The Lee and Irene Show

This week Lee and Irene dive deep into manifestation through two very different lenses. Irene’s approach is emotional resonance and alignment, feeling as if you already have what you want and acting as if it’s already on its way. Lee’s is grounded in the science of how your brain filters reality through the reticular activating system and creates the conditions for things to move toward you. Together, they explore how manifestation works, why writing a number on a piece of paper doesn’t cut it, what happens when the universe delivers differently than you expected, and the Taoist concept of effortless action that makes everything feel like it flows. ✨ In this episode we chat about: · The difference between manifestation and wishful thinking · How emotional truth and feeling are at the core of real manifestation · Irene’s origin story - the Esther Hicks event that changed everything · The moment she wrote $20 million in her book and sold her company for exactly that amount · Lee’s intuitive approach through vivid dreams and subconscious understanding · The science behind manifestation: the reticular activating system and neural networks · What The Secret got right and what it missed · Vision boards, manifestation books, scripting and journaling as different practices · Why letting go is harder than doing the work · Effortless action and what true alignment feels like 🎙 What’s Popping: Manifestation, Alignment, and the Science of Getting What You Want The Instagram Version vs. The Real Thing The Instagram version of manifestation is about acquisition. Write a number, visualise a Ferrari, believe hard enough and the universe delivers a specific dollar amount directly into your bank account. This version has sold millions of courses and made a lot of people money. But it’s missing something critical: emotional truth. When someone says they want $5 million, it’s a figure. But it’s not a feeling. You can’t really feel $30 million, and you can’t inhabit what you can’t feel. You’re giving your brain a target it has no idea how to orient towards. The real manifestation is about alignment. It’s about getting emotionally honest about what you actually want and why you want it, then acting as if it’s already on its way. When you’re truly aligned and genuinely clear on what you want, things start moving. But they don’t always move in the shape you expected. The universe is not limited to one route. If you want to walk away from a draining job and feel financially secure, the universe offers more than one path to that feeling. The money, the car, the house - these are possible routes. But they’re not the only routes. This is the distinction that separates the real thing from carnival barking. And it’s free. What Manifestation Actually Requires Passive wishing is not manifestation. Sitting on a couch, picturing a number, and waiting for it to appear is a fantasy, not a practice. Real manifestation requires getting emotionally honest about what you want and why, feeling it as already real, then acting in alignment with it. Every single step matters. Remove the action and you just have a fantasy. Irene’s Journey: The Manifestation Book and the $20 Million Irene’s awakening came through her mother and a YouTube video featuring Esther Hicks, the voice for a collective consciousness channelled as Abraham. At the time, Irene was working in corporate at Universal Pictures. It was a struggle - she felt like a round peg in a square corporate box. Her mum sent her the video and it resonated immediately. She was already having a stressful week with a mortgage, driving a Volkswagen Beetle (which is now iconic to her origin story). She went deeper: read The Secret, watched The Secret, and when Esther Hicks toured Australia, her mum bought her tickets. At the event, Irene brought a notebook and pen. On that stage, she wrote down what she wanted. Humble things by most standards - a deposit for a house, financial freedom, the basics most Australians aspire to. What came out of that event was a shift in perspective: everyone can create whatever reality they want to create. It was the most empowering realisation ever. But there’s a twist to Irene’s story. She also wrote $20 million in that book because she wanted to start a toxin-free beauty business and felt she needed that amount. She bought a Powerball ticket at Forestville shops and told the universe she was going to win. Days later, someone won $20 million Powerball in Sydney. Convinced it was her, she pulled over to check the ticket. It wasn’t. She sat in the gutter and cried. One of the most devastated moments of her life. Then she wiped her tears, looked up at the sky and said: f**k it. I’m going to make my own $20 million. She never bought another lotto ticket. Instead, she decided to run her business as if she had a $20 million backing. She started Nourished Life. Fast forward to 2017 - four years later - she sold her company for exactly $20 million. The same number. The universe didn’t give it to her the way she expected, but it gave it to her nonetheless. And that’s the whole lesson: the universe doesn’t limit itself to your one expected route. Lee’s Intuitive Approach: Dreams, Subconscious Knowing, and the Melanoma Story Lee didn’t have a single awakening moment. She grew up with an intuitive mum. From an early age, Lee experienced vivid dreams that would later line up with real life. These dreams foreshadowed or mirrored things that would happen when she was awake. Initially she dismissed them - it’s just a dream, just your subconscious. But over time, she came to understand that her subconscious knows things before her waking mind does. She now treats those messages as a much deeper part of herself. A recent example: Lee dreamt she had a melanoma on her forehead. She saw everything - the cutting, the operation, the entire thing. Weeks later, a small black dot appeared on her forehead. She thought it was mascara, tried to wipe it off, and it wouldn’t budge. She went to the skin cancer clinic at Warriewood and had them biopsy it. The clinic thought she was paranoid because it was the tiniest dot. The biopsy came back as melanoma. If she hadn’t listened to that dream, if she hadn’t trusted that subconscious knowing, it could have developed significantly before she would have noticed it otherwise. The Science: Reticular Activating System, Neural Networks, and the Red Porsche At the core of manifestation is neuroscience. Brain imaging shows that vividly imagining an experience activates many of the same neural networks as actually having it. Whether you’re having an experience or visualising it, you’re activating the same neural pathways. This is why elite athletes rehearse plays hundreds of times in their heads - they’re literally priming their brain for success. The reticular activating system (RAS) is a bundle of nerves at the brainstem that filters the enormous amount of sensory information your brain receives every second. It lets through what you’ve told it matters and filters out the rest. When you’re manifesting a red Porsche, red Porsches suddenly appear everywhere. They didn’t just appear - your RAS stopped filtering them out because you flagged them as relevant. Manifestation is your brain doing exactly what it’s designed to do when you give it a clear direction. The Secret calls this “driftwood”, a word that means it’s coming, it’s on its way. It appears everywhere because your brain has been recalibrated to notice it. Whether you actually get the red Porsche depends on a number of factors, but you will see a lot more of them. What The Secret Got Right (And What It Missed) The Secret introduced manifestation to an entire generation and sold 30 million copies. For that, both Lee and Irene are genuinely grateful. It shifted millions of people. But there are things that bother Lee about it. The wishful thinking framing is problematic. The implication that if you’re positive, you attract good things, and therefore suffering must be your fault, that’s harmful. Especially when applied to illness, poverty, grief, or trauma. The victim-blaming is real and it’s damaging. If you create your own reality, then did a parent with a sick child create that? Lee struggles with this deeply. She doesn’t believe that people who suffer things they don’t deserve attracted those things to themselves. There’s more to the universe than that. Irene, conversely, comes from a deep place of faith in the law of attraction and The Secret. For her, it’s become her spiritual alignment. Her religion is the secret and the law of attraction. She acknowledges she and Lee don’t agree here, and that’s okay. Both perspectives can coexist. Vision Boards, Manifestation Books, and Different Processing Styles Irene’s practice is visual. She’s been creating vision boards since the Esther Hicks event. She cuts images out of magazines and places them where she sees them daily - her bedroom wall. Over the years, she’s pulled out old vision boards and been amazed: oh yeah, I’ve got that Porsche in that colour. I’ve bought that house. I’ve got that. The vision boards work. The challenge now is that there are no magazines anymore. Online vision board apps exist, but the printing quality isn’t always good. She’s excited about Canva now - an Australian company that allows you to create digital designs and actually print them. You design the vision board on Canva and they can print it for you. For Irene, that’s a game changer. Lee’s practice is verbal and written. She’s a verbal thinker. Journalling and scripting work for her. She doesn’t do mantras, though her one mantra when she does use one is “I’m healthy, wealthy, safe and wise.” For Lee, that mantra doesn’t resonate in the same way as it does for her. The key point is that different processing styles require different practices. For kinesthetic people, they want to feel it in their body. They want to speak and feel the intentions while walking or physically acting. Some people don’t get anything from staring at a vision board, they just look at it standing there and feel nothing. That’s not the right practice for them. The format matters. The person matters. The alignment of format with how someone’s brain processes information matters. The Hardest Part: Letting Go You do the work. You get the intention. You create the visualisations. You do your vision boards or your journaling or your mantras. You’re aligned. And then the instructions are to release it - to let it go into the ether. It sounds counterintuitive. How can you work on manifesting something and then just... let it go? Irene’s perspective is that if it was easy, everyone would be driving around in a Ferrari. The tools are given to us as a practice. If you can master letting go, you get what you want. If you can’t master it, you don’t. There’s nothing harder in the world than wanting something desperately and then releasing your grip on it. Because if you’re obsessed and you’re white-knuckling it, checking constantly “has it arrived yet, is it coming, is it coming?” - that’s fear energy. That’s your body telling itself “I don’t have it, I’m scared I won’t get it, it’s not going to happen.” That’s the exact opposite of the relaxed state your brain needs for creative and connective thinking to move things forward. Older traditions give us the sense of letting go. The Taoist concept of wu wei - effortless action. When nothing is forced, when there are no hiccups, when everything flows, that’s what alignment feels like. Effortless Action and True Alignment All three of them - Irene, Lee, and Justin - have experienced this in their own ways. When they brought a manifestation into reality, it all flowed without hiccups. Irene sold her house and bought a new one at the same time this weekend after doing a prayer in a cafe, and it just happened effortlessly. Justin bid at an auction for a property to exact dollar he’d set and got it without any friction. Lee saw a house during COVID, made the offer, spoke to the Indian gods (her practice), and it just flowed, no issues. When manifestations come to fruition, they come without pushing and resisting. They come with intrinsic alignment. There’s harmony in how things move. Everyone involved is happy. No one gets shafted. That’s the difference between forced effort and effortless action. 🧠 Womansplain: Justin and the Open-Ended Question This week’s Womansplain segment features Justin asking Lee and Irene an open question about manifestation itself - how do the three of them each approach it differently, and what can listeners learn from those differences? Rather than a traditional “fix this symptom” Womansplain, this is an invitation into the conversation around different manifestation practices and what works for different people. ✨ Lee’s Practice: A Guided Letting Go Lee offers listeners a two-minute guided practice for letting go, a short, practical meditation to help release the grip on what they’ve been working to manifest. This is the complement to all the work (the visualisation, the journaling, the vision boards). The practice of releasing. 📝 Lee’s Nutritionist Nerd Notes: Episode 19 Visualisation, Mental Imagery, and Neural Networks Brain imaging shows that vividly imagining an experience activates many of the same neural networks that are activated when you actually have the experience. This is peer-reviewed neuroscience. Athletes use this all the time - they rehearse a golf swing, a tennis serve, a football play hundreds of times in their mind before executing it in reality. They’re priming the same neural pathways that will fire when they perform the actual action. The Reticular Activating System (RAS) The reticular activating system is a bundle of nerves at the brainstem. Its job is to filter the enormous amount of sensory information the brain receives every second. Your brain is bombarded with data - visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory. The RAS decides what’s relevant and lets that through. It filters out the rest. When you decide you want a red Porsche and you focus on that intention, your RAS stops filtering out red Porsches. They suddenly appear everywhere. Not because they suddenly appeared in the world, but because your brain has been recalibrated to notice them. This is manifestation at the neurological level. Emotional Resonance and Feeling At the core of real manifestation is emotional truth. You can’t manifest a number on a piece of paper. You can’t manifest $30 million as an abstract figure. But you can manifest the feeling of freedom, of security, of creative expression, of being able to walk away from something that doesn’t serve you. The material things are one possible route to those feelings. But the universe is not limited to that route. If you can feel the freedom, you can manifest the freedom through many different channels. Alignment and Effortless Action The Taoist concept of wu wei or effortless action describes a state where things move without resistance. When you’re truly aligned with what you want and why you want it, there’s no pushing, no struggling, no hiccups. Everything flows. This is the distinction between force and alignment, between white-knuckling and letting go. When manifestations come to fruition through alignment, they arrive harmoniously. Everyone involved is happy. No friction. That’s what true alignment feels like. 📌 Episode 19 Links Supercharged Food - Lee Holmes Clean Nectarine - Irene Falcone www.superchargeyourgut.com 🎙 Listen & Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Substack Follow us on Instagram: @theleeandireneshow | @leesupercharged | @cleannectarine Sponsor an episode? Email wellnessunfilteredleeirene@gmail.com Disclaimer: This show is for educational purposes only. Please consult your qualified health professional before incorporating new wellness solutions. The Lee and Irene Show is a production of Clean Nectarine Pty Ltd and Supercharged Food Pty Ltd. It is hosted by Lee Holmes and Irene Falcone with editing and technical support by Justin Smithmore. It is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical, health, legal or financial advice. The views expressed are personal opinions of the hosts and guests and do not represent the views of Clean Nectarine or Supercharged Food. This podcast does not establish a doctor-patient or other professional relationship. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your health or treatment. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theleeandireneshow.substack.com

She’s also raced 1000 kilometres across Mongolia on semi-wild horses, survived the South African wilderness multiple times for the Discovery Channel’s Naked and Afraid Global Showdown, and turned childhood bullying and family trauma into a life mission to help women find their strength. This week Alexa joins Lee and Irene to talk about how physical strength becomes mental fortitude, why the gym became her sanctuary, what survival taught her about the human capacity to endure, and why strength training in midlife isn’t about aesthetics. It’s about living the life you actually want to live. ✨ In this episode we chat about: · The turning point at 15 when fitness became her safe place in an unsafe world · From bullying and family trauma to finding empowerment in the weights room · Surviving Naked and Afraid three times. What it teaches you about yourself · Strength training for women over 40. Not for summer bodies, but for life · Sleep, energy, and the uncomfortable truth about getting started · Why emotional wellness and physical strength are inseparable 🎙 What’s Popping: Alexa Towersey on Strength, Survival, and What You’re Truly Capable Of The Girl Who Found Herself in the Weights Room An Unsafe Childhood: Bullying at an all-girls school plus an unstable home (her mother diagnosed with bipolar or manic depression, unrecognised at the time) meant Alexa had nowhere to feel safe or empowered. At 15, after intervening to protect another student during a classroom confrontation where a chair was actually thrown, she made a decision: she needed to figure out how to take care of herself. Walking past a gym near her home in New Zealand, Alexa spotted a fitness class pouring out. Everyone was red-faced, sweaty, high-fiving, simultaneously tortured and exuberant. When the instructor offered a free trial, something in her said yes. That moment changed everything. She found physical and mental strength in the weights room, learned the connection between physical power and psychological grit, and discovered a community and identity she didn’t have anywhere else. Learning to lift weights became learning to protect herself. From that first deadlift and first chin-up, Alexa knew this is for life. Now, as a coach and athlete, she’s driven to pay that gift forward. She wants to help other people, especially women, discover what it feels like to become physically and mentally strong. Surviving Naked and Afraid: Three Times Naked and Afraid Global Showdown (Discovery Channel) drops contestants into remote wilderness with absolutely nothing. No food, water, or clothes. It films their attempts to survive for varying periods. Alexa’s First Experience: Before her first appearance, Alexa learned survival skills in increasingly comedic ways. This included a Zoom call over her Bondi oven with her cat watching, learning to use a ferro rod (magnesium fire starter) from a professional survivalist. She was so unfamiliar with basic survival that she asked if ‘Tinder’ had a promotional partnership with the ferro rod company, not realizing tinder is simply the cotton wool used as kindling. The show has taught Alexa that humans have far greater capacity to endure than we typically believe. The psychological component is real. Fear of hyenas, lions, and predators outside a boma (a thorn wall enclosure) circling all night is as real as the physical challenge of finding food and water. By her third appearance, she’s learned to lean into her superpower: the ability to stay calm and functional even when genuinely terrified. Contestants have walkie-talkies and a GoPro to document the experience. Medical help is available but takes roughly 30 minutes to arrive. That’s enough time for a real threat to become very real. On one appearance, they had a tree they could climb if something tried to breach the boma. Strength Training for Midlife Women After a hip replacement in her 40s, Alexa’s approach to strength training changed. She stopped training for summer bodies and started training to age disgracefully. She wants to be strong enough at 60, 70, and beyond to hike on weekends, play cricket with nieces and nephews, go on adventures without worrying about pulling a hamstring. Strength training isn’t just about lifting weight. It’s about the confidence that comes from knowing your body can do hard things. That evidence, the proof that you’re capable, translates directly into how you move through the world and how you tackle challenges outside the gym. Alexa emphasises that people find fitness for different reasons. A mum might want to be stronger to pick up her children without strain. Someone else might want to feel stronger in business. The key is finding your own reason to train, then leveraging that physical strength into confidence that applies everywhere. No One Regrets Being Too Strong: This is Alexa’s philosophy. In midlife, strength training becomes preventative medicine and freedom. It’s the freedom to do the life you actually want to live, not the constrained life your body forces you into. Getting Started When You Have No Energy The Irony: To get energy, you have to expend energy. Even when you’re exhausted and unmotivated, a 20-minute walk will return you with more energy than when you left. How Alexa Gets Started: She leans on how good she knows she’ll feel afterwards. Not as motivation, but as a decision made in advance. When people ask how to find the confidence to go to the gym, her answer is: you have to find something about the process you enjoy, or find something about the outcome (how your pants fit, how you look in the mirror, not being puffed after a short walk) that makes it worth doing. Irene’s personal reality, at nearly 50, with perimenopause hormones and low energy, she admitted she struggles with the entry barrier. Not with the exercise itself, but with getting out of bed in the first place. Alexa acknowledges this is where most people get stuck, and where finding something (a podcast, music, accountability) becomes critical. Once you’ve done something (run 20 minutes on a treadmill, walked, completed a workout) and felt how good you feel after, you have proof. You know you can do it. The next step is building that into a 21-day habit so it stops requiring willpower and becomes routine. Sleep, Insomnia, and What Actually Works An insomniac since age 15, she doesn’t follow a strict sleep routine. Her secret sources are a weekly caramel koala for breakfast, which gives her enough of a kick to get to the gym and start her week. Diet Coke is her consistent companion. Moderation in All Things, Including Moderation: Alexa’s philosophy is unapologetic about joy. If one caramel koala a week is what makes you happy enough to get moving, that beats zero joy and zero gym. She doesn’t believe in full restriction. Given her chronic insomnia, Alexa relies on power naps to make up sleep debt. She notes her sleep fluctuates with her cycle. Certain parts produce more PMS symptoms and poorer sleep. Having the flexibility to nap is a privilege that helps her function. Alexa makes a critical point: no amount of blackout blinds or an 8:30pm bedtime will work if your underlying stress or spiralling thoughts aren’t addressed. Sleep hygiene is only part of the picture. Finding Her Purpose After a near death experience during a hip replacement, Alexa woke up in hospital with no memory of the experience (no white light, no tunnel, no messages from the other side), but with absolute clarity about what she was meant to do with her life. Just before then she’d done a mental health talk at a school in Townsville, sharing her story of bullying, alcoholism, and how fitness saved her life. Afterwards, a girl who’d been visibly upset waited until everyone left and gave her a hug. Through tears, the girl said: ‘Thank you. Today was the day I was going to kill myself. Listening to you made me realise I want to ask for help. I want to be here.’ That conversation was the first thing Alexa remembered when she woke in hospital. In that moment she understood: this is her purpose. Sharing her own story and how she dug herself out of her own hole has profound impact on other people’s journeys. The hope that comes from ‘I went through that, I came out the other side, and I’m here’ is powerful beyond measure. Alexa gave up drinking by replacing one addiction (alcohol) with another (fitness) until she needed neither. Now as a mental health advocate and ambassador for LivIn (a suicide prevention charity), she uses her story to show people that even when you can’t see a way out, there is one. Movement creates momentum. A 20-minute walk can shift thinking. Physical strength builds psychological resilience. Where to Find Alexa Instagram: @actionalexa Website & Programs: She’s recently launched strength training programs targeted at midlife women (though she admits marketing isn’t her strong suit). The programs are built around longevity, functional strength, and training for the life you want to live, not the summer body you think you should have. Naked and Afraid Global Showdown : Currently appearing on Discovery Channel. LivIn: Suicide Prevention Charity . Alexa is an ambassador. 🧠 Womansplain: Justin and the Great Urination Mystery The Question: Justin reports weeing conservatively 10 times a day, more on big days, plus three times a night despite stopping fluids two hours before bed. He’s concerned his liquid output exceeds his input and wonders if there’s a bladder transplant donor list. The Diagnostics: Lee runs through the red flag questions. Pain (no), unusual sensations (no), robust stream (yes). She clears him on all counts. So what’s actually happening? Reason One: The Diuretic Drip Justin’s daily intake: one black tea, one to two coffees, herbal teas after that, plus occasional beer and wine. This puts him on a constant caffeine drip. Caffeine is a diuretic. It actively pulls fluid out of your system. Beer adds another layer: alcohol switches off vasopressin, the hormone that tells your kidneys to hold water. So every beer he drinks is essentially beer leaving his system as urine, not water being conserved. Reason Two: The Overactive Bladder That 2am wee is today’s fluid, not yesterday’s tea. Justin’s bladder has become like a smoke detector that goes off when someone makes toast. It’s producing false alarms at half-full instead of waiting for a genuine need. His bladder holds 400-600ml at any given time and gives a first urge at half-full (200-300ml), but he’s developed a habit of preemptively weeing throughout the day instead of letting it reach actual capacity. The Fix: Bladder Retraining. He needs to gradually hold it longer and let his bladder fill to proper capacity. This isn’t about forcing retention. It’s about retraining the bladder to recognize real urgency versus habit. If you wee before your bladder is actually full, it shrinks and becomes more reactive. Reason Three: The Maths Isn’t Mathing Justin assumes he’s drinking more than he’s producing, but his math is missing two key pieces. First: about 20% of daily fluid intake comes from food, not drinks. Fruit, veg, soup, yogurt, curry. Second: the body produces water as a byproduct of burning energy. So his actual total input is much larger than he’s calculating. One and a half to two litres across six to eight weeks is completely normal. He’s not defying physics. The Serious Bit: When to See a Doctor Genuine unrelenting thirst is worth investigating. It can be a sign of blood sugar issues, and any man getting up more than twice a night should have it checked out. Men typically don’t report these symptoms or talk about bladder issues, but it’s worth bringing up with a doctor. The Female Perspective: Irene and Lee noted that women know this struggle intimately. Ask any woman who’s had a baby or hit perimenopause about bladder confidence. Trampolines have ended friendships. So really, we’re all in this together. There really is ‘we’ in ‘wee.’ 💬 Irene’s Rant: EU Fragrance Labelling Laws and the Greenwashing Paradox The Change: The EU has updated fragrance labelling laws to require declaration of up to 80 potential allergens, up from 26 previously. This sounds like transparency, but there’s a trap. The Problem Natural brands now have to list all 80 of these allergens on pack. But most of these allergens come from plants and plants (pure essential oils). Lavender oil, bergamot, lemongrass. These plant-driven oils naturally contain potential allergens that must now be declared. Meanwhile, synthetic brands using petrochemical fragrance cocktails (phthalates, synthetic musks, unknown chemical combinations) don’t have to list anything because their lab-created ingredients aren’t on the 80-allergen list. They can keep their labels short and their ingredients obscure. Result: The label makes natural products look worse than synthetic products, when the opposite is true. The App Problem Apps like Yuka scan ingredient labels and rate products based on these allergen listings. The apps assume any allergen listed is an additive and therefore bad. So certified natural and organic brands like Weleda and Black Chicken Remedies get flagged as harmful products because they’re listing plant-derived allergens on their pack. The app doesn’t differentiate between a natural component of a plant (which has been there for millennia) and an actual synthetic chemical additive (which is brand new and unknown to the human body). It just sees ‘allergen’ and gives a bad rating. To make it worse: an identical product sold in the US (where you don’t have to list that allergen) gets a better app rating than the same product sold in Australia or Europe. The product is identical, the labelling laws are different, and the app has no way to differentiate. The Real Issue No one has ever had an anaphylactic reaction to a component of a plant-derived fragrance. But people do have real reactions to peanut oil and macadamia oil in skincare. And those oils are never listed in bold on the front of the pack the way food allergens are. A child with a macadamia allergy might apply a product containing macadamia oil without warning. So while the EU is mandating the listing of plant-derived fragrance allergens, actual food allergens in skincare (nuts, seeds, etc.) remain poorly flagged and inconsistently labelled across the industry. Irene’s Take: The labelling law isn’t wrong. Transparency matters. But it creates a greenwashing effect where certified natural and organic brands look worse on app ratings than petrochemical brands with hidden ingredient cocktails. True safety requires actually knowing what certifications mean, reading full ingredient lists, and not trusting apps built by tech people off ingredient labels alone. 📝 Lee’s Nutritionist Nerd Notes: Episode 18 Movement, Endorphins and Mental Health Endorphins are real. Through any movement, whether it’s just going out for a walk, endorphins are released, and movement creates momentum. This momentum can shift a lot of stuff for a lot of people. When you get stuck in spiralling thoughts, if you get out and move, your subconscious will often solve the problem you were ruminating on. The Energy Paradox The irony of energy is that to get energy, you need to expend energy. Even when you’re incredibly tired and demotivated, if you get out for a walk, you will come back with more energy than when you left. This holds true across all fitness and movement, regardless of age or hormonal status. Alcohol and Water Regulation Alcohol switches off vasopressin, the hormone that tells your kidneys to hold water. This means every beer or alcoholic drink you consume actively signals your body to pass it as urine rather than conserving it. This is why alcohol is dehydrating and why it directly impacts hydration status and urinary frequency. Water Intake and Food About 20% of daily fluid intake comes from food, not drinks. Fruit, vegetables, soup, yogurt, and curries all contribute significant water content to your daily intake. Additionally, the body produces water as a byproduct of burning energy (metabolism). For this reason, calculating ‘water intake’ by only counting glasses of water consumed is incomplete math. Actual total fluid intake is typically much higher than people think. Survival Basics The human body can survive approximately 3 days without water. After shelter (protection from elements) and fire, fresh water sourcing is the next priority for survival, followed by food. 📌 Episode 18 Links Action Alexa - Instagram @actionalexa Action Alexa - Strength Programs Naked and Afraid Global Showdown - Discovery Channel LivIn - Suicide Prevention Charity Supercharged Food - Lee Holmes Clean Nectarine - Irene Falcone www.superchargeyourgut.com 🎙 Listen & Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Substack Follow us on Instagram: @theleeandireneshow | @leesupercharged | @cleannectarine Sponsor an episode? Email: wellnessunfilteredleeirene@gmail.com Disclaimer: This show is for educational purposes only. Please consult your qualified health professional before incorporating new wellness solutions. The Lee and Irene Show is a production of Clean Nectarine Pty Ltd and Supercharged Food Pty Ltd. It is hosted by Lee Holmes and Irene Falcone with editing and technical support by Justin Smithmore. It is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute medical, health, legal or financial advice. The views expressed are personal opinions of the hosts and guests and do not represent the views of Clean Nectarine or Supercharged Food. This podcast does not establish a doctor-patient or other professional relationship. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your health or treatment. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theleeandireneshow.substack.com

Episode 17: Lyme Disease, Being Gaslit, and Getting Your Mojo Back - Amy Down's Four-Year Fight to Be Believed 🩺 Amy Down spent four years being told there was nothing wrong with her. Exhausted, foggy, gut in revolt, running on adrenaline while raising two small children and working full time in wellness. Test after test came back normal. Doctor after doctor suggested it was probably just stress. This week Amy joins Lee and Irene in the cabin to tell the story of what it actually was, and what four years in the medical maze taught her about being a woman who knows something is wrong and cannot get anyone to listen. Amy is a certified nutrition, health and life coach, a master hypnotherapist, and an EFT and NLP practitioner who spent over a decade at Australia’s biggest natural healthcare company before founding Living Mojo. She is also one of Lee’s closest friends, so this is less a polished interview and more two people who have walked a long road together finally telling the whole thing out loud. Her diagnosis, when it finally came, was a tick-borne illness. In Australia that opens a genuinely contested conversation, and Lee and Irene handle it the way the show always does: warmly, honestly, and without pretending the science is settled. Irene, who went in convinced Lyme was something you only caught in the Hamptons, asks the questions everyone at home is thinking. Then Justin arrives with a Womansplain for the ages (froyo versus gelato versus ice cream, with receipts), and Lee closes with a rave about the most underrated wellness tool there is. Not a supplement. A boundary. ✨ In this episode we chat about: ● Why four years of normal test results does not always mean nothing is wrong ● What a tick bite can actually do, and why Lyme is so contested here in Australia ● The MOJO framework Amy built to climb out: Mindset, Oxygenation, Optimisation, Joy ● How to advocate for yourself when you know something is wrong and you are not being heard ● Justin’s three-day froyo bender and the great gelato-versus-ice-cream-versus-froyo shootout ● Lee’s rave on boundaries, and the difference between a wall and an instruction manual 🎙 What’s Popping: Amy Down on Lyme, Being Heard, and Getting Your Mojo Back Ten Years, and a Friendship That Started With Gut Health ● How They Met: Lee found Amy before Amy found Lee. Amy took Lee on as a gut-health writer at Blackmores, then started feeling unwell herself and came to Lee for coaching. Lee helped her feel seen and heard. Roughly ten years later, they are still at it. ● An Unusual CV: Fitness instructor and marketer in Sydney, then PR and comms in London (with a stint in India studying yoga and a meeting with the Dalai Lama), then nearly twelve years at Blackmores while she qualified in what she does now. ● From Mummy Mojo to Living Mojo: Amy started Mummy Mojo in 2014 with her Mother’s Group friend Debs, running detox programs and helping overloaded mums find some rest. When Debs moved to Queensland, the business was reborn as Living Mojo, because the one word Amy could never let go of was mojo. The Superwoman Complex, and the Silent Thief ● The Plates Kept Spinning: Two kids under five, a full-time corporate career, study on the side, the household, community groups. Amy wore the Superwoman cape with pride and kept every plate polished on the outside while she was quietly falling apart inside. ● A Silent Thief: In Amy’s words, the illness stole her vitality, her joy, her clarity, and eventually her health. Her body was whispering long before it started shouting. ● The Line That Landed: Tired, foggy, gut playing up, running on empty, still spinning the plates. As Irene put it, that list is basically every woman over 40, which is exactly why this story travels well beyond ticks. Four Years of Being Told It Was Just Stress ● The Medical Maze: Four years, specialist after specialist, bloods, MRIs, colonoscopies, screenings. For the most part everything came back fine while Amy was visibly falling apart. ● The Punch in the Stomach: Some doctors landed on ‘you have two young kids and a busy life, maybe it’s just stress.’ For someone genuinely unwell, not being believed is its own kind of injury. ● The Great Imitator: Along the way she was handed different labels, including chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, and mast cell activation, because so many of the symptoms cut across so many conditions. Part of her also did not want to admit she was sick in her mid-thirties, so pushing through felt easier than stopping. Getting to the Diagnosis ● Where It Started: Late 2010. Amy was bitten by around forty tiny grass ticks after being in the ocean (they were so small the family first assumed sea lice), developed a bullseye rash and flu-like symptoms, and was told at the time that it could not be what she thought it was. ● Finding a Lyme-Literate Doctor: It took relentless persistence to find a doctor willing to investigate. Testing was done through Australian Biologics here, with further samples sent to a specialist lab overseas to build a fuller picture. ● More Than One Passenger: The results pointed to a strain of Borrelia plus co-infections. A thorough workup also picked up a reactivated Epstein-Barr virus (from a bout of glandular fever at twelve), a dormant cytomegalovirus that had switched back on, and a parasite. These opportunistic infections often ride along in complex chronic illness. Why Lyme Is So Contested in Australia ● Not Formally Recognised: Classic Lyme is well known overseas but poorly understood here, and doctors who diagnose and treat it can face professional scrutiny, which keeps the number of willing practitioners low. ● The Official Term: Authorities describe this patient group as having DSCATT, Debilitating Symptom Complexes Attributed to Ticks. Amy notes there can be around seventy-seven symptoms attributed to this kind of illness, which is why it is nicknamed the great imitator. ● The Cost Barrier: Because much of the specialist testing has to be sent overseas, with no Medicare rebate, it can run to several thousand dollars, precisely when many sufferers have had to give up work. The full clinical picture and current Australian position are in the Nerd Notes below. Ticks 101: What Every Australian Should Know ● Not Every Tick Carries Infection: Most tick bites, including the grass ticks that come off children, carry no infection at all. Amy’s situation was partly a numbers game: out of forty bites, it may have taken only one infected tick. ● Time Matters: It takes roughly thirty-six hours for an infection to take hold, so prompt, safe removal counts. ● Removal: Keep proper tweezers or a tick-freezing product at home if you live near the bush, or go straight to a GP to have it removed safely. Amy’s own first attempt (fully clothed in the bath, husband on tweezers) is not the recommended method. ● Alpha-Gal Is Different: A tick bite can also trigger alpha-gal syndrome, also called mammalian meat allergy, a serious allergic reaction to red meat. Unlike DSCATT, alpha-gal is well recognised and can be tested for on standard pathology. Amy’s Recovery and the MOJO Framework ● Antibiotics Were a Start, Not the Whole Story: Early on, a few brave doctors prescribed milder antibiotics such as doxycycline based on the clinical picture; after formal diagnosis she was able to access IV antibiotics. But killing the infection begged a bigger question: why did it take hold in the first place? ● It Was the Terrain: Amy traces it to the ground the illness grew in: a mouldy house plus a genetic sensitivity to mould, chronic unadmitted stress, a sick child, and years of broken sleep. Around twenty to thirty percent of people go on to develop chronic Lyme, and terrain is a big part of why. ● The MOJO Framework: Out of all of it came four pillars. Mindset (nervous-system work through hypnotherapy and EFT). Oxygenation (gentle detox, movement, clean products, reducing EMF load, her Oura Ring for feedback). Optimisation (good food, a healthy gut microbiome, the foundations Lee lives and breathes). And Joy, which when you are bedbound can be as small as the dog and a good friend. The magic, she says, is stacking them: a walk by the ocean with the dog covers several at once. ● Drainage Before Detox: A cautionary tale. Amy once threw herself into a big detox program in Cyprus and ended up in hospital, because she had not opened her drainage and lymphatic pathways first. Detoxing too hard, too fast can flood a body that is not ready. Order matters. Advocating for Yourself, and Parenting Through It ● Trust the Intuition: Amy’s first step is listening to that inner signal that something is off, and refusing to override it. ● Bring Receipts: Keep a written record of symptoms and timings. You are far less likely to be waved away when you arrive with facts in hand. ● Get More Opinions, and Be Relentless: If an opinion does not sit right, seek another. As Amy puts it, no one will advocate for your body better than you will. Lee’s take: every woman should get a pre-printed fortieth-birthday card that reads ‘advocate for yourself and get multiple opinions.’ ● Present, Not Perfect: On mothering through an invisible illness, Amy’s message to guilt-ridden mums is that there is no such thing as a perfect mother, only a present one. Prioritising yourself teaches your children that they matter too. Her own kids came out of it more empathetic, more tuned in to their bodies, and better at honest conversation. Where to Find Amy ● Living Mojo: livingmojo.com.au, with coaching programs, a newsletter full of free recipes, and a free three-day Mojo Reboot that works for anyone wanting a reset, not just those managing chronic illness. ● The Book: Amy’s first book, Back from the Brink: How to Get Your Mojo Back, is a memoir and self-help guide in one. It shares her Mojo Method recovery blueprint (with gut-health input from Lee) and is written to help others get help sooner than she did. 🧠 Womansplain: Froyo vs Gelato vs Ice Cream, With Justin ● The Question: Justin loves ice cream, gelato and froyo equally, ‘like my children.’ After a new froyo dealer took him from a $10 serve on Friday to $14 on Saturday to $16 on Sunday, he wants to know: if he is going to skip essentials like toothpaste to afford one, which is the best choice on value, experience, and least-worst for you? ● Irene’s Conflict of Interest: As an Italian, Irene declares gelato is not a dessert, it is heritage, so she will be ‘completely impartial’ and of course pick gelato. ● The Froyo Trap: Self-serve froyo is priced by weight, the cups are enormous, and low-fat desserts are less satisfying per spoonful, so the hand just keeps pulling the lever. Once yoghurt is sweetened, flavoured and frozen, the sugar can match or beat ice cream and the ‘live cultures’ on the poster are doing next to nothing. In Justin’s words, the froyo was farming him. ● Lee’s Verdict: Gelato takes first place. It has less fat than ice cream, is churned with far less air so it is denser, and is served slightly warmer, so more flavour hits your tongue per gram and a small cup genuinely satisfies. Quality ice cream is a respectable second, where the higher fat content actually works in its favour for satisfaction, plus calcium from the milk. Froyo finishes last in every category. ● The Nutritionist Tip: Order a gelato or ice cream with nuts (Lee’s pick is hazelnut). The fat, fibre and protein blunt the blood-sugar spike, so Justin’s instinct for a bit of crunch is not entirely wrong. ✨ Rave: Boundaries Are Information, Not a Wall ● The Rave: Lee spent most of her life treating ‘yes to everything’ as kindness, as though saying no required a doctor’s certificate, a written apology and a character reference. The result was a lot of yeses to things she did not want to do, and a slow simmer of resentment underneath. ● The Reframe: A boundary is not a wall, it is information. ‘This is what I need to stay well, and I trust you with that.’ People are not mind readers; swallowing a no just leaves you resentful while the other person carries on with no idea anything was wrong. ● Who Pushes Back: The people who love you adjust. The ones who get cranky about a boundary are usually the ones who benefited from you not having one. That reaction is data. ● The Live Demo: Lee and Irene role-play a Sunday ‘can you help me pack up my kitchen’ ask, and Lee models a warm, early, guilt-free no that protects her rest without rejecting the friendship. The point: you do not have to announce your boundaries, you just have to hold them kindly. 📝 Lee’s Nutritionist Nerd Notes: Episode 17 Lyme Disease and DSCATT: The Australian Picture ● The Term: In 2018, following parliamentary inquiries, the Australian Department of Health proposed ‘Debilitating Symptom Complexes Attributed to Ticks’ (DSCATT) to describe patients with a chronic debilitating illness that many associate with a tick bite. Authorities are clear that DSCATT is a descriptive term, not a formal disease or clinical diagnosis in itself. ● The Official Position: Australian health authorities hold that there is no conclusive evidence classic Lyme disease (infection with Borrelia burgdorferi) is acquired within Australia. Lyme is well documented overseas, in parts of the UK, US, Europe and Asia, and travellers can return infected. The Australian paralysis tick is responsible for more than 95 percent of local bites and is the leading cause of recognised tick-borne illness here. ● Where Things Stand Now: The Senate Inquiry into access to diagnosis and treatment for people with tick-borne diseases published its final report in March 2025, and the Australian Government published its response in November 2025. A government-funded DSCATT Clinical Pathway now exists to guide clinicians, and research into the cause and mechanism is ongoing. ● What the Research Shows So Far: A published Australian case series of DSCATT patients found high overlap with chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and reactivated Epstein-Barr, with no laboratory evidence of acute Lyme infection. Researchers describe DSCATT as, for now, medically unexplained, meaning a cause has not been established rather than that patients are not genuinely unwell. Co-Infections and Reactivated Viruses ● Borrelia and Friends: Borrelia burgdorferi is the bacterium behind classic Lyme. It is often called stealth-like because it can move into tissues and evade a straightforward immune response, which is part of why presentations vary so widely. ● Opportunistic Passengers: In complex chronic illness, latent viruses such as Epstein-Barr (EBV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) can reactivate when the immune system is under sustained load, and parasites or other infections can take advantage of a dysregulated system. This is why a thorough workup often uncovers more than one thing, as it did for Amy. The Testing Controversy ● The Australian Reality: Standard NATA-accredited serology in Australia is generally not diagnostic for locally acquired Lyme, so patients often turn to private labs such as Australian Biologics, or send samples to overseas laboratories, at significant out-of-pocket cost and with no Medicare rebate. ● A Word on CD57 and Overseas Panels: Tests like the CD57 count and some overseas Lyme panels are used in this space, but their reliability and interpretation are debated internationally, and results can vary between labs. Given the cost, it is worth going in with clear eyes and a supportive, informed practitioner rather than chasing a single test. Drainage Before Detox, and the Herxheimer Reaction ● Why Amy Got Sicker in Cyprus: When you kill off infection or mobilise stored toxins faster than the body can clear them, symptoms can flare. A well-recognised version of this in infection treatment is the Herxheimer reaction, a temporary worsening as bacterial die-off releases inflammatory material. ● The Sensible Order: This is the mechanism behind the naturopathic principle of opening drainage and lymphatic pathways, hydration, elimination and gentle movement, before pushing hard on detox. Aggressive cleanses on an unprepared, unwell body can backfire, which is exactly what Amy learned the hard way. MOJO, the Nervous System, and Why Foundations Win ● Fight or Flight Keeps the Loop Going: Chronic stress and illness keep the nervous system in sympathetic (fight or flight) overdrive, with elevated cortisol and adrenaline. That state drives inflammation and a trigger-happy immune response, which in turn worsens symptoms, a self-reinforcing cycle. Calming the nervous system is not fluffy; it is part of breaking the loop. ● The Unglamorous Basics: For chronic-illness recovery, the foundations do the heavy lifting: an anti-inflammatory way of eating, stable blood sugar, gut support, adequate protein, real sleep and stress regulation. Not exotic, but as Lee puts it, this is the soil everything else grows in, and it belongs alongside proper medical care, not instead of it. Froyo, the Health Halo, and Blood Sugar ● The Nerd Note: Frozen yoghurt’s health halo is largely marketing. Commercial froyo is usually heavily sweetened, and freezing plus low surviving-culture counts mean any probiotic benefit is minimal. Pairing a small dessert with nuts adds fat, fibre and protein, which genuinely blunts the post-sugar glucose spike, so Lee’s hazelnut suggestion is sound. 📌 Episode 17 Links Living Mojo - Amy Down Back from the Brink: How to Get Your Mojo Back by Amy Down - her memoir and recovery blueprint, available through Living Mojo Supercharged Food - Lee Holmes Supercharge Your Gut - Lee’s Products and Books Clean Nectarine - Irene Falcone Referenced: Lyme Disease Association of Australia Karl McManus Foundation Australian Centre for Disease Control - Tick Bites and DSCATT 🎙 Listen & Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Substack Follow us on Instagram: @theleeandireneshow | @leesupercharged | @cleannectarine Join the conversation on Substack: theleeandireneshow.substack.com Sponsor an episode? Email hello@theleeandireneshow.com Disclaimer: This show is for educational purposes only. Please consult your qualified health professional before incorporating new wellness solutions. 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This week’s guest has an answer for that, and it is not the one anyone expects. Kate Kendall has been teaching yoga in Australia for over two decades. She is the co-founder of Flow Athletic in Sydney, the author of Life in Flow, and the woman behind Active Yogi , and she walks into the cabin with a story that starts with vanity, ends with purpose, and includes one of Lee’s spookier intuitive premonitions along the way. Together they cover what yoga is actually doing to the nervous system, whether reformer Pilates has eaten yoga, why meditation is not supposed to feel blissful, and the idea Kate has built her whole philosophy around: the space between. In Womansplain, Justin arrives with the most 2026 question possible. GLP-1s. What are they, do they actually work for cravings, and should he be anywhere near them? Lee gives him the straight, mechanism-first answer, plus the warning about where not to buy them. And Irene has a rave. It is about Lee. She would like everyone to know that listening to this podcast is the closest thing to having a private nutritionist in your pocket, and she is the proof. ✨ In this episode we chat about: • Irene’s birthday box that sold out in twenty minutes, and why she has still got it. • How Kate went from a digital agency desk to her first yoga class in North Bondi, arriving for vanity and staying for the mental gold. • The teacher who handed Kate a permission slip to teach, and later told her opening Flow Athletic was a mistake. • Vagus nerve stimulation for beginners: gargling, singing in the shower, and humming bee breath. • Yoga nidra, the lying-down practice the wellness world has rebranded as NSDR, and why it might be the perfect entry point for people who cannot sit still. • What it actually means to be an active yogi, and why having all the gear is not the same as having a practice. • Has reformer Pilates eaten yoga? Kate saw the wave coming from inside her own studio. • What yoga is really doing to the body: fascia, the nervous system, and why the yogis were the original biohackers. • Why meditation is not meant to be blissful, and the ocean-and-air-bubble way to think about intrusive thoughts. • The space between: the philosophy Kate built from the pause at the bottom of an exhale. • Kate’s reframe that changes everything for Irene: what feels like boredom in stillness might actually be withdrawal. • Justin’s Womansplain question on GLP-1s: what they are, who they genuinely help, and what to do before considering one. • Irene’s rave, which is, for once, entirely about her co-host. 🎙 What’s Popping: Kate Kendall on Yoga, Meditation and the Space Between Meet Kate: Kate Kendall has been teaching yoga for over twenty years. She co-founded Flow Athletic in Sydney with her business partner Ben, which they sold last year, wrote the book Life in Flow, and now writes, teaches, and mentors under the name Active Yogi. Lee and Kate go way back: Kate reached out after reading one of Lee’s books, invited her into the studio to speak, and later swore by the gut healing protocol, which she still recommends to people today. The Premonition: Years ago, in full intuitive flight, Lee told Kate she was going to have a little girl, when it would happen, and the letter her name would begin with. Kate’s daughter Alice is now seven. Nobody in the cabin has a rational explanation and nobody is looking for one. Came for Vanity, Stayed for the Mental Gold: Kate is honest about where it started. She was working in a digital agency in the city, depressed, medicated, and about a decade into an eating disorder that had begun in her teens, when she walked into her first class at the Dharma Shala in North Bondi wanting long, lean limbs. She fumbled through it feeling like a baby elephant on a mat, then lay down in savasana and felt present for the first time since childhood. Walking home along the promenade that night, she stopped and cried, grief, she says, for all the times she had not let herself feel. She went back, and kept going back. The Permission Slip: Kate’s teacher Rick stopped her at the bus stop one evening and told her she would make a really great yoga teacher. She describes it as a permission slip she did not know she needed. She trained in India, started teaching, and years later the same teacher, a purist, told her that opening a combined yoga and fitness studio was a mistake. She respected the opinion and did it anyway, riding the exact crest of yoga’s popularity wave when Flow Athletic opened. Irene, the Beginner With All the Gear The Confession: Irene wants nothing more than to be a cool yoga mum. She has the mat, the outfits, the tracker, everything required to be a professional yogi except an actual practice. She has been to classes, felt good afterwards, and never caught the thing Kate is describing, the healthy addiction. The Vagus Nerve (or, as Irene Insists, the Vegas Nerve): The good news for anyone not ready for postures: the vagus nerve can be stimulated without a single downward dog. Gargling, singing in the shower, and humming bee breath all activate it, which is part of why these odd little habits leave people feeling calmer. Yoga Nidra and NSDR: The practice Irene did not know she was looking for. Yoga nidra involves lying down for twenty to forty minutes while a voice guides you systematically through the body, relaxing it so deeply that brain waves slow right down. The trick is not to fall asleep. The wellness world has rebranded it as NSDR, non-sleep deep rest, but it is yoga nidra, it is ancient, and guided sessions are freely available on apps like Insight Timer. Research also suggests doing it after a day of learning helps the brain retain information. What Makes a Yogi: For Kate, a yogi is not someone with all the equipment. A yogi is someone who endeavours to practise presence. She knows people who have never stepped on a mat whom she would call yogis, because of how present they are with the person in front of them. Irene concedes this is precisely her problem: all the gear, and a daily failure at being present. The Active Yogi Philosophy Living It Off the Mat: Kate is blunt that there is a lot of fake yoga around: the gear, the green smoothies, the aesthetics, with the point entirely missed. An active yogi is someone actively living their yoga off the mat. For Kate that means presence, lifestyle, and above all service. Before every project, including this podcast, she checks in with herself: am I doing this to look good, or to be of service? Irene’s Duality: Irene owns hers openly. Half of her is the purist who lives a genuinely toxin-free existence, and the other half loves every bell and whistle the commercial wellness industry has to offer. She suspects the second half disqualifies her from true yogi status. Kate is not so sure, and points out Irene is probably living more of it than she thinks. Has Reformer Pilates Eaten Yoga? The View From Inside: Kate watched the Pilates wave arrive from inside her own studio about five years ago. Flow already offered reformer Pilates in a small room, outgrew it almost immediately, and ended up hiding reformer beds behind a curtain in the yoga room. She is candid that like every wellness trend, she half expects the moment it dies and leaves everyone holding very expensive beds. Why Trends Turn: Kate and her business partner used to try to predict the turns and eventually gave up. Trends are a mystery. What she does observe is that yoga is the thing people always circle back to, it has been around for thousands of years, while Pilates is currently offering strength to a huge number of women who would never otherwise have found strength training. Breath work, meanwhile, is having its own hot moment, which Kate reads as a sign of the times: another doorway into nervous system regulation for people who will never sit on a meditation cushion. What Yoga Is Actually Doing to the Body The Original Biohackers: Kate returns to her first class and asks what actually cracked her open that night. The answer is a stack of things: the breath, the way the body moves and the joints stack, and the tending of fascia, the connective tissue she describes as a superhighway of information. The yogis, she says, were the original biohackers. They knew that putting the body in certain shapes and breathing in certain ways created a desired outcome, and the science is only now catching up. The Body Stone: Her name for the state at the end of a good class: the whole body relaxed, the mind sharp. Lee, a yoga teacher herself, adds the feeling that every cell has new energy, and makes the case for keeping the practice simple and honest rather than tricked-up and competitive, a direction she thinks parts of the yoga scene have drifted over the last fifteen years. Poses of Note: Kate’s long-time favourite is pigeon, the great hip opener and, per some schools of thought, the pose most likely to produce an unexpected cry, since the hips are said to hold stored emotion. Lately she is loving wheel, which demands prepared shoulders and hip flexors. For absolute beginners, her pick is cat cow: all fours, hands under shoulders, knees under hips, moving the spine through flexion and extension, exactly the way a cat does, because cats know. Volunteer Yoga at Whale Beach: Lee mentions filling in at the volunteer class she supports at Whale Beach Surf Club, average age seventy plus, taught entirely by feel with no set list. Kate’s eighty-three-year-old mum still practises weekly with her own teacher in the country. The point lands itself: this is a practice for every age. Meditation Without the Mystique Resistance Is Normal: Kate resists meditation some days too. Her meditation teacher Jackie, of The Broad Place, tells a story about reporting to her own teacher. A blissful sit: good. A choppy, horrible, unfocused sit: also good. The point of meditation is not what comes up. The point is the willingness to sit with whatever is going on. The Air Bubble Metaphor: The mind starts at the choppy surface of a wavy ocean. The mantra, or whatever technique you use, is a sinker slowly carrying you toward the still bottom. Thoughts are air bubbles that catch the sinker and drag it back toward the surface. They are not failures; they are coming up to be released. Notice them, let them go, return to the mantra. Lee, who practises Vedic meditation, describes her version: putting a spotlight on the mantra and letting thoughts float past without hooking in. The Threshold: Kate is honest that even after decades, there is a point around fifteen or twenty minutes where the mind announces this is boring and lobbies to give up. She has learned to recognise it as the threshold, sit through it, and drop into the stillness on the other side. Meditation, she wants everyone to know, is not necessarily a blissful experience, and that was never the deal. The Space Between Where the Idea Came From: In her early months of regular practice, Kate noticed something in a seated forward fold. At the base of each exhale, in the pause before the next breath arrived, two things happened: she found more physical space in the posture, and her mind went almost blank. The space between breaths became the space between thoughts, and eventually a whole philosophy and course: how do we widen that space, and carry it into everything we do? Essentially, it is presence. Honouring Beginnings and Endings: Kate finishes work and will not move to the next thing without a space between, usually a shower to wash off the day. She believes in honouring the beginnings and ends of things in a day, which prompts an audit of Irene. Irene’s Sunday: The audit does not go well. A representative Sunday: laptop grabbed at 7.30am, straight into product descriptions, and suddenly it is 3pm, no breakfast, no shower, still in bed, coffee only. Then the everything shower, something to eat, and a block of chocolate at 9pm, though Irene notes, in fairness, that Lee has dramatically improved her chocolate standards. Her one reliable space between is the walk her husband drags her on, which she resents at the time and feels amazing after, every single time. Hyperfocus: Irene shares that a medical professional once suggested her ability to lock in for eight or nine hours straight is a form of hyperfocus. She is careful not to label herself, but she does regard it as the superpower that built her first business, and the exact thing that makes stillness feel impossible. It Is Not Boredom, It Is Withdrawal The Reframe of the Episode: When Irene says yoga classes bore her, Kate offers a different reading, drawn from her own early recovery from an eating disorder and from the people she now mentors through theirs. When her old coping behaviours were stripped away, what she was left with felt like boredom, but it was actually withdrawal. She wonders aloud whether Irene, sitting in a class with no phone, no laptop, and no access to her business, is not bored at all. She is withdrawing from stimulation. Irene, whose whole body goes into a cold sweat at the phoneless prospect, concedes she is probably right. Pratyahara: There is an ancient name for deliberately practising this: pratyahara, the yogic practice of withdrawing the senses from the external environment in order to go within. It is not easy, and it is not meant to keep you introverted and shut off. The idea is to come out the other side more connected and more turned on by life. Discipline Creates Freedom: There is no blue pill, Kate says. It is practice and discipline, and she never regrets sitting, the same way nobody ever regrets the walk once they are out there. Her other reframe for the guilt many women feel about self-care: what a privilege to take an hour and lie on a mat. Who am I not to be doing it? Without it, she is a more impatient, angrier version of herself, and she needs the practice, in her words, to stave off the crazy. Lee’s Non-Negotiables: Irene points out that Lee is exactly as driven as she is, twelve books, a product line, a store, talks, this show, yet somehow balanced. The difference, Lee says, is that the walking, the yoga, and the meditation are non-negotiables, protected precisely because they are what make everything else possible. The research backs her: people are more productive when they take breaks, not less. Life in Flow and What’s Next The Book: Kate wrote Life in Flow on her Sundays off while pregnant with Alice. It is about living your yoga off the mat: taking the philosophy off the four corners of a rubber mat, which she calls a tiny sliver of what yoga actually is, and applying it to modern life. Each chapter ends with a moving meditation, a short repeating sequence of postures used the way a mantra is used, with the reminder that you never step into the same river twice: the same posture feels different every round because you are different every round. Each chapter also profiles a real person Kate considers a yogi, including one who never rushed off after class but sat outside the studio eating breakfast with no phone. So rogue. So rebellious. What’s Next: Since selling Flow Athletic, Kate has been teaching at other studios for the first time in thirteen years, which she describes as humbling, and writing on her Substack , Where We Soften. Her dream is a quiet room, very much like the cabin, and uninterrupted hours to write. At which point Lee has another intuitive download, live on air: Kate is going to write a book helping young girls recovering from eating disorders. Kate goes quiet. Lee is not the first person to see it. She just needs to write the first line. 🧠 Womansplain: Justin and the GLP-1 Question The Question: Justin has heard about GLP-1s somewhere on a podcast and knows exactly one thing about them: something about stopping cravings. He is trying to lose some weight, has a sweet tooth doing him no favours, and wants to know what these things actually are and whether he should look into one. Irene’s Position, For the Record: She cannot help, knows nothing about GLP-1s, and has instead made an executive lifestyle decision: she is over fifty, happily married, feeling better than ever, and simply going up a jeans size. She would, however, tolerate an injection if it made her look ten years younger. Priorities. What a GLP-1 Actually Is: GLP-1 stands for glucagon-like peptide-1, and the first thing to understand is that it is not a lab invention. It is a hormone your gut naturally produces after you eat. When released, it does three specific things: it tells the pancreas to produce insulin, but only when blood sugar is elevated; it slows how quickly the stomach empties, so food moves through more slowly and you stay fuller for longer; and it signals the brain that you are satisfied. The Medications: The drugs mimic that hormone and amplify its effect. Semaglutide is the best known, marketed as Ozempic for type 2 diabetes and Wegovy for weight management. Newer options like tirzepatide work on both GLP-1 and a second hormone called GIP, and can be more potent for weight loss. The Food Chatter Effect: Part of why people describe the experience so dramatically is that these medications turn down the constant background food chatter, the mental noise about eating that some people, Oprah famously among them, live with all day. They also support appetite regulation, which is why the strongest case for them is in diabetes and insulin resistance, where Lee considers them genuinely very helpful. The Caveats: For weight loss specifically, research now shows people tend to regain the weight when they stop, so it is not a quick ten-kilo fix. You still have to eat well on it, because appetite suppression without nutrition is its own problem. Side effects are real: nausea, vomiting, constipation, and reflux are the common ones, so anyone with a history of slow motility or reflux may find it a poor fit. The Interesting New Frontier: Researchers are currently exploring another layer: GLP-1 medications appear to have anti-inflammatory effects in the body and may influence immune pathways, which could matter for people with inflammatory or immune-related conditions. Both hosts and Justin are watching this space. The Bottom Line: Start with an honest conversation with your GP, not the black market, and the TGA recently cracked down on two million dollars worth of exactly that. Get a full health history, review current medications and contraindications, and get baseline blood tests. Go in with a really clear objective, and let a doctor help you decide if it fits. ✨ Rave: Irene’s Rave Is Lee The Rave: Irene followed Lee’s blog for years and always felt she had good information in her pocket that she never quite put into action. Making this podcast changed that. Seeing Lee every week, she says while looking directly at her, has been the best thing that has ever happened to her health. She feels like one of those very rich people with a private chef and personal nutritionist on staff. The Evidence: The most varied diet of her life. Restrictions let go, because, as Lee told her, you are not silly, eat the gluten, they got tested. Salmon, for the first time. Good meat. Better sleep. Feeling better than she ever has. The Second Prong: This is the part Irene really wants heard: everything she has access to, every listener has access to, free. Listen to every episode, take notes, actually read Lee’s Nerd Notes, and you too can feel like a billionaire with a private nutritionist in your ears. Lee attempts to deflect the credit onto the guests. Irene notices the deflection and allows it, partially. 📝 Lee’s Nutritionist Nerd Notes: Episode 16 Mentions Vagus Nerve Stimulation: The vagus nerve is the primary nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system, running from the brainstem through the throat to the major organs. Activities that engage the throat and controlled exhalation, including gargling, singing, humming, and bhramari (humming bee) breath, stimulate vagal ton

This week’s guest could not be more fitting. Dr. Amelia Scott is a clinical psychologist, sleep researcher, and the founder of Circa Sleep, and she walks Lee and Irene through something both hosts have lived but never had language for: the cycle of insomnia and sleep anxiety. There is a deep dive into CBTI, the gold standard treatment that almost nobody outside the field has heard of, a fairly memorable conversation about Irene’s Oura ring, and a genuinely useful explanation of why trying harder to sleep is usually the very thing that stops it from happening. In Womansplain, Justin returns with a question prompted by a mate’s offhand comment about low testosterone, and gets the full lifestyle-first rundown before anyone mentions a prescription. And Lee has a rave. For walking. Yes, walking. She makes a very good case. ✨ In this episode we chat about: • Why the show is now officially The Lee and Irene Show. • Dr. Amelia Scott’s path into sleep psychology, and why insomnia is barely covered in clinical training despite being the second most common mental health condition. • What insomnia actually is, clinically, and why it is rarely a standalone problem. • The anxiety-sleeplessness cycle, and the behavioural loops that quietly keep it going. • Why waking at 3am is normal, and what is actually happening in the brain when it happens. • Sleep trackers, the Oura ring, and the nocebo effect of a bad sleep score. • CBTI (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia) and the counterintuitive logic of sleep restriction therapy. • Tired versus sleepy, a distinction that reframes a lot of chronic fatigue conversations. • Perimenopause, burnout, and why these seasons make sleep especially vulnerable. • What the evidence actually says about magnesium, kava, and ashwagandha for sleep. • Justin’s Womansplain question on low testosterone, sleep, stress, and what to check before TRT. • Lee’s rave on walking, and why she thinks it is finally getting the respect it deserves. 🎙 What’s Popping: Dr. Amelia Scott on the Cycle of Insomnia Meet Amelia: Dr. Amelia Scott is a clinical psychologist with a PhD in clinical psychology completed in 2019, a lecturer, board-approved clinical supervisor, and founder of Circa Sleep, a practice built around evidence-based psychological support for people stuck in poor sleep. Despite insomnia being the second most common mental health condition, Amelia had zero hours of sleep-specific training in her undergraduate or master’s degree, and built her specialisation through additional training and research after noticing how often it showed up, untreated, in her early patients. Who She Sees: Amelia describes a patient with insomnia and nothing else going on, no anxiety, no past trauma, no health conditions, no perimenopause, as a unicorn. Most people she sees have insomnia layered on top of life transitions, burnout, anxiety, chronic pain, or nervous system patterns shaped by past experience. What Insomnia Actually Is: Clinically, insomnia means difficulty falling or staying asleep that is not attributable to a substance or medication (so caffeine at 10pm does not count), has persisted over time, and is causing distress or interfering with daily functioning. It is what Amelia calls a twenty-four hour problem, not something contained to the night. The Cycles That Keep Insomnia Going The Anxiety-Sleeplessness Loop: Stress or anxiety disrupts sleep, poor sleep increases anxiety about the next night, and that anxiety becomes the very thing blocking sleep. Irene immediately recognises this as her own 3am loop, lying awake running through a mental list of business worries that, by her own admission, usually resolve themselves by morning. Behavioural Cycles: Compensating for a bad night with extra coffee, sleeping in, or a long restorative nap can unintentionally reduce the likelihood of sleeping well the following night. Amelia notes there is no universal rule on napping. For some people it disrupts the next night’s sleep; for others with severe insomnia, napping simply is not accessible at all. Why 3am Specifically: Waking overnight is completely normal. The issue is becoming consciously aware of it and the brain immediately flagging it as a problem, which fires up the nervous system and makes returning to sleep harder. Amelia also references new research on a phenomenon called the mind after midnight, where the brain’s threat-detection systems are unusually active while the prefrontal cortex, responsible for rational thought, is offline, making night-time worries feel far more catastrophic than they would in daylight. Sleep Trackers and the Nocebo Effect The Oura Ring Thread: Irene’s Oura ring becomes a running thread through the conversation. Amelia explains that trackers can be a helpful nudge for people who are genuinely neglecting their sleep, but for people who already have a strained relationship with sleep, they can erode trust in the body’s own ability to rest. Several sleep score metrics, including how much deep or REM sleep someone gets, are largely outside conscious control. The Nocebo Effect: In studies where participants were randomly told their sleep was either good or bad regardless of actual sleep quality, those given negative feedback reported feeling more tired and cancelled more plans, while those given positive feedback functioned better, demonstrating how strongly expectation alone can shape the next day. Can You Sleep Too Much?: Once health and lifestyle confounders are properly accounted for, the data linking short sleep or long sleep to early mortality weakens considerably, and Amelia is candid that a lot of the alarming headlines come from people with something to sell. CBTI and Sleep Restriction Therapy The Gold Standard: CBTI, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia, is supported by more than 200 clinical trials and is considered the first-line treatment for insomnia, ahead of medication. It targets the thinking patterns and habits that keep insomnia entrenched long after the original trigger has passed. Sleep Pressure: The longer someone stays awake, the more sleep pressure builds, making sleep more likely. People with insomnia often go to bed too early after a bad night, before enough sleep pressure has built up, and end up putting aside far more time for sleep than they are actually using, lowering their sleep efficiency. The Counterintuitive Fix: The treatment involves temporarily restricting time in bed to match actual average sleep (tracked via a sleep diary) more closely, which raises sleep efficiency and, over time, allows sleep duration to be gradually extended again. Effort Is the Enemy: One of Amelia’s clearest points: trying hard to fall back asleep is usually counterproductive. Good sleepers, when asked what they do to sleep well, typically say not very much. They simply get into bed when sleepy and let it happen. Tired Versus Sleepy Amelia draws a distinction that lands hard with both hosts. Tiredness, exhaustion, and a sense of depletion can have many causes: dietary, inflammatory, psychological, or trauma-related. Sleepiness is specifically about how likely someone is to fall asleep right now. People with chronic insomnia are very often tired but not sleepy, which explains why bloodwork and standard medical tests can come back clear even when someone feels constantly depleted. Perimenopause, Burnout, and Sleep Hormonal Shifts: The decline in oestrogen during perimenopause is closely linked to sleep disturbance, compounded by vasomotor symptoms like night sweats and hot flushes, layered on top of caregiving responsibilities for both ageing parents and adolescent children. Roll With It Rather Than Battle It: Amelia’s guidance is to avoid treating every disrupted night as a crisis to be won or lost. The two hours of lost sleep matter less than the hours spent tossing, turning, and catastrophising about the next day. Burnout Insomnia: Burnout requires rest, not just sleep. Amelia notes that people prone to burnout have often internalised the belief that rest must be earned through productivity, a hangover from hustle culture that both hosts and Justin recognise instantly from their own corporate pasts. What the Evidence Actually Says About Sleep Supplements Magnesium: Randomised, placebo-controlled trials generally show little difference between magnesium and placebo for sleep, though Amelia notes there may be a smaller subgroup with a genuine deficiency for whom it is meaningfully helpful, and that ritual and conditioning likely play a real role even when the mechanism is not purely pharmacological. Kava: Acts as a central nervous system depressant with effects similar to alcohol, including reduced anxiety and relaxation, but has been linked to serious liver damage in some cases and is not recommended for long-term use. Ashwagandha: Some signal for mild anxiolytic and sedating properties in recent meta-analyses, though the evidence base is still developing. L-theanine and Magnesium Combined: Amelia flags promising emerging research on this combination specifically. Sleep Hygiene: Useful as a foundation, but most people who seek Amelia’s help are already doing it well, sometimes too well, using it as an attempt to control something that ultimately cannot be controlled through effort alone. 🧠 Womansplain: Justin and the Low Testosterone Question The Question: A mate told Justin his flat energy, low motivation, and poor sleep might point to low testosterone, and suggested getting levels checked with TRT in mind. Justin’s first instinct was to tell his friend to mind his own business, but brought the question to the show anyway. Busting the First Myth: Low testosterone is not simply an inevitable consequence of ageing requiring a prescription. There are genuine cases where testosterone replacement therapy is appropriate, but a long list of lifestyle factors should be examined first, and most of them go unaddressed. Sleep: Most testosterone is produced overnight, with deep sleep playing a key role. Poor sleep, the very thing discussed earlier in the episode with Amelia, can directly lower testosterone, meaning the issue may be a sleep problem presenting as a hormone problem. Chronic Stress: Elevated cortisol can suppress testosterone production, as the body deprioritises it under sustained stress in favour of survival hormones. Gut Health: The microbiome plays a role in hormone metabolism and clearance, though the evidence here is still emerging. Also on the List: Alcohol, excess visceral body fat (which can convert testosterone into oestrogen), and a sedentary lifestyle. What Helps Naturally: Zinc, an essential cofactor for testosterone synthesis and easy to test for, found in red meat, pumpkin seeds, and oysters. Ashwagandha, shown in some trials to reduce cortisol and improve sleep, with more mixed evidence specifically for testosterone. Fenugreek, less well known but with reasonable supporting evidence, possibly working by affecting how testosterone is used in the body. The Bottom Line: Address sleep, stress, and gut health first. If levels remain clinically low and symptoms persist, that is the point to involve a doctor, rather than starting with synthetic hormones and risking suppression of the body’s own production. ✨ Rave: Lee on the Quiet Power of Walking The Rave: Lee’s rave is for something that gets almost no respect despite doing an enormous amount of work: walking. Her daily ninety-minute walk around Palm Beach, hills included, is not just physical exercise but the place where she processes everything: problems, creative ideas, flat moods. The Evidence: Lee points to research showing that regular walking reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression, supports cognitive function, and is one of the most accessible forms of nervous system regulation available, alongside a Harvard study finding that twenty minutes of walking five days a week was associated with 43 percent fewer sick days. Irene’s Take: Irene finds walking far more approachable than the gym, scenery included, and both note the social and community value of walking around a familiar neighbourhood. 📝 Lee’s Nutritionist Nerd Notes: Episode 15 Mentions Insomnia Prevalence: Insomnia is widely cited as the second most common mental health condition, yet remains under-addressed in standard clinical psychology and medical training. CBTI Evidence Base: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia is supported by over 200 randomised controlled trials and is recommended as a first-line treatment ahead of pharmacological options in current clinical guidelines. Sleep Restriction Therapy: A core CBTI component that works by temporarily limiting time in bed to closely match actual sleep duration, increasing sleep efficiency before gradually extending sleep opportunity. Sleep Drive (Homeostatic Sleep Pressure): Sleep pressure accumulates as a function of time spent awake, regulated separately from the circadian rhythm governed by the suprachiasmatic nucleus in the brain. The Nocebo Effect: The inverse of the placebo effect, where an expectation of harm or impairment produces measurably worse outcomes, demonstrated in sleep feedback studies regardless of actual sleep quality. Mind After Midnight: An emerging area of research describing altered brain activity overnight, with heightened threat-detection circuitry and reduced prefrontal cortex regulation, contributing to disproportionately catastrophic night-time thinking. Tired Versus Sleepy: Fatigue and sleepiness are clinically distinct. Fatigue describes depleted energy with many possible causes, while sleepiness describes the physiological propensity to fall asleep, a distinction used in sleep medicine to differentiate insomnia from other conditions. Perimenopause and Sleep Disruption: Declining and fluctuating oestrogen levels during the perimenopausal transition are associated with increased sleep disturbance, compounded by vasomotor symptoms such as night sweats and hot flushes. Magnesium and Sleep: Placebo-controlled trials generally show limited benefit of magnesium supplementation for sleep in the general population, though ritual, conditioning, and individual deficiency may explain reported benefit in some users. Kava (Piper methysticum): Contains kavalactones with central nervous system depressant effects. Kava has been associated with documented cases of hepatotoxicity, limiting its recommended use to short-term contexts under professional guidance. Testosterone and Lifestyle Factors: Sleep quality, chronic stress, visceral adiposity, alcohol intake, and sedentary behaviour are all established contributors to testosterone levels, supporting a lifestyle-first approach prior to pharmacological intervention in the absence of an underlying pathological cause. Zinc, Ashwagandha, and Fenugreek: Zinc is a required cofactor in testosterone synthesis pathways and deficiency is straightforward to test for. Ashwagandha has shown cortisol-lowering and sleep-supporting effects in several clinical trials, with more variable results for testosterone specifically. Fenugreek extract has shown modest support for testosterone-related outcomes in a number of small trials. Walking and Mental Health: Regular walking is associated with reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression and improved cognitive function, and is considered one of the most accessible forms of physical activity for nervous system regulation. 📌 Episode 15 Links Circa Sleep - Dr. Amelia Scott Supercharged Food - Lee Holmes Supercharge Your Gut - Lee’s Products and Books, including Eat to Heal Clean Nectarine - Irene Falcone 🎙 Listen & Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Substack Follow us on Instagram: @theleeandireneshow Join the conversation on Substack: Sponsor an episode? Email lee@superchargedfood.com Disclaimer: This show is for educational purposes only. Please consult your qualified health professional before incorporating new wellness solutions. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theleeandireneshow.substack.com

Show Notes: Episode 14 The Lee and Irene Show Lee Holmes Launches Her 12th Book “ Eat to Heal ”, the Truth About Chronic Inflammation and Zombie Cells, and Justin Gets 'Splained on Low Testosterone. Lee has written twelve books, and this one might be the most personal yet. Eat to Heal is about chronic inflammation, the slow-burning, mostly invisible process that Lee argues sits underneath almost every major health complaint we hear about on this show, from brain fog and fatigue to autoimmune conditions and weight gain that will not budge. Irene turns interviewer for the episode and gets Lee talking about the book's origin, the science she found genuinely surprising even after fifteen years in the field, and the very practical plate-based system she built to make all of it usable on a Tuesday night. There are zombie cells. There is a Pac-Man analogy. There is a rocky road recipe that somehow counts as part of the plan. And underneath all of it, there is a much bigger conversation about trauma, nervous system safety, and why some people cannot absorb good nutrition until their body believes it is no longer in danger. And in Womansplain, Justin brings a question he was clearly nervous to ask, about whether low testosterone is just something that happens with age, or something worth actually investigating first. ✨ In this episode we chat about: • Why Lee wrote Eat to Heal , and the sentence in the introduction she is most proud of. • What chronic inflammation actually is, and why it behaves so differently to the acute kind. • Zombie cells, otherwise known as senescent cells, and the everyday foods that help clear them. • The gut-brain link, neuroinflammation, and why low mood is not always a purely psychological problem. • SPMs, specialised pro-resolving mediators, and why omega 3s do more than just block inflammation. • The 4321 plate method Lee developed specifically for an anti-inflammatory Mediterranean style of eating. • Why trauma and chronic stress can keep the body locked in a state where healing cannot properly begin. • Two recipes from the book, talked through ingredient by ingredient. • Justin's Womansplain question about low testosterone, and what is actually worth investigating before TRT. 📖 What's Popping: Lee Launches Eat to Heal Book Number Twelve: Lee confirms it, slightly disbelieving herself, while Irene recalls the period a few years ago when Lee went fully underground to finish a manuscript and could not be reached for weeks. Irene admits she has always wanted to write a book herself, though she suspects hers would mostly be an expose of bad business dealings she could not possibly publish without being sued. How Lee Actually Writes a Book: Lee describes it less as a plan and more as a pull. The ideas tend to arrive fully formed, sometimes within an hour of sitting down, and she credits a kind of instinctive, almost esoteric drive that has carried every one of her twelve books. The advice for anyone wanting to start is simple. Write towards something you genuinely care about, because that is the only thing that gets you through the difficult stretch in the middle. The Cover: Unusually for Lee, she is not on the cover this time. The illustration is by a Swedish artist named Sarah, and both hosts land on the same description without quite planning to. It has the feeling of a vintage still life, fruit bowls and tea towels and faded kitchen wallpaper. Nostalgic, bohemian, and instantly homely. What Eat to Heal Is Actually About The Premise: Chronic inflammation, Lee argues, is not a side effect of conditions like heart disease, Alzheimer's, autoimmune disorders, depression, weight gain, brain fog, and persistent fatigue. It is a driver of them. Chapter one is titled Your Kitchen Is Your Medicine Cabinet, and that is the thesis of the entire book. Who It Is For: Lee wrote it for the person who has been told their bloodwork is normal while their body insists otherwise. Irene relates to this directly. Her own results consistently come back clear, and the book gives her a next step beyond simply ruling things out: what can actually be done to reduce brain fog and lift energy once the medical all-clear has already been given. Acute Versus Chronic: Acute inflammation is the immune system doing exactly what it should, the redness and swelling around a cut that signals healing is underway. Chronic inflammation is that same emergency response stuck in the on position, running quietly in the background with no specific threat to respond to. Because it is subtle, most people never connect how they feel to what is actually happening in their body. Signs to Watch For: Persistent tiredness that sleep does not fix, brain fog, forgetfulness, digestive issues that come and go, post-meal fatigue, mood swings, migrating joint pain, recurring infections, and stalled weight loss. The book includes a sixteen question self-assessment quiz that scores inflammation as low, moderate, high, or severe. The Research That Surprised Lee Zombie Cells: The scientific term is senescent cells, cells that have stopped functioning properly but refuse to die, sitting in tissue and releasing inflammatory signals that disrupt the healthy cells around them. As we age, these accumulate. Certain plant compounds act as natural senolytics, helping clear them out: fisetin in strawberries and apples, quercetin in capers, onions, and berries, and curcumin in turmeric. Neuroinflammation: Chronic inflammation does not stay contained to the body. The same inflammatory markers linked to heart disease are implicated in depression, anxiety, cognitive decline, and conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. One mechanism involves a compound called kynurenine. When inflammation is high, the body diverts tryptophan toward kynurenine production rather than serotonin, meaning less of the body's own feel-good chemistry gets made. Irene shares that she was diagnosed with neuroinflammation at a holistic clinic in Byron Bay following the collapse of her previous business, alongside a SIBO diagnosis. SPMs, the Pro-Resolution Compounds: Specialised pro-resolving mediators are a newer area of research that changed how Lee thinks about anti-inflammatory eating altogether. Rather than simply blocking inflammation the way something like ibuprofen does, SPMs actively promote the clearance of inflammatory debris and help return the body to balance. They are produced from omega 3 fatty acids, found in flaxseed, avocado, and good quality fish, strengthening the case for getting enough omega 3 into the diet. The 4321 Map Approach Lee built on the proven foundation of the Mediterranean diet and refined it specifically to target inflammation, with a stronger emphasis on gut health and blood sugar stability. The plate breaks down as 40 percent vegetables and leafy greens, 30 percent lean protein including legumes, 20 percent whole grains and starchy vegetables like sweet potato and pumpkin, and 10 percent healthy fats such as extra virgin olive oil, flaxseed oil, and avocado. The philosophy is not about eliminating treats. Even dessert can fit the framework when it includes protein and good fats alongside it, which is how a rocky road bar loaded with almonds, hemp seeds, and almond butter earns a legitimate place in the book. Two Recipes from the Book Baked Sweet Potato Hash Browns (page 156): Sweet potato for beta carotene and skin support, chickpea flour for plant protein and fibre, turmeric and cumin for their anti-inflammatory properties, smashed avocado for monounsaturated fats and potassium, and a microgreen salad on top finished with hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, or walnuts. Buckwheat Banana Crepes with Figs and Berries (page 159): Naturally gluten free, built on ripe banana for gut-friendly resistant starch and buckwheat flour, which contains rutin to strengthen blood vessels. Topped with fresh figs and berries for polyphenols and prebiotic fibre, plus a nut butter for additional healthy fats. Light enough for breakfast, indulgent enough for dessert. Enjoy my Mediterranean Mezze Plate recipe here . Trauma, the Nervous System, and Why Healing Is Not Linear One of the book's central themes is the link between trauma, chronic stress, and inflammation. Lee explains that when the nervous system stays locked in survival mode, the body prioritises protection over repair. Digestive secretions change, gut motility slows or becomes erratic, the gut lining becomes more vulnerable to damage, and the immune system grows hyper-reactive, feeding the inflammatory cycle further. Irene connects this directly to her own experience following the collapse of her previous business, describing a period of constant hypervigilance where even opening an email triggered a physical stress response. Lee shares a parallel experience following a serious car accident and a long bout of COVID, both of which left her nervous system similarly on high alert. Lee's clinical approach has shifted accordingly. Rather than leading with food alone, she now looks at the whole person, gut health, inflammation, sleep, stress, emotional history, and daily patterns together, often alongside referral to psychologists or nervous system specialists. She notes that healing rarely happens in a tidy order. Sometimes mood and sleep improve before digestion does, and that is not a failure of the process. 🧠 Womansplain: Justin and the Low Testosterone Question The Question: A friend suggested to Justin that his flat energy, low motivation, and poor sleep might point to low testosterone, and floated testosterone replacement therapy as a fix. Justin's instinct was to tell his mate to mind his own business, but brought the question to the show anyway. The Myth to Bust First: Low testosterone is not simply an inevitable part of ageing with a prescription as the automatic answer. There is a long list of lifestyle factors that can lower testosterone, and most men have not addressed any of them before reaching for a prescription. Sleep: Most testosterone is produced overnight, with deep sleep playing a particularly important role. Poor sleep can directly affect levels, meaning a sleep problem can present as a hormone problem. Chronic Stress: Elevated cortisol can suppress testosterone production. Under sustained stress, the body prioritises survival hormones over reproductive ones. Gut Health: The microbiome plays a role in how hormones are metabolised and cleared, although the evidence here is still developing. Other Contributing Factors: Alcohol, excess visceral body fat (which can convert testosterone into oestrogen), and a sedentary lifestyle all make the list. What Actually Helps: Zinc is an essential cofactor for testosterone synthesis and deficiency is common and easy to test for, found in red meat, pumpkin seeds, and oysters. Ashwagandha is a well-studied adaptogen shown in some trials to reduce cortisol and improve sleep quality, with mixed but reasonable evidence for testosterone specifically. Fenugreek, a herb Lee was introduced to in India, has reasonable evidence behind it, possibly by affecting how testosterone is used in the body rather than blocking its conversion to oestrogen outright. The Bottom Line: Sort sleep, stress, and gut health first. If levels remain clinically low and symptoms persist after addressing those drivers, that is the point to have the TRT conversation with a doctor, rather than starting there and risking the body's own production shutting down. 📝 Lee's Nutritionist Nerd Notes: Episode 14 Mentions Chronic Inflammation as a Disease Driver: Chronic low-grade inflammation is increasingly recognised as a contributing factor across cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative conditions, autoimmune disorders, depression, and metabolic dysfunction, distinct from the acute, self-resolving inflammation involved in wound healing. Senescent Cells and Senolytics: Senescent cells accumulate with age and secrete pro-inflammatory signalling molecules, a phenomenon researchers term the senescence-associated secretory phenotype. Compounds including fisetin, quercetin, and curcumin have been studied for senolytic or senomorphic activity, helping to clear or quiet these cells. Neuroinflammation and Mood: The kynurenine pathway describes how, under inflammatory conditions, tryptophan metabolism is shifted away from serotonin synthesis and toward kynurenine production, a mechanism increasingly studied in relation to depression and anxiety. Specialised Pro-Resolving Mediators (SPMs): SPMs, including resolvins, protectins, and maresins, are derived from omega 3 fatty acids and are involved in actively resolving inflammation and restoring tissue homeostasis, distinct from the inflammation-blocking action of standard anti-inflammatory compounds. Gut-Brain-Immune Connection: Roughly 70 to 80 percent of immune tissue resides in the gut, and the majority of the body's serotonin is produced there, underscoring the close relationship between gut integrity, immune regulation, and mood. HPA Axis and Trauma: Chronic stress and unresolved trauma are associated with dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which can manifest as persistent sympathetic nervous system activation, affecting digestion, immune function, and the body's capacity for tissue repair. Testosterone and Lifestyle Factors: Research links sleep quality, chronic stress and cortisol elevation, visceral adiposity, alcohol intake, and sedentary behaviour to testosterone levels, supporting a lifestyle-first approach before pharmacological intervention in men without an underlying pathological cause. Zinc, Ashwagandha, and Fenugreek: Zinc is a required cofactor in testosterone synthesis pathways. Ashwagandha has shown cortisol-lowering and sleep-supporting effects in several clinical trials, with more variable results for testosterone specifically. Fenugreek extract has shown modest support for testosterone-related outcomes in a number of small trials, though larger confirmatory studies are limited. 📌 Episode 14 Links Supercharged Food — Lee Holmes Supercharge Your Gut — Lee's Products and Books, including Eat to Heal Clean Nectarine — Irene Falcone 🎙 Listen & Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Substack Follow us on Instagram: @wellnessunfilteredleeirene Join the conversation on Substack: wellnessunfilteredpod.com Sponsor an episode? Email wellnessunfilteredleeirene@gmail.com Disclaimer: This show is for educational purposes only. Please consult your qualified health professional before incorporating new wellness solutions. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theleeandireneshow.substack.com

Episode 13, Naturopath Jane Papalia on the Mediterranean Diet, Longevity, Beauty, and Why Your Nonna Was Probably Right All Along, Wayne Gets ‘Splained on Reflux and Irene Busts Out a Rant In this episode we chat about · What the Mediterranean diet actually is, and why it is much more than a Greek salad and a glass of red wine. · Jane Papalia’s story, from Italian family food culture to naturopathy and clinical nutrition. · Why the Mediterranean lifestyle is one of the most researched and respected dietary patterns in the world. · How food, movement, sleep, stress, and social connection all work together for longevity. · Why olive oil, legumes, herbs, seasonal produce, and quality proteins are the real stars of the show. · How to spot the difference between authentic Mediterranean foods and supermarket imposters with suspiciously confident branding. · Why your grandmother may have been ahead of her time without ever using the words polyphenols or microbiome. · How the Mediterranean way of eating supports gut health, brain health, heart health, and healthy ageing. · Why food is not just fuel. It is culture, connection, rhythm, and joy. · A very important debate about yoghurt, feta, olive oil, and whether Italians are secretly running the wellness industry Meet Jane Papalia Jane Papalia is a qualified naturopath and clinical nutritionist, and the beautiful mind behind The Mediterranean Naturopath . Her work centers on the Mediterranean lifestyle as a way of eating and living that supports health, energy, digestion, beauty, and ageing well without turning life into a never-ending self-improvement project. Jane grew up in a very food-focused Italian family, where her Sicilian grandmother shaped the way food, family, and nourishment were understood long before anyone in the household was talking about anti-inflammatory diets, gut health, or longevity science. In Jane’s world, food was never just calories. It was care, connection, culture, and the kind of love that arrives in a saucepan. She brings that lived experience together with her clinical work in a way that feels both practical and deeply grounded. The result is a philosophy that feels refreshingly sane. Eat well, move your body, share meals, and stop trying to bio hack your way out of being human. Her journey Jane shares how her mother’s cancer diagnosis became a turning point in her understanding of health. That experience deepened her appreciation for the fact that wellbeing is built through the everyday things. How we eat, sleep, move, connect, and support the body consistently over time. It’s a powerful reminder that health is not one perfect supplement stack or one heroic clean-out Monday. It’s the pattern of your life. It’s the stuff you do when nobody is applauding. It’s also the thing your grandmother probably knew instinctively while everyone else was making turmeric lattes and calling it wisdom. Jane’s perspective is gentle, real, and refreshingly free of extremes. She reminds us that the body responds to consistency, not punishment. What Mediterranean means If your version of the Mediterranean diet is basically olives, pasta, and one highly committed bottle of red wine, then this episode broadens the picture beautifully. Jane explains that the Mediterranean way of eating is built around: · colourful plant foods · extra virgin olive oil · legumes · whole grains · seafood · quality proteins · herbs · fermented foods · seasonal produce. But it’s also about how you eat. Slower meals, social connection, family, rhythm, and a less frantic relationship with food are all part of the picture. This is not a restrictive plan. It’s a living pattern. And unlike many wellness trends, it does not require a label printer, a subscription box, or a complete personality transplant. Why it matters Jane talks through why the Mediterranean dietary pattern is so strongly associated with better health outcomes. It’s not because of one magical ingredient. It’s because the whole pattern works together. The benefits discussed include: · improved digestion · better blood sugar regulation · heart health · brain health · cognitive support · healthier ageing Because this way of eating is rich in fibre, plant diversity, healthy fats, and antioxidant compounds, it also nourishes the gut microbiome, which then has downstream effects on mood, immunity, inflammation, and resilience. So yes, the humble lentil is doing some very glamorous work behind the scenes. The longevity piece One of the strongest themes in the episode is that longevity is not just about nutrients. It’s also about social connection. Jane talks about how family, friendship, community, and meals shared with other people all play a measurable role in wellbeing. That’s part of what makes the Mediterranean lifestyle so powerful. It supports the body and the nervous system at the same time. Meals are not rushed. Food is not eaten in isolation while scrolling. There is a rhythm, a social thread, and a sense that life is meant to be lived with other people around the table. Which is lovely, and also mildly insulting to the modern habit of inhaling lunch between emails. Olive oil and polyphenols Jane explains why extra virgin olive oil is one of the standout foods in the Mediterranean pattern. It’s rich in polyphenols, including hydroxytyrosol, which contributes to the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits associated with the diet. Extra virgin olive oil is mechanically pressed and retains more of its beneficial compounds than refined olive oils. It brings flavour, protection, and a bit of actual joy to food, which, frankly, is more than can be said for many healthy products. There’s also a useful clarification around cooking. Yes, olive oil can absolutely be used in cooking, especially at moderate temperatures. So no, your family did not accidentally sabotage their health by cooking with olive oil for decades. They may have been onto something. The food detective bit There’s a very entertaining stretch of the episode where the conversation turns into a full supermarket investigation. You’ll hear about: · how to identify proper Greek yoghurt · what makes a feta authentic · why ingredient lists matter · and how to tell when a product is only pretending to be Mediterranean The yoghurt rule is beautifully simple. Fewer ingredients usually means better quality. If the label starts sounding like a laboratory internship, it may not be the product you want And feta? Also a bit of a minefield. The conversation makes it very clear that not all feta is equal, and that the version in the supermarket may be a cheese impersonator with a Mediterranean accent Herbs and flavour Jane brings a lovely herbal lens to the discussion, highlighting the medicinal and culinary value of: · oregano · rosemary · thyme · sage · fennel · lemon balm These herbs are not just decorative little green bits trying to look sophisticated on a plate. They have real digestive, cognitive, hormonal, and calming benefits. Rosemary is linked with memory and circulation, sage is often used in the context of hormonal support, and fennel and lemon balm are especially lovely for digestion and nervous system support. It’s a reminder that the food culture of the Mediterranean is rich in flavour and function at the same time. Which is a very nice trick. A Mediterranean day · One of the best things about this episode is how practical it becomes. · Jane outlines a real-life Mediterranean-style day: · Breakfast might be Greek yoghurt with berries, nuts, and honey. · Lunch might be lentil soup, minestrone, roasted vegetables, or chickpeas. · Snacks might include nuts, grapes, or vine leaves. · Dinner might feature oily fish like salmon, mackerel, sardines, or anchovies, alongside vegetables and legumes. · The message is simple. This is not a diet that depends on fussy recipes or expensive health-store ingredients. It depends on real food, prepared well, and eaten regularly. · Soup is also having a very good moment here and should be recognised accordingly. Womansplain In our Womansplain segment, we bring a very confused man into the cabin and extract a question that is relevant, useful, and just the right amount of chaotic. This episode’s Womansplain focuses on midlife digestive changes, particularly reflux, heaviness after meals, and that general sense that your body has suddenly decided to become more opinionated about dinner. Lee shares practical advice around: · eating earlier in the evening · slowing down at meals · reducing trigger foods where needed · being mindful of portion size · not lying down immediately after eating · paying attention to hydration and alcohol intake The overall message is beautifully boring in the best possible way. The basics matter, especially when digestion becomes less forgiving with age. Irene’s rave In Irene’s rave, Irene gives a big and heartfelt shout-out to the Clean + Conscious Awards , celebrating brands and products that are doing things more thoughtfully. It’s a lovely reminder that wellness doesn’t just live in our kitchens and clinics. It also shows up in the products we choose, the businesses we support, and the standards we keep asking for as consumers. This rave captures that very satisfying feeling of seeing more people care about clean, ethical, responsible products without turning everything into greenwashing theatre. Very refreshing. Very welcome Lee’s nerd notes Here’s the sciencey bit, the part where we lovingly put the nerd back into the conversation. The Mediterranean diet and health PREDIMED trial . Landmark randomized trial showing cardiovascular benefit from a Mediterranean diet pattern. Mediterranean diet and healthy ageing review . The Mediterranean diet is one of the most researched dietary patterns in the world, with evidence linking it to improved cardiovascular health, better metabolic outcomes, and support for healthy ageing. Its strength lies not in one ingredient, but in the overall dietary pattern. Gut health and diversity Mediterranean diet, microbiome, and gut health review . A major reason this way of eating works so well is that it naturally increases plant diversity and fibre intake. That helps nourish the gut microbiome, which plays a role in digestion, immune function, inflammation, mood, and brain health. Polyphenols and olive oil Hydroxytyrosol and olive oil review . Extra virgin olive oil contains bioactive compounds, including polyphenols such as hydroxytyrosol, which are associated with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Quality matters here, because refined oils do not offer the same concentration of beneficial compounds. Legumes and longevity Legumes and satiety review . Legumes are one of the underrated heroes of the Mediterranean table. They offer fibre, plant protein, minerals, and prebiotic benefits that support microbial diversity and satiety. Herbs as functional foods Rosemary and cognition review . Sage and menopausal symptoms review . Fennel and digestive health review . Lemon balm and anxiety/sleep review . Herbs like oregano, rosemary, sage, fennel, and lemon balm contribute far more than flavour. They also contain plant compounds that may support cognition, digestion, circulation, and hormonal balance. The social piece Social relationships and mortality meta-analysis . Perhaps one of the most overlooked nutrients in the Mediterranean lifestyle is social connection. Research consistently shows that strong social relationships are associated with better health outcomes and longer life. Shared meals, community, and ritual are not extras. They are part of the medicine. Jane Papalia links Website: The Mediterranean Naturopath Instagram: @themediterraneannaturopath Blog and recipes: Jane’s website Episode links Listen on Apple Podcasts: The Lee and Irene Show Listen on Spotify: The Lee and Irene Show Follow us on Instagram: @theleeandireneshow Substack: The Lee and Irene Show Disclaimer This show is for educational purposes only. Please consult your qualified health professional before making changes to your diet or health routine. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theleeandireneshow.substack.com

Episode 12: All hail the Sugar and Energy Queen Michele Chevalley-Hedge, and the Labels That Are Lying to You, Justin Finally Learns to Breathe, and Lee’s Rant on the Fillers Nobody Warned You About. If you’ve ever eaten clean all day and still crashed by 3pm, reached for something sweet and felt worse an hour later, or picked up a “healthy” snack and had absolutely no idea what half the ingredients actually were, this episode is for you. Michele Chevalley-Hedge from A Healthy View , is a clinical nutritionist, author, and health educator whose books include Beating Sugar Addiction for Dummies and Eat, Drink and Still Shrink . She has spent decades working across elite sport, corporate health, and school communities, and she brings the same principle to all of it: facts over fads, nourished not punished. Justin, meanwhile, has been breathing incorrectly for roughly 59 years. Lee and Irene fix that. And Lee has a rant. It has a title. It is called Fillers That Fool Us, and once you hear it, you will never look at a supplement label the same way again. ✨ In this episode we chat about: 🍬 What’s Popping: Sugar, Energy and the Labels That Are Lying to You Meet Michele • A New Yorker in Australia: Michele grew up in an Italian-American family where food was love, community, and connection. Her father was a dedicated gardener. Her mother’s side was, in her words, the Chickarello Mafia, six sisters cooking abundantly for 27 cousins every weekend. She came to Australia in 1990 to speak at an IBM conference, fell in love with an Australian man within 24 hours, and never left. Thirty-six years later, she is still certain she made the right call. • From IT to Nutritional Medicine: Michele originally studied technology, business, and education, and worked in the IT industry before retraining. After her third child, she returned to study medicine and found her direction in her first nutritional medicine class, an emerging field at the time with relatively little evidence-based research. She recognised the opportunity and stayed. • The Modern Nutritionist: Michele describes herself as the nutritionist who loves a little coffee, wine, and chocolate. Her business is called A Healthy View for a reason: no extremes, no punishment, no all-or-nothing thinking. Sugar 101: What’s Actually Going On • The problem is added sugar, not natural sugar: Natural sugars found in dairy, fruit, and vegetables are not the concern. The issue is the added sugar hidden in foods that look, and are marketed as, healthy. • The recommended maximum is 6 teaspoons of added sugar per day. Most Australians consume 36 or more. Michele’s analogy: if you took 6 times the recommended dose of any pharmaceutical drug every single day, there would be consequences. Sugar is no different. • What overconsumption actually does: Sustained excess sugar affects energy, cognitive function, neurological health, libido, mood, fertility, and sleep. These are not abstract risks — they are things Michele sees in clinical practice every week. Is Sugar Addiction Real? • Clinically, it acts like one. It is not classified as an addiction in the same way drugs are, but it produces a dopamine feedback loop that drives repeated behaviour. The mechanism is hormonal, not just psychological. • The good news: the palate can be reset. Small, consistent changes, without punishment or deprivation, are enough to shift the feedback loop over time. As the body begins to regulate more effectively, sleep improves, energy stabilises, mood lifts, and the improvements become more compelling than the sugar itself The Blood Sugar Roller Coaster: A Real Life Example • The morning: A chai latte from a cafe (8 to 10 teaspoons of added sugar) and a banana muffin (another 8 to 10 teaspoons). Two things that look healthy, with 15 to 20 teaspoons of sugar already on board before 9am. • The crash: Ninety minutes later: fatigue, brain fog, irritability. Not low iron. Not early menopause. A blood sugar crash. The higher the spike, the harder the fall. At the bottom of that fall is where hunger, mood dysfunction, and energy collapse live. • The cycle: The response to the crash is more coffee or more sugar, which starts the cycle again. By 3pm, after a salad lunch with no fat, protein, or smart carbs, the body is running on empty and reaching for anything it can find. • Every spike drives inflammation. And chronic inflammation is the underlying pathology in virtually every major disease — cardiovascular disease, diabetes, insulin resistance, Alzheimer’s, autoimmune conditions, depression, and more. The Gut-Brain Connection • Research from Deakin University’s Food and Mood Centre is producing world-class randomised controlled trials on food and mental health. The field is still in early stages, but the direction is clear. • Real whole foods support the gut microbiome, which in turn supports serotonin production, immune function, and cognitive performance. Fibre, diversity of plants, and the absence of ultra-processed ingredients are the primary levers. • The SMILES Trial: A landmark randomised controlled trial studying the effect of a real whole food diet on depression and anxiety. All foods in the study came from Coles and Woolworths. The results showed greater improvement in mood disorders than antidepressant or anti-anxiety medication alone. This is not a supplement. It is just eating real food. Sugar by Any Other Name • Sugar has at least 25 different names on ingredient labels, including agave, rice malt, brown rice syrup, evaporated cane juice, barley malt, dextrose, and fruit concentrate. If it sounds like a yoga retreat in Byron Bay, it is still metabolically sugar. • The label detective hack: Find the sugar number on any nutrition panel. Divide by four. That is approximately how many teaspoons of sugar the product contains. A can of Coca-Cola: 40 grams, 10 teaspoons. A ginger beer: 14 teaspoons. A commercial healthy smoothie: often 21 teaspoons of added sugar from concentrated fruit syrups. • If sugar appears in the first five ingredients, question the product. The placement on the label tells you how much of it is in there. Better Sweeteners, Worse Sweeteners • Natural sweeteners Michele supports: coconut sugar (low GI, contains inulin as a prebiotic), honey, dates, pure maple syrup (for its polyphenols and micronutrients). These come with context; fibre, nutrients, and a lower glycaemic impact than refined sugars. • Sugar alcohols (anything ending in ‘-ol’): Mannitol, sorbitol, erythritol, and others are used in sugar-free products to allow the “no sugar” claim. For people with sensitive digestion, these cause significant bloating, gas, and diarrhoea. Michele sees this regularly in school-age girls consuming sugar-free energy drinks. Even for people without obvious sensitivity, she recommends avoiding them. • Stevia and monk fruit: Michele’s preferred alternatives for those wanting sweetness without added sugar. Both have a reasonable safety profile and do not disrupt blood sugar. • Real Coke over Diet Coke: Michele and Lee are both on record: if it comes to a choice, the artificial sweeteners in diet drinks are more concerning than the sugar in the original. Aspartame has emerging research linking it to neurological effects. Neither endorses soft drink, but the message is to be more afraid of the synthetic substitutes than the sugar itself. What to Eat for Sustained Energy • Every meal should answer three questions: Where is the fat? Where is the protein? Where is the smart carb? This combination blunts blood sugar spikes, supports satiety, and keeps energy stable across the day. Michele’s term: no naked carbs. • Breakfast: Eggs with avocado and a good piece of bread or leftover roasted vegetables from dinner. Fat, protein, and smart carb in one bowl. Not a sugary muffin and a cafe chai. • Lunch: Ideally leftovers from the night before, with legumes or brown rice added for smart carb content. Simple, affordable, and effective. • Hydration first: Most people confuse hunger for thirst. Starting the day with water and staying hydrated throughout is a non-negotiable foundation for energy. Without it, everything else is harder. • Fast food navigation: Guzman y Gomez and Fishbowl are workable if you build your bowl with protein, fat, and smart carbs. Skip the chips from the fryer; have homemade chips in olive oil at home if you want them. Where to Find Michele • Michele’s clinical practice focuses on personalised nutritional medicine, including work with schools, corporate clients, and elite athletes. • Her books include Beating Sugar Addiction for Dummies , The Australian Healthy Hormone Diet , and Eat, Drink and Still Shrink . • Recommended peanut butter brands: Fix and Mayver’s (both available at major supermarkets). Look for products with one ingredient: peanuts. 🧠 Womansplain: Justin Finally Learns to Breathe • The Question: Justin has been shallow breathing through clenched teeth for, by his own estimate, most of his life. He knows from yoga that belly breathing is the goal. He does not always remember to do it. He wants practical instructions. Numbered, if possible. • Shallow chest breathing: Keeps the body in a low-grade stress state. The nervous system reads it as a signal that something is wrong, even when nothing is. The result is a constant, low-level sense of depletion that most people have simply accepted as normal. • Nasal breathing as default: The nose filters, warms, and humidifies air, and supports nitric oxide delivery. Mouth breathing is technically for emergencies, singing, or loud complaints. Nasal breathing is the resting standard. A larger nose, Justin was informed, offers superior filtration and is, in Lee’s words, a premium air processing unit. • Diaphragmatic (belly) breathing: The diaphragm is a dome-shaped muscle below the lungs. When it contracts downward, the lungs expand and the abdomen rises. The test: one hand on the chest, one on the belly. The belly rises on the inhale, the chest barely moves. If the shoulders are going up, the technique is wrong. • Box breathing: Inhale for four counts, hold for four, exhale for four, hold for four. Repeat. Used by military personnel before high-pressure situations. Activates a manual override on the stress response within about a minute. • The physiological sigh: A double inhale through the nose followed by a long, slow exhale. One of the fastest ways to offload excess carbon dioxide and reset the nervous system. The exhale being longer than the inhale is what activates the parasympathetic, rest-and-digest response. Sighing, it turns out, is clinically validated. • Synchronised breathing in rugby league: Justin noticed that modern rugby league teams gather in a circle and breathe together after scoring. Lee confirmed this is deliberate and evidence-based. Synchronised breathing, particularly with a shared extended exhale, pulls multiple nervous systems out of sympathetic overdrive simultaneously. Research suggests it also builds cohesion and trust between people. The shared exhale is, literally, getting on the same wavelength. Justin’s homework: • Close the mouth. Nasal breathing only, on default. • Hand on belly at the desk. Three deep belly breaths every time you sit down. • When the jaw clench arrives, box breathe. Four in, four hold, four out, four hold. 🚨 Lee’s Rant: Fillers That Fool Us • The rant has a title. It is called Fillers That Fool Us. Lee is not calm about this. • Maltodextrin: A highly processed starch made in a lab. It spikes blood glucose faster than many foods people feel guilty about eating. It also acts as a feeding ground for the wrong gut bacteria, contributing to dysbiosis. Some products carry low-FODMAP certification while containing maltodextrin as an ingredient, a situation Lee considers a significant consumer betrayal. Maltodextrin is added for one reason: it is cheap, it bulks products up, and it makes expensive ingredients go further. It was not added by a nutritionist. It was added by someone looking at a spreadsheet. • Citric acid (the manufactured version): There are two types. Natural citric acid exists in lemons and other citrus fruits. Manufactured citric acid, found in almost all processed foods and many supplements is produced by fermenting black mould on corn sugar. For people with gut inflammation, this is the last thing they should be consuming dressed up as something citrusy. Symptoms of sensitivity include headaches, itching, watery eyes, sinus congestion, and digestive upset. It is in protein bars, bliss balls, potato chips, sugar-free lollies, and the majority of supplements on the market. • These are boardroom ingredients, not wellness ingredients. They were not included to improve the product for the consumer. They were included to reduce costs, extend shelf life, prevent clumping, and improve the visual presentation of the product. The irony is that consumers have become so conditioned to perfectly flowing, non-clumping supplements that they file complaints when they encounter a pure product without anti-caking agents. • Lee’s call to action: Audit your pantry this week. Flip over the packs. Find the products containing maltodextrin or citric acid. Tag Lee on Instagram at @leesupercharged with what you find. • Brands that don’t use them: Lee’s Supercharged Your Gut range contains neither. Eden Health Foods also produces a vitamin C powder without maltodextrin which does clump, because purity behaves differently than processed fillers, and that is entirely the point. 📝 Lee’s Nutritionist Nerd Notes: Episode 12 Mentions Sugar, Blood Glucose, and Inflammation • The 6-teaspoon guideline comes from the World Health Organisation and is aligned with recommendations from leading researchers in cognitive, metabolic, and cardiovascular medicine. The average Australian consumes six times this amount daily. • Glycaemic response: When blood glucose rises rapidly, the body releases insulin to bring it back down. The speed and height of the spike determines the severity of the corresponding drop. Chronic spiking keeps inflammation elevated, which is a known driver of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, Alzheimer’s, autoimmune conditions, and depression. • Insulin resistance develops when cells become less responsive to insulin due to sustained overexposure. This makes fat loss harder and increases the risk of type 2 diabetes over time. • Natural sugars in fruit, dairy, and vegetables behave differently from added sugars. They come packaged with fibre, water, and micronutrients that slow absorption and blunt the glycaemic response. The 6-teaspoon limit applies to added sugars only. Dopamine, Habit Loops, and Palate Reset • Sugar activates the brain’s dopamine reward pathway, which is the same system involved in habitual behaviour patterns. This is why consumption can feel compulsive and why restriction without substitution tends to fail. The more effective intervention is crowding in whole foods until the preference shifts. • Palate adaptation is real and measurable. As added sugar intake decreases over several weeks, perceived sweetness from natural foods increases and cravings for highly sweetened products tend to reduce. Gut-Brain Axis and Mood • The gut-brain axis refers to the bidirectional communication network between the gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system, operating via the vagus nerve, the enteric nervous system, and the immune system. • Approximately 90% of the body’s serotonin is produced in the gut. Disruption to the gut microbiome through poor diet, ultra-processed food, or inflammation has a measurable downstream effect on mood, cognition, and stress response. • The SMILES Trial — Food and Mood Centre, Deakin University (Supporting the Modification of lifestyle in Lowered Emotional States) was a 12-week randomised controlled trial examining the effect of a Mediterranean-style whole food diet on major depression. Participants eating from the intervention diet — foods available at standard Australian supermarkets — showed significantly greater reduction in depressive symptoms than the social support control group. Sugar Alcohols and Sweetener Considerations • Sugar alcohols (-ol endings: sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, erythritol) are used in sugar-free products as a labelling loophole, they technically allow a “no sugar” claim. For people with sensitive digestion or IBS, these compounds cause osmotic diarrhoea and bloating. They are FODMAPs for a reason. • Erythritol: A 2023 Cleveland Clinic study found an association between high erythritol blood levels and increased cardiovascular risk. A subsequent small trial found that 30 grams of erythritol — roughly the amount in a tub of keto ice cream — temporarily increased platelet aggregation for several days. The research is not conclusive, but Michele’s clinical approach is to apply a precautionary principle and recommend stevia and monk fruit instead. • Aspartame: Classified in 2023 by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B). The evidence is not definitive, but given the availability of alternatives, both Lee and Michele recommend avoiding it. Maltodextrin and Manufactured Citric Acid • Maltodextrin is a highly processed polysaccharide derived from starch (corn, wheat, potato, or tapioca). It has a glycaemic index higher than table sugar. It also feeds gram-negative bacteria and can contribute to dysbiosis in susceptible individuals. It is used as a bulking agent, anti-caking agent, and texture modifier. • Manufactured citric acid is produced through Aspergillus niger fermentation on glucose substrates, typically corn syrup. It is chemically distinct from naturally occurring citric acid in lemon or lime juice and has been reported to cause inflammatory and allergic responses in sensitive individuals, including headaches, skin irritation, joint pain, and digestive upset. • Neither ingredient was designed with the consumer’s health in mind. Both serve manufacturer interests: reduced cost, extended shelf life, improved texture, and enhanced product appearance. Breathing: The Physiology • Shallow chest breathing activates the sympathetic nervous system (fight-or-flight response), maintaining low-grade cortisol and adrenaline elevation. Over time, this contributes to fatigue, anxiety, poor sleep, and immune suppression. • Nasal breathing supports nitric oxide production in the paranasal sinuses. Nitric oxide is a vasodilator with antimicrobial properties. It improves oxygen delivery and reduces airway resistance. • Diaphragmatic breathing activates the vagus nerve and promotes parasympathetic tone. It is the breath pattern associated with rest, digestion, and recovery. • Box breathing (4-4-4-4) is used in military and emergency services training for rapid cortisol reduction. Research supports its effectiveness in reducing subjective stress within 1 to 5 minutes of consistent practice. • The physiological sigh (double nasal inhale followed by extended exhale) is one of the most rapid mechanisms for offloading carbon dioxide. Dr Jack Feldman have published research identifying it as the most effective acute breath pattern for nervous system regulation. The long exhale is the key: it is what activates parasympathetic response. • Synchronised breathing between groups has been shown in research to increase interpersonal trust, social cohesion, and collective attentional focus. This is why team breath practices before athletic competition have measurable performance and cohesion benefits beyond the physiological effects of the breath itself. 📌 Episode 12 Links Supercharged Food — Lee Holmes Supercharge Your Gut — Lee’s Products Clean Nectarine — Irene Falcone Guest: Michele Chevalley-Hedge — A Healthy View Peanut Butter Brands Mentioned: Fix Peanut Butter Mayver’s Nut Butters Referenced: The SMILES Trial — Food and Mood Cen

Episode 11: How to Get a Virgo Level of Cleaning on a Capricorn Budget, Justin Discovers Chiropractic, and Irene's Rave for the Customers Who Never Left. 🧹 Lee's house is, by all objective measures, immaculate. Irene has been trying to understand this for some time. This week she finally asks. What follows is a practical, funny, and useful guide to low-tox cleaning, from the products worth trusting, to the rooms worth prioritising, to the surprising science of why a clean space makes your brain feel safe enough to relax. Justin, meanwhile, has concerns about chiropractors. Specifically, he is not convinced that cracking someone's back constitutes a qualification. Irene has recently seen one. Lee has done her research. Justin gets moved, just a little. And this week the cabin gets a visitor. Tiki, Lee’s friend and the kind of person who turns chaos into calm without appearing to do anything joins Lee and Irene with a question that will resonate with a lot of women: what do you do when you're eating well, you're moving, and nothing is shifting? And Irene has a rave. Not a rant this time. A genuine, heartfelt rave for the customers who found their way back. ✨ In this episode we chat about: 🧹 What's Popping: Virgo-Level Cleaning on a Capricorn Budget • The Cabin Observation: Irene has been to Lee's house almost every week and needs to put something on record. It is immaculate. Not in a Coco Republic showroom way. More like a genuinely-lived-in bohemian fisherman's cottage where every piece of furniture was sourced from a market or a street, and yet the whole thing somehow looks like a magazine. Irene is in awe. She is also terrified to put her coffee cup down. • The Virgo Confession: Lee is a Virgo. She cleans preventatively. Her house never requires a serious intervention because she never lets it get to one. She moonwalks across the kitchen floor in old socks to clean up after dinner. With the Michael Jackson Off the Wall album on. This is not a joke. • The Five-Star Review: Pia gives the show five stars and calls Lee and Irene a 'dynamic duo' who unravel the mixed messaging in wellness media while keeping things interesting, fun and educational. Lee jumps out of her pants. They have two reviews now. They want more. Why Conventional Cleaning Products Are the First Thing to Swap • The Toxin Load Argument: Irene makes a case that if you had to choose just one area of your life to detox, cleaning products would be it. You eat off the surfaces you clean. You breathe the fabrics you wash. Your children crawl on the floor you've just mopped. The synthetic fragrances, antibacterial agents, and endocrine disruptors don't disappear after cleaning, they stay on every surface in the home. • Indoor Air Quality: Studies have suggested that indoor air quality with certain conventional cleaning products can be as toxic as smoking in your home. Ventilation matters. The irony of making your house look beautiful while compromising the air in it is not lost on either of them. • Nicole Bijlsma, Building Biologist: Irene interviewed building biologist Nicole on her podcast over a decade ago. Two things have stayed with her: the number one way to stop toxins entering your house is to take your shoes off at the door (you're tracking glyphosate from footpaths inside), and the cleaning products you use on your surfaces are one of the biggest contributors to indoor toxic load. Nicole later created the cleaning range Abode What to Actually Look For in a Natural Cleaning Product • Cleaning Labels Are Less Regulated Than Cosmetics: Irene notes that regulatory standards for cleaning product labelling appear to be looser than for cosmetics. Brands may not be required to disclose whether fragrance is synthetic or natural. Brand trust matters more here than ingredient scanning. • The Basics to Avoid: Sulphates, parabens, and artificial fragrances are the starting point. But Irene goes further her banned ingredient list at Clean Nectarine extends to things like phenoxyethanol, which many other 'natural' stores still stock. • Plant and Mineral-Based: A useful filter, but not always sufficient on its own. Not all natural formulations perform well on every surface. Testing and brand reputation still matter. The Products Worth Trusting • Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap: Irene's starting recommendation for anyone transitioning away from conventional products or DIY lemon-and-vinegar. One product, multiple surfaces, naturally fragranced with essential oils. Use it on dishes, floors, even your dog. Available in one-litre bottles. A few drops mixed with water covers most of the home. • Ecostore: Available at Woolworths and Coles. Irene used to stock it in her first business. A solid natural range at accessible price points. • Abode: Irene considers this the benchmark for natural cleaning products in Australia. Fragrance-free options available. Was Irene's biggest seller to the Home and Away wardrobe department, whose cast members with eczema couldn't tolerate conventional detergents. Affordable. Does everything from laundry to dishes to soakers. • Koala Eco: Australian-made, certified toxin-free, multiple independent certifications. Naturally fragranced with Australian botanicals including lavender, eucalyptus, and lemon myrtle, all of which have antimicrobial properties. The packaging is beautiful. Irene loves it in the bathroom. Unlike Abode, it actually looks good sitting on a shelf. The Priority Order for Swapping Products • First: Dish Soap. You're eating off what you wash with it. Make the swap here first. • Second: Laundry Detergent. You're breathing it all day through your fabrics. • Third: Dishwasher Tablets. Again, eating off those dishes. Room by Room: Lee's Cleaning Order • The Fridge: Every shelf, every wall, every compartment. Natural all-purpose cleaner for the interior. Half a lemon to absorb odours naturally (or dry coffee grounds, or fresh orange peel, left overnight in a small bowl). Cotton buds or a toothbrush for the door seal folds. Bicarb in the dishwasher, not the fridge. Dry everything properly after. • Windows: White vinegar and water in a spray bottle, buff dry with a lint-free cotton cloth. No streaks, no residue. The newspaper-and-vinegar hack their parents used no longer works, modern newspaper ink is different and can leave residue. The same vinegar and water bottle works on benches, stovetops, and splashbacks. • Bathroom Grout: Bicarb sprinkled directly onto grout, white vinegar sprayed over the top, scrub gently with an old toothbrush, rinse off. The fizzing is the acid and alkaline reacting, it lifts the grime without requiring force. Be gentle with grout. • Floors: Steam mop. No soap required, just water. Lee uses hers regularly on hard floors. For walls, she prefers by hand. • The Washing Machine: One cup of bicarb soda into the drum plus a splash of white vinegar, run a hot cycle, once a month. Dissolves build-up, eliminates the damp smell that transfers to clothes. Also clean the front door seal and the glass door panel, the build-up in the folds is, in Lee's words, staggering. • Dusting: Damp cloth, not a feather duster. Dry dusting just moves particles back into the air where they can remain airborne for days. Work top to bottom. Wash cleaning cloths at over 60 degrees to kill dust mites. • Cutting Boards: Not plastic (microplastics). Wood or glass. Lee uses wood, cleans with Dr. Bronner's and water. For anything requiring proper antibacterial treatment, a plate is a practical alternative. A HEPA filter vacuum handles mould on furniture and other soft surfaces. Dust Mites: What They Are and Why They Matter • What They Are: Microscopic insect-like pests that live in house dust. Invisible to the naked eye. • What They Feed On: Dead skin cells. • Symptoms: Itching, allergies, and asthma. Particularly significant for people with respiratory conditions living in dusty environments. • Their Preferred Environment: Humidity between 70–80 percent. • How to Manage: Damp microfibre cloths for dusting, HEPA filter vacuum, change bedsheets regularly, wash fabrics at over 60 degrees. The Psychology of Cleaning • Cortisol and Control: The act of cleaning actively reduces cortisol and creates a sense of control over your environment. Particularly useful when things feel chaotic. • Behavioural Activation: A concept from psychology. Doing something purposeful and completing it lifts mood. Cleaning is one of the easiest forms of behavioural activation, you can see the before, the after, and the result is immediate and visible. Even one drawer or one bench will shift your mental state. • Irene's Wardrobe Moment: Irene spent the previous evening colour-coordinating her wardrobe after letting it build up for months. She arrived at the recording noticeably calmer. She has decided this was not a coincidence. • Lee's Rule: Clean before you go on a trip so you come home to a clean house. Then clean again when you get back. A clean ordered space tells your brain it is safe to relax. 🧠 Womansplain: Justin and the Chiropractor Question • The Question: Justin cannot take chiropractors seriously. It sounds, he says, like someone monetised their party trick. Cracking your back or your fingers at a party and then expecting a framed certificate for your efforts. He is open to being wrong. • The Pop Has a Name: It is called cavitation. The sound comes from the synovial fluid inside your joints, the lubricating fluid that contains dissolved gases including oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. When the joint moves quickly through its range of motion, a rapid pressure change causes a gas bubble to form and release. That is the pop. An MRI study suggests it is the bubble forming, not collapsing, that creates the sound. Nothing is breaking. Nothing is cracking. It is a gas bubble in fluid. • The Qualifications Are Real: In Australia, chiropractors are registered with AHPRA, the same national body that registers GPs, nurses, and physiotherapists. They complete a five-year university degree. This is not a weekend course with a folding table. • The Evidence for Back Pain Is Solid: Research strongly supports spinal manipulation for musculoskeletal conditions, particularly lower back pain and neck pain. In 2022, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare released a low back pain clinical care standard that formally recognises chiropractors as relevant practitioners alongside GPs and physiotherapists. • The Bigger Claims: Treating asthma, ear infections, immune dysfunction, or colic through spinal adjustment is a different matter. Evidence-based chiropractors focus on musculoskeletal conditions. The profession has a spectrum, and the claims at the fringes are not endorsed by any serious health body. • Justin's Position at End of Segment: He has been moved slightly. He will not be going himself. He does get a pun in ('I'm not going to give it a crack'). The standards remain what they are. 🎤 On Speaker: Tiki on Weight That Won't Shift • The Guest: Tiki. Her superpower, in her own words, is turning chaos into calm. She describes herself as a doer who doesn't get stuck in drama. She organises other people's lives comprehensively and is the last person to look after herself. She is also a Mahjong enthusiast. Justin has to have Mahjong explained to him. • The Question: Tiki is eating well, staying active through incidental movement (dog walking, shopping, cleaning, cooking), and not seeing any change in her body. What does she look at first? Lee's Assessment • Sleep Is the First Place to Look: Tiki admits her sleep has always been disrupted, she gets the hours in bed, but not deep restorative sleep. Phone beside the bed, waking in the night, ruminating, drifting off again. She has accepted this as normal for a busy life. Lee does not want her to accept it as normal. • What Poor Sleep Actually Does: Disrupted sleep increases hunger hormones and reduces leptin (which signals fullness), meaning you can be hungrier and less satisfied from the exact same meals. It also affects insulin sensitivity and energy levels, influencing how the body uses fuel. Poor sleep can quietly make fat loss significantly harder, not because of willpower, but because of physiology. • Stress and Cortisol: Tiki holds everything together for everyone else and is the last person to receive that support in return. Chronic, unrelieved stress is associated with elevated cortisol and, over time, increased abdominal fat storage. This is particularly common in midlife and is not about willpower, it is about what the body is adapting to. • Incidental Exercise Has Value: Lee doesn't dismiss Tiki's daily movement. Dog walking, shopping, housework, and general activity provide a solid base for mobility and cardiovascular health. The gap is structured strength training, a few weight or bodyweight sessions a week to build muscle and support metabolism. • Protein: Around 100 grams per day is a useful target for active women in midlife, roughly 30 grams per meal. Most people underestimate how far short they fall. Three days of tracking is enough to get an accurate picture. Protein supports fullness, muscle maintenance, and efficient energy use. Lee's Three Things for Tiki to Focus on This Week • 1. Treat Sleep as Non-Negotiable. Consistent timing, a sleep routine, and yes, the phone in another room or at least off the bedside table. • 2. Add Some Structure to Movement. Keep the dog walks and incidental activity as the base. Add two or three strength-based or bodyweight sessions to support recovery and metabolism. • 3. Track Protein for Three Days. Not forever. Just long enough to see the gap between what you think you're eating and what you're actually eating. Most people are surprised. ✨ Rave: Irene and the Customers Who Found Their Way Back • The Rave: Irene cannot believe her customers. After selling her first business, Nourished Life, to BWX, and eventually go into liquidation, Irene started again with Clean Nectarine. A completely new business, a new URL, years later. And her original customers came back. The same people who had been burned by BWX. The ones who had stopped receiving their orders, whose trust had been broken by a company Irene no longer ran. They found her again. • Why She Thinks They Came Back: Not, Irene is quick to clarify, purely because they love her. She thinks they came back because nobody else is doing what she does. They're not looking for fake natural. They don't want to scan every ingredient at the health food store and wonder which ones have slipped through. They want one destination they can trust completely. That's what she built. That's why they're back. • Fifteen Years of the Same Names: Irene recognises the names. Customers who bought from her out of her garage in 2011 and 2012 are now ordering again through Clean Nectarine. People ordering Lee's Love Your Gut powder through Irene's store, just like they did in 2013. • The Lesson: Great products and genuine trust are longer than any business disruption. People remember who fought for them. 📝 Lee's Nutritionist Nerd Notes: Episode 11 Mentions Low-Tox Cleaning: The Science Behind the Swap • VOCs in Cleaning Products: Many conventional cleaning products emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) including formaldehyde, benzene, and acetaldehyde. Indoor VOC concentrations can reach levels significantly higher than outdoors. Studies have likened chronic exposure from cleaning products to the equivalent respiratory impact of smoking in the home. • Endocrine Disruptors in Common Cleaners: Triclosan (antibacterial agent), synthetic musks, phthalates (used to fix fragrance), and nonylphenol ethoxylates (surfactants) are all classified as potential or confirmed endocrine disruptors. They do not dissipate after use — residue remains on cleaned surfaces and accumulates in indoor dust. • Surface Absorption and Dermal Exposure: Cleaning product residue on food-contact surfaces (bench tops, dishes, cutting boards) can transfer to food and be ingested. Residue on floors is a particular concern for infants and young children who spend time on the floor. Dermal absorption through hand contact with recently cleaned surfaces is also a documented exposure route. • Essential Oils as Functional Antimicrobials: Lavender, eucalyptus, lemon myrtle, and tea tree essential oils have documented antimicrobial, antifungal, and antiviral activity. These properties support their use as functional rather than merely cosmetic fragrance ingredients in cleaning products. • HEPA Filtration: High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters are mechanical air filters capable of trapping 99.97% of particles 0.3 microns or larger. In vacuum cleaners, HEPA filtration captures mould spores, dust mites, pet dander, and fine particulate matter that standard filters allow back into the air. Recommended for anyone with allergies, asthma, or visible mould. Dust Mites: Clinical Context • Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and D. farinae: The two most common household dust mite species. Microscopic arachnids, not insects. They do not bite. Allergic reactions are triggered by proteins in their excrement and shed body parts, not the mites themselves. • Allergen Exposure and Asthma: House dust mite allergy is one of the most common triggers for allergic asthma and rhinitis globally. The Der p 1 and Der p 2 proteins are major allergens. Reducing dust mite load through regular washing of bedding at above 60 degrees Celsius, HEPA vacuuming, and low humidity environments (below 50%) is evidence-based for symptom management. Chiropractic: What the Evidence Actually Shows • Cavitation: The technical term for the sound produced during spinal or joint manipulation. Caused by the formation of a gas bubble in the synovial fluid within the joint capsule due to rapid pressure change. A 2015 MRI study (Kawchuk et al.) confirmed it is bubble formation, not collapse, that produces the audible event. The sound is not an indicator of therapeutic effect and is irrelevant to clinical outcome. • Musculoskeletal Evidence Base: Multiple systematic reviews and meta-analyses support spinal manipulation for acute and chronic lower back pain, neck pain, and some types of headache. The evidence is most robust for low back pain. The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare's 2022 Low Back Pain Clinical Care Standard formally includes chiropractic as part of recommended care. • AHPRA Registration: Chiropractors are registered health practitioners in Australia under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law. The Chiropractic Board of Australia, under AHPRA, sets standards of practice, continuing education, and professional conduct requirements consistent with other registered health professions. • The Subluxation Model: Traditional chiropractic is based on the concept of vertebral subluxations (spinal misalignments) affecting nerve function and systemic health. The evidence base for systemic health claims beyond musculoskeletal conditions, including claims related to immune function, ear infections, or organ disease, is not supported by current research. Evidence-based chiropractors do not make these claims. Sleep, Appetite Hormones, and Weight • Ghrelin and Leptin Disruption: Sleep deprivation is consistently associated with increased ghrelin (appetite-stimulating hormone) and decreased leptin (satiety hormone). This produces a state of increased hunger and reduced satisfaction from food, independent of caloric intake. • Insulin Sensitivity: Even partial sleep restriction (6 hours versus 8 hours) is associated with measurable reductions in insulin sensitivity, impairing the body's ability to use glucose efficiently and increasing fat storage tendency. • Cortisol and Abdominal Fat: Chronic stress elevates cortisol. Sustained cortisol elevation promotes visceral (abdominal) fat storage, increases appetite (particularly for energy-dense foods), and reduces the effectiveness of

Episode 10: Mason Taylor on Mushrooms & the Ancient Art of Not Falling Apart, Justin is in a Bit of a Pickle, and Irene's Forever Rant About Forever Chemicals. 🍄 This week, the cabin gets a very special guest. Mason Taylor, founder of SuperFeast, Daoist philosophy devotee, and quite possibly the most passionate man alive on the subject of medicinal mushrooms, joins Lee and Irene for what may be the most downloaded episode yet Mason takes us through the ancient Chinese three-treasure system of Jing, Chi, and Shen and why your goal should never be immortality, but rather arriving at elderhood with your full self intact. He breaks down the difference between a therapeutic mushroom product and a glorified chocolate powder, explains why Tremella made Irene's skin look extraordinary, and reveals the underground Australian fungi nobody's talking about yet. Justin, meanwhile, wants to know if 2008 pickled onion brine counts as a sports supplement. And Irene has a rant-slash-rave about France's forever chemicals ban and why the brands who quietly reformulated their products are not getting the standing ovation they were hoping for. ✨ In this episode we chat about: 🍄 What's Popping: Welcome to the Secret Cabin • The Cabin Guest Situation: Mason Taylor arrives, giving Justin cause for what Lee generously describes as 'wariness' and what is more accurately described as side teeth and a low growl. There is room for more than one man in the cabin. Deep breaths, everyone. • Mason Taylor Introduction: Founder of SuperFeast, mushroom maven, Daoist, and the man whose original podcast episode with Irene over nine years ago remains her most downloaded ever. He has come all the way from Byron Bay. • Mushroom Pun Cap: Three puns maximum. They exceeded this before Mason even sat down. 🌿 What's Popping Deep Dive: Mason Taylor on Daoism, Mushrooms & the Three Treasures Daoist Philosophy & Longevity • The Dao (Taoism): An ancient philosophy for moving through life more synergistically with people and the world. Mason describes it as 'real deep personal development, frameworks so life happens a little more smoothly.' • Longevity ≠ Immortality: The goal isn't to live forever. The goal is to arrive at elderhood with enough vitality that you've done your work, tackled new projects, contributed to community, and refined yourself, without projecting unprocessed baggage onto everyone around you. • The Real Question: As Mason puts it: Does the world really need David Asbury forever? He only cares that this podcast beats his on the Australian charts. It will, after this. The Three Treasures: Jing, Chi & Shen • Jing (Foundational Essence): Your superannuation of vitality. Bones, sex drive, the ability to age without degenerating early. Think of it as the ship. If you're burning the candle at both ends, you're leaking Jing. • Chi (Vitality): The crew that runs the ship. Your capacity to integrate life, mobilise yourself, animate the machine of your body. Diet, breathwork, doing work that generates charge. • Shen (Spirit/Mind): The cargo. The culmination of your personality, your mind, the refined diamond of who you are. The goal: protect it through the journey so your wisdom is fully intact in old age. • Cultivating vs Leaking: You are always doing one or the other. Any practice, herb, work, or lifestyle choice either cultivates your treasures or leaks them. This is the core Taoist health question. SuperFeast A Purpose-Driven Organisation • Built from Six Moments: Mason mapped six 'lightning strike' moments across his life that gave birth to SuperFeast, not for public branding, but as an internal compass. Every product, strategy, and company virtue derives from them objectively. • The Purpose Statement: To dramatically lower disease and degeneration, creating superhumans who may enter into the realms of elderhood. • The Business-Dao Wrestling Match: Mason openly wrestles with the tension between commercial and contemplative. His resolution: build the organisation like an ecosystem. Integrate all tiers, animism, hierarchy, flat family structure before graduating to an autonomous, purpose-driven one. • Getting Back in the CEO Chair: Mason is currently back at the helm, reviewing marketing strategy to realign it with SuperFeast's founding essence. The Superior Herbs: A 2,000-Year-Old Framework • The Shen Nong Ben Xiao Jing: The Divine Farmer's Materia Medica one of the founding texts of Chinese medicine. It identified a handful of superior herbs; Reishi, Ginseng, Rehmannia, Goji, Schizandra, Eucommia Bark, Astragalus and specified not just which herbs, but exactly which microclimate conditions were required for them to carry their therapeutic treasure. • The Herbs and What They Do: These aren't symptom-treatment herbs. They're taken over a long period to protect the treasure of the body and prevent degeneration. The earlier you start, the more constitutional shifting you do. • Why They Work: These herbs are adaptogenic, they intelligently restore regulation in the body. Think of them as 'little friends' that come in and help the body find its own balance, rather than forcing a pharmacological outcome. Irene's Personal Mushroom Story • Nine or so years ago, Irene had Mason on her first podcast. It was her most downloaded episode. She started taking Jing and Tremella. The difference in how she felt and looked was, in her words, 'unexplainable.' She has since lost her way (largely due to selling a business, stress, and the natural chaos of life) and is now deeply, publicly committed to starting again. • Tremella and Skin: Irene describes eating it 'by the tablespoon' and never looking so good. She is emphatic: this was not placebo. It shone from the inside out. • The Plateau Question: When you stop feeling a big effect, that's not a sign the herb has stopped working. It may mean you've done the constitutional shifting it was bridging. Next move: dose up, or pivot to another formula for a different season. • The Wrong Time to Stop: The most stressful, depleting moments of your life are precisely when you should be ramping up, not stopping. Mason's rule: when you're hammering your body, that's when these allies matter most. Lion's Mane: The Neuroscience Catches Up • Mason's Mother's Stroke Recovery: Mason used Lion's Mane during his mother's stroke recovery at a time when it was considered extremely fringe. She has now made what some doctors call a miraculous and Mason calls a practical recovery. • The Research Has Arrived: Lion's Mane is now being studied as a primary neuroprotective agent. The science has caught up with what Daoist herbalists knew centuries ago. • Why It Exploded: The fear of neurodegeneration is visceral. Watching a loved one lose their mind is one of the great fears of our time. Whoever was 'doing the branding' for Lion's Mane in the Taoist immortal realms, Mason says, absolutely nailed it. • The 2-Minute Noodle Problem: Mason's term for venture capitalist brands that spot a market gap and add a token amount of Lion's Mane extract to a gummy or chocolate. He is visibly pained. Particularly when people with serious diagnoses, MS, immune deficiencies, reach for the quick, cheap version because they don't have time to research. How to Know You're Getting the Real Thing • Look for Fruiting Body: Not mycelium grown on grain. The fruiting body is what has the therapeutic compounds. Check the label. • Look for Extract: You want the mushroom to have been extracted (as in a traditional tea or tincture process), not just whole-ground dried mushroom. If the label shows 'herb equivalency', it may just be whole ground product. • Wood-Grown: Mushrooms should be grown on wood, not grain substrate. Organic certification is a reasonable starting filter, but SuperFeast operates beyond organic, testing for way more pesticides and heavy metals than required, to standards exceeding US and Australian organic certifications. • Trust Through Time: Mason has been doing this since 2011, shows up everywhere, and has never had to change a product due to a quality or integrity issue. He started at markets where mothers would return after three months and tell him directly if something didn't work. That accountability never left. • TGA Listed: SuperFeast is now TGA-listed as a registered medicine in Australia, which Mason notes is an almost impossibly expensive and opaque process for a small company, but gives independent credibility to the therapeutic claims. • The Supply Chain: SuperFeast's herbs and mushrooms come from small, obscure farms in remote mountain regions, far from any industrial zone. Mason visits them. They are not mass production. Wild harvesting is used when responsible; when an herb approaches unsustainable harvesting levels, they move to growing in wild-simulating conditions five years ahead of when it becomes a problem. Psychedelics vs Functional Mushrooms • The Line: Clear to most people now. Functional/tonic mushrooms are non-psychedelic, legal, accessible, and taken for cultivation and long-term vitality. Psychedelic mushrooms are a separate category. • Where They Overlap: Mason is a sponsor of MIND Medicine Australia, which runs psychedelic-assisted therapy training. SuperFeast supplies mushrooms to graduates specifically for integration, using Lion's Mane, Cordyceps, Chaga and Reishi to help the body and nervous system process and recover from deep psychedelic or shamanic work. • Jing for the Deep Dive: If you don't have the foundational Jing energy to undergo a deep dive, spiritual, psychedelic, or otherwise, Mason recommends getting on Jing herbs first to build the reserves you need to do that work without depleting yourself. The Underground & Emerging Mushrooms of 2026 • Tiger Milk Mushroom: Not widely known outside Singapore, where most of the research has been conducted. Offers an interesting new pathway to immunity. Worth watching. • Cordyceps Gunnii (Australian Native): A native Australian cordyceps found in Tasmania and Victoria. Grows on the snow moth caterpillar and turns it inside out into a mushroom. Being wild-harvested by small Australian mycologists and appearing at specialist markets. Mason encourages supporting these producers. • Ganoderma Applanatum (Artist's Conch): Gaining serious attention in oncology research. Endemic in both Australia and China. Mason expects it to become a significant area of therapeutic focus. • Australian Adaptogens: Mason is enthusiastic about the growing attention to native Australian varieties, noting that while Australian indigenous medicine was not documented and systematised in the same way as Chinese medicine, the knowledge exists and deserves respect and support. Personalised Recommendations from Mason • For Everyone Starting Out: Begin with Jing to see whether you have a gap and leakage in that kidney-water foundational system. Take it for 2–3 months, especially going into winter. • For Irene (and women who have 'graduated' from Jing): I AM Gaia, SuperFeast's women's regulatory blend. Blood-building, blood-invigorating, uterine toning, and relevant across the whole female lifecycle from teen to post-menopause. • For Everyone (daily baseline): Mason's Mushrooms, eight mushrooms in one formula. Add to coffee, chai, smoothies, or soups. Heat-stable. Consistent daily intake is what matters. Do it for 2–3 months going into winter and watch what happens to immunity. • Tremella as Bonus: The 'dessert' mushroom. Yin-nourishing, lung and stomach tonic. Acts like hyaluronic acid, carries 500 times its molecular weight in hydration and delivers it through the lung to the skin. Radiance from the inside out. Irene will be eating it by the tablespoon again. • Schizandra Berry (Ancient Beauty Elixir): The five-flavour fruit, hits sweet, sour, astringent and more. A yin tonic, liver herb, and beauty elixir in one. Takes all the organs and brings them into song and harmony. A different kind of radiance from Tremella. Even more famous as a beauty herb. • Silica + Tremella Combo: Mason and Lee both flag the synergy between silica (which Lee and Irene have just launched) and Tremella for skin beautification from the inside. How to Take Mushroom Powders • They are heat-stable. You would have to hard boil them for a very long time to damage the therapeutics. You can add them to boiling water, stir into tea, blend into smoothies, mix into soups or savoury mince. • Schizandra is better in drinks than food. Mason's Mushrooms powder can go in the spag bol. • Stop thinking of these as supplements. Think of them as a herbal practice. Once they're integrated into your daily rhythm, in your coffee, in your chai, they become invisible and consistent. • Capsules are available for those who can't do powder. Consistency is everything. • The Tremella Raw Dog: Teaspoon straight from the jar, directly into the mouth. Mason's suggestion. A perfectly viable method. The Much Love Program • SuperFeast runs a program where anyone going through a serious diagnosis or extremely difficult circumstances can reach out to receive complimentary mushroom products. The pun in the name makes Mason roll his eyes, even though he came up with it. 🥒 Womansplain: Justin & the Pickle Juice Question • The Question: Justin has been watching footy and noticing that athletes keep chugging pickle juice. His friend Bustin (of gut-girth fame from Episode 7) is reportedly at 43% adherence to Lee and Irene's previous recommendations. Bustin is walking, playing tennis, going to the gym, and people have 'remarked on his shred.' Justin has been told, firmly, not to say 'shred' again. • The Science of Pickle Juice for Cramps: There is a famous study in sports science where athletes were given pickle juice mid-cramp. The cramping stopped in approximately 85 seconds; significantly faster than water alone. • The Surprise Finding: It works too fast to be about electrolytes absorbing. Electrolyte absorption takes longer. What researchers now believe is happening: the vinegar triggers a neurological reflex in the throat and stomach that tells the misfiring nerves to calm down. It's a nerve reset, not just a salt top-up. • The Electrolytes Are Still There: Sodium and potassium. For people sweating heavily during physical exertion, it does replenish what's lost. The key phrase being: 'during physical exertion.' • Justin's Situation: As a sedentary sports viewer rather than sports doer, his electrolyte situation during the match is, in Lee's assessment, probably fine. A glass of water and some nuts will see him through. • The 2008 Jar: Justin has a jar of pickled onions from 2008 in his fridge. Pickling is a preservation method, so technically it may still be viable. The consensus is to retire it. • Night Cramps: Pickle juice is a legitimate remedy for that 2am cramp that makes you leap out of bed feeling tasered. • PMS Cramps: Irene raises the question of whether it may help with period cramps given its muscle relaxant properties. The science is not yet there but the curiosity is noted. • Irene's Pickle Love: She is enthusiastic about all pickles. Bread and butter. Sweet chilli. Sour. New York deli style. Large. Small. She will take the pickle from your burger if you don't want it. She has a cucumber salad and adds pickles. She is aware that pickles are cucumbers. She does not care. ✨ Rant (and Rave): Irene on Forever Chemicals, France, and the Quiet Reformulation • The Rave: France has banned PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, 'forever chemicals', think Teflon and similar compounds) in cosmetic and beauty care products. This ban came into effect in January 2026. • What Are Forever Chemicals? PFAS are synthetic chemicals used in many long-lasting beauty formulations, particularly foundations and waterproof products for their durability, texture, and film-forming properties. They are called 'forever chemicals' because they do not break down in the environment or in the human body and accumulate over time. • The Quiet Reformulation: Estée Lauder Double Wear, one of the most beloved long-wear foundations in the world has been reformulated. TikTok and Instagram are currently flooded with side-by-side comparisons, with creators noting changes in finish, formula, and feel. Almost nobody is asking why it was reformulated. The answer, Irene argues, is the French ban. • The Waterproof Mascara Wave: Clinique and other brands with long-wear or waterproof formulas have also quietly reformulated. Waterproof products were among the highest-PFAS categories in beauty. • The Rant: These brands have had these chemicals in their products for years, in some cases, decades. They did not remove them out of passion for their customers' health. They removed them because they were legally required to. Irene is clear that this distinction matters, even if the outcome (cleaner products) is positive. • The Media Silence: There is no mainstream coverage of this on Channel 7, Channel 9, or the major news outlets. No equivalent of the TGA sunscreen saga. Nobody appears to want to upset Estée Lauder. Irene regrets nothing she has said. • The Silver Lining: Because these brands are global, the cleaner reformulation has rolled out worldwide including to Australian consumers, even though Australia has not banned PFAS in cosmetics. The French regulation has effectively improved products for everyone. • Still Worth Scrutinising: Even the reformulated products are not clean beauty. Silicones and other questionable ingredients remain. But the removal of PFAS is a meaningful step, even if it was reactionary rather than principled. 📝 Lee's Nutritionist Nerd Notes: Episode 10 Mentions The Three Treasures: TCM Framework • Jing: In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jing is considered the foundational essence stored in the kidneys. Pre-natal Jing (inherited) and post-natal Jing (replenished through food, herbs, rest, and lifestyle) govern constitutional vitality, reproductive health, bone density, hair, and the rate of ageing. • Chi (Qi): The vital energy that circulates through meridians and animates all physiological processes. Influenced by food, breath, movement, emotional state, and environment. • Shen: Often translated as spirit or mind. In Chinese medicine, the Shen resides in the Heart and governs mental clarity, emotional wellbeing, sleep quality, and presence. A calm, bright Shen is considered a sign of good health and cultivation. Adaptogenic Herbs & Medicinal Mushrooms • What Makes a Superior Herb? The Shen Nong Ben Xiao Jing (Divine Farmer's Materia Medica, ~200 CE) categorised herbs into three classes. Superior herbs; Reishi, Ginseng, Rehmannia, Schizandra, Astragalus, Goji Berry are tonic herbs taken long-term, non-toxic at any dose, and purported to restore balance across multiple body systems. • Adaptogens: A modern term (coined by Soviet pharmacologist Nikolai Lazarev in 1947) for compounds that help the body adapt to physical and psychological stress without disrupting normal physiology. Key adaptogenic mushrooms include Reishi, Lion's Mane, Chaga, Cordyceps, and Turkey Tail. • Beta-Glucans: The primary active immunomodulatory compounds in medicinal mushrooms. These polysaccharides bind to receptors on immune cells (NK cells, macrophages, dendritic cells) and help regulate immune response supporting it when suppressed, calming it when overactive. • Fruiting Body vs Mycelium: The fruiting body (the visible mushroom above ground) contains significantly higher concentrations of beta-glucans and other bioactive compounds than the mycelium grown on grain substrate. Whole-grain mycelium products have been shown to contain high levels of starch filler from the grain medium. • Extraction Matters: Many beneficial compounds in mushrooms (particularly beta-glucans and triterpenes) require hot water or dual extraction (hot water + alcohol) to become bioavailable. A whole dried and ground mushroom powder, while containing these compounds, is less bioavailable than a properly extracted product. Li

Episode 9: Irene’s Everything Shower, Justin Tries to Win Over a One-Eyed Cat, and Lee Can’t Liver Without This. 🍯 This week Irene finally reveals one of her most beloved and guarded rituals, the Everything Shower. Not a quick rinse. Not your standard weekday wash. A full Sunday reset from dermaplaning in the 4 o’clock light to sitting on the shower floor surrounded by essential oil steam. She walks us through every step, every product, and every reason why she believes this one weekly ritual does more for her face, hair, skin and sanity than any day spa visit ever could. Hosts Lee Holmes and Irene Falcone swap notes on shower playlists, bathroom aromatherapy, oil hair masking, dry body brushing, sulphate-free shampoos, natural body scrubs, magnesium creams and the great shower filter debate. Then Justin brings us a very pressing relationship concern involving his neighbour’s one-eyed, toothless street cat, Pirate. And Lee wraps the episode with a rave about the one supplement she says she couldn’t live without. ✨ In this episode we chat about: 🚶‍♀️ What’s Popping: Autumn Rhythms & Rebuilding from Scratch • Lee’s Garden Update: After proper overnight rain, not polite drizzle, every plant in Lee’s Palm Beach garden is outrageously happy. Even the tractor seat plants are standing to attention. • Embracing Autumn: Irene’s reframe this year was to stop thinking of autumn as sad and actually lean in. Lee agrees: autumn in Palm Beach is her favourite season, with better parking, quieter streets and golden air. • Listener Love: A beautiful message from Kim, who discovered the podcast via Episode 6 and says the sticky chai recipe has already become one of her most treasured ritual recipes and she ended with eight kisses. • Irene’s World: Rebuilding Clean Nectarine from scratch, new staff, new stock, and a very anticipated Thelma and Louise convertible drive down to Palm Beach with the top down. (Lee is Louise. Scarf already on.) 🚿 What’s Popping Deep Dive: The Everything Shower • Why a Shower Is So Much More Than Cleaning: Irene makes the case that the shower is one of the most underrated wellness spaces in the home. You step in carrying the day (or the whole week) on your shoulders and step out having literally washed it away. • The Sunday Reset Ritual: Irene’s Everything Shower is a weekly Sunday ritual, starting at 4pm to catch the best light in the house. It takes around an hour from start to finish and she considers it equivalent to a facial, a body treatment and a mental reset combined. • Creative Clarity in the Shower: Lee’s shower has its own Spotify playlist (today featuring Gary Numan and Willow). Irene uses hers to solve problems, including the famous story of the shower that made her delete a proposal to work for free for her old business, and instead start Clean Nectarine from scratch. ✨ The Everything Shower: Step by Step STEP 1: Dermaplaning / Face Shaving (Pre-Shower, 4pm) • Why 4pm: Best natural light in Irene’s house. Good light is non-negotiable for face shaving. • How to Dermaplane at Home: Use a dermaplane blade on completely dry skin. No water, no oil (for this version). Remove all peach fuzz and any stray chin hairs. Do eyebrows at the same time. • The Myth: Hair does NOT grow back thicker. It grows back exactly as it was before. Full stop. • Frequency: Once a week. Irene sells the blades and has done a face shaving demonstration on her Instagram. • Skip the TikTok Spray Trends: Those shaving cream sprays going viral? Whatever they are, they’re being inhaled through the nasal passage. Hard pass. STEP 2: Hair Oiling (Pre-Shower, alongside Step 1) • The Oil to Use: Irene uses a hair oil with rosemary in it. Rosemary is well-researched for hair growth. Castor oil is another excellent option for thickness. Irene is currently using a Vanessa Megan argan oil blend. • Two Types of Hair Oil (important distinction): ◦ Wash-out oils (what we’re using here): Designed to be massaged into the scalp and lengths and washed out. Yes, they make hair greasy. That’s the point. ◦ Finishing serums/oils: Applied to dry or damp hair after washing for frizz control. Completely different product. Don’t confuse them at Mecca or Sephora. • Ayurvedic Hair Oiling: In Ayurveda, different oils suit different constitutions. Coconut is moisturising for damaged hair. Sesame suits Vata types. Brahmi stimulates growth for thinning hair. Neem helps with dandruff and scalp irritation. • How to Apply: Section the hair and massage oil into the scalp and all the way to the ends. Wrap in a warm towel. Leave at least 30 minutes before showering. • For Fine or Limp Hair: Use brahmi, castor oil, and rosemary. Yes, it will feel greasy going in. It washes out. This is what builds thickness over time. STEP 3: Dry Body Brushing (Pre-Shower, while hair oil soaks in) • Why: Lymphatic drainage, circulation, exfoliation, skin-smoothing, reduced appearance of cellulite. You can actually feel a buzz while doing it. • How to Brush: Always brush toward the heart in long strokes, starting from the feet upward. Great for the back of the arms if you have keratosis pilaris (those little bumps). • Brush Choice: Irene’s current brush is a medium bristle (softer than the original cactus-bristle UK brand she used to sell). Soft enough to go a little harder, but don’t scratch yourself. • How Often: Ideally more than once a week, but once a week as part of the Everything Shower works perfectly. Do it on dry skin only, never after shaving. • Cleaning Your Brush: Tap it out, give it a wash with warm water and a little Dr Bronner’s peppermint soap, then leave it in the sun to dry (not in the bathroom, or it goes mouldy). Wash every week or fortnight. • Face Brushing: Some battery-operated face massager tools exist for lymphatic work on the face. Irene uses one with small dots. Do this at the same time as body brushing. STEP 4: The Shower Itself • Shower Filter: Non-negotiable. Chlorine in the steam is inhaled directly into the lungs and can make hair go brassy and cause skin itching. A vitamin C-based shower filter neutralises chlorine. They’re cheap and easy to install. ◦ Bonus hack: Put chewable vitamin C tablets in a pantyhose sock and drop it in your bath to neutralise chlorine in the water. Irene tested it. It works. • Essential Oils: Add a few drops to the bottom of the shower (not directly on skin). Irene loves lemon myrtle and eucalyptus. Lee loves lavender, rose, and peppermint. Endota’s certified organic spa blends (patchouli, ylang ylang, etc.) are a great shortcut for that day-spa-at-home smell. Check they’re the certified organic ones. • Temperature: Irene has hers so hot she sits on the shower floor. Steam opens pores, softens skin, and clears airways. Lee loves the steam for creativity and idea generation. • The Shower Cream: Irene’s current hero is the Weleda Rose Shower Cream. Completely natural and certified. The scent is so potent and beautiful that Irene’s husband used the entire tube without permission. She is still annoyed. • Weleda also makes a range of other shower creams — citrus, skin food scent and others. Link in show notes. STEP 5: Shampoo • Frequency: Irene washes her hair every two weeks. Lee washes hers once a week. If you wash daily, your scalp will adjust to weekly washing within a few weeks. • Must Be: Sulphate-free AND silicone-free. Watch for dimethicone or cyclomethicone on ingredient lists, they’re silicones that slip under the radar in ‘natural’ brands. • Irene’s Favourite: 100% Pure Sour Cherry Clarifying Shampoo. Smells like actual cherry, cleans thoroughly even after heavy oiling, and is believed to have some chlorine-neutralising properties. Makes hair feel genuinely clean without stripping. • Other Good Options: Vanessa Megan and Mukti do great shampoos for shorter or fine hair. • Lather at least 3 times after the oil treatment to fully remove the product. • Cold Rinse: A final cold rinse makes hair 10x shinier. Irene knows it works. She also knows she’s not going to do it. STEP 6: Conditioner • Rule: Mid-lengths to ends only. Never on the scalp. For fine or oily-root hair this is especially important, conditioner on roots creates build-up and weight. • For thick hair: Same rule applies. Thick hair tends to have naturally healthy roots that don’t need conditioning. STEP 7: Body Scrub (Not on Everything Shower day — but worth knowing) • Irene skips the scrub on Everything Shower day because dry body brushing has done the job. She scrubs in the daily shower instead. • Best Natural Scrub: Three Warriors body scrub made for fake tan removal but extraordinary on everyone. Irene thinks it’s made with Tasmanian olive oil and pink sea salt. Available at Clean Nectarine. • DIY Alternative: You can make this yourself. Sea salt + olive oil. Or try the Ayurvedic way: ground lentils rubbed onto the face and body. Irene met a woman in India doing this whose skin was the most extraordinary she’d ever seen. • Lee’s Bonus DIY Mask: Ripe banana + yoghurt on the face. The enzymes in banana and the probiotics in yoghurt can genuinely make skin glow before a big event. • (Frank Body coffee scrub also a solid option, available from Mecca and Sephora.) STEP 8: Post-Shower Body Oil • Apply body oil to damp (not dry) skin immediately after turning off the shower. Pat yourself off but don’t fully dry oil absorbs better into damp skin. • Massage it in properly (this is an Ayurvedic technique traditionally done before the shower Irene does it after). Tap off the excess with a towel. • Budget option: Coconut oil, sesame oil, or olive oil work perfectly. Irene uses whichever beautiful body oil she’s loving from her store at the time. STEP 9: Magnesium • Irene’s Pick 1: Elektra Magnesium (food grade, in the blue packet). A handful in the bath is incredible. You can also dissolve some in water and drink it. • Irene’s Pick 2: Moo Goo Magnesium Cream (purple tube). Completely unscented, non-greasy, absorbs like a beautiful moisturiser. Irene rubbed it on her 15-year-old’s legs for growing pains. They both fell asleep within 15 minutes. She will say this until the cows come home. • Magnesium oil is also available but Irene prefers the creams for the texture and absorption. 🌿 A Note on Ingredients • Irene’s rule of thumb: If a product has more than 10 ingredients and you can’t pronounce them, put it back. • Triclosan: Was a common ingredient in soaps that has now been banned in Australia for general consumer products. You only need to check for it in pharmacy-grade products for specific skin conditions. No longer a concern for everyday shopping. • Essential Oils Safety: Never apply undiluted essential oils directly to skin unless experienced. Always dilute in a carrier oil. A few drops at the bottom of the shower or in a diffuser with water is safe. Don’t add undiluted oils to bath water; they don’t disperse evenly and can cause irritation (and may stain a stone bath purple). 🐈 Womansplain: Justin Tries to Win Over a One-Eyed Cat (approx. 01:02:00) • The Situation: Justin’s neighbour’s cat, Pirate, is a one-eyed, toothless former street cat who has survived considerable hardship. He visits Justin’s flat but largely avoids meaningful connection. • The Complication: Oscar the dog (on a month-on, month-off schedule) is also in the picture. Pirate likely perceives Oscar as a threat. • Lee’s Cat Insight: Stop making direct eye contact. Prolonged eye contact is a threat signal in cat communication. Greet Pirate with a slow blink instead, the cat equivalent of a handshake. • Irene’s Cat Insight: Cats love being around you but on their own terms. Create a calm environment with sunlight. Don’t chase connection. Let it come. • The Boy-Cat Rule: Apparently boy cats prefer girl humans and girl cats prefer men. Justin may simply not be Pirate’s type. • Nutrition as Love Language: Feed Pirate consistently. Kangaroo mince (human grade, from Coles) is high protein, lean, and rich in iron, zinc, B12 and omega-3s. A tip from Shay at Black Chicken Remedy who is also a noted cat person. • The Strategy: Month off Oscar = full charm offensive. Feed, soft voice, slow blinks, no eye contact. Justin’s aim is to make it to Bosun. He’s not expecting First Mate. • Side mission: Irene’s cat Trixie Belle uses the actual toilet (girl cat, aims true). She also sits at the family dinner table. She hasn’t spoken yet but the year is young. • Bonus: Justin received the Kora Organics Noni Glow Face Oil from Irene (following up from the grooming episode). He now understands what a jojoba is. Approximately. ✨ Rant (or Rave!): Lee on Beef Liver — Nature’s Multivitamin (approx. 01:25:00) • The Rave: Beef liver in freeze-dried capsule form . If Lee could take one supplement for the rest of her life, this would be it. Unequivocally. • Why It’s Different: This is not a supplement. It’s food. Whole food in a capsule form, with nothing added and nothing removed. • The Nutrient Profile (nothing comes close, weight for weight): ◦ Highest concentration of B12 of any food in existence ◦ Real retinol (actual Vitamin A, not the precursor your body has to convert) ◦ Haem iron absorbs at a completely different rate to plant-based iron ◦ Folate, copper, CoQ10 (mitochondrial energy), choline (brain), zinc (skin and immunity), selenium (thyroid), riboflavin (energy metabolism) ◦ Complete amino acid profile for muscle repair and gut lining integrity • Lee’s Personal Story: After gut ulceration from long-term NSAID use, her small intestine, where B12 and iron absorb was severely compromised. After two years of research, she developed her freeze-dried grass-fed beef liver capsules. Transformational for her energy, skin and brain. • Irene’s Testimonial: Can walk up Lee’s stairs again. Felt the difference noticeably. Now thinks about it differently since learning about the skin and anti-ageing benefits of real Vitamin A. • What to Look For on the Label: ◦ One ingredient: freeze-dried grass-fed beef liver ◦ No excipients, no fillers, no binders, no flowing agents ◦ No smell if freeze-dried correctly ◦ Can be taken as capsules or emptied into smoothies (no taste) • The Beef (the rant part): Expensive multivitamins with long ingredient lists deliver a fraction of what this single ingredient delivers. Don’t spend more for less. • Lee’s Grandma Reminder: Our grandmothers forced us to eat it on weeknights with a look that left no room for negotiation. They were onto something. The capsule just means you can leave the table in seconds. 📝 Lee’s Nutritionist Nerd Notes: Episode 9 Mentions 📌 Episode 9 Links Supercharged Food — Lee Holmes Supercharge Your Gut — Lee’s Products Clean Nectarine — Irene Falcone Beef Liver Lee’s Love Your Gut Diatomaceous Earth powder Weleda Rose Shower Cream 100% Pure Sour Cherry Clarifying Shampoo Three Warriors Body Scrub Elektra Magnesium MooGoo Magnesium Cream Kora Organics Noni Glow Face Oil Vanessa Megan Hair Oils Mukti Organics Endota Certified Organic Essential Oil Blends Dr Bronner’s Peppermint Soap Black Chicken Remedies The Everything Shower: Ingredients & Tools • Dermaplaning blade (with light): Available via Irene’s Instagram / Clean Nectarine. Do on dry skin in good light, once a week. • Hair Oils for Growth: Rosemary oil (most researched), castor oil, brahmi. Wash-out style, not finishing serum. • Vanessa Megan Argan Oil: Irene’s current hair oil pick. • 100% Pure Sour Cherry Clarifying Shampoo: Irene’s top pick for thorough cleansing without sulphates or silicones. • Weleda Rose Shower Cream: Irene’s hero shower product. Certified natural, intensely fragrant, creamy. • Three Warriors Body Scrub: Best natural scrub pick; Tasmanian olive oil and pink sea salt. Available at Clean Nectarine. • Dry Body Brush: Brush toward the heart, starting from feet. On dry skin only. Not on face. Clean weekly. • Shower Filter: Vitamin C-based. Removes chlorine. A non-negotiable for hair and lung health. • Endota Certified Organic Essential Oil Blends: Spa-style pre-blended options that smell like a day spa. • Elektra Magnesium (food grade): In the bath or dissolved in water. Blue packet. • Moo Goo Magnesium Cream: Unscented, non-greasy, absorbs beautifully. Irene’s pick for sleep and muscle recovery. • Kora Organics Noni Glow Face Oil: Miranda Kerr’s blend of rosehip, sea buckthorn, jojoba and noni fruit. Justin’s new skincare routine. Hair Health • Sulphate-Free: Removes the stripping agents that take colour, natural oils and hair integrity. • Silicone-Free: Check for dimethicone and cyclomethicone, they hide in natural-labelled products. • Condition mid-lengths to ends only: Never on scalp, especially for fine or oily-root hair. • Frequency of washing: Hair adapts. Once a week is achievable for most. Every two weeks with strategic styling is Irene’s approach. • Love Your Gut Powder: Irene credits Lee’s Love Your Gut Diatomaceous Earth powder (as well as the scalp oil routine) for genuinely thickening her hair. Beef Liver • B12: Highest food source in existence. Critical for nerve function, energy, red blood cell production. • Real Retinol (Vitamin A): From animal liver only. Not a precursor. Ready to use by the body. Important for skin, vision and immunity. • Haem Iron: Absorbs at a significantly higher rate than non-haem (plant) iron. Especially important post-illness or for those with gut inflammation. • CoQ10: Mitochondrial support for cellular energy production. • Choline: Often overlooked. Critical for brain health, memory and liver function. • What to buy: One ingredient, freeze-dried, grass-fed. No fillers. Lee’s product is available via Supercharge Your Gut . Cat Wellness (Justin’s Section) • Slow blink = cat greeting. Not a weird thing to do. An actual thing. • Don’t make prolonged eye contact with a street cat. It reads as aggression. • Kangaroo mince: Lean, high protein, high B12, zinc, iron and omega-3. Good for cats (and humans). • Boy cats prefer girl humans. Girl cats prefer men. Justin is working with what he has. 🎙 Listen & Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Substack Follow us on Instagram: @wellnessunfilteredleeirene | @leesupercharged | @cleannectarine Join the conversation on Substack: wellnessunfilteredpod.com Sponsor an episode? Email wellnessunfilteredleeirene@gmail.com Disclaimer: This show is for educational purposes only. Please consult your qualified health professional before incorporating new wellness solutions. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theleeandireneshow.substack.com

Show Notes: Episode 8 Wellness Unfiltered Episode 8: Amelia Phillips on Energy, Weight Loss & the Science of Feeling Good. We Unpack Perimenopause Fatigue, the Calorie Conversation No One Wants to Have, and Why Sleep Might Be Your Missing Link. Plus Justin Gets Schooled on Friendships and Lee Rants About Green Powders. 🎙️ This week we have Amelia, a nutritionist-slash-exercise-scientist with 29 years of hard-won wisdom. She drops a reformed cardio-queen confession, and a Venn diagram that actually makes sense. This episode might just change how you think about energy, weight, and why your body feels the way it does. Hosts Lee Holmes and Irene Falcone are joined by Amelia Phillips , co-founder of the Michelle Bridges 12WBT, host of the Healthy Her podcast, and all-round superstar in the women's health space. The conversation spans everything from the calorie deficit no one can avoid to the four biological pillars draining your energy, why meal delivery might be the smartest hack you haven't tried, and the one thing Irene needs to fix before anything else will work. Then Justin asks how men can deepen their friendships (spoiler: lead with the arms), and Lee delivers a rant on green powders that will have you reading labels with fresh suspicion. ✨ In this episode we chat about: 🍽️ What's Popping: Meet Amelia Phillips (00:00) 29 Years in the Game: Amelia started in the fitness industry at 17, fell in love with exercise science, then realised nutrition was where the real challenge lay. A master's degree in human nutrition later, she's spent nearly three decades helping women understand the strawberries-and-cream magic of diet and exercise combined. The Low-Fat Cardio Queen Confession: In the 90s, Amelia was all about stripping fat, driving calories down, and burning 500 calories per workout. It worked short-term. It does not work long-term, especially once you hit perimenopause. She's completely flipped her approach. Sports Nutrition vs Lifestyle Nutrition: If you're an elite athlete, protein bars and ultra-processed quick-energy foods have a place. For everyone else, the middle aisles of the supermarket are a minefield marketed as health food. Energy Balance Is Non-Negotiable: If you want to lose weight, you must be in an energy deficit. 7700 calories in deficit equals one kilo lost. That's roughly 500 calories per day for modest half-kilo-per-week loss. There's no magic formula that bypasses this math. 🔢 The Calorie Conversation (Without Counting) TDEE Calculators: Google "TDEE calculator" (Total Daily Energy Expenditure), plug in your stats, and you'll get a ballpark for maintenance calories. For most women, it's somewhere between 1500 and 2000 calories per day. The Meal Delivery Hack: Amelia recommends going on a calorie-controlled meal delivery service for one month as a form of portion-size education. She did it herself, dropped 3% body fat in four weeks, and learned what a 300–500 calorie meal actually looks like. Be Fit Food Recommendation: High protein (20–30g per meal), five serves of vegetables, lower sodium, lower carbohydrates. Not keto, not forever, just a stepping stone to understanding what your body needs. Lee's 4-3-2-1 Plate Approach: 40% protein, 30% vegetables, 20% good carbohydrates, 10% fats. Visualise a pie chart on your plate. ⚡ The Energy Crisis: Why You're So Tired The Three-Circle Venn Diagram: Optimal energy sits at the intersection of biology, physiology, and psychology. Biology (The Four Pillars): Metabolic health: Your ability to switch between glucose and fat for fuel. Think of it like a hybrid car, when it's working well, you can't tell when it switches. When it's not, you crash. Hormone health: Not just oestrogen and progesterone, but thyroid too. Get tested annually. Gut health: One to two bowel movements a day, no increasing food sensitivities. You know if something's off. Inflammatory response: Measurable via blood test. Chronic low-grade inflammation drains energy. Physiology (The Earth Suit): Body composition; bone, muscle, fat. Under-muscled and carrying extra body fat? That's zapping energy. You've got another 50 years in this body; it needs to hold up. Psychology (Behaviour Change): We all know what we should do. Actually doing it requires behaviour change techniques, and if you don't have them, that's another energy drain. 😴 Irene's Fatigue Deep-Dive The Real Conversation: Irene has seen countless specialists, taken all the supplements, gone gluten-free, vegan, back to meat. Nothing has shifted her chronic fatigue. Amelia's Assessment: Nutrient insufficiencies (iron, vitamin D), hormone fluctuations, and critically, chronic sleep deprivation. If you're only getting a few hours of sleep most nights, every other system underperforms. Sleep Is the Starting Point: If you were Amelia's client, sleep would be priority number one. Everything else builds on that foundation. Ideally, a 7 in front of the hours. Can't Sleep vs Won't Sleep: "Won't sleep" is choosing to stay up working or scrolling. "Can't sleep" is wanting to but being unable to fall or stay asleep. Exercise is a massive lever for the "can't sleep" group. 🏃‍♀️ Exercise: The Inconvenient Truth VO2 Max Declines 10% Per Decade: From about age 30 onwards, your body's ability to use oxygen drops. By your 50s, you've lost 20–30% of your peak capacity. That directly impacts energy levels. The Fix: Increasing fitness even modestly can reverse this within a month. You don't need to become a marathon runner. Incidental Exercise Counts: Walking around a warehouse, chasing the Australia Post guy, it all adds up. But structured vigorous movement has an outsized return. The Research: Every minute in zone 2 or higher (a brisk walk where you can just get a sentence out) equals about 10 minutes of lower-intensity movement for the same mortality reduction. Lee's Fast Finish Hack: At the end of your walk, do three short sprints, 30 seconds each, even just jogging between two telegraph poles. That's hormesis: healthy stress with exponential benefits. Irene's Commitment: Running up the stairs. Starting small. Just starting. 🍫 Nighttime Overeating: How Amelia Broke the Cycle The Confession: Dessert seven nights a week. The popcorn-and-chocolate "bomb" at the bottom of the bowl. Sweet-then-salty cycling. The Strategy: Three nights on, four nights off. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday no dessert. Thursday to Sunday go for it. Environment Change: On the "no dessert" nights, Amelia didn't go to the couch or turn on the TV. Straight to the bedroom for a bath, aromatherapy, and a book. Kitchen closed. The Outcome: After three weeks, she started to prefer the night-time ritual. It extended to Thursday. The habit broke. Healthy Swaps: Protein-rich snacks at night, cottage cheese, a scoop of protein powder, collagen hot chocolate. Satiating, nourishing, and working toward that 100g-per-day protein goal. 💊 The Ozempic Conversation No Judgement: Amelia has become more empathetic over the years. Significant weight issues are not a moral failing. We live in an obesogenic environment designed to make us move less and eat more. GLP-1s Have a Place: Ozempic, Mounjaro, and similar medications are life-altering for some people. The anti-inflammatory effects are real. For the right candidate, they're a legitimate tool. The Caveat: Don't start lightly. Once you stop, weight often returns, and the medication's effects can be diminished if you restart. Work with a specialist. Find the right dose. 🧠 The Woo-Woo Conversation Amelia's Evolution: She started as evidence-based-or-nothing. She's become more open to the unexplainable. The Sound Bath Experience: At Billabong Retreats, Amelia had a chakra-unlocking meditation that left her crying, glowing, and in a honeymoon period with her husband for weeks. No research paper can quantify that. Lee's Mantra: "I'm healthy, wealthy, safe and wise." Five times a day. Every day. Part of her long COVID recovery. She's never felt better. The DAS-21: A validated depression, anxiety, and stress assessment. Separates the three so you can see which is actually elevated. Amelia will send it to anyone who asks. 📞 Womansplain: Justin on Deepening Male Friendships (approx. 00:32:53) Justin's Observation: Men have adopted "female-inspired" friendship behaviours, hugging, saying "I love you," sharing vulnerabilities but haven't acknowledged where it came from. The File Never Closes: Women are archivists of each other's lives. We remember the childhood wound, the mother's name, what "I'm tired" actually means. Men tend to close the file when the hangout ends. Practical Advice: Follow up: If a friend shares something real, text them the next day. Not weeks later. Stop waiting for a reason: Women reach out because they heard a song or saw a dog. The reaching out is the reason. Celebrate publicly and specifically: Not "she's great" but "this man talked me through something really hard last year." Organise something: Women make 100 plans, keep half. The planning is part of the friendship. The Arms: Women greet each other like the person is the best thing that happened all day. Arms up, full-body yes. Lead with the arms, gentlemen. ✨ Rant: Lee on Green Powders (approx. 00:55:52) The Problem: Overpriced, underdosed, proprietary blends with zero transparency. Premium prices for powdered convenience and marketing spin. Pyramid Scheme Vibes: Influencers, referral codes, commissions everywhere. Looks more like a distribution hustle than health. The Contradiction: Claims of gut health support while packed with emulsifiers, anti-caking agents, and artificial sweeteners that mess with the microbiome. Powdered Greens Are Not Real Food: Little fibre, no biological signals from whole plants, unless you're finding verified, efficacious formulations. What to Look For: Short ingredient lists where each ingredient can actually deliver effective doses. Spirulina, chlorella, wheatgrass, algae. A prebiotic or digestive enzyme if gut health is the goal. No stimulants, no artificial sweeteners, no fillers. Formulation Matters: Look for products created by formulation experts, not white-labelled private label products with celebrity names slapped on. Lee's Green Powder: Combines alkalising greens, medicinal mushrooms, protein, and adaptogens. Supports gut health, immunity, and sustained energy. And it tastes good. 📝 Lee's Nutritionist Nerd Notes: Episode 8 Mentions Weight Management Fundamentals Energy Deficit Required: 7700 calories deficit = 1kg lost. For half a kilo per week, aim for 500 calories daily deficit. TDEE Calculator: Google "TDEE calculator" to find your maintenance calories. Most women: 1500–2000 calories per day. Meal Delivery as Education: Calorie-controlled services like Be Fit Food teach portion sizes. Use for 4–8 weeks as a stepping stone. The 4-3-2-1 Plate: 40% protein, 30% vegetables, 20% good carbohydrates, 10% fats. Energy Optimisation Annual Blood Testing: Check metabolic markers, inflammation, thyroid, and hormone levels. Ask for optimal ranges, not just normal. The Four Biological Pillars: Metabolic health, hormone health, gut health, inflammatory response. If any are sub-performing, energy suffers. Body Composition: Muscle mass supports energy. Under-muscled = energy drain. Resistance training is non-negotiable as we age. Sleep Minimum 7 Hours: Chronic sleep deprivation affects all four biological pillars. Can't Sleep Solutions: Exercise, cooler room, no blue light before bed, consistent routine. Won't Sleep Reality Check: You're an athlete of life. Athletes prioritise recovery. So should you. Exercise VO2 Max: Declines 10% per decade from age 30. Reversible with consistent training. Zone 2 Training: Brisk walk or slow jog where you can just get a sentence out. 1 minute of zone 2+ equals 10 minutes of lower intensity for mortality benefits. The Fast Finish: Add three 30-second sprints at the end of your walk. Hormesis: healthy stress with exponential returns. Night-time Eating Three Nights On, Four Nights Off: Break the cycle gradually. Cold turkey rarely works. Change Your Environment: If the couch triggers snacking, don't sit on the couch. Protein-Rich Swaps: Cottage cheese, protein powder, collagen hot chocolate. Satiating and working toward 100g protein per day. Supplements & Green Powders Red Flags: Proprietary blends, 100+ ingredients, artificial sweeteners, emulsifiers, MLM-style marketing. Green Flags: Short ingredient lists, verified sourcing, formulated by experts, prebiotic or enzyme support for gut health. Key Greens: Spirulina, chlorella, wheatgrass, algae. No stimulants or fillers. Mental Health DAS-21: Depression, Anxiety, Stress assessment. Separates the three for targeted intervention. Contact Amelia for a copy. Mantras Work: "I'm healthy, wealthy, safe and wise." Repetition rewires neural pathways. 📌 Episode 8 Links Supercharged Food — Lee Holmes Supercharge Your Gut Lee’s products Clean Nectarine — Irene Falcone Amelia Phillips — Instagram Healthy Her Podcast Vitality 360 Membership Be Fit Food TDEE Calculator Listen & Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Substack Follow us on Instagram: @wellnessunfilteredleeirene | @leesupercharged | @cleannectarine Join the conversation on Substack: wellnessunfilteredpod.com Sponsor an episode? Email wellnessunfilteredleeirene@gmail.com Disclaimer: This show is for educational purposes only. Please consult your qualified health professional before incorporating new wellness solutions. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theleeandireneshow.substack.com

Hosts Lee Holmes and Irene Falcone are joined by Carol Molloy , a Japanese-Australian food extraordinaire, MKR contestant, and architect of unforgettable Japan food tours, for a conversation that roams from the secrets of geisha skincare to the gut-healing magic of soba noodles. Then Justin finally admits he snores loud enough to register on the Richter scale, Natalie checks in from the perimenopausal shapeshifting zone, and Lee delivers an acupuncture rave that will have you booking an appointment before the credits roll. Get ready for MKR behind-the-scenes gossip, a 15-minute Japanese weeknight dinner that will change your life, the truth about what geishas actually invented in beauty, and the perimenopause toolkit that no one tells you about; from flaxseed and creatine to magnesium baths and why your sleep is the most important lever you can pull. ✨ In this episode we chat about: 🍽️ What’s Popping: Meet Carol; Food, Japan & the MKR Confessional (00:00) • Fifteen Years, One Road, One Cabin: Lee and Carol go back over 15 years, teaching yoga together, and then somehow ending up across the road from each other in a sea-side location. Irene meets Carol for the very first time, live on air. • Food Is Love: Carol’s philosophy, shaped by a mum who is a brilliant Japanese cook and a dad with MS who meant the family always entertained at home. Cooking for people is Carol’s love language in its purest form. • The MKR Truth: Is it real? Is it staged? Carol delivers the unvarnished answer. Producers do nudge things in a direction, but everyone cooks their own food and says what they actually think. It is reality TV not scripted, not entirely real life ;). • The Raspberry Cheesecake Incident: Carol made two beautiful cheesecakes and forgot the raspberries. Adam sprinted to Coles. They still got a great score. The cheesecake, for the record, was spectacular! • The Dish That Deserved More: A Citrus Celebration dessert with six individual elements; lemon curd, mousse, passion fruit jelly, biscuit crumb, and more. Carol will be making it for Lee and Irene very soon. • Cold Food and Celebrity Photo Albums: Yes, the food can be cold by the time contestants eat it. And yes, Carol is now in the celebrity photo album of a Tokyo restaurant, filed alongside Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. 🍣 Japanese Food: Way Beyond Sushi • The Full Picture: Gyoza, sashimi, tempura, yakitori, hotpot; Japanese cuisine is one of the cleanest, most diverse food cultures in the world. Vegetables, tofu, fermented foods, pickles, and seafood do most of the heavy lifting. • Why Japan Is Perfect for Clean Eating: Not heavy on oil or fat, big on vegetables, built around letting ingredients speak for themselves. The natural flavour philosophy that underpins Japanese cooking is something Carol brings to everything she makes. • Sake Explained: Hot and cold, strong and subtle. The chilled version from the fridge in summer is genuinely refreshing. There are varying levels of intensity, and yes, it also goes on your face. • Gut Health Built In: Fermented foods, pickles, miso, and fibre-rich vegetables mean traditional Japanese food is naturally gut-supportive. Lee points this out and she is absolutely right. 🍜 The 15-Minute Japanese Weeknight Dinner: Carol’s Soba Noodle Salad with Teriyaki Salmon Carol makes this at least once a week and has converted everyone around her. Here is how to do it: • The Noodles: Buckwheat soba noodles; cook, drain, rinse in cold water so they don’t stick. Naturally gluten-free. • The Sauce: Soy (or tamari to keep it fully gluten-free), mirin (or apple cider vinegar for a health-conscious swap), a little oil. Adjust to what you have in the fridge. • The Salmon: Marinate in a tamari and mirin-style sauce with chilli oil or chilli flakes if you want heat. 15 minutes while the noodles cook is enough. • The Add-Ins: Pickled ginger, edamame beans, whatever is around. Cold or room temperature is the goal. • Gluten-Free Swaps: Tamari instead of soy, apple cider vinegar instead of mirin. ✈️ Carol’s Japan Tours: The Full Experience • What Carol Shows People: The full range; Michelin dining one day, a noodle stand under a railway station the next. Sushi, sashimi, tempura, gyoza, hotpot, hands-on noodle and sushi making. • Art and Culture: Lee says Naoshima, the art island, is a highlight. The contrast between ancient handmade craftsmanship and cutting-edge modern Japan is something Carol loves to show people. • The Shinkansen: High-speed trains, snow monkeys bathing in hot springs, onsen stays, Hakuba skiing in snow so powdery that falling over feels like landing in a cloud. • The Single Most Transcendent Moment: A shiso leaf wrapped dumpling. It was tangy, citrusy, completely unexpected. The moment when a guest tries something and their face just says everything. 🌸 Japanese Beauty: Geishas, Double Cleansing & Rice Water Secrets • Where Double Cleansing Came From: The geisha. All that heavy white makeup required a serious removal process. Camellia oil as the first cleanse, a foaming cleanser to finish. Carol and Irene both agree: everyone should be doing this. • Rice Water and SK-II: The story goes that women working in rice paddies had exceptionally soft, bright skin from the water. Irene stocks a natural rice water essence from 100% Pure, the clean alternative to the SK-II version. • Sun Protection as Culture: Japanese women have always protected their skin SPF 50+, reapplication, long gloves while driving, and the most extraordinary oversized sun visors on a golf course you have ever seen. • Layering and Hydration: Japanese skincare is built around layering: multiple steps, deep hydration, plumping. It is high maintenance and it shows. • Geisha Culture: Based in Kyoto. Geisha begin as maiko, apprentice geishas and learn music, hosting, tea ceremony, and drinking games. It is an art form that is slowly disappearing as younger women choose other careers. • Kimono Today: Still worn to weddings and formal events. Lee and Carol once did a full kimono photoshoot together. Photos incoming… 😴 Womansplain: What to Actually Do About Snoring (For Justin, and Everyone Who Loves Them) (approx. 00:32:53) • The Real Talk First: Snoring that wakes you up is not just snoring. It is your body sending a strongly worded letter. The word Lee is tiptoeing around is sleep apnoea, where you actually stop breathing and your brain panics you awake. It can happen dozens of times a night. • Why You Feel Terrible All Day: You think you slept eight hours. You did not actually rest for eight hours. There is a significant difference, and it explains the fatigue, the three coffees, the shot focus, and the questionable mood. • Risk Factors: Over 40, weight, alcohol before bed, sleeping on your back, throat muscles relaxing with age. All of these make it worse. • Step One. Get a Sleep Study: You sleep, you have a monitor on you, you find out whether it is sleep apnoea or garden-variety snoring. The fix is very different depending on the answer. • Step Two. Sleep on Your Side: Back sleeping is snoring’s best friend. Positional wedge pillows help. There are even shirts with a tennis ball sewn into the back to stop you rolling over. Unglamorous but effective. • Step Three. Skip the Nightcap: Even two drinks close to bedtime makes snoring significantly worse. The idea that alcohol helps you sleep is one of wellness’s most persistent myths. You pass out; you do not rest. • Step Four. Losing a Little Weight: Even a modest reduction can strongly reduce snoring because it takes pressure off the airways. • Step Five. The CPAP Machine: If sleep apnoea is confirmed, do not resist the machine. A lot of men do. They are wrong. It genuinely helps. • Irene’s Separate Bedroom Tip: There is still a stigma around couples sleeping in separate rooms. Irene would like to dismantle it. A few nights a week in the spare room is not separation, it is excellent sleep hygiene. Her husband gets up early and does shift work. She gets her best sleep. Everyone wins. 📞 You’re On Speaker: Natalie on Perimenopause, Sleep & the Supplements Worth Knowing About (approx. 00:40:41) • Meet Natalie: Managing partner in risk and insurance, interviewer of people, woman in her 50s navigating perimenopause, and self-described Elastigirl; constantly stretching, gliding, and shapeshifting. Presence is her superpower. • The Shapeshifting Analogy: Natalie describes perimenopause as another one of the shapeshifting phases women move through, like pregnancy, like every major life transition. Not just physical. Emotional, spiritual, the whole thing. • Resistance Training First: Lee’s starting point in clinic is always strength. Weight-bearing exercise supports bone health, muscle mass, and the metabolism that begins to slow during peri and menopause. • Blood Sugar Stability: One of the most important levers women can pull during this phase. More protein especially at breakfast, healthy fats, and steady blood sugar all reduce symptoms significantly. • Flaxseed for Hot Flushes: Two to three tablespoons per day. Lee started doing it and it really works. There is also research behind it. • Sleep: Natalie identifies this as the biggest change she has experienced. Tips: cooler room, no blue light before bed, consistent routine. Walking every day, even ten minutes in the rain, helps regulate the nervous system and supports sleep. • Alcohol and Perimenopause: Bodies simply cannot metabolise alcohol the way they could in their 20s and 30s. Irene’s biggest customer in her non-alcoholic drinks business was women over 40, and now she knows exactly why. Natalie cannot tolerate wine at all. Spirits seem to fare better, which her friends confirm. • Wild Yam Cream: Traditionally used for centuries for menopausal symptoms including cramps and digestive comfort. Some promising animal and lab studies around blood sugar and inflammation, but Lee is clear: this is not a hormonal replacement. Treat it as a gentle herbal option. The cream applied topically is where Irene and Lee see the most value, partly through transdermal absorption of natural phytoestrogens, partly through ritual. • Magnesium: Lee’s lifesaver in her 50s. Magnesium chloride bath or cream rather than oral supplementation (which can upset sensitive stomachs). Around 16% elemental magnesium absorbed transdermally. Natalie has tried it and confirms the calming effect at the end of the day. • Creatine: What to Buy: Big moment in perimenopause and menopause for energy. The German source; Creapure, is the gold standard. It is currently sold out worldwide. An Indian source is now available that is pure and of equivalent quality. The Chinese source, Lee and Irene both warn, should be approached with caution. Irene has a clean creatine version here . Warning! Do not buy the cheap version from Amazon. ✨ Frisky Finale Rave: Acupuncture; Lee’s Whole Body Reboot (and Irene’s Facial Frankenstein Machine) (approx. 00:55:52) • Lee’s Rave. Jameson at Magic Turtle Acupuncture, Avalon: Lee has been going every second Wednesday for three months and is now completely converted. He takes clinical notes, does a pulse reading at the start of every session (trained with one of the best pulse masters in the country), and works through three levels of pulse from traditional Chinese medicine. Lee goes in feeling like herself and floats out like a Zen hedgehog. Mind, body, soul, completely decluttered and rebooted. • The Pulse Reading: Three different levels of pulse in traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda, not recognised in Western practice. Jameson measures all of them. It is genuinely otherworldly. • Irene’s Facial Acupuncture Rave: A practitioner in Balgowlah (now retired) who had a specialised electrical machine originally used for Bell’s Palsy. He hooked it up to facial acupuncture needles, creating electrical impulses that literally tightened the muscles under the skin while the needles did their work. Six months of this. Irene has never looked better before or since. The machine looked like it came from Frankenstein’s den and she would go back in an instant. • The Mission: Lee is going to ask Jameson whether Magic Turtle has something equivalent. Neither Lee nor Irene has Botox. They both want to find the natural version of “you can tell she’s had work done” and they are absolutely determined to locate it. 📝 Lee’s Nutritionist Nerd Notes: Episode 7 Mentions Perimenopause & Menopause Toolkit • Resistance Exercise: Weight-bearing and strength training for bone density, muscle mass, and metabolic support. Non-negotiable during peri and menopause. Research link . • Protein at Breakfast: Stabilises blood sugar, reduces symptom severity, keeps energy steady through the day. Research Link . • Flaxseed: Two to three tablespoons per day shown to reduce hot flushes. Add to smoothies, yoghurt, or sprinkle on salads. Research Link. • Magnesium Chloride: Bath or topical cream preferred over oral (gentler on the stomach). Supports sleep, muscle relaxation, and mood. Approximately 16% elemental magnesium absorbed trans dermally. • Wild Yam Cream: A gentle herbal option with some evidence for cramps and digestive comfort. Not a hormonal replacement. The topical cream may allow transdermal absorption of natural phytoestrogens. Use as part of a ritual rather than as a clinical intervention. Research on Wild Yam supplementation. • Creatine (Creapure or equivalent): Supports energy and muscle function during perimenopause. Source matters. German Creapure is the benchmark; currently sold out. Indian-sourced equivalent is the next best option. Avoid cheap Chinese-sourced versions. Switch Nutrition Creatine • Sleep Hygiene Fundamentals: Cooler room, no blue light before bed, no alcohol close to bedtime, daily movement, avoidance of caffeine and spicy food at night. Sleep Apnoea & Snoring • First Step: See a doctor and request a sleep study. Non-negotiable starting point. • Immediate Measures: Side sleeping, positional pillow or wedge, no alcohol within two to three hours of bed, modest weight loss if relevant. • If Sleep Apnoea Is Confirmed: CPAP machine. Do not resist it. It works. Japanese Gut-Health Principles from Carol • Fermented Foods: Miso, pickles, fermented vegetables, built into the cuisine naturally. • Fibre-First: Vegetables and tofu as the base of most meals rather than a side. • Light on Oil and Fat: Japanese cooking does not mask ingredients in heavy sauces. The food speaks for itself. • Gluten-Free Swap for Soba Noodles: Tamari instead of soy, apple cider vinegar instead of mirin. Acupuncture • Magic Turtle Acupuncture, Avalon : Jameson, pulse master, clinical notes, every-second-Wednesday booking. Lee’s Zen hedgehog moment. Worth calling about the facial electrical stimulation machine. • Facial Acupuncture with Electrical Stimulation: Originally a Bell’s Palsy treatment. When applied to the face with acupuncture needles, creates muscle-tightening impulses under the skin. Irene’s single most effective anti-ageing experience. If you know a practitioner who offers this, please slide into the DMs. 📌 Episode 7 Links • Supercharged Food — Lee Holmes • Clean Nectarine — Irene Falcone • Carol Molloy – Instagram. Email Carol: caroltravelsjapan@gmail.com • Magic Turtle Acupuncture, Avalon ask for Jameson • Magic Turtle Acupuncture, Avalon ask for Jameson • RSPCA Foster Care Program — rspca.org.au • Switch Nutrition Creatine available via Irene’s Clean Nectarine store Listen & Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Substack Follow us on Instagram: @wellnessunfilteredleeirene | @leesupercharged | @cleannectarine Join the conversation on Substack: wellnessunfilteredpod.com Sponsor an episode? Email wellnessunfilteredleeirene@gmail.com Disclaimer: This show is for educational purposes only. Please consult your qualified health professional before incorporating new wellness solutions. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theleeandireneshow.substack.com

Episode 6: Healthy, Wealthy & Wise in the Cost of Living Crisis. Freezer Hacks, Gut Basics, Kitchen Beauty, Why Your Nespresso Is Quietly Robbing You and Fighting the Man Flu🎙️ How do you stay healthy when every trip to the supermarket feels like a financial mugging? In this episode, Lee Holmes and Irene Falcone ditch the expensive wellness theatre and get back to the brass tacks of genuine, affordable health. From Lee's legendary freezer-stocked "renewable table" and Wednesday-night supermarket markdown raids, to Irene's single-magnificent-purple-suit philosophy on spending, they cover food, beauty, bills, business, and the one organ that outperforms every overpriced supplement on the market. Plus: Man Flu season is upon us, paramedic-in-training Kaya joins the show, and Lee lights a righteous fire under the wellness industrial complex. Get ready to raid the freezer, ditch the gym membership, negotiate every bill, and prove that looking after your gut is the cheapest wellness investment you'll ever make. ✨ FREE GIFT: The Renewable Table E-Book Lee is giving away her signature e-book to help you cook once and eat four times. Learn how a single roast chicken can transform into a stir-fry and then a broth, or how a pot of lentils becomes a soup, a side, and then a fritter. [ Download Your FREE Renewable Table E-Book Here ] In this episode we chat about: 🛒 What's Popping: Living Healthy & Wealthy in the Cost of Living Crisis (01:00) • The Harbour Bridge Confession: Lee's origin story; a broken boom gate, police sirens, a 55-dollar fine, and the moment she decided to make every dollar stretch. Every word of it is true. • The Purple Suit Principle: Irene's philosophy in a single garment, spend once on something extraordinary, keep it forever, and never look at fast fashion twice. • Two Frugal Schools of Thought: Lee finds the free or nearly-free version of everything; Irene buys one brilliant thing and makes it last a decade. Different roads, same destination. Business Wisdom : Irene’s "PhD in failure" advice: Ditch the expensive ad agencies and subscriptions, pay suppliers early to build energetic cash flow, and use AI to do your own marketing. 🥦 Food: The Freezer Is Your Best Friend • The Wednesday Night Supermarket Raid: When markdowns happen, how to load up, portion, freeze, and carry yourself through the whole week on one smart shop. • The Renewable Table: Cook once, eat four times. A roast chicken becomes a stir-fry, then a broth. A pot of lentils becomes soup, a side, and a fritter. Lee is giving away the e-book — link in the show notes. • Protein at Breakfast: Why eggs are still one of the most affordable complete proteins going, and how starting the day with protein stops those expensive 10 o'clock impulse decisions. • The Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen: Which fruit and veg absolutely must be organic (strawberries, blueberries, spinach, celery) and which ones you genuinely don't need to splurge on (avocado, bananas). Full list in the show notes. • Grow Your Own Herbs: Microgreens, coriander, and basil on a windowsill the return on investment is remarkable, and coriander is a brilliant chelator for the gut. • The Cheap Luxurious Dip: Cannellini beans, lemon, a little garlic, a splash of olive oil hummus that tastes like a treat and costs almost nothing. 🧴 Luxe Beauty: Less Is More (and the Kitchen Has Everything You Need) (33:00) • The Skincare Budget Hierarchy: Spend almost nothing on cleanser and exfoliator (you're washing it down the sink), put your money into one good serum, and seal it in with something affordable like Egyptian Magic Cream or Weleda Skin Food. • Kitchen Beauty: Crushed lentils as a face scrub (Lee learned this in India), mashed banana as a hair mask, coconut oil as a makeup remover, cleanser, and full-body moisturiser. Free, and genuinely effective. • The Overripe Strawberry Trick: Those manky strawberries past their best? Do not throw them away. Natural AHAs and fruit acids make them a brilliant chemical exfoliator for your skin. • The Face Razor Secret: A dermablade removes layers of dead skin so efficiently that your serum penetrates at a fraction of the usual dose. You'll use a quarter of the amount — and it shows. • The Free Beauty Product: Water. Chronically dehydrated skin looks dull and tired. Drinking more of it plumps the skin, supports the gut, and costs nothing at all. • The Home Spa: Magnesium salt foot soak with a few drops of pure essential oil, a frangipani from your walk in a glass on the table, and an organic candle — a day spa experience for the price of a bus ticket. 🦠 Health: The Gut Is the Best Organ Since Sliced Bread (approx. 30:00) • Why the Gut Comes First: Nearly 80% of your immune system lives there. Skin, hair, nails, energy, mood — the gut has a role in every system of your body. Look after it and almost everything else follows. • Irene's Testimony: Years of adrenal fatigue, chronic tiredness, and skin issues — resolved when she finally focused on her gut. Her hair has never looked better. 🏠 Household: Bills, Petrol & the Art of Asking (approx. 50:00) • Phantom Energy: Every appliance on standby is quietly adding to your bill. Turn it off at the wall. Takes 30 seconds. • The Quarterly Direct Debit Audit: Go through every subscription every three months. Free trials rolled into paid plans, streaming services you barely use, apps you've forgotten about entirely. I'm looking at you, Amazon Prime. • The Irene Alarm Hack: Set an alarm three to four days before any free trial ends. Ask yourself whether you actually want it. The answer is usually no. • The Art of Asking: Call your electricity provider, internet, insurance company, and bank. "I'm reviewing my expenses — is there a better rate available?" The worst they can say is no. They rarely do. • Petrol at Night: Petrol is cooler and denser after dark, so you genuinely get more for your money filling up at night. Also: buy midweek (Tuesday or Wednesday) when prices are at the low point of the pricing cycle. • The Coasting Habit: Foot off the accelerator on the downhill, tyres properly inflated, window instead of air-con. Every small thing adds up. 💼 Business Hacks from the Hard School of Experience • Subscriptions: If you're on Shopify, audit every app you're paying for. Most of them are doing less than you think. • Ditch the Agencies: One weekend is genuinely all you need to learn Facebook ads, Google ads, and email marketing yourself. AI has automated most of what agencies were charging a premium for. • Pay on Time (Better Yet, Early): Your suppliers will love you, give you first access to deals, and actually want to work with you. There is also, Irene firmly believes, an energetic benefit to telling the universe your cash flow is in good order. 🥤 Womansplain Fighting the Man Flu (57:00) Golden Gut Breakfasts: Justin shares how a "protein-forward breaky" involving turmeric and eggs has saved him coin on mid-morning snacks. The "Man Flu" Debate: The team tackles the age-old question of whether men truly suffer more or just have a flair for the dramatic. Dinner to the Rescue: Justin sets the scene for the discussion by recounting how Lee saved his evening with a last-minute freezer soup, the ultimate remedy for a man on the brink. 🔊 You’re On Speaker: Paramedics & Neonatal Kittens & Influencer Skepticism (1:01) • Unflappable Superpowers : Meet Kaya: Career-changer, former fashion industry veteran, trainee paramedic, and — most importantly — a foster carer for RSPCA neonatal kittens. She is currently raising a six-day-old kitten on a syringe every two hours. An actual angel. • The Influencer Question: How to tell a genuine product recommendation from a paid advertisement. Irene's rule: if they're being paid, don't buy the product. Lee's red flag: a hero ingredient listed at the very bottom — less than 1% of the formulation — while 90% of the budget went on the glass bottle and the celebrity photoshoot. • The Simple Test: "They're not selling you a product. They're selling you their lifestyle with a beauty filter on. 😤 Frisky Finale Rant: The Wellness Industrial Complex (1:13) • 80-dollar jade rollers. 50-dollar detox teas. Gym gear loaded with microplastics that shed into your skin every time you sweat. Himalayan salt lamps collecting dust and pooling water. Wireless earbuds marketed as focus enhancers. Real wellness is free and dirt cheap. Lee is fired up and she is not wrong. • What You Actually Need: Second-hand cotton clothing, a daily walk, plenty of water, garlic when something is coming on, and the gut-health basics you've already heard about in this episode. 🛡️ Lee’s Nutritionist Nerd Notes: The "Man Flu" Defence The Sleep Shield : People sleeping less than seven hours are significantly more likely to get sick. Zinc is King : It directly inhibits viral replication. Source it from pumpkin seeds, red meat, and chickpeas. Zinc Food Sources · Pumpkin seeds — a small handful is a clinically relevant dose. · Red meat (grass-fed where possible). · Chickpeas and legumes. · Hemp seeds. · Oysters — if it's a special occasion. The richest food source of zinc going. Garlic & Vitamin C : Use food as medicine, air-fry whole bulbs of garlic for antiviral properties and get Vitamin C from capsicum, broccoli, and Kakadu plum. 📝 Lee’s Nutritionist Nerd Notes: Episode 6 Mentions Recipe: Turmeric & Golden Gut Scrambled Eggs : A protein-forward breakfast to stop mid-morning snacking. Combine eggs with Lee’s Golden Gut Powder (for the diatomaceous earth "double whammy"), cumin, and a pinch of turmeric. [ Link to Recipe ] and Lee’s Golden Gut powder . Recipe: Lee’s Best Sticky Chai : A homemade ritual that beats the local cafe price every time. [ Link to Recipe ] Recipe: Affordable Cannellini Bean Hummus : Mix beans, lemon, garlic, and olive oil for a luxurious, cheap dip. The Clean 15 vs. Dirty Dozen (Quick Guide) · Buy organic: strawberries, blueberries, spinach, kale, celery, capsicum, peaches, nectarines, cherries, pears, tomatoes, grapes. Don't need to splash out: avocados, pineapples, onions, sweetcorn, frozen peas, mangoes, asparagus, kiwi fruit, cabbage, cauliflower, rock melon, broccoli, mushrooms, bananas, honeydew melon. Guide: The Clean 15 & Dirty Dozen : Your cheat sheet for when to buy organic. [ Link to Guide ] o Vanessa Megan skincare o Egyptian Magic Cream o Weleda Skin Food o Sanctum certified organic range (from $12) o Natural deodorants for women and men · RSPCA foster care program: rspca.org.au Pesticide Removal on a Budget · Soak fruit and vegetables in a bowl of water with a splash of apple cider vinegar (or plain white vinegar, the cheap stuff works just as well) for 10 to 15 minutes. · Peel where practical. · Rinse thoroughly. Simple, free, and genuinely removes a meaningful proportion of surface pesticide residue. Pro-Bono Work : Learn more about Lee's work helping those exhausted by the medical system. The Home Spa Checklist • Warm bath or foot soak: magnesium salts + two drops of pure essential oil. • Face: dermablade first, then a small amount of your best serum straight onto fresh skin. • Hair: coconut oil mask, left on for 20 minutes before washing. • Body: straight coconut oil from shoulder to heel. • Flowers from your walk in a glass on the windowsill. The experience of abundance is in the detail. Affordable Gut-Health Foundations • Fermented foods (sauerkraut, kefir, plain Greek yoghurt) — all affordable, all effective at supporting microbial diversity. • Legumes — chickpeas, lentils, cannellini beans — prebiotic fibre that feeds the good bacteria. Also the cheapest protein on the shelf. • Coriander — chelating agent, gut-supportive, and grows on a windowsill for practically nothing. • Bone broth — gelatine and collagen support the gut lining directly. Make it from the carcass of your roast chicken, which you were going to throw away anyway. • Garlic — prebiotic and antiviral. The double act your immune system and your microbiome both need. Five Frugal Supermarket Rules • Shop on Wednesday evening, end-of-week markdowns. • Buy frozen organic blueberries instead of fresh. Nutritionally identical, a fraction of the price. • Read the ingredients list, not the front of the pack. More than five ingredients or a number in front of something? Put it back. • Use the fruit and veggie bags for school bags. (Yes, Lee did this. No, she is not embarrassed.) • Take your own tea bags everywhere and ask for hot water. The savings are real and the habit sticks. Top 10 Cost-Effective Coffee Machines (Australia 2026): Skip the expensive pods and invest in a manual machine (Justin’s $250 steamer find). Here are the "pod-free" manual and semi-auto machines currently leading the Australian market for value: 1. Bialetti Moka Pot ($50) – The cheapest way to get real coffee. 2. Anko (Kmart) Espresso Machine ($99). The absolute lowest price for a motorised machine. 3. Wacaco Nanopresso ($120). Best for travel and portability. 4. Casabrews 3700 Essential ($130). Great budget tech features. 5. Sunbeam Compact Barista ($180). Highly reliable entry-level brand. 6. De'Longhi Dedica ($249). (The "Justin" Find): Slim, popular, and frequently on sale at JB Hi-Fi and Amazon. 7. Flair Classic ($250)Fo. r coffee purists who want a manual lever. 8. Sunbeam Mini Barista ($270). Uses a professional-sized 58mm group head. 9. Breville Bambino ($340). The best overall compact manual machine. 10. Gaggia Classic (Refurbished) ($450). Commercial-grade durability for a mid-range price. Listen & Subscribe on [ Substack ], [ Apple Podcasts ], [ Spotify , [ YouTube ) Follow us on Instagram:[ @wellnessunfilteredleeirene ] | [ @leesupercharged ] | [ @cleannectarine ] Join the conversation on Substack: [ wellnessunfilteredpod.com ] P.S. Sponsor an episode? Email [ wellnessunfilteredleeirene@gmail.com ]. Disclaimer: This show is for educational purposes only. Please consult your qualified health professional before incorporating new wellness solutions. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theleeandireneshow.substack.com

Show Notes Episode 5 Wellness Unfiltered Episode 5: Ultra Processed Foods (UPFs), The Frankenstein in Your Fridge, Supermarket Minefields, and Why Your Nut Milk Might Be a "Gut Detergent" 🎙️ How do you spot ultra-processed foods (UPFs) hiding in "healthy" aisles, and why are they linked to leaky gut and inflammation? In this fiery episode, Lee Holmes and [ Irene Falcone ] rip open the UPF files, decode confusing labels, and share simple swaps to reclaim your pantry. They dive deep into the "Frankenstein" world of industrial foods, from fake meat burgers to sneaky plant milks, exposing emulsifiers like CMC (E466) and carrageenan (E407) that scrub your gut lining raw. Plus grooming tips for men and a listener's take on trusting health advice. In this episode we chat about: ✨ What’s Popping: The "Low-archy" of Processing (02:04): Defining "Ultra" : Lee breaks down the difference between standard processing (like olive oil or sourdough) and industrial ultra-processing that uses ingredients your grandmother wouldn't recognise. Plus outlines lab-reassembled foods with maltodextrin, soy lecithin (E322), and preservatives that stay fresh for weeks. Gut Detergents : Why we call emulsifiers "gut detergents" and how they keep your oils and waters from separating, at the cost of your stomach lining. The Bread, Milk and Protein Bar Trap : The truth about mass-produced white bread, why most plant-based milks are more chemistry than cooking and supermarket traps such as protein bars as candy bars . 🛒 The Hidden Science of the Supermarket (13:26): The Top 6 E-Numbers to Avoid : Lee shares her "avoid list," including Carrageenan (E407) , Xanthan Gum (E415) , and Soy Lecithin (E322) . The Leaky Gut Connection : How UPFs break down your protective mucus lining, leading to chronic inflammation and immune system triggers. Marketing Myths : Why a "Health Star Rating" can’t always be trusted and why "Certified Organic" is a better (though not perfect) guide. 🥤 Womansplain: The Primate Grooming Guide (34:38): Barber Basics : Moving beyond the $15 buzz cut and the importance of trimming "rogue hairs" in ears and noses. The "Two-in-One" Hack : Simple, toxin-free grooming for men using botanical brands and a clean shave and 3-in-1 wash. The One-Step Glow : Why Justin (and every man) only needs one good serum to look 10 years younger. 🔊 You’re On Speaker: Thrifting & Healthy Distrust (44:32): Second-Hand Superpowers : Listener Kate shares her secrets to a 10-year streak of buying nothing new and the joy of a $2 Vinnies find . Big Pharma & Scepticism : A deep dive into why "following the money" is your best asset when reading about medical "breakthroughs". The TGA Hack : How to use an AUST L number to see the hidden ingredients that aren't required to be on the physical label. 😤 Epic Rant: The "Fake Natural" Takeover (54:51): Irene’s Industry Insight : A passionate look at how "clean beauty" stores are losing their way by adding products filled with phenoxyethanol and silicones just to increase revenue. Lee calls out gut supplements with fake sugars. Lee’s Nutritionist Nerd Notes The UPF Hit List Protein Bars : Often just chocolate bars with lab-made isolates and artificial sweeteners. You’re better off with real chocolate. Supermarket Sourdough : If it has 15 ingredients (instead of flour, water, and salt), it’s a UPF. The "Energy Quicksand" : How modified starches dump fast-digesting carbs into your blood while masking the food's true processed nature. Simple Swaps for a Clean Gut · Nut milks: Make your own (nuts + water). · Swap out fruit yoghurts for plain Greek yogurt with fresh berries · Swap Supermarket White Bread for 3-ingredient sourdough · Hummus: Homemade is preferable to store bought (no seed oils/preservatives). · Meat: Grass-fed organic meat or whole food proteins is better than fake burgers (soy isolates). 🛡️ Fact-Check: UPF Myths · Plant milks/creams often have gums for "creaminess." · Soy Lecithin (E322) can contribute to Microbiome Imbalance: Highly processed ingredients like soy lecithin can contribute to an increase in "bad" bacteria, upsetting the delicate balance of the microbiome. Consumption of these emulsifiers can lead to symptoms like bloating, gas, and a general "yucky" or tired feeling. In Australia, soy lecithin is often derived from GMO soy, but due to labelling exemptions for highly refined ingredients, this may not always be clearly stated on the packaging. · Emulsifiers act as "gut detergents" that breakdown the stomach lining. Research, particularly on emulsifiers like carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and polysorbate 80 (P80) , supports this claim. Studies in mice and human microbiota models show these substances can directly alter microbiota to increase pro-inflammatory potential, cause bacteria to encroach into the protective mucus layer, and promote chronic intestinal inflammation. · Xanthan gum is considered safe in food-standard amounts. However, it can cause bloating, gas, and diarrhea in some individuals. Emerging research suggests it might also alter the intestinal microbiome. · Carrageenan (E407). Research suggests food-grade carrageenan may trigger inflammation, damage the digestive system’s mucus membranes, and increase intestinal permeability (leaky gut). A 2021 review also noted a possible link to relapse in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The Health Star Rating is a voluntary system in Australia and has faced significant criticism. Critics argue it can be manipulated by companies replacing "risk nutrients" with synthetic ingredients, such as swapping sugar for sweeteners or fats for emulsifiers to improve their score without making the food objectively healthier. About 75% of ultra-processed foods displaying stars receive a "healthy" pass mark of 2.5 or more. Self-Care for Dudes Tips Mindful Eating : Slow down and chew your food to reduce bloating and gas. The Saltwater Rinse : Try Weleda Salt Toothpaste for a clean, smooth feel that lasts all day (and it's plastic-free!). Hydration : Cut back on alcohol to help with broken capillaries and skin dullness. Men's Grooming Pack · Weleda Salt Toothpaste (addictive clean). · Dr. Bronner's 3-in-1 · Weleda Aftershave · Kora Noni Oil · Natural Deodorant for Men (Natural Spray and Roll On with no aluminium and potassium alum) Listen & Subscribe on [ Substack ], [ Apple Podcasts ], [ Spotify , [ YouTube ) Follow us on Instagram:[ @wellnessunfilteredleeirene ] | [ @leesupercharged ] | [ @cleannectarine ] Join the conversation on Substack: [ wellnessunfilteredpod.com ] P.S. Sponsor an episode? Email [ wellnessunfilteredleeirene@gmail.com ]. Disclaimer: This show is for educational purposes only. Please consult your qualified health professional before incorporating new wellness solutions. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theleeandireneshow.substack.com

Show Notes Wellness Unfiltered Episode 4: From Tree-Hugging to Biohacking Bros, 40 Year Friendships and the Truth About Living Forever 🎙️ How do friendships evolve over 40 years, and how do you maintain a "Bo Derek" glow in your 60s? In this episode, we’re joined by the vibrant duo behind the Over the Back Fence podcast to discuss the power of letting go, the reality of "wellness bros," and practical self-care for everyone. In our fourth episode, , Lee Holmes and Irene Falcone welcome Nicola Dale and Di Edwards . With decades of experience in high-flying careers and media, they share their secrets for staying grounded, vibrant, and connected in mid-life. We also tackle the dehydrating effects of air travel, explore simple rituals like "tree hugging," and stage a self-care intervention for the men in our lives. In this episode we chat about: ● ✨ Mid-Life Redefined with Nicola and Di (02:00): o The Power of Attitude: Di shares how letting go of things she cannot control has made her feel younger in her mid-60s than ever before. o Flying Beauty Secrets: Nicola, a flight attendant for over 30 years, breaks down the "hydrate, hydrate, hydrate" rule and her post-flight glow-up tips, including skin needling and LED therapy. o The Quick Fix: How flight attendants look put-together in five minutes using bright lipstick and simple grooming hacks. ● 🌿 Daily Rituals & Connection (11:23): o Nature as Therapy: From ocean plunges for magnesium to the grounding energy of hugging a 300-year-old tree. o Walking & Vulnerability: Why the best conversations happen on solitary walks or side-by-side with friends in nature. o Evolution of Friendship: How conversations shift from babies and careers to bowel health and mutual respect over a 40-year bond. ● 🥤 Womansplain: Self-Care for Dudes (28:22): o Setting Boundaries: Why "no" is a complete sentence and a vital form of self-care. o The Social Connection: Encouraging men to build bonds and talk through life's problems over a (non-alcoholic) beer or a game of golf. o Hydration & Cooking: The importance of carrying a water bottle and the simple act of cooking one real meal a week for yourself. ● 🔊 You’re On Speaker: Pilates & Inflammation with Lexie (38:43): o The Power of Pilates: Lexie explains how Pilates serves as a core exercise that Mindfully improves control and avoids injuries. o Breathe Like a Pro: A quick guide to the Pilates "ribcage breathing" technique you can do even at your desk. o Inflammation Fighting: Lee and Irene share easy food swaps like berries, oily fish, and the "turmeric plus black pepper" hack to reduce pockets of inflammation. ● 😤 Epic Rant: The Bro-Longevity Chokehold (49:54): o Living vs. Optimising:: Lee’s take on the "immortality complex" and the shift from sterile biohacking chambers to joyful, analogue living. o Quality over Quantity: Why obsessing over biomarkers and sleep windows can lead to "social hermit" status and health anxiety. Lee’s Nutritionist Nerd Notes The Mid-Life Skin & Gut Connection ● Feeling vs. Thinking: Di emphasises moving from "living in your head" to "feeling in your gut" to manage stress and its impact on health. Understanding your gut brain axis . ● Inflammation & Exercise: High-energy exercise should be balanced with grounding practices like Yin yoga, meditation or nature walks to regulate the nervous system. Natural Beauty & Dental Hacks ● Salt Toothpaste : A natural alternative that uses your own saliva to clean teeth; Nicola and Irene highlight its effectiveness and unique "salted caramel" taste. ● Hydroxyapatite: A NASA-invented mineral that re-mineralises teeth and fills small holes, serving as a non-toxic alternative to fluoride. Self-care for Dudes Tips ● Savoury Mince Recipe: A "guy-guy" recipe packed with hidden veggies for an easy, nutrient-dense meal. See the recipe here . ● Hydration Tip: Using a volume-marked water bottle to "gamify" daily water intake. Inflammation-Fighting Mediterranean Diet Swap-outs: Lee shares easy food swaps to reduce pockets of inflammation: ● Switch Processed Fats for Real Fats: Replace margarine with real Mediterranean-style fats like olive oil, nuts, seeds, and avocado. ● Protein Swap: Opt for salmon, sardines, or other oily fish a couple of times a week instead of other proteins. ● Plant-Based Power: Incorporate more beans, lentils, tofu, and tempeh into meals. ● Daily Add-ins: Boost your intake of berries, leafy greens, and cruciferous vegetables. ● Debunking Popular Diets + a Prebiotic Tray Bake with Garlic Tahini The Spice Hack: Use turmeric with a pinch of black pepper in meals (or in scrambled eggs and soups) to maximise its anti-inflammatory effects. Super Potent Curcumin with Black Pepper. 🛡️ Fact-Check: Self-Care Myths ● The "Wellness Bro" Scam: Spending thousands on cold plunges and blood work while sacrificing the joy of daily living. ● Orthorexia Awareness: The danger of being so "squeaky clean" with diet that it creates anxiety and removes the enjoyment of food. Talked about in Supercharge Your Life by Lee Holmes. Listen & Subscribe on Substack , Substack Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube Guest Info: ● Follow Nicola & Di: Over the Back Fence Podcast ● Over the Back Fence Instagram Follow us on Instagram: @wellnessunfilteredleeirene | @leesupercharged | @cleannectarine Join the conversation on Substack: wellnessunfilteredpod.com P.S. If you’re keen to sponsor an episode and connect with our wellness audience? Reach out to: wellnessunfilteredleeirene@gmail.com for collab details. Disclaimer: This show is for educational purposes only. Please consult your qualified health professional before incorporating new wellness solutions. READ MORE HERE: Do you prefer to read the transcript? Podcast Transcript: Wellness Unfiltered Episode 4 Friendship, Flying Beauty, and Mid-Life Wisdom 🎙️ (00:00) [Intro Music - Upbeat, rhythmic] Lee: Well, hello out there! You're Lee... Irene: And you're Irene! Lee & Irene: And this is Wellness Unfiltered ! Yay! (00:10) [Sound of cicadas in the background] Irene: Well, we are back in the cabin, waiting on those cicadas to provide the soundtrack to our pod, and I’m feeling very serene. Lee: Mmm, "Serene Irene." I’ll take a kilo and a half of that! For anyone joining us in the cabin for the first time, this pod is where we strip back the marketing hoo-ha and get real in our worlds of beauty, health, and wellness. Hey, Lee... sorry, just... who are these people? They look really gorgeous. Lee: Yeah, they’re actually two absolutely lovely ladies and they’re my neighbors in Palm Beach. Irene: Of course they are! Lee: They’ve squished in the cabin with us and they’ve very elegantly jumped over the back fence to join us for What’s Popping . Irene: Wow! Okay, that is so exciting. Please introduce me! Lee: Absolutely. By the way, our regular—in every sense of the word—dude, Justin, is back with another health question for us to gently 'splain today. Irene: Now, not forgetting our delightful listener who will be on speaker with us a little later on, and a Rant or Rave to bring us home. So let’s get into it! Let’s take a look at What’s Popping with my soon-to-be besties. Segment: What’s Popping? (01:30) [Transition Jingle] Irene: All right Lee, the tea is hot and I’m fit to pop! Ha! That’s going to be my new catchphrase. All right, anyway, onto What’s Popping . We are delving into friendships, the magic of laughter, and how to look like Bo Derek in your mid-life. Lee: Yes, we are. So allow me to introduce my favorite duo from the very, very popular Over the Back Fence podcast: Nicola Dale and Di Edwards. Nicola & Di: Yay! Thank you! Wow, who are we, Di? Thanks for that lovely warm welcome. Lee: All right ladies, so let’s get into it. We’re all in the 50-plus bracket, and I’ve noticed that we’ve kind of been rethinking our sense of ourselves, especially in these middle years. And I know for me, I’ve taken up more Vedic meditation and walking and a lot more internal healing. So when it comes to wellness, how have you guys found or redefined your sense of self? I might start with you, Di. Di: Oh, it’s such a big question to unpack. Mmm. I think, particularly now because I'm actually in my 60s—I'm in my mid-60s—I'm actually feeling younger than I've ever felt in my whole entire life. Because of attitude. And we talk about mind-body-spirit, and attitude to me is the mind. And the mind is—can take over your very being, it can take over your family, it can take over your friends, it can take over your life. But I think for me, it’s been letting go of the things that I can’t change. Lee: Mmm-hmm, that you can't control. Di: And how empowering that has become for me. Lee: Yeah, and you've noticed it in your day-to-day life? Di: Hugely. I have the potential now to let go of things where I used to hold onto things before, and so therefore every cell in my body would carry it, sadly. And I now believe what we hold onto that's negative, a consequence of that can be your health. And that’s why we talk to people like Lee. But yeah, and I think being aware of that, I now—I’ll feel it, because I’m very much into feeling rather than before I used to work from my head more. And when I feel it, I go, "Oh, okay, the consequence of that will be: let it go." And it’s like a little click in my brain. And I didn't even know that existed before. Then that from my head will wash into my body. That’s been very powerful for me in my 60s to notice that. Lee: And you're certainly glowing! I mean externally, but also just your beautiful calm and vibrant nature. Di: I had a rush to get here, I was running late guys! Naughty girl. Lee: And Nicola, you have been a flight attendant for 30 years! Nicola: Come fly with me! Irene: Oh, I don't think so. I'm actually scared of flying, so that’s... yeah, it’s really interesting actually. When I’m on the plane, when I have to fly, I always keep a really strong eye on the flight attendants and I always think to myself, "Okay, well if they’re not panicking, I don’t need to panic." And that’s sort of how I fly everywhere. That’s something I’m really going to need to work on actually. Maybe I’ll do the mind over... Nicola: Let’s do some alignment together. Irene: That’s right. You’re not alone in feeling that. I'm sure I'm not the only one. That’s right. But one thing I notice when I do travel is, of course, I love everything to do with beauty, and your skin is so beautiful and hydrated. How do we keep it like that when it gets so dehydrated in the sky? Nicola: Well, it does. And I think the main thing is: hydrate, hydrate, hydrate is the number one key. You know, eye drops—I've always sort of suffered a bit from dry eyes—so eye drops, lip balm, not only that, you know I’ll have a thick moisturiser on as well. Sometimes those spritz, those sprays, are really good and you feel great. I like it on the plane too when you’ve got a silk eye mask, and I love the ones that go round your ears. And that way then you can cocoon in it and it’s sort of soft on your eyes and that sort of then you don’t get so much like the crinkly eye look. But hydration is like really one of the biggest tips for actually flying. But post that as well, too, there are other things, you know, like with facials—and I’ve only just started to have—I’ve had my very first skin needling that I’ve ever had, and that was just done locally at Beach's Beauty and that was just highly recommended. And the LED medical-grade with the light... Irene: Oh, the OmniLux after the needling! Nicola: Yeah! They prepped that for me before and then I had the skin needling. So I’ve had a couple of sessions and since then I have had comments—I’ve got a glow about my skin. So that’s sort of something. But when I was flying—I'm not sort of flying working as doing that anymore—don't forget just to drink more and more. And have, say, Liquid IV. Irene: But doesn't alcohol affect you worse? Nicola: It does! You know, yeah, you just sort of say—I mean the things that people do up in the sky... you know, like... Di: What happens in the sky stays in the sky! Nicola: Exactly. Oh, the stories you must have! Can you tell us? You've got some stories. Nicola: Well, it's true, with the Mile High Club, Di’s brought it up, the good old... I looked it up! No, but I think it is quite funny, and it is sometimes when people have sleeping pills and then they’ll have too much champagne, and that is always sort of a thing that never ends up well. And, but it is quite funny, as flight attendants too, we have seen people go in—because you’ve sort of got the bird’s eye view—and you’ll go, "Oh, check out this couple." And this is sort of back before the mobile phones, but you’d see it in the middle of the night, and one would walk up to the front toilets, and then next minute someone else would go in, the door would shut, and there’s two people in there. And it was just so funny because as crew we were kind of onto it. So we’d make like an anonymous call, alert all the crew, and sort of come up to right one, and it was just so funny. All of a sudden you’d hear these noises and so all the crew would be round there and all of a sudden the door would open and then close again, and it was just like, busted! You know, so those things... Irene: I always thought that was a myth! Nicola: No, it happens! I know many a person. Well, I think it's something people want to tick the box, it’s sort of something they want to do. And probably doesn't... you know. Irene: It wouldn't work for me because I’m scared of flying, so I don’t think I’d be very relaxed. Di: Maybe it might relax you! See you in the hotel! Irene: Answer me this beauty question then about flying that I have. Why is it that I always look so much worse after a flight? Tell me how—and then I look at the flight attendants and they always look so beautiful and put together. Nicola: No, do you know what it is sometimes too? No, we all do. You know, like as I used to do the long-haul flights and you’d have like a little crew rest, two hours off, and you’d get the tap on the shoulder and it’s 3:00 AM and you’re about to serve breakfast. And so you quickly—and your hair’s like this—and you run into the bathroom and you go, "Oh my god." So it’s quick cleaning the teeth, pulling your hair back—bright lipstick always does the trick. So really it’s a simple thing that if you just brush your hair and put a bit of lipstick on, you know, it’s fine. Sprayer—like hydrate your skin. Irene: How about dark circles? Nicola: Well, I think then, you know, that’s—I mean look, a little bit of touch-up, a little bit of makeup is always helpful, which is what we all wear. And I think also as flight attendants too, part of our thing was always grooming and we’ve always had, you know, you try and keep sort of fairly high standards. But naturally! You know, so it was just sort of like a simple thing. Di could see me—I could get ready in five minutes. I’d have the uniform there, I’d be prepped, it wouldn't take me that long, but I’d have the pearl earrings on, pull the hair back, the lipstick on, and it wouldn't take that long to do. Irene: You can just look at you now, you can just tell that you’ve been a flight attendant because you're so put together. So another question then: you've been a flight attendant, was it—has it been 30 years? Over 30 years. Wow. So how then from when you started doing the job to now has your beauty routine changed? Because it’s harder, I think, to look better quicker as we get after 50. Nicola: Absolutely. Well, you know, there’s been different things too. I like now—with your skin I guess it gets—it does dry. The other thing really would be, I’m a body oil freak. I love oil from head to toe on my body. And then I’ll put sort of like moisturiser on. So I think, and hydration. So I think those things there, and as I sort of was mentioning before with now, you know, trying skin needling and doing things like that, that there are extra things as we get into our 50s and 60s that you can actually do. So, you know, so that’s sort of really... and just going out, a little bit of sunlight without too much. We have to be—we always sort of be aware of that. So I just think it's like kind of looking after yourself simply. Di: Just the basics. Nicola: Basics. Hydration, sleep, you know, really getting the balance of life. And also having fun! You know, I think sometimes too people forget it. You know, and I think you look happy and you look better when you’ve got a positive attitude. And we know life is not always good, everyone gets knocked around and gets different things, but as Di was saying, you learn as you get older too to let things go. And we’re loving this chapter of our life! It’s really great and we feel grateful being here. And we’ve got a lot more to go, but it’s like we say we’re just getting started. It’s just... we’re so grateful. Life’s for living and it’s like now now or ever, so let’s make the most of it. Segment: Daily Rituals & Connection (08:15) [Transition Music] Lee: I do my daily walk to Palmie and I often see both of you. You with your big spread the Coton de Tulear dog walking along the beach. I’d love to know: what is one other simple daily ritual that instantly makes you feel more "you"? Nicola: Oh wow! Well, you nailed it with walking the dog because that really is. And I do like my morning coffee, so it’s sort of kind of like my favorite thing to start the day is to get up, walking the dog, having my coffee. And lucky it’s like living around here at the beaches. The other thing too, if I can in a week, say planning a week, I’d like to at least once or twice do a Yin yoga class. For me, that’s my grounding, being a high-energy "go go" Aries woman. Yin yoga is really good. But walking in nature is my thing. That’s my thing. Di: I think for me it’s gratitude. I wake up instantly look in the sky and I am grateful for breathing. Full stop. You know, are you lucky enough to breathe? You’re the most fortunate person in the world. There are so many people dying as we’re talking right now from illnesses that they can’t escape from. So gratitude I think is a great, as you used the word "ritual." And I think for me, as Nic always says, Di is the plunger! I go into the ocean and I squeal like a child, literally. I literally do squeal. I have seen you! Yeah, and I go, "Wow!" like that and I go in sometimes when—and we all have moments when we feel low or sad, we’re human. And I will go into the ocean and I’ll come out a different human. If you’re not near—you don’t live, listeners, near the ocean, get into a bath or even under with the, you know, focus your mind on the water from the shower dropping onto your body. It’s incredible. But if you can get to the ocean, full of the magnesium, all the yummy stuff... Lee: And the salt water! Di: The salt water! It’s healing. Nature’s gift. Nicola: And we also like, you know, when you have like solitary walks as well, as much because we’re very social. So I think being by myself and so when I’m walking with the dog, we have the best conversations. But that’s sort of something good, but then saying that I love hiking so with other women and you know we’re involved with Wild Women On Top and Coastrek. And you can go to places and in nature, like is just the best mother’s gift. It’s just healing and fun and connection. Di: Remember how daggy it was when someone would say to you, like you’d go, "What a hippie, I’m going to hug a tree." Remember those days you’d go, "Oh, seriously?" Now, I don’t care who’s around, I literally—well you’ve been with me and I hug those trees in the forest. Nicola: She does! She has! I've got photos of Di! Di: And honestly, if you switch your mind off and connect, you’ll feel the energy of the tree that’s two or three hundred years old. And then you start reflecting on, well, I die with—we die without trees. You know, the goodness that they put into our world absorb... Irene: And think about that tree as well, jus

Wellness Unfiltered Episode 3: The Collagen Queen, ‘Splaining Smoothies & Sleep Solutions! 🎙️ Listen & Subscribe on Substack , Substack Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube Show Notes Is collagen a fountain of youth in a jar or just expensive protein powder? From social media skeptics to "miracle" marketing, the world of ingestible beauty is a confusing place. If you’ve ever wondered if your morning scoop is actually hitting your skin or just hitting your wallet, this episode is your ultimate guide to the science of glow. In our third episode, Lee Holmes and Irene Falcone welcome the "Queen of Collagen," Fiona Tuck . As a forensic nutritionist and cosmetic chemist with 30 years of experience, Fiona breaks down why your bone broth isn't the same as a peptide supplement and how to spot the "fillers" ruining your results. We also perform a nutritional intervention on our producer Justin’s "dessert-in-disguise" Jelly Bean smoothie and help listener Marrianne solve the uni-student sleep struggle. In this episode we chat about: ✨ The Collagen Deep Dive with Fiona Tuck (05:33) The Science: Does it actually work? (Hint: The randomised trials say yes!) Marine vs. Bovine: Why marine takes the crown for skin hydration and elasticity. The "Peptide" Secret: Why the molecular size (Daltons) is the difference between absorption and waste. 🥤 Womansplain: The Smoothie Intervention (30:37) Fixing producer Justin’s " Jelly Bean " smoothie. The truth about oat milk spikes and the "hidden sugar" in chocolate coconut water. Simple swaps: Raw cacao, Greek yogurt, and the "Oat Hack." 😴 You’re on Speaker: The Uni Sleep Struggle (36:32) Helping Marrianne from Balgowlah support her daughter’s sleep hygiene. The "Mantra" Method: Why total blackout is non-negotiable for melatonin. Raynaud’s & Sleep: The "Warm Feet" tip for better circulation and rest. Magnesium Glycinate: The "gentle" form for a calm nervous system. 😤 Epic Rant: The Dunning-Kruger Effect in Wellness (46:05) Fiona’s fire on "social media experts" who fear-monger about single ingredients. Why whole foods (like an orange) trump isolated megadoses of Vitamin C. Lee’s Nutritionist Nerd Notes The Collagen "Peptide" Structure Explore Native Collagen: Found in food like steak or home-made bone broth. It’s a giant molecule ($300,000$ Daltons) that is hard for the body to utilise directly for skin. Collagen Peptides: These are "denatured" and broken down into tiny fragments. They act as signalling molecules , telling your fibroblast cells to ramp up production of Type 1 collagen and hyaluronic acid. The "Clean" Collagen Checklist Source: Look for Wild Caught Norwegian Marine Collagen (The "Rolls Royce") or Grass-fed Bovine . Avoid farm-raised fish (Tilapia). Avoid the Bulkers: Steer clear of Maltodextrin (a filler that spikes blood sugar) and Sucralose . The 5-10g Rule: Most studies showing visible wrinkle reduction (up to 30%) require at least 5-10 grams daily. If your supplement only has 1-2g, you're likely wasting your money. 🛡️ Fact-Check: Manufactured Citric Acid (MCA) · Multiple industrial reports confirm that approximately 90–99% of the world’s manufactured citric acid is produced via microbial fermentation using Aspergillus niger . · The Reason: It is significantly more cost-effective than extracting it from citrus fruits. One metric tonne of citric acid would require tens of thousands of lemons, whereas a fermentation vat of sugar and mould can produce it in days. · Aspergillus niger is biologically classified as a "black mould" because of its dark spores. However, it is not the same species as Stachybotrys chartarum , the toxic "black mould" typically associated with "sick building syndrome" and water-damaged homes, ie the one that grows on bathroom walls. · There is a difference between Natural Citric Acid (found in fruits) and Manufactured Citric Acid (MCA) . Most labels just say "Citric Acid," but if it's in a processed snack like a gummy bear, it is almost certainly the manufactured version derived from fermentation. · While the FDA grants manufactured citric acid "GRAS" (Generally Recognised as Safe) status, there is clinical evidence (such as a 2018 study in Toxicology Reports ) suggesting that some individuals experience significant inflammatory reactions, including joint pain, respiratory issues, and skin flares, specifically from the manufactured version, but not from the natural fruit version. · The Cause: It is theorised that "trace residues" or "mould fragments" remaining from the fermentation process may trigger an immune response in people with mould sensitivities or Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), even though the product is considered "pure." Manufactured citric acid can contribute to the inflammation seen in asthma, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, autistic spectrum disorder, and fibromyalgia 🛡️ Fact-Check: The Maltodextrin "Hidden Sugar" Watchlist · Maltodextrin is a polysaccharide with a Glycemic Index (GI) often higher than table sugar. o The Data: Pure glucose has a GI of 100 . Table sugar (sucrose) is around 65 . Maltodextrin typically ranges from 85 to 105 . Industrial reports (including BetterByDesign Nutrition 2025 ) confirm that because it is "pre-digested" via enzymatic hydrolysis, the body absorbs it as rapidly as, or even faster than pure glucose, leading to immediate insulin spikes. · It is classified as a "complex carbohydrate" on labels, allowing it to hide in "sugar-free" products. o The Data: Under many global food labelling regulations (such as FSANZ in Australia and Canada's FDA), maltodextrin is categorised as a carbohydrate rather than a sugar. This allows "Zero Sugar" protein powders and keto snacks to contain a high-glycemic filler that still causes a significant blood glucose response. · Maltodextrin has been linked to the erosion of the protective gut mucus layer. o The Study: A critically important study published in Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology (Laudisi et al., 2019) and furthered in 2022 research ( Frontiers in Immunology ) found that maltodextrin promotes Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) stress in gut cells. This stress leads to a depletion of the mucus that protects the intestinal lining, making the gut more susceptible to inflammation and "leaky gut" symptoms. · It may act as a "primer" for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and Crohn's Disease. o The Study: Research by Nickerson & McDonald (Cleveland Clinic) showed that maltodextrin actually encourages the growth and "biofilm" formation of E. coli bacteria specifically associated with Crohn’s Disease. It makes it easier for these harmful bacteria to stick to the intestinal wall. In animal models, maltodextrin consumption significantly worsened the severity of colitis. · Common symptoms for sensitive individuals include bloating, gas, and "brain fog." o The Science: Because maltodextrin is rapidly fermented by certain gut bacteria, it can cause immediate osmotic shifts (pulling water into the gut) and gas production. This is why people with IBS or SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth) often report feeling "pregnant" or intensely bloated within 30–60 minutes of consuming a protein shake or "healthy" bar containing the additive. Lee’s "Nutritionist Nerd" Rule of Thumb "If you are managing diabetes, insulin resistance, or IBD, maltodextrin is an ingredient to vet carefully. It is used in everything from 'Natural' Stevia packets to high-end 'Clean' protein powders to give them a thick, creamy mouthfeel. Look for brands that use Tapioca Starch instead of the high-GI corn-based version." The Magnesium Cheat Sheet · Magnesium Glycinate : Sleep & Anxiety. Highly bioavailable and calming for the brain. · Magnesium Citrate : Digestion. Can have a laxative effect (good for constipation). · Transdermal (Oil/Cream) : Muscle Aches. Great for localised pain and bypasses the digestive system. Justin’s "Upgraded" Jelly Bean Smoothie Recipe Tips: Base: Filtered water or plain coconut water (not flavoured). Protein/Cream: A dollop of Greek yogurt and a handful of organic rolled oats Flavour: 1 tbsp Raw Cacao powder or cacao nibs. Greens: Spinach or Rocket (Antihistamine benefits!). Sweetener: A frozen banana or 1 tsp raw honey. Gut Health: Add a tsp of Love You Gut powder and 1 tsp Synbiotic The Rule: NO jelly beans! Justin’s Daily Smoothie Recipe Ingredients · 1 x TBS Cacao powder or nibs · 1 x frozen banana · 1 x TBS oats · 2 tbs Greek yoghurt · 1 cup filtered water or plain coconut water · Handful of spinach · 1 tsp raw honey · 1 tsp Love You Gut powder Method · Blend all ingredients until smooth · Serve in a tall glass Guest Info: Follow Fiona Tuck: @fionatucknutrition Check out her range: Vitasol Follow us on Instagram: @wellnessunfilteredleeirene | @leesupercharged | @cleannectarine Join the conversation on Substack: wellnessunfilteredpod.com Disclaimer: This show is for educational purposes only. Please consult your qualified health professional before incorporating new wellness solutions. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theleeandireneshow.substack.com

Wellness Unfiltered Episode 2: Chocolate Scandals, Gut Hacks & Dickensian Dudes! 🎙️ Listen & Subscribe on Substack Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube Show Notes We’ve all been there: it’s 3 p.m., the slump is hitting hard, and you’re reaching for that "healthy" dark chocolate bar. But is your afternoon treat a superfood or a chemical cocktail? Between headlines about heavy metals and labels filled with mysterious E-numbers, even the simplest indulgence has become a wellness minefield. If you’re tired of "health-washed" snacks leaving you bloated and confused, this episode is your golden ticket to the truth. In our second episode, Lee Holmes and Irene Falcone (Founder of Clean Nectarine ) dive deep into the dark side of the $100 billion chocolate industry . From lead and cadmium lawsuits rocking major brands to the "Dutch processing" that strips away antioxidants, we’re uncovering what’s really in your pantry . Plus, we "womansplain" how to fix broken capillaries for the men in your life and deliver a fiery rant on big retailers crushing small, passionate businesses. In this episode we chat about: 🍫 The Dark Side of Chocolate (02:30) Cacao vs. Cocoa: Why the spelling determines the health benefits The "Factory Fake" Scandal: Lead and cadmium lawsuits and heavy metals in soil Emulsifiers (E475 & Soy Lecithin) and why they might be shredding your gut lining 👅 The Ultimate Blind Taste Test (14:40) Ranking the top 10 cleanest blocks available in Australia The "Blackout" 100% Cacao challenge Lee’s "Gold Standard" pick for functional medicine disguised as a treat 🧔 Womansplain: The "Dickensian" Face Fix (31:03) Treating broken capillaries and redness (the "gin blossom" look) Simple swaps: Natural zinc, Vitamin C serums, and cooling face washes 📢 You’re on Speaker (Live with Margaret from Canberra!) (37:27) Deciphering the "10-gram rule" for sugar on packaging The "Bodyguard" Trick: Using raw veggies to create a physical mesh in your gut Skincare at 68: Why serums do the heavy lifting over expensive creams 😤 Epic Rant: Big Retailers & "Marketplace" Lies (47:57) Why big players are becoming the "Temu" of small business The death of the niche health store and the rise of drop-shipping giants Lee’s Nutritionist Nerd Notes Cacao vs. Cocoa: The Antioxidant Supercharger Cacao: Raw and cold-processed, keeping enzymes and antioxidants alive . It contains 40 times more antioxidants than blueberries and can help lower inflammation and improve heart health Cocoa: Heated to high temperatures during processing, which strips away many of its original beauty and health benefits The Chocolate "E-Number" Watchlist Soy Lecithin (E322): Often used for texture but can lead to significant bloating Polyglycerol Esters (E475): These can erode the gut lining and create inflammation throughout the body The Rising Tide of Bowel Cancer Bowel and colorectal cancers are no longer just "old person's diseases," with rates rising alarmingly among younger Australians Almost 12% of cases now occur in people under 50, and it is the deadliest cancer for those aged 25 to 54 The decision to lower the screening age from 50 to 45 followed updated clinical guidelines from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). These updates address the increasing prevalence of early-onset bowel cancer in individuals under 50, even as rates in older groups have declined Important Note: If you are experiencing symptoms (such as blood in your stool or changes in bowel habits) or have a significant family history of bowel cancer, you should see a doctor regardless of your age, as you may require different types of testing Lee's Rules of Engagement for Chocolate Timing: The "sweet spot" for consumption is between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to help with energy slumps . Avoid eating it after 4 p.m. if you are caffeine sensitive The Bodyguard: Pair chocolate with fibre-rich foods like nuts or berries to slow sugar absorption and prevent glucose spikes The 10g Rule: When reading labels, look at the "100g column" and aim for products with less than 10g of sugar Top 10 Chocolate Rankings For the full breakdown of my top 10 cleanest, gut-friendly chocolate bars, including the rationale behind every rank, check out my latest blog post: www.superchargedfood.com/blog Mansplaining: Non-alcohol drinks recommendations from Irene: Sans Drinks Thank you so much for tuning into Wellness Unfiltered! We're beyond grateful you're here with us in the cabin and would love a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. It helps us cut through the greenwashing and reach more truth-seekers like you. Follow us on Instagram: @wellnessunfilteredleeirene | @leesupercharged | @cleannectarine | @superchargeyourgut Join the conversation on Substack: https://substack.com/@wellnessunfilteredpod Disclaimer: This show is for educational purposes only. Please consult your qualified health professional before incorporating new wellness solutions. READ MORE HERE Do you prefer to read the transcript? Wellness Unfiltered Episode 2 Transcript Irene Falcone: Well, hello out there! You’re Irene... Lee Holmes: ...and you’re Lee! Irene: And this is Wellness Unfiltered ! Yay! Lee: (Laughs) I was on such a high from our first episode, Irene, and I learned a few things, especially around sunscreens as well. I’ve been boosting Google’s business by searching the TGA website and all the numbers on the packs to find out what’s in them. You’re welcome, whoever owns Google! Irene: Well, yeah, that first episode was so electric. And whilst you were Googling on Google about the things I was saying about sunscreens, I was lying in bed at 3 o'clock in the morning hoping I don't get any letters from the TGA over anything that I said. Lee: Oh no! Irene: How nice is it out here? It’s raining today in the Cabin, and it is so beautiful overlooking that garden and the smell... there’s something about the smell of the rain on the Northern Beaches, isn't there? Lee: It’s so beautiful and I’m actually really loving my garden at the moment because it, well... it’s the first thing I look at as soon as I get out of bed. I run downstairs and have a look at the garden and it just makes me so happy. So anyway, this episode is going to be a really big one. In our "What’s Popping" segment, we are going to the dark side—literally. And we’re going to do a deep dive into the chocolate industry, from heavy metal scandals to a blind taste test, which you’re going to be doing, of the cleanest blocks widely available. And I’ve also put together a top ten ranking of the best chocolates. Irene: I’m so looking forward to that, Lee, I have to say. Please don't say anything negative about chocolate. It is my one thing that I love. At least I'm going to have a list of things I can eat, right? Lee: Yeah, you sure will. Irene: Okay, good. I do feel guilty eating chocolate sometimes. And then we’re heading into "Womansplaining" to help Justin, our producer, deal with whatever issue he’s got going on this week. Lee: And he’s had a few. Irene: I bet! Plus, we’ve got a listener joining us in a discussion in the Cabin. We’ve got Margaret from Canberra on speaker. Lee: And as always, we are going to be finishing with a rant or rave. Irene: Oh pick me! Pick me! I have a rant and I was rehearsing the rant in my car on the way here and I was getting so mad. Lee: Really? I cannot wait to hear it. I’m super excited. I can already see the sparks coming out of your headphones, Irene. Irene: (Laughs) Yeah, you can... can you see the steam is going to start coming out of my ears on this one? Alright Lee, let's get into the big one for the week. It’s the topic that dominates everyone's WhatsApp group, every office kitchen, and definitely every woman’s 3 PM slump. We are talking about chocolate and the dark side of it. Lee: It sure does, doesn't it? And we talk about it a lot, and I feel like it's kind of like the universal love language, you know? But it’s also become one of the most confusing topics in wellness, I find. One day we're told it's a superfood, it protects our hearts and minds, and then the next day there’s a headline that you read and it says it's got heavy metals in it and it’s going to shred your gut and it’s got emulsifiers and it’s all so confusing. Irene: You know what? I know those things and I just eat them anyway. And I do try and get the one that looks the most healthy, but I am always looking for that Goldilocks sort of unicorn bar. The one that tastes really good but it doesn't give me that sugar crash. And I am trying to avoid sugar, but then of course I don't want to be having any fake sugar. I don't really like the taste of stevia. But I really love that indulgence. I really do have that sweet tooth and I have been seeing all of that stuff on the news lately. So I don't know if I'm eating a bunch of chemicals or lead or God knows. Can't wait to find out. Lee: Yeah, you’re going to find out today. And did you know, talking about the chocolate and the industry, it’s literally a 100-billion-dollar industry. And it’s really mastered health-washing. So it kind of gives us all these messages that are super confusing for people. And even the word cacao—we think we’re doing our bodies a favour getting all these feel-good, real ingredients. But actually, did you know that the spelling matters more than people realise? Irene: It’s really interesting you should say that. I didn't originally know that. I know because as I was writing many, many product descriptions in my time, I was always spelling cacao as c-o-c-a-o... I don't even know how to pronounce them actually, but I do know that I always get them muddled up in my head still. Lee: Yeah, so there’s cacao and there’s cocoa. And they’re two completely different things. Irene: Yes, so I’m going to guess one is good and one is bad? Lee: Yeah, so this is the massive difference, right? So you’ve got cacao, which is yummy, but it’s generally raw and cold-pressed. And it keeps the enzymes and the antioxidants and all the good stuff alive. It’s actually got 40 times more antioxidants than blueberries, can you believe it? And there’s flavanols in there as well which can help you lower inflammation, help your heart health, and even wrangle your gut bugs into better behaviour. There’s recent research too that backs this up, that dark chocolate is linked to a 21% lower risk of type 2 diabetes if you have five-plus serves weekly. I love the sound of that. And there are so many other benefits to it as well. Cocoa, on the other hand, is roasted and processed because they heat it to this high temperature and you lose a lot of those beauty and health benefits along with it. And most of the time along with cocoa, manufacturers they dump in sugar, dairy or soy to make it more palatable. And so you know the chocolates that you find in the supermarket aisles, a lot of them have processed the life out of them and they’re just a bunch of empty calories and additives, believe it or not. Irene: Well, I never shop in that aisle. I always buy my chocolate in the health food aisle in the supermarket. So I’m assuming that they're better, right? Tell me they are. Lee: The jury is out on those. Really, we’re going to learn more today about that. Irene: I do still see numbers like I’ve seen E475 and soy... how do you pronounce that? Soy... there’s always a soy leth-ith-in... what is that? Lee: Lecithin. Irene: Lecithin. I see soy lecithin. I always try and avoid gluten and I always try and avoid dairy and of course a lot of sugar, so I always find that that soy thing is the only thing that’s left in the allergens. Lee: Yeah, that’s true. You know what too? Because I have autoimmune issues, I’ve always tried to pinpoint the kind of foods that were affecting me and I realised it was a lot of the E numbers in just simple little ingredients but they’re chemically laden and chemically produced. So something like soy lecithin—it’s called E322 if you’re having a look at the back of your chocolate. It helps with the texture of chocolate but it’s really... it’s really bloating. I find when I have it I get super bloated. I don't know if you do as well. Irene: Well, I just thought... okay, so this is really interesting. I just thought it was the dairy in the milk chocolate. I wouldn't have thought in a... I mean, I know I can't have gluten and I know I can't have dairy, so I don't know why I’m still bloating. That would explain it. Lee: Yeah, because I’m like super fine with dairy. I’m completely fine but it’s these additives... highly processed foods that really get to me. And what they do is... and there’s another one called E475 which is polyglycerol esters, and what they do—the polyglycerol ones—is they really erode the lining of your gut and they create inflammation in your gut lining and in your body. And because of that, it can contribute to a lot of inflammation, tiredness after eating, bloating after eating. That’s kind of why you feel like that. And then of course there’s refined sugar that feeds the bad bacteria in your gut. So you’re creating imbalances whether you’re having the additives or whether you’re having sugar as well. I know it kind of sounds a bit negative, doesn't it? Irene: It sounds super negative and I really want to ask you about sugar. So firstly, I know saying zero sugar means nothing because zero sugar can mean it literally has no sweetener or it means it could have fake sugar and there's a whole bunch of fake sugars that obviously I would never put in my body ever. I also did see something recently about raw sugar not being... raw unrefined sugar not being that bad for us. And then there’s other things like maple syrup or... what's the other one? There’s another one... rice bran... Lee: Oh, rice malt syrup? Irene: That one! So, okay... can we have those? Tell me all about sugar and zero sugar. Lee: Yeah, so the sugar... zero sugar bars that you see in the supermarket, they are the ones that have ingredients like erythritol which is good for your blood sugar, but then there’s also a lot of them, probably 90% of them, that have these E numbers in them. And they are the ones that are very irritating to your microbiome’s finickiness, you know? What I would do personally, and what I do, is I go for coconut sugar. And I go for ones that don't spike your blood sugar too much and more unrefined kind of sugar. So I think they’re a lot better personally. And you can also get ones, say for example if you’re having one with coconut sugar and nuts in it, the fibre actually feeds your good bugs in the gut, so no drama there. Irene: I’ve got a nut allergy in my family so I’ve got to avoid nuts in chocolate. So, yeah, I tend to get things with some dried sort of fruit in it for sweetener. Is that okay? Lee: I mean, sometimes they’re okay if they're natural. However, a lot of dried fruit have sulphites in them. And if you’re sensitive with your gut, because you know how you get the bloating like I do, if you’re sensitive you might react to those as well. Irene: Yeah, right. Actually, speaking of sulphites, I’ve seen all this stuff in the news recently about hams being carcinogenic. Lee: Oh my goodness, we’re doing an episode on that. Irene: Are we? Okay, I can't wait for that because that scares the crap out of me. But speaking of carcinogenic, are any of these other E things related to carcinogens as well? Lee: Yeah, well, believe it or not, obviously these ingredients do tie into bigger issues and there are trends that are happening at the moment like bowel cancer trends in young people. So by the way, I just did my home test last week for the... you know the free one that you get? Irene: Good on you. You’ve got to do it every two years. Lee: Yeah, that’s super important. Irene: It seems to be on the news all the time. Lee: Yeah, you see it a lot, huh? So it was, you know, it used to be thought of as an old person’s disease—bowel cancer and colorectal cancers—but now it’s hitting younger Australians at really alarming rates. It’s actually quite scary when you look at it. When you look at the rates of bowel cancer, almost 12% of cases are Australians under 50. And it’s the deadliest cancer for ages from 25 to 54. And you know those tests I was just talking about? They’ve actually changed the age of the screening test now and it’s down to 45. So you used to have it over 50 or 55. Now it’s 45. So that’s one screen we should be doing more of, right? Irene: Wow, that’s super scary. And so what are the risks? Like, do we know why? Has there been any research coming out to say what’s causing this? Lee: We know established risks like low-fibre diets, lots of processed meats that you were talking about before with the sulphites in them, a lot of red meat, obesity, alcohol, smoking, family history, those kinds of things. But with gut health under pressure from these ultra-processed foods creating the inflammation, I truly believe, and the research that I’ve done, that they definitely play a role in these rising rates too because if you look at the ingredients like emulsifiers and additives, they’re in all your plant-based milks, they’re in your protein bars. We totally have to do that episode on UPFs, ultra-processed foods, I just cannot wait for that one. Irene: I know, can I just... I know we’re going to have a whole episode on that. But you know what makes me mad? Actually, I should just save this for another rant, but I’m just going to give you a little teaser rant here. It’s very public knowledge now and all over the news, it’s not a conspiracy theory, that these processed meats are carcinogenic. Why are we still advertising ham on the back of buses for children’s lunches? Why? Lee: I don't understand that. Like why would they still be doing it when the research is out there? Irene: It’s out there. It’s not like it’s hidden... if it’s as bad as it is, it’s as bad as advertising cigarettes on the back of a bus still. Lee: I agree. Irene: Alright, that’s a rant for another day. Alright, back to chocolate. So let’s talk about the chocolate scandal and all of this stuff that I’ve been reading about dark chocolate all of a sudden being bad for us—does it have lead in it or something? Is that what it's about? Lee: Well, yeah, well this is the "Fine Ingredients" lie they call it. So it’s the Lindt... you know Lindt chocolate? You know you get the 85% one and you’ve got all the different versions of it? Irene: I get the highest percentage. Surely that’s the best one... I get the highest one. Lee: And you would think that, right? However, they’re now saying that the soil is dodgy, the chocolate is dodgy, and also that they have lead in them. The lead is in the soil and now the chocolate has lead in it. Lead and cadmium was found from the dodgy soil, it sparked this massive lawsuit, and Lindt are facing this lawsuit over their finest ingredients claims. So 2026 is all about calling out these factory fakes versus the artisan. So we need to keep it organic or at least cleaner, I would say. But this is pure marketing sadly because a lot of the time you get cacao butter which is just fat, not the flavanol-rich part, and then the real actives actually might be half of that. So there’s this processing method called the Dutch processing method and that kind of wipes out a lot of the goodness too. So if you see anything in terms of chocolate with fake flavourings, that’s a chemical pretend chocolate and it’s got zero health benefits. Irene: I know you just said all that about Lindt, but I’m going to just pretend I didn't hear it. Lee: (Laughs) Well, it’s in America and they haven't actually come out with this research in Australia, I will say yet. Irene: Yeah, but is it the same chocolate? Out of the same factory? Lee: Well, it’s localised here I’m assuming. Need to do a bit more research on that. I will let you know in our episode about ultra-processed foods. Irene: I want to know. I really do need to know more about that. Wow. Alright, so I’m go

Sunscreen scandals, gut hacks & epic rants! 🎙️ Listen & Subscribe on Substack (wellnessunfilteredpod), Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart, TuneIn Show Notes So many high-performing wellness seekers look fine from the outside. The smoothies are blended. The skincare routine is on point. Life feels handled. But inside, it can feel like you're wading through one scandal after another, gut confusion, and influencer hype without clear answers. You keep scrolling for more tips, more products, more opinions, and somehow you feel less equipped, not more. If you've been chasing wellness truths amid the noise, this episode is for you. In our debut, myself, Lee Holmes (Clinical Nutritionist) and Irene Falcone (Founder of Clean Nectarine ) pull no punches from our secret cabin hideout. We'll unpack sunscreen scandals shaking Australia, demystify prebiotics vs. probiotics with a live caller, fix that stubborn "beer belly" for the men in your life, and deliver a fiery rant on influencers staying in their lane. No sugar-coating, greenwashing, or woo-woo, just 30 years of combined clinical expertise, raw laughs, and actionable hacks. In this episode we chat about: 🛡️ Sunscreen Scandals Down Under (09:14)CHOICE bombshells on Ultraviolette SPF recall and overseas testing drama (09:51)Private-labels with identical formulas (13:03)Spotlight on sunscreen chemicals in the media (15:29) 📣 You’re on Speaker (Live with Bondi Di!) (24:38)Prebiotics vs. probiotics: real microbiome differences and daily food hacks (25:27)Spotting truly natural beauty products amid so much greenwashing (29:00) 💪 Womansplain Men's Gut Fixes (32:43)Visceral fat truths for the "skinny everywhere but belly" guy (09:52)Ditch liquid calories, boost breakfast protein, add gut-feeding fibre (34:38)Incidental exercise and why consistency beats intensity (36:05) 😤 Epic Rant: Influencers, Stay in Your Lane! (37:44)Expertise creep, private-label flops, and spotting inauthentic products (37:53) Nutritionist Nerd Notes Freedom of Information Article: Irene discusses Courier-Mail/Herald Sun on sunscreen ingredient. TGA Sunscreen Search: Type ARTG # + "TGA" into Google for full ingredients here: https://www.tga.gov.au/resources/artg Prebiotics vs Probiotics Breakdown Probiotics: Live good bacteria (reinforcements for your gut ecosystem). Found in fermented foods like yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut. They populate the microbiome to keep good vs bad bacteria balanced. Disrupted by antibiotics, high sugar, smoking. Prebiotics: Non-digestible plant fibres that feed existing good bacteria (like fertiliser for hungry babies). Examples: inulin (chicory root), resistant starch, onions, garlic, oats, asparagus, leeks, bananas, apples (with skin). Daily Tip: Eat both, every day for short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that boost digestion, immunity, reduce inflammation. General Gut Health Ecosystem Microbiome = trillions of bacteria. Balance via diet; imbalance from poor habits. Pro/prebiotics restore harmony for overall wellness. Prebiotics and Probiotics Lee's Prebiotic and Probiotic Recipes: Pre/Probiotic Recipes Lee's prebiotic and probiotic shopping list Visceral Fat (Bustin's Gut) Nutrition Hacks Targets men over 40: Stress (cortisol) + low testosterone = deep abdominal fat around organs (metabolically active, inflammatory). Cut liquid calories: Alcohol (liver prioritises detox over fat burn), sugary drinks, juices, sports drinks. Breakfast protein: Eggs, Greek yogurt, smoked salmon to stabilise blood sugar (prevents cortisol spikes). Fibre focus: Legumes (beans, lentils, chickpeas, peas, peanuts – grow in pods), oats, fermented foods. Feeds microbiome to regulate fat storage. No starvation: Avoid extreme restriction (raises cortisol). Aim consistency over intensity. Learn About Legumes Legumes are a great source of protein and fibre. Here's my lovely legume cheat sheet for your viewing and eating pleasure, there are some great recipes in this blog post too. Green beans/snow peas/snap peas are "fresh legumes" vs. dried pulses. All feed microbiomes via prebiotic fibre! Thank you so much for tuning into Wellness Unfiltered! We're beyond grateful you're here with us in the cabin and would love a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts it helps us cut through the greenwashing and reach more truth-seekers like you. Follow us on Instagram here: @wellnessunfilteredleeirene @leesupercharged @cleannectarine @superchargeyourgut Follow us on Substack here: https://substack.com/@wellnessunfilteredpod P.S. If you’re keen to sponsor an episode and connect with our wellness audience? Reach out to: wellnessunfilteredleeirene@gmail.com for collab details. This show is for educational purposes only, please chat with your qualified health professional before incorporating new wellness solutions. READ MORE HERE Do you prefer to read the transcript? Wellness Unfiltered Episode 1 Transcript Well, hello out there. So, you're Lee and you're Irene. And together we're Wellness Unfiltered. Yay! Welcome, everybody. This is the very first episode of Wellness Unfiltered with Lee and Irene. And we are coming to you live from a very secret cabin location. And we are so glad to have you here with us. Finally, Lee, we have been talking about doing this for years because I know we're both just so done. We are so done with the sugar coating, done with the greenwashing, and done with the wellness gaslighting. Exactly. And this show is all killer and no filler and no hidden agendas either, because we just want to talk about the clinical facts. We're going to put in a bit of common sense and the unfiltered truth about what you're really putting in and also on your body. So, this is going to be a weekly podcast on wellness and beauty, and we want to bring the heat to our industries too. We're going to shine a light on what's going to help you in your day-to-day life. You, our lovely listener. Irene and I and our unfiltered guests will bring you real, raw, and refreshingly honest chats about wellness, minus the woo woo. You bet. And I've been told I don't have a filter. And I definitely have some thoughts on the world of beauty. And I also have some bones to pick and some myths to bust. Together, we have a combined 30 years in health and wellness and beauty, especially the natural kind. We just love what we do so much. It's so dynamic and so interesting, and change is constant but so much fun. It sure is. Hosts' Introductions So, I'd like to start with a little intro all about the force of nature that is sitting right alongside me. Drumroll, Miss Irene Falcone. So about 15 years ago, do you remember we met when we were both single parents, and we were kind of just trying to make ends meet? And back then, remember, you were working at Universal, and I was at ABC. Yeah. Of course. And do you remember you used to send me those free movie tickets so Tamsin and I could go to the movies? I always used to give it a try. I always used to sneak my allocation to you. You did. And I used to give you little music albums too. Sorry, Clive, if you're listening, that's my boss. We're still in touch, actually. Thanks, Clive. Thank you, Clive. Back then, we were kind of just two young parents, weren't we, supporting each other through those pretty tough times? But fast forwarding onto today, I feel like we've really cheered each other on through wins and losses and everything in between. And we've both seen our dreams take shape. While I personally, you know, started blogging and I did my blog Supercharged Food and built my website Supercharge Your Gut, you went down another road and you became this amazing global entrepreneur, buying and selling major businesses, racking up every award and leading the way for ethical entrepreneurship. I do remember actually, I was in Central Station one day and I was just waiting for my train, and I looked up and I saw this beautiful beaming face across a massive billboard in the station, and I thought, wow, that's you, Irene. And it was such a proud moment. Thank you for BWX for buying those billboards for me. And fast forward to today, we actually genuinely just live around the corner from each other and we're still super close friends, which it really is a full circle moment, isn't it? It really is. And I'm just, I just almost have to pinch myself when we think about how far we've come over the last 15 years. It's actually longer. I think it's more like 20 years now. Yeah, I feel like some friendships are just meant to be hard. And looking back on those really simple acts of kindness that we did back then when we were both struggling and building our businesses, and now we kind of help others live healthier, more conscious lives. And I don't know about you, but I definitely feel a big sense of achievement from that. You know what's interesting? I don't know if I've ever told you this, but in that business that I started after I left Universal Pictures, you know you love your gut powder was my number one selling product. Was it? Yeah. At least 3 or 4 years in a row. Yeah. I remember we would just get these deliveries and we would. And I would tell the staff not to put it away on the shelf because I knew, just leave it out the front because I knew they would all get packed directly into orders. Oh, that's so awesome. I love how our friendship is so authentic and genuine. And boy has it stood the test of time. Oh, Lee. So, what can I say about Lee? First and foremost, your blog. You had a blog, and it was back in, I'm going to say 2008 about then, and it was literally the only really good genuine food blog at the time. And I was obsessed. In fact, I was such a fangirl of this. And I would bookmark it, I would chop off it, I would cook off it. And it's really, I don't know if I've ever told you this, Lee, it was your blog that inspired me to start my blog. No, it really was. I thought, I need to do a blog similar to this, but on beauty products. And that's what made me start the Living Toxin Free, actually was Toxin Free back then, Living Toxin Free in the City, which ended up going on to become my first business. But you really were the inspiration for that, so thank you. Oh, I'm blushing. I need, I need one of your natural concealers. Can I borrow one? Yeah, yeah, I've got one in my bag. In my bag? Why don't you have one yet? Need one? But beyond the blog, I think you have written ten, but I've gone to at least ten book launches shortly. Yeah, you have. In fact, I just handed in my 12th book. Wow. I mean, you are such an inspiration. Your books are amazing. I'm so proud of you. Oh. Thank you. That's such a sweet intro. I'm blushing. Oh, and one other thing about Lee that you might not know that I hope I'm allowed to say, but did you know Lee is actually a singer? She used to be a singer in a band. I actually walked past the ARI Awards on my way to the cabin. Awkward. I actually played congas in a band, the Love Monkeys, back, back in my heyday. You are a multi-faceted, multi-talented Virgo, Lee. I am definitely a Virgo. Episode Breakdown So, here's a breakdown of each episode. Each week we are going to take a dive into what's popping. So, the news, the views, and the controversies of the week in wellness and beauty. That's all on the top of our minds. That's right. And we'll also help you help the man in your life with our Woman's Blame segment. So, let's be honest, many men are notoriously, let's say, strategically avoidant of their own health, right? Totally. They will research a car battery for six hours, but they won't take just a few minutes to look after their health. So, every episode, we're just going to give you a few simple ideas to get your man a little healthier and looking his best. Then we are going to have a lovely listener zoom into the cabin with You're on Speaker. Oh, can't wait. Oh, and then we finish with my favorite segment, which is a rant or rave. Mostly I love the rant part of that. It's going to be so fun. Of course, unless you're doing something dodgy out there. Well, I've always wanted to say this. So, without further ado, let's talk about what's popping. What's Popping: Sunscreen Discussion So, we're kicking off our very first Wellness Unfiltered episode with our What's Popping segment with one of my very favorite guests so far. Hahaha. It's you! I really am a cheap guest. Well, you're also a true pioneer when it comes to natural ingredients and clean beauty. And I really want to chat to you today about lifting the lid on something almost every single Australian person uses, and that is sunscreen. And lately it's been such a hot topic in the news. But it's also, I think, a really confusing one for people. Oh, it's super confusing. I've actually made a sunscreen before and the process is really complicated and there is a lot of red tape, and there's also a lot of confusion out there in the market. Yeah, I do want to pick your brains today about natural ingredients as well. And I want to talk about transparency and beauty. And I might also have a few cheeky questions about the Australian regulatory landscape as well. But yeah, we'll have another leading sunscreen expert coming on in a future episode too, which will be really good. So, we'll do a part two of this. But if you really want to know what's in the bottle and why some sunscreens have recently been taken off the shelves, and if you want to know how to choose products that protect both you, your skin, and the planet, I think this episode is going to be really illuminating. So, slip, slop, slap your headphones on and let's get into it. What do you want to know, Lee? All right, well, firstly, just with a little bit of background, I actually had a melanoma a few years ago removed from my forehead, which was a super scary experience. And so that made me really aware of the harshness of our Australian sun and the need for us to wear sunscreen. What I want to know is there's been so much controversy around sunscreens lately, which you talk a lot about on your social media. Can you give me and your listeners a rundown on what's going on and what's the inside goss? Oh, well, there's a few. There's a lot going on with sunscreens at the moment and oh, where do I start? I guess it all kicked off with this Choice story. It's like the X-Files. Yeah, it's a lot like the Epstein files, but for sunscreen. There's so much going on. So, Choice. I think they do it every year, but for some reason, they always catch these big brands of sunscreens out for not meeting the SPF rating that is on the pack. And I'm sure that this has happened in the past, but for some reason this year it's really been picked up, and I think it's been picked up because it was such an iconic brand that was underreporting their SPF rating. It was Ultraviolet, and Ultraviolet is just really popular. And I think the founder came out and really defended her SPF rating. And then it was found that it wasn't hitting the SPF rating. So, I think that’s why it got more media this year than it has in the past. That Ultraviolet sunscreen had a base formulation that was used across a whole bunch of other sunscreen formulations in Australia, and what ended up happening is that everybody that used that base formulation came out of a WA manufacturer called Wild Child. What's really interesting about that is this Wild Child manufacturer was getting the sunscreens SPF tested overseas, which I actually didn't think was allowed. When I was making my sunscreen, I had to get it SPF tested in Australia through an Australian lab. Do you know how they do it? They actually burn your skin. They put the sunscreen on and then burn it. They pay uni students like $10 an hour to do the testing. But anyway, they were doing this overseas, which feels dubious. I've tested US sunscreens in Australia before, like BB creams labeled SPF 30 or 25 on the pack. Even though BB creams don't need TGA approval, they still must meet packaging laws. Those came back as SPF 3 here. I cannot believe that. Things like that happen in my industry too. They get TGA regulations in Australia, then take products to China and change everything. What other controversies are there? There's more. Another article revealed an Australian sunscreen manufacturer making private-label versions, using the exact same formulation for about 50 different brands, not just a base, but the full formula. Sometimes even the same bottle shape, just a different sticker. They all shared the same TGA number, which I'm pretty sure isn't allowed. The TGA later clarified if that's okay, but imagine 50 brands selling identical products at different prices. That's why I'm not a fan of private label. A couple of those brands approached me to stock them, but it didn't feel right since they were all the same. In that case, Magoo's founder tested them and told the media they claimed SPF 50 but didn’t meet it. That's the second controversy. The third and fourth involve chemicals. The TGA announced before Christmas they're reviewing limits on certain ones, untested for hormone disruption. This week, a Courier-Mail and Herald Sun article cited Freedom of Information emails about another ingredient, banned in 20 countries, in Australian sunscreens (including kids'), untested for safety in pregnant women and children. The outcry is we weren't told. Sunscreens are being pulled for safety, contamination, or dodgy ingredients. How do we choose a legit one? We must wear sunscreen. Slip, slop, slap; you know that better than anyone. Trust the SPF rating first. Those Choice-affected ones are pulled now, and brands have retested post-scandal, so we're more confident. On chemicals, even chemical sunscreens beat none, but for natural (zinc/titanium-based), they must match chemical SPF ratings and be TGA-listed. Check the TGA number on the pack for rigorous Australian testing. Does the TGA system work for consumers, or is it tough on small natural brands? It absolutely works for consumers. I'm pro-TGA. I love natural sunscreens but wearing any beats burning. People skip sunscreen fearing toxins, so pick natural with TGA listing. Avoid small suppliers selling plain zinc oxide with shea butter claiming protection. No TGA means no guarantee. One annoyance: TGA-listed products only need active ingredients listed (e.g., 22% zinc oxide), implying natural. Check the full list on the TGA website by entering the number. It often reveals 15+ inactive ones. That's my trick for stocking; Google "TGA [number]" for ingredients. On the environment, do "reef-safe" sunscreens live up to it? Some chemical sunscreens destroy coral, so avoid them at the Great Barrier Reef. Natural zinc oxide ones call themselves reef-safe, but environmental groups question if zinc or titanium dioxide truly is. It’s less bad than chemicals, but the jury’s out. It's on labels, but not 100% verified. What about SPF ratings like 10, 15, 30, 50? Back when I made sunscreen, natural zinc maxed at SPF 30. Now SPF 50s are common. SPF measures UVB blockage. SPF 50+ blocks 98%, SPF 30 blocks 97% (just 1% difference), SPF 15 blocks 93%. Does that mean how long it lasts? Labels say reapply every 2 hours. That’s not marketing; sweat wears it off. Reapply often, especially swimming, plus hat and shade. Follow directions based on formulation. That's so interesting. I loved having you as our first guest. Anytime, Lee. You’re On Speaker with Di Welcome to the You're On Speaker episode, and Di, you're our first caller. Welcome! Thank you. It's a little bit exciting. I don't know that I've come first on a lot of things, but anyway, thanks for setting up this podcast and giving us an opportunity to ask some questions. I've actually got a question around prebiotics and probiotics. I read a lot about it and hear a lot online, but I actually don't know what the difference is between the two, or the frequency that you should be having either of them. There's a lot of different messages online, so I was curious whether you c