CONTRIBUTORS

PAST: Roderick, a GP for a quarter of a century, has a longheld interest in preventative medicine and the impact on our health of everyday decisions, particularly nutrition (an area all but absent from medical school training in the 1980s). This saw him experimenting with fairly unusual vegetable- and nutrientrich smoothies long before they became the trendy café go-to.

PRESENT: His multi-practitioner practice in Auckland specializes in aged care and serves a dozen rest home facilities from the North Shore to Manukau. This experience, of being the “ambulance at the bottom”, has driven his most recent work in developing new insights into “building the fence at the top”. He has completed extensive research into the causes of and solutions to inflammation, longevity and the role of functional foods. His findings, detailed in his book The Internal Flame, led him to develop LifeGuard Essentials, a nutraceutical supplement containing five key bioactives that support healthy ageing. At the same time, Roderick gained a law degree and regularly appears in court as a barrister.

FUTURE: He’s keen to put the results of his extensive study to use in developing more products to help people — including himself — stay well longer and will be reporting on this work and his findings in the Well & Good column from this issue forward (see page 49). His book is available at thisNZlife.co.nz/shop and he is keen to develop more products to add to the LifeGuard range to allow people to use science to help them stay healthy. LifeGuard Essentials are available at lifeguard.health/shop