Patrick Holford: Simple Wisdom for a Healthy Life

My guest is Dr Tommy Wood, who is Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Paediatrics at the University of Washington. He also heads research at the Food for the Brain Foundation and brain trains professional athletes including Olympians and Formula 1 racing drivers. With a Bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Cambridge, a medical degree from the University of Oxford, and a PhD in Physiology and Neuroscience from the University of Oslo, he has approached how to optimise and recover your brain - from all sides. He is also co-founder of the British Society for Lifestyle Medicine. Here we talk about his new book 'The Stimulated Mind' - just out - and how to future proof your brain. For more on brain health, visit my website and read my books Upgrade Your Brain and Alzheimer's Prevention is the Cure.

Happy New Year! As we head into 2026, what actually matters when it comes to protecting your health - and what’s just noise? In this month’s podcast, I share my top health predictions for the year ahead and the habits truly worth adding to your New Year Resolutions. We go behind the headlines to unpack health politics, misinformation, and some uncomfortable truths - from vaccines and new Alzheimer’s drugs to how nutritional medicine is really moving forward. In this episode, you’ll discover: The five most important actions you can take to reduce your risk of cancer Why vitamin C, when used correctly, may be more effective than a flu vaccine The latest breakthroughs in antioxidants and anti-ageing science—including one powerful antioxidant you may not have heard of If your goal this year is clarity, resilience, and long-term health - not fads or fear- this episode will give you a strong head start. Wishing you a happy, healthy, and well-informed New Year. Do listen in. Visit my website www.patrickholford.com and sign up to my E-News to stay informed.

My next guest is neurobiologist Professor Jonathan Stone, a leading light in biological science in Australia, who served as Secretary in the biological sciences in the Australian Academy of Science for several years and is recipient of numerous science awards. In his research papers, over 200 in all, he asks important questions. For example, why are we designed to produce the toxic amyloid protein found in the brains of those with dementia? In this conversation we are going to dig deeply into the ways the brain, our neural network, protects itself from damage and in so doing understand how to protect our brains from disease. This biological detective work also reveals the kind of diet and food components that protect us and why. This enlightening podcast is for anyone with a brain and a heart, as Professor Stone tackles that key area of blood and hence nutrient supply to the brain. As Hippocrates said “What is good for the heart is good for the mind.” Do listen in. Visit my website for more on brain health or see my books Upgrade Your Brain and Alzheimer's: Prevention is the Cure. Do take the Food for the Brain Cognitive Function Test.

Artificial intelligence is going to have a bigger impact than the ‘digital revolution’ that gave us computers and smartphones. As conventional healthcare crumbles, and disease, especially mental and neurological disorders, accelerate as a direct consequence of big pharma and big food influence, will AI have the ability to change the paradigm for better or worse? Former GP Dr David Jehring, digital expert and founder of Blackpear, whose software is used extensively within the NHS, is a pioneer in the use of AI for personalised health transformation. How can AI help us and what does the near and far future look like in an AI-centric world? Things are going to change very fast. Now is the time to think forward. Do listen in.

My guest today, is neurologist Dr Dale Bredesen, an expert in the mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases and author of the book ‘The End of Alzheimer’s’, which created quite a stir when it came out. Now, his latest book ‘The Ageless Brain’, takes the conversation further. I’ve read his book and he’s read my latest, ‘Alzheimer’s: Prevention is the Cure’, so we have a rich conversation comparing approaches and new frontiers. He is director of the Precision Brain Health Programme at the Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Los Angeles. Do listen in. Find out more about brain health on my website - www.patrickholford.com

To what extent is a child’s mental health set in pregnancy? What can women do in pregnancy to ensure optimal mental health for their child? Also, what happens to women’s brains and mental health when their nutrition is sub-optimal in pregnancy? How can we help children and teenagers to achieve their full potential for mental health? In this podcast, I'm speaking to Julia Rucklidge, Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychology and the Director of the Mental Health and Nutrition Research Group at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Do listen in. Learn more on my website - nutrition for Children's Health and Pregnancy as well as my books Optimum Nutrition for your Child and Optimum Nutrition Before, During and After Pregnancy.

Dr Christopher Palmer is a Harvard psychiatrist and researcher working at the interface of metabolism and mental health. He is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the Founder and Director of the Metabolic and Mental Health Program and Director of the Department of Postgraduate and Continuing Education, both at Harvard and at the McLean Hospital. He is author of the best-selling book, Brain Energy, in which he argues that mental disorders are metabolic disorders impacting the brain, and is leading the way to a paradigm shift in psychiatry towards new ways of understanding and treating mental health. Do listen in. Go to my website for more information on nutrition and mental health as well as the ketogenic diet. See also my book Upgrade Your Brain. Sign up to my E-News at www.patrickholford.com to receive news updates.

I’m talking to Steve Bennett, author of The Fibre First Diet, a book which proposes that simply re-ordering the foods you eat can trim your waistline and prevent diseases. We get under the hood of what’s really going on and how to gain control of your weight and health without feeling deprived. We will explore insulin resistance and how to reverse it, what really drives hunger, quick solutions to cut your cravings and why not all fibres are created equal. Also, the Japanese fibre that doctors prescribe to help reverse diabetes. Do listen in. Find out about his book The Fibre First Diet. Find out more on weight-loss and blood sugar balance on my website.

In this podcast, I bring the three top scientists who know more about fats and the brain than any others - Professor Michael Crawford, visiting Professor at Imperial College London and head of the Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition, Professor William Harris from the Fatty Acid Research Institute (FARI) and neuroscientist Dr Simon Dyall, a director of of the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids - to get inside our brains. I’m most interested in the point of disagreement, the contradictions, the evidence that doesn’t fit the model. So often, by stirring things up we learn something new. Is it all about omega DHA? So why is evidence for EPA sometimes working even better for mental health? What about phospholipids? Is it all about choline, which is just one of five phospholipids. Where does vitamin D, a fat based hormone fit in? These are some of the topics we explore. Do listen in. Find out more about the Upgrade Your Brain campaign on my website.

Ask the man in the street what’s driving Alzheimer’s and they’ll probably say a third is in the genes. Or that it’s just what happens when you age. Neither of these statements are true. Alzheimer’s is a largely preventable disease and my guests today are tackling the two fundamental questions. Firstly, what are the positive and negative behaviours – diet, lifestyle, environment – that prevent and drive dementia? And secondly, how do you change those behaviours. In today’s podcast I talk with Assistant Professor Tommy Wood, from the University of Washington about the what, then Dr Kristina Curtis, a behavioural scientist and honorary lecturer at the University College London who heads the Applied Behaviour Change team, about the how of behaviour change. Do listen in. Go to my website for more information on nutrition and mental health See also my book Optimum Nutrition for the Mind. In April I'll be publishing my new book Upgrade Your Brain - sign up to my E-News at www.patrickholford.com to receive news updates and book availability.

My guest today is Uma Naiidoo who founded and directed the first and only hospital-based program in Nutritional, Lifestyle and Metabolic Psychiatry and is Director of Nutritional and Psychiatry Service at Massachusetts General Hospital and serves on the faculty of Harvard Medical school. Her books Your Brain on Food and The Food Mood Connection are bestsellers in the US. Here we focus on anxiety and her new book How to Calm Your Mind with Food - out yesterday. Do listen in. For more on nutrition and anxiety see the Anxiety topic on my website. Also see my book The Stress Cure.

For a change, in this month’s podcast I’m interviewed by Philly J Lay, a long-standing advocate for our health and that of our planet. She is passionate in her belief that everything is connected and that when we learn to heal ourselves, we will start to heal this beautiful planet. After a near death experience and years of grief, resulting in a range of chronic illnesses, she discovered personalised natural medicine and the associated miracles of the body and power of the mind, which she wrote about in her first book, The Natural Wellness Journal. In this podcast she interviews me about my health journey and why I’m passionate about the power of optimum nutrition on mental health. We'll be covering: Understanding Alzheimer's Disease: Explore the basics of Alzheimer's disease, including its symptoms and prevalence. The Impact of Nutrition: Discover how nutrition plays a pivotal role in brain health and the prevention of Alzheimer's. Brain-Boosting Foods: Insights into specific foods and nutrients that can support cognitive function and reduce the risk of Alzheimer's. Nutrition and Lifestyle: Learn about the holistic approach to Alzheimer's prevention, including the role of lifestyle factors such as exercise and stress management. The Importance of Early Intervention: Understand the significance of early dietary interventions in promoting brain health throughout life. Visit my website to learn more about optimum nutrition and mental health. Or see my books The Optimum Nutrition Bible, Optimum Nutrition for the Mind and The Alzheimer's Prevention Plan.

Why does your brain fuel on either glucose or ketones, derived from fat? Why do the brains of babies need ketones for rapid building on their neural network? Can eating fats, such as C8, help prevent or reverse brain ageing? Do you have to go ketogenic to get the benefit? How can a ketogenic diet or supplements help mental health and mental illness? To answer these and other questions and explore the whole role ketones and fat play in your brain health, my podcast guest this month is the leading world expert, Professor Stephen Cunnane, who heads the Brain Research Team at Sherbrooke University in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Professor Stephen Cunnane holds the clinical research chair in ketotherapeutics. His research is focused on how ketogenic interventions (supplements, diets) can help prevent Alzheimer’s, slow down cognitive decline and deliver more ‘brain power’. We will also be talking about the latest research showing how ketogenic diets can help Parkinson’s, epilepsy and other mental and neurological conditions including their effects on mood and anxiety. Find out more about Ketogenic dieting and mind health on my website.