#324 Can Multivitamins Help Treat Depression, Anxiety and Prevent Mental Health Issues? | Professor Julia Rucklidge

The Doctor's Kitchen Podcast

Dr Rupy Aujla

Medicine, Healthy Eating, Improving Health, Food And Lifestyle, 868329, Healthy Recipes, Doctor's Kitchen, Mental Wellbeing, Nutritional Medicine, Lifestyle, Mindset, Dr Rupy, Wellness, Health And Wellbeing, Nutrition, Health & Fitness, Health Goals

4.8 • 2.5K Ratings

🗓️ 19 November 2025

⏱️ 154 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Coming into this podcast my opinion was that multivitamins are just not worth it. Whether that’s for general wellbeing, cardiovascular health, sleep and especially mental health, I just was not convinced that they did anything at all.

But I specifically wanted to speak with Professor Julia Rucklidge, clinical psychologist and Director of the Mental Health and Nutrition Research Lab at the University of Canterbury, because she has a very different opinion.

Julia’s groundbreaking research and viral TED Talk have transformed how psychiatrists and mental health practitioners think about nutrition and mental illness, especially the potential of broad-spectrum micronutrients to support mood, focus, and resilience.

We explore:

💊 Why “no single ingredient solutions” matter, and when multivitamins might actually help
🧬 How stress, inflammation, and modern farming have changed our nutrient needs
🧠 The mechanisms linking nutrients, mitochondria, and neurotransmitters to mood and cognition
👩‍🔬 The evidence for micronutrients in ADHD, PMS, Depression and Anxiety
🥗 How to choose quality supplements and avoid the hype

If you’ve ever wondered whether taking a daily multivitamin is worth it or how food and nutrients impact the brain, this episode will challenge your assumptions and expand your understanding of nutrition for mental wellbeing.

Julia has made me reconsider my personal perspectives on multivitamins, and I’m excited to dive deeper into this topic on future podcasts and with our internal research team.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	If you're skeptical about multivitamins like I am, this is the podcast to listen to because it might just change your mind.
0:12.4	Hi, I'm Dr. Rupi. I'm a medical doctor and nutritionist. And when I suffered a heart condition years ago, I was able to reverse it with diet and lifestyle.
0:21.9	This opened up my eyes to the world of food as medicine to improve our health.
0:27.3	On this podcast, I discuss ways in which you can use nutrition and lifestyle to improve your own well-being every day.
0:34.9	I speak with expert guests and we lean into the science, but whilst making
0:39.3	it as practical and as easy as possible, so you can take steps to change your life today. Welcome to
0:46.3	the Doctor's Kitchen podcast. Coming into this podcast, my opinion was that multivitamins are just not worth it.
0:57.9	Whether it's for general wellbeing, cardiovascular health, sleep and especially mental health,
1:02.9	I was just not convinced that they did anything at all.
1:06.2	But I specifically wanted to speak with Professor Julia Rucledge, clinical psychologist and director
1:13.0	of the Mental Health and Nutrition Research Lab at the University of Canterbury, because she has a
1:18.8	very different opinion. Julia's groundbreaking research and viral TED Talk have transformed how
1:24.7	psychiatrists and other mental health practitioners think about nutrition
1:29.2	and mental illness, especially the potential of what she calls broad spectrum micronutrients
1:37.9	to support mood, focus and resilience. So today, we're going to talk about multivitamins specifically in the context of
1:46.1	mental health. We're going to talk about why there are no single ingredient solutions and where
1:51.8	multivitamins may actually help, how stress, inflammation and modern farming have changed our nutrient
1:59.1	needs, their mechanisms linking micronutrients and
2:04.0	the mitochondria and neurotransmitters to mood incognition, the evidence for micronutrients in ADHD,
2:11.1	PMS, depression and anxiety, and how to choose quality supplements and avoid the hype if you
2:17.3	choose to try them.
2:19.3	Now, if you've ever wondered whether taking a daily multivitamin is worth it or how food
	...

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