Prevention is Cure

A Herald story revealed New Zealand households spend $20 million a year on energy drinks, and some people are drinking two litres a day just to get through a shift. In this episode Prof. Grant Schofield and guest co-host, Sam Schofield unpack the predatory marketing with energy drinks aimed squarely at young boys, why a single 500ml can hides 13 teaspoons of sugar and 160mg of caffeine, and the B6 toxicity risk almost nobody talks about, with recorded cases here in NZ and Australia.
From there:
- Are "sugar-free" lollies just a clever scam? Should governments regulate the food environment the way they regulate everything else?
- A surprising new zinc trial where people lost nearly 3× more weight on the same calories.
- The real story on seed oils and your cell membranes, which is more nuanced than the internet tells you.
- And why the coming robot age might make some of us healthier, not sicker.
This is general discussion, not medical advice. Talk to your own clinician before changing anything.
Got a guest or topic you want us to cover? Drop it in the comments.

In this episode of Prevention Is Cure, Prof Grant Schofield and Sam Schofield dive deep into the most explosive topic in metabolic health right now - have we actually cracked weight loss and aging? From the latest GLP-1 triple agonists showing 30% body weight loss, to gene therapies that can reverse the age of individual cells, the science is moving faster than most people realise.But here's the uncomfortable truth: 9 out of 10 people regain the weight when they stop. The "Ozempic personality" is real. And the first human trial of Yamanaka factor therapy just began.
We cover:
→ The 4 weight loss options (and which actually works long-term)
→ The newest GLP-1 drugs you've never heard of — and can't pronounce
→ What "food noise" is and why killing it might cost you more than hunger
→ Longevity escape velocity — the first person to live to 1,000 may already be born
→ Yamanaka factors and the science of reversing cellular age
→ Why Grant believes prescribing these drugs without behaviour change is unethical

🎙️ Prevention Is Cure with Prof Grant Schofield & Guest Host Sam Schofield
Subscribe for conversations on metabolic health, longevity, and the science of living well.
#weightloss #GLP1 #Ozempic #longevity #metabolichealth #preventioniscure

Prof Grant Schofield speaks with Paul Alden, a 38-year veteran firefighter turned author about his upcoming book The Amplified Mind. Drawing on his experience watching EMTs lose critical thinking capacity when protocols replaced diagnostic reasoning, Paul draws a striking parallel to what's happening right now with AI adoption across every profession.

They explore why the sequence matters, generating your own ideas before turning to AI, and how "synthetic fluency" is quietly eroding our agency, creativity, and capacity to learn. From the five-minute rule to the Google Effect, Paul shares practical disciplines for staying the author of your own thinking rather than becoming an editor of AI output.

The Amplified Mind is available on Amazon from May 26th. Pre-order from May 22nd at theamplifiedmind.ai.

From the Hardiness podcast with Dr Paul Taylor

If you think ease and comfort are the keys to happiness, think again. This episode explores how deliberately embracing life's challenges, through movement, fasting, cold exposure, and mental resilience, can transform your health, happiness, and purpose. Grant Schofield, an esteemed researcher and author, reveals that life's true reward lies in choosing the hard path, strong in the knowledge that it leads to a more vibrant, resilient life.       

Choose your path, and in doing so, choose your future. And for those ready to take action, Grant’s new book Choose Your Hard distils these powerful principles into actionable step because the path to a better life is a deliberate choice.

00:00 The Role of an Emeritus Professor
02:57 The Academic Publishing Industry
05:54 Understanding Misogi and Personal Challenges
09:00 Fasting and Autophagy Explained
12:01 The Science of Metabolism and Immune Function
15:04 Psychological Aspects of Fasting
17:58 Preparing for a Fast: Strategies and Mindset
20:58 Physical Responses and Adaptations During Fasting
25:51 The Role of Stress in Health
27:28 Choosing Your Hard: Embracing Life's Challenges
35:19 Agency and Responsibility in Health
40:10 Movement: The Foundation of Health
46:43 Dopamine: The Devil's Seesaw
52:41 Hard vs. Soft Dopamine: Resetting the System
53:28 The Irony of Pleasure and Pain
55:24 Facing the Elements: Hot and Cold Exposure
01:01:38 Understanding Emotions and Their Ownership
01:05:18 Finding Meaning and Purpose in Life

Prof Grant Schofield is joined by Sam Schofield on this episode that dives deep into the placebo, and 'nocebo' effect, exploring how belief, self-narrative, and perceived feedback can measurably change your physiology, performance, and recovery. From Roger Bannister's four-minute mile to sham knee surgeries, sleep score dangers, and the milkshake study, this episode makes the case that the mind is the most underused lever in health and medicine.