coming up on the 40s formula this is a misguidance
from the last 50 years where we've been focused
on the calories and all these fad diets i had
someone they came in their waist circumference
not the scale didn't exercise within four weeks
dropped nine centimeters what was the biggest
food change for that person intake I have porridge
in the morning. I might have a salad at lunch
and then rice for dinner. They're really struggling
with the weight loss issue. The real reason why
you're bulking is your training. Inflammation
is what drives weight gain. So he is hot and
collagen supplements are hype. June Wrigley is
a clinical nutritionist, self -professed nutrition
nerd, and founder of Rapid Nutrition Therapy,
who has a functional, science -first approach
to food. She's helped women move past the diet
culture. The 40s Formula. The 40s Formula. The
40s Formula. Hosted by Jasmine Dillon, integrated
health strategist specializing in gut health,
hormones, and midlife well -being. And Amanda
Lim, director of Lift Clinic and a leading expert
in female strength and metabolism. Named one
of CNA's top podcasts and winner of the 2025
Asia Podcast Awards in the Best Health and Wellness
Podcast category. The 40s Formula is your no
fluff, Science Meets Real Life Guide to Thriving
in Your 40s. We've been told that food is fuel,
but what if it's also the fastest way to heal
your body, build muscle, and even change how
you age? In this episode, we unpack how to fuel
your 40s, cut through the nutrition hype, and
take back control of your health with food and
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So June, thank you so much for being with us
today. We are so happy to have you. A room of
nutritionists is somewhere where we are all the
most comfortable. So thank you for coming. I'm
so excited. Now you position yourself as a nutrition
nerd and I love that. It's even in your Instagram
handle like you are okay with being nerdy girl.
So tell me what that means. How is your approach
nerdy and what does that mean to you? Thank you
so much for having me. I think the word nerd
is now being reclaimed. It used to be a bit derogatory.
Now it's like it's if you look at the definition
online, it says it's someone who is extremely
enthusiastic and knowledgeable. So I think these
two aspects sort of encompass how I feel about
nutrition. And it's funny because. Some of my
closest girlfriends, they know me and they're
like, you're a dog with a bone when it comes
to these sorts of things. And, you know, I got
into nutrition because of my kids. I didn't get
the answers that I wanted or needed. And so that
drove me into getting my master's, getting my
doctorate. I mean, like, who does that? Yeah.
You really wanted answers, girl. Really wanted
an answer. So, yeah. So I just kind of think
that word nerd resonated. you know, on a serious
note, also my education and my training, it was
very heavy in the chemistry, organic chemistry,
biochemistry, immunology, physiology, statistics.
And so I just wanted to sort of highlight the
fact that there is a lot of science behind nutrition.
And yes, we all eat and we can all have an opinion
on food. But when it comes to advice, this is
where sometimes I think people should really
kind of, you know. hold back a little. And when
it's someone else they're referring to, I think
that's kind of a gray area. And are you saying
like that when you're commenting on someone else's
nutrition, they should hold back a bit because
there is kind of such individuality in nutrition?
Yes, exactly. Individuality. And also, I think
there's also this kind of... this sort of like
societal okayness, if that's a word, I like it,
where, you know, people, you know, your mom,
your brother, your colleague, your trainer, they
may not have studied nutrition. And yet everyone
has an opinion about your food, your diet, your
health. And really, sometimes that adds to the
confusion and it adds to the noise. And, you
know, I, you know, I highlight like moms and
cousins and colleagues, but sometimes some doctors.
And, you know, a lot of the doctors haven't total
respect. Right. For the doctors and the medical
system. But sometimes they haven't gone through
nutrition training and nutrition is really complex.
And that's the thing. I think, you know, you
hear so much stuff. You've got people saying
you need to go plant based. You've got other
people saying, no, you need to be carnivore or
you need to go low fat. And then there's this
massive confusion. It's like, what do I need
to do? And it's like focusing on you, your body
and and what your goals are. And I think, too,
there's also that element of just because it
worked for a friend doesn't mean it works for
you. Like you said, also, just because it. worked
for you at one time in your life does not mean
that that's the approach for you forever till
you die. Like, you know, I have so many women
in my clinic and I'm sure you see something similar.
They're like, oh, I used to do X, Y, Z to lose
weight in my 20s. X, Y, Z no longer works for
me. Exactly. How do you see aging as a factor
in some of the kind of nutritional approaches
that you take? Really good question. I think
everyone ages differently because everyone is
exposed to different amounts of inflammation.
And really, that's what it comes down to. It's
fine if you have some amount of inflammation,
if your body can handle it, if your immune system
can handle it. But everyone's threshold is at
a different place. And that's where I think the
nuance and in the functional practice, it's all
about the individual and looking at, you know,
what are their triggers, whether it's environmental.
You know, it could be that you've got cleaning
products that you have no idea that you're incredibly
sensitive to. It could be mold in the air con
system. It's the food that you're eating. So
we have so many what's called allostatic. you
know, loads or potential toxins. And that triggers
inflammation. So it's really about understanding
each person, their context, and also like what
are their goals and what's achievable and what's
practical. So let's talk about goals. So many
women, their goal of seeing a nutritionist is
weight loss, right? Like we hope that it's better
health and we hope that it's longevity. And I
think to some level it might be, but the presenting
issue is often weight loss, right? So I'm wondering.
How do you out women see beyond the number on
the scale? Right. Because I think when so I've
seen this before. Here's an example. Client comes
to me and they say, I've seen other nutritionists.
It wasn't effective. And when I ask what is effective,
their measurement tool is the number on the scale
didn't go down or it didn't go down far enough
or it didn't go down fast enough. Have you seen
this similar thing in your practice? And I guess
how do you kind of move women through that type
of mindset? I think you're absolutely right about
the scale not being the right marker for women,
but also for men. I think this is a misguidance
from the last 50 years where we've been focused
on the calories and the low carb and all these
fad diets. So I think what's great now about
the conversation that we're having today and
that people are starting to have is that we're
moving away from the scale and we're starting
to now look at root costs. What is that underlying?
root cause or issues that's causing the inflammation
because then inflammation is what drives weight
gain. You know, it could, your root cause could
be hormonal. It could be just food. It could
be stress. There are a number of factors, but
I think now identifying that root cause is really
important. And that's what I work on with clients
and with women who I see. Understanding what
is their underlying. you know, inflammatory problem?
What's that, not to repeat, but root cause again?
For example, you know, you have a kid, your child,
they say, they wake up in the morning and they
say, mom, I don't want to go to school. But then
they're home all day. They seem fine. You know,
they're just they're, you know, doing what they
would normally do. Absolutely fine. And so you
think, well, are they actually sick or do they
why don't they want to go to school? And I think
asking that question, why is really important.
Maybe. They are afraid of a bully at school.
Maybe they're afraid that they're going to fail
a test. So when they say, I don't want to go
to school, actually, that's not because they're
sick. So we need to really dig in and understand
that underlying reason. Do you find that women,
especially when they get to their 40s, really
sort of struggling from things like insulin resistance.
And that seems to be the barrier to their weight
loss goals, because they might be, you know,
they might say to you, oh, I actually eat healthy.
You know, I have porridge in the morning. I might
have a salad at lunch and then maybe a fruit
in the afternoon and then rice for dinner. And
then you're seeing that, you know, because they're
suffering from insulin resistance, as an example,
that they're really struggling with the weight
loss issue. So women, we have we're in this transition
phase in our 40s where we're going from sort
of a dominant organ system, our ovaries creating
estrogen. And then we're shifting to a second
system, a different system where all the organs,
other organs, you know, our liver, our adrenals
are starting to take over and also help with
that estrogen synthesis. these other organs have
been working really hard and they still have
to work really hard. But then they have a new
responsibility added to what they already have
to do. So this is where I think a lot of women,
yes, they say, I'm eating really healthy. And
sometimes they think they are because that's
what they see online or on social media. But
that food also might not be really specific to
them. There you go. And I think to the insulin
point, we think about what types of body compositions
have what types of phenotypes, right? So it's
like someone who has insulin resistance tends
to have a higher level of fat around the abdominal
carriage, right? Someone who has a higher muscle
density wouldn't. typically be someone who's
struggling with insulin resistance. Can you relate
a little bit about body composition and how our
body processes different foods? When a lot of
women say, I want to lose weight, what they mean
is I actually really want to change my body composition.
Oh, I wish more women would say that sentence.
Yes. And I think we should, as nutritionists,
say that sentence. Yes. Yeah, exactly. I think
the focus is we need muscle. Muscle is incredibly
important. But I think the nuance to that is
understanding, well, what type of muscle because
there are two really key differences. in the
muscle that we have. We have type one muscle,
which is kind of our, you know, our endurance
related muscle, our type two muscle, which is
much more power explosion. I think it's really
important to understand that muscle is critical
and we absolutely need muscle, but we also want
to be very specific about which type of muscle
are we talking about. So we have two types, type
one and a type two. And the type one is that
slow twitch. muscle. And type two is that fast
twitch. I like to think of type one as that endurance
muscle. You know, those marathon runners, very
lean, very strong. They can just go on forever.
So that's the endurance. That's the one I'm lacking.
Sadly, that's the one I have. And type two is
that fast twitch that power muscle you've got
those sprinters right so I think it's important
to recognize that both of these muscles are very
important and so I think when people say oh I
want to gain muscle especially women they think
that oh I'm going to just gain the type two that
big bulky powerful muscle when actually really
you're probably working on your type one that
endurance that lean muscle I mean think about
classical ballerinas they are dancing all day
long They can like lift up their leg and, you
know, keep it on points for minutes, hours. And
they're so strong, but yet they're not bulky.
I really hope that women start to focus really
on what type of muscle and not be afraid to have
muscle. Yeah. And we are obviously proponents
of that, you know, whether, you know, I'd say
get your type one, also get your type two, right?
You know, I'm definitely a big proponent of,
you know, the first thing that we lose in aging
is power. That's the first thing we lose. Then
we lose size. Then we lose strength. So I do
love a good, powerful muscle. But let's backpedal
from the muscle to one of the most kind of talked
about macronutrients right now related to muscle,
protein. Can you talk to us about what protein
does in the body? Relative to muscle and not.
And what are your recommendations for women in
terms of protein ingestion in this age? I think
there is a really big misconception that we eat
protein, whether it's a steak or a chicken or
a powder form. And then like, bam, all of a sudden
it's on our body. I wish it was like that. I'd
pay for that. All right. I think what we forget
is that. Protein, at the end of the day, is a
building block. It's a sequence of amino acids.
So I like to use the word amino acid more than
a protein because we have this association with
meat. And I think it's important that we say
we are looking for those amino acids. not just
focusing on the input. I think we also have to
think about, well, how does that input get metabolized?
And how does our microbiome use those amino acids?
I think that's a really important factor that
we're forgetting. So again, a lot of people think,
I'm just going to drink this protein powder and
I'm going to bulk. You know, actually, the real
reason why you're bulking is you're going, you're
training. It's the consistency. And by all means,
do that. Right. And I think where sometimes with
women and with men, we overemphasize the protein.
And it's I mean, I the other day I was walking
around and I saw a soda with extra protein. Yeah,
all the protein butter. Yeah, I was I was shocked.
I thought, wow, a soda with protein. You know,
I think so. I think the form of protein is actually
a form of amino acids is actually really important
to consider. And and and to kind of be more nuanced
in our language. I think that will help women
and men. I was going to say that is the perfect
segue into one of our new segments called Feel
Your 40s from our sponsor, The Meat Club. And
they would like to know from someone like yourself
who is such a pro in this area, is there a specific
meat or a specific form of protein that you feel
is currently being underestimated for its health
benefits? So, you know, from what you just told
us, something that has a complete amino acid
profile that you think is maybe not as well known.
I think what you raised, exactly, the complete
amino acid profile. we're looking for so if we're
getting it from an animal product yes we are
getting that but we're also getting the saturated
fat we're also getting the hormones we're also
getting the other toxins So we can't just say
we're just getting that complete profile. And
then, you know, the argument in the plant -based
world is you're not getting the complete profile
and you have to mix the beans with the rice or
you have to find the combinations and you can
get that complete amino acid profile. So I can't
say there's like a one meat or one source, but
I think we have to be conscious that we need
diversity, number one, for our microbiome, and
we can get amino acids in many different ways.
forms. But yes, the emphasis should be on looking
at where can I get the cleanest, complete source?
Yeah. What's your favorite? Oh, seeds. Tell us
what seeds are your top seeds. Give us a top
three seed list. Oh, chia, flax, pumpkin. Wow.
I mean, those are my daily staples. So do you
do seed cycling? Is that something that you do?
So I don't cycle, but I do try to vary it. So
I know there's a company that does seed cycling.
And when I saw that, I was like, this is actually
something that this... Why don't more people
know about this? But I think... If you think
about a seed, there's so many amino acids inside.
There's a lot of minerals. There's a lot of other
phytonutrients. And it's wrapped in fiber. So
I think the seeds are a great source. But to
be really honest, I think the marketing around
protein should... I would hope that we start
marketing a little bit more of the fiber. And
I feel like that amino acid plus the fiber, that
is really what we need in our 40s. And I think
the marketing is getting lost a little bit. So
I always say my favorite F word is fiber, and
I wish we'd focus on that a little bit. So you're
saying the protein soda is not your number one
choice? Yeah. Obviously, when it comes to sort
of plant -based sources and seeds and those types
of things, they can be higher in some anti -nutrient
content as well. Do you feel that that is of
concern to some people? Like, let's say, for
example, somebody is, someone has kidney stones
or is prone to having kidney stones and then
they're eating a lot of almonds or spinach. Is
that something that they should be wary of? And
then obviously, does it come then back down to
sort of individualizing? what's right for them?
And how do you then determine what's right for
a particular person? Sorry, that's a really long
way. Let's let's go with that a little bit. Yes.
But first, you talked about anti -nutrients in
seeds or in plants. I think a lot of people are
afraid of this concept of an anti -nutrient.
But really, if you soak it, so a chia seed or
any other seed, if you soak it for a while, that
those anti -nutrients. will often dissolve into
the water and you can kind of lose a bulk of
it. But, you know, on the flip side, you have
to think, well, what are those anti -nutrients
there for, that bitter taste? They actually have
anti -carcinogenic properties. So there's always
kind of like, it's two sides of the same coin.
You don't want too many, but you also want some
because there's also very helpful potential properties.
That's number one about the anti -nutrient concept.
With kidney stones, that link between anti -nutrients
and kidney stones, I think is actually misdirected.
I think with kidney stones, you actually have
to think about, well, what makes up a kidney
stone and why does someone have kidney stones?
Number one, the kidney function is probably low.
And what is the kidney ultimately responsible
for? The breakdown of amino acids. So again,
we're talking about protein. Amino acids convert
into ammonia, and ammonia combines with our carbon
dioxide in our body, creates a compound called
carbamyl phosphate. Carbamyl phosphate is incredibly
acidic. That goes through the kidneys. So that
acidity... leaves a bit of wear and tear. So
when there's wear and tear in the kidney as an
organ, which is responsible not only for filtration,
but also for the acid -base balance in our blood
system, for making red blood cells, for vitamin
D activation. So all of that functionality in
the kidney starts to become diminished. And stones
can, you know, with the calcification, you have
to think, well... That calcification is, again,
that's connected to your vitamin D. That's connected
to your PTH hormone. So there's a little bit
more to just the anti -nutrients and the kidney
stones conversation. So this is kind of the granularity
that we have to go through for every individual
person. Even kidney stones, people say, oh, you
know, they come from oxalates. Well, you know,
oxalates also, we... generate them from our liver.
So if you've got liver damage or there's something
off there, your body is trying to get rid of
that. And that has to then pass through the kidneys
as well. Yeah. And I think that's such a great
point in knowing yourself and then being able
to kind of articulate your own health history
to any nutrition professional that you see, right?
Because it's not going to be the same for everybody.
Even, you know, even if you have kidney stones,
for example, the source of those stones might
look different for different people. And that's
why one of my least favorite questions ever,
I'm going to ask it to you anyway, is what are
the healthiest foods? Like are there, you know,
Amanda, what foods do you recommend as healthy?
Are there any foods, June, that you think everyone
should be eating? Really good question. Again,
goes back to my favorite F word, something with
fiber. Oh, I thought you were saying it was going
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a whole lot better. The amino acids, try to get
it where it has some fiber, a source with fiber.
Because then you get those beautiful amino acids,
but you also get the fiber. And the fiber is
really important for our microbiome. I mean,
the microbiome, the research is really coming
online now, and it's fascinating. But it's still
an area that we don't fully understand. But remember,
everything that comes in, it gets metabolized.
We have no control over that. And then we have
these outputs, you know, and that affect our
systems. So my favorite health foods, I guess,
to put it. as succinctly as possible, besides
the fact that something with fiber, those cruciferous
vegetables. I mean, I'm all about cauliflower
rice. Yeah, yeah. You love cauliflower rice.
I love cauliflower rice. I'm 50 -50. Yeah. The
broccoli, the Brussels sprouts, you know, those
foods are not sexy by any means. They are not.
Maybe that's why I'm 50 -50. You can make them
sexy. Okay, yeah. Sexy cauliflower rice. Okay,
so I will always saute in a little bit of butter,
some garlic, and then I'll obviously have to
add some salt. I know, salt. I do have to do
that. But, you know, if it's done nicely and
you have it with a nice curry, oh, it's so good.
Okay. I really like it. But that Brussels sprouts,
like if you have it with a chili garlic dressing,
oh, it's so good. I'm with you. There's so much
flavor. Yeah. And it's all about how you present
it. Yeah. If you took cauliflower and you microwaved
it. Right? Exactly. Yeah. The texture of regular
cauliflower is not my favorite, like from the
plant. But for me, these cruciferous vegetables
are, you know, so they're almost like powerhouses.
You know, and there's a compound called sulforaphane.
Really important. Great antioxidant. it's our
own master antioxidant glutathione in our system
so the sulforaphane It's a great source and it's
not expensive, but it's not sexy. Yeah. Yeah.
But hey, we got sexy seeds. We got sexy cruciferous
vegetables. I think that's a great place to start.
And we have complete proteins, right? All nine
amino acid proteins. All right. Let's shift gears
a little bit into away from so much of the specific
foods into more of the approach that you take.
Your company is called Rapid Nutrition Therapy.
I want to know what that name means to you. Obviously,
when I hear rapid, I go right to quick fix, quick.
diet. This is going to get me, you know, in tip
-top shape immediately. Is that what you mean
by rapid nutrition therapy or is there a bigger
deal there? I really appreciate that question.
By rapid, no, it's not that, you know, quick
fix. What I mean though is it's fast, meaningful
breakthroughs within one to five sessions. Wow.
Okay. That's what I'm looking for. And I'm looking
to help people understand what their root cause
is. I want to create alignment with the food
that they're eating. And then I want them to
pivot. And we get results. Wow. That's what I'm
focused on. Am I crazy? There is a therapy thing
called rapid transformational therapy, right?
RTT. Is this a play on that? A little bit of
a play on that. I think if you look into the
RTT, the whole concept was rather than having
a psychologist that you need to establish a relationship
with and have for years on end, the idea is that,
again, you go in, you go deep, you identify the
root causes, and then you identify. you verbalize.
And once you can do that, you strategize. So
that's kind of the philosophy that I bring into
my work. And so again, those really dedicated,
focused, meaningful breakthroughs. Is there a
story that you can share where you had a client
come in saying, I've tried everything. I still
feel rubbish and I just cannot seem to, I'm going
to say wait, but you know, we mean that in this
situation. What was the root cause in that situation
and how did you help her? Oh, well, I see it
almost daily, to be really honest. For me, I
think, I'm trying to think of one specific person.
I mean, just most recently, I had someone, they
came in, their waist circumference, which is
what I use as a marker, not the scale, but waist
circumference, and I measured, and we were over
a meter in circumference. And by just... recognizing
some of the root causes and again, aligning our
nourishment, our food within four weeks dropped
nine centimeters. That is wonderful. Yeah. And
again, this didn't change the work stress, the
family stress, life stress, didn't exercise,
but simply by dropping the inflammation, again,
aligning our food, we see results. What was the
biggest food change for that person? Intake of
fiber. Oh, interesting. Because they were eating
a low fiber diet previously. Previously a low
fiber diet. You know, for women, especially in
the 40s, because our hormones are in transition,
our estrogen levels aren't being regulated as
well. And so these fiber sources are great because
fiber is able to help us regulate not only cholesterol,
but also the sex hormones. So this is really
where a little bit of a shift, a little bit of
better alignment was able to get. these results.
And obviously, if you're over a meter in circumference,
you're in that risk for cardiovascular disease.
Oh, very much. Hypertension. I think it's 88
centimeters for Caucasian females, 80 centimeters
for Asian females, assuming this was a female.
Yeah. So nine centimeters. I mean, again, she's
basically halfway there now. Yeah, exactly. That's
wonderful. And so the other half, that's where
we start saying, you know, like, hey, the training
now has to start coming in. Yeah. But a lot of
women, I think, to start, you already feel heavy.
You don't know. where to go, you know, and you
don't know what to eat. And you maybe tried working
out really hard and it didn't work. So for me,
it's always so rewarding to see women get those
meaningful breakthroughs and it just helps them
pivot. And then they can go on. They could see
someone else if they wanted to, or they can,
you know. they can hopefully they don't yeah
yeah but you know go see june please and then
they start training and you know that then you
then that's kind of a marriage between that nutrition
and exercise that diet and lifestyle and then
they go on all of a sudden their sleep is better
all of a sudden their relationships are better
their confidence is better yeah so there's this
knock -on effect isn't there when one thing seems
to go right then slowly everything will sort
of fall into place and not say that you know
like nutrition is going to make you you know
happier and everything but I think so. Yeah.
So, you know, I feel like it's part of the puzzle
piece that can sort of help unlock what the issue
might be. Actually, I was listening to a podcast
today and I thought, oh, that's a really good
question I wanted to ask you. It's about seed
oils. Now, that seems to be a big, big thing
going on right now, especially sort of in the
States, you know, with RFK. What are your opinions
on seed oils? Do you think that they are the
devil or do you think that actually they are,
you know, the angel in disguise? And definitely
a good question in Singapore where seed oils
are prevalent. Yeah. Really good question. And
I just want to separate seed raw form from seed
oil. Very different. Two separate. So really
it's fucking seed oils. Okay. Seeds pro. Yes.
Oil's gone. We're all for those natural formed
whole matrix seeds. Yeah. And then the seed oil.
obviously like anything that's refined and a
lot of times people think oh it's just pressed
okay well cold pressed seed oil or okay maybe
like a little drizzle of sesame oil yeah exactly
right but when we buy it and it's been industrially
processed and it's gone through solvents and
it's gone through a heat treatment the hexane
that's what we're saying exactly exactly these
two things are not the same and then on top of
that when we're cooking with it not only is the
oil itself bad for us. It's about, again, when
we put it into our system, how does our microbiome
process it? What's that output? And that output
usually is more oxidative stress. So if you're
someone who has high cholesterol, and then on
top of that, you're adding something that's going
to just light that oxidative stress. That's something
that we want to avoid. And let's be honest, most
of the people who have seed oils are not having
a healthy salad with, you know, like a cold pressed
rapeseed dressing. They're eating the hyper processed
chip. Yeah, that is. Part of the reason why people
are struggling because the crap that is going
into their body is not just the seed oil on its
own. It's a combination of the seed oil, the
starches, the sugars, which are really causing
issues for a lot of people. No, exactly. And
I think that is really where that becomes an
economic issue. Because, you know, if you're
someone in the F &B industry and, hey, do I want
to spend, you know, $50 a liter on cold pressed
oils? Or, hey, there's this one that's like,
I don't know what the cost is. But, you know,
that becomes that impacts. margins. So it's sort
of a systemic issue in that sense. Yeah. Well,
speaking of systemic issues, this actually leads
really well into something I wanted to ask you,
which is like, okay, so we have these sweet,
salty, seed oily, you know, delicious. Restaurant
meals. We live in Singapore, which is a massive
food focused culture. Right. And it's not unique
to Singapore. The world is becoming more and
more food culture oriented. Right. And the combinations
of these hyper palatable ingredients and potentially
kind of, you know, addictive types of tastes
are on the rise. How do you help people balance
their desire to participate in these hyperpalatable,
delicious, beautiful food cultures while at the
same time doing something for their long -term
health? And like I said, I use Singapore as an
example because I think the hawker culture here
is a great kind of examination of this, where
it's like we have this beautiful, delicious,
historic, cultural appreciation of food. But
it is not the healthiest. Yeah. Okay. So it is
not something that three meals a day of that
specific style of food is going to drive you
toward better metabolic health. How do you help
clients navigate their kind of social, cultural,
familial connections to food, but then also kind
of moving toward a better and cleaner metabolic
health profile? I often ask people, how do you
get rich? And usually they say, well, you've
got to save money, right? And I said, yeah, you
have to have a positive cash balance. So you
need more inflows than outflows. You need more
assets than liabilities. Our health is kind of
the same. We need to also be diligent. You know,
when you're saving money, it's not just, hey,
I've saved one day and I go and blow it the next
day. So that concept of, you know, how do I get
rich? I like to remind people it's the same with
our health. So Amanda, you know how I've been
on this journey about improving my sleep? Oh,
you have been obsessed about it lately. Well,
I have found something that has been incredible.
Cozy Earth bed sheets. That's saying a lot because
you are really picky about your sleep setup.
Exactly. These sheets are made from bamboo viscose.
They are naturally breathable and I get the perfect
night's sleep. They keep me cool all night. Oh,
and I've been eyeing the pajamas too. They are
so chic and super cozy. It's a total game changer
and so relaxing for the evenings. And what's
crazy is that Cozy Earth actually ships to Singapore,
orders over $560 ship free, and in the US orders
over $50 ship free. And did you know you can
get your biggest ever discount, 41 % if you use
code TFF today. So head over to CozyEarth .com
and use that code TFF today. So yes, so it takes
diligence and it takes consistency. And I like
to... Kind of say frame it in the phrase of,
you know, OK, so 90 percent of the time you're
going to be saving or you're going to be earning.
And then 10 percent of the time or whatever that
percentage is, you're going to be spending. So
use that framework for when you're eating out.
And yes, we have this beautiful culture in Singapore
that offers great options. But are you going
to always choose like the deep fried curry puff
every day? Yeah. Exactly. So there are other
options that are sauteed or they're steamed.
or their soups. So there are other options. But
really for me, I like to remind people that,
you know, that cooking at home, you have control
over absolutely what is going in. I get a lot
of people say, you know, when I go out to dinner
with you, June, or lunch, like you eat whatever
you want. And I'm not bragging, but that's because
I've built up this balance. I have a buffer.
So when I go out and someone says, oh, you're
a nutritionist and you can eat that. I say, well,
I'm using, I'm spending now. I'm using my quota.
But 90, 95 % of the time, I'm in that savings
mode. I cook at home or I'm making those choices
that I know that I can see are cleaner and right
for me. I say chili and garlic. You're like,
I have a different solution. And it's true, though.
And I think cooking at home is the biggest hack.
If there is one hack that is so underrated that
I think every nutritionist in any room would
agree with, it is to prepare your own food. Yes,
for sure. You have full control over it. You
can often, it's something of concern to myself,
you can often eat bigger portions because you're
not spending on oil and sugar. It's like I can
have a big old plate of XYZ because I know that
there's not extra oil and sugar. bring my calorie
count up by 400. Not just the calorie count,
just the extra expenditure. So when we go out
to eat, most of the time I have to say double
protein. Yes. And that double protein will just
increase that cost, like the physical cost of
the food. The physical cost of the food. Yeah.
Yeah, exactly. It's oils cheap, protein expensive,
quality protein expensive. Well, again, that's
such great help for those that are listening.
They're like, where do I start? Right. But I
would love to hear from you, June, if you were
trying to get healthier today. And you wanted
to be in a different level of metabolic health
one year from now. So whether that is body recomposition,
so more muscle, less fat, whether that is a better
lipid and glucose profile, right, without disease
risk, whether that is a better VO2 max, the ability
for more cardiovascular health. What are three
things I could do today that if I did these three
things every day for a year, I would live in
a different body next year? That is a... Great
question. And I think really the first thing
is the mindset. I think we have to think of food
as self -care. We think of massages or yoga classes
or holidays as self -care. I think we need to
put our priorities and say food is also self
-care. So I think that's really number one. Number
two, I think it's the hydration. At the end of
the day. We are cellular beings. We have millions
of biochemical reactions going on. We absolutely
need to be hydrated. And so I think water is
one of those really important things. I also
put in that category a high fiber green juice
because that is also, if you think about it,
strip away the insoluble fiber, the fiber that
doesn't dissolve in water. You're still left
with a green liquid that is full of. Soluble
fiber. So actually, that is incredibly hydrating.
What's in your green juice? It can be anything.
There's no rhyme or, you know, one specific recipe.
But you can do the celery. You can do the kale.
You could do straight cucumber. You could do,
you know, it doesn't really matter. You know,
like women, they used to put cucumber on their
face as a mask because it's hydrating. Well,
90 % of our drink is. It's actually very hydrating.
To drink it. So I think that's actually. something
that a lot of us don't do and again all of that
soluble fiber or insoluble fiber it feeds that
microbiome and that microbiome ultimately determines
what the input coming in how it's going to react
and what's the output my mom actually started
green juice not green smoothie ink every morning
so she'll she'll do celery cucumber um what else
did she put in there i think she might add no
she says there's no fruit in there but basically
it's just oh lime and Sometimes she puts avocado
in there. So she's got this whole range of anything
that's green is going to get chucked into this.
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. And I'm a big fan of
drinking your veg and eating your fruit. Okay.
Yeah. That's interesting. But some people, they
say, oh, I need a little bit of apple. Sure.
Fine. Check that in. Yeah. But it's not like
we're squeezing, you know, pure fruit. We're
focusing on the veg. We're getting that soluble
fiber that is incredibly hydrating. For people
who are like, why do I have to eat my fruit?
Can you just explain what? Your theory is behind
that. So fruit is a, I like to call them like
the jewels of nature. So nature's candy, right?
Which makes it sound like it's trash. The jewels.
The jewels, exactly. You got your blueberries,
your pomegranate seeds. I mean, they taste wonderful.
They look wonderful. They're bright. But at the
same time, when we juice them, we change the
composition. And with fruit, we want all that
hydration. We want all those vitamins, all the
antioxidants. antioxidants but we want that nice
fiber around it you know like an orange is when
we eat it whole you will not get that glucose
spike because the peel around it that bitterness
the anti -nutrient you know oh do you eat oh
you mean the peel the pulp sorry sorry the pulp
yeah um the pulp around it jasmine's like you
hardcore yeah the pulp yeah um that has you know
that together as a whole matrix food amazing
But the second we, you know, strip it and make
it into an orange juice or, you know, we have
a juice from concentrate, you know, that's boiled
and gone through that process. Not good. Right.
That's different. So I think composition and
structure are really important. Yeah. And again,
the F word, girl, I think I think. If there was
one takeaway that I've gotten from you so far,
it's that look for fiber in all sources and use
fiber as an evaluative kind of hinge on which
to guide if this is a good choice or what's a
better choice, let's say. Right. So orange juice
versus orange. Which one has fiber? Exactly.
White rice, brown rice. Which one has fiber?
Right. It's like I feel like you're giving us
a good rubric. You're way more articulate than
I am. Yes. But it's like I'm hearing it and I
love it. Similarly, we want you to kind of. Join
our next segment. This is a new segment for the
40s Formula, Hot or Hype. And it's a similar
thing where I want a short answer on some kind
of hot topics in nutrition. And you can give
us your honest opinion, June. So don't feel like
you got to sugarcoat it. You can give us what
you really think. Hot would tell us that you
agree and think that it's something that we should
pay attention to. Hype means, nah, this is hype.
It's not something that we need to structure
our nutrition lives around. So hot or hype, collagen
supplements. Hype. All of them. Yes. All of them.
Tell us why it's hypey. Collagen is the most
abundant protein in our body. It is what, you
know, helps our muscle and our ligaments and
all that tissue, you know, bind together. We
have plenty of collagen. We do not need a beef
collagen whatever supplement. Okay. What we want,
though, is that we want that collagen to have
integrity. We want strength. We want tightness.
That skin, why is it getting all loose? That
collagen just isn't tight anymore. Yes, part
of that is aging, but also part of it is often
nutrient deficiency. What keeps our collagen
really nice and tight? Vitamin C. So vitamin
C is hot. And collagen supplements are hype.
Exactly. Oh, you heard it here first. Okay, this
is totally not on the question list. So get ready.
We're going rogue. Collagen stimulating injections.
I know you're not a facialist. I'm just saying
like, is this like, is that a way to stimulate
collagen? Or do you still stick by vitamin C?
I still stick with vitamin C. And you can see
it in the beauty industry. You've got creams
with all this vitamin C. My vision or my philosophy
on beauty is it's 90 % internal and it's 10 %
topical. So yeah, you got to wash your face.
You got to do all of these things. But 90%, if
you're not hydrated or if you are low vitamin
C because you were really sick or some immune
reaction, you know, used up all these nutrients.
And so now you're stuck with less. Then guess
what? That collagen starts to get lax. And then
we start to see the wrinkles or we start to see,
you know. The jowls or the neck. I'm just bringing
up my features. But sorry, but just to go back
historically, if you think about, you know, vitamin
C and collagen, our gums are made up of collagen.
Scurvy, you know, the most extreme version of
the lack of vitamin C, you'd start to see black
gums. You'd start to see sores and wounds. That's
that collagen breakdown and dying. But again,
how did that get treated? It was lines, vitamin
C. And that's why the European sailors were called...
limeys so yeah i didn't know that yeah limey
bastards i sounded very australian yeah that
went a lot of ways there went a lot of ways all
right so this one plant -based diets hot or hype
and when i say plant -based i'm talking exclusively
plants i just want to make that very clear OK,
so exclusively plants, whole foods, not the process
like, you know, beer or French fries as plant
based. Also, I just I literally just meant like
not eggs, not fish. So like people say, oh, I'm
plant based, but I eat fish. I'm talking full
on plants. The only thing I eat is plants. Like
pretty much I'm talking vegan. Yeah. I don't
like to use the word vegan because it's loaded.
It's quite there's there's a lot of emotional
connotations. But I would say I'm going to go
hot. OK. On that. Yeah. Again, fiber, all those
nutrients, the vitamins, the hydration, the amino
acids that are in there. I think we often forget
that. plants have those things. We are so focused
on the taste, you know. So I think, again, understanding
the food as a whole matrix, especially when we're
trying to fight chronic disease -like symptoms.
And that's the type of person I normally see.
So I think it's really important to focus on
that. Are you plant -based? I'm plant -forward.
Plant -forward. Yeah, I like that. Plant -forward.
So I don't want to say that I'm just one thing.
Again, I think it also... Also depends for women,
you know, when you've gone through your cycle
and you are feeling really tired and you're feeling,
you know, you've and you're you're already generally
a low iron kind of person. Sometimes that bioavailability
is important, but some women, they don't have
that. So, again, comes back to the individual
person. So for myself, I call myself plant forward.
Plant forward. Cool. Probiotics, hot or hype?
And again, I'm talking like things that you eat
or things that you take. Most generally hype.
Oh, yeah. Most generally. So again. probiotics
that we buy off the shelf supplements supplements
yeah um you know you actually most people have
no idea whether you know they're they're real
or not they're number one the regulation is pretty
weak or dead could be dead yeah exactly you're
getting a skeleton with no sort of you know vitality
no power in that so um that's hype but also if
you think about just in terms of how our microbiome
is structured we have aerobic bacteria we have
anaerobic bacteria and really it's anaerobic
without oxygen that bacteria that really that's
super important and when we're buying a probiotic
it's usually an aerobic bacteria so really by
the time we ingest it and it's kind of gotten
processed through the stomach acid What are you
really left with? We're not sure. So I would
say better than the probiotics, focus on the
prebiotics. Are there any particular, I mean,
obviously you're saying the fiber and stuff,
but is there any particular type of prebiotic
that people should be including into their diet?
I think. The variety, the variety is really important.
So in the financial world, everyone talks about
seeking alpha. You actually have the same seeking
alpha concept. with the microbiome. And what
that means is you're seeking diversity. You want
a diverse portfolio and you want everything to
be strong so that that gives you resilience.
So when you have just a few strains of, you know,
or you have limited microbial diversity, you
often see people who have lower immune system.
They can't handle stress as well. So we want
to seek alpha. I remember it was a hot thing
on Instagram and I actually still kind of do
it. I'm embarrassed to admit, but 30 different
plans per week. Yeah. Do you remember that trend?
30 different plants per week? I think it's still
going. And honestly, I mentally keep track. I
can't help myself now. And I really do think
that that's kind of an easy way to get this type
of diversity. Because if you break it down by
the week, it's like five or six plants a day.
And again, lots of things are plants. So that's
really helpful. Spices are plants. Obviously,
I'm going to chuck that in there. Dark chocolate
is a plant, some would argue, right? Is milk
chocolate a plant? Hot or hype? Chocolate as
a plant? Hype. Dark chocolate, is that still
hype -ish? Yeah, I would say hype -ish because
I don't think the... But, you know what, if you're
getting that 100 % organic, you know, single
origin... If anyone ate the 100 % chocolate.
My husband. I love it. John North Kyler Lim ate
100 % chocolate. He's the nerdy. He's your nutrition
nerd. He's just doctor nerd. Yes. Well, this
has been such a lively and amazing conversation.
And I thank you for your insights. They've been
so helpful in so many different ways. And I think
even, you know, Jasmine and I as fellow nutritionists
love to have your perspective. But the one question
that we have to leave our listeners with is what
is your 40s formula? What advice do you give
to women in their 40s, as we all are, to have
their best and happiest life? I would say, I
think as women in our 40s, we should stand in
our power. You know, we used to probably prioritize
other people or, you know, say yes too much.
I think now is a time where we look inward and
we look at that self -care and that's through
the food choices that we make. And we stand in
that. We own it. And it's that mindset change,
really, that, you know, now it's about us, focusing
on us. This is that time. And, you know, that
40s also goes into that perimenopausal phase.
And I love to use that word. It's perimenopause.
Pause. Let's all stop and think and reflect and
then move forward. Yes. Perfect. Food as self
-care, my friend. Really, really powerful message.
Well, thank you for being here with us today,
June. It's been a wonderful conversation. Thank
you, guys. Thank you. Um, did I ask also, are
you in your 40s? I am. Okay. All right. I was,
again, we, it doesn't like, it's more just if
we say like our age and you're like, I am 37.
How dare you? I'm like, sorry, I'm sorry. No,
I think the 30s does not want to say that 40s.
Yes, exactly. Yes.