What is Health?

Oliver Barnett
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  • Alternative Health

After two decades in clinical practice and 25,000+ patients helped, Oliver Barnett has learned that the wellness industry answers this question too quickly and too incompletely. Oliver is the founder of the London Clinic of Nutrition, a multidisciplinary practitioner spanning functional medicine, naturopathy, and mind-body healing and a relational therapist trained in Internal Family Systems and Terry Real’s Relational Life Therapy. His conclusion after all of it? You cannot separate the health of your body from the health of your relationships. What is Health? is the podcast that explores exactly that. Clinically grounded, honest, and deeply human, this is the conversation most practitioners never have. New episodes on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Episodes

  1. 1d ago ·  Video

    Episode 6: Hurt People, Hurt Children. Breaking the Cycle of Generational Trauma

    Where do you feel it in the body? In this episode of What Is Health, Oliver Barnett is joined by Kate Marion, a former homeopath who now teaches awakening as embodied consciousness, a way of working that brings together the somatic, the psychological and the spiritual. Kate shares her story of growing up in a deeply traumatic household and deciding at just six years old that she would be the one to break the cycle. She describes how homeopathy changed her family’s life, how her work evolved over two decades, and why real healing means bringing awareness back down into the body, not just rising above it. Oliver opens up about a pattern he has seen in nearly every chronic illness patient across his career: early attachment wounds, years of coping, then a stressor such as a virus, burnout, a breakup or a bereavement, after which “the wheels fall off.” Together they explore why the place where symptoms show up in the body so often mirrors where emotion has been held since childhood, and why lasting recovery often depends on integrating what happened early in life. The conversation then turns to parenting: why so many parents are “hurt children trying to parent children,” how to repair in the moment when you get it wrong, the balance between freedom and limits, the impact of screens and social media on kids, and why children need support to become who they are rather than who we want them to be. In this episode: Kate’s journey from a traumatic childhood to homeopathy and embodied spiritual workThe trauma–chronic illness pattern Oliver sees in his patients, and the “freeze state”How unexpressed impulses get trapped in the body, and what helps release themSomatic experiencing, Internal Family Systems and Compassionate InquiryBreaking generational patterns and the power of apologising to your childrenPermissive vs. disciplinarian parenting, limits, play and the outdoorsScreens, social media and growing up too fastIf you’re in need of support, find the London Clinic of Nutrition at londonclinicofnutrition.co.uk.

    Episode 6: Hurt People, Hurt Children. Breaking the Cycle of Generational Trauma

  2. Oct 19 ·  Video

    Episode 5: Perimenopause, Hormones and the Midlife Squeeze. What Women’s Health Gets Wrong

    Women’s health is finally getting the attention it deserves, but there’s still a long way to go. Perimenopause can begin years before periods change, and many women are told they’re “fine” while struggling with anxiety, poor sleep and symptoms that don’t fit a neat diagnosis. In this episode of What Is Health, Oliver Barnett is joined by two guests with a special interest in women’s hormones: Dr Anu, who runs London Bioidentical Hormones and is co-author of an upcoming book, Nutrition, Hormones and Mental Health, and Daisy, a nutritional therapist at the London Clinic of Nutrition who specialises in immunity, women’s hormones and complex health conditions. In this episode: How women’s health has changed, from “all women do is cry and bleed” to growing attention on research and advocacyWhy perimenopause is so often missed, and why early signs can include anxiety and insomnia rather than irregular periodsThe “midlife squeeze”: career, young children, ageing parents and unpaid workload, and what that does to stress and hormonesWhy later motherhood is normal, and why the term “geriatric pregnancy” needs to goWhy mainstream care can be a one-size-fits-all approach, and why testing and individualised support matterBioidentical, body-identical and synthetic hormones explained, and why the labels confuse so many womenEndometriosis: the roles of gut health, inflammation, immune function and estrogen metabolism, plus the idea of looking after “the house that houses the hormones”Acute vs chronic stress, why “cortisol is bad” is too simple, and how to think about itWellness data vs medical-grade data: how far to trust wearables and HRV scores, and when something like a glucose monitor may helpWhy healthspan matters just as much as lifespanThe views shared are those of the speakers, based on their clinical experience, and are not a substitute for medical advice. Please speak to your GP or a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to hormone therapy or supplements. The London Clinic of Nutrition has supported thousands of people to get to the root cause of their health concerns. If you’re in need of support, find the team at londonclinicofnutrition.co.uk. Subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode.

    Episode 5: Perimenopause, Hormones and the Midlife Squeeze. What Women’s Health Gets Wrong

  3. Oct 19 ·  Video

    Where Did Functional Medicine Go? Influencers, Supplement Hype and the Quick-Fix Trap

    Morning stacks, gadgets, pendants and the next “must-have” protocol. Is any of it really functional medicine? In this episode of What Is Health, Oliver Barnett is joined by two experienced functional medicine practitioners, Steve Grant and Paul Burgess, to ask where functional medicine is today and how it has drifted from what it was meant to be. With decades of clinical experience between them, they talk candidly about what they see in practice. In this episode: What functional medicine originally was: a process for working with a person, not a qualification or a productWhy so much of what’s marketed as functional medicine online is a watered-down versionHow social media and influencers spread advice that has been repeated from person to person, often far from the original researchWhat to look for in a supplement: ingredients, doses and whether the evidence is for the product or just the individual nutrientsWhy people look for “the pill for the ill” and keep moving to the next protocol when the last one didn’t workWhy health is rarely down to one factor, and how physical, emotional and social influences all play a partHow practitioners build trust with people who have already seen many others without resultsThe pros and pitfalls of using AI for health advice, including why the quality of what you put in matters, and why they believe it works best as a tool for professionalsWhy they feel the conventional healthcare system wasn’t designed around keeping people wellThe views shared are those of the speakers, based on their clinical experience, and are not a substitute for medical advice. The London Clinic of Nutrition has supported thousands of people to get to the root cause of their health concerns. If you’re in need of support, find the team at londonclinicofnutrition.co.uk. Subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode.

    Where Did Functional Medicine Go? Influencers, Supplement Hype and the Quick-Fix Trap

  4. Oct 19 ·  Video

    When Your Tests Come Back Normal: Why Trauma, Relationships and Your Story Matter for Health

    You’ve had the tests. Everything came back “normal.” So why do you still feel unwell? In this episode of What Is Health, Oliver Barnett is joined by Caroline, clinic manager at the London Clinic of Nutrition and the first person most clients speak to when they get in touch. Caroline asks the questions she hears every day from people who have already tried a lot of avenues and are worried the process won’t work again. Oli answers from nearly 20 years in clinical practice. In this episode: What life is like at the front door of the clinic, and why feeling heard from the very first call mattersWhy many people come to us after being told “everything’s normal,” and what to do when tests don’t give an answerWhy a diagnosis often matters less than understanding the type of person who has the conditionHow standard GP reference ranges differ from the narrower functional ranges, with an iron and ferritin exampleWhy the “case history” and the story behind the symptoms are so important, and the intake question that often points to the answerHow Oli’s approach has evolved, from 500 hours of CPD a year and up to 50 patients a week, to building a team and a “hive brain”The role of early life experience and developmental trauma in chronic and complex health conditions, and how Internal Family Systems and body-based enquiry can helpWhy Oli became passionate about relational work and couples therapy, and how stronger relationships can support healthWhy “physical medicine” and emotional work work best togetherThe views shared are those of the speakers, based on their clinical experience, and are not a substitute for medical advice. The London Clinic of Nutrition has supported thousands of people to get to the root cause of their health concerns. If you’re in need of support, find the team at londonclinicofnutrition.co.uk. Subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode.

    When Your Tests Come Back Normal: Why Trauma, Relationships and Your Story Matter for Health

  5. Oct 19 ·  Video

    What's Really Behind the Rise in Autism and ADHD?

    Autism and ADHD are on the rise, and so are the number of parents looking for answers. At the London Clinic of Nutrition, up to 60-70% of enquiries at times now come from parents of children with autism or ADHD. So what’s going on? In this episode of What Is Health, Oliver Barnett is joined by Paul Foley, a functional medicine practitioner from the London Clinic of Nutrition with a growing clinical focus on neurodiversity, to explore why diagnoses are climbing and what families can do to support their children. In this episode: Three ways of understanding neurodiversity: trauma and epigenetics (Gabor Maté), genetics (Russell Barkley) and an evolutionary view (Daniel Lieberman), including the “beehive” analogy of scouts and detail-keepersWhy diagnostic criteria keep widening, and what that says about the society we’re asking children to fit intoScreens, attention and the difference between true ADHD and attentional problems that develop from overuseWhy a school system built around sitting still for eight hours may be a mismatch for how children evolved to learn and moveThe role of environmental toxins and why preconception health mattersWhy a diagnosis alone often leaves parents without tools, and how a functional medicine approach can sit alongside therapies like speech therapy and ABAThe testing Paul often starts with, from gut permeability to mould and mineral analysisHow attitudes to neurodiversity echo the way depression was once dismissedThe views shared are those of the speakers, based on their clinical experience, and are not a substitute for medical advice. The London Clinic of Nutrition has supported thousands of people to get to the root cause of their health concerns. If you’re in need of support, find the team at londonclinicofnutrition.co.uk. Subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode.

    What's Really Behind the Rise in Autism and ADHD?

  6. Oct 15 ·  Video

    What Is Health in 2026? Why We’ve Forgotten How to Live

    We have more health information than any generation in history, yet lifespan has stalled and healthspan is shrinking. So what is health in 2026? In this first episode of What Is Health, Oliver Barnett is joined by Lelani, naturopath, herbalist and nutritionist at the London Clinic of Nutrition, and Mark, who shares his journey from corporate life to years of travelling the world, a serious health breakdown, and the recovery that led him into the health industry. Together they unpack why modern life has become so disconnected from how we’re built to live, and what you can realistically do about it. In this episode: Why light, screens and indoor living are such a problem for sleep, metabolism and insulin sensitivityLifespan vs healthspan: why we’re living longer but sicker for longerHow to cut through conflicting advice from influencers, biohackers and “experts” who all have something to sellWhy real food is the foundation, including the ultra-processed food study that had participants eating 500 extra calories a dayA simple challenge: one week of real food, nothing out of a packetPractical tips on steaming, water quality and what you cook withWhy the healthcare system is built for acute care, not chronic health, and what the panel would change, from more time with patients to informed consentMark’s “leaky bucket” and “operating system” analogies for why so many protocols and supplements fail to deliver lasting resultsWe can’t live in a bubble, but we can make better choices in the world we’re in. The London Clinic of Nutrition has supported thousands of people to get to the root cause of their health concerns. If you’re in need of support, find the team at https://londonclinicofnutrition.co.uk/ Subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode.

    What Is Health in 2026? Why We’ve Forgotten How to Live

  7. Season 1, Episode 1 Trailer ·  Video

    What Is Health? Cutting Through the Fads, Myths and Biohacking

    In a world full of fads, myths and biohacking, it’s hard to know what really matters for your health. Welcome to What Is Health, hosted by Oliver Barnett. Together with his team from the London Clinic of Nutrition and a line-up of special guests, Oli is on a mission to separate the noise from the signal and share the insights you need to optimise your health and help everyone live well. In this short introduction, Oli shares what the podcast is all about and what you can expect from future episodes. The London Clinic of Nutrition has supported thousands of people to get to the root cause of their health concerns and reduce the impact of poor health on their everyday lives. If you’re in need of support, find the team at londonclinicofnutrition.co.uk. Subscribe now so you don’t miss the first full episode.

  • 1 Trailer
    6 Episodes

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About

After two decades in clinical practice and 25,000+ patients helped, Oliver Barnett has learned that the wellness industry answers this question too quickly and too incompletely. Oliver is the founder of the London Clinic of Nutrition, a multidisciplinary practitioner spanning functional medicine, naturopathy, and mind-body healing and a relational therapist trained in Internal Family Systems and Terry Real’s Relational Life Therapy. His conclusion after all of it? You cannot separate the health of your body from the health of your relationships. What is Health? is the podcast that explores exactly that. Clinically grounded, honest, and deeply human, this is the conversation most practitioners never have. New episodes on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Information

  • Creator
    Oliver Barnett
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    7
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 What is Health?
  • Show Website
    What is Health?