This remarkable conversation with Dr. Alex Richardson covers the development of her research that was some of the first to demonstrate the influence of food and nutrition on mood and behaviour. Dr. Richardson has been hugely influential in putting nutrition for mental health on the map, especially in areas such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD, depression and schizophrenia. From genetics, biochemistry, and nutrition to physiological and psychological functioning, we explore diverse themes relevant to everyone.

About our guest:

Dr Alex Richardson is a world-renowned researcher, educator, speaker and published author; and the Founder Trustee and Scientific Director of the UK-based charity, Food and Behaviour (FAB) Research. Based at the University of Oxford for 30 years, the impact of her 90+ peer-reviewed publications places Dr Richardson in the top 3% of academic researchers worldwide.

In addition to her work for FAB, she is currently a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Bournemouth, Research Consultant for the Centre of Nutrition and Behaviour at the Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humberside NHS Trust, and research collaborator with the Dept of Psychology at the University of Swansea.

Alex is best known for her research into how nutrition (particularly fatty acids) can affect behaviour, learning and mood, as her pioneering clinical trials were the first to show that dietary supplementation with omega-3 (and omega-6) fats can improve behaviour and learning in children with dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD and related conditions; and that this approach may also help many other children without such diagnoses. She also published some of the earliest reports of successful nutritional approaches to both depression and schizophrenia in young adults, which have subsequently been confirmed and extended by others.

Her work has always been highly inter-disciplinary and collaborative, involving several large-scale collaborative programmes that include studies of epidemiology, genetics, brain imaging, biochemistry and nutrition as well as physiological and psychological functioning. Her main interests centre on the role of nutrition in brain health, and its implications for behaviour, learning and mood, particularly in relation to: neurodevelopment, mental health, links between mental and physical health.

Alex’s research has also always been primarily aimed at developing new methods of identification and management that will have real practical benefit.

In addition to her role as a founder director of FAB Research, she also helped to found the Dyslexia Research Trust, was a co-opted Trustee and Scientific Advisor to the Dyspraxia Foundation, served on the Biomedical Research Committee of Autism Unravelled, and liaised closely with the Hyperactive Children’s Support Group, among many others.

Guest websites and links:

• https://www.fabresearch.org

Selection of our guest’s publications:

• Montgomery P, Burton JR, Sewell RP, Spreckelsen TF, Richardson AJ. Fatty acids and sleep in UK children: subjective and pilot objective sleep results from the DOLAB study–a randomized controlled trial. J Sleep Res. 2014 Aug;23(4):364-88.
• Richardson AJ, Burton JR, Sewell RP, Spreckelsen TF, Montgomery P. Docosahexaenoic acid for reading, cognition and behavior in children aged 7-9 years: a randomized, controlled trial (the DOLAB Study). PLoS One. 2012;7(9):e43909.
• Richardson A. They Are What You Feed Them: How Food Can Improve Your Child’s Behaviour, Learning and Mood. Harper. 2010.
• Cyhlarova E, Montgomery P, Ross MA, Richardson AJ. Niacin skin test response in dyslexia. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2007 Aug;77(2):123-8.
• Richardson AJ, Puri BK. A randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the effects of supplementation with highly unsaturated fatty acids on ADHD-related symptoms in children with specific learning difficulties. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2002 Feb;26(2):233-9.