About Patrick Holford

Patrick Holford is a pioneer in new approaches to health and nutrition, specialising in the field of mental health. He is widely regarded as Britain’s best-selling author and leading spokesman on nutrition and mental health issues, hence being frequently quoted in national newspapers from the Daily Mail to the Guardian. Patrick is also popular on radio shows and national television as a presenter, interviewer and guest.

He started his academic career in the field of psychology. While completing his bachelor degree in Experimental Psychology at the University of York he researched the role of nutrition in mental health and illness. He became a student of the late Dr Carl Pfeiffer, director of Princeton’s Brain Bio Center, and later a student of Dr Abram Hoffer, Director of the International Schizophrenia Foundation in Canada, who were leading the field in mental health and nutrition. In 1980 he started treating mental health patients with nutritional medicine.

In 1984 Patrick founded the Institute for Optimum Nutrition (ION), a charitable and independent educational trust for the furtherance of education and research in nutrition, now the largest training school in the UK offering a degree-accredited training in nutritional therapy and widely respected as a leading edge organisation by professionals and media alike. He formed a relationship with the late Dr Linus Pauling, who became the Patron of the Institute for Optimum Nutrition.

In 1986 he started researching the effects of nutrition on intelligence, collaborating with Gwillym Roberts, a headmaster and student at ION. This culminated in a randomised controlled trial testing the effects of improved nutrition on children's IQ - an experiment that was the subject of Horizon documentary and published in the Lancet in 1988. This study was the first of its kind in the world and considerably raised awareness of the role of nutrition in intelligence.

During his years as director of ION Patrick ran many educational campaigns that raised awareness of the importance of zinc and pyrolluyria, disglycaemia, antioxidants, methylation and homocysteine, IgG food allergies, essential fats in mental health – factors still greatly underestimated in the treatment of mental illness. Patrick retired as Director of ION in 1997 to focus on writing, teaching and researching.

Patrick was awarded an honorary Diploma from ION and is also an Honorary Fellow of BANT. (The British Association of Nutritional Therapists). In 2003 he founded the Brain Bio Centre at ION, a treatment centre pioneering the optimum nutrition approach for mental health, to formalise the treatment of mental health with nutrition and to act as a research centre.

Together with Professor André Tylee, professor of primary care mental health at the Institute of Psychiatry, he formed the special interest group in mental health and nutrition, now operating as the charitable Food for the Brain Foundation. The Brain Bio Centre is owned by the Food for the Brain Foundation. Professor André Tylee has since retired from his involvement with the Food for the Brain Foundation and the Brain Bio Centre.

In 2007 he was conferred a Visiting Professorship in the School of Social Sciences and Law at the University of Teesside.

Patrick lectures and conducts workshops throughout the world on a wide range of topics, to the public and health professionals and the medical profession. In the UK he presents around 50 workshops and lectures a year. His knowledge, personality and enthusiasm, together with his strong scientific approach helps him to stimulate lively debates, simplifying complex issues and helping the public and professionals expand their understanding of health issues. Patrick is frequently involved in government campaigns and debates concerning optimum nutrition.

Find out what the media, scientists, and the public say about his work.

Publications:
Since 1997 Patrick has written 29 books selling more than a million copies worldwide. His books are available in 30 countries of the world and are in 15 different languages, from Arabic to Chinese:

 
The Optimum Nutrition Bible
Optimum Nutrition for the Mind
The 30 Day Fatburner Diet
The Holford Low GL Diet
The Holford Low GL Diet Made Easy
Natural Highs
Natural Energy Highs
Natural Chill Highs
100% Health
Say No to Cancer
Say No to Arthritis
Say No to Heart Disease
Beat Stress & Fatigue
Supplements for Superhealth
500 Health Questions Answered
and co-authored:
Smart Food for Smart Kids
Food is Better Medicine Than Drugs
Optimum Nutrition for Your Child’s Mind
The Alzheimer’s Prevention Plan
The H Factor
Hidden Food Allergies
The Holford Low GL Diet Cookbook
Optimum Nutrition Before During and After Pregnancy
The Optimum Nutrition Cookbook
Balancing Hormones Naturally
Boost Your Immune System
Improve Your Digestion
Six Weeks to Superhealth
The 9 Day Liver Detox
 

His 100% Health newsletter is published in the UK (to receive this become a member of the 100%health club) He also writes a free e-newsletter. His newsletters are read by over 50,000 a month and his website receives over 150,000 visits a month.

Published reseach papers, survey and reports  include:

P.Holford and D Fobbester, Food for the Brain Child Survey: a survey of over 10,000 children in Britain comparing food intake with academic performance, behaviour and health, Food for the Brain Foundation, 2007
P. Holford et al, ‘The Effects of a Low Glycemic Load Diet on Weight Loss and Key Health Risk Indicators’ Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine (2006); 21( 2): 71-78
ONUK Survey, ION, 2004
P Holford. ‘Alzheimer’s and Dementia: the nutrition connection’. Primary Care Mental Health (2004); 2: 5-12
A. Chaudary; A. Porter-Blake; P. Holford. ‘Indices of Pyridoxine Levels on Symptoms Associated with Toxicity: A Retrospective Study’ Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine. (2003); 18(2); 65-76.
P. Holford, S. Heaton. ‘Vitamin B6: Extract of Submission to the UK’s Food Standards Agency’ Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine (2003); 18 (3 & 4): 161
P Holford ‘Depression:the nutrition connection’ Primary Care Mental Health(2003)1: 9-16
P. Holford ‘Food for thought – and feelings: nutrition’s role in restoring mental health’ Human Givens. Winter 2003; 9 (4)