Catch the latest episode of The House of Wellness with Chemist Warehouse on the Breeze where Mike sits down with creator ED&I and social media personality Edna Swart, researcher and Professor of Public Health Grant Schofield, employment relations practitioner Max Whitehead and resident pharmacist Piyara Perera. 

Featured Guest: Edna Swart

Social media personality and creator of ED&I, Edna Swart, shared how resilience and discipline has shaped her journey and built her brand.

Since becoming a mum, Edna says she feels more comfortable talking about her past as she’s now had time to “process it” and “become content with it”. 

“I was adopted, moved to New Zealand and had a very up and down colourful life with my family,” she explained. 

“My mum passed away at a young age [and] I didn’t have a great relationship with my father, I was couch surfing from the age of 16 and never home again.”

“So there’s always this inner fire within me that I always just had to survive.”

Edna said those survival instincts fuelled her persistence through a decade of building her company without investment. 

She also spoke about the importance of setting firm social media boundaries, especially as a parent, as a way to protect wellbeing not just for herself, but for others too.

Featured Guest: Grant Schofield 

Researcher and Professor of Public Health at Auckland University of Technology, Grant Schofield, believes that our relationship with food is driving chronic diseases such as diabetes and dementia. 

He argues that our supermarkets are dominated by “ultra-processed” products that “don’t resemble food”. 

“They clearly weren’t recently alive in nature,” he said. 

“And those [foods] have been pretty convincingly shown out to be bad for us.”

Grant urges people to get organised and shop with a plan, keeping only whole foods at home and prioritising protein, vegetables and natural fats. 

Featured Guest: Max Whitehead

Employments relations expert Max Whitehead popped in to discuss how New Zealanders are navigating leave, wellbeing and shifting workplace expectations. 

He noted that while the Holidays Act is outdated and still allows employers to decline leave or enforce shutdown periods, attitudes around work-life balance have transformed dramatically - particularly since COVID.

Where once ‘harden up’ was the norm, modern workplaces are more attuned to rest, mental health and the importance of genuine downtime. 

Max emphasises that taking leave is crucial for long-term health, cautioning against stockpiling holidays and urging those who need it to prioritise rest.

Resident Pharmacist: Piyara Perera 

This week Piyara joined Mike to explain the basics of metabolism and why it varies so widely between people.

Metabolism is our body’s constant process of converting food into energy and genetics, muscle mass, hormones and daily exercise all play a part in it. As we age, declining muscle and hormonal shifts can naturally slow things down, making weight maintenance tougher. 

Piyara also unpacked cortisol, noting that while the stress hormone is essential for waking and steady energy, chronically high levels can trigger fat storage because the body responds to everyday stress as if it were actual danger.  

Check out our extended chat with Edna Swart here and join us next Sunday from 8am for The House of Wellness on the Breeze.