health and wellbeing

In this article – featured in our recently released Summer 2018 issue – Patrick Holford shared his thoughts on the upcoming Vitality Expo, set to take place in the RDS, Dublin, on the 8th and 9th of September.

Finding Vitality

Patrick Holford discusses upcoming health show

by Aisling Cronin

This September, Dublin’s RDS will play host to the amazing Vitality Expo 2018, brought to you by Health Stores Ireland. The Expo will be dedicated to all things health-related, with a diverse array of wellness, lifestyle, fitness and nutrition talks being delivered by Irish and international speakers and natural health brands.

The passionate organisers behind the Expo are proud of the fact that this event is Ireland’s only consumer and trade natural health exhibition. Here, you can learn about exciting new products and remedies, meet natural health suppliers, discover the latest natural health trends, and obtain expert advice from the many well-known figures who will be in attendance.  Ahead of the Expo, I met with the nutrition expert Patrick Holford, who will be delivering two talks as part of the event. I was struck by his great passion for improving people’s quality of life. He told me that one of the greatest privileges of his career is being approached by people who are eager to share their stories of how his nutritional tips improved their health.

Patrick Holford’s career began in the 1970s, when he trained as a psychotherapist. As his career progressed, he developed a special interest in the areas of boosting intelligence and treating schizophrenia. After learning about the promising results nutritional trials had yielded in this area, he went on to study nutrition in greater depth, and founded the Institute of Optimum Nutrition in 1983. His bestselling nutrition and health titles have included The Optimum Nutrition Bible and How to Quit Without Feeling Sh*t.

The latter title touches upon a subject that has become increasingly important to Patrick in recent years: helping people to tackle their addictions. He believes that we can be addicted to many things: not just substances that commonly come to mind when addiction is mentioned – such as narcotics, prescription medication, or alcohol – but also things like coffee, sugar, and our phones. Technology addiction is increasingly prevalent in modern society. Whatever our addictions are, Patrick believes that appropriate nutritional therapy can hold the key to solving the problem.

“To give you an extreme example,” he explained to me, “two colleagues and I went to an addiction treatment centre and asked them to refer some patients to us – not to change anything the centre were doing, but to add some nutritional therapy to the centre’s methods. We ran blood tests on twenty-three patients and we found out which neurotransmitters were depleted. We then gave them an intravenous drip every day, for six days, containing the exact nutrients that their brains would need to make those neurotransmitters. We followed that up with supplements for about a month, and then asked the treatment centre to follow up with these patients after one year. The normal success rate for the centre was about five percent: that is, one year on, just five percent of patients were still clean, sadly. However, twenty-one out of the twenty-three people we had treated were clean and sober, which is absolutely extraordinary. So at the health show, I’m going to be talking about how to end addiction, whether this is to caffeine, sugar, or even Facebook.”

Another issue he will be speaking about at the Expo is how people can reduce their risk of cancer through the foods that they eat. He said, “Appropriate nutrition can strengthen the immune system. As an example of this, one recent study found that soya actually dampens down the notorious BRCA gene that is responsible for a large proportion of breast cancer diagnoses. What we are really beginning to understand is that the environment of the cell can turn genes up or down. So rather than being unable to do anything about your inherited genes, you are able to empower yourself. This is a whole new field of study called ‘epignetics’ – effectively, the study of the environment of genes.”

Patrick is determined to empower people to take control of their own health. He does this by presenting clear evidence – backed up by rigorous scientific studies – to show that appropraite nutritional intervention can make an enormous difference to our energy, mood, and overall wellbeing.

To learn more about Patrick’s work, go to patrickholford.com. He will be discussing the effective treatment of addiction, cancer and other health issues in greater depth at the Vitality Expo 2018, set to take place on September 8th and 9th in the RDS, Dublin.

The Vitality Expo will feature an exciting array of expert speakers from around the globe. In addition to Patrick Holford, the Expo’s Vitality Stage will play host to Alison Canavan, Vivienne Campbell, Rachel and Hannah Dare, Dr. Robert Verkerk Ph.D, Phil Beard, Dr. Sarah Murphy, Jessica Hatchett and Fiann Ó Nualláin (a bestselling author, horticultural therapist and community gardening advocate). All of the talks will be hosted by nutritional therapist Jemma Kehoe.

Some of the confirmed exhibitors include Abundance and Health, Altrient C, Hifas Da Terra, Creacon Wellness Centre, Dr. Mahers skincare, Emma’s So Naturals soya candles, Genovese Pestos, IINH, Macánta, NaturaLife, Optimal Brain, Pharma Nord, PPC and Sun Chlorella. Many other companies will be present at the Expo too, offering a wide range of products to help boost your wellbeing. Be sure to check out the Vitality Expo’s website or Facebook page to stay up-to-date with all exhibitors, as they are confirmed.

The Expo will will also feature a Food and Cookery Stage. Here, you can experience the best of wholefood cooking with chefs like Marie Power, Henrietta Norton (founder of the amazing natural supplement brand Wild Nutrition), Oliver McCabe and Susan Jane White, to name a few. The Outdoor Entertainment Area is another major highlight, offering live music, yoga and pilates sessions, as well as a kids’ area where they can practice some moves too! At The Village, you can sample tasty delights from over 100 artisan and local health food producers in the Irish marketplace.

vitalityexpo.ie