My gorgeous friend Marnee was visiting London from California so I asked her what she wanted to do while she was in town. She was really keen to go to the Churchill War Rooms and I had never been so was happy to do try something new. The Churchill War Rooms are the underground rooms where Winston Churchill held office away from the dangers of The Blitz. It was fascinating to see these rooms preserved, holding so much history. What was even more fascinating was the life lessons I learned from the museum about Mr Churchill’s life. I thought I would share them with you here: Winston Churchill was 65 years old when he was made Prime Minister. We all often remember him for his role in WW2 but he had lived a whole life before that. He continued to work until he was 89, and only stopped due to ill health. Lesson: you are never too old to achieve what you want in life or to start again. When you love your work, it is not work, it is who you are. Before becoming Prime Minister, he had worked as a soldier, a journalist, he was the highest selling book author in 1900, won a Nobel Prize or his writing in 1953 and was a politician. When he was a war correspondent, he was kidnapped and made an escape and reached celebrity status. He used this celebrity to launch his political career. Lesson: Just because you are known for doing one thing there’s no reason why you can’t try something else, and be a success at it. He had many talents and hobbies – he enjoyed landscaping, bricklaying and painting. Lesson: it’s good to have a variety of different interests away from work to unwind. He had a lot of self confidence. One quote I love of his is “we are all worms, but I do believe that I am a glowworm”. Lesson: confidence in one’s worth and talents is not necessarily arrogance if it is backed up. Unless you are confident in what you do, it can be hard to be successful and fulfill your potential.  He was a troubled child. He was sent to boarding school and missed his parents so often ‘acted out’ and got low grades. Lesson: what you achieve in school doesn’t have to be an indicator of what you will achieve in life.   He was married and devoted to his wife and children. In his first letter to her after their first date, he wrote that it was lovely to meet a woman who was strong and had intellect. She is often sited to being his rock and confidant and advised him on many political matters including the handling of WW2. Lesson: strong men admire and need strong women.  He was apparently extremely difficult to work for. He needed silence at certain times of the day, and he could be difficult to his staff. Yet they all said that it was a pleasure to work for such a great man. Lesson: it is important to be respected for what you do and who you are.   He changed political parties, from what would have been conservative back then to labour. Lesson: a man of conviction and honour, he wasn’t afraid to change parties, he would rather follow what is right than what was conventional.  He had a strong personality. He could be short with people, had a sharp tongue was very witty and also had a style – he was known for his cigars and bow ties. Lesson: having a strong personality and an individual style is important. Not everyone might like you but everyone will remember you. Churchill suffered with depression, which he referred to his ‘black dog’. Lesson: mental health issues are not a weakness or a flaw, some of the greatest people suffer with depression. He is responsible for some amazing quotes: “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” Lesson: an inspiring man we can all learn from, who’s life and ethos is still relevant today as it was in the 1940s.

It’s been a year since my book ‘The Tiredness Cure’ came out. Most people would think that this is a cause for celebration….after all it’s been selling relatively well, I get emails from people who’ve read it and feedback from patients coming to see me who say they’ve found it inspirational and its generated some good publicity about holistic health and about my work. However if I’m being completely honest, over the last year the book has felt like a noose around my neck. I haven’t felt proud, I’ve felt ashamed and a fraud and I haven’t been able to enjoy the achievement of writing a book at all, I would flinch whenever anyone asked if I’m writing a second book, and I’ve tried to run away from it as much as possible. I wrote my book with the desire to help people, the same reason why I became a doctor. There wasn’t anything else like it around for the British public and I had a desire to share my knowledge and just try and make things better for people struggling with their health and not living their best life. I felt it was a great little book, written in my ‘easy to understand’ style, full of practical tips and covering everything from nutrition to meditation to supplements to hormones to exercise. Of course to be truthful I also hoped it would generate some good publicity for me too and establish me as an authority and my aid my career. It would be dishonest to say I wasn’t hoping for a bit of praise for my amazing concept and a little bit of ego-stroking. I didn’t expect Oprah to call me with congratulations, but I did expect….something big. Even a year on I feel a slight sense of shame because of the backlash from the dairy community. I made a mistake and became ‘Most Hated’ with the UK dairy farmers who were positive I was launching an all-out war to put them out of business. I misquoted a reference I found and had wholeheartedly believed, as it is so widely reported in the nutrition community, about ‘pus cells’ and hormones in milk. However it turns out it’s an American stat not a British/European one. And I am not American, nor is my book published there. When writing my book, there were key areas that I thought might offend people, and had prepared what to do about a backlash for them, but the milk thing caught me totally off-guard! It’s really hard to make a mistake, but to make it so publicly via The Daily Mail is really painful. A tiny quote had been magnified completely and put my credibility at risk. If the book was read as a whole, people would have seen one of the key messages is to buy from local farmers, and to not completely cut out any type of food if you don’t have a problem with it. But that wasn’t made clear and obviously I took responsibility for the mishap. It was a dark time for me where articles were written about me in the Farmer’s Guardian, I received constant hate mail via social media and I stopped taking care of myself (doing pretty much the opposite of everything in the book!), I cancelled my book launch party, completely stopped writing and turned down a load of speaking events. I would never intentionally try to hurt anyone or try and victimise a certain group of people. Most doctors don’t try and hurt people that way. I was trying to be authentic and got it wrong. I’m trying to be the most authentic person I can be and that includes admitting when I am wrong, scared or unhappy and saying sorry, as well as sharing my skills and being proud of all that I am – good and not as good. I did a lot of ‘letting go’ of past baggage recently (but we’ll save that for another blog post!) and I’m finally willing to let this go too. I’m the author of The Tiredness Cure and I’m proud I’ve written a book which is good and I tried to contribute to the world and help people. If you haven’t read it you really should! Here’s what I’ve learned over this last year: 1) People will be far more vicious to you over the internet than they ever would to your face (I assume) because they forget you are a person with feelings and insecurities, just like them. 2) If you want to go out and do anything in this world you’ll probably make some mistakes. A good friend of mine said at the time ‘at least you’re out there trying to contribute to the world ‘. That kept me going during tough times. 3) When being given a lot of different advice from different groups of people, it’s probably best to follow what feels most authentic and in keeping with your values, not the best “PR” line. Ultimately I was responsible so I had to step up and trust myself to get through it. 4) If you want to do anything in life, you have to get used to being embarrassed. I hope you’ll never be publicly embarrassed via a national newspaper and farming forums, leading to everyone you’ve ever known hearing about it, but still, it’s a good idea to get used to dealing with humiliation. Once you’re over it, nothing will ever phase you again and you’ll be out there taking risks and living life on a whole different level. 5) Don’t hide your light, the world will move on with or without you…..and you’ll wake up old (if you are lucky enough to make it to old age) and wonder where your life went and why you didn’t take more chances. 6) The hardest thing is to say you are sorry and admit a mistake, but it will liberate you to do so. 7) If you know you’re coming from a good place, then fear not, you will find a way around things to make it right again. 8) You know who your friends are when the sh*t hits the fan. 9) There’s no such thing as ‘you only get one chance’, you make chances in this life. If you feel you’ve blown a chance, work hard to create another. 10) My darling father – the only man so far in my life who has always been there for me and my hero – listened to me sob and panic down the phone one day about what’s going to happen if I get struck off and lose my career, and he calmly and patiently said, ‘when it happens, then we deal with it, until then let’s not worry about it’. That’s just good advice for everything in life. He should write a book, he’s also far better at attention to detail than I am….. 😉

Today is A Level results day in the UK and it brings up a lot of memories for me. It is the day where you see if your hard work has come to fruition and if you’ve gotten in to university. Here’s some things you may not know about me. I didn’t get good enough grades to get my place at Cardiff University to do medicine. So although I had what most people would consider good grades, I went home after picking up my results from school sad and disappointed. However obviously you know that isn’t how the story ends, as about 3 weeks later (after I’d made a plan to resit a couple of my A-Levels) I got a phone call from Southampton University offering me a place for medicine in their clearing scheme. Before that call I’d been very blue indeed as I had failed my driving test that day. I was very upset but, hey, here I am now, a full qualified (and very good, may I add!) driver. Here’s something else you might not know about me. I failed my first year of medical school and had to do summer re-sits. I got confused and thought university was just for partying and forgot about the studying bit!! Why am I telling all these things? The point I am trying to make is that I was devastated when my A-Level grades weren’t good enough, but it all worked out fine. I thought it was the end of the world when I failed my driving test, but it’s no big deal now. I was gutted when I failed my first year of uni, but it’s hardly hindered my future success. The things we feel are a big deal at the time, often have no impact later on. Failure makes us more resilient. My friend Helen told me she asked her gran who was in her 80s for some advice in life, and gran said ‘I wish I’d worried less’. Because in the end, I guess everything works out just as it should do, and worrying just spoils the ride. Start to see the positive side of failure.

So I was at a wedding on the weekend of one of my dearest university girlfriends. She’s finally met the love of her life and there was one hell of a celebration! I was really really happy for her. But also a bit nervous. I was seeing girlfriends I hadn’t seen for years, and was worried about how I would come across, how I would look, have I done well enough in life, would there be the inevitable questions about why I don’t have an ‘other half’ yet? So after choosing the dress and making sure my hair and make up was good, I arrived at the wedding and had a huge realisation. No one really cared that much! It wasn’t about me, we were hear to celebrate Lauren’s day and have a good time. Here’s something else I realised. Lauren is lovely and so are her girlfriends. These women knew me when I was a girl (but thought I was a grown up!) and we have seen each other’s mistakes and successes and will take each other’s secrets to the grave (I hope!!) and there’s nothing better than being around people who knew you before you were the ‘you’ you are today. Life can be so hectic, I found myself dancing to S Club 7’s Don’t Stop Moving and wishing for the days when I was a young and carefree student again. We all have worries and insecurities but most of the time they are bigger in our heads than they really are to the outside world. Most people don’t have time to be analysing everything you do or say so cut yourself, and them, some slack. I was reminded on the weekend of all the wonderful strong women I have in my life, even if I don’t see them often enough. We have a past and friendships together that we’ll always share and I hope we’ll be there to celebrate the triumphs and carry each other through not so good times in our future. So I implore you seek out the people in your life that you love and say hi and reconnect. There’s nothing more important than human connections, and I’m very glad I got to spend the weekend reconnecting with some of mine.

I regret that pages 86-92 of my book The Tiredness Cure includes some inaccurate information about dairy, wheat and meat. My publishers will include the new, corrected material in future reprints of the book. You can view or download the corrected pages by clicking the link below: The Tiredness Cure – (Corrected Pages 86-92)

I am sorry for any offence I have caused. That never was, or would be, my intention. I am not against dairy. I drink milk and love cheese. I simply believe in good-quality production. I fully support the UK’s strong regulations and believe they are one reason why our food production industry is one of the world’s best. That said, people should be aware of what can go on in the wider, global food industry beyond the UK’s borders. I wish I had made that distinction clearer.

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is well and enjoying the start of the festive season! Last week I was in California for the American College of the Advancement of Medicine’s conference (ACAM). I wanted to share some of the things I learnt in the USA with you as I know you are interested in health and well-being. The first big news was that  chelation,  which is a intravenous drip formulation process to bind molecules and remove them from the body, has been proven to be very effective in reducing coronary artery disease, especially in diabetic patients. This is big news as it could avoid the need for lots of people having bypass graft surgery. Here is an article reviewing the results of the trial:  http://www.mayoclinic.org/medicalprofs/trial-to-assess-chelation-therapy-cvuv10n4.html I was able to attend a workshop to learn first hand how to carry out this therapy which was really informative and am looking forward to implementing it in to my practice in 2014. I also had the opportunity to have a  thermography  scan. Thermography measures areas of heat in the body and therefore can pick up early subtle changes before symptoms can occur. I am overall a healthy and well person, yet my scan picked up that I have high oestrogen changes in my breasts, probably from deodorant use that blocks the glands in my armpits. If not corrected these changes could lead to breast disorders and possibly cancer in the future. It also detected an area of dysfunction in my thyroid gland, even though I have not been diagnosed with an underactive thyroid before. It may sound odd but I was quite pleased with these results, because I haven’t felt quite right for a while and it was good to get an answer to why, and also have something I can now correct through supplements and lifestyle changes.  I am glad I invested in myself to be able to make changes now that will benefit my health in the future. I also learnt about the way.  nutritional deficiencies can negatively effect conditions such as depression, autism and other mental health disorders  and stop them fully responding to treatment. For example the speaker, William Walsh, explained how he has found that high copper levels and low zinc levels are commonly seen in autism, and when corrected the condition improves. I am now checking for nutritional deficiencies in all my patients with mood and mental health problems. The big news is about  glutathione . Glutathione is a very important antioxidant in the body that is needed to improve so many conditions. It can be made from alpha lipoic acid and also can be supplemented in a liposomal or intravenous form. I am definitely implementing it in to my treatment plans with patients. There was also lots of fascinating research about using  stem cell therapy  for cancer and the emerging speciality of Regenerative Medicine. It is exciting for the future and the further developments for treatment. It was also interesting to learn how  resveratrol  is a great adjunct to conventional cancer therapy, and is useful in preventative medicine. It was fantastic to meet so many other integrative doctors and practitioners and learn from them. There are many exciting developments happening out there and research is happening.  It is wonderful that there are so many new and innovative treatments for conditions that can be devastating, so don’t give up. This is the future of medicine.

I recently was interviewed by Meddebate, a blog for medical students: Dr Sohère Roked   is a General Practitioner with a specialist interest in Integrative medicine. Her passion is to help empower patients to take control of their healthcare, using a range of tools to achieve this. Born in England and brought up in Wales, she studied medicine at Southampton University and graduated in 2003. She has worked across hospitals in England and Wales, in the specialities of A&E, general medicine and surgery, women’s health, otolaryngology, and spent 3 years working as a psychiatrist before becoming a GP. It was this broad knowledge of medicine that made her realise that the current conventional medical practise is far from complete. 1. Could you tell us a bit about your background and why you decided to become a doctor? I’m from South Wales and always wanted to be a doctor so I could help people. My dad is a GP and I grew up watching him be a valued and respected member of the community and I wanted to emulate this. 2. Could you explain what integrative medicine is and when it was first introduced? Integrative medicine involves looking at a person as a ‘whole’ and using the best of conventional and alternative therapies that have scientific evidence. The main principles are that the practitioner and patient work as partners to achieve the healing process. All aspects are considered to achieve good health, such as the mind, spirit, social factors as well as the body. Both conventional or alternative medicine should be considered to help stimulate the body’s innate healing response, and wherever possible natural options that work in synergy with the body should be used. These principles have been around for years but integrative medicine was first introduced into clinical practice in the 90′s. 3. How has your prior experience in psychiatry influenced your current practice? Read the article in full here: Read More…

I’ve been a doctor for 10 years. I have seen thousands of patients. I’ve seen patients die and I’ve broken bad news. I’ve spoken to countless relatives of sick people. I have dealt with crash calls and emergencies and traumas. However, nothing prepares you for when it is your own family. I went with my aunty to her consultant appointment to get the results of her tests for a mass in her stomach. Sitting in the waiting room, hoping for the best, preparing for the worst. I’ve been that doctor that people come to see for their results. It’s just part of my job. But when the shoe is on the other foot, you hang on to every word, and all your hopes and fears depend on what that doctor has to say. He controls the outcome of your destiny. Thankfully he didn’t think the mass was cancer. We all breathed a sigh of relief and instead of anticipating months of chemotherapy, nasty side effects and emotional trauma, there will be a quick operation, a period of recovery and the chance to get on with normal life. And as someone who has been in that situation, sat on the other side of the desk, I was surprised at how emotional I felt. How life could change in an instant. How it feels to be on the other side. A paediatric consultant once said in a lecture at medical school that he felt having children made him a better paediatrician. At the time I disagreed, but on reflection I think he was right. Empathy plus skill can be a doctor’s greatest tool if he/she has it. Having compassion and seeing the patient in front of you with emotions, a family, fear and hope is essential to do a job well. Unfortunately, this is often the first thing to go when one is under pressure and a time-led, target-driven service is the priority. Not only has this experience reminded me to take control of my own health, it has inspired me once again to see the real person sat in front of me, and to try and not be distracted by the targets and the fact there’s a queue of another 10 people waiting to see me. That person is someone’s aunty, mother, sister, friend – and someone loves them as much as I love mine. So the aim is to walk beside them, and keep remembering how it feels to be on the other side of the desk.

Most people avoid making New Year’s Resolutions that will improve their health because they are not confident about maintaining their new lifestyle, according to the results of a new survey revealed today. Sixty-three per cent of respondents said fear of failure put them off making positive changes to their lifestyle, while 17 per cent cited a lack of money, 11 per cent worried that they would become a different person if they altered their habits, and nine per cent said life wouldn’t be as fun. The poll was carried out by Dr Sohère Roked, a holistic GP who sees many of her patients struggle to make changes because they have put too much pressure on themselves, or have negative associations about improving their health. She says: “The best way to make positive and lasting changes to our health is to consider a holistic approach – one that embraces the body, mind and emotions. One reason people don’t succeed is that we tend to see being healthy as hard work – on the pleasure/pain spectrum it’s towards the ‘pain’ end. They key is to shift our mindset so that waking up with more energy, looking good and feeling fewer aches and pains is associated with pleasure. It can also help to visualise the end result, then break it down into manageable steps. So if we want to lose two stone by July, we imagine ourselves looking great in a bikini on the beach, but then plan the little lifestyle changes we will make each week in order to achieve that.” The number one goal for the majority of Britons is to lose weight  [1] , yet traditionally a large number  [2]   (nearly 90 per cent) fail, despite being confident of success at the outset. Dr Roked suggests: “If making lifestyle changes feels like too much after a busy and tiring time at Christmas, why not get your plan sorted in January, but don’t actually start it until February. This will give you time to get motivated and plan something that will really work for you. And choose things that you know you will enjoy – for example, if you hate running, don’t force yourself into believing it’s the only way to get fit. Your friends all might be doing the ‘Couch to 10K’, but if dancing or swimming feels more ‘you’, go with your instinct. When we do things that make our body and mind feel good, we’re much more likely to keep them up” . Notes to editors For more information or interviews, please contact Cat Dean on 07903 731 141 or email catdean76@yahoo.co.uk . Out of hours contact Sohère Roked directly on 07515 389 782, email  info@drsohereroked.co.uk . 190 people responded to the poll, which was carried out in October 2012 at www.holisticdoctor.co.uk . Dr Sohère Roked is a General Practitioner with a specialist interest in Integrative medicine. Her passion is to help empower patients to take control of their healthcare, using a range of tools to achieve this.She studied medicine at Southampton University and has worked across hospitals in England and Wales, working in the specialities of A&E, general medicine and surgery, women’s health, otolaryngology, and spent three years working as a psychiatrist before becoming a GP. It was this broad knowledge of medicine that made her realise that the current conventional medical practice is far from complete.Dr Roked has a strong belief that in order to achieve true health, you must look at the body in conjunction with the mind as the two are closely linked, something that is often overlooked in conventional NHS healthcare. She has studied with the British College of Integrative Medicine and has been taught by experts in the field from the UK, Australia and the USA.   [1]  Research study by Channel 4, 2011 [2]  A 2007 study from the University of Bristol found that 88% of those who set New Year’s resolutions failed, despite 52% being confident of success at the beginning

Term-time makeover: Top tips for a fresh start. Term-time makeover: Top tips for a fresh start.

Ten simple steps to ensure good night’s sleep. Ten simple steps to ensure good night’s sleep.