Health Versus Wealth With Dr Ben

In the first of a two-part conversation, gut health expert Vaughan Wickins tells Dr Ben Sinclair about his passion for the topic. Vaughan’s website sells online mini-courses on gut health, he has a new book (‘Gutwise’), and he also hosts other digital courses, in-person live talks & workshops. Why is he devoted to raising people’s awareness of gut health? “It struck me how little gut health is understood. Breathing is even less understood,” he says.

Moving to the UK from South Africa in 2005 in his mid-20s, he spent 15 yrs in the City of London in mining finance. He worked “a minimum of 12-hour days, from before 9am to 9pm”, eating very late at night, takeaway food at his desk, sleeping around 6 hrs nightly, working “hunched over a desk and screen”. It was around this time his gut health issues surfaced, in his early 30s. It surprised him because he enjoyed exercise, had a voracious appetite and didn't put on a lot of weight. “But I thought I was healthier than I actually was.”