Podcast 60 - A Better Brain Through Nutrition with Julia Rucklidge, PhD

It is widely agreed that nutrition is so important to our overall health and wellbeing. But because research on nutrition is not expected to culminate into the development and production of a patentable and marketable product, there is little money behind research on nutrition and supplementation. This is why the work of Julia Rucklidge, PhD is so important!

Julia has been working along side Dr. Bonnie Kaplan in been investigating the role of micronutrients in mental illness. Her interest in nutrition and mental illness grew out of her own research showing poor outcomes for children with psychiatric illness despite conventional treatments. The drugs that she was studying were not as effective as nutritional treatments, so she began focusing on what worked instead of what didn’t. She began to study nutrition.

Julia is a Professor of Clinical Psychology in the School of Psychology, Speech and Hearing at the University of Canterbury, the Director of Te Puna Toiora, the Mental Health and Nutrition Research Lab and co-author of The Better Brain.

Originally from Toronto, Canada, she completed her PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Calgary, in 2000, she immigrated to New Zealand. Over the last twenty years, Professor Rucklidge has become well known for her research investigating the interface between nutrition and mental health, and has published over 140 scientific papers.

Julia is also the recipient of numerous local and international awards, including being named as one of the top 100 influential women in New Zealand, and is frequently featured in the media discussing her work.

Her TEDx talk, “The surprisingly dramatic role of nutrition in mental health” has been viewed over 1.7 million times. She recently created a free EdX online course for the public on mental health and nutrition. Having witnessed conventional treatments failing so many people, Julia is passionate about helping people find alternative treatments for their psychiatric symptoms. Through her focus on translating research into practice, she hopes to help make nutritional interventions mainstream.