The Institute for Optimum Nutrition was founded in 1984 by Patrick Holford, a psycholgy graduate whose health had flourished under his own innovative application of principles that are now universally recognised as the benchmark for Optimum Nutrition.After running the Institute for Optimum Nutrition himself for eight years as a private college, Patrick left the Institute for Optimum Nutrition to pursue work within the Mental Health field and other ventures. In 1992, the Institute for Optimum Nutrition became an independent, not for profit educational charity. The Institute for Optimum Nutrition’s purposes are:

1. To advance education of the public and health professional in all matters relating to nutrition
2. To preserve and protect the health of the general public by giving advice, assistance and where necessary treatment through noutrition and nutritional therapy

Our flagship nutrition course is the Nutritional Therapy Diploma Course which is the longest established and most well respected nutritional therapy course training course in Europe, if not the world.. Students commute from as far as South Africa for this three year modular course. Graduates receive the ION Diploma (DipION) and a Foundation Science Degree (FdSc) validated by the University of Bedfordshire.