Botox, #SkinnyTok & Is All Sugar the Same?

Wellness with Ella

The Wellness Scoop

Health & Fitness, Society & Culture, Mental Health

4.7 • 4.9K Ratings

🗓️ 16 June 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, we’re diving into the slightly shocking (and sometimes surprisingly wholesome) stories shaping our health and habits. We start with TikTok’s decision to ban the hashtag #SkinnyTok, following a viral exposé revealing the darker side of the “skinny girl” aesthetic and the influencer-led community profiting from it. Then there’s new research showing that smiling might be six times more effective than Botox when it comes to attractiveness, raising big questions about beauty standards, confidence, and connection. We also get into the shrinking length of TED Talks, the red meat industry’s influence on heart health studies, and the surprising truth about coconut sugar, agave, and maple syrup. Are any of them actually better for you? Elsewhere in the episode, we cover Britain’s booming banana obsession (and the waste it’s creating), why Scandinavian saunas are strictly nude, and what’s changing in school food. This week’s recommendations The Cut article The Unprocessed Plate by Rhiannon Lambert Your Friends and Neighbours (Apple TV) Sirens (Netflix) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Liam works part-time in a pet grooming business.
0:04.0	Liam is very busy so he handles his money and tax on the HMRC app.
0:11.0	He's on it, completely in control.
0:15.0	So, no matter what's happening in his day.
0:18.0	Okay, calm down, at least when it comes to money and tax, he's on it.
0:23.7	Download the HMRC app and be on it today.
0:27.8	This episode is sponsored by Stripe and Stair.
0:33.1	So a few months ago, I met the founder of the brand Stripe and Stair,
0:36.6	this brilliant female
0:37.8	founder's dinner, and I have been obsessed with them ever since.
0:41.7	So I couldn't be more thrilled to be working together and have this episode brought to you
0:45.6	by Stripe and Stair.
0:46.7	I know.
0:47.1	After Ella told me about them, I obviously had to give them a go-to.
0:50.1	And they're hands down, the most comfortable knickers I've ever worn. You can really tell that they've actually been designed by women for women, which means a lot to us.
0:58.5	So there's a real thought there.
0:59.8	They've actually spent six years researching and developing the products before launching.
1:04.0	That's a lot.
1:04.7	Exactly.
1:05.3	So there is so much science behind the comfort of the comfiest ever pants.
1:10.1	And the other great thing is the fibres are natural,
1:12.4	they're sustainable, and they are proven to be two to three times softer than cotton, which is
	...

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