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Episode 2

Easy Ways to Live Well Series 1
Episode 2 of 3

Hugh and Steph challenge staff at a garden centre in the Wirral to test out easy solutions for their aches and pains.

Hugh and Steph are up in the Wirral to meet a group of workers at a local garden centre who struggle with daily aches and pains. Like many of us, they see the first sign of a twinge as a cue to pop an over-the-counter painkiller. Brits take four billion paracetamol a year, but long-term use of pills such as ibuprofen have been linked to higher rates of heart attack, stomach bleeding and liver failure. While these conditions are rare, these workers want to find other ways to manage pain.

Hugh and Steph want to trial two contrasting methods to see if they can not only lower their discomfort but also cut down their use of painkillers. The remedy Hugh wants his group to try is 'open label placebos', where he’s asking them to pop dummy pills twice a day. Steph’s group is being prescribed 15 minutes of daily group singing, which has also been proven to reduce pain.

But as they are cajoling others to live well, Hugh and Steph feel it’s only fair that they walk the walk themselves. Having recently becoming pregnant, Steph is slightly apprehensive about exercising, so Dr Zoe Williams recommends that she try belly dancing – an exercise known by the Bedouin Arabs to ease labour and strengthen pelvic floor muscles. And, now into his fifties, Hugh is increasingly worried that he’s starting losing his mental sharpness. So Zoe recommends something known to improve memory and neuroplasticity - knitting. Hugh’s goal at the end of the eight-week experiment is to be able to stitch something for Steph’s baby.

4 months left to watch

58 minutes

Last on

Tue 7 Nov 2023 14:45
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Two Wales & Wales HD only

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Clip

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:02

    Whyte Horses

    Empty Words

  • 00:10

    Nick Drake

    Cello Song

  • 00:12

    Bill Withers

    Lovely Day

  • 00:13

    The Who

    Baba O'Riley

  • 00:14

    Whyte Horses

    La Couleur Originelle

  • 00:22

    The Specials

    A Message To You, Rudy (feat. Rico Rodriguez)

  • 00:25

    Lily Allen

    Our Time

  • 00:27

    Years & Years

    If You're Over Me

  • 00:37

    Laurel

    Adored (Explicit)

  • 00:38

    Husky Rescue

    The Good Man

  • 00:43

    April Towers

    Holding Tight

  • 00:44

    Andy Williams

    Memories

  • 00:48

    Andy Williams

    Memories

  • 00:54

    John Barry

    Midnight Cowboy

  • 00:58

    Billie Holiday With Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra, Billie Holiday, Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra

    When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You) (Take 4)

Credits

Presenter Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
Presenter Steph McGovern
Presenter Zoe Williams
Executive Producer Kari Lia
Producer Zaynab Lulet
Director Nick Angel
Production Manager Louise Vitois
Production Company KEO Films Ltd

Broadcasts

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Eight simple things you can do to live better

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