Optimum Nutrition
The Institute for Optimum Nutrition 36 episodes Oct 15, 2026
The Optimum Nutrition podcast is a weekly interview series from the Institute for Optimum Nutrition (ION), a UK-based nutritional therapy training provider. Hosts speak with expert guests about nutrition, food and health journeys, and common myths and misconceptions. Each episode explores how a healthy diet can look different for everyone and what food means personally. It aims to show how powerful food can be for health and happiness.
Episodes
Fortified isn’t the fix: Dr Rob Verkerk on real food and smarter supplements
In 2002, Rob Verkerk was seven years into postdoctoral research at Imperial College when EU legislation threatened to restrict natural forms of vitamins and minerals. He took a sabbatical to fight it, turned down tenure, and founded the Alliance for Natural Health. More than two decades on, he’s still making the case for “good science and good law”.In this episode, Verónica Muñoz sits down with Ro
Alzheimer's, can you prevent it? With Patrick Holford
Is Alzheimer's really written into our genes, or is it largely down to how we live and eat? In the first episode of this new season, journalist Verónica Muñoz Martínez sits down with Patrick Holford, founder of the Institute for Optimum Nutrition (ION) and best-selling author, to explore how Alzheimer's can be prevented through nutrition. With over 40 years of experience in nutritional t
"It lit a fire" - Dominique Ludwig on her nutritional therapy journey and new book No-Nonsense Nutrition
Nutritional therapist Dominique Ludwig joins host Natalie Li to share the simple, no‑nonsense habits that have transformed the health of thousands of clients. She explains why ditching ultra‑processed foods, eating three proper meals a day and prioritising protein and fibre can rapidly boost energy, mood and satiety. Dominique reflects on 30 years in the field, how nutrition science has evolved, a
Dr Victoria Sampson exposes the mouth's hidden health truths
Functional dentist Dr Victoria Sampson joins host Natalie Li to explore why the mouth is one of the most powerful – and overlooked – indicators of whole‑body health. From the oral microbiome to menopause, and even dental care for astronauts, Sampson breaks down how what happens in the mouth reflects what’s happening everywhere else.Discover why saliva is a diagnostic goldmineLearn how bleeding gum
How bestselling author Emily Johnson reclaimed her health
We speak with Emily Johnson, a bestselling author, founder of Live Well with Arthritis, and creator of Arthritis Foodie, about growing up with autoimmune arthritis, the years of confusion before diagnosis, and how a science-informed anti-inflammatory lifestyle helped her find steadier ground alongside medication. Now studying a part-time BSc degree in Nutritional Therapy with the Institute of Opti
Why immunity drives longevity with Dr Jenna Macciochi
In this episode we sit down with Dr Jenna Macciochi, leading immunologist and author of Immune to Age, to explore the powerful connection between immunity and aging. Macchiochi has spent 20 years studying the immune system.From infectious disease to autoimmunity, lifespan vs. healthspan, and the science of inflammageing, Jenna explains how your immune system is your lifelong health ally. We discus
The power of medicinal mushrooms with Tom Baxter
In this episode of the Optimum Nutrition podcast, host Natalie Li speaks with Tom Baxter, farmer and founder of the Bristol Fungarium, which produces the UK's first organic certified medicinal mushrooms.Tom explores the journey of mushroom farming, the health benefits of various mushrooms like Reishi and Lion's Mane, and the science behind their medicinal properties. Tom shares insights
What's really in your food? Dan Kittredge on nutrient density
In this episode, Dan Kittredge – founder of the Bionutrient Food Association and the Bionutrient Institute – takes us on a journey from his roots on an organic farm to leading a global movement for better food. He breaks down the concept of nutrient density, why soil health matters more than ever, and how citizen science is empowering everyday consumers to demand higher-quality food. Dan shares si
“I was told it was like being chased by a tiger all day” – TV presenter Julia Bradbury on health hacks and happiness
We're back for season four!Julia Bradbury is a renowned British television presenter, journalist and environmental advocate, best known for her work on nature documentaries like Countryfile and Britain’s Best Walks. In this enlightening and inspiring conversation, she shares her health journey with Natalie Li, Communications Officer at ION. She discusses the importance of nutrition, stress ma
Revolutionising kids' food with Hannah Dolan
Hannah Dolan is a dynamic food innovator with a passion for creating nutritious, trend-setting meals. As Head of Food at Nursery Kitchen, she’s revolutionising children's nutrition, ensuring young minds grow with wholesome, delicious food. Previously, at Potage, she streamlined operations and elevated product quality, driving higher customer satisfaction.Her six-year tenure at Pret A Manger s
Transforming lives through nutrition with Kate Cook
In our latest episode we chat to Kate Cook, a trailblazer in health and nutrition, with over 20 years of expertise transforming lives and workplaces. As a nutrition and wellness expert, author and keynote speaker, Kate has worked with more than 7,000 clients, including corporate giants like JP Morgan and Pret a Manger, to create healthier, happier teams.Her journey began in her late twenties, leav
Fuel your run by eating smart with Janie Perry
Welcome to our latest episode where we dive into the world of marathon running and sports nutrition with nutritional therapist Janie Perry. From solicitor to a 20-time marathon runner, Janie transformed her career and life, now dedicating herself to offering holistic and sustainable solutions for weight management and sports nutrition. Janie shares her journey and her mission to help women achieve
Obesity and living your best life with Dr Natascha Van Zyl
In this latest episode we delve into the world of obesity with our guest, Dr Natascha (Tasch) Van Zyl, who has dedicated her career to helping individuals living with obesity achieve their best lives. According to Tasch, it’s not just about losing weight or fitting into a smaller frame, but about maximising health outcomes through sustainable lifestyle changes. With a focus on compassion, care, an
Autoimmunity and autoimmune conditions with VJ Hamilton
In the second episode of our third series ION graduate VJ Hamilton, aka The Autoimmunity Nutritionist, discusses her career shift from chartered accountant to nutritional therapy. She reflects on her journey of self-discovery and how she turned to nutrition after suffering with chronic fatigue and alopecia. VJ has lived symptom free for more than eight years. VJ Hamilton is a Registered Nutrition
Empowering your kids to eat healthier with Catherine Jeans
Catherine Jeans is an experienced nutritional therapist, and founder of The Family Nutrition Expert, based in Norwich. Jeans graduated from the Institute for Optimum Nutrition and has since lectured for ION and runs her own private practice which has helped over 2,000 clients from around the world.Through her online nutrition courses, private coaching programmes, and live workshops her aim is to e
Functional Eating and Beautiful Food with Catherine Sharman
Catherine Sharman is a nutritional therapist and founder of Après, formerly a hit London restaurant and now a healthy ready-meal company. In this episode, Catherine explains how she uses the principles of functional eating – a concept instilled in her while studying at ION – in her food, making little changes to food she loves in order to better support health. Joined by host Hatty Willmoth, a jou
Nutrition for Children with Dr Kirstie Lawton
Dr Kirstie Lawton is a nutritional therapy practitioner and ION lecturer who specialises in paediatric nutrition, i.e. nutrition for children. In this episode of the Optimum Nutrition podcast, Kirstie addresses common questions and misconceptions about how best to support a child’s health with nutrition, particularly focusing on how to help them develop a healthy relationship with food that will s
Learning to Love Your Menstrual Cycle with Giulietta Durante
Giulietta Durante is a menstrual cycle nutritionist, registered nutritional therapy practitioner, and podcaster who lives and breathes her specialist subject: the menstrual cycle. In this episode, Giulietta explores why she feels it’s so empowering to embrace every phase of the menstrual cycle, with all the challenges and opportunities each brings. Joined by host Hatty Willmoth, a journalist and c
Healthy Fats and the Omega Ratio with Layla Gordon
Layla Gordon is a nutritional therapy practitioner based in Poole, Dorset, who graduated from ION back in 2021. In this episode of the Optimum Nutrition podcast, Layla explains healthy fats in conversation with host Hatty Willmoth, a journalist and communications officer. Together they explore the different types of fats and how they interact with every cell in the body. Starting with the basics,
Exploring Chronic Fatigue Syndrome with Amy Pamment
Amy Pamment is a nutritional therapy practitioner and ION lecturer who specialises in chronic fatigue syndrome, children’s health and neurodiversity. In this episode of the recently relaunched Optimum Nutrition podcast, Amy discusses her own experience with chronic fatigue syndrome, and the steps she took to get well, as well as CFS more generally. Hosted by journalist and communications officer H
Understanding Carbohydrates with Sam Feltham
Sam Feltham is the founder and director of the Public Health Collaboration (PHC), a charity dedicated to improving public health and saving the NHS money through better lifestyle information. The PHC largely focuses on tackling the UK’s diabetes crisis by promoting ‘real food, low carb’ lifestyles. In this episode of the recently relaunched Optimum Nutrition podcast, Sam Feltham discusses carbohyd
Nutrition for Fertility with Katie Shore
Katie Shore is a nutritional therapy practitioner and ION lecturer who specialises in fertility, pregnancy, and women’s reproductive health. In this episode of the recently relaunched Optimum Nutrition podcast, Katie focuses on fertility. She busts myths and addresses misconceptions about why it might be more difficult for some people to get pregnant, joined by host Hatty Willmoth, a journalist an
Optimise Your Lunches with the Lunchbox Doctor, Jenny Tschiesche
Jenny Tschiesche is perhaps best known for her bestselling air-fryer cookbooks, but before that she was known primarily as a lunch guru - which is why she's called the Lunchbox Doctor. In the first episode of a brand new series of the Optimum Nutrition podcast, journalist Hatty Willmoth talks to Jenny about lunches. Do we undervalue lunch in Britain? Should we learn to give the midday meal a
The Importance of Nutrition and Diet in ADHD with Dr Alex Richardson
Dr Alex Richardson discusses the role of nutrition and diet in ADHD; from conception through to adulthood. As well as unpacking what we mean by the label ‘ADHD’, she explains why the condition often overlaps with other neurological conditions. She also discusses her research into omega-3 fats and brain development, as well as other nutrients that may help to manage symptoms of ADHD, and foods that
An Integrative Approach to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome & ME with Kirsty Cullen
Registered nutritional therapist Kirsty Cullen discusses the personal connection that inspired her to specialise in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)/ME. She discusses research that may have led to some of the stigma around CFS, as well as potential triggers of the condition, and the similarities and differences between CFS and long Covid. She also talks about The Optimum Health Clinic’s integrative
Supporting A Happy Menopause with Jackie Lynch
Registered nutritional therapist and author Jackie Lynch joins The Optimum Nutrition Podcast to dispel the stigma surrounding menopause, and discusses how nutrition and lifestyle can help to manage symptoms. She explains how a women’s hormones begin to change when she enters midlife, and why this can lead to specific symptoms such as hot flushes, mood swings and joint pain. Jackie also provides lo
Understanding and Embracing Your Menstrual Cycle with Le’Nise Brothers
Registered nutritionist and women’s health specialist Le’Nise Brothers joins The Optimum Nutrition Podcast to dispel some of the common myths around periods, including whether people should experience pain and cramping, and exactly what a 'normal' period looks like. She also discusses the four stages of the menstrual cycle, and how nutrition and lifestyle can be used to harness the benef
Overcoming Food And Sugar Addiction with David Wolfe
Registered dietician and certified food addiction counsellor David Wolfe joins The Optimum Nutrition Podcast to discuss how to overcome a food addiction, including how to recognise the signs and symptoms of addiction and whether abstinence is the best recovery path. He also discusses whether there’s a place for sweeteners when recovering from a sugar addiction, why he believes community is an impo
Nutrition Before, During And After Pregnancy with Katie Shore
Registered nutritional therapist and former barrister Katie Shore discusses the positive impact that nutrition and lifestyle interventions can make before, during and after pregnancy; from helping couples to conceive, to supporting mothers through their fourth trimester.She also debunks some common myths around fertility. Is your fertility determined by the eggs you were born with? Does your ferti
An Ancestral Approach to Wellbeing with Ryan Carter
Ryan Carter is a registered nutritional therapist, PT, health coach, breathwork coach and the founder of Live Vitae. In today’s episode, he discusses his ancestral approach to wellbeing; from nose to tail eating to ‘downloading’ in nature. Ryan also shares how he approaches nutrition with an influence, having gained a following of over 450,000 on Instagram.Views expressed by guests are not those o
How Nutrition Can Impact Your Mental Health with Olga Preston
A graduate of the Institute for Optimum Nutrition, Olga Preston has over 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry. She developed an interest in mental health after the effect that good nutrition had on family and friends affected by mental health conditions. She now focuses on using her passion for nutrition to support people with their mental wellbeing at ION’s Brain Bio Centre. In this
An Integrative Approach to Cancer Care with Dawn Waldron
Dawn Waldron is a registered nutritional therapist and life coach who has been specialising in breast cancer for almost two decades. A twenty-three-year survivor of breast cancer herself, today’s discussion focuses on integrated care and how nutritional therapy can work alongside other healthcare disciplines to provide a powerful approach to those going through breast cancer treatment and beyond.
Diversity And Inclusion In Nutritional Therapy with Ojarikre Udu
Ojarikre Udu has been a practising nutritional therapist for over 10 years, having given up a career in finance to retrain at the age of 40. Today's episode focuses on diversity and inclusion within nutritional therapy, particularly in terms of why men are less likely to seek out nutritional support. OJ also discusses barriers to good nutrition for those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds,
LGBTQ+ Health And Nutrition with Daniel O'Shaughnessy
Daniel O’Shaughnessy is a Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner with over 10 years of clinical experience. In this episode, he discusses the “lightbulb moment” that led him to specialise in LGBTQ+ health and nutrition and why this community can have specific dietary and health needs; from IVF and fertility support to steroid use, and from nutritional support for HIV diagnosis to transitioning
Building Positive Relationships With Food with Nicola Moore
Nutritional therapist and former Head of Clinics at the Institute for Optimum Nutrition, Nicola Moore discusses how we can cut through the conflicting messages around what and how we should eat, and build healthy and positive relationships with food.For more information about nutritional therapy, including ION's magazine, courses and clinic, visit ion.ac.ukIf you enjoyed this episode, follow
Trailer
The Optimum Nutrition Podcast is a weekly interview series brought to you by the Institute for Optimum Nutrition (ION) - one of Europe’s longest established nutritional therapy training providers. Join us for lively conversations with guests from the world of nutrition. We’ll be delving into their health journeys and touching on some common health conditions, with the aim of inspiring you to be yo
