Dr Mark Hyman is on stage. In ankle boots and with a tasselled pendant visible between his low-buttoned shirt, he looks like what he is: a rock god of the wellness circuit. Hyman is a medical doctor turned “ultra-wellness” guru.
Hyman is big on blue zones, those regions of the world where more people thrive into very old age. “What distinguishes the people of Crete,” he says, clicking up a slide of him grinning beside a couple of robust nonagenarians, “is olive oil and they walk a great deal.” Afterwards, I decide not to flag down a buggy to get to my room. Instead, I walk up behind a French lady who is quizzing Hyman about wine. Maybe one glass a day is good?
No, he says. Her disappointment is palpable. “Maybe one a week,” he adds. “But it’s not good for hormones.” This festival is gonna be fun, I think.
