PHF Nutrition Consultancy

08/02/2026

A client asked me this after seeing a coach claim...

That most protein powders are “full of gums, sweeteners, seed oils and fake flavours”...

And that they will leave you “bloated, and tired”.

So let’s strip the fear-mongering out of it and let’s talk science.

If a protein shake bloats you, it’s usually the match that’s the issue...

Not protein powder as a category.

The most common culprits are...

Lactose:

Whey concentrate still contains lactose.

If you’re sensitive, that alone can cause bloating.

Dose and speed:

A big serving chugged fast, going straight into a sensitive gut.

Underlying gut sensitivity/IBS:

Some people simply react more easily to certain ingredients.

Sweeteners:

Sugar alcohols (polyols) can cause gas and bloating in some people.

Especially at higher doses.

The “gums” and thickeners?

They’re there for texture and mixing.

Some people don’t tolerate certain ones well.

That doesn’t make them “toxic”...

It means your gut doesn’t love that ingredient at that dose.

Seed oils and “fake flavours”?

This is mostly fear marketing.

If an oil-based ingredient is present, it’s usually in tiny amounts for blending.

Flavourings are regulated ingredients.

But “fake” doesn’t automatically mean harmful.

If someone is slating “most protein powders” while aggressively pushing one specific brand...

You know the one, code in bio, affiliate link, paid partnership, and all that.

That’s not neutral education, that’s marketing.

Talking everything else down makes their product look like the only “clean” option.

Funny how that works 👀

If you have issues, try this instead...

Try whey isolate (lower lactose) or a plant isolate.

Avoid polyols if you’re gut-sensitive.

Start with half a serving and sip more slowly.

Protein powder isn’t magic.

But it’s also not the gut destroying villain Instagram divs make it out to be.

Drop me a DM if you have any questions 🙂

05/02/2026

If you’re in the menopause transition and you feel like fat loss requires you to eat like a wellness robot, I want to take that weight off your shoulders.

“Clean eating” isn’t a requirement.

It’s a label.

And for a lot of women, it becomes the start of the all-or-nothing cycle...

Perfect weekdays, chaos weekends, then punishment on Monday.

This is what you need, and it's what I do with my ladies here...

A structure you can repeat.

Anchor meals with protein, add fibre and volume so you’re not constantly hungry.

Keep your daily movement and training consistent, and plan the foods you enjoy so they don’t turn into a blowout.

We track the data, but we talk like real humans.

If your relationship with food feels complicated, or you’ve got a history of disordered eating...

You deserve support that prioritises safety and stability over rigid rules.

Drop me a message if you have any questions.

I'd be happy to talk further on this subject.

Or comment the word “Quiz” to take my free 2-minute Diet Cycle Breaker ♻️❌

04/02/2026

Rainbow Dust...

I was actually asked about this last year at a seminar…

And I’ll be honest, I hadn’t even heard of it.

That’s how fast supplements move now.

It’s randomly resurfaced on my Instagram feed, I'm pretty sure the algorithm is winding me up...

So I’ve gone back and checked the evidence again.

What is it?

In the UK, Rainbow Dust is most commonly a cocoa/coffee-style powder with caffeine, mushrooms, and “adaptogens.”

(Lion’s mane, cordyceps, ashwagandha, chaga, maca, sometimes rhodiola, plus vitamin B5)

Is there research on Rainbow Dust itself?

No.

There are no published randomised controlled trials on the product as a blend.

Any claims like “flow state”, “stress support”, “no crash” are generalised from individual ingredients...

Not proven outcomes of the product.

What does the evidence say about the ingredients?

• Caffeine - the most reliable effect in the tub for energy and alertness.

• Ashwagandha - reasonable evidence for small reductions in stress/anxiety.

• Cordyceps - mixed data, some small endurance benefits in newer analyses.

• Lion’s mane - early human data, inconsistent results.

• Rhodiola, chaga, maca - lots of hype, limited human outcome data.

So what’s actually doing the work?

For most people...

Caffeine, routine, expectation/placebo, and possibly switching from higher-caffeine drinks and feeling “less crashy”

My standpoint on it?

If you like it and it replaces multiple coffees a day, fine.

But it’s not magic.

The strongest evidence in the tub is still caffeine.

The rest is promising but not proven.

And nowhere near as powerful as the basics are, like sleep, nutrition, training, and consistency.

Rainbow Dust?

I'd save your money 💰

04/02/2026

03/02/2026

02/02/2026

If you’re in perimenopause or menopause and fat loss feels harder, you’re not imagining it.

What I see all the time is women trying to fix that by eating less and doing more, and ending up flatter, more tired, and weaker.

What I care about most for the ladies I work with is that they lose fat while keeping muscle.

That’s what drives shape, strength, and long-term maintenance.

Creatine isn’t a fat burner.

It doesn’t override calories.

It supports better training output while you’re dieting...

Which is exactly when muscle is at risk.

In female-focused research, creatine monohydrate hasn’t been linked with serious adverse events or increased renal/hepatic complications.

(If you’re under medical management, always check first.)

There’s also emerging evidence around cognition and brain fog.

It’s promising, but treat it as a bonus, not the headline.

If you're dieting in Peri/Menopause and strength matters...

Creatine is a smart move.

Drop me a DM if you have any questions.

I'd be happy to answer them 💪🏻

01/02/2026

30/01/2026

“Caffeine before fasted cardio burns 73% more fat.”

There is a grain of truth here...

Caffeine can increase fat oxidation during moderate aerobic exercise.

BUT...

That “73%” is usually a misread of the research.

The paper reports SMD = 0.73 (a stats effect size), not 73%.

You can't just slap a percent sign on it and call it science.

More fat oxidation in a session doesn't mean more fat loss long-term.

Your body can compensate later (hunger, less movement, poor sleep).

If caffeine helps you train, great.

It's one of the best training stimulants out there.

But it's not some magical fat loss tool that's going to help you absolutely incinerate fat.

Let me know if you have any questions 🙂

29/01/2026

I love putting question boxes out on Instagram...

Because I forget myths like this still exist in the industry.

So, let's get into it...

“Starvation mode”

It's one of the most abused phrases in the fat loss industry.

Eat “too low” and your body panics, shuts fat loss down, and you start gaining on nothing.

The reality is less dramatic...

When you diet, your body does adapt.

Energy expenditure can drop via...

👉🏻 Lower body weight (you burn less because you’re smaller)

👉🏻 Less spontaneous movement (NEAT)

👉🏻 A bit of “adaptive thermogenesis” (most coaches don't even know what this is 🙄)

That’s not your body “refusing” to lose fat.

That’s your deficit getting smaller unless you adjust.

If a true deficit exists, fat loss still happens.

It just tends to slow over time because the maths changes.

The bigger reason people get “stuck” isn’t a magical mode.

It’s usually because...

✅ Fatigue causes less movement

✅ Hunger means more picking/snacking/weekends

✅ Poor recovery/sleep causes worse adherence

Yes, extremely aggressive dieting can backfire sometimes (not always!)

And not because fat loss becomes impossible...

But because it’s harder to sustain and you often end up rebounding if it's not done correctly.

If you’re genuinely eating very low calories, feeling awful, losing strength, or your cycle/symptoms are getting hammered, don’t “push through”.

Get proper support.

We want fat loss with muscle, performance and sanity intact.

So if your coach uses “starvation mode” to explain every plateau instead of auditing the real variables and science of fat loss…

They’re not coaching, they’re just guessing.

And that's the problem with the industry.

Too many confident-sounding coaches without too much knowledge.

Absolute blaggers and I wouldn't want them in charge of my fat loss.

Remember, if it sounds like bullsh*t, smells like bullsh*t, then it probably IS bullsh*t 🥱

Drop me a message if you have any questions.

Or comment the word “Quiz” to take my free 2-minute Diet Cycle Breaker for some real help ♻️❌

27/01/2026

I got sent a viral post the other day...

It claimed high-carb fuelling is “fundamentally misguided” and may increase prediabetes risk, even in elite athletes.

And I’m calling bullsh*t on how that’s being presented.

First, the irony...

The Endocrine Reviews paper being used for the fear-mongering literally states that carbohydrate ingestion during exercise significantly enhances performance.

So the headline “100 years got it wrong” is marketing, not an honest summary.

Zoom out to the broader evidence from a 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis...

Including 136 studies, which found that carbohydrate ingestion during endurance exercise produces a significant performance benefit vs placebo/control.

That’s not controversial sports nutrition.

The IOC consensus statement also supports carbohydrate during exercise as a performance tool, with needs increasing as event duration increases.

Now the “prediabetes risk” bit, because this is where people get sloppy...

The review discusses acute physiology in some fuelling contexts.

Acute changes during exercise are not the same thing as chronic disease risk.

“This looks like insulin resistance in the moment” is not “carbs cause prediabetes”.

And here’s what really blows my mind...

I’ve seen coaches repost this without checking a single citation.

Just confidently sharing scary claims because it fits a narrative.

This is exactly what I said in my post the other day about the state of the industry.

Dumb coaches doing dumb things and wanting to be in charge of your nutrition while doing it 🤦🏻‍♂️

If you want real-world reassurance...

Former elite athletes have been shown to have a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

Carbs are a tool...

Use them when the session demands them.

Don’t demonise them, and don’t outsource your understanding to viral slides on social media.

And to all of the coaches in the industry sharing this blindly without actually looking into it properly...

Shame on you...

You're all part of the problem this industry finds itself in 😤

23/01/2026

Collagen is having a moment.

Again.

So, is it all what it's cracked up to be?

Collagen isn’t magic, but it’s not automatically a scam either.

It depends what you’re buying it for and how honest you are about the size of the effect.

What the evidence is strongest for...

👉🏻 Skin

Meta-analyses of randomised trials show hydrolysed collagen can improve skin hydration and elasticity (and sometimes wrinkles)

But it’s not a slam dunk across the board.

A 2025 meta-analysis reported that results were driven more by industry-funded trials, with little/no effect in the non-industry-funded subgroup analyses.

That doesn’t mean it never works.

It means the marketing is louder than the certainty.

Where it can be useful for some people...

👉🏻 Knee osteoarthritis.

Meta-analyses suggest collagen peptides/derivatives can modestly improve pain and function in OA populations.

But for context, that’s not “everyone needs collagen”...

That’s “some people with OA may benefit”.

Where the evidence is limited...

👉🏻 Hair

The data is thin and mixed.

If someone says collagen is “proven” to regrow hair, they’re overselling it.

👉🏻 Nails

There are small studies showing improvements in brittle nails, but it’s not miracle territory.

👉🏻 Tendons/ligaments.

Interesting mechanistic work exists (collagen synthesis markers), but “collagen prevents injuries” isn’t proven.

👉🏻 Bone

One notable RCT in postmenopausal women with low BMD showed improved BMD with specific collagen peptides, but it needs replication and it doesn’t replace the basics.

So, should we buy it?

If your diet is low in protein, fix that first.

Collagen can be an optional add-on for specific goals.

But it is not a substitute for strength training, overall diet quality, sleep, and consistency like many claims out there 🫠

Drop me a DM if you have any questions 🙂