#97 MONTHLY MEDICINE... The gymwear now 'ageing' you, an 'extreme health' gender gap and one wellness insider's 'sleep debt' revelation

Bidding farewell to March with my newsletter spin-off tracking the highs and lows of the health and wellness scene these past few weeks...

Delighted to be arriving in your inbox (or Substack feed) with another end-of-month Well, Actually… special. Firstly, thank you to Rina Raphael for sharing my Women’s Health piece on ‘The Cost Of Connection’—featuring her brilliant insight—in her Well To Do newsletter.

It has been (can you believe it?!) five years since the pandemic began. I’ve written two pieces that are out in the current issues of Women’s Health and Men’s Health magazines (tap the links to read online) about the deep, lasting impact of Covid-19 on our lives in the half decade since the virus hit.

Now, onto this newsletter. I kicked off March by sharing my confusion over what really constitutes a nutritious food product any more, and towards the end of the month I’ve been blown away by the response to the unsolved mystery of the Pilates princess—which, incredibly, became my most-read piece on this platform in just over 24 hours—and has drawn many new subscribers (big welcome, if that’s you!).

The latest in the short, sharp Tuesday Scoop… series has seen my best recommendations (as a health and wellness journalist of a decade) for hair products to save damaged locks, the online Pilates platforms to try at home, Mother’s Day gifts for the wellness enthusiast and nut or seed butters without the cr*p.

For the most recent Buy This, Not That… spin-off, I revealed the expert verdict on heat patches for period pain, 'natural’ toothpaste and air fryers. Without further ado, let’s meet the top wellness insider who has kindly opened up to me about her own day-to-day routine, before getting into the ups and downs of the health scene in recent weeks…

ONE THING WELL: Jasmine, founder and editor of Daily Rituals

One thing well…move? ‘I strength train three to four times a week,’ says Jasmine, whose brilliant weekly Wellness Dose newsletter has recently surpassed 14k subscribers. ‘I used to push myself so hard, and while there’s definitely a time and a place for that, more recently I’ve toned it down.’ She adds: ‘I try to train at lunch, too, since it means I’ll have had a high-protein, high-fat breakfast to properly fuel me. I also mix in mat Pilates at home on “rest days” from the gym. At the moment, I’m switching between the Forma Pilates and Pilates with Verity apps.’

One thing well…fuel? ‘I’ll start the day with three large fried eggs cooked in olive oil, alongside bone broth—made with Honest & Good beef marrow bone broth powder, a tablespoon of Hunter & Gather bovine collagen and some MCT oil,’ shares Jasmine. ‘I used to be an overnight oats girly, but I find I have more energy and stay fuller for longer if I don’t have carbs first thing.’ She continues: ‘My favourite dinner right now is steak—I have it every Monday evening with salad and potatoes done in the air fryer—sometimes rounded off with a few squares of Lindt 70% dark chocolate to satisfy sweet cravings.’

One thing well…mind? ‘My go-to is always a great fiction book before bed - although I stick to romantic-comedy rather than thrillers,’ reveals Jasmine, who used to work in the corporate space before embarking on a journey—including dabbling in launching an acne-safe fake tan brand as well as a sustainable activewear line—that culminated in her creating her wellness platform Daily Rituals. ‘I also write my “daily pages”, inspired by The Artist’s Way book—basically three pages of freehand writing that often ends up being a brain dump of everything I’m stressing about, but does sometimes spark some new ideas too.’

One thing well…snooze? ‘I’m currently using an app called Rise,’ says Jasmine. ‘Rather than looking at your sleep cycles, it tracks your ”sleep debt”, and wow—I was shocked. It looks back at your past few months of sleep patterns (using your phone’s movement, so it’s only a rough guide), and it kindly told me I needed about 1.5 hours extra than what I typically get. Focusing on “sleep debt” has made a huge difference. It’s also a great alternative for those who have either fallen out of love with their Oura ring, or haven’t got one yet, as it doesn’t need any kind of tracker to work.’

One thing well…hustle? ‘I give myself the week off writing every couple of months—I still have a nine to five Monday to Friday, and write the newsletter on Sunday, and I know these select breaks will help keeps things sustainable in the long run,’ shares Jasmine, of growing her platform—inspired by friends increasingly baffled by the wellness space—without compromising her own wellbeing. ‘I do also have to be careful about getting burned out creating and editing content for social media.’ She adds: ‘Hiring an incredible virtual assistant, who is so much better than me at all the admin, has multiplied my productivity. the most.’

Sign up to Jasmine’s Wellness Dose newsletter and check out her platform Daily Rituals. You can also follow it on Instagram as well as TikTok

1/ (Healthy) inflation

In a sign of the increased importance of fitness in our daily lives, yoga mats and virtual reality (VR) headsets are now being used to chart the rising cost of living. According to the BBC, they make up two of the 752 ‘goods and services’ currently enlisted by the Office For National Statistics (ONS) to calculate inflation. The list is reviewed every year, and ends up being a fascinating reflection of our changing tastes and priorities. What’s out for 2025? Local newspaper adverts and DVD rentals. The ONS predicts spending on VR headsets (an ever-expanding area in the workout space, with Alo Moves XR already muscling in) will rise from £347 million last year to £520 million by 2029. The inclusion of yoga mats isn’t due to a fresh spike in practice’s popularity, but because they’re often repurposed for a range of home workouts—another category experiencing growth.

2/ Gen Z

The role they are playing in the health space can’t be underestimated—and much of what they are endorsing is ultimately sound stuff. Take the TikTok-viral ‘dinosaur time’, as reported by Bustle, which involves munching on leafy greens straight from the bag without the time-consuming fanfare of making a pretty salad. Certainly a more convenient way to get your five-a-day. Then there’s the news in The Times that the same cohort are helping fuel soaring demand for protein-rich supermarket items in the past year—such as chicken breast, cottage cheese, chickpeas and Greek yoghurt—with two thirds of those aged 16 to 34 (the oldest Gen Z are now 28) recently upping their intake. As a reminder, the current guidelines are 0.75g of protein for each kilogram of bodyweight (45g per day for a 60kg woman, for example).

3/ Lady Gaga

I have been listening to her new album MAYHEM on repeat. The 38-year-old star has long been open about her chronic illness, fibromyalgia—which can cause debilitating pain and fatigue—that has haunted her throughout the height of her success. It was movingly detailed in the Netflix documentary Gaga: Five Foot Two, and she has now told The Times, in an interview earlier this month, that her symptoms are now ‘very under control’. ‘It took over my life for a long time, but I’m 96% better—I still have pain days, but they are very rare,’ she shared. ‘I feel lucky.‘ Conditions like this, which affect more women than men, can be so misunderstood—and Stefani Germanotta is doing her part in exposing the realities, while also providing hope to fellow sufferers.

4/ Women’s health

I’ve been a bit sour about the state of female healthcare in recent instalments of Monthly Medicine, but I’m pleased to see things finally looking up. There was the first daily endometriosis pill approved on NHS in England, and then it was announced that the government would be supporting bereavement leave for couples who experience a stillbirth after 24 weeks (there are now calls to extend this to miscarriage and stillbirth before this cut-off). There has also been a simple swab test for womb cancer made available for UK women, with research showing that it is as effective as ultrasound. Finally, while the news that the latest Alzheimer’s disease drug and certain pain medication are less effective for women, at least the science is identifying a gender gap—and will hopefully next work to close it.

5/ Space

For everyone to thrive, that is. The way in which Meghan Markle’s new brand As Ever has been instantly pitted against Gwyneth Paltrow’s 17-year-old Goop has left me rather perplexed. They’re not at all similar in my books, with the Duchess of Sussex leaning more towards a kind of aspirational #trad lifestyle content, while Gwynnie is very much in the realm of luxe alt-health. Since when do DIY bath salts constitute wellness, really? This post was apparently the latter star throwing ‘shade’, even though she told Vanity Fair this month: ‘I was raised to see other women as friends, not foes…I think there’s always more than enough to go around’. Fortunately, the pair have put to bed rumours of ‘beef’ with the perfect Instagram response showing them enjoying a Montecito kitchen hang-out.