Wheelchair-Bound at 18 to Holistic Health Expert — Lauren Vaknine's Extraordinary Healing Journey

Wheelchair-Bound at 18 to Holistic Health Expert — Lauren Vaknine's Extraordinary Healing Journey

Most of us approach our health the same way. We get a symptom, we find a treatment, we manage the condition. What we rarely ask is why — why is the body doing this, what is it trying to tell us, and what would it mean to actually heal rather than just cope? In this episode of The Health Review I sit down with Lauren Vaknine — holistic health expert, author and chronic illness advocate whose own healing journey is one of the most extraordinary I've encountered. Diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis just before her second birthday, Lauren spent her childhood navigating the medical system, and by the age of 18 was completely wheelchair-bound — unable to grip cutlery, bend her elbows or sit up straight — after while being on a chemo-based drug, her arthritis spread to every joint in her body within ten months. It was in that moment, at 18, sitting in the rheumatologist's office, that she made a decision that changed everything. Disability wasn't going to be her story. Wellness was. What followed was a decade-long healing journey — through nutrition, meditation, somatic work, inner child healing and nervous system regulation — that not only transformed her own health but became the foundation for the work she now does with thousands of women through her Rise membership. We cover: Lauren's extraordinary personal story — from diagnosis at two years old to wheelchair-bound at 18 to holistic health expert Her mother's instinct to reject conventional steroids in 1986 The moment in the rheumatologist's office that changed everything — and the decision she made at 18 that set the course of her life Why nervous system regulation has to come before everything else — supplements, protocols, nutrition — everything What chronic stress is actually doing to your body — the predator response explained in a way that will change how you think about your gut health, your immune system and your sleep Food as medicine — where to start and what Lauren changed first on her healing journey What somatic healing actually is and how to begin — breathwork, movement and processing emotions through the body The difference between existing in trauma and processing it Meditation and the corpus callosum — the neuroscience behind why meditation is the only practice shown to strengthen the bridge between the two sides of the brain Identity work — why shifting out of the identity of your illness or your problem is the missing piece most people never address Why you can't hear guidance through the noise — and what sitting in silence every day actually does Intuition as a health tool — how Lauren now makes decisions about food, movement and her body without any tracking or testing This episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your own clinician before making changes to your health. Lauren has kindly offered The Health Review audience a discount on her Rise membership: Just use the code RISEIS45 to get it for £45 instead of £75. https://www.laurenvaknine.co.uk/risemembership This week's sponsor, vagus nerve stimulator SONA has offered The Health Review listeners 15% off SONA. Use code THR at checkout or access the discount automatically here: https://sona.help/?im_ref=SkfXugw-kxyZWz0TwYRUY2%3AdUkuReuR-SzLO0Q0&sharedid&irpid=7022575&irgwc=1&afsrc=1 Lauren's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurenvaknine Follow The Health Review: https://www.instagram.com/the.health.review ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Longevity, Biological Age & How to Live to 114 in Great Health | Dr Alka Patel

We've all heard of the super agers — centenarians living well into their hundreds in the villages of Sardinia, the islands of Okinawa, regions of the world where reaching 100 in great health is almost the norm. Increasingly, longevity scientists believe that kind of lifespan could be within reach for many more of us — if we can fend off the age-related diseases that currently cut lives short. Nearly half of all UK adults already have at least one longstanding health condition. So the question is — how much of that is inevitable, and how much is actually within our control? In this episode of The Health Review I sit down with Dr Alka Patel — GP, longevity doctor, TEDx speaker and founder of the Million Hour Club, whose mission is to help one million people live a one million hour life. With over 25 years of clinical experience and a quarter of a million patients, Dr Alka works at the fascinating intersection of cutting-edge biohacking and lifestyle medicine — and she brings a perspective on longevity that is both rigorously evidence-based and deeply personal. The conversation that stayed with me most was a patient she described — a 29-year-old whose biological age tested at 78. Not because of genetics or illness, but because of stress. The grind, the hustle, the pressure of doing it all. And the fact that nobody had told them what it was doing to their body. We cover: Why Dr Alka went from being a GP in conventional medicine to pioneering longevity care Her own health crisis — the birthday that ended with multiple organ failure and the question it forced her to ask Health is a verb not a noun — what that TEDx talk with over half a million views actually means in practice How much of our health is really down to genetics — and why the answer is more hopeful than most people think The hierarchy of health — why mastering the basics has to come before peptides, IV drips and biological age testing What biological age testing actually measures and why it's one of the most motivating tests Dr Alka does The 29-year-old with a biological age of 78 — and what stress is really doing to the body over time The cortisol curve — why most of her high-performing patients don't have one, and what that means for sleep, energy and burnout Biohacking for women — why we are not little men and what a female-specific approach to optimisation actually looks like Biosynchrony — aligning your lifestyle with your biology, your hormones and your circadian rhythm Perimenopause, cycle tracking and why variety might matter more than routine for women at this life stage The Blue Zones debate — what the research actually shows even if the specific data is being questioned Why beauty begins in your biology — and the coffin line that stopped me in my tracks Cautious curiosity — how to approach peptides, rapamycin and novel longevity interventions safely What longevity medicine will look like in ten years This episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your own clinician before making changes to your health. Topics: longevity medicine | biological age testing | biohacking for women | Dr Alka Patel | million hour club | female biohacking | perimenopause health | cortisol testing | stress and ageing | epigenetics | Blue Zones | health is a verb | continuous glucose monitor | Oura Ring | HRV | biosynchrony | circadian rhythm | longevity supplements | peptides | rapamycin | NAD longevity | lifestyle medicine | functional medicine UK | how to live longer | healthy ageing women | burnout and ageing | superagers | centenarians | biological clock Dr Alka's website: https://www.dralkapatel.com/ Follow The Health Review: https://www.instagram.com/the.health.review ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Self-Compassion Expert on Why Coming Home to Yourself is The Key to Happiness | Suzy Reading

When did you last feel totally safe in your body? When did you last connect with yourself on a deep level? For most of us, those questions sound almost foreign — and that, according to today's guest, is precisely the problem. In this episode of The Health Review I sit down with Suzy Reading — chartered psychologist, yoga teacher, coach and author of ten books, including her latest How to Be Selfish. Suzy has spent two decades at the intersection of neuroscience, somatic therapy and psychology, and her work keeps coming back to one simple idea: that caring for yourself isn't selfish. It's the foundation of everything else. This is one of the most warm, honest and moving conversations I've had on the show — and one that I think will stay with you. Suzy shares her own deeply personal story of reaching what she calls energetic bankruptcy — becoming a new mother at the same time as losing her father to motor neuron disease, and what happened when she gave everything to everyone else and had nothing left. What she found her way back to became the heart of this book. We cover: Why mental health is not just something that happens in our head — it's a function of our nervous system, our breathing and our bodies What somatic therapy actually is and why it reaches places that talking alone can't The hand on heart practice — a 30-second somatic hold that shifts your nervous system out of stress response Why we've been systematically distracted from ourselves — and why sitting with yourself can feel genuinely terrifying The difference between guilt and shame — and why shame is the hidden current running beneath so much of our exhaustion and self-criticism Why the most successful people are often running hardest from their own sense of not-enoughness Energetic bankruptcy — what it feels like and how to find your way back The seven steps to coming home to yourself from How to Be Selfish Why a healed nervous system doesn't mean being calm all the time — it means being responsive Awe hunting — Suzy's favourite spiritual practice and why it's more accessible than you think Why self-compassion is the single most important thing for being a healthy and whole human being This episode is for you if: You've been giving everything to everyone else and feel like you have very little left. You feel disconnected from yourself and don't quite know where to start. You feel guilty every time you try to prioritise yourself. Or you simply want permission — backed by psychology and neuroscience — to finally stop abandoning yourself. About Suzy Reading: Suzy Reading is a chartered psychologist, yoga teacher, coach and the author of ten books on self-care and mental health, including How to Be Selfish, The Self-Care Revolution and Stand Tall Like a Mountain. She is one of the UK's most trusted voices on wellbeing and has spent two decades helping people build sustainable habits for head, heart and body. This episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your own clinician before making changes to your health. Topics: self-care | self-compassion | somatic therapy | nervous system healing | burnout recovery | energetic bankruptcy | shame | self-abandonment | coming home to yourself | inner child | how to be selfish | Suzy Reading | somatic holds | awe hunting | perimenopause mental health | self-worth | emotional numbness | self-limiting beliefs | yoga therapy | psychologist self-care | seven steps self-care | nervous system regulation | hand on heart practice | wellbeing psychology Suzy's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suzyreading Suzy's website: https://www.suzyreading.co.uk Follow The Health Review: https://www.instagram.com/the.health.review ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

The Wearable That Treats Depression at Home Without Medication — Flow Neuroscience's CMO Explains

One in four adults in England is living with anxiety or depression. That's not a statistic from a bad year — it's the finding of the most rigorous long-term mental health survey in the world, and the trajectory has been heading in one direction for three decades. We are, by any measure, in a mental health crisis. And the treatments we have been relying on — antidepressants, talking therapies with months-long waiting lists — are simply not reaching enough people, fast enough. In this episode of The Health Review I sit down with Dr Kultar Garcha — Chief Medical Officer at Flow Neuroscience, and a GP with deep experience in mental health treatment. Flow has built something genuinely remarkable — a wearable medical device that treats depression at home, without medication, by delivering gentle electrical stimulation to the precise area of the brain that goes underactive in depression. It has now been used by over 60,000 people across Europe and the UK, is being prescribed across seven NHS trusts and over ten services, and recently became the first device of its kind to receive FDA clearance in the US — backed by the largest ever at-home tDCS randomised controlled trial, published in Nature Medicine. We cover: Why depression and anxiety rates have risen so sharply — and why young people are being hit hardest What depression actually feels like from the inside — and why around half of people who have it are never diagnosed What's happening in the brain during depression — the prediction engine, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and why it's the key target How Flow works — transcranial direct current stimulation explained in plain terms, and what it actually feels like to use it The Nature Medicine trial — 57.5% of patients in remission at 10 weeks, with responses beginning as early as three weeks Why 67% of patients already on antidepressants achieved remission when they added Flow The NHS results — including an 80% reduction in depression symptoms and up to 75% drop in suicidal ideation in crisis services The side effect profile compared to SSRIs — and what Dr Kultar wasn't told about antidepressant side effects during his own medical training Why some people feel trapped on antidepressants and can't get off them — and what alternatives now exist This episode is for you if: You or someone you love has struggled with depression or anxiety and hasn't found the right treatment. You've been on antidepressants and want to understand your options. Or you're simply curious about where mental health treatment is heading and why brain stimulation technology is one of the most exciting frontiers in medicine right now. About Dr Kultar Garcha: Dr Kultar Garcha is Chief Medical Officer at Flow Neuroscience and a practising GP with extensive experience in mental health treatment. He oversees all real-world evidence and safety data at Flow and is currently leading research into Flow's applications for women's mental health including perimenopause, postnatal depression and PMDD. This episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your own clinician before making changes to your health or treatment. Visit Flow Neuroscience: https://www.flowneuroscience.com/ Use the code THEHEALTHREVIEW for 15% off the Flow Device. Follow The Health Review: https://www.instagram.com/the.health.review/ ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

The Hidden Psychological Cost of Our Tech Obsession — A Cyberpsychologist Explains | Dr Elaine Kasket

Technology is doing something to us. Not just to our productivity or our sleep — but to our relationships, our identity, our capacity for genuine human connection. And most of us are only just beginning to understand the scale of it. In this episode of The Health Review I sit down with Dr Elaine Kasket — chartered counselling psychologist, cyberpsychologist, author of Reset: Rethinking Your Digital World for a Happier Life and one of the world's leading experts on how technology reshapes our inner lives. Elaine has spent two decades at the intersection of psychology and technology and brings something genuinely rare to this conversation — the clinical depth to understand what is happening to us psychologically and the intellectual honesty to say it clearly. This is one of those conversations that makes you want to put your phone down the moment it's over. We cover: How technology is deliberately designed to manipulate our behaviour and push us toward specific usage patterns — and why knowing that isn't enough to change it Why we have developed a genuine psychological dependency on our devices The concept of attentional infidelity — being physically present with someone while mentally elsewhere — and what it costs our closest relationships Why a genuine relationship with AI is not possible — the absence of reciprocity and what that means for the millions of people forming emotional bonds with AI companions The fundamental human needs that technology exploits — to be seen, to feel important, to know that our thoughts and feelings matter to someone What research shows happens to infants when a parent's attention is captured by a phone — and why it matters more than we realise Why serving others remains one of the most powerful sources of meaning and happiness — and how technology quietly erodes our capacity for that This episode is for you if: You've ever felt uneasy about your relationship with your phone but haven't been able to articulate why. You're curious about what AI relationships actually mean for human connection. Or you simply want to understand what technology is really doing to the people you love. About Dr Elaine Kasket: Dr Elaine Kasket is a chartered counselling psychologist, cyberpsychologist and author of Reset: Rethinking Your Digital World for a Happier Life and All the Ghosts in the Machine. She is a visiting professor at the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath and has spent two decades exploring how technology reshapes wellbeing, relationships, work and identity. She appears regularly on the BBC, CNN, ITV and beyond. This episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult your own clinician before making changes to your health. Topics: cyberpsychology | technology and relationships | AI relationships | attentional infidelity | screen time | digital dependency | phone addiction | human connection | AI companions | technology and mental health | digital wellbeing | Elaine Kasket | Reset book | technology psychology | social media psychology | phone and relationships | AI and loneliness | digital identity | technology manipulation | human needs | meaning and purpose Dr Kasket's website: https://www.elainekasket.com/ Follow The Health Review: https://www.instagram.com/the.health.review/ ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.