Real Health with Karl Henry

So, Christmas has been and gone and I hope you’ve had plenty – but not too much – turkey, ham and stuffing and been able to put your feet up and enjoy some downtime. We’re nearly done with 2020 and can put it all behind us but before we do, I’m joined by someone who has a very particular challenge for 2021., From the Den to TodayFM and back to RTE on the radio and TV on Saturday nights and with a...

With a week to go before Christmas, I thought, we could either do a show on fitness tips, getting healthy or how to work on your mental health but then I decided why not just have some craic and enjoy ourselves in the festive run-up? Who better to interview than two Tipp lads who have taken over the Irish podcast charts by storm and with TV shows, books, merchandise and whatever else you’re having...

Between Covid, lockdowns, Christmas and what 2021 has in store for us all, it can be hard to keep your spirits up and focus on the positive that is still out there. In the same way that you have to build good exercise habits and good food habits, you also need to build a positive mindset habit as well. Just how can you do this and how will it expand and benefit your life even more? Well, this week...

He’s the world’s fastest-growing online, personal trainer, is a global fitness sensation known for his no-nonsense approach to health and fitness training and I’m delighted to say that James Smith is this week’s guest on Real Health. His book in 2019, Not a Diet Book, was a huge best-seller and James is back with another hit called Not a Life Coach in which he challenges everything you thought you...

This week’s guest is maybe not one you would normally associate with Real Health, but I’m delighted to be joined by Lyra, the Cork singer-songwriter who is making serious waves in Ireland, the UK, and America. Lyra’s song Falling was featured in Grey’s Anatomy and nominated for Single of the Year at the RTE Choice Music Awards, while her hit single Mother featured on Spotify’s Viral Daily 50. Her...

For this week’s show I wanted to focus on your gut. Not your gut instinct or going with your gut, but gut health. It’s a topic I’ve covered before on Real Health but for this episode I wanted to focus the 10 myths around gut health. There are a lot of misconceptions and misinformation around the issue, so to find out more and to get some advice on how to best deal with your gut health, I spoke to...

For this week’s episode of Real Health I’m delighted to welcome Dr. Jason Fung back to the show. Dr. Fung is a Toronto-based nephrologist and a world leading expert in intermittent fasting and low-carb diets and when he spoke to me a few weeks ago his insights into the truth about calories in-calories out were a huge hit with our listeners and so he agreed to come back on to really delve into the...

For this week’s Real Health I’m joined by gym owner and fitness instructor Leeanne Moore to get some winter fitness tips to help in the coming weeks and months. The cold, dark evenings can make it hard to get motivated to go for a run or work out, but by keeping active in some small way every day, it will do wonders for your physical and mental well-being. Leeanne also talks about diet and nutriti...

With the clocks going back, winter and the dark nights are closing in, and as we prepare for six weeks of Level 5 lockdown, I thought this would be a good time to find out how we can help boost our immunity and increase Vitamin D levels or the ‘sunshine vitamin’ as we spend more time indoors. This week’s guest is Helena Scully a registered nutritionist and first author of a five year study from Tr...

This week’s show is part of a series I like to call ‘Life Lessons’ with some of Ireland’s most respected and most famous personalities and my guest, Francis Brennan, is certainly no stranger to Irish television screens having shot to fame on the RTE series At Your Service and of course Francis Brennan’s Grand Tour. Francis is also co-owner of the Park Hotel in Kenmare and author of best-selling bo...

This week’s Real Health is focusing on healthy eating and healthy living with one of Ireland’s leading fitness experts, Derval O’Rourke. Derval is a three-time Irish Olympian and former World Indoor Champion and after retiring from athletics she has become a best-selling author and also developed her own digital platform on health, nutrition and self-care at Derval.ie. Empowering people to live we...

This week’s Real Health guest needs no introduction to TV viewers having graced Irish and international TV for more than two decades from Ireland AM to the Big Breakfast, the Swan and Dancing with the Stars. But, as a former model and TV presenter, that brought with it its own difficulties and pressures to look ‘perfect’ on screen. Now aged 47, Amanda Byram has opened up about her darkest moments...

It’s fair to say that weight loss tips and weight loss interviews are some of the most popular episodes we have done on Real Health over the course of our three years. People are constantly struggling with their weight, lifestyle and exercise. Continuing my international masterclass series, the guest for this week’s show is Dr. Jason Fung who is a world-leading expert on intermittent fasting and l...

Since the Covid lockdown have you been one of the many, many people who have taken up bread making and are spending more and more time in the kitchen? Healthy cooking and healthy eating are a key mantra of mine here on Real Health and for this week’s show, since you’re getting to do more home cooking, why not find out how to do some healthy cooking that doesn’t have to be time-consuming or boring?...

My guest for this week’s Real Health wants to help you with what’s holding you back in life. Owen O’Kane is a psychotherapist, former NHS Clinical Lead and best-selling author who takes me through the ten tips that he says will not just make you happier, but ten times happier in yourself. From letting go of the past, having no regrets and stopping over-thinking, Owen explains that, ‘it’s about bei...

As we deal with a lot of uncertainty with regards to the future, it’s important to learn more about our minds and how to keep them fit and healthy and so for this week’s Real Health I’m focusing on the importance of mind over matter and why having the right mindset really can make all the difference in living a healthy life. Cognitive Behavioural Therapist, Niamh Connolly, of TheMindGym.ie, joins...

What if being lucky was a skill you could master? Can you create smart luck and even make ‘accidents’ more meaningful? Wouldn’t this be something that you’d try and develop to enrich your life? This week’s Real Health episode finds out about how you can develop this skill with Christian Busch, Director of the Global Economy programme at NYU and author of ‘The Serendipity Mindset: The Art & Science...

It’s hard to believe, but September is only days away one of the strangest of summers is coming to an end. It’s also back to school time and it’s probably one of the most fraught and nerve-wracking returns to school that we have seen with Covid cases on the rise and no end in sight to the pandemic. So, with an increase in cases, the fall-out from Golfgate and people adhering to government measures...

It’s been an incredibly tough couple of months and with the summer coming to an end and schools returning, people are looking to get their lives back on track – or at least trying to. On this week’s Real Health episode, with some great tips and advice, I’m joined by broadcaster and performance coach, Anna Geary. Anna talks to me about the difference between self-love and also being prepared to cha...

For this week’s show we’re going on a bit of a scientific adventure into a lost art and science. We do it 25,000 times a day without being aware of it or even asking if we’re doing it the right way or can do it better. What am I talking about? Breathing of course, and how many of you would think that we’ve in fact lost the ability to breathe quickly? My guest, James Nestor, is a writer and journal...

If you had a second chance at life, what would you do differently? For this week’s Real Health, I speak to Brian Pennie, who says he shouldn’t be alive today. With a drug addiction so bad that he was deemed too much of a risk for detox, he was determined to confront his demons and he went cold turkey at home which is when his life truly began. After 15 years of chronic heroin addiction, he was fin...

For this week’s Real Health, I’m joined by someone who seemed to have it all. She was a model and TV and radio presenter but then decided to leave it all behind to backpack around the world for two years. In that time, only by leaving it all behind did she find true freedom and happiness which she has now chronicled in her best-selling debut book, Jump. Daniella Moyles spoke to me about finding yo...

This week’s episode of Real Health is a short one but in just ten minutes I give you ten simple life swaps that will transform your health. From your health to your sleep, energy and life overall, I’m giving you ten suggestions of ten things you can easily swap from your life. Do one, a few, or even all ten but I promise you will find they make a huge difference in your life. Stay healthy and safe...

Competitive freediving champion, Claire Walsh, joins me on this week’s Real Health to talk about breathing techniques and how it can improve your wellness and even enhance performance. Claire can hold her breath under water for 5m59 seconds diving to a depth of 60m – the equivalent of the height of Dublin’s Liberty Hall – and she tells me why she decided to give up the day job to concentrate full...

The topic for this week’s Real Health is one that I’m sure affects so many of you out there. You might be eating well and exercising regularly but…..do you still get afflicted with the late night nibbles, the bedtime munchies or evening snack time pangs? You’d be surprised just how many people out there reach for their favourite crackers, crisps, biscuits, whatever it is! But today’s episode is go...