Speaker Q&A: Dr Marilyn Glenville
In the run-up to camexpo 2015, we’re asking our speakers to tell us more about themselves. First up is Dr Marilyn Glenville PhD – the UK’s leading nutritionist specialising in women’s health, discussing her approach to diet and nutrition and what she loves most about her work.
A keen supporter and regular speaker at camexpo for years – Dr Glenville is the former President of the Food and Health Forum at The Royal Society of Medicine and author of a number of internationally bestselling books, including The Nutritional Health Handbook for Women.
What do you love most about your work?
My passion is nutrition and it is wonderful to see how more research and evidence is emerging as to the impact diet and lifestyle has on peoples’ health and especially for women, which is my special interest. And this beneficial effect is not only on their present health but in terms of prevention as well.
I love most being able to help women through difficult stages or problems in their life, whether that is through the menopause, prevention of osteoporosis or any hormonal issues. Also being able to help a couple conceive and have a baby after they have spent many years thinking that they would never get pregnant.
What’s the single biggest challenge in your work?
The challenges are coming from the regulation where it will be more difficult to show what the natural therapies can do. We need to see this as an opportunity to get more creative and find legitimate ways to work around and within the new regulations, challenge where we can, and push forward, because we know from our clinical and personal experience just how effective and beneficial the natural approach can be, and people should be able to choose how they look after their health.
What’s your specific approach to diet & nutrition?
My approach will vary depending on the particular problem that someone needs help with. But in general my overall aim would be to help that person learn about a way of eating that becomes a way of life, rather thinking of a ‘diet’ which is only temporary.
I think supplementation can be important to help improve digestion, hormone balance and detoxification.
And I think that testing can be extremely helpful in terms of checking for nutrient deficiencies, assessing stress levels, measuring hormones and investigating digestive issues. I also think that re-testing is important to make sure that the nutritional intervention has been effective.
What’s one emerging trend or research that anyone working in your field should know?
That inflammation may be the root cause of all our degenerative illness, including cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, dementia and cancer.
People might wonder why they would ever want their body to produce inflammation but it is important at the appropriate time. For example, when someone is under attack from a bacteria or they have cut themselves, they need their body to react quickly and create heat, pain, soreness, and redness even, to make the blood clot faster as it mobilises the immune system to either attack the bacteria or start healing the cut.
What we don’t want is chronic, persistent inflammation going on in the body, as that can lead not only to visible signs, such as joint pains, arthritis, swollen gums and colitis, but also serious illnesses, such as heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, dementia, osteoporosis and cancer.
What are the key points you’ll be covering in your seminar at this year’s camexpo?
• Dementia is now the leading killer of women, causing three times more deaths than breast cancer, and it is the third biggest killer for men
• The financial cost of dementia to the UK is £26 billion per annum
I’ll be exploring the difference between dementia and Alzheimer’s, and how the risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s increases with age. This means as people age, they are more likely to develop it and will be looking for ways to slow down the progression. People will also be aware of a strong family history risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s and will want to know what they can do to work on prevention.
My talk will show how certain vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids can support concentration, sharpness and focus. Also, how mental health can be improved, and the risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia reduced, through diet, lifestyle and understanding which key nutrients play a role in keeping the brain active.
In addition to your session, why would you recommend practitioners/nutritional therapists visit camexpo?
I think that camexpo is the practitioner and therapist event of the year. For two full days, everything is under one roof for access to top quality seminars, workshops, supplement and natural product companies.
