Wellness: Fact or Fiction

This week Sal and Shauna dive into the world of B12 injections. Its now becoming mainstream to main-line these vitamins, but are they really all theyre cracked up to be?

This episode covers:

•Optimum dosage

•The two types of vitamins b12 injections

•Whether injections are better than tablets

•How b12 affects mental health

•Sal's not-so-fabulous health retreat experience and more!

References:

•Vitamin B12 Supplementation in Treating Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial. doi: 10.2174/1874205X01307010044

BITESIZE: Juice cleanses boost the immune system

This week we dive into the world of juice cleanses and detoxing. There's raved about by celebrities needing to lose weight quickly, but do they really cleanse the body?

Sal and Shauna cover:

•If juice cleansing is an effective weight-loss strategy

•How the influx of sugar may affect you

•Our personal experiences of cleanses

•The mental break from food planning

•Whether they boost your immunity

•Associated cleanse health risks

Should creatine be taken in cycles?

Find out in this BITESIZE ep!

Have questions / comments? Come stalk us on Social Media!

Podcast: @wellnessfactorfiction

Sal: @thefitfoodieblog

Shauna: @shaunashauna_

Creatine - the most revered workout supplement after whey protein. But what the hell is it, where does it come from, and is it actually beneficial?

This week Shauna and Sal dive into:

•What creatine does and who should use it

•Benefits for exercise performance

•Benefits for mental acuity

•How it may help outside exercise benefits

•Whether we should be cycling creatine

•What the difference is between the 6 types

•What the science says about muscle growth and creatine

•Sal's experience on 5g daily of creatine

EPISODE RESOURCES:

International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: creatine supplementation and exercise. PMID: 17908288

Effects of creatine supplementation on performance and training adaptations. PMID: 12701815

Increase of total creatine in human brain after oral supplementation of creatine-monohydrate. PMID: 10484486

We're back with a good one! Let's take a look at the side-effects of the contraceptive pill - what you need to know wrapped up into 40ish minutes.

This week Sal and Shauna cover:

•Whether you need to bleed AT ALL

•Whether there is a link between the pill and depression

•If the pill contributes to accelerated hair loss

•How strippers can earn more (no joke).

•How the pill can impact partner selection

•What health issues the pill is used to effectively treat.

•PLUS their own very different experiences on the pill

Resources:

Contraception Quiz:

https://www.contraceptionchoices.org/whats-right-for-me

Suggested reading:

How the Pill Changes Everything: Your Brain on Birth Control - Dr Sarah E hill

Period Power: Harness Your Hormones and Get Your Cycle Working For You - Maisie Hill

How the Pill may shrink the hypothalamus:

https://www.livescience.com/birth-control-brain-hypothalamus.html

On the Pill altering sexual partner preference:

https://www.livescience.com/9744-pill-alter-sex-partner-preferences.html

Skovlund CW, Morch LS, Kessing LV, Lidegaard O. Association of hormonal contraception with depression. JAMA Psychiatry. 2016;73(11):1154-62.

Keyes KM, Cheslack-Postava K, Westhoff C, Heim CM, Haloossim M, Walsh K, et al. Association of hormonal contraceptive use with reduced levels of depressive symptoms: a national study of sexually active women in the United States. Am J Epidemiol. 2013;178(9):1378-88.

Toffol E, Heikinheimo O, Koponen P, Luoto R, Partonen T. Hormonal contraception and mental health: results of a population-based study. Hum Reprod. 2011;26(11):3085-93.

Medicinal shrooms have some pretty tall claims floating about these days. Not to be confused with the magical kind, medicinal mushrooms are said to improve cognition, focus and even come with a few cancer-curing claims.

As always, we roll our eyes, take a deep breath and look at the science. Tune into this episode to learn whether these hopeful medical claims carry fact or are total fiction!

•do mushrooms actually reduce inflammation?

•can they slow tumour growth?

•which ones are the best for brain function?

•known adverse reactions

•Shauna's terrible experience taking medicinal mushrooms

Have questions / comments? Come stalk us on Social Media!

Podcast: @wellnessfactorfiction

Sal: @thefitfoodieblog

Shauna: @shaunashauna_

REFERENCES:

Review Are mushrooms medicinal? https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878614616000180#:~:text=There%20is%20no%20scientific%20evidence,in%20the%20treatment%20of%20disease.&text=Claims%20about%20the%20miraculous%20properties%20of%20medicinal%20mushrooms%20should%20be%20evaluated%20critically.&text=Secondary%20metabolites%20with%20useful%20pharmacological%20properties%20may%20be%20widespread%20in%20mushrooms

Immune Modulation From Five Major Mushrooms: Application to Integrative Oncology https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4684115/

Beneficial effects of protein-bound polysaccharide K plus tegafur/uracil in patients with stage II or III colorectal cancer: analysis of immunological parameters.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16525672/ PMID: 16525672

Anti-Tumor Effects of Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi) in Inflammatory Breast Cancer in In Vivo and In Vitro Models. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3585368/=

PMID: 23468988

Neurotrophic properties of the Lion's mane medicinal mushroom, Hericium erinaceus (Higher Basidiomycetes) from Malaysia https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24266378/

PMID: 24266378

This week we cover off all things artificial (and natural) sweeteners. Lab created, naturally derived...is there a difference on our health outcomes?

This week Sal and Shauna cover:

•Can sweeteners actually cause cancer?

•Whether sweeteners impact gut health

•Why too many make you crap your pants

•If they can make you crave more sweet food

•How sweeteners affect your appetite

•Weather sweeteners are actually good for weight loss

•Which sweeteners are beneficial for oral health

•Two awesome new health hacks

Have questions / comments? Come stalk us on Social Media!

Podcast: @wellnessfactorfiction

Sal: @thefitfoodieblog

Shauna: @shaunashauna_

References:

Effects of stevia, aspartame, and sucrose on food intake, satiety, and postprandial glucose and insulin levels

Replacing caloric beverages with water or diet beverages for weight loss in adults: main results of the Choose Healthy Options Consciously Everyday (CHOICE) randomized clinical trial

Marinovich M, Galli CL, Bosetti C, Gallus S, La Vecchia C. Aspartame, low-calorie sweeteners and disease: regulatory safety and epidemiological issues. Food and Chemical Toxicology 2013; 60:109-15. [PubMed Abstract]

Fueling the obesity epidemic? Artificially sweetened beverage use and long-term weight gain

Low-Dose Stevia (Rebaudioside A) Consumption Perturbs Gut Microbiota and the Mesolimbic Dopamine Reward System

We're so excited to be back with you for Season 2 of Wellness: Fact or Fiction!

We took a few weeks off to research more topics and can't wait to share them with you!

In this episode we share with you some highlights from S1, and also tell you exactly what to expect in S2.

Have questions / comments? Come stalk us on Social Media!

Podcast: @wellnessfactorfiction

Sal: @thefitfoodieblog

Shauna: @shaunashauna_

BITESIZE: MCT HAS THERAPEUTIC BENEFITS