Patrick Holford

Patrick Holford is a controversial British nutritionist, author, and the founder and director of the Institute for Optimum Nutrition in London. He is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder (with Professor André Tylee of the Institute of Psychiatry) of the special interest group that developed into Food for the Brain Foundation, a registered charity which has the stated aim of promoting mental health through nutrition. He is also director of the Brain Bio Centre, which specializes in a nutrition-based approach to mental health problems. He appears regularly on television and radio in the UK.

Holford has written twenty-four books, which have been translated into 17 languages. His first book, The Optimum Nutrition Bible, has sold more than 500,000 copies worldwide.

Career
Holford states that he obtained a B.Sc. in experimental psychology from the University of York in 1976. As a psychology student, he became interested in the biochemistry of mental health problems. His research brought him in contact with Dr Carl Pfeiffer and Dr Abram Hoffer, both of whom claimed success in treating mental illness with nutritional therapy. However, he did not graduate from the University of York until 1979, leading critics such as HolfordWatch to challenge the veracity of his CV.

In 1984, Holford founded the Institute for Optimum Nutrition (ION). At that institute, he has worked on nutritional approaches to clinical depression, schizophrenia, and eating disorders. His research into the role that nutrition plays in children's IQ levels was the subject of a Horizon documentary in 1987. In 1995, the Board of Trustees of ION (of which he was a director) awarded him an Honorary Diploma in Nutritional Therapy.

Holford is a Fellow of the British Association for Nutritional Therapy (BANT), one of a number of professional bodies that seek to represent nutritional therapists in the UK.

Criticism
Holford's claim in The New Optimum Nutrition Bible that "AZT, the first prescribable anti-HIV drug, is potentially harmful, and proving less effective than vitamin C" has been criticised by Ben Goldacre. Goldacre writes that Holford based this conclusion on a non-clinical study where "you tip lots of vitamin C onto HIV-infected cells and measure a few things related to HIV replication". Goldacre notes that the paper does not compare vitamin C to AZT for efficacy. He argues that "Holford was guilty of at least incompetence in claiming that this study demonstrated vitamin C to be a better treatment than AZT." Prof David Colquhoun argues that Holford's "advocacy of vitamin C as better than conventional drugs to treat Aids is truly scary".

Holford replied to The Guardian newspaper that: "'As [Goldacre] well knows, the author of the research — Dr Raxit Jariwalla — wrote to the Guardian (January 20 2005) the last time Goldacre made this claim, to confirm that my statement is correct on the basis of two [non-clinical] studies on HIV-infected cells. The real crime here is that no full-scale human trials have been funded on vitamin C to follow up Jariwalla's important finding because it is non-patentable and hence not profitable. Goldacre seems unconcerned about the way commercial interests distort scientific research.'"

Catherine Collins, chief dietician at St George's Hospital, reported that - due to following Holford's advice to adopt a restricted diet - a young autistic girl participating in one of Holford's experiments suffered dramatic weight loss and sleep problems. Holford has argued that the allegations result from “professional jealousy”, stating that "[t]his girl hasn't suffered. She's got better and is behaving better. Her parents are delighted with the results. It's only Catherine Collins who is not." The Independent on Sunday have since clarified this story, noting that - when placed on a less restrictive diet - the girl was able to regain the weight she lost.

There has also been an adjudication against Patrick Holford's 100% Health leaflet. "On this point, the ad breached CAP Code clauses 3.1 (Substantiation), 7.1 (Truthfulness), 50.1 (Health & beauty products and therapies - General) and 50.20 (Health & beauty products and therapies - Vitamins, minerals and other food supplements)." A previous adjudication by the ASA also went against Mr Holford.

Books

 * The Family Nutrition Workbook (1988)
 * The Whole Health Manual: Comprehensive Guide to Nutrition and Better Health (1988)
 * The Better Pregnancy Diet: The Definitive Guide to Having a Healthy Baby (1993)
 * The Optimum Nutrition Bible (1998)
 * Say No to Heart Disease (1998)
 * 30-Day Fatburner Diet (1999)
 * 100% Health (1999)
 * Beat Stress and Fatigue (1999)
 * Say No to Cancer (1999)
 * Improve Your Digestion (2000)
 * Say No to Arthritis (2000)
 * Supplements for Superhealth (2000)
 * Solve Your Skin Problems (2001)
 * Six Weeks to Superhealth (2002)
 * Optimum Nutrition for the Mind (2002)
 * Natural Highs: Chill - 25 Ways to Stay Relaxed and Beat Stress (2003)
 * Natural Highs: Energy - 25 Ways to Increase Your Energy  (2003)
 * 500 Health and Nutrition Questions Answered (2004)
 * The Alzheimer's Prevention Plan (2005)
 * The Holford Low-GL Diet (2005)
 * The Holford Diet GL Counter (forthcoming)
 * Food is Better Medicine Than Drugs (2006)