What you eat today isn't just about your weight or how you feel this afternoon – it's an investment in your future health.

In the first episode of my new Healthy Ageing series, I'm looking at five simple areas of nutrition that can help us feel well now, while supporting our muscle, bones, brain, cardiovascular and metabolic health for the decades ahead.

We'll talk about why protein becomes increasingly important as we age, why plant diversity and fibre matter, the healthy fats we shouldn't be afraid of, where ultra-processed foods fit into a realistic diet, and why micronutrients deserve more attention.

I'm also sharing some really practical ways to improve what you're already eating – because healthy ageing doesn't require a perfect diet, expensive longevity foods or complicated biohacking.

Plus, I explain why I believe an Annual Health MOT can be such a useful investment in your future health, helping you understand important markers including vitamin D, B12, folate, ferritin, HbA1c and cholesterol before they potentially become a bigger issue.

This month's question is simple:

What can I easily do today – and every day – that gives me the best chance of still feeling healthy, strong, independent and enjoying my life decades from now?

Because we're not trying to stop ageing. We're building a body and brain that can support us brilliantly as we age.

🎧 Also mentioned: Episode 306 – Fibre: The Forgotten Nutrient

Sponsored by Revive Active Thank you to Revive Active for continuing to support the Fab Female Nutrition podcast. Use code WENDY15 for 15% off.

Annual Health MOTFind out more about my Annual Health Blood Test and consultation at https://hillstart.me.uk/product/annual-blood-test/

What do you want your body to be able to do when you're 70, 80 or beyond?

Forget for a moment what you want it to look like. Could you get yourself up from the floor if you fell? Carry your own shopping? Climb the stairs? Walk around a city on holiday? Play with your grandchildren? Keep cooking, gardening or doing the things you love?

We talk about sarcopenia – the age-related loss of muscle mass, strength and function – and why maintaining muscle isn't simply about looking toned.

Muscle plays an important role in metabolic health and glucose regulation, supports our joints and bones, and perhaps most importantly, helps us maintain our physical independence as we age.

I also talk about why healthy ageing isn't just about lifting weights. We need cardiovascular fitness, balance and mobility too – and you don't necessarily need a gym to work on any of them.

From carrying the shopping and gardening to yoga, dancing, walking, resistance training and simply practising getting yourself up from the floor, there are lots of ways to keep asking your body to work.

Your challenge this week: do something every day that asks your muscles to work a little harder.

Because we're not exercising to look younger.

We're moving because we want our bodies to keep working for us as we get older.

This is episode 2 of my October series: Healthy Ageing – What You Do Now Matters Later.

Sponsored by Revive Active
This week I'm also talking about magnesium and its role in normal muscle function and energy-yielding metabolism. Thank you to Revive Active for continuing to support the Fab Female Nutrition Podcast. Use code WENDY15 for 15% off.

Annual Health MOT
I'm also talking about why understanding markers such as vitamin D, B12, folate and iron can give us useful information about our health now – and help us make changes for the future. https://hillstart.me.uk/product/annual-blood-test/

Do you really need all those supplements sitting in your cupboard?

Magnesium, omega-3, creatine, vitamin D, gut health supplements… there seems to be a supplement for almost everything in midlife. But how do you know what you actually need — and whether what you're taking is doing anything at all?

In this episode of Fab Female Nutrition, I'm finishing our September theme of supporting midlife health from the ground up by talking about supplements: where they can be genuinely useful, when food should come first, and why I believe every supplement you take should have a reason for being there.

I'm also taking you inside my own supplement routine, sharing what I personally take, what I only use occasionally, and most importantly, why. We cover magnesium, omega-3, creatine, PHGG, digestive enzymes and Revive Active, as well as why testing can sometimes be much more useful than simply guessing what you need.

In this episode:

• Do you actually need all those supplements in your cupboard?
• The supplements I personally take — and why
• How testing influenced my decision to supplement omega-3
• Why creatine is part of my routine
• The gut supplements I use occasionally rather than every day
• Why vitamin D, iron, B12 and other nutrients may be worth testing rather than guessing
• How to decide whether a supplement still deserves a place in your cupboard

This isn't about giving you a shopping list of supplements you should take. We're all different, and our needs are different too.

Instead, I want you to look at what you're already taking and ask one simple question:

What is this supplement's job?

If you don't know why you're taking it, perhaps that's the first thing to find out.

Plus, a big thank you to podcast sponsors Revive Active.

And next month, we're moving from the foundations of midlife health into healthy ageing — what we can do now to support our muscle, brain, metabolic health, mobility and independence for the decades ahead.