Eat Love Do With Janine Newberry – Zahida Johal

Hi, I'm Janine Newbury, and this is the Eat Love Do show, exclusive to Women's Radio Station. Please follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @WomensRadioStn, and take a moment to go to our YouTube channel, hit that like and subscribe button because it really does help us. Thank you so much. Eat Love Do is the show for you because what you eat, how you love yourself and others, and what you do to bring more health and happiness into your life matters. Each episode, we'll be chatting with experts who devote their time to helping and inspiring people just like you be healthier, happier, take care of yourself, and have more freedom to do more of the things that you love. So without further ado, let's get started. Welcome, welcome, um, welcome to today's episode. Um, we're going to kick off with This episode's top tip. Top tip is in our Eat section this episode, and I'm gonna be talking to you about activated charcoal. This is this week's top tip. Now, I was away recently at a wedding a few weeks ago in Italy, and I made a little recipe which I now call my detox lemonade. You can pick up that recipe at eatlove.com if you would like that. And I basically put some water, some fresh lemon juice, and a capsule of activated charcoal into the drink and I made what I call now my detox lemonade. Activated charcoal has got many great benefits and it helps absorb toxins and some chemicals from your body. And just, and it's just a really good way to cleanse the body, cleanses the entire body. It can help with mental clarity. It can support a healthy digestive system. And I swear it helps with my hangover. I'm not sure if there's any evidence to back that up. Maybe there's some people out there that can share this, but for me, it made me feel a million times better. And it could be the— it could have been the combination of the lemon and the water as well that really helped with that, which is also cleansing. But activated charcoal body is really good with anti-aging, and it just keeps your entire body fresh and alive. And you can also use it topically, so you can use it on your scalp and you can use it on your skin and your face. Because as we age and get older, we get hormone disbalances that can create our skin to create more oils, and it can help with controlling the oil production in the skin by absorbing it. Which can obviously help with breakouts and help keep our skin more mattified rather than, you know, having that kind of shiny skin look that you get with oily skin. So it can help with that. And some people even use it on teeth for teeth whitening. I don't think this is the best use of activated charcoal, and today's guest will absolutely back us up on that and give us the science and background as to why, because she is a dentist and she actually has a business that's all about tooth whitening. So if you would like your pearly whites whiter and shining brightly, then this is the lady to speak to. So I'd like to welcome this episode's guest, Zahida Jahal. Zahida, welcome to the show. Thank you very much, Janine. It's my pleasure to be here. Oh, absolute pleasure to have you on. Would you like to open us up a little bit on activated charcoal, why that's not the best, and what is the better way to whiten your teeth? Yes, no, definitely. Um, as people will probably know or have seen, um, charcoal has been used in products quite widespread over the last few years. Um, I mean, you see it everywhere. He's in toothpaste, you see charcoal toothpaste, you see charcoal teeth whitening powders, um, and creams. Yes. Yeah. That's right. You can't walk down the street these days without tripping over a Juice Bar or in a supermarket, health store, without finding an activated charcoal detox drink, can you? That's right. It's probably fine in drinks and when you're consuming it, but because it's good for one part of your body or several parts of your body doesn't mean that it's good for other parts. So as in using it on your teeth, There was some scientific research that was done last year, and there's a research paper that was done which is in one of the dental journals, which actually they did some research on charcoal toothpaste where they use the toothpaste and then they analyze the enamel of a tooth. What this research showed was that actually it can— charcoal toothpaste And charcoal, if you imagine, toothpaste is actually not as gritty and is much smoother than like the charcoal tooth powders. So if they found that actually charcoal toothpaste can induce changes on enamel, then charcoal tooth whitening powder definitely is going to be causing more damage on your teeth. So, too coarse! As well. Sorry, it's too coarse. Exactly. Although it's quite— although they do— there's grades of, um, yeah, of coarseness. And although you might not be able to see it superficially, so you might assume as a layperson that actually it's not causing any damage because I can't see any, you know, I can't see any lines on my teeth and it looks fine. On a microscopic level, this is what the research showed that it can induce changes. And if you imagine, if you're doing this over time, then those changes are going to get worse and worse. And what we appreciate is, and also charcoal, it's not going to make your teeth whiter. All it does is it removes the stains. So it's just removing superficial stains off the surface of your tooth. It's not actually going to get within the tooth, it's not going to get within the enamel and change the actual color of the teeth. At all. So that's another misnomer that people assume that it's going to make their teeth whiter, but it only actually removes the stains off your teeth. That's really good to know. When I drink my detox water or even just lemon water, I always use a straw because I want to protect the enamel on my teeth because I know that lemon can— the sugars in lemon can destroy the enamel. But it's good to know that about activated charcoal as well. Yeah. It's not actually the sugar in the lemon, it's actually the acidity in the lemon. Oh, is it? Yes, actually acidity. So what the acidity in lemon does— and I mean, this is like my bugbear, because if you look in— I mean, TikTok is a classic place for this, where you see people, so, you know, your lay people and then not professionals telling you to get a slice of lemon and rub it on your teeth to get whiter teeth. And my— oh my God. Do not, please don't anybody do that, or use acid, apple cider vinegar, you know, swish with that and, or put it on your toothbrush. No, any kind of vinegar, any kind of acidity on your teeth is actually going to wear your teeth away. It erodes your teeth. Now the outer surface of your tooth is enamel. The enamel is lighter than what's underneath it. So once you wear away the enamel, you get to the next part of your tooth, which is called the dentine. Now the dentin is darker in shade, so if you start wearing that enamel away— so the more enamel you wear away, the darker your tooth is going to get. So hence you can see why actually it's going to get worse. You're using abrasive materials on your teeth, so if you're causing slight damage, even if it's on a microscopic level, your teeth are actually going to soak up stains much quicker. So you're going to want to have to whiten them much more. So it's actually counterproductive to use these products on your teeth for several reasons. So that's, that's why charcoal— because it's inducing damage, and even if it is on a microscopic level, you know, over time that's going to get worse and worse, and you're going to need to whiten it more and more. So it's— yeah, so that's my— it's probably going to take more sensitive as well, the enamel's going. Yes, absolutely, it does. Yeah, yeah, that's good to know. That's another top tip there, everybody, from Zahida. Fizzy drinks, you know, we've seen obviously over the, you know, last sort of 20 years or so, we've seen an increase in people consuming fizzy drinks. Also, then you have the other extreme, we've seen an increase in people having healthy diets, having a lot more citrus kind of fruits, so having a lot more sort of citrus fruits for breakfast and that. So all that acidity, it does actually wear away the surface of the tooth. So what I always say to— and like orange juices in the morning— so what I always say to my patients is, if you're having breakfast and you're having any sort of citrus kind of fruits and things, or juices, do not then go and brush your teeth straight away. Rinse your mouth out with water, so that will dilute the acidity, and then brush your teeth. But it's probably best to leave it, you know, 15-20 minutes before you actually go and brush them. Or brush them— I mean, we always advocate brushing your teeth after breakfast, but if you do have a highly acidic breakfast, then it's probably best to brush them beforehand and not then scrub that acidity, you know, the softened enamel away after you've had something acidic. So that's something else to be wary of. That's really good. That's really good because the natural thing to do would be to have your breakfast, go brush your teeth, and then go off to work or start your day. But knowing this is like a massive thing to know for protecting your teeth. As dentists, we advocate that as well. We say, you know, brush your teeth after breakfast because you're going to be out and about all day. You've probably had some sugary content, whether it's natural or artificial sugars. We all have sugars in some form in our diet. So obviously that's going to be acting on your teeth, and that's hence why you can start getting decay in the teeth. But then you have to be mindful of if you're having something acidic, also you have to be mindful of that about when you're going— when you're actually going to brush your teeth, or just rinse your mouth really thoroughly with water, because then it's just going to dilute that acidity. So hopefully you're not going to be wearing the enamel down. Well, I mean, we see it, you can normally detect also— there's another one, you know, um, bulimic patients, actually, you can actually detect— or people who have acid reflux, you can detect that with teeth because it erodes the teeth away. So when I have the stomach girls see me and I can see there's a lot of wear on their teeth, there is, you know, we start questioning them about their diet and, you know, what they're doing. And then you kind of, you know, you, you can find out other things and about patients obviously, and their habits through their teeth. So it's interesting. That's incredible. Is it true that— I've heard this— that your teeth can link to different parts of your— different teeth can link to different parts of your body? Is that true? I've heard that. I've never heard that. I don't know. Yeah, I thought you'd be the lady to ask this, but maybe I need to change this one. A bit like on your spine, like your different vertebrae can link to different parts of your body. Your teeth can link to different parts. I went to the dentist recently. My— one of my teeth was hurting and I showed the dentist and I was worried and she just said, oh, your sinuses. I have hay fever, so my sinuses are blocked. And she said, often when your sinus is blocked, that can cause pain in that tooth. She said not to worry, your tooth's fine. That will go when your sinuses clear up. And it did. Yeah, sinuses are linked because where your sinuses lie, the floor of the sinus is very closely connected to the root of the teeth. So that's why it can mask as toothache, because of when your sinuses get inflamed, it's so close to the root of the tooth that the nerves in the tooth can get affected by it. Just causes problems in the tooth. People do come and, you know, see us complaining of severe toothache And yeah, after you question them, you kind of ask them about the sinuses. And then yeah, you can sometimes you say, well, actually, let's just give you some antibiotics, try and clear your sinuses up first before we start investigating your teeth. And that's what I always advocate. I think that it's sinus related, then you don't want to go in and start messing around with their teeth for sure. Because obviously, once the sinus problem clears up, the teeth, the tooth pain is going to, you know, the toothache is going to clear up as well. Yeah, that's really good to know. I, I didn't— I'd never even heard that until obviously it happened to me. So that's, uh, that's good to know. Your toothache may not be a problem, it may just be a sinus issue. That's all to do with the, um, the nerves as well. And so the nerves that supply your bottom teeth are different to the nerves that supply the top teeth, um, where the actual supply goes. And that's why when you go to dentist and you— we give you an injection for the bottom teeth we give it at the back of the mouth, and that's going to numb half your mouth. So half your mouth and part of your tongue gets completely numb. When you're giving anaesthetic for the top teeth, you just give the anaesthetic for the individual tooth because of where the nerve supply comes from. Because it's in the top, it all just comes from a single branch to each tooth, where from the bottom it comes from one main branch along the bottom, and that goes within the jaw. And then branches into each tooth. So yeah, so just little facts, and that's why, you know, when patients come in and say, why are you doing it at the back when you do my front tooth? Because that's where the nerve is, basically, to numb that up. Yeah. Oh, I love, you know, I love finding out stuff like this. I find anything to do with the human body and the mind absolutely fascinating, so I just love hearing about all this new stuff. Um, but I'd love to hear more about your, um, your new business, your teeth whitening, uh, business that you've got going. So would you like to share a little bit on that with us? Yes, I mean, I've set up— so I've been a dentist for 31 years now and never owned my own practice. I've always worked for other people. And about 4 years ago, I was working at a practice where there's 2 practice owners and they wanted to make changes in the practice. So they were looking for somebody who might potentially want to go into partnership with them. And I had already vocalized about that. I didn't want to do that. I wasn't— that was not part of my, my sort of journey, um, because at the time I was probably about 50, and, you know, to start owning a business and becoming a partner in a business wasn't my intention at all. Um, so anyway, they brought in somebody who was 20 years younger, um, but because our patient load wasn't enough, they needed to get rid of one of the dentists. And I was working there with another girl before they took a third female dentist on. And anyway, a few things happened where they hoped that one of us would go. Neither of us did. And then they basically dismissed me using one clinical patient and one note taken as an excuse. And I know full well that actually this was all related to my age and the fact that they knew that, you know, I was coming towards maybe possibly, you know, being 50, you know, looking towards sort of coming to the end of my career rather than at the beginning of my career, which obviously this girl who's 20 years younger is probably more inclined to go into partnership with them. Do you know what, they could have just been honest and had that conversation and said, look, you're coming towards the end, this girl's got a good 20, 'Plus years, so we think she's going to be a better fit.' Just be honest and say that. Absolutely. And this is, you know, and this is exactly what I said to them afterwards, after the event, because they basically called me in, um, on an evening when I didn't work, uh, so they asked me to come into work. I knew things weren't right at the practice. I was a bit suspicious at something. In fact, my husband— I said to my husband when I told him that, you know, they'd asked me to go in for a meeting. And I said to him, I think, I mean, I feel I'm quite intuitive person. And I said straight away to my husband, I said, I think I'm going to get the sack. And he was like, no, you know, don't be so ridiculous, they just want to change your hours. And I was like, okay, anyway, we'll see what happens. Spidey senses were going. I call this the Spidey senses. Definitely. Anyway, sure enough, I went in and they said, oh, well, you know, we've seen that you've done this and we're not happy with you. And so we're giving you a 3-month notice period and we're dismissing you. And I was completely shocked because these two guys who I was working for, I thought they were, you know, I actually had gone to work for them for a reason because my husband worked at this particular practice as well, and he encouraged me to join them. He said, you know, they're great guys to work for, they're not going to mess you around or anything, you know, they're decent people. And so for me, for them to do that, I just thought, hang on a second, you know, I thought I could trust these guys. What's wrong with just sitting somebody down and just telling them, this is what we're planning and what are you planning, and, you know, having a conversation rather than doing it this way around? There's like getting somebody in and saying, you're sacked, basically. And that's how ultimately, essentially what they said to me. And I was just like, absolutely gobsmacked. I just couldn't believe that this was happening. I mean, I'd been working in dentistry for 27 years and I never had experienced anything like it. To be perfectly honest. It really did shock me. Yeah, it's quite devastating as well, and especially when you're at your age. You shared this with me before, you were 52, and to hear that at that age, I mean, that's going to bring up fears as well. And like, what am I going to do now at this age? And if age is a factor in me working, where else am I going to get a job? What am I going to do? So I think that's— and I'm sure that some of our listeners are maybe going through similar things at the minute, or know people are, and can really, you know, relate to that as well. But I think the direction you went in next was, well, it's actually a blessing what they did because it sort of pushed you in this next direction, didn't it? And setting up your own business. Yeah, I know it did because I mean, I'll be, you know, very open and transparent. I did have a mental breakdown as a result of what they did to me. You know, I thought I could trust these guys and that's why I went to work for them. So for me, trust is a big thing. And when somebody displays that kind of action where, you know, they completely just— you completely lose all kind of sense of what has gone on here. And, you know, how can somebody do that to another person, you know? And I ended up having a mental breakdown, you know, did end up taking an overdose. Fortunately, I was okay, came through it, but ended up with, you know, having, you know, some mental health issues and physical health issues as well at the time. So how did you overcome these? What did you do to get yourself through this? Well, I think, um, how did I do it? Well, it actually, like I say, you know, it actually made me eventually, once I'd sort of, you know, sort of sat down and thought, hang on a second, I'm not gonna let these guys do this to me, you know, once I'd come through the initial sort distress and mental and physical and shock of it. I just thought, I can't do this again, I can't do this, you know. And that's when I started sort of looking at thinking, right, actually I don't want to work for anybody else now. And I, I did, I went on to get another dental job, but I thought, actually, I need to take control of my life, I need to charge what I want to do. So it actually made me really reevaluate what I wanted going forward. And hence why I actually went to an entrepreneur's kind of workshop conference thing. And the chap whose conference it was, this business coach, he's very much into mindset as well, you know, mental well-being. And he was, you know, you really truly have to believe in yourself and then go out and do your business, you know, until you do that. So I started doing a lot of self-development work as well, actually, because I realized obviously there was a few issues and things I needed to deal with first and foremost. And then started thinking about, right, what am I going to do? You know, what business am I going to set up? And that's when I decided, right, you know, the world, the online market and teeth whitening, I wasn't really too impressed with what was being sold and how it was being sold. So I thought, I'm a dentist, I can do it. Zahida, before we've gone to that, I just want to acknowledge that you've just, what you've just shared with us and how open you are and say thank you for that, that you know, you went, you hit rock bottom basically, and you had mental health issues and you sought help and you got through it. And I think that's actually a massive thing. And, you know, just anyone that might be listening that's going through that part in their life now or know someone that is, just that there is that light at the end of the tunnel and you're okay. And it is normal to go through, you know, grief or depression and those kind of things when something big in our life is, you know, taken from us, or we move on, or we have to change or move on. And which is obviously, you know, what happens with you. And that can happen in any ways, like moving home can do it, changing career, ending a relationship, losing a loved one can all bring these things on. Being locked in your home for a few years during a pandemic, all these things can bring on mental health issues. And to know that if you're going through it, you're not alone, And I really love your story and how you came through. And thank you for sharing that you tried to commit suicide as well, because I think maybe there's some people at that point. And you luckily, thank goodness, you know, that, that didn't work out. Sometimes it's good to fail at life, fail at things. Yes, exactly. So I think the world is a better place for you still being in it. And, you know, and I'm sure your family and friends will attest to that. But, um, Grateful to be here. Yes, definitely. Yes, so grateful. And just thank you for sharing that, being brave enough to, because I think that will let other people know that it's okay for them to open up and be brave and speak about that should they need to, to friends and loved ones around them. Yeah, but the other thing I do want to highlight, because, uh, reflecting back on what happened to me, because this may also be something that, you know, a lot of the listeners may be able to take away as well, that actually reflecting on what happened to me, I also realized, um, it was part of my menopause as well. You know, I think I was perimenopausal at the time, um, and just about to hit menopause. And I think I didn't appreciate that until after everything all happened and, you know, I got myself sorted out. And, you know, it was a doctor who sort of suggested going on HRT as well. And, um, and, you know, I'll open you to antidepressants as well at the time, and it gave me more clarity afterwards, I have to say, you know. And a lot of people said to me, what, you shouldn't be going on antidepressants, it makes your head foggy and cloudy. And there's a lot of anti-antidepressant talk actually, especially I understand amongst people who are more holistic and I don't want to go down that route, but I also feel that actually sometimes you need that. You need the, um, you know, that you need the medical help as well. And there's nothing wrong. And I would like to share this because I, I got it from a lot of people saying, why are you on antidepressants? You don't need it. It's not going to help you. And I had to justify why I was taking antidepressants. And I actually personally found it helped me because I think that I've got a slight chemical imbalance because my mum was schizophrenic, um, she went through schizophrenia. So I've been around people with mental health problems, you know, right from a very young age. So I think that I've always had a slight chemical imbalance, just reflecting on my childhood, uh, and when I was younger as well. So, and this is what I was trying to say to somebody who's saying to me, oh, you know, it makes you— gives you a fogginess, a haze, and you can't live your normal life. And I actually said to this person, actually, I can see, I can see clearly now. My emotions are what I count as normal now. They never were. So for me, actually, I think my— the antidepressants helped me, helped me get a difficult period to a point where actually I probably don't need them now. I'm, I'm still on them and I will wean myself off them to discover whether, you know, I do, because I've done a lot of self-development work on myself over the last few years. So I probably won't need them, but I am not anti-antidepressants if you feel that they are the right thing for you. Um, everybody's individual and everybody has to do what they feel is right for them. Anybody say to you it's wrong. You know what's right. You have to decide for yourself. I think every— everybody's body reacts differently to everything. Emotions, chemicals, you know, drugs, supplements, food, external things. Everybody is literally different. And I think, I think it's dangerous when people try and impose their opinion on things that they're not really qualified to know about to start with, unless you're a healthcare professional and you know about this, you probably shouldn't be giving advice on it. And it's just an opinion, and an opinion is just someone's opinion, and that's all it is. And I think when someone's at the most vulnerable and that they're in a place where they perhaps do or do not need antidepressants, or they're going through grief or depression, I think whilst the people around them might mean well or being well-meaning, they really projecting their own fears onto that person. And I think that's not the helpful thing. And it's about them and their opinion and not the person who's going through it. So I think when you— if you are going through something like that, um, I think the best course of action is to speak to a professional and get professional advice and really tune in into your own body and what works for you. For some people it might not work, but for you it did, and for them it may or may not. And I think they should, like you did, just take that route of listening to a professional. Yeah, and I think sometimes people around us, they mean well, but they don't realize the impact of how destructive that can be on someone who's already vulnerable and going through a tough time. They just love and support. If you've got friends or family members or anyone that's going through that as well, that might, you know, potentially be depressed or grief breathing, then I think, you know, just love them and take care of them, but maybe point them in the direction of someone that can really serve them. So thank you for sharing that. And also for women, you know, one of the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause is anxiety. And we know that. And there's more than just hot flushes, isn't the only symptom we get. We know there are about 34, maybe even more symptoms that can arise as your hormone levels start altering and you're heading towards menopause. And it's known, it's fact, that anxiety is one of them, and depression. So if it, you know, if you need something just to get you through those few years when you're going through that difficult time— and a friend of mine, she was, you know, she went through it, she got very, very anxious and, um, you know, had a breakdown. But she was very much, oh, I don't want to take antidepressants, I don't want to take antidepressants, because there is such stigma attached to it. And I just said to her, I said, look, you don't have to be on them forever. If that's going to get you through this difficult time, then why would you not? You know, get some counseling and support, but just take some just to get you through this difficult period that you're in at the moment. Sometimes it just helps you and makes things a little bit easier, and then you can just wean yourself off them again gradually. It doesn't mean you have to be on them forever, but sometimes we just need a little something to just get us through that difficulty. And as we know, you know, like I say, you know, menopause is classic that actually people need to be aware that it kind of creeps up on you. These symptoms do as well, and you don't realize. And the number of women I've talked to who are younger than me who are saying, oh yeah, I'm feeling a bit like this, I'm feeling like that, and I've said to them, are you perimenopausal? And they're like, um, not sure, I don't think so, I'm still getting periods. I said, just because you're still getting periods doesn't mean that you're not perimenopausal. So it's highlighting that and making people aware of it. And you know, there is more awareness around menopause now, which is really good. So actually there's a lot more information now out there, and I think it's good that women are being made aware about everything. And also now men. There was a lobby recently, wasn't it, Parliament, to make, um, workplaces more aware about menopause and accepting it as actually is a health problem. It's not just something that's in a woman's head. It is a general health problem that, you know, all workplaces need to take into consideration. I think that's fantastic. That's like, yeah, it's definitely stepping in the right direction with that. I know I'm personally going through perimenopause at the moment as well, and I definitely have the sweats. I wake up every morning like I've been swimming through the night, Zahida, which is a joy. You know, I've been there, Janine. I know, I know. I'm luckily beyond that now, past it. So, but I also, I definitely noticed a change in my mood, and it was obvious, it's obviously a change in hormones, and I started to feel anxious I had like a panic attack. I never had a panic attack. I thought that was a made-up thing that celebrities used, you know. But actually it's a real thing. Lots of friends say this to me, you know, lots of friends say to me, I just, you know, I can't go out anymore. I used to always go out and now I get really anxious about going out. And it is lots of things and it just kind of creeps up on you, you know. I know people who are runners and all of a sudden they feel they're starting to get tired and lethargy when they go out running and can't run as far. And again, you know, these are all symptoms of perimenopause. So it's just something to make women aware about, really, who are heading in that direction. Yeah, 100%. I found exercise really helps me, because I was more tired and not recovering quicker. But I found that by changing the kind of way that I exercised— because I used to exercise, you know, I used to love the gym and weights and all that kind of stuff, but I can't do that as much now because my body just I can't cope with it. So I do some weight training, which I think really helps. But then I do a combination of yoga and stretching, and I think that really helps and serves my body. And when I do that consistently, I've noticed that that helps massively. And the anxiety, it helps me with anxiety. It goes away. But I'm obviously fortunate enough that it's not so extreme that I need to take antidepressants. That's enough for me. But again, everybody's body is different. Absolutely. Yoga is great for it, actually. Yoga and also meditation. Actually, I think meditation is a great form actually of just sort of grounding yourself again, you know, being at one with yourself really. It just really helps. Yeah, I love that. I literally meditate every morning now. I got into the garden, I was out this morning, um, I go out and do a little meditation, um, sometimes I sort of talk and make my own little guided meditations up, and then I take my, um, Uggs off. I got in my Uggs, it's cold, and I'm walking on the grass. I don't know, there's just something nice about putting your bare feet on the grass first thing in the morning and then sit, do a little meditation, come in, and that's where my whole, whole day is so much better when I do that, just in that happy space, you know, it just sets up the whole day to start really well. Yeah, yeah, it does. I think that's why medication— meditation is becoming definitely more widespread now, which I think is fantastic. Yeah, no, it is definitely. And I, you know, meditator, meditate. Uh, yeah, since I've been doing my self-development stuff, I've started doing more and more of that as well. And, um, it really has helped. Yeah, it really does help you, I think. You know, I'm in a much better place than I've ever been, to be honest, in my life. I'm 55 and I feel like, you know, the world is my oyster at the age of 55. It really is. And my mantra is just to have lots of fun now. My kids think I'm crazy, but But you know what, I don't really care. I love that mantra. What an amazing mantra. I will have lots of fun. I just want to have fun, you know, and just be, yeah, just have lots of fun and enjoy whatever time I have left on this earth. And you know, because as I was saying to a friend the other day that, you know, none of us know, you know, how long we have, whether you're 30, whether you're— I mean, I went to a 90th birthday party yesterday. You know, this guy is 90. And he's looked at it, oh my God, to think and imagine of getting to that age, you think, wow, you know, it's incredible. But I bet when he was 55, he probably never assumed he was going to get to 90. I can't imagine anyone would, would you? You cannot assume you're going to get to that age at all. Um, so incredible, 90, it's all going strong, that's fantastic. It's like they say, you know, live every day like it's your last, really. And that's kind of what my mantra is as as well. So tell us a bit more about your tooth whitening company. So you decided to set up on your own and how this came about and why you set this up? Yeah, so I set it up because I saw online there's a lot of teeth whitening companies that come up and, um, and I've tried— I like to try things before I judge them, so I thought, oh, actually I'll try them out. So I was trying things out and also the way things were being sold, and I just didn't like— I mean, the ones that I used didn't work the way they claimed they worked, um, and the way they've been sold to the public, I didn't like. I just thought, you know, if you show somebody who's got, say, veneers on their teeth and you're claiming that their teeth have got whiter using a teeth whitening product, then that's that's actually lying to the public because that will never happen. You cannot use a teeth whitening product and whiten your teeth to 6 shades lighter when you've got veneers on them because veneers do not change in shade with teeth whitening. Um, anyway, so I decided— I don't like to say that because obviously I don't want to be challenged by anybody saying that, you know, there's lies being told. But anyway, I'm just putting it out there. People are made aware of what they're seeing, um, you know, just be more mindful of that as well. And, um, anyway, so I thought, actually, I'm a dentist at the time. I'd been a dentist for 27 years, and I thought, well, why don't I do my own? You know, I could set up an online, um, business selling teeth whitening products because I know what works, and I will just use what I know works, basically, because this is what we've been— I've been doing for the last 27 years. And not a lot of change, to be honest. So that's what I decided to do. So I've set up a teeth whitening product company. So there's teeth whitening kits, we do teeth whitening strips, and then we also have— now we've launched a bamboo electric toothbrush because the dental world is not very eco-friendly, which is, you know, over the years I've just sort of seen, you know, how unfriendly we are when it comes to, you know, being environmentally aware, and it's just something that— isn't it? Toothbrushes are traditionally plastic, which is— yeah, exactly, which, yeah, they go straight in the bin, and yeah, that's not going to decompose at all, any time soon. So actually, I've gone to the bamboo toothbrushes, which are— see, they are biodegradable, they're also antimicrobial as well, so actually they stay cleaner as well. In comparison to plastic. So actually, that's another benefit of using bamboo toothbrushes. So that's what we're going towards. And we will, as we expand, we'll introduce more eco-friendly oral health and dental care products as well as we introduce more and more products to the business. I think that's great. So I was living out in Bali a few years back and they were using bamboo because bamboo grows so quickly and it's so easy and cost-effective to grow. And they were using it to make straws and things like that. So rather than using plastic or paper straws, they're using bamboo straws, which is fantastic. Yeah, it's really good fun. Yeah, we've had some bamboo straws actually. We bought some and I think, yeah, it's a way to go rather than even the paper ones because actually they last. You don't have to buy many and you can just put them in the dishwasher and then, you know, you wash them and you can reuse them. And they last through the lifetime of that one drink you're drinking as well, unlike a paper straw. That's what I mean, yeah, it dissolves. You get halfway down and it's dissolved. You're eating the paper instead. Yeah, brilliant. No, I think that's fantastic. And I know that the ingredients that you use in your tooth whitening is one that actually works, unlike some of the other products. You shared that with me before, actually, in a conversation. So what is it that's in your product that works so well? So we use a peroxide product. Which work on— they work more intrinsically, so they will actually go within the sort of tooth, the enamel, to remove stains within the actual tooth structure. And that's how they work. So you know that actually that is working on a deeper level than anything else which works more superficially. So that's how they get your teeth— they actually get the shade of your teeth whiter by working on a much deeper level. On the— yeah, on the cells in the tooth. That's fantastic. So that takes us again back to the activated charcoal thing, which only works superficially, but yours actually works at that deeper level. So it literally whitens the tooth rather than just cleans up the stains. That's fantastic. That's right. Yeah. And share with us the name of your business so the listeners, uh, know where to find you. It's, um, Z-Smile London. And the website is www.zsmart.co.uk, so our listeners might want to go on and have a look and see for themselves. And also just like to mention that I also— we do have some of our profits are donated to Young Minds charity as well. So we do have donation from the profits that go towards Young Minds charity because I'm quite passionate about raising awareness and reducing the stigma for mental health in young people. Yeah, I know this is a topic that's particularly close to your heart, and I know you don't mind sharing about your son and the things that you went through with him. So would you like to share with our listeners a little bit about that? Because it's, it's, you know, I think it's quite an inspiring story. Yeah, I mean, when my son was, um, when he was 16 and he was doing his GCSEs, he was, um, what we found out, he was groomed by a teacher of his at school. Yeah. And so I found out and made the school aware, and she was arrested, and we had a court case that we had to go through as a result of what had happened to him. We clarify for our listeners, what you mean by groomed is that she was grooming him to sleep with him, not to be a good student. No, he wasn't a good student at all, no, it was more of a sexual way, yes, that kind of grooming, which when, you know, I mean, he was a child, you know, The grooming started at 15 and then proceeded until he was 16, and up to the point actually I discovered what was going on. And it probably would have continued had, you know, had I not realized. I'm sure it would have continued because my son was going to stay there for sixth form as well. So it probably would have carried on throughout his sixth form life as well there. But we left him at the school to do his A-levels thinking that the school were going to be very supportive of him because they knew what's circumstances were and what had happened. And no, it was a complete opposite actually. He actually— we had a very, very— yeah, he had a very difficult couple of years staying at that particular school where he didn't get the support that he should have done considering what happened to him, which then led him to having a mental breakdown and becoming suicidal as well. So We went through a very difficult couple of years with him, trying to support him really, and me constantly going into school, battling for him really, and trying to get what he rightfully needed, the support he needed, which he wasn't getting. But yeah, but he came through it. But as a result of that, it made me realize what the stigma around mental health is still there in young people, even, you know, even for young people. And I was quite open about what had happened to him. And, you know, I have parents contacting me sort of saying, oh, my child's going through this and I feel like we're alone, and, you know, don't think we've got support. And I was like, you're not alone, there's lots of people are going through it. And it's just, we just need to be more open about it and we need to remove the stigma around mental health, which I think now because of COVID it's a lot better. It's a lot more accepted now within adults and, you know, young people as well. So I think COVID has helped that. But this was before COVID where, you know, people just didn't want to talk about it, even about their children. You know, you feel— I think parents felt like they were a failure or there was something wrong with their child if they admitted to the fact that, you know, their child was going through mental health issues. Yeah, I think parents kind of feel responsible for it and don't want to open up about it. But I think the more we open up, the more we can support each other. So one of my things is doing fundraising, and I usually do it for the Young Martin's charity, and that's why some of the proceeds from my profits will go towards the charity. I think that's fantastic, and I think, yeah, people need to feel it's safe to speak about mental health. And what your son went through was was appalling, quite frankly. You know, he was, let's be honest, sexually abused by his teacher. And you said he didn't get the support. Not only did he not get the support, you shared with me that the teachers almost kind of blamed him and sided with the teacher and weren't particularly nice to him in those, you know, subsequent years afterwards. So it was like abuse continued. So of course he went through mental health challenges. And not only was he trying to deal with that as a child, he was then you know, in essence being constantly abused, which is just absolutely appalling. He also felt guilty, extremely guilty and responsible for what had happened, whereas I used to say to him— and that's what he used to say to me— I just feel responsible for, you know, what I've done. And, you know, because obviously he realized, you know, how upsetting it was for us as well. And what I was constantly in that school, you know, constantly trying to, you know, get things done for him. And he just felt really awful that I had to do that. And I just had to reassure him and say, no, you don't need to feel guilty. You are not responsible for this. This is not down to you. This is down to an adult who should have known better. So it's got nothing to do with you. The female teacher who is responsible should have known better, not you. You're a child at the end of the day. So, you know, there is a line that we draw, and I as a professional know that as well. And this is what I addressed with her when I spoke to her about, you know, 'You know where the line is. You crossed that line knowing full well what you were doing.' You know, so yeah, it did leave him feeling extremely guilty and responsible for his actions as well though. I think that's quite a common reaction in people that are victims of some sort of abuse. Oh, absolutely. They— adults as well as children, but I think particularly children, because you know, depending on their age, their minds and cognitive, um, way to understand things hasn't even developed until certain points. Most kids that are abused are told to not tell anybody, as he was, you know, don't tell your friends, don't tell your family, don't tell anybody, this is our secret, you know, this is just between me and you. And yeah, you know, how many— I mean, we know what's gone on in the past with celebrities, don't we? I mean, this is come out over the years, you know, how many kids have been abused. But, you know, and yeah, we could go on and on about that because obviously it's something that I'm extremely passionate about, you know, and raising awareness around it and the effects, mental health problems. And it's not just things like that. I mean, there's so many issues that, you know, lots of teenagers now have mental health issues. And I think I don't know whether parents are in denial or just don't want to admit it, um, and just like to blame social media as well. You know, I've got lots of people who just blame social media for the impact, but I think it's multifactorial. I don't think it's just down to social media. I think schools have a huge responsibility. Our school system, not the actual teachers themselves, a lot of teachers I think want change, but I think the system, the way it's set up, our exam system, how We focus on academia so much. I think that's set up wrong. And, you know, these— I just absolutely hate school league tables. I think that is the biggest— has the biggest part to play in this responsibility and the effect it's having on children's mental health, because children aren't being treated as children in schools. They're just commodities, you know, just to get that school to a higher level. And I really, I'm quite passionate about that, and I will speak about that openly, about how I feel that in the school system it's just not set up to support young people. So it's something that I openly talk about, that actually there needs to be huge changes within the education system. Which is shocking, because you would think the school, the whole purpose and function of a school, is to teach and mould and support our children. So they're ready to go out into the world and be, you know, well-informed young adults and well-informed moving forward in their lives. All-rounded child. You don't want one that just regurgitates maths, English, you know, geography, history. And that's— the system is set up at the moment that— Now, come on, we all know algebra is essential in adult life. How many times have I used it? True. Yeah, would have been those teeth. You know, academia has a part to play, but there's a lot more. I mean, I think certainly, I certainly believe strongly that we need to bring self-development, mindfulness as a core subject, not just as a little tick box, which they do at the moment. I think we need to focus on things like that more Actually, make that like English and maths, because those are the skills that you can give every child that will make them stronger and better human beings going forward in life, you know, and make them stronger mentally as well. So we've got strong, you know, young, fit adults to lead the world going forward. Otherwise, we're just going to have a whole load of anxiety amongst adults the way it's going at the moment. How are they going to lead the country, you know, going forward? Hopefully better than our current leaders. Oh, did I say that out loud? I don't know, actually, I don't think so. Not this current generation of, um, you know, the teens and the ones in the 20s now. Honestly, there's so much anxiety-related stuff that I, I don't think they will be able to. I really don't. There's too much anxiety and too many problems. I would love to see in schools them actually teach people about, um, you know, human behavior, understanding yourself, food, nutrition, self-care, how to take care of yourself. Because if you, if you self-develop, you know, allow that child to learn all these skills from a very young age so they can implement them, so, you know, they're not being told what to do, they know why they should be doing it then. And they've got strategies then going forward when they do come through adversities, you know, they can handle it. And that's what it's about, it's making you— because I always say this, you know, is we focus so much on physical fitness, you know, kids do PE and games, that's part of their curriculum, isn't it? They have to do it. Yet we do not focus on the mental fitness. Mental fitness needs to be 50/50 with physical fitness, and that's the same in our education system. It should be just as important as the physical health of the person. So that's what we need to bring in from a very young age, make it 50/50, so they're getting the mental fitness as well as the physical fitness, and then you will just have superhumans all the way. Yeah, perhaps you should be running for Parliament, Sahina. Yeah, I'm gonna give them my vote. But I just think all politicians, whatever party they're in, they lie. So anyway, it's a difficult job, all joking aside. Being a— it's not, it's not a job I would choose. It's difficult running a country. But, um, but, um, I, uh, I definitely think learning this kind of stuff in school, it would just normalize it. It would normalize learning to deal with ups and downs and things that we go through. So it's not a taboo, a mental health illness is no longer a taboo. It's just normal. Oh, you're feeling sad today, or angry, or grief, or you're going into depression. You know what it is. It's normal, and you know how to deal with it, and you can openly talk about it, and it will just take all of that fear and, you know, fear of being judged or not being enough or abandoned or mocked or any of that will just be taken out of the equation. And I think it would just create a much healthier and happier society. So I'm 100% on with See, there's a false focus on increasing intellectual, you know, education, and they don't focus on the emotional— intellectual intelligence is what they focus on, not emotional intelligence. And I think it's the emotional intelligence which is just as important as well. So, you know, they need to bring that element into it and make kids more emotionally intelligent, you know. And that's the skill, actually. It's not— some kids have it naturally, but it's usually to your parenting skills as well that whether your child will get the emotional intelligence, you know. It's maybe they pick it up from you, but within the education system, and those unfortunate children that don't get that, you know, they miss out on a lot. They really do. And I think it's about giving them, every child, an equal opportunity as well, you know. And that's the only way you can do it, really. It's not about grades, it really isn't. It's not about A-stars. I can't stand A-stars, I really can't. In school, A-stars— when I was at school, what's an A-star? Oh, it's A's and then you get A-star nowadays. So it's one of those, yeah, that came about, well, quite a few years ago actually, the A-star system. But that's all that schools want. We just want our kids to have A-stars. They don't look at where that child's come from and what grade they've got to, because that's what we need to measure. So that's why I hate school league tables, because all school league tables do, they just look at how many A*s each school gets and they will create a league according to that. That doesn't show you anything as far as I'm concerned. That shows you nothing about a school because some of these schools have creamed off the, the best kids to start with, so they're gonna get all A*s. You know, okay, hasn't got those kids and see how those teachers are getting their intellect up. You know, it's that difference you can make to a child that we should measure, not the fact that you've got a bright child to start with who's going to get A*s to begin with. You haven't educated them because they've already been intellectually advantaged. I think there's a— I spoke to a lady the other day, she actually homeschooled her children. She's an American lady, so they traveled a lot. Her husband was in the military, so she did a lot of homeschooling, and because she didn't like the way that the, um, the, the, their schools were structured. And there's different— when I was living in Bali, there's a school called the Green School which had a completely different ethos to educating kids. So they had like a curriculum, but they also focused on what they called passion projects. So they worked out what each child was different and what they were good at, and they could, um, work on a project around that. So if one person was, uh, child was more into music, they— their passion project would be around music. If one was more academic and into maths, it would be around that, or if one was really sporty, it would be around that. And I thought that was just a really lovely thing to nurture and encourage that skill, the natural talent and skill in that child and human being. And so obviously they learn all the other bits and pieces they need to learn to, you know, be out in society, and we all need to write, etc., and understand about history in the world. But to actually nurture that part of ourselves is sort of innately our kind of inner genius and natural talent, I thought was really, really fantastic. Sick. Yeah, exactly, that's what we should be nurturing, you know, it doesn't matter what their talent is and that's the thing, it doesn't have to be an academic subject or a sport and that's where our focus tends to be in a lot of schools. You know, I've got 4 children, my oldest is 23, I've got a 19-year-old, 16-year-old and a 13-year-old and I've seen actually the, you know, I've So we've been through a few schools with them, as you can imagine. So I've seen, you know, what schools expect of kids. And, um, yeah, and that's hence why, you know, I have this— I'm quite opinionated about it because I feel like, you know, that they don't really educate them the way that I feel that kids should be educated. Now we live in a very— what are you doing? Are you moving around? I can hear you banging around. What are you doing? Sorry, what are you doing? You thought I wouldn't notice, did you? Quiet. Yeah, a minute. Oh no, you know what it is? It's called having kids at home. That's— oh, you got good luck. Yeah, that's good. My daughter's just— because it's a hot day today and it's a half day at school. Okay, right, we're just about wrapping it up. So is there anything else you would like to say to our listeners? Maybe give them a little inspirational message or quote or something just to leave them with on a positive note? I would just basically— I mean, this is the one thing that, you know, I realize that was missing in myself, actually. And, you know, I would just say truly believe in yourself because, you know, you can achieve anything you want to, no matter what your age is. It doesn't matter. Age doesn't have to stop you. And, you know, this is where I— someone tried to stop me because of my age, and I just vowed that I wouldn't ever let anybody stop me doing what I want to do, no matter what, what my age is. So truly believe in yourself and just do what you want to, really, and you can succeed at whatever you want and whatever you put your mind to. Yeah, I love that, I love that. And I think age is a real factor, especially in our society, because we're almost kind of taught that our value is in youth and beauty as a woman, and when we get older, we don't have any value anymore, which I think is kind of appalling in our Southwestern society, whereas in other cultures age and wisdom is revered. And I think it would be really lovely if we adopted that within our society, because obviously the more time we spend on Earth, the more we learn and the more value I would say we have to give and offer to, you know, the upcoming generations. And, you know, I think it— yeah, because I obviously I worked as a model in the modeling industry for over 20-odd years, and it was very much model, uh, female careers in your, like, at the beginning when you're young. And then when I sort of hit my 30s to 40s, they didn't know where to put me because I didn't, in modeling terms, belong anywhere. It's like I didn't have any value, I didn't exist. So, and then when they said, we'll come back when you're much older, and I thought, wow, that's really fascinating. Whereas the male models, they could work throughout, and as they started to age, their value actually increases. Yeah, I think I'd see some changes in that as well on a personal level. But yeah, I just— interesting, because I was talking to a model yesterday and she's about— she's 49, and she said exactly the same as you, actually. Exactly. But she's in that in-between stage where people don't know where to place her now because she actually looks very good for her age, that actually she can't play the older sort of person and she can't be the 20-plus person, so she's actually stuck. Yeah, so I get what you're saying, actually. Yeah, so anyway, on that note, I could keep chatting to you all day, but unfortunately we're about to run out of time. So thank you, Zahida, for coming, and thank you to our listeners. You have been listening to the Eat Love Do show. Um, this is exclusive to Women's Radio Station, and just a little reminder for you to follow us on Twitter or on Instagram and Facebook. @womensradiostn. And do take a moment to go to our YouTube channel and hit that like button and subscribe because it really does help us. It helps with the channel. So we want to thank you so much. I want to thank you personally for listening to me. I'm Janine Newbury and I've been your host. This is the Eat Love Do Show and it's also sponsored by eatlovedo.com and the recipes and information on the activated charcoal. Today's top tip will be on that site too if you want to pop yourselves over there. And I just want to say super thank you and see you all, um, at the next episode. Have an amazing day. Be healthy, be happy.