Interview with Heston Blumenthal

Heston Blumenthal is a British chef.

Gut-Brain Axis

Max Raskin: I want to start with your morning routine — when your eyes open in the morning, what happens next?

Heston Blumenthal: I lay in bed a little bit. I do a bit of a meditation lying in bed…we’re lucky we have a comfortable bed. Just being in the moment. I get up, I brush my teeth.

MR: Do you floss?

HB: No, I've got something called a Waterpik, which is a jet of water. I do it thinking about how my gut feels because there's microbiome connected to your teeth. Then I hang from a door for a minute.

MR: What do you mean you hang from a door?

HB: I just hang from a door which stretches my spine.

MR: Wow.

HB: And I've got this little Japanese monk who is a gardener. He's done a little Zen book — every day a little page. It could be making a cup of coffee mindfully. Taking you through the mindful process. One day, one page. Then I fill in a gratitude book.

I do some exercise because since my diagnosis — I'm bipolar — I've been on medication and the medication has helped give me quite a big tummy. So I'm in the process of trying to remove that. I take the mountain bike out and go for a run and then start.