Creatine is one of the most well-researched and effective sports nutrition supplements for improving exercise performance. But that isn’t what I’m going to talk about in this podcast episode. Instead, I want to give the spotlight to creatine’s new moment in the sun thanks to evolving research linking it to improving brain and bone health. And then tying all this together, I’ll profile why it may just be one supplement that women could especially benefit from over men during their reproductive li...
Jun 16, 2025•35 min•Ep. 133
Adopting a plant-based diet is a trend that continues to grow in popularity. However, for people focused on muscle growth and strength due to their athletic pursuits, there may be concerns about whether their muscle development and sports performance are being compromised by eating predominantly protein from plant foods. In this podcast episode, I’ll explore the fundamental differences between animal and plant-based proteins, discuss the primary supplements available for each type, and review re...
May 26, 2025•10 min•Ep. 132
Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic disorder characterised by high blood sugar levels due to insulin resistance or insufficient insulin production. It's a growing global health concern. While diet, exercise and medication form the cornerstone of diabetes management, researchers are continually exploring new avenues to improve blood sugar control. One such area gaining traction is the use of probiotics that can alter gut and metabolic health. But can these tiny microorganisms make a meaningful differe...
Mar 10, 2025•8 min•Ep. 131
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common gastrointestinal issue marked by abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhoea and constipation. This chronic condition can lead to anxiety, depression and a reduced quality of life. With no definitive trigger or treatment, managing IBS can be challenging. However, diet changes can positively influence IBS. In this podcast episode, I’ll outline evidence for various approaches, from supplements like probiotics right through to low-FODMAP diets. Links referred to i...
Jan 27, 2025•10 min•Ep. 130
We’re all getting older and living longer lives than ever before. But as we age, we are faced with a higher risk of nutritional frailty. This is marked by unintentional weight loss, loss of muscle mass and strength which increases the likelihood of disability. In this podcast episode, I highlight how our nutrition needs change as we age and why a firm focus is needed in preserving muscle mass through a combination of resistance exercise and additional protein. Links referred to in the podcast Re...
Dec 09, 2024•9 min•Ep. 129
Creatine is one of the most well-researched and effective sports nutrition supplements for improving exercise performance. So it is no surprise that interest in using creatine supplements to enhance performance during intense activity has grown dramatically over the last few years. One of the most common ‘use cases’ for creatine supplements is for muscle and strength gains. This makes creatine a popular choice by strength and power sports athletes, bodybuilders and recreational exercisers to sup...
Nov 11, 2024•13 min•Ep. 128
Heard about hydrogen water? It is regular water that has extra hydrogen infused in it and it’s one of the latest health trends with proponents claiming it will fight off disease, reduce inflammation, boost energy, improve mental health and enhance athletic performance. That’s quite a list of impressive claims. But what does the research have to say? That’s what I explore in this podcast to see if hydrogen water can live up to the hype or if it should be labelled the latest health hoax. Links ref...
Aug 26, 2024•14 min•Ep. 127
No one nutrient gets greater focus in the sports and performance world than protein – and for good reason. Protein builds and powers our muscles and with that comes strength and performance gains – something just about every athlete wants to have more of. Understanding how dietary protein improves muscle mass, strength and performance is crucial. Two topics that are hotly debated are the role of protein type and timing around a resistance training program. And they’re the topics I’m going to tac...
Jul 08, 2024•16 min•Ep. 126
Some aspects of ageing may be inevitable, but when it happens together with an accelerated loss of weight, muscle mass and strength it makes an older person much more susceptible to disability, poor quality of life and earlier death. The condition is called sarcopenia and it is underpinned by chronic inflammation. Diet and lifestyle changes can go a long way in preventing and treating sarcopenia and inflammation. And now research is adding to this by looking at the role of probiotics as a way to...
Jun 03, 2024•9 min•Ep. 125
Interest in collagen supplements continues to grow – and for good reason. That’s because despite rubbish claims that are way off the mark that there is ‘no evidence they work’ and ‘all the research is funded by the collagen industry’, the reality is very different. In past podcasts I’ve delved into the topic of hydrolysed collagen supplements and skin health and where there are now dozens of blinded randomised controlled trials showing a benefit in increasing skin moisture and elasticity and red...
Mar 04, 2024•21 min•Ep. 124
Irritable bowel syndrome is one of the most common gastrointestinal complaints. With no single identified trigger or treatment, IBS can be a minefield for a person to try and get on top of. Dietary changes like a low-FODMAP diet, supplements and stress modification all have a role to play. Another emerging treatment for IBS are probiotics. Probiotics may improve IBS symptoms by changing the gut microbiota and their metabolite production which can change gut motility, inflammation and gut hyperse...
Jan 29, 2024•8 min•Ep. 123
The establishment and development of the microbiome in the early stages of life can play a pivotal role in affecting our health throughout life. The formation of our microbiome happens during the perinatal period where it is influenced by the interaction between the microbiomes of mothers and infants. The microbial composition of breast milk plays an important part in this process. The microbiome of breast milk is also influenced by the gut microbiome of the mother through what is termed the gut...
Dec 04, 2023•9 min•Ep. 122
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common with women about 30 times more likely to develop one than men. The bacterial infection of a UTI can cause painful burning sensations when urinating, frequent and strong urges to urinate, and changes in the composition of the urine. Antibiotics are the most common first-line treatment for UTIs, but there is growing interest in the role that nutrition-related treatments can play in reducing the risk of developing a UTI in the first place. Enter the most c...
Sep 25, 2023•10 min•Ep. 121
Tendons play a vital part in helping us move. They are a collagen-infused super-strong bridge that connects muscles to bones allowing you to move your limbs. When overused, overloaded or damaged, these same tendons can cause us a lot of pain and movement impairment. Outside of the well-defined medical treatments and physiotherapy rehabilitation programs that assist with recovering from tendon injuries, there has been growing interest in the role of specialised tendon-targeted nutritional supplem...
Aug 14, 2023•15 min•Ep. 120
Do you want to lose weight, boost your metabolism, improve your digestion, detox your body, and have glowing skin all while keeping your body nicely alkalised and in balance? You can. All you need do is start each day with a glass of water with the juice of a freshly squeezed lemon in it. I mean water is good for you. And lemons, being a fruit, are good for you. So why not combine the two and get a quantum level of health-boosting synergy? Okay, so now for a dose of reality as I explore the whol...
Jul 03, 2023•20 min•Ep. 119
In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in the potential negative health effects of lectins. What are lectins? They’re a type of protein found in many plant foods such as legumes, wholegrains and some fruits and vegetables. If you take YouTube clips and popular diet books on their word, then these lectins are harmful to human health and are a major driver of inflammation, weight gain and many chronic diseases. Of course, to believe all this, you need to suspend the reality that human...
Jun 05, 2023•12 min•Ep. 118
It is something that all regular and not-so-regular exercisers have experienced: muscle pain and soreness in the days following a particularly hard training session. It is the price paid for the benefits exercise, especially resistance training, can have on growing muscle mass and strength, stability, glucose tolerance and bone density. The list of ways that people deal with exercise-induced muscle soreness is long, but in this podcast, I’ll explore one aspect. And that’s how protein helps with ...
Apr 24, 2023•12 min•Ep. 117
Olive oil is a core staple in a Mediterranean-style diet. And it is for good reasons that it takes a central place as a ‘go to’ salad and cooking oil in kitchens around the world. In this age where too many foods are dubiously anointed with the title of ‘superfood’, extra virgin olive oil may just be one food deserving of this name in the oil category. In this podcast, I’ll look at the unique properties of olive oil and delve into what the scientific evidence says about its health benefits. Link...
Mar 27, 2023•15 min•Ep. 116
If you’re active on social media in the health and nutrition space, it’s very likely you’ve seen health advice over the last few years warning you about the evils of seed oils. These seed oils are toxic don’t you know? And they’re blamed for a whole host of health ills such as inflammation, lowered immunity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and more. But the reality about seed oils is far less scary and there are few health concerns you need worry about. And likely quite a few health benef...
Mar 06, 2023•17 min•Ep. 115
Nightshades are a group of plants that belong to the Solanaceae family. They include some very commonly eaten foods such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and potatoes. These foods have been eaten for centuries by many cultures around the world and are considered a staple food in many traditional diets. Despite this, if you go digging into ‘health and wellness’ advice on the Internet, you’ll sometimes come across health warnings about nightshades. Digestive issues and inflammation feature prominen...
Feb 06, 2023•9 min•Ep. 114
From the common cold right through to the flu, it is something most people are faced with many times over in their life. And all of us could do with less coughing, sore throat, runny nose, body aches and fatigue in our lives. Our gut microbiota plays an important part in our immune system, so scientists for some years have looked at how changing our gut microbiota could influence respiratory tract infections. In this podcast, I’ll look at the current state of play for the role of supplemental pr...
Jan 16, 2023•10 min•Ep. 113
What we eat is increasingly recognised as an important element in influencing fertility. With almost one in six couples experiencing fertility problems, knowing more about lifestyle factors such as diet that can alter this has major consequences. Most research in this area has focused on specific nutrients or food groups. But we don’t eat foods or nutrients - we eat whole diets which are described as dietary patterns. In this podcast episode, I profile new research into the area of dietary patte...
Dec 05, 2022•10 min•Ep. 112
Food porn is all about posting and engaging with photos of desirable and stylised food on social media. And those digital images can do real things to our brains. Researchers are now digging below the surface level of social media trends and are exploring how the sharing of food porn images can influence the food choices we make. In this podcast, I look at how that influence can help nudge us in the direction of better food choices. Links referred to in the podcast Can food porn prime healthy ea...
Nov 14, 2022•11 min•Ep. 111
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an umbrella term that describes chronic inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are the two most common forms of IBD. In recent years, research into the role of diet in the cause and treatment of IBD has been gaining traction. In this podcast episode, I look at some of that evolving research into potential dietary triggers linked to causing IBD as well as possible treatments for managing IBD with diet. Links...
Oct 17, 2022•12 min•Ep. 110
For decades, carbohydrates have been at the centre of sports nutrition guidelines to help maximise physical performance and maintain muscle glycogen levels. But interest in an alternative approach, that being very low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets, has been growing for some time. With the dual aim of reducing body fat and enhancing the use of fat as a primary fuel source during exercise, there are plenty of glowing social media testimonials attesting to the benefits of this way of eating for athl...
Oct 03, 2022•10 min•Ep. 109
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of vision loss in people over the age of 50. AMD is a progressive disease seen as damage to the retina, which can lead to permanent central vision loss and even blindness. Good nutrition is important for eye health. And for many years, a range of nutrients have been specifically promoted as having a role in helping to protect the eye from AMD progression. Much of the evidence to support the role of nutrition in AMD has come from observa...
Sep 19, 2022•12 min•Ep. 108
Eczema is a general term for rash-like skin conditions with atopic dermatitis being the most common form. Atopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterised by itching and recurrent eczema patches. Up to 20 percent of children can be affected by atopic dermatitis, but even in adults, it is far from uncommon with prevalence rates of between 1 and 3 percent. One growing area of study in the cause and treatment of atopic dermatitis is the role of the gut and skin microbiome thro...
Sep 05, 2022•8 min•Ep. 107
It was my second ever podcast episode released way back in February of 2020, but it has proven to be the most popular. It was titled The User’s Guide to Intermittent Fasting. Now, it is time to revisit the topic of intermittent fasting with an update on the clinical evidence for how fasting stacks up for its effects on body weight and metabolic health compared to other ways of eating. And that’s what I’ll be exploring in this episode by profiling the results of a recent review on this topic. Lin...
Aug 22, 2022•15 min•Ep. 106
Advice to ‘eat the rainbow’ has been circulating in the nutrition sphere for some time. And no, it is not a call to action to get more Skittles in your life. Instead, it is all about choosing a variety of fruits and vegetables primarily based on their colour. Red, blue, orange, purple, yellow and green are the important colours here. And those colours occur because of the presence of a family of different polyphenol and other phytonutrient and other phytonutrients naturally found in foods. It is...
Aug 08, 2022•8 min•Ep. 105
If variety is the spice of life, then for some, a hot chilli dish is the ultimate way to add spice to life. But outside of the Mexican fiesta party happening inside your mouth and the waterworks from your sweat glands, could there be some benefits for your health? It's time to turn up the heat on chillies as I look at the science and health benefits linked to eating them. Links referred to in the podcast Effects of capsaicinoids supplementation on metabolic syndrome https://www.nature.com/articl...
Jul 25, 2022•9 min•Ep. 104
