Six conditions cause the majority of deaths in the world, these include dementia and cardiovascular disease. Traditionally, we’ve looked at these conditions through the lens of what goes wrong individually, such as blocked arteries around the heart or tangles of proteins that impair electrical signalling in the brain. But the common denominator is actually ageing.

As grandiose and esoteric as that sounds, ageing and the processes that govern ageing are what we need to be tackling if we want to better manage or even prevent these conditions of older age.

And with me to discuss why and how we age is Richard Faragher. He’s Professor of Biological Gerontology at the University of Brighton, and has dedicated his career to understanding the ageing process and what we can do to improve this inevitable phase of life.

As you can tell from today's episode, Richard is a passionate advocate for older people and can wax lyrical about the history of the gerontology field.

A few definitions before we dive into the episode I think will be helpful for people who are new to the research.

There are agreed “hallmarks” of ageing that are a description of processes, such as metabolism and DNA repair functions, that go awry as we grow older. Ageing is caused by these changes at the molecular level that lead to downstream effects like disease and degeneration.

Cell senescence is what happens at the end of a cell's lifespan, where they become dysfunctional and need to be removed by immune cells. However in older age, it can become more troublesome for your immune system to clear away these senescent cells and increasing inflammation ensues.

Senolytics are compounds or drugs that have been designed to selectively eliminate these senescent cells. And the hope is that they can mitigate a range of age-associated conditions like arthritis, cataracts, dementia and more.

Trigger warning. We discuss a graphic analogy for senescent cells using suicide, so I just wanted to give a heads up for anyone who might find that analogy uncomfortable.

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*The Doctor's Kitchen App gives you access to all of our recipes, with specific suggestions tailored to your health needs and new recipes added every month. We’ve had some amazing feedback so far and we have new features being added all the time - check it out with a 14 day free trial too.

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Karen O’Donoghue is a champion for not only better bread, but also better food quality, choices and better growing methods.

We originally recorded this session in the studio as a recipe to be cut down and edited for YouTube. But when I watched it back I thought that this could easily be a podcast episode. The way Karen breaks down in simple terms the benefits of processes like soaking to maximise the accessibility of nutrients in the flour, is perfect for a long form listen.

You can watch the full episode on YouTube if you’re interested in how this recipe turned out, but I think you’ll be able to imagine just how good it looked, smelt and tasted from our descriptions alone.

Karen and her company, Happy Tummy Co inform people about the need to spend more on health by spending more on better quality food, invest in the soil and re-engage with the food supply. You can check out Karen’s bread, recipes and idyllic bakery in Ireland at www.thehappytummyco.com PLUS, we cook up a bunch of different bread recipes on our YouTube channel, just search ‘Karen’ on The Doctor’s Kitchen to find the videos.

🎬 Watch the podcast on YouTube here

📱 Download The Doctor’s Kitchen app for free*

🌐 View full show notes, including guest details, on our website

*The Doctor's Kitchen App gives you access to all of our recipes, with specific suggestions tailored to your health needs and new recipes added every month. We’ve had some amazing feedback so far and we have new features being added all the time - check it out with a 14 day free trial too.

Do check out this week’s “Eat, Listen, Read” newsletter, that you can subscribe to on our website - where I send you a recipe to cook as well as some mindfully curated media to help you have a healthier, happier week.

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I recently had the pleasure of hosting a panel of experts at London’s Fortnum and Mason's Food & Drink Studio at their Piccadilly store to discuss the wonderful world of mushrooms with Tim Spector, Tom Baxter and Ester Gaya.

We discussed a range of topics including, what nootropic effects we know about with specific mushrooms and what research underpins this understanding. The use of psychedelic mushrooms and their potential uses in mental health and trauma. As well as how culinary mushrooms can enhance our health.

Tom Baxter, founder of The Bristol Fungarium, producing the UK's first organic certified medicinal mushrooms.

Tim Spector is a Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King’s College London, director of the Twins UK study and one of the world’s leading researchers, trained in rheumatology and epidemiology.

Ester Gaya, Senior Research Leader in Comparative Fungal Biology at Kew Gardens, who have a strong track record in fungal diversity research and are home to the largest fungarium in the world, holding over 1.25 million fungal specimens.

🎬 Watch the podcast on YouTube here

📱 Download The Doctor’s Kitchen app for free*

🌐 View full show notes, including guest details, on our website

*The Doctor's Kitchen App gives you access to all of our recipes, with specific suggestions tailored to your health needs and new recipes added every month. We’ve had some amazing feedback so far and we have new features being added all the time - check it out with a 14 day free trial too.

Do check out this week’s “Eat, Listen, Read” newsletter, that you can subscribe to on our website - where I send you a recipe to cook as well as some mindfully curated media to help you have a healthier, happier week.

🥗 Join the newsletter and 7 day meal plan

📷 Follow on Instagram

🐦 Tweet me

We would love to get your feedback on the subject matter of these episodes - please do let me know on our social media pages (Instagram, Facebook & Twitter) what you think, and give us a 5* rating on your podcast player if you enjoyed today’s episode

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.