INTERVIEW:Patrick Holford claims his 'optimum nutrition' methods - and supplements - are the key element missing from medical approaches to physical and mental illness, writes Sylvia Thompson
PATRICK HOLFORD sits busily checking out a new software programme on his laptop just before our 9am interview in a smart Dublin hotel. Usually up about three hours at this stage, he is immediately pleasant and engaging, ready to promote his 29th book on how "optimum nutrition" is the solution to many of our modern-day illnesses.
"I think people are motivated to follow my advice because I explain the logic of it and I embody it," says Holford who had audiences of 300 people the previous day at seminars held as part of the Rude Health show in Dublin's RDS.
Now 50, Holford has been a vegetarian for 30 years. He regularly tells his audiences how he eats about six eggs a week ("Don't let anyone tell you eggs are bad for cholesterol," he says), takes three daily supplements (multivitamin, essential fatty acids and Vitamin C) and carries fruit and nuts with him as snack foods.
Allergic to dairy products since childhood, he is also adamant that they - particularly milk - are overrated as healthy foods. "Cows' milk is the most allergenic food there is and the incidence of breast and prostate cancer is 100 to 1,000 times lower in non-dairy-eating consumers," he explains.
A psychologist by training, Patrick Holford founded the London-based Institute for Optimum Nutrition (ION) in 1984 and the Brain-Bio Centre at the ION in 2003. His approach to nutrition is backed up by research studies on specific micronutrients for everything from heart disease and diabetes to Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. And he advises people with such physical and mental illnesses to include anything from cinnamon to goji berries in their diets - usually in supplement form. Holford has his own brand of supplements which he also promotes at his seminars.
So, are people eating more healthily now than when he first started spreading his nutritional messages almost 30 years ago? "Society has split into two directions. There is a section of society who are eating better and who are more concerned about healthy eating, but there is another section - usually in the lower socio-economic group - who are way off track. There are many more sugary foods out there now than 30 years ago," he says.
So, would it be of more value to spread basic nutritional messages on how we need to source, cook and eat good quality staple foods rather than fill our bodies with food supplements? "Yes, it would be lovely for people to grow their own vegetables and prepare food slowly, but I can't see that happening," he says. "I think a health-food message also needs to be convenient for it to reach people," he says.
In fairness, Holford does provide simple rules on how to eat healthily (see panel) and acknowledges that nutrition is only part of the picture. But he firmly believes that nutrition is the key element left out of medical approaches to physical and mental illnesses. And he also believes that the conventional understanding of the role of nutrition in both prevention and cure is outdated.
"The conventional understanding of nutrition is that you need sugar for energy, and protein to build muscle, and you don't need fat. But the Optimum Nutrition approach views our bodies as a biological system, or biochemical matrix if you like, which needs far higher amounts of specific nutrients to bring the system back into balance than it needs to maintain it," he says.
In a nutshell, Holford's approach is that food is medicine. And he is a regular critic of medicines used to treat conditions that could be solved by better nutrition. For this, he is often under fire from the medical establishment.
A clever salesman, he has his finger on the pulse of health issues. "Whatever the major health problems affecting society are, I'll write about them," he says.
So, for example, when GI (Glycaemic Index) diets became popular a few years ago, Holford came up with the term "glycaemic load", which he believes is a more accurate way of ensuring you eat the carbohydrate foods that release energy slowly.
In his public talks, he reports numerous success stories on how clients reverse diabetes or combat food allergies by following the Optimum Nutrition approach. Central to this approach is the use of high-dose vitamins. "People don't take nutrition seriously until they realise what a potent effect it has. And they expect to feel radically different in a short period, which is why we give them something that will show results in 10 days," he says.
Unsurprisingly, Holford opposes the EU Food Supplements Directive, which is likely to ban the availability of non-prescription high-dose vitamins and minerals. "Well done on the [ Lisbon Treaty] vote," he shouted to his audience at the Rude Health show.
Bottle of water at his side, Holford explains how his schedule often sees him work six-day weeks and up to 16 consecutive days. His average day begins at about 5.30am with 15 minutes of exercise, followed by two to three hours' writing. Following breakfast at about 8.30am, he goes to his private office, situated next to his home in the London suburb of Putney where he grew up.
"I usually give about four lectures a week and these are often at weekends," he explains. Then, every new book that is published (of which there is about one a year) involves a two-month tour. "My wife Gabrielle comes with me and manages these tours," he adds. "I'm a workaholic," he admits.
So what does he do to prevent stress accumulating? "I have a massage every month and I see an osteopath once a year. Occasionally, when I'm really burnt out, I have acupuncture," he says. After a gruelling book tour, he heads for a health farm. "Usually, I'll take one to two weeks' holidays in which I completely switch off and leave phones and computers at home," he says.
His next tour will promote his latest book on a nutritional approach to addictions. How to Quit Without Feeling S**t is co-authored by addiction specialists Dr David Miller and Dr James Braly. The book focuses on rebuilding the body with a strong nutritional programme which will combat cravings for everything from caffeine, sugar, nicotine, alcohol, cannabis, cocaine and even heroin.
"I love immersing myself in a new area," explains Holford, who worked in addiction treatment centres as a young man. "I have this approach which I call my LES cycle - that is to learn, experience and share," he says. The book tour will fulfil the S in the cycle. It will also no doubt fund Holford's trip to climb Mount Kenya in November. And will his wife join him on this trip? "She'll meet me on the beach afterwards," he says with a smile.
• Patrick Holford will give a seminar on his new book, How to Quit Without Feeling S**tin Dublin on October 3rd. www.how2quit.co.uk
HOLFORD'S HINTS FOR HEALTHY LIVING
Graze rather than gorge This means eating breakfast followed by a healthy mid-morning snack, lunch followed by another healthy mid-afternoon snack and dinner at least two hours before you go to bed.
Eat protein with carbohydrates Protein foods are most filling but carbohydrate foods give us energy, so choosing slow-releasing carbohydrate foods (wholegrain breads, pastas, rice, etc) together with a protein food (fish, eggs, beans, nuts, etc) gives a full feeling, stabilises blood sugar levels thereby preventing those dreaded sugar cravings.
Fill your plate with one-third protein food (eggs, fish, pulses and meat - although Patrick Holford never seems to mention meat), one-third carbohydrate food (that includes potatoes) and one-third vegetables.
Exercise daily Holford does 15 minutes of psychocalisthenics (an aerobic-style yoga) every day at 5.30am. Many of his workshops include lessons in these energising exercises.
Take supplements You'll just have to read the books to find out which ones you need. Holford claims to take daily multivitamins, essential fats and vitamin C.