Patrick Holford: Simple Wisdom for a Healthy Life

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.   Visit my website www.patrickholford.com and sign up to my E-News to stay informed.   

My guest today is sleep expert Dr Greg Potter. He is a recent addition to Food for the Brain’s scientific advisory board and helps individuals and organisations sustainably improve their health and performance. He’s an expert in sleep, circadian rhythms, nutrition, and metabolism and in this podcast we are going to find out what sleep is all about and how to optimise your sleep for better health for both mind and body. Greg is a Sleep Coach at the London Psychiatry Clinic. Read more on Sleep my website.

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.” 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.

If you keep meaning to change your food or drink habits but fail, you might be stuck in an ‘addiction’ trap. My guest in this podcast is clinical psychologist Dr Jen Unwin, an expert in food addiction, campaigning to get it recognised in the same way that alcohol addiction is. You’ll learn the six tell-tale signs that you’re getting hooked. The ever-increasing prevalence of addiction to junk food, sugar and carbs, as well as alcohol and coffee, keeps many people trapped in a cycle of fatigue, weight gain, poor sleep and, ultimately metabolic diseases from diabetes to dementia. If you’d like to break free from all food and drink cravings or understand how addiction is a major drag factor in health transformation, and how to deal with it, listen in. See Collaborative Health Community (CHC) See Dr Jen Unwin's book The Fork in the Road: A Hopeful Guide to Food Freedom Visit my weight-loss topic and addiction topic on my website. For more on addiction see my book - How to Quit Without Feeling S**t.

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.