Ioannis Zabetakis
Ioannis Zabetakis writes about how everyday foods affect heart health, translating cardiovascular and nutrition science into practical advice on what to eat and why it works. His coverage links specific dietary choices with lipid profiles and heart disease risk, using his research background in food chemistry and cardiometabolic health to interrogate claims about “good” and “bad” fats.
Heart health through everyday diet choices
Zabetakis focuses on how common foods can help lower cholesterol and support cardiovascular health, often organising pieces around a small set of concrete choices a reader can make. In his article on four foods that could improve cholesterol and boost heart health, he highlights everyday items rather than specialist products, framing them as tools to manage LDL and HDL levels through diet. His work explains mechanisms such as how particular fats, fibres, and bioactive compounds influence blood lipids and inflammation, and he connects these mechanisms back to clinical endpoints like heart disease risk. Across his coverage he treats diet as a primary lever in cardiovascular prevention, emphasising what can realistically be incorporated into a normal eating pattern.
Evidence‑first framing of cholesterol and lipids
His writing on cholesterol consistently foregrounds current research on lipids, lipoproteins, and cardiovascular disease. He draws on epidemiological and clinical findings about how dietary patterns affect atherosclerosis, triglycerides, and markers like lipoprotein(a), and he situates individual foods within those broader patterns rather than treating them as isolated “superfoods.” When he discusses alcohol, for example, he examines how red wine consumption relates to HDL cholesterol and overall cardiometabolic risk, weighing any potential benefits against the wider evidence on alcohol and heart disease. Detailed reference to lipid biology, inflammation, and endothelial function gives his articles a technical spine while keeping the focus on actionable conclusions.
Academic perspective and functional foods
Zabetakis writes as a working scientist as well as a contributor to the press, and that shapes both his topic choices and how he frames uncertainty. He is an Associate Professor in food chemistry at the University of Limerick, with research work on lipids and cardiovascular disease and on how specific components of foods affect inflammation and heart health. In addition to journalism he edits and writes on functional foods and their role in health promotion, linking the development of new food products to measurable effects on cardiometabolic risk factors. This background leads him to stress whole‑food matrices, food quality, and the interaction between nutrients and processing, rather than focusing solely on isolated nutrients like saturated fat or omega‑3.
Translating complex nutrition research for a broad audience
His articles are structured to move from problem to mechanism to practical recommendation. He often starts with a familiar concern such as high cholesterol, then explains the underlying biology of lipids and inflammation, and finally narrows down to concrete dietary changes involving specific foods or food groups. He uses simple, direct language to describe complex concepts like lipoproteins, plaque formation, or dietary intervention, aiming to make clinical and biochemical research intelligible without diluting the science. Throughout, he treats food choices as part of a preventative strategy for cardiovascular disease, connecting everyday eating with long‑term heart health outcomes.
4 more health journalists.
Alex Storey
Alex Storey is a journalist at LBC whose work is driven by specific cases that test professional conduct and accountability in health and the public sector. He covers health as his main beat, focusing on the point where individual decisions by clinicians or officials meet public trust in institutions. His reporting is incident-first and case-led, using concrete episodes to show how rules, ethics and policy work in real life. Recent pieces include a disciplinary case where a nurse was struck off after linking a patient’s cancer to Covid jabs, and coverage of civil servants being “paid to play Grand Theft Auto” as “lived experience” training. Across these stories, he examines how professionals, regulators and officials explain their decisions, and what that reveals about trust, responsibility and the standards expected of people in positions of authority.
Alexandra Thompson
Alexandra Thompson is an assistant news editor focused on health who treats health claims as hypotheses to be tested rather than messages to be repeated. She works at New Scientist, combining editing with frontline reporting on ageing brains, cognitive health, chronic illness, contested treatments and infectious disease. Her beat centres on how neuroscience and psychology intersect with everyday health choices and on how scientific findings translate into real-world outcomes for people living with illness. She examines lifestyle advice, rehabilitation programmes and outbreak guidance against current evidence, clarifying risk without overstating it and giving space to controversy without sensationalising it. Alongside written news she appears in audio and video formats, bringing the same clear, news-driven approach to live discussions and helping shape the daily health agenda while keeping a tight focus on evidence and impact.
Alice Wilkinson
Alice Wilkinson investigates how everyday habits, products and routines shape sleep and long-term wellbeing, using test-driven health features to separate hype from real benefit. She holds a senior role on The Telegraph’s health features team, writing and shaping consumer-focused coverage that blends personal trial with clear expert evidence. Her core beat is sleep as a practical, solvable part of daily life, from detailed comparisons of magnesium supplements to service pieces on how sleeping position affects health over time. She treats supplements as a crowded, over-claimed market that demands careful testing and clear-eyed reporting. Alongside long-form features she writes weekly health desk dispatches on sleep, stress and concentration. Across her work she combines substantial self-testing, specialist insight and plain, unfussy prose to give readers measurable, realistic changes they can make.
Ally Head
Ally Head connects performance-focused fitness reporting with women’s health, sustainability and relationships, using her own endurance training and health history to stress-test trends against expert guidance. She is Senior Health, Sustainability and Relationships Editor at Marie Claire UK, where she shapes the health agenda across training, wellbeing and conscious living and writes and commissions news, topical features and SEO-led long-form pieces. A ten-time marathoner and Boston-qualifying runner, she focuses on structured, realistic training plans, strength and conditioning for women who run, and performance longevity. Her women’s health work centres on hormones, chronic conditions and fact versus fiction wellness claims. She also covers sustainability as conscious living and relationships, mental resilience and lifestyle features, favouring plain language, lived experience, specialist commentary and clear, repeatable routines. She has previously produced similar content for Women’s Health, Stylist, Glamour and Grazia.