This is the inspirational story of one young man finding the strength to figure out for himself how to use his diet to reverse poor mental health.

If, like me, you believe that exposure to the natural world is important for a healthy life, how can that be achieved? I believe we are adapted to consume real, local food, regularly replenish our microbiome, feel the sun’s warmth, and benefit from touching the earth. This article is the first in a monthly series describing how I do that…even in chilly February.

I’ve never been good at predicting things, especially the future. We’ll see if this plan survives exposure to the field of battle. Two big things…we need to take care of ourselves…this means being exposed to the natural world we evolved alongside. Think real food, the microbiome, sunlight, and the earth’s electrical charge.

People in the UK get on average 50% of their dietary energy from ultra-processed food (UPF). It is shown in this paper that UPF does not contain enough vitamins and minerals to provide the minimum amounts recommended by UK dietary guidelines. A dramatic rise in hospitalisations caused by vitamin and mineral deficiencies has been recorded.

A simple headline in the Guardian newspaper caught my attention immediately. Adequate Vitamin and mineral levels are a core determinant of a healthy life. When people are showing up in hospital because of or with a lack of vitamins and minerals, something has gone seriously wrong. I dug into the numbers and present here what I think may be going on and how to fix it.

As it says on the tin…I’ve described the major themes that emerged for me in 2024 and listed by month the 40+ articles I wrote.

The shortest day and longest night in the northern hemisphere marks the start of the astronomical winter.

Salta region…nothing but high altitude, arid beauty…

Puma and glaciers…just spectacular

The awesome and frightening force of moving water

A CGM can show us which foods are raising blood glucose and may harm us if we continue to eat them.

An illustrative reminder of the way heart disease (plaque) is caused by repeat clot formation in arteries, not cholesterol.

Have you ever wondered why it’s so difficult to lose weight when eating a recommended high carbohydrate diet? We’re not doing anything wrong. Quite the reverse, on such a diet our body is evolved to gain weight.

Want to know what some of the UK’s most prominent doctors are saying about diet and metabolic health? Read on.

A summary of what is happening in the vegetable garden in October…with a reminder of why I’m now doing this monthly…and a picture showing the source of this month’s organic mulch

When we consume real food, we consume fat and every type of fat. There are no exceptions.

Have you noticed that mental illnesses such as depression and Alzheimer’s are on the rise in the same was as things like heart disease and type 2 diabetes? Well, they are. I recently attended a conference in which a compelling case was made for high carbohydrate diets causing mental illness in the same was as they do so-called chronic diseases. This article presents that case and describes a solution.

If you’re interested in mental illness causes and remedies this is a conference you might consider. It was packed with interesting speakers, their inspirational stories of recovery and how a ketogenic diet helped them.

A summary of what is happening in the vegetable garden in September

Getting that autumnal feeling