you have to— when you're stressed and in fear, isn't it? Hot, shallow, high breathing. Yeah. So teaching people how to start breathing from the belly and just bringing that cortisol and adrenaline level back down is a huge thing to start off with. So how would you— so if someone's listening now, how would they breathe from the belly? Would you get them to focus on the breath going into it, the belly rising? Is that how you do it? And getting to sort of connect to the body as they're breathing? Simply putting the hand on the stomach area and a hand on the chest area and saying which one rises. Yeah. And then try and get the bottom one to rise. Exactly. Focus on the bottom hand moving and the top one not so much. Yeah. It's powerful, isn't it? Very powerful. Very powerful. I do what's called a 5-5-7 breathing exercise, which is breathing in for 5, holding it for 5, and breathing out for 7. Yeah. Just doing, you know, a round of that 10 times, within a couple of minutes, you're back into a relaxed state. Yeah. And so they do the breath out for more, so they're expelling like the bad kind of Yeah, the toxins and stuff in the body. Yeah. Yeah. And the breath out properly. Yeah. That's a lovely one still. Yeah. Mm. So, so, so what else? Is there any other tips with emotionals? Yeah. Absolutely. So the likes of— You've got a catalogue of them, haven't you? Yes. The likes of earthing. When you think of all the technology we have these days, we're absorbing so much of that. That, that is gonna lead to physical stress. Yeah. An amazing way to start dispelling that and getting rid of it is earthing. Mm-hmm. We're all walking around in shoes predominantly all the time. And if we could just start, even when we just get home, take your shoes and socks off and just walk around in your bare feet. Even if it's just for 5 or 10 minutes, just to start getting all that technological energy out and away from you. Because I know with earthing, like, it's good to walk outside, literally on the Earth's plane, as it were, in bare feet if you can. But does that work if you're indoors and you've got carpets and wooden floors and all that kind of stuff? Will that still work? It's better to be on the likes of concrete or whatever, but it can still work. If, as long as it's the ground floor. If you're in a flat, there's other ways to do it. Um, there's like grounding sheets that you can put on your bed for a start, which are absolutely amazing. But if you can, just 10 minutes bare feet and scrunch up your toes at the time as well. Oh, that feels really nice as well. I've actually got a grounding sheet on my bed actually. Yeah, I've been doing that for years. I've been using it for years and sometimes I think, does this work? I've been using it that long, I'm not sure anymore. How do you sleep though? Uh, I sleep all right most of the time actually. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I tell you what I've noticed recently, that, um, I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, but I wake up more in the middle of the night, like 3, 4 AM. I don't know, I don't We may need an extra grounding sheet. Double. Two on there. Two of them. Okay, cool. So we got grounded. Cool. Uh, anything else? What else? What other do you like? Um, when it comes to, as I said, it's, it's a lot of the time stress is either emotional, physical, or chemical. Yeah. So when it comes to chemical, what I'm really meaning there is What products are you using around your house, in your body, onto your body? Really start looking into them. If there's something, if the list of ingredients is that long and you don't understand what is on there, it's better to bin it, to be quite honest with you, because we do absorb so much from our skin and even just from breathing as well. Yeah. Even the paint on the walls as well, isn't it? But that's like, you can get paints now that obviously don't have lead but don't have chemicals and stuff on them. Yeah. Products. Yeah. I think they've got better, the cleaning products, because of like years ago when they first came out, they just, they didn't clean very well, did they? But I think they've got a lot better now. Like you can get decent stuff now that helps. Definitely. And when it comes to— What do you use on your skin then? Like, what do I use? I use Tropic on the skin. Tropic. Yeah, which, um, that's, uh, you can't normally get it in stores. There's bound to be people out there that actually— I don't personally sell it myself, but, um, I have gone through a myriad of different, um, skincare products, and Tropic has come out as one of the most top ones within the UK and in Europe. It's virtually all organic. Um, they source everything from a natural source and they don't have any nasties in there. So Tropic is mainly sold online. Um, it's mainly sold for people like ambassadors and things like that, but also as well, uh, from hair products, I use doTERRA. Yeah, doTERRA is good. Discovered that last week, Jules, on the retreat we were on. That's where it obviously— there you go, Jules, little plug Exactly for the same reason. The, you know, the ingredients in it are actual ingredients. They're not chemicals. Yeah. So anything organic, anything with ingredients we understand, and sulfates are bad. I think there's a lot more people bringing out hair products and stuff without sulfates, which I think is great. But yeah. Yeah. And I think I quite like coconut oil. I used to use coconut oil on my skin, which I liked, but it was so greasy and I've got long hair and my hair would stick to it. And you just get really oily. So it just doesn't work. Like, I could put it on my legs and— but nothing above. But then if you sit down, you just get oil everywhere. So I'm like, this isn't working. I'm often using coconut oil, um, in the food that I cook. So if there's a little bit left, I— the amount of times I put it on my hands is unbelievable. Yeah, it's not— it's good— so good for your skin, isn't it? But you just get— it's not— it's not really— it's not really user-friendly because it just gets all over everything. But, uh, yeah, there is lots of good products out there. That's just good. So, um, so when it comes— so once people have kind of sorted out their, their stress levels, do you then move on to the diet? Is that like the next step? Yeah, yeah. I'm very much like rest, then repair, then restore. Like that. It's quite a gentle way of approaching it, isn't it? Sort of like Letting yourself, your body get used to and adapt and, and being gentle with yourself. Yeah, I like that. So once you've got the rest sorted out, then comes the actual repair side of things, which, um, can be taken different ways. If someone isn't a vegetarian, I do advocate bone broth, which is absolutely full of collagen and full of amino acids. Which then start to build up the gut lining again. It repairs the holes in the guts, doesn't it, if you've got leaky gut? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Um, and then we can take it a step forward with food. And at that stage, everyone's still different because I think a lot of people, when it comes to the likes of gut health, think you've got to do this, this, this, and this. Like, you know, it's different for every person. One, raw food isn't for everyone, for a start. Raw food can trigger so much in your gut if you're not used to it. And a lot of the time, the likes of just steamed vegetables, things that are cooked, are much better for people than the likes of raw. I think it depends on the season as well, doesn't it? If it's hot or cold outside and like raw might not necessarily be great in the winter as well, whereas in summer it might be easier. But yeah, I'm with you. Steaming and cooking releases different stuff in different vegetables as well that you wouldn't get if they were raw. And it's such a minefield because you think, okay, so what, what do I do? So, you know, do I eat this raw? Do I eat this cooked? Do I do this? It's like, you can understand why people get overwhelmed because, yeah, you don't know what to do. And like, where do I start? And how do I know what's great for my body? So, so probably need to come and speak to you, Margaret. I need help. Help me cut through the absolute noise. Yeah, do I cook this tomato or eat it raw? What do I do? Do I want lycopene or not? Like, it's good. So how do you know, um, would you know that raw's that bad? Is it because you'd get a reaction in your gut? Like, your gut would swell up and you get bloating and All that lovely stuff that comes with that. Yeah, you get a number of different reactions. First comes the bloating, the gas, and then the pleasant, isn't it? Yeah, it's lovely for everyone else as well as yourself. And then it can even go as far as, you know, fast bowel movements. Right, okay. Or slow. Or non-existent even. It's very— if you're eating the likes of raw veg, it's very rarely that it wouldn't you know, that there would be the likes of constipation with that because it is very fibrous. And quite a lot of the time, that amount of fiber might not just be right for you. Okay. So it's like trial and error, so like test and— Slow. A little bit at a time. And less, just build it up over time. Okay. And you, what are you on, like food combining? Do you like, like not combine stuff like carbs with meat, and stuff, or dairy with meats, do you think that's bad for the gut health? Because it's trying to do too much in one sitting, as it were. It really does depend with the actual individual, because what I do within my practice is first of all get people to journal, um, what they're eating at the present time and how it's making them feel physically and emotionally, because the two are two very much tied. Do that for a few days. Then introduce, um, a 3-day plan which combines different things like protein and carbs together, carb and good fats together, and seeing how the individual reacts physically and emotionally to that before we together put together, um, an individual eating schedule, as it were, giving them ideas. I like that you do that. So you— because most people just have a diet and then looking at what happens with their body, but I like that you're getting them to make a note of what's happening emotionally as well. Yeah, people aren't always aware that food or whatever we consume has an impact on our emotions. So I think that's— oh, that's just amazing that you're doing that. And also the 3-day thing, it's like, it's not too overwhelming. I think people think, oh, I can, I can manage 3 days, I can do 3 days, it's easier to cope with, and it's enough time to see and feel out the differences. So that's— I like that approach, it's nice. But yeah, I think emotion, like, we, we're just not aware, or until you become aware, that it has such a massive impact on our emotions. Even when people drink and then 2 or 3 days later they're depressed and moody and slapping at people at work, and, and they're thinking it's the people at work are doing it, but no, it's because you drank at the weekend, it's, it's impacting your emotions. Yeah, it's like becoming aware of that, isn't it? You know, and same with food. Yeah, I definitely noticed that your emotions play such a huge part in not only your mental health but your gut health as well. Whatever's going on up here in the mind is literally played out in the gut. Yeah, yeah, it's like you said, when you stress, it doesn't matter what you're putting in there, you're not going to digest it, which No. Which might be why some people think, oh, I'm eating really healthy, but I'm, I'm still having problems in my gut, and it's because they've not addressed the emotion. So yeah, it's brilliant. Oh, I love your way of working, Margaret. This is fantastic. More of it. Oh, that's good. So, um, so we've got— we've done, we've done, um, bone broth, which I think is phenomenal. Are there other things? So what do you think about, um, What's that called? Sauerkraut and stuff like that. Yogurts. Because like dairy is not great, but yogurts are different and kefir is different. So what's your opinions on those? Um, well, there's prebiotics and probiotics. So your probiotics are your fermented stuff, which are very good when it comes to helping improve the likes of diarrhea, the likes of constipation. And they will relieve, you know, some of the digestive system, you know, some of the digestive symptoms as well. Um, they do include the likes of sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, kombucha. They all begin with a K. I've just noticed. Actually. But, um, Take them gently. There's a lot, I think there's a lot of people kind of go full force these things and then don't see the benefits because literally you, you've got bacteria going from small and you're trying to increase it so quickly. It's like, let's just take this steady, introduce it slowly so your actual gut microbiome can actually populate, you know, in an easy way, rather than it being so forced that it's going to stress your gut out even more. It can make people ill as well, can't it, if you do it too fast? Yeah. So would you recommend that people just start with like a small amount of one of these things each day and sort of build up a tolerance? Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. What would roughly be like, say they're going to have kefir, like what would be a small amount? I'd say, I'd say just a, crikey, a glass of kefir, say like a large, a largest wine glass of it. That's absolutely fine. Like once a day kind of thing? Yes. Just to start building up. But they're not vegans, obviously, because it's dairy. Okay. Kefir is like, just to explain if anyone doesn't know what kefir is, it's like a bit like a yogurt drink, isn't it? But with more good bacteria in. But there is, there is ones out there. There is now water kefir out there. Ah. Um. To be honest, I've seen coconut, like coconut milk kefir, so that's good. Yeah. And there is water kefir. Yeah. How do they make that? Very good question. You don't make it. But it's fast. How do they make that? It's awesome. But then there's the other side as well, your prebiotics. So when you're thinking— Do you want to explain the difference between prebiotics and probiotics? So people might not know and they're like, ooh. Absolutely. So when you're thinking of prebiotics, kind of think of them, ooh, as the fertilizers in the garden. To help feed and grow your plants. So by adding prebiotics to your diet, you can feed and help grow the gut bacteria. So, and where that's the prebiotics, so the probiotics are the actual bacteria. Yeah, it's good to know that distinction, like, that we need both, because it can be really confusing, like, what what is what. Yeah, that's good. Prebiotics and probiotics. Um, yeah, I try and make sure I have both every day. I definitely notice a difference, and I notice a difference when I skip some days as well. So it does work. It's powerful stuff. So I concur, Margaret. I concur. Endorsed by my gut. So you're kind of— prebiotics are You know, your kind of fibrous vegetables. So the likes of artichokes, asparagus, even the likes of bananas and berries as well. I didn't know bananas were. Mm-hmm. Yeah. What I would say. It's quite high sugar, isn't it, bananas? So. The earlier you eat them, the more fibrous they are. So that, like, when they're more greener. Yeah. Yeah. Little tingy green. Tingy green. Tingy green. Yeah. Not completely. You can eat them completely green, but a little tinge of green is fine. They're not nice completely green, let's be honest. I know that they get, they get more and more sugar in them, don't they, the more they ripen? They do, yeah, yeah. Oh yeah, I didn't know that about bananas. Are they prebiotics or probiotics? Prebiotics. Prebiotics, that's good to know. As well as garlic and onions as well, and I think you might have noticed last week, garlic Onions were very prevalent in what I cooked. They were. It was delicious. And I tell you what, my gut was brilliant. Everything was working wonderfully. I think everybody's gut was, weren't they? Shock to the system for a few people, I noticed. But Margaret's food is amazing, by the way, and she's got a cooking book out, which we'll get on to, I'm sure, at some point. But honest to God, I love— I absolutely love the food that you made all of last week, and it's exactly how I like to eat, and it just just so simple and clean and easy and nutritious. And yeah, so fantastic. So actually, since we're talking about it, should we talk about your cookbook and some of the recipes? Absolutely. Yeah. Then we'll go back, we'll go back to gut health in a minute. Well, it's part of gut health anyway. All the recipes, it's called True Taste, literally because it's giving the true taste back to food. I think these days we're so much eating on the go, eating stuff that might necessarily not even be food anymore. It's more of a product. That this is bringing back the true taste to food in such a way that's easy for people to understand, that's easy for people to follow. Because I think There's some wonderful cookbooks out there, but when you look at them, it's like, what the heck's this? Where am I going to get that? How on earth do I prepare that? And they're really complicated, aren't they? They're like the kind of thing you might cook on a special occasion, or if you've got friends over, or like once a week, and on the weekend when you're not working. But during the week, or on an average day, they're too complex to make. It's not sustainable, is it? Unless you, you know, if you've got a full-time job or something. Yeah. So what I love about your food is it is. Yeah. And yeah, so yeah, anyway, I'll let you share, share, share about your food, Barbara. Yeah, all, all the recipes are simple and easy to understand, and all the food that's made is going to be beneficial for gut health, and as well, enlightening and lifting in the morning and grounding towards the evening. So giving you that energy through the day. But also relaxing you in the evening. And there's also a section at the end there which brings intuitive eating, an introduction to that, which is very much something that I promote and take people through in my one-to-one coaching. Yeah, that's great. It's a great book. Do you want to give us some examples of what you would make for, like, we'll go through like a day, like what are good breakfast foods, what's a good lunch food, and what's like a food time in the evening for dinner or later in the evening. Yeah, but depending on what kind of person that you are, excuse me, if you're a good per— if you're a person that needs that kick of, excuse me, that kick of fibre in the morning or that kick of carbs, I do have recipes in there which are overnight oats, but also chocolate porridge as well. Oh, chocolate porridge. Healthy and chocolate. Brilliant. When it comes to lunch, this is, this is definitely a claim to fame. Better than Heinz tomato soup. Because it is. Sorry, Heinz. Hashtag not sorry. And pea and mint falafels as well, which are filled with chickpeas, mint, and peas that will just give you that sustaining energy through the rest of the afternoon. And then when it comes to evening meals, uh, I have done a lovely curry there, a cauliflower stir-fried rice, because I know that I did cauliflower rice when I was at the retreat. So that just gives you a few you know, a little bit of an insight into what's included in the book. Yeah, it's lovely. You made— it was like a fantastic— I love the cauliflower rice instead of like white rice, which is obviously a lot of sugar on, on the body and the gut. And the cauliflower rice was just so light but very filling. And obviously all the nutrients that you get from that— it's a cruciferous vegetable— and it was just really delicious. And I didn't feel— you know, sometimes when you eat something and you feel tired and sluggish afterwards. I didn't feel like that at all with your food. I felt energized and amazing, but really full and satiated and not feeling like I needed to go and eat something sweet and sugary afterwards, which sometimes we do, don't we? When we eat, we eat something, oh, we need something sweet. But I didn't feel like that from eating your food. And I felt really— and not heavy and tired, and I just felt really good. And each day I could feel that my energy was high each day. And even when we left, like, we left the retreat last week over the weekend, I feel I was feeling really good and my energy levels were high because we'd been eating so well all week. It just had such an impact. It was fantastic. But I need to kidnap you and bring you home. I'll get you food every day forever. Failing that, I'll just buy the cooking book. But yeah, I really recommend— where can people find your book? Yeah, it's on my website. Which is Naturally Empowered Health, or it's on Amazon. Yes, .com. And they can find it on Amazon as well. And what's it naturally, what's it called on Amazon, the book? The book is called True Taste. True Taste on Amazon. Yeah, and my website is Naturally Empowered Health, or NEH Hub for short. So True Health on Amazon by Margaret Bell. Yeah, True Taste. Yeah, True Taste. Sorry, where's my head this morning? I need your food, Margaret. I need your food. My brain's going into meltdown. I'm having withdrawal. Oh, but yeah, highly, highly, highly recommend it. I looked through your cooking book and I was just like, every single recipe in there, I was like, yep, yep, yep. Because normally when you look in a cookbook, like, you like some of the stuff and some of you're like, yeah, I'm not going to eat that. But every single thing in your cooking book, I was like, I can eat all of that. And it was all gluten-free as well. And so there wasn't anything that would sort of impact your body in a negative way, which I just absolutely love. So yeah, yeah. And congratulations on that. It's your first book, isn't it? It is, yeah. It was formed literally from the recipes that I like and the ones that my clients came back and said, I really, really love. This one, this one, and this one. And I was just like, I need to put these all together somehow. It's great because it's not too overwhelming. It's not a massive book, it's a smallish book, but it's just, it's just enough. It's the basics, simple, all the food's great. That's what I really loved about your book. It's not overwhelming. It's not trying to be too fancy and too clever. It's just, it's absolutely perfect how we should be eating. So honestly, I can't rave about it more. Buy the book, everyone, buy the book. Oh, right, okay, right. So back to gut health. Um, so is there, um, any other tips and advice you can give to people, like, to help with the gut? And like, what happens if you get bloated? Like, what, what's a good way of dealing with that? Because when that happens, it's like, it's so uncomfortable and such a hard thing to sort of, you know, get rid of. So what would you recommend for that? Yeah, a lot of the time it can be how you're eating, right? And when I say that, just start noticing, are you taking in a lot of breaths when you're eating? And ask yourself a simple question before you start eating: am I going to be eating under stress? Because if you're bloated, a lot of the time it's to do with stress. And if you are stressed, you're in the fight and flight, you're not in rest and digest. So literally that food's going nowhere. Wow. So would you recommend, if people are a bit stressed, because sometimes life is stressful, so would you recommend like maybe doing the breathing exercise before you actually eat? Yeah, just a couple of minutes to breathe. I'm quite, although I'm not, you know, really religious, I'm quite tuned into the fact that grace was done for a certain reason. To bring down that stress level. Yeah, I never thought about that. Yeah, because, yeah, because when you are— you pray, I guess it quietens your mind and everything, and you focus onto that. It's quite heartfelt, isn't it? Praying, it's about— yeah, centering in. So yeah, of course. Yeah, see, yes. And maybe do your own form of grace that's not necessarily religious, and just— yeah, yeah, breathwork, focusing. I love that. I'm going to adopt that before I eat. Just take a moment, take some breaths, calm, just calm down my nervous system, and then eat. It's like, oh, it's such a simple thing to do, but it's actually so powerful, the difference. Extremely powerful. And we're all so much on the go these days that it's— we've just forgotten the simple practices that we— that the likes of our parents, our grandparents did, used to do. Yeah, that we just haven't adopted. Yeah, I love that. So yeah, because when I was a kid, you used to always eat dinner together at the dinner table. It was always around 6 o'clock, so it was early, and, and it was nice. It was a family coming together, and you don't take that time to all be present with each other as well. Yeah. And I think some people have lost that, haven't they? Sort of sitting in front of the TV, eating off, you know, off the lap, and also the TV, so that they're watching this stuff that's kind of impacting them because it's like Maybe they're watching an action movie and eating something and not realizing that's stressing them out as well. And like, yeah, and even that distraction can cause stress in the body. There's a, there's a lot of research being done, and I've followed gut health for years, but now GPs are catching up that it's not just what you eat, but it's how you eat. So if you are eating quickly, that food isn't going to be digested properly. And it's, that is again causing stress. So the gut is literally from your mouth to, to where it comes out the other end. Start with that practice of Grace, whatever it is, so your saliva glands can start actually activating in your mouth. They say that when you have a, when you're drinking juice as well, to actually chew the juice, even though it's a liquid, just so you're masticating, so you're turning on the saliva and your digestion as well. I like, I really like that idea of just sitting in that moment before you eat and just even just feeling grateful for your food and for the moment. It's like putting yourself in that state of gratitude before you eat is, I think, would be really lovely and taking a breath. I love that. I'm so adopting that. It's my new routine. I love that. But it's true, isn't it? It's like, you know, yeah. Yeah. What else? What else have you got? Throw more at us. I reckon the average person chews probably the mouthful of food about 3 times. Yeah. So everyone says, how many times should you chew? There's no amount of times that your food should literally be liquid before it leaves your mouth. It's like your mouth's like, your teeth are like a blender, aren't they? So when you blend stuff like soups and smoothies, That's what I teach you doing, like blending it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I guess that can cause bloating as well because you're consuming big, big bits and probably gulping in air if you've got big bits of food. Yeah, absolutely. You can almost feel it going down. And I've done that. I, I've been guilty of that when I've been hungry and I'm trying to run because I'm so hungry and trying to get the food in as quick as possible. Um, and then, yeah, end up nearly choking myself. Got better, got better. We've all been there, or is it just me? Yeah, I like that. Um, what, what else? Is there any other practices around food and eating? Because I think I've heard that, like, if one way to slow down is to take a mouthful and put your knife and fork down. Yeah, yeah. I'm pretty sure I heard years ago there was a, it was some sort of health retreat, and I can't remember where it was, but it was somewhere in Europe, and then they to teach people about chewing, they used to make them chew each mouthful 100 times just to kind of— wow, yeah, just a tad. I'm chewing away, I've got nothing left in my teeth. But I think it was more about trying to create that habit within them so that when they actually chewed the food, okay, they wouldn't need to chew 100 times, but they were so used to the chewing that they'd actually chew it properly. But yeah, I think 100 is a bit excessive. But the more you chew, the more the food will actually taste better. Enjoy it for longer in your mouth. I like that. Exactly. Yeah. And the longer you spend eating, the ideal is 20 minutes or more. That's when your brain catches up with your body. Right. And that's when that feeling of being satisfied can come in. Yeah. Because you need that time to go from your throat to your stomach as well, don't you? Like, yeah. And acknowledge, yeah, like you said, your brain to acknowledge that it's there. Sometimes when we rush and we think we're so hungry, so we'll overeat and eat more, which obviously leads to us feeling like we're in a food coma because we've eaten too much. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 100% on that. Yeah, so yeah, take your time, 20 minutes. I'm loving that. So put yourself in a relaxed state before you eat, take a deep breath, chew your food properly. Yeah, take your time to eat, eat slowly. Take 20 minutes before you, I guess, think about anything else. Maybe a glass of water half an hour before you eat, would you recommend that? It can be different from person to person, to be quite honest with you. Um, but if you have got the likes of gut issues, what I wouldn't recommend is drinking water while you're eating. Leave it a bit till after. Absolutely. Dilutes the, um, being able to, yeah, The acids. Yeah, the acids. That's all. But my brain's not there today. Tell it, it's the wotsits in there. Yeah, it's actually digestion, isn't it? The water rinses it out. Yeah. Okay, and what else? What else about gut health? So we've covered emotions, we've covered a bit on food. I'll do a little bit more on food. I think that we're all very happy to go to the supermarket and buy whatever is there. Yeah. Start looking at what is actually in season. Yeah. And it's hard to know that because the supermarket often just stocks stuff all year round, doesn't it? Like, it'll have strawberries all year round, but strawberries don't grow in the winter. Yeah. But berries and things like that were in the summer period for a reason. So we could actually stock up on that natural sugar and energy that would start seeing us through the winter. Mm-hmm. And the root vegetables and everything that you get in winter are there for a reason, because they're more comforting, because they're more warming, and because they will actually keep you fuller longer. Mm-hmm. Because we need that kind of extra insulation, as it were, with the winter months. Freezing outside. So really start tuning in on the different, you know, different seasons of food wherever you are, and tuning into what indigenous herbs and spices are there for you, because they are there for a reason as well. So would you recommend that in the winter months, not to eat berries and fruits like that. Like, some of them. Yeah, yeah. I, I, you know, the odd blueberry, what have you, no problem, but really cut down on other berries. I mean, there's the likes of apples and pears in the winter months, which are the seasonal fruits at the times, and they're actually more fibrous. And there's pectin in apples as well. If you do stew them for a short while, that will actually really benefit your gut health. Yeah, and as I say, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Mm-hmm. Ragi stew. Ragi stew. Oh, I love apples and pears. So apples and pears in the winter, summer fruits in the summer. So in that token then, so no root vegetables in the summer, would you say? Get tuned into what is the actual seasons wherever you are. There's bound to be, you know, you know, some root vegetables out there, but most of them are towards the winter period, and just really get in tune with what is actually seasonal where you're living. In the country, because obviously you're, you're referring to the UK, like seasons within this, and I guess if people are living in different countries like Italy or I don't know, Bali or somewhere like that, then I guess the foods they will eat will be very different to our seasonal stuff. But still to eat within season. Definitely. So if you go and live in a different country for a few months, you should eat the seasonal fruits and veggies to that season. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Because they will have, you know, 9 times out of 10, um, the more seasonal stuff is, the less chemicals it will be sprayed with. So that's another reason to go for season. It's naturally growing, so it doesn't need help to grow. Makes sense when you say it. It's just, it's like common sense, isn't it? But yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's good to know as well. Yeah, do your research. What's seasonal? People are getting a bit more up on that these days, aren't they? Like farmers markets and stuff are popping up. Yeah. Which helps, I think helps people. That's good to know. Yeah, in supermarkets, we need to just stop buying stuff out of season and then they'll stop supplying it. Because you think, how are they growing it if it's not? They must be doing something to those fruits and veg to make them grow when they're not meant to be growing. So yeah, no wonder that's going to have a negative impact on our health. So it really does. It really does. Yeah, we don't want that. We want to be as healthy and vibrant as possible. Okay. I'm speaking for everyone. Okay, so what else? Any more tips and hacks for gut health? Oh crikey, there are hundreds of thousands. I tell you what, you said something to me last week. You were washing some vegetables, I think it was some parsnips, and they were covered in mud. Ah yeah, soil-based organisms. Because we buy stuff in the supermarket that's already washed and doesn't have all the earth in it. Yeah, yeah. And I just, people said, I was watching Margaret and she's washing these parsnips and they were like, they weren't just a bit of mud, like they were caked in mud, they had like an inch or 2 inches there's mud around each thing. I didn't even know what vegetable it was at first. It was just like one of these mud things she's got. And I was like, I was quite shocked because I know organic stuff generally got a bit more mud on than the normal stuff, but I was like, that's a lot of mud. It's like they just dug it up and not bothered to like shake any of it off. No, no, no. And why is that good? Why is that good, really? Um, let's go back to when we were kids. Who didn't love, you know, running about in fields, having mud pies, whatever? I loved it. And the reason being is that the soil, there are specific bacteria and organisms within the soil that are beneficial to us. We all come from the earth, we're all gonna go back to the earth. So it kind of makes common sense that the the natural bacterias that are in the earth are going to be beneficial to us. So the more that you can get your hands in the earth, the better, because your skin will actually absorb those bacterias into your system. So I'm all for people growing their own. I'm all for people, you know, buying organic and just getting your hands in the earth to take benefit of those different bacterias. And it builds your immune system, makes it strong, doesn't it, all those bacterias? It does, to the point that we actually don't have a dishwasher at home. We actually wash our dishes by hand because there's even— I just got palpitations there. Dishwasher? What? Because there's actual bacteria still on your plates that can benefit your gut health. And if you're using a dishwasher, then they're washed away because it's a higher temperature. See, I would have thought it's good because what I love about the dishwasher is that it's such a high temperature, it kills all the bacteria because we're taught that, you know, bacteria like, you know, can be harmful and it's bad for us because obviously you can get food poisoning, etc., etc. So I always thought that the dishwasher was good for that, and also because I hate washing up. Worst thing in the world ever. But let's be honest. But I thought it was good because it really cleans everything and it kills the bad bacteria because we're kind of taught, aren't we, to use antibacterial sprays on our surfaces and all that kind of stuff. So is that having a detrimental effect on our gut health? Absolutely. All the antibacterial sprays and everything else, yes, they kill the bad bacteria, but they're killing every bacteria. Wow. Do you know, I just had a flashback then to when I was a kid. My mum used to put me and my sister in the bath, and she used to put Dettol in the bath, or Savlon, which is— oh my word— antiseptic. I know, I used to hate it. But, um, but I think she, she thought it was good for us. It was like cleaning us and killing the bacterias and the bad stuff. But yeah, I've always had issues in my gut, and I'm sure some of that stems back to being bathed in antiseptic when I was a child. But, you know, I mean, I was outside playing in the mud as well and getting my hands in and catching frogs and building mud pies, all of that. Yeah, yeah, I was like bathed in that, and I'm sure that had a negative impact, but she didn't know any better. She thought what she was doing was good, obviously. But yeah, but so if we can't get muddy veggies and stuff from the supermarket. Do you recommend we go out, like, into the garden, into the fields, and get some mud on our hands? Like, how do we do this? Have a little black pot at home, stick our hands in every day. Different ways, absolutely. If you've got your own veggie plot, don't be scared to take your gloves off and just get your hands in. Even when you're out and about, go foraging, see what's out there. You'd be surprised. That's not very well, Margaret, for people that don't live in cities. Okay, I live in London city. There's no, there's no, there's no, I'd love to have a garden patch or whatever, and I'd love to be out foraging in the forest. There isn't one. So what can people do that live in cities? Get yourself onto, onto grass as much as you can. And you might think this is a little bit crazy, roll around. That can be a lot more fun. Do it with a friend, even funner. But there's also, there's also even the likes of probiotics out there which do look out for the soil-based organism ones. That's good. That's probably more accessible for city dwellers. Because as much fun as rolling around in the mud all day is. Thank you so much for coming on. You shared some amazing information that I'm sure is going to help people change a lot, change their lives. Pop out and buy a book. I recommend a book very much. Thank you for listening. I was Ginny Newbury. My guest was Margaret Bell. This was the Eat Love Do Show on Women's Radio Station at 9 AM and 9 PM all week. Until next time, stay healthy, stay happy.