Politicians: Stuck in scientific purgatory in election year

The evidence for reversing chronic disease and improving metabolic and mental health is here. New Zealand’s biggest political parties aren’t listening.

With a general election scheduled for November 2026, I thought I would review the health policies to identify which parties understand that many of our chronic illnesses, many of the chronic diseases now common in New Zealand can be reversed or substantially improved through policies that increase education, support, dietary counselling and access to good nutrition.

Health is key to life quality, to holding a job, sustaining a relationship. Sickness results in lower employment capacity, poorer living standards and greater social challenges.

Every political party says it wants a healthier New Zealand. Yet almost every health policy begins only after people become patients. We debate how to fund diabetes, heart disease, depression and obesity, but devote remarkably little attention to preventing them. If the emerging science on metabolism and brain health proves substantially correct, the greatest opportunity is not building a bigger healthcare system, but creating a healthier population that needs less healthcare in the first place.

Across all the major parties, we are not seeing health policies, we are seeing medical and sickness policies. It’s more of the medicalised, multimorbid … same, with no recognition of the potential for prevention and reversal of these conditions.

Disclosure: I wrote PSGR white paper Reclaiming Health: Reversal, Remission & Rewiring. Understanding & Addressing the Primary Drivers of New Zealand’s Metabolic & Mental Health Crisis. I also played a role to support the development of the Make New Zealand Healthy policy platform.

Between the Reclaiming Health paper and Make New Zealand Healthy’s proposed solutions, there was more than enough material on the table to fundamentally reshape New Zealand’s health landscape, to move toward an evidence-based approach that supports health at every stage of life.

That’s because a significant and growing body of scientific evidence shows that low-carbohydrate diets, which reduce glucose spikes and high, unstable insulin levels – also reduce the risk of a whole spectrum of common chronic illnesses: prediabetes and diabetes, cardiovascular disease, poor mental health, many autoimmune conditions, and cancer.

What if changing our diets could substantially alter disease risk across that entire spectrum – and improve mental health at the same time? What if broad-spectrum, brain-health-formulated multinutrients could be offered to people for whom conventional anxiety and depression medication isn’t working – people with uncomfortable side effects, children, and pregnant women?

What if there was strong evidence that our current low-fat dietary guidelines, which downplay animal protein, are contradicted by a large body of research suggesting those guidelines were never built on rigorous science? If there was substantial evidence that it isn’t just sugar that’s addictive, that refined, low-fat carbohydrates are part of the craving story too? That would explain why health coaching matters: not just to teach people new dietary behaviours and skills, but to help them navigate craving and temptation that isn’t simply ‘sugar’s fault’ but related to ultraprocessed foods that are engineered to exploit our reward pathways.

What if all of this information simply does not seem to exist for our major political parties?

Most political parties claim to support prevention, but prevention without a plan is simply rhetoric. Few identify the biological drivers of today’s chronic disease epidemic, explain how those drivers can be modified, set out the programmes needed to support people, identify who should deliver them, or define how success should be measured. In effect, the major parties lack a coherent policy framework for preventing and reversing metabolically driven chronic disease.

You don’t have just one health condition

The BBC recently reported that more young women in their 20s are getting type 2 diabetes. We’re seeing increased risk for metabolic conditions including diabetes, heart disease and cancer in younger and younger age groups. If not corrected with dietary support, these people get sicker faster, from a much wider range of conditions.

When people are diagnosed with pre-diabetes, diabetes, heart disease, anxiety, depression, cancer and a wide range of other metabolic and brain-related conditions, they are immediately at risk of the spectrum of conditions in this same list. These are known as overlapping and multimorbid conditions (two or more diagnosed conditions).

This includes metabolic syndrome which includes the overlapping conditions of hypertension, dyslipidaemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, obesity, and inflammation, and people with these conditions are more likely to be diagnosed with a mental illness or brain-related disorder including depression and anxiety.

Metabolic syndrome, as a cluster of conditions is increasing in prevalence. What the data tells us is that if you are diagnosed with metabolic syndrome you are more likely to suffer from mental illness. If you have poor mental health you are likely to have poor metabolic health. Our young people are being diagnosed with all of these conditions at much younger ages than their grandparents.

Can politicians & health agencies afford to ignore multimorbidity?

Multimorbidity is common, and frankly, a scourge on society. More medicine to deal with more symptoms is not health. It’s more common to have multiple health conditions than a single condition, and a recent survey identified 4-10 prescribed medicines per person as common, and a maximum of 53 medications prescribed to one person.

The societal cost of multimorbidity is super-additive and multimorbidity occurs a decade earlier in deprived communities. The cost of diabetes alone is extraordinary.

But what if dietary changes (particularly in the first six years) result in the remission of diabetes, and better lipid panels, but also improve mood and wellbeing? What if a major New Zealand study had just been published, showing multiple centres that adopted low carbohydrate support programmes for patients – reporting improvements across pakeha, Māori and Pacific populations?

Evidence increasingly suggests that total daily carbohydrate intake, not simply sugar consumption, influences glucose variability and chronically elevated insulin levels.

These metabolic disturbances are closely linked with mental health and neurological function through multiple biological pathways. This knowledge is increasingly well supported in the scientific literature, is critically important for developing youth, pregnant women and for people who either do not respond to conventional psychiatric medication or who suffer from relatively common, serious side effects.

Doctors, scientists, dieticians, psychologists and psychiatrists speaking up

This is why a growing international group of clinicians and researchers, including medical doctors (e.g. David Unwin), psychologists (Iain Campbell) and psychiatrists (Christopher Palmer and Georgia Ede) are recommending lower-carbohydrate dietary approaches emphasising nutrient-dense whole foods, adequate protein and healthy fats.

As part of this shift, these people and escalating numbers of scientists, are highlighting that current dietary guidelines vastly overstate the carbohydrate intake, while understating high quality fat and protein intake. Search for low carbohydrate and ketogenic in the scientific literature.

The guidelines are increasingly difficult to reconcile with the modern evidence base.This revolution is exciting, it’s a game changer for public health, and New Zealand scientists and doctors including Professor Grant Schofield, Professor Julia Rucklidge, Professor Caryn Zinn, Dr Marcus Hawkins and Dr Glen Davies are actively publishing their findings in the scientific literature. Yet those findings are not being translated into policy or routine clinical practice.[i] [ii] [iii] [iv] [v] [vi] [vii]

Policies could be enacted to support metabolic & mental health

Metabolic health coaching could be integrated into primary care, mental health, and addiction services to reduce diabetes burden, improve mental wellbeing, and lower long-term system costs.[i]

New Zealand’s Professor Julia Rucklidge’s findings should be game changing for our mental health policy. Rucklidge has been involved in researching SSRIs in pregnancy (during and after) and the role of broadspectrum multinutrients (that can be used alongside traditional medications) in reducing risk for anxiety, depression, ADHD, OCD, schizophrenia and – well – safely support brain health in growing children and even help grumpy irritable teenagers to navigate the ups and downs of adolescence.

Well studied broadspectrum nutrients could easily be a first-line or early-stage intervention option for vulnerable populations, particularly  where current treatments carry significant side-effect burdens or are poorly tolerated. ‘Potential priority populations could include children and adolescents with ADHD or mood dysregulation, pregnant women experiencing anxiety or depression, individuals with treatment resistant mental health conditions, and patients who experience severe adverse effects from  antidepressant medications’[ii]

Although public good knowledge such as this can and should inform health agencies and political decision-making, these findings continue to be widely ignored by our members of Parliament and the political parties with the greatest influence over health policy.

The Reclaiming Health paper lays out that story and the science behind it, ending with recommendations grounded in published research. Make New Zealand Healthy (MNZH), meanwhile, released a series of policy papers. A few MNZH examples:

End the epidemic of chronic disease focussed on dietary guideline reform; fixing food taxes, restoring quality school lunches to low decile schools and better regulating food advertising.

Put prevention at the heart of healthcare laid out a detailed metabolic health solution which included increasing screening to better evaluate chronic disease risk; implementing health coaching to mitigate and reverse diabetes, diabetes and support mental health; fund multinutrient supplementation to support anxiety, depression, including for pregnant women, youth and treatment resistant people, or people with extreme side effects from traditional treatment; and better support doctors and clinicians.

Implement quality nutrition education throughout the school curricula from primary school all the way to undergraduate health and biomedical studies.

Establish a statutory Institute for Human and Environmental Health Research and ensure that researchers have ring-fenced funding to research metabolic illness, brain health, nutritional health, and research health risks from environmental chemicals that increase disease risk.

Remove Pharmac Barriers to recognised safe nutrients to ensure that nutrients aren’t over-regulated, making them more difficult for people to access.

Yes people have tried to bring this to the attention of our MPs

All Members of Parliament were emailed an open letter and the Reclaiming Health paper on 22 January 2026. The leaders of the major political parties received an email from Make New Zealand Healthy on 17 April 2026 to advise of the policy platform.

Having now reviewed the health policies of every party – large and small – I’ve summarised what I found, and it’s clear: the major parties, the ones with sitting MPs, have ignored all of our recommendations. Whether individual MPs tried to get traction on any of this behind the scenes, I can’t say.

What I can say is this: the major parties remain focused on more medication and more screening, while some of the smaller parties are at least attempting to grapple with the chronic disease crisis.

While I expected National, Act and Labour to revolve around more medicine I was surprised to see how poor New Zealand First and the Greens approach to health and nutrition was. Perhaps something is in the offing, but it’s late July…

I was most surprised to see the quality of content in the newly named Freedom (former Outdoors and Freedom Party) and New Zealand Loyal* policies. I’ve tried to summarise them, but from my perspective, the Freedom policies deserve to be heard. We have to stop pretending that there are only five political parties.

What we’re left with is a set of dominant parties with no language for the rising tide of chronic illness in younger New Zealanders, and an ethical and moral vacuum where people struggling with illness, unable to live at their full potential, are simply left behind, struggling with multimorbidity and polypharmacy and simply – recommended more drugs.

Who are you going to vote for?

Registered political party

• ACT New Zealand
• Animal Justice Party Aotearoa New Zealand
• Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party
• Conservative Party NZ
• Freedom Party
• New Zealand First
• New Zealand Labour Party
• Opportunity Party
• Te Pāti Māori
• The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand
• The New Zealand National Party
• Vision New Zealand
• Women’s Rights Party

Other parties awaiting Electoral Commission approval are included. (*)

Health policies of each party

ACT New Zealand

Official policy: Health Policy.

ACT has not published dedicated health policies to mitigate and reverse the current epidemic of chronic illness through policies that improve metabolic and mental health. It’s health policy centres around three goals:

1. Expand public–private partnerships in health.
2. Remove remaining race-based health policies.
3. Increase transparency and performance measurement.

Alliance Party of Aotearoa New Zealand

Official policy: Education, Health, Housing, Social Security and Media.

Free health care. The Alliance Party lacks dedicated health policies to mitigate and reverse the current epidemic of chronic illness through policies that improve metabolic and mental health.

Animal Justice Party Aotearoa New Zealand

Official policy: Animal Justice Party Aotearoa New Zealand, Policy Browser.

The party has not published a detailed human health policy platform. Its health-related positions are principally framed through the interconnected health of people, animals and the environment.

Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party

Official policy: Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party, policy platform.

Health policy revolves around cannabis reform.

Conservative Party NZ

Official policy: Conservative Party NZ, policy platform.

The party currently publishes relatively limited detailed health policy. Its health-related positions emphasise personal choice, family authority and preventative care.

New Zealand First

Official policy: New Zealand First, policy platform.

New Zealand First lacks a health policy. New Zealand First lacks dedicated health policies to mitigate and reverse the current epidemic of chronic illness through policies that improve metabolic and mental health.

New Zealand Labour Party

Official policy: Labour’s 2026 election policies, including its health package.

Labour lacks dedicated health policies to mitigate and reverse the current epidemic of chronic illness through policies that improve metabolic and mental health. Labour health policies revolve around lowering barriers and increasing access to medical services and screening treatments.

• Free doctor visits
• Free prescriptions
• Free maternity scans with Medicard
• Free cervical screening

Freedom

Official policy: Health & Wellbeing Policy.

The party proposes a fundamental shift from a treatment-focused health system towards one centred on prevention, whole-person care and informed patient choice. It would invest in high-quality epidemiology to better understand the causes of chronic disease, establish integrative medical centres combining conventional and complementary approaches, expand access to allied health practitioners, functional medicine and nutritional support, and introduce a Real Food Strategy to improve access to affordable, healthy food. The policy also supports greater investment in oral health, pregnancy care, community health initiatives, non-invasive diagnostic technologies, research into alternatives to antibiotics, injury prevention, and regional clinical toxicology services.

In mental health, the party advocates moving beyond a predominantly biomedical model by recognising the psychological, social, environmental and nutritional contributors to illness. It proposes comprehensive physical-health assessments before psychiatric medication is prescribed where appropriate, expanded nutritional and functional-medicine support, longer-term residential rehabilitation services, holistic approaches to addiction recovery, and greater attention to housing, education, employment, financial security and childhood trauma as determinants of wellbeing. It also proposes strengthening patient rights through the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights, increasing the proactive role of the Centre for Adverse Reaction Monitoring (CARM), and reforming abortion law.

Official Policy: Our Objectives

No health policy.

The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand        

Official policy: Complete Party Policy

The Green Party lacks dedicated health policies to mitigate and reverse the current epidemic of chronic illness through nutritional and dietary policies that improve metabolic and mental health.

The Opportunity Party

Official policy: Healthy People.

• Develop a process for cross-party planning on a ten year timeframe for the health system.
• Launch ‘spend-to-save’ primary and prevention initiatives, including digital health and AI tools.
• Fund core health services properly, including ambulances, GPs and health infrastructure.
• Increase pay and improve conditions for health sector workers and increase training placements and quality to ensure we have the workforce we need.
• Reinstate smokefree 2025 legislation.

These broad commitments do not have detailed policy information. TOP lacks dedicated health policies to mitigate and reverse the current epidemic of chronic illness through policies that improve metabolic and mental health.

Te Pāti Māori

Official policy: Health Policy.

• Rebuild and strengthen a Māori-led health authority and Māori-led health services. Make services more accessible and culturally safe.
• Shift health-system priorities towards prevention and whānau wellbeing, rather than primarily responding to crises.

These broad commitments do not have detailed policy information. Te Pāti Māori lacks dedicated health policies to mitigate and reverse the current epidemic of chronic illness through policies that improve metabolic and mental health.

New Zealand Loyal*

Official policy: Health

New Zealand Loyal’s health policies focus strongly on the prevention and potential reversal of chronic illness through improvements in metabolic, mental and environmental health. The party proposes a new health framework centred on prevention, patient-centred care, natural and integrative medicine, and greater access to healthcare through decentralised community clinics and hospitals. It supports expanding mental health services, reducing waiting times, increasing community-based support, and moving away from the traditional chemical imbalance model towards a trauma-informed neurodevelopmental approach. The party also advocates research into emerging psychiatric treatments, including psilocybin, MDMA and cannabinoids.

The party places particular emphasis on environmental determinants of health, proposing policies to reduce exposure to environmental toxins through measures such as removing fluoride from public water supplies, banning the use of 1080 poison, and promoting organic farming. It also proposes stronger transparency and accountability within the health system through an independent health watchdog responsible for investigating complaints and improving oversight.

New Zealand National Party

Official policy: Quality, Timely Healthcare

National lacks dedicated health policies to mitigate and reverse the current epidemic of chronic illness through policies that improve metabolic and mental health.  National health policies revolve around lowering barriers and increasing access to medical services and screening treatments, increasing cancer drug funding, increasing hospital funding, increasing elective surgery numbers, and increasing crisis/acute mental health services.

Vision New Zealand*

Official policy: Human Rights and Healthcare

Vision lacks dedicated health policies to mitigate and reverse the current epidemic of chronic illness through policies that improve metabolic and mental health.

Vision proposes to increase health professional salaries; to improve GP access and reduce specialist waitlists across local towns; fully fund Plunket and increase financial support for pre-natal and post-natal care for mothers and infants; review and reform existing legislation that endangers the lives of unborn children and to boost funding for university health degrees and provide incentives for domestic students to enter medical professions.

Women’s Rights Party

Official policy: Policy documents

The party has not published a detailed human health policy platform.

It was a surprise to me, that Freedom and New Zealand Loyal would stand out as the only parties with a significant direction to addressing metabolic health issues.

PSGRNZ (and I presume Make New Zealand Healthy) would welcome interviews and discussions with MPs and politicians on the topics of our policy recommendations. As charities we can email parties equally to share information, but we do not lobby individual people or parties.

Elections are ultimately about choices. Voters can decide whether they want another election fought over waiting lists, hospital beds and medicine budgets, or whether they want to ask a different question: why are so many New Zealanders becoming chronically ill in the first place? The scientific literature is increasingly attempting to answer that question. The challenge now is whether our politics is prepared to do the same.

If you share this frustration, don’t just express it in the comments. Please email this article to your MP, the Minister of Health, your local candidate and relevant health agencies, then share it with your family, friends and social media networks. If enough New Zealanders put this evidence in front of decision-makers, it becomes much harder to ignore.

As a final note, I would like to apologise to ‘that friend’ who has been asking me to look at the Outdoors and Freedom policies, – for years. I’ve finally looked!

References

[i] Zinn C, Campbell JL, Fraser L, Davies G, Hawkins M, Currie O, Cannons J, Unwin D, Crofts C, Stewart T, et al. (2025) Carbohydrate Reduction and a Holistic Model of Care in Diabetes Management: Insights from a Retrospective Multi-Year Audit in New Zealand. Nutrients.17(24):3953. DOI:10.3390/nu17243953

[ii] Owen, A., Driscoll, A., Kleissl-Muir, S., Zinn, C., & Rasmussen, B. (2023). Exploring the Barriers and Enablers to Implementing a 16-Week Low-Carbohydrate Diet for Patients With Diabetic Cardiomyopathy. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 39(5), E172-E178.

[iii] Donovan, K., Lenferna De La Motte, K. A., & Zinn, C. (2024). Healthy Food Affordability in a New Zealand Context: Perception or Reality? Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 19(3), 329–341.DOI 10.1080/19320248.2022.2047862

[iv] Lenferna De La Motte K-A, Zinn C. The nutrient profile and cost of specialty dietary patterns: a hypothetical case study. Public Health Nutrition. 2023;26(12):2995-3004. doi:10.1017/S1368980023002537

[v] Rucklidge JJ, Bradley HA, Campbell SA et al. (2025). From womb to world—is it time to revisit our current guidelines for treatment of antenatal depression? Supporting the next generation to have the best start to life New Zealand Medical Journal138(1621):90-98. DOI: 10.26635/6965.6858.

[vi] Rucklidge JJ, Bruton A, Welsh A et al. (2024). Annual Research Review: Micronutrients and their role in the treatment of paediatric mental illness. J Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 66(4):477-497. DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.14091

[vii] Rucklidge JJ, Sherwin AH, Mulder RT, Manna L. (2026) Efficacy and Safety of Micronutrient Treatment for Irritability in Adolescents: 8-Week Double-Blinded Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial (BEAM). Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.