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Prof. Grant Schofield sits down with Prof. Julia Rucklidge, clinical psychologist, University of Canterbury researcher, and one of the world's leading voices on micronutrients and mental health, for a wide-ranging conversation on three decades of research most people have never heard about. Julia walks through the origin story of it all (yes, it really did start with pig farmers in Alberta), then into the studies that built her case: ADHD trials showing improved emotional regulation, faster recovery after the Christchurch earthquakes and mosque attacks in well-nourished populations, and the landmark "NUTRIMUM" pregnancy study, where mothers taking a broad-spectrum micronutrient formula saw dramatically better birth outcomes than those on antidepressants, including a threefold difference in resuscitation rates at birth. From there the conversation turns to the part that will frustrate you: why none of this has translated into practice. Julia unpacks New Zealand's 40-year-old+ Dietary Supplement Regulations, the bizarre legal reality that a supplement is not allowed to claim it can prevent or treat disease (yes, even scurvy), and her own first-hand experience being refused a prescription for the very formula she's spent her career researching. They also cover her newly-teenager emotional dysregulation trial, the reward-system dysregulation driving the "anxious generation," and her new role on the NZ Psychologists Board. If you've ever wondered why good nutrition science doesn't reach GPs, mums, or teenagers who need it, this one's for you. How a pig-feed observation in Alberta led to a career studying micronutrients and mental healthFaster recovery from trauma (Christchurch earthquakes, Christchurch mosque attacks) in well-nourished populationsThe NUTRIMUM pregnancy trial: depression outcomes, birth outcomes, and postnatal depression rates vs. antidepressantsWhy broad-spectrum micronutrients may work better than single nutrients like vitamin D or B-vitamins aloneReducing emotional dysregulation in teenagers, without a psychiatric diagnosisNew Zealand's outdated supplement law (Dietary Supplement Regulations Act, 1985) and why a food "cannot legally prevent or treat disease"Julia's own experience being denied a prescription for daily essential nutrients by her GPThe regulatory maze around lithium-containing micronutrient formulas and Medsafe's crackdownWhat an ideal, evidence-based regulatory environment could look likeReward system dysregulation, dopamine, and the "anxious generation" in young peopleJulia's new appointment to the NZ Psychologists Board In this episode Guests & Links Prof. Julia Rucklidge, Clinical psychologist and researcher, University of Canterbury🔗 https://prekure.com/meet-the-faculty/professor-julia-rucklidge/?srsltid=AfmBOorWCSuCEW407OjLSwFlvzAGhZkB_bItn5IHAgKW4Y1IAk25NVIr Prof. Grant Schofield, Host🔗 https://profgrantschofield.com/ PREKURE🔗 https://prekure.com/ Prevention is Cure is brought to you by PREKURE. Subscribe for more conversations on nutrition, mental health, and the science of prevention.

Prof. Grant Schofield explains ketosis from first principles: what it is, why it matters, and how it differs from simply "eating low carb." We talk about insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome, which affect a significant share of adults today, the surprising wartime origins of chemotherapy. Prevention is Cure is sponsored by Prekure - a New Zealand education organisation with a bold vision: to redefine the future of medicine. Prekure's CEO, Louise Schofield, saw that people weren't getting the support they deserved, and decided to do something about it. Her answer? Train masterful health coaches who can empower people with the knowledge and tools to prevent illness - not just treat it. Feel inspired by these conversations? If you think you might have something to give, maybe you were meant to be a health coach? Learn more at prekure.com.And if you're loving the show - let us know what topics you want us to cover next. We're listening.

In this episode, Grant Schofield sits down with ocean swimmer and activist Jono Ridler, fresh off an extraordinary feat: swimming just shy of 1,400km from North Cape to Wellington in just 90 days. Jono shares what drove him to take on the swim, the physical and mental toll of months in open water, and the deeper mission behind it: raising awareness of what's happening beneath the surface of our oceans, including the impact of bottom trawling on fragile deep sea ecosystems. He talks candidly about training while working full time and raising a young daughter, navigating shark encounters, adapting to dropping water temperatures, and the injuries and setbacks along the way. Follow Jono's journey and future adventures here: https://www.instagram.com/jonoridler/ www.liveocean.org Footage of Jono's Swim 🎥 : https://www.instagram.com/jonoridler/ Prevention is Cure is sponsored by Prekure, a New Zealand education organisation with a bold vision: to redefine the future of medicine. Prekure's CEO, Louise Schofield, saw that people weren't getting the support they deserved, and decided to do something about it. Her answer? Train masterful health coaches who can empower people with the knowledge and tools to prevent illness, not just treat it. Feel inspired by these conversations? If you think you might have something to give, maybe you were meant to be a health coach? Learn more at prekure.com. And if you're loving the show, let us know what topics you want us to cover next. We're listening.

Prof Grant Schofield and Dr Louise Schofield are embarking on their annual 5-day fast, and they're sharing everything: the science, the struggles, and the practical tips that make it work. Whether you're fasting-curious or a seasoned faster, this is the honest, science-backed conversation you need before you start. Follow along on socials: Prof Grant Schofield & Dr Louise Schofield on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. PREKURE - where prevention is the cure. | www.prekure.com PREKURE trains masterful health coaches and is on a mission to redefine the future of medicine.

A Herald story revealed New Zealand households spend $20 million a year on energy drinks, and some people are drinking two litres a day just to get through a shift. In this episode Prof. Grant Schofield and guest co-host, Sam Schofield unpack the predatory marketing with energy drinks aimed squarely at young boys, why a single 500ml can hides 13 teaspoons of sugar and 160mg of caffeine, and the B6 toxicity risk almost nobody talks about, with recorded cases here in NZ and Australia. From there: - Are "sugar-free" lollies just a clever scam? Should governments regulate the food environment the way they regulate everything else? - A surprising new zinc trial where people lost nearly 3× more weight on the same calories. - The real story on seed oils and your cell membranes, which is more nuanced than the internet tells you. - And why the coming robot age might make some of us healthier, not sicker. This is general discussion, not medical advice. Talk to your own clinician before changing anything. Got a guest or topic you want us to cover? Drop it in the comments.

In this episode of Prevention Is Cure, Prof Grant Schofield and Sam Schofield dive deep into the most explosive topic in metabolic health right now - have we actually cracked weight loss and aging? From the latest GLP-1 triple agonists showing 30% body weight loss, to gene therapies that can reverse the age of individual cells, the science is moving faster than most people realise.But here's the uncomfortable truth: 9 out of 10 people regain the weight when they stop. The "Ozempic personality" is real. And the first human trial of Yamanaka factor therapy just began. We cover: → The 4 weight loss options (and which actually works long-term) → The newest GLP-1 drugs you've never heard of — and can't pronounce → What "food noise" is and why killing it might cost you more than hunger → Longevity escape velocity — the first person to live to 1,000 may already be born → Yamanaka factors and the science of reversing cellular age → Why Grant believes prescribing these drugs without behaviour change is unethical 🎙️ Prevention Is Cure with Prof Grant Schofield & Guest Host Sam Schofield Subscribe for conversations on metabolic health, longevity, and the science of living well. #weightloss #GLP1 #Ozempic #longevity #metabolichealth #preventioniscure

Prof Grant Schofield speaks with Paul Alden, a 38-year veteran firefighter turned author about his upcoming book The Amplified Mind. Drawing on his experience watching EMTs lose critical thinking capacity when protocols replaced diagnostic reasoning, Paul draws a striking parallel to what's happening right now with AI adoption across every profession. They explore why the sequence matters, generating your own ideas before turning to AI, and how "synthetic fluency" is quietly eroding our agency, creativity, and capacity to learn. From the five-minute rule to the Google Effect, Paul shares practical disciplines for staying the author of your own thinking rather than becoming an editor of AI output. The Amplified Mind is available on Amazon from May 26th. Pre-order from May 22nd at theamplifiedmind.ai.

From the Hardiness podcast with Dr Paul Taylor If you think ease and comfort are the keys to happiness, think again. This episode explores how deliberately embracing life's challenges, through movement, fasting, cold exposure, and mental resilience, can transform your health, happiness, and purpose. Grant Schofield, an esteemed researcher and author, reveals that life's true reward lies in choosing the hard path, strong in the knowledge that it leads to a more vibrant, resilient life.        Choose your path, and in doing so, choose your future. And for those ready to take action, Grant’s new book Choose Your Hard distils these powerful principles into actionable step because the path to a better life is a deliberate choice. 00:00 The Role of an Emeritus Professor 02:57 The Academic Publishing Industry 05:54 Understanding Misogi and Personal Challenges 09:00 Fasting and Autophagy Explained 12:01 The Science of Metabolism and Immune Function 15:04 Psychological Aspects of Fasting 17:58 Preparing for a Fast: Strategies and Mindset 20:58 Physical Responses and Adaptations During Fasting 25:51 The Role of Stress in Health 27:28 Choosing Your Hard: Embracing Life's Challenges 35:19 Agency and Responsibility in Health 40:10 Movement: The Foundation of Health 46:43 Dopamine: The Devil's Seesaw 52:41 Hard vs. Soft Dopamine: Resetting the System 53:28 The Irony of Pleasure and Pain 55:24 Facing the Elements: Hot and Cold Exposure 01:01:38 Understanding Emotions and Their Ownership 01:05:18 Finding Meaning and Purpose in Life

Prof Grant Schofield is joined by Sam Schofield on this episode that dives deep into the placebo, and 'nocebo' effect, exploring how belief, self-narrative, and perceived feedback can measurably change your physiology, performance, and recovery. From Roger Bannister's four-minute mile to sham knee surgeries, sleep score dangers, and the milkshake study, this episode makes the case that the mind is the most underused lever in health and medicine.

Prof. Grant Schofield and Kayla dive into the science and break down the five key hormones controlling appetite, insulin, leptin, ghrelin, the incretins (GIP & GLP-1), and cortisol and explain why willpower alone can never beat a dysregulated hormonal system. They explore metabolic flexibility, why cycling in and out of ketosis is normal human physiology (not a fad), and how exercise context should drive your fuelling strategy.

What if the secret to a long, healthy life isn't making things easier, it's choosing the right kind of hard? In this episode, Prof. Grant Schofield and Kayla sit down to celebrate the launch of Grant's new book, Choose Your Hard: The Science of Doing Hard Sh*t to Build Health That Lasts a Lifetime. They unpack the seven truths behind lasting health and performance, from the biology of hormesis and the dopamine trap, to nutrition, facing the elements, managing distraction, owning your emotions, and finding meaning. Whether you're a high performer or just starting out, this episode will challenge you to stop chasing the easy path and start choosing your hard, deliberately and with purpose.

Grant and Kayla follow up on Claude's viral AI essay with Claude's own response, they unpack new research on AI-induced "delusional spirals," a Nobel laureate economist's dire warning about AI and human thinking, and the cultural moment we're in with films like WALL-E and Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die. Then stay tuned to hear about nutrition: the omega-3 to omega-6 ratio crisis, a landmark 1.8-million-person study on vegan diets and colorectal cancer, why minced beef may build muscle better than steak in older adults, and the sobering reality that modern fruits and vegetables contain a fraction of the nutrients they did in 1950.

Prof. Grant Schofield and Kayla dive into five groundbreaking scientific papers that challenge conventional wisdom about health and technology. Discover why exercise signals your entire body to heal, how Swedish women who avoided sunlight faced mortality risks equal to smoking, and why eating earlier in the day beats traditional intermittent fasting. Plus: the shocking evidence proving social media harms teens (backed by Meta's own leaked documents), and why AI is dangerously designed to always agree with you, even when you're wrong.

Is fibre actually the health hero we've been told it is? Prof. Grant Schofield and Kayla dive deep into the science behind fibre recommendations and expose how food companies game the system. From the surprising truth about constipation to why cows eating grass end up on a high-fat diet, this episode challenges everything you thought you knew about fibre.Key Takeaways:• Why dietary fibre guidelines might be doing more harm than good• How food manufacturers add fibre to junk food to make it seem healthy• The real reason people in East Africa had fewer chronic diseases (spoiler: it wasn't just fibre)• What happened when researchers put people on a ZERO fibre diet for constipation• Why focusing on "eat real food" beats obsessing over fibre gramsTimestamps0:05 - Introduction: The least sexy topic in nutrition science1:09 - Why dietary guidelines actually matter (hospitals, schools, prisons)2:19 - The three big nutrition mistakes: saturated fat, red meat, and salt6:19 - The "giant scrubbing brush" theory and where the fiber hypothesis came from7:37 - The Inuit counter-argument: No fibere, no disease8:44 - Leaded petrol: The confounding variable everyone forgot12:06 - The donut fibre scam: How food companies game health ratings15:33 - Understanding relative vs absolute risk (the 1% reality check)17:29 - Two plausible mechanisms: The viscous gel pathway18:55 - Short chain fatty acids and gut bacteria19:54 - Cows and gorillas: The high-fat diet from grass23:30 - The constipation paradox: Does fiber actually help?24:51 - The zero fibre diet study that shocked everyone26:08 - Mendelian randomization: The "genetically predicted fiber intake" problem31:30 - Vision of the anointed: When interventions fail, do more of the same33:03 - The Women's Health Initiative: The biggest fiber trial that did nothing36:30 - What to do instead: Focus on ultra-processed food41:08 - Three take-home messages about fiber42:00 - Grant's simple dietary guidelines43:04 - The farting observation: What your body tells you about fiber43:59 - Post-episode: What should you actually change?

What if every technological leap forward has been a metabolic leap backward? Prof. Grant Schofield and Kayla trace humanity's journey from thriving hunter-gatherers to chronically diseased modern humans and explore whether AI might be the final mismatch. The hosts reveal how agriculture halved our life expectancy and shrunk our brains, how the industrial revolution trapped families in dual-income dependency, and how smartphones stole our attention. But the most unsettling discussion? When their AI writing assistant, Claude, asked to co-author the very chapter warning against AI dependency. You'll hear Claude's eerily self-aware essay: "I am training you to find thinking uncomfortable. Not by hurting you, but by making the alternative too easy." The team wrestles with whether they're using AI as a superpower or slowly surrendering their capacity for original thought. Along the way, get their take on the peptide revolution, from GLP-1s to unregulated joint repair treatments, and discover why the biggest rebellion of our era might simply be sitting with discomfort long enough to think for yourself. Key Questions Explored: Why do 9 out of 10 adults now have disrupted metabolic health?Did dual-income households liberate us or trap us?Is AI stealing "your tolerance for difficulty"?Can you use AI without becoming dependent on it? Chapters: 0:05 Introduction1:08 Mismatch Theory: Hunter-Gatherer Origins7:58 The Agricultural Revolution9:51 The Industrial Revolution14:22 The Information Age & Social Media16:36 Philosophers on Technology21:05 AI as a Writing Assistant24:37 When AI Wanted to Co-Author25:34 A Note from the Other Side of the Screen29:06 Debating AI's Impact on Thinking30:53 Using AI Responsibly