The Nutritional Supplement

What Course(s) did you graduate from at CNELM and when did you graduate?

MSc in Personalised Nutrition - 2013

What did you do before doing this course?

I have worked as a Nutritional Therapist since 2002. A pivotal moment for me was supporting a Labrador dog with cancer. Amy the Labrador responded so well to nutritional support and this success lead me to research hundreds of research papers on cancer, nutrition and mitochondria.

My career background is in Broadcasting, working as an engineer for Channel 4, ITV and Sky. I feel that there is a lot in common with engineering systems and health systems. A very long time ago, I was a professional sportsman involved in Speedway. Speedway is that insane motorcycle sport where four riders slide sideways in dirt at speeds of up to 80mph - without any brakes!

What made you decide to embark on this course of study and what attracted you to CNELM?

In 1996 I studied for a year at the Institute for Optimum Nutrition. I found Patrick Holford’s books inspirational and wanted to learn more. It was Kate Neil who interviewed and accepted me for my place at ION.

I met Kate a few years later and asked if I could put together a lecture based on my experiences supporting patients with cancer. Kate kindly agreed and so for several years I produced and delivered the Cancer Management lecture to undergraduates at CNELM.

Working more closely with CNELM led me to wonder about the MSc course – I eventually took the plunge and am so glad I did.

What area of nutrition are you now specialising in?

My dissertation examined the impact of calcium and mitochondria on Parkinson’s disease. This has resulted in me working with many Parkinson’s disease patients since graduating. I also deliver an Ageing, MS and Parkinson’s disease lecture for the College of Naturopathic Medicine in London. My dissertation opened my eyes to the complex world of mitochondrial life – and death through mitophagy, the self-digestion of mitochondria.

Which lecture did you give for CNELM for the BSc Nutritional Science degree and what other work have you done for CNELM?

As mentioned above, I gave the Cancer Management lecture for the BSc Nutritional Science degree. In researching this lecture, my understanding of mitochondria was greatly accelerated by further exploring biochemical pathways involved in cancer and tumour growth.

Another lecture I have presented to undergraduates is a lecture focussing on mitochondria and fatigue. This lecture was an expansion of the mitochondria webinar which I produced and delivered to BANT members.

In addition to lecturing at CNELM I have worked as research supervisor, and as a marker for the Personalised Healthcare & Research Paradigms module of the MSc in Personalised Nutrition.

Tell us about your new book, 'Mitochondria in Health and Disease: Personalised Nutrition for Healthcare Practitioners'.

The journey to writing my book started 22 years ago when I watched a lecture given by Jeff Bland on the Krebs cycle (tricarboxylic acid cycle). From that moment on, I was fascinated by mitochondria. My work supporting cancer patients helped me gain an even deeper understanding of the complex world of mitochondria and how they can be hijacked to drive growth and proliferation. Researching my dissertation further opened the intriguing world of mitochondria. Until this point, I had thought that mitochondria are lone and passive organelles. However, emerging research at the time was uncovering the fact that mitochondria are avid networkers, highly mobile and forever shape-shifting in response to cellular energetic need - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, throughout the whole of our whole life. Even as I was writing the book, there was new research on mitochondria appearing in the literature, which I was keen to include.

The book is divided into two parts – the first part looks at mitochondrial evolution, theory and themes. The second part takes these themes and applies them to specific health conditions to see how mitochondria are involved in many health conditions. It is surprising just how embedded our mighty mitochondria are in every single aspect of our being.

Many people have now heard of the Warburg effect, where cancer cells shift their metabolism to anaerobic respiration – but why would that be? What advantage does anaerobic metabolism give proliferating cells? The fascinating part of this story is that anaerobic respiration (and much more) also occurs in inflammatory conditions, degeneration, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and autoimmunity – and all these conditions can be modified by how and what we eat. This continuum between the typical Western diet, inflammation and chronic disease is thoroughly examined in the book. The exciting part of this new philosophy is that we can now look at attending to faulty cells and disease by seeking to change mitochondria and errant behaviour - from the inside of our cells.

Another theme in the book is the importance of mitochondria in maintaining a healthy nervous system. It is no accident that the gene errors related to familial Parkinson’s disease are all related to mitochondrial function. To maintain healthy synapses within the CNS, a constant supply of energy is needed. Mitochondria are literally driven along tracks within an axon of a neuron to supply ATP, and thereby support the integrity of a synapse. Failure to deliver sufficient ATP to a synapse spells disaster for a neuron – and perversely mitochondria will turn from energy provider to a driver of apoptosis (programmed cell death) when energy levels drop too low.

I am always trying to make sense of apparent contradictions in health and disease, to help me gain a greater understanding of complex subject material. I truly hope that my thoughts and insights will assist the reader in their own practice – and at the same time enjoy sharing my journey!

Tell us a bit more about your BANT work.

After completing my MSc I was buzzing with enthusiasm about the fascinating research which was emerging around mitochondria. I approached BANT about creating a webinar to get this new research to a wider audience – my mitochondrial webinar was the end result. As a follow-up to the mitochondrial webinar I created two cardiovascular webinars. My mother died as a result of cardiovascular disease, so creating the webinars was an emotional yet cathartic experience. I have included mitochondrial aspects of heart disease and cholesterol metabolism in the book.

Is there anything you wish you’d known before finishing your studies that you might have prepared for differently?

I realise now in hindsight that my completed dissertation was merely draft standard. It needed many more hours of work to bring its presentation up to scratch. I learnt the hard way that you can never ignore presentation! Luckily Lorraine Nicolle and my publisher Singing Dragon have excelled themselves in helping me with the presentation of my book.

Interestingly, Lorraine was a module leader on my MSc course and one of my assignments at the time was to deliver a presentation on mitochondria.

What or who has most inspired you in your work?

Kate Neil has been very supportive of me along several steps of my 22-year journey. Lynn Margulis for her years of dogged determination to eventually prove mitochondria were once bacteria. John Lemasters for his hugely insightful work into how mitochondria are digested every few days via mitophagy. Robert Bly for helping me understand symbolism and metaphor – and of course, Amy the Labrador!

Do you have any tips, hints, things you’d have done differently...?

Confidence, determination, self-doubt and humility are all needed to gain insights and an understanding of complex subject material. I wish I had more of some qualities and less of the others – I’ll let you guess which!

The link to Ray’s book, which is due for release at the end of April, can be found here https://www.jkp.com/uk/mitochondria-in-health-and-disease-2.html

We aim to interview Lorraine Nicolle in the near future who is Editor of Ray’s book and Editor of Biochemical Imbalances in Disease and The Functional Nutrition Cookbook.  Lorraine is a Masters graduate via CNELM and Middlesex University.