The piece came out at the end of a last summer hurrah – we had a week away in Devon as a family, so that September ‘back to school’ feeling is very, very real for me today. And, if like me, you’re sad that the summer is over but looking forward to being back in a normal routine, I thought I’d share some reflections on why, after a few months of later nights, long lunches and perhaps a little more rosé than usual, you might have woken up thinking: I’m just not feeling my best, and why September might be a good time to ‘reset’.

Summer can disrupt our foundations, but maybe summer isn’t the problem

I’m not saying that enjoying yourself over the summer is bad for you. Travel, late nights, a few more drinks and less routine are all part of having a life – and I’m all for that. But after a few months of it, you might notice you’re not sleeping particularly well, you’re feeling bloated and your digestion is off, or your brain feels flat and you’re struggling to concentrate. A few extra pounds might have crept in around your middle and if you’re in or heading towards midlife, they’re probably not shifting as easily as they once did.

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I’m not surprised so many people spend the first few days of their holiday feeling bloated, sluggish or generally ‘off’.

Your gut loves routine. Travelling dismantles almost every routine it relies on.

If you’re travelling long-haul, you cross time zones and your body clock scrambles. Then there is the food. Swap your normal diet for lots of white bread, pastries and very little veg and your microbes lose their preferred fuel within days. Add new microbes you have never met, dehydration from the flight, disrupted sleep and the low-grade stress of airports and your gut has a lot to try and cope with.

And finally, there’s the drinking. Most of us consume more alcohol on holiday than we would at home – let’s face it, some of us become 70% rosé – and that puts extra pressure on the gut.

I am absolutely not suggesting you spend your holiday counting fibre instead of enjoying the breakfast pastries. Trying new food, having a few drinks with friends and eating late in a city you love are all part of the joy of travel. The point is to understand what you can do to support your gut so that it feels good and ready to enjoy your break. Your gut has lost all its usual signals. Here’s how to give them back.

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Of course, the products you use matter, and in this post I’m sharing the ones I’m loving this summer as that’s something I get asked all the time. But your skin is also one of the best windows into what’s happening inside your body, and as you might expect from me, I want to explain why skincare is only ever part of the picture.

So, here’s a little about my current routine, but more importantly, the advice I’d give you if you are looking to go beyond serums and retinoids and think about skin health from the inside out, because that’s where I believe the real magic happens.

I want to make one thing clear up top: I absolutely love skincare. I love the way it makes my skin feel. I love the routine of it. Cleansing my face in the morning helps me wake up, and taking time at night to clean off the day and moisturise helps me wind down. And like you, I’m always on the hunt for products that are going to make my skin feel and look great because I love seeing healthy skin. For context, I have fairly normal skin – it’s pretty tolerant of all the things that get slapped on it when I do the occasional bit of modelling still – so some of the products I use might not be suitable for sensitive or oily skin, as they’re quite high in actives, and I do love an oil.

In the mornings I’m currently reaching for De Mamiel. The founder, Annee de Mamiel, takes a very holistic approach to skincare and her products are beautifully and thoughtfully formulated. I love the Fatigue Fix, the Daily Hydrating Nectar moisturiser and their mineral SPF, which feels so nourishing.

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Ingredients

• 400 g smoked mackerel fillets, skin removed and flaked

• 1 medium fennel bulb, finely sliced, fronds reserved

• 2 sharp green apples, such as Granny Smith, cored and cut into matchsticks

• 80 g watercress

• 3 radishes, finely sliced

• 2 tbsp creamed horseradish

• 3 tbsp crème fraîche

• 1 lemon, zested and juiced

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 2 tbsp capers, rinsed

• Flaky sea salt

Method

1. Whisk together the horseradish, crème fraîche, lemon juice, lemon zest and olive oil. Season with a little flaky sea salt.

2. Toss the fennel and apple through the dressing and leave to sit for 5 minutes. This softens the fennel slightly and lets the apple absorb the flavour.

3. Arrange the watercress on a large platter.

4. Top with the fennel and apple mixture, then scatter over the smoked mackerel, radishes and capers.

5. Finish with the reserved fennel fronds.

Why it works

This is a strong metabolic health lunch - protein, omega-3 fats, bitter leaves, fibre and acidity all in one bowl. The mackerel supports satiety and blood sugar stability, while fennel, watercress and apple keep it fresh and digestive-friendly.

Watercress can easily be swapped for rocket or little gem. This is also very good with a few cooked new potatoes if you want it to feel more like a full summer lunch.

The internet did what the internet does. Half the comments called him soft. The other half called him honest. I don’t want to pile on either way; that’s not what interests me about his observations. What interests me is that I see a version of this in my clinic most weeks. Not the wine, specifically. The wobble. The person who has done everything ‘right’ for months and then has one slightly off day and treats it like a full systems failure.

So, let’s talk about what was happening in his body, because there’s real physiology there, and it says something far more useful than ‘alcohol is bad’ or ‘he’s being dramatic’.

What we’re told is going on

The story that wellness culture loves to believe is that alcohol is a toxin and the body needs to be protected from it at all costs. If you’re feeling rough after a drink, that’s a sign that there needs to be more discipline. Tighter guardrails next time. The fix for feeling bad is more control. But while that’s a logical rationale in some respects, it’s also – more often than not – wrong, and the picture is more nuanced.

What’s really going on

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Partly because it tastes ridiculously good, but mainly because it removes all excuses. It takes about five minutes, there is zero cooking involved and I can throw it together half asleep while waiting for the kettle to boil.

I am a big supporter of 3 meals a day for most people – So many of the clients I have worked with over the years in clinic will tell you that having something in the morning, even if it isn’t until 11am, makes a huge difference to their energy levels later in the day. If you are skipping breakfast because life is busy and then wondering why you are hitting pastries or eating crisps at 11am, then try this – it is an easy entry point to a more stable day .

This bowl is my insurance policy against that.

It is cold, fresh, crunchy, filling and endlessly adaptable depending on what you have in the fridge. I have probably made some version of this thousands of times.

Kefir is one of my favourite things for the gut and microbiome.
The combination of protein, fibre and healthy fats helps steady energy and keeps you fuller for longer.
The nuts and seeds add texture, crunch and substance, which makes this feel like an actual meal rather than a sad little yoghurt situation.

Ingredients:

1 cup kefir yoghurt
¼ cup pomegranate seeds
¼ cup pineapple, diced
¼ cup mango, diced
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
Small handful mixed nuts – almonds, walnuts or hazelnuts work well

Optional extras:

Chia seeds
Pumpkin seeds
Cinnamon
Frozen berries
Almond butter
Bee pollen

Method:

Add the kefir yoghurt to a bowl or jar.

Top with the fruit, then scatter over the sunflower seeds and nuts.

Add any extras you fancy and eat immediately or make it the night before.

That is literally it.

I often make this when I am rushing out the door and take it with me

Peptides have actually been around for decades, but something has shifted in the past few months and I’ve noticed a steep incline in how widely they’re being talked about. And with that has come a predictable wave of misinformation from people who are entirely unqualified to discuss the nuances, the risks or the actual evidence.

So ,I want to set a few things straight. But first, I need to make something really clear: as a functional medicine practitioner, I am all about getting the foundations in health right, and that remains the most powerful thing you can do for yourself.

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You make one big pot, forget about it, and then suddenly you have lunch or dinner sorted for the next couple of days, which makes me feel wildly organised and oh so smug every time you open the fridge door.

I love this at the moment. It is full of greens, beans and miso, and somehow it makes me feel like I’ve got my shit/life together after one bowl.

It is light but not in a sad way. There is enough substance from the beans and olive oil to make it feel great when you have it and the fennel and lemon make it fresh rather than heavy and wintery.

Also - it gets better overnight, which I always think is the sign of a very good soup. Very good with sourdough and a large jumper, which seems to be the way that June might be going……..

Ingredients:

1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp sea salt
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
6 spring onions, roughly chopped
1 litre vegetable stock
2 strips lemon zest
2 large leeks, white and pale green parts sliced into rounds
1 fennel bulb plus stalks, finely sliced
1 x 400g tin cannellini beans, rinsed
1 pack sugar snap peas, sliced diagonally
200g baby spinach
100g peas
1 tbsp white miso

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the coriander, fennel seeds and black pepper and cook for a minute until everything smells amazing.

Add the garlic and spring onions and cook gently for another couple of minutes until softened.

Pour in the stock and add the lemon zest. Bring to a simmer.

Add the leeks, fennel and cannellini beans and cook for around 5–6 minutes until tender but still bright.

Stir through the sugar snap peas, spinach and peas. Cook for another minute until the spinach has wilted.

Mix the miso with a spoonful of the hot broth in a small bowl, then stir it back into the pan.

Finish with the fennel fronds, taste for seasoning and serve in big bowls.

So I wanted to set out why I think the situation is more nuanced than some people are making it out to be, and explain why I believe contrast or cold therapy can be beneficial for many.

Before we get into the science, let’s be clear: cold therapy is not a 2020 podcast invention. The Ancient Greeks bathed in hot and cold water for health. Nordic communities have combined sauna and ice swimming for centuries. Japanese onsen culture has long used temperature contrast as medicine. We’ve been doing this, in various forms, for thousands of years.

The only thing that’s genuinely new is that we’ve spent the last few decades engineering every form of physical discomfort out of our lives – central heating, air conditioning, ergonomic pillows, chairs, you name it – and now we’re surprised that our nervous systems feel fragile. Cold therapy, at its core, is simply reintroducing a challenge that our bodies were built to handle.

I should declare my interest here. I practise cold therapy regularly and I recommend it clinically. But I’m not evangelical about it – I care about what actually moves the needle for women dealing with mood issues, energy imbalance and hormonal chaos, and I try to be honest about where the evidence is strong and where it’s still emerging.

One of the most important things to understand in this debate is that: the majority of cold therapy research has been conducted on men. That’s not unique to this field. It’s a systemic problem across medical and scientific research that has shortchanged women for decades. But here’s what matters: the absence of female-specific studies does not mean cold therapy doesn’t work for us. It means we haven’t been studied enough.

Cold therapy: what is it and what can it do?
Cold therapy covers a range of practices, including getting outside in the cold air, but the two most relevant to what we think of when we talk about cold therapy are:

Cold water exposure – whether in a cold pool, ice bath or cold shower – is exactly what it says on the tin. And you don’t need to be submerged in sub-zero temperatures looking like a survivalist to get the benefits. Research shows that 14°C is enough to trigger significant spikes in noradrenaline (up to 530%) and dopamine (around 250%). For women, 14–15°C is enough.

Contrast therapy – alternating between hot and cold – works by repeatedly dilating and constricting blood vessels, creating a kind of pumping mechanism thought to support circulation. But the crucial thing, based on the work of researcher Susanna Søberg, is always to end on cold. The rewarming process – when your body brings its own temperature back up, is when it learns to adapt and get stronger. Jump straight into a hot shower afterwards and you’re leaving a significant portion of the benefit on the table.

And here’s where I want to gently push back on the wellness bro narrative that’s crept in around cold therapy. Harder, longer, colder is not the silver bullet that some Instagram ‘gurus’ want to claim it is. You don’t need to crack through ice or spend 5 minutes in a freezing plunge to get the benefit. A cold shower for 30 seconds still triggers meaningful physiological changes. You’re not doubling the benefit by doubling the duration or dropping the temperature another 5º. As with so many things in the world I work in, harder, more painful, more extreme, does not mean better! It doesn’t have to be extreme to work.

In fact, there’s also a physiological difference worth understanding. Women tend to have colder hands and feet than men because female physiology is wired to conserve heat centrally, shunting blood away from the extremities to maintain warmth around the core and reproductive organs. And we vasoconstrict more aggressively in response to cold – we shiver earlier and lose heat faster than men do. It means we hit the physiological stress threshold more quickly. We don’t need to stay in the cold as long or go as cold to trigger the same adaptive response: 1–2 minutes is genuinely enough

So, let’s address the ‘women shouldn’t do cold therapy’ narrative head-on.

Many women live in a constant state of high alert, juggling work, family, hormones and the general mental load of modern life. Cold therapy is a controlled stressor that trains our nervous system to activate and then recover efficiently. It supports our capacity to cope with stress and builds resilience. It’s not about recklessly adding more stress; it’s about giving our system a manageable challenge that teaches it to respond.

Two other particularly significant benefits to women are the effects of cold therapy on inflammation and mood. Interestingly, cold initially spikes inflammation – and then significantly reduces it around 12 hours later. Short-term discomfort, long-term adaptation and gain.

As for mood, cold exposure produces a sustained dopamine lift that lasts for hours – quite different to the spike-and-crash pattern of caffeine or doom-scrolling. A 2023 brain imaging study found that cold exposure made participants feel more active, alert and inspired, and measurably changed brain connectivity – and this was a mixed-sex sample.

Two other areas deserve specific attention.

On the menstrual cycle: there’s a common claim that women should avoid cold therapy during the luteal phase because progesterone is elevated, and when it is elevated, your core body temperature rises with it, making the cold feel more intense and with that some research actually suggests the opposite – brown fat activation and thermogenic response may be stronger in the luteal phase precisely because progesterone raises your thermal set point. It feels harder, but your body is primed for it. The practical approach: use the follicular phase to push duration if you want to build tolerance; in the luteal phase, keep sessions shorter and tune in to how you feel.

On perimenopause: this may be where cold therapy matters most. The perimenopausal nervous system is hypersensitive, and thermoregulation is dysregulated – hello hot flushes. Brief, repeated cold exposure trains the system to be more tolerant to changes in temperature – cold tolerance. A 2024 survey of cold water swimmers found that perimenopausal women reported significant improvements in anxiety, mood swings and hot flushes. It should be noted that this survey used self-reporting and had no control group, and while it isn’t perfect by any means, it is promising – and it directly contradicts the idea that this is somehow riskier for women at this life stage.

What about muscle recovery? Cold therapy has a solid reputation among athletes for reducing muscle soreness, but if strength or muscle gain is your primary goal, timing matters. Cold plunging immediately after resistance training can interfere with the muscle-building process – essentially interrupting the very adaptation you were training for. A 2025 study specifically on women found it didn’t accelerate muscle recovery in that context either. If you train for strength, delay cold exposure until at least four hours from your session, or save it for rest days.

I would be doing you a disservice if I didn’t also state that cold therapy does carry risks in certain circumstances.

The cold shock response is real: sudden immersion triggers an involuntary gasp reflex and a significant spike in heart rate. Anyone with cardiovascular conditions, arrhythmias or uncontrolled blood pressure need to speak to their doctor before taking the plunge. Other situations where caution is warranted include Raynaud’s syndrome, pregnancy and significant adrenal exhaustion, chronic fatigue (yes, if you are and have been chronically stressed for many years, you do need to start gently and see how you get on, listen to YOU!)

How to start – and it is super simple
So, how do you get started if this is something that interests you? Spoiler, alert: you do not need a coach to turn your shower to cold.

At the end of your normal shower, switch to cold for 15–30 seconds. Build up gradually to 1–3 minutes per session, 2–4 times a week. Research suggests roughly 11 minutes of total cold exposure per week delivers measurable metabolic benefit. The key mechanism is brown fat activation. Unlike white fat, which stores energy, brown fat, dense with mitochondria, burns it to generate heat, supporting better blood sugar regulation, improved insulin sensitivity, and a higher resting metabolic rate.. I also want to you to know, that I don’t always get to 11 minutes a week – sometimes I only want a quick cold blast at the end of the shower and other times, I will be in the mood for longer, or actually get into cold water if I am near it, either the sea, a lake or a plunge pool; I listen to my body and my mood.

Keep the temperature at 14–15°C if you’re doing a plunge – you don’t need ice. And if you’re doing contrast therapy, always finish on cold. Let your body do the work of rewarming itself. That’s where the magic happens.

Cold therapy isn’t a trend, and it isn’t just for people who listen to a certain type of podcast. For women in particular, the evidence – imperfect and still growing as it is – is genuinely interesting. Start small, be honest with yourself about how you feel, and ignore anyone who tells you it categorically isn’t for you.

References

1. Šrámek P, Šimečková M, Janský L, Šavlíková J, Vybíral S. Human physiological responses to immersion into water of different temperatures. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2000;81(5):436-442.

2. Søberg S, Löfgren J, Philipsen FE, Jensen M, Hansen AE, Ahrens E, et al. Altered brown fat thermoregulation and enhanced cold-induced thermogenesis in young, healthy, winter-swimming men. Cell Rep Med. 2021;2(10):100408.

3. Pound M, Massey H,Roseneil S, Williamson R, Harper CM, Tipton M, et al. How do women feel cold water swimming affects their menstrual and perimenopausal symptoms? Post Reprod Health. 2024;30(1):20533691241227100.

4. Kaikaew K, van den Beukel JC, Neggers SJCMM, Themmen APN, Visser JA, Grefhorst A. Sex difference in cold perception and shivering onset upon gradual cold exposure. J Therm Biol. 2018;77:137-144.

5. Cain T, Gould D, Stevens AB, Chami P, Mayall L. Effects of cold-water immersion on health and wellbeing: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2025;20(1):e0317615.

6. Yankouskaya A, Williamson R, Tye C, Statham S, Massey H, Mayall L, et al. Short-term head-out whole-body cold-water immersion facilitates positive affect and increases interaction between large-scale brain networks. Biology. 2023;12(2):211.

Why this works for your body:

• Gut health and fibre: frozen peas are an absolute winner. They are a brilliant, budget-friendly source of prebiotic fibre to feed your beneficial gut microbes.

• Brain and muscle support: that poached egg provides high-quality choline and protein and the good fats from the pumpkin seed and olive oil are all essential for keeping your focus sharp and your blood sugar stable.

• Polyphenol power: fresh mint and parsley are absolutely loaded with polyphenols to help manage inflammation and support your liver’s natural detoxification pathways.

Ingredients:

• 1 egg (free-range or organic if possible)

• 150g frozen peas

• Handful of fresh mint

• Handful of fresh parsley

• Small handful of any seeds (I used pumpkin seeds here)

• Juice of ½ lemon

• Handful of pea shoots

• Olive oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Seeded, sourdough or rye toast to serve

Method:

1. The Smash: simply blanch your frozen peas in hot water for a couple of minutes. Transfer to a bowl (or toss them into a small blender or food processor if you want) with the mint, parsley, seeds, lemon juice, a good drizzle of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Pulse/mash (I use a potato masher) until everything is combined but still has some texture.

2. The Egg: poach your egg in gently simmering water for 3–4 minutes until the white is set but the yolk is still runny.

3. To assemble: spread your green pea smash on your toast (I use Seedful, which I love a lot, or a slice of toasted rye or sourdough), layer the fresh pea shoots on top, and top it with your poached egg. Finish with a crack of black pepper.

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If you’ve found this page, I’m guessing you’ve got an interest in health, nutrition and your wellbeing.

Lots of you may already be familiar with what I do but I wanted to introduce myself and explain why I’m here and what can you expect from this corner of the internet.

I’m a functional medicine practitioner (more on what the hell that is below) and a nutritionist. I’m passionate about helping people to make food and lifestyle choices that allow them to live in balance, and above all to thrive and feel their best.

I live in the Cotswolds with my husband and dogs (two dachshunds, two Staffies), which sounds so grown-up when I write it. We moved here from London 17 years ago, basically because we built our dream home. We didn’t really mean to leave London but we spent all week waiting to get down here, so we made the jump. I would love to say we have a well put together ‘Cotswold’ life, but we really don’t – and while I love living here, London is still home to me and we play a crazy game of living in the countryside, working in the city and having friends in both – basically it’s chaos!

I started my career as a model when I was 15. It was the nineties and I was modelling for brands like Prada and Miu Miu. When I turned 24 I had my eldest daughter. I’ve always had an interest in health and using food and plants as medicine, I saw it as ‘balancing the books’ for my body – I was having a great time, with all that entails – but at least I still got my veg in. My grandmother owned one of the first health food shops in the UK and my mum is a kinesiologist, which she describes as ‘touch for health’, so feeling well and being healthy is something I’ve always been conscious of. We grew up turning to homeopathy for medical needs, and with a very strong belief that if you take care of your body, it will take care of you.

But becoming a mum suddenly made me hyper aware of what I was putting in my kids’ bodies and I wanted to learn more about what I was feeding them and why. That was my tipping point. I knew modelling wasn’t going to be a career for the rest of my life; I wanted to stop travelling so much to be around for the girls, and the thing that got me really interested and excited was food and nutrition, so in my early thirties I went back to school.

I studied nutrition and naturopathy for three years, then functional medicine for another three before setting up my clinic in London. And then I got a massive dose of imposter syndrome – I was worried what people would think about a model becoming a nutritionist. But the good thing about imposter syndrome is that it drives you. It pushed me to make sure that I was so qualified that no one could question my ability and I studied to get my MSc in advanced nutrition research and practice as well. Today, my online clinic, which is the foundation of my work, allows me to help my clients to achieve their health goals. And for anyone feeling a bit baffled by the term ‘functional medicine’; it is another name for holistic medicine. While conventional medicine covers acute care, diagnostics and life-saving intervention, functional medicine sits alongside it, focusing on the prevention, optimisation and working on the drivers rather than the symptoms to help the management of complex or chronic symptoms, particularly when someone has been told everything looks normal but they still do not feel right. In essence, it bridges the gap between getting by and thriving.

I’m a global expert in functional health for Dior Beauty, the first person ever to do a global wellness menu for a hotel group (Maybourne), and an ambassador for Ancient and Brave – one of my fave supplements brand, and for I work closely with healf.com. I’m a contributor to British Vogue, where I write features on health and wellness; the author of Juice, a compilation of 100 juice recipes for modern living; and the founder of ‘The 5 Day Plan’, transformative plans that show how you can enjoy food, feel great, and achieve health goals in just five days. I’ve also got a new book coming in September, more on that later.

My three girls are adults now. I’m in midlife and I’ve also recently become an empty nester. I’m no angel. I’ve smoked, drunk, taken drugs and had a great time (I spent much of my early teens at raves in fields; thank god there were no mobile phones back then). I definitely have a dopamine pathway linked to sugar. I’ve eaten lots of ultra-processed foods and loved them. I’ve been super stressed for years and I know what it’s like to feel burnt out. I’ve felt exhausted often, been a miserable, snappy person and I’ve muddled my way through parenting, going back to school, starting a second career and juggling work with home life. I can talk about this stuff because I’ve lived it all.

Today, I drink much less, I don’t smoke (that’s really not on brand for a nutritionist), I work very hard at managing my stress and I try to get enough sleep. One thing that is true about getting older is that the bounce back after a heavy night out is more of a slow crawl; it takes me about 4–5 days to feel human again. That’s not to say that I don’t still have my partying moments – I still love a girls’ night out and a boozy lunch on holiday; I love a cocktail with my kids (they are 19, 20 and 26 so no judgement thank you very much); and my favourite drink at the moment is a dirty vodka martini with a twist, or a tequila on the rocks. But I choose my moments a little more carefully.

Through my clinic, I’ve seen how the right mix of lifestyle shifts, functional medicine and practical advice can transform lives. I know what works and I’m passionate about sharing what I’ve learned – with zero judgement. That’s where this page comes in.

In a digital landscape governed by algorithms and fuelled by clickbait, social media can sometimes feel like the Wild West, particularly when it comes to the wellness space. Substack is a way for me to offer health, nutrition and lifestyle advice that is simple, effective, not overwhelming and rooted in science and evidence. When it comes to helping ourselves feel well and live longer, I want to expose the BS but, more importantly, to show you what DOES work and what IS WORTH your time and energy.

It’s also a place for me to write about other things, topics that I can’t always get into through my day job. I want to share more personal thoughts and experiences. And I should probably warn you that I do love a rant – about my field of expertise but also wider issues in my professional world, such as the term ‘evidence-based medicine’ (which is definitely one I use and which is amazing in many ways, but has also become a very blunt instrument), or the frustrations I have around how elitist and alienating the wellness world can feel.

A big thank you for being here. I’m excited to see what this space can become, to grow this community and to find out what’s interesting you in the world of health and wellness.

So how does this work?

I’ll be sharing three posts a month (two just for paid subscribers, one that’s open to free subscribers as well).

There’s also an opportunity to join the community and get involved in the chat and steer conversations.

Thanks for reading The Reset! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.