Dr Tevin Naidu in a camel suit and white shirt, seated on a linen sofa in front of walnut shelves of vintage rotary telephones and encyclopaedias.

Mind-Body Solution

With Dr Tevin Naidu

Clearer minds. Healthier bodies. Deeper purpose.

Dr Tevin Naidu, MBChB, MPhil (PEMH), PGDip (GP), is a medical doctor and philosopher in Cape Town, working at the intersection of Mind • Matter • Meaning, and exploring one question:

What makes a life worth living?

Every consultation, every conversation and every talk comes back to the same three things. They are not a wellness slogan. They are how I decide what to measure, what to treat and what to leave alone.

Mind

Clearer minds

The pillar
Mental clarity, emotional resilience and restorative sleep.
The question
Is a mental state simply a brain state? The oldest problem in philosophy, and still unresolved.
In the room
Your sleep, stress and mood are treated as clinical data, not as complaints to be waved through.

Matter

Healthier bodies

The pillar
Improved metabolic health, energy and physical wellbeing.
The question
The body as a machine is a useful model. The question is what that model leaves out, and what that costs.
In the room
Proper baseline testing, read together rather than one result at a time, and tracked across years.

Meaning

Deeper purpose

The pillar
Aligned values, meaningful goals and a real sense of purpose.
The question
Medicine can add years to a life. It cannot tell you what they are for. That answer has to come from you.
In the room
Care built around what you actually want your life to contain, not around a generic target.
Dr Tevin Naidu in thought

About Dr Tevin Naidu

The unexamined life is not worth living.

Socrates, in Plato’s Apology

Socrates said the unexamined life is not worth living. Mind-Body Solution is an attempt to examine it.

I am a medical doctor and philosopher exploring what makes life worth living.

Medicine came first. I qualified as a Medical Doctor at Stellenbosch University, interned at King Edward VIII Hospital and served as a medical officer in the South African Military Health Services. Treating patients across those settings taught me that health is shaped by more than biology: by thought, relationship, values and choice. That realisation sent me to philosophy, and to a Master’s in the Philosophy and Ethics of Mental Health at the University of Pretoria.

Somewhere in between came more than a decade in television presenting and public communication, including two seasons as a castaway on Survivor South Africa. Then the podcast, Mind-Body Solution. Each of those, in its own way, was training in the same skill: taking a complicated idea and making it clear without making it small. What began as separate interests turned out to be one enquiry.

It now shows up in the consulting room: I take your bloods seriously and I take your life seriously, and I do not treat the second as an afterthought. Whether at the bedside, behind a microphone or in front of an audience, the aim has not changed: help people live longer, live better and live with meaning.

Medicine
Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery, Stellenbosch University
Postgraduate Diploma in General Practice, Cum Laude, FPD
Postgraduate Diploma in Obesity & Weight Management, University of South Wales (currently completing)
Philosophy
Master of Philosophy in the Philosophy & Ethics of Mental Health with Distinction, University of Pretoria
MetaMasters in Phenomenology and Values-Based Clinical Care, St Catherine’s College, Oxford

More about Dr Tevin Naidu

The goal is not simply more years.

  • Lifespan

    How long you live.

  • Healthspan

    How long you live well.

  • Meaningspan

    How long you live well with purpose.

Longevity is not about maximising biological survival. It is about maximising the years worth living, and having something worth living them for.

Most medicine waits for the decline and then manages it. The aim here is to help delay that decline and shorten it, so that any years gained are years you would actually want.

  • Typical trajectory
  • With proactive care
Function over age: typical trajectory versus proactive care An illustrative diagram. Both lines end at the same point, but the proactive-care line holds a higher level of physical and cognitive function for longer, so the period of decline arrives later and is shorter. years worth having Age Later life Physical & cognitive function
Illustrative concept, not patient data. Individual results vary.

Metabolic Health and Preventive Medicine.

I practise general medicine with a special interest in metabolic health and preventive medicine at consulting rooms in Cape Town, combining evidence-based medicine with patient-centred, values-based care.

  1. A full history

    Not only the presenting problem. The parts most appointments never get to, because the answer is usually somewhere in there.

  2. Proper baseline data

    Metabolic markers, body composition and risk assessed together rather than one result at a time, so we know where you actually stand.

  3. A plan reviewed over time

    The objective is continuity. The plan changes as the data does, so each visit builds on the last rather than starting again.

Services

Each one sits inside the same approach: a full history, proper data and a plan that is reviewed over time.

Book a consultation

  • Longevity & Metabolic Medicine

    Optimising metabolic health, body composition and healthy ageing.

  • Obesity & Weight Management

    Comprehensive care and behavioural change to support healthy, sustainable weight management.

  • Preventive & Personalised Care

    Identifying risk early and building a strategy to prevent disease rather than react to it.

  • Lifestyle Medicine

    Nutrition, movement, sleep and stress management brought into one plan.

  • Emotional & Mental Wellbeing

    Emotional resilience and behavioural support treated as part of physical health, not separate from it.

  • General & Family Medicine

    Acute illness and chronic disease management, with the same comprehensive approach.

Mind-Body Solution

With Dr Tevin Naidu

Mind-Body Solution began as a quest to understand consciousness and the mind-body problem with thinkers including Noam Chomsky and Karl Friston. It has since evolved into a search for something more fundamental:

What makes a life worth living?

Today, Mind-Body Solution brings rigorous science into conversation with philosophical insight, through long-form conversations with clinicians, scientists, philosophers and changemakers.

Together, we explore how to cultivate clearer minds, healthier bodies, and a deeper sense of purpose.

Mind • Matter • Meaning

This podcast is for educational purposes only and does not replace personal medical advice.

Guests, topics and listener reviews

Guests

Since 2021, over 100 conversations about the mind, consciousness and existence, with guests including Noam Chomsky, Karl Friston, Donald Hoffman and Michael Levin. Recent guests also include Kevin Mitchell, Anna Ciaunica, Earl Miller, Adam Frank and Robert Chis-Ciure.

Mind
Psychology, consciousness, cognition, memory, thoughts, emotions, perception, behaviour and mental health.
Matter
Science, physical health, metabolic health, nutrition, exercise, habits, environment, lifestyle and longevity.
Meaning
Philosophy, religion, spirituality, purpose, values, identity, existence, relationships, free will and mortality.

Read what listeners say on Apple Podcasts

Dr Tevin Naidu in a black suit with a white pocket square, looking to one side

Keynotes that bridge the science of the body with the wisdom of the mind.

A medical doctor, philosopher and two-time Survivor South Africa competitor, combining clinical training, philosophical depth and lived experience under extreme pressure.

  • Mind, Matter & Meaning

    Understanding human flourishing through science, philosophy and purpose.

  • Resilience Reimagined

    Lessons from medicine, philosophy and extreme environments about human limits.

  • The Conscious Leader

    The role of self-awareness and philosophical insight in leadership.

  • Living with Purpose

    Connecting the science of living long with the question of living well.

As seen on

Top Billing, Expresso, Survivor South Africa, Closer to Truth, Eastern Mosaic and Mela

Book a talk or media appearance

For keynotes, panels, podcast guesting or partnership enquiries, include the event, audience and date. These come to me directly, not through the consulting rooms.

The consulting rooms

All clinical appointments and patient enquiries go through the consulting rooms below.

Big Bay Doctors

Address
Shop 40, Seaside Village Shopping Centre, Cnr Otto du Plessis Dr & Cormorant Ave, Big Bay, Cape Town, 7441
Hours
Mon–Fri 8am–5pm, Sat 8am–12pm
Dr Naidu
Mon–Sat 9am–12pm
Call Big Bay Doctors Open in Google Maps About Dr Naidu at Big Bay Doctors

Blouberg Doctors

Address
Shop 4, Sunningdale Lifestyle Centre, Sandown Rd, Sunningdale, Cape Town, 7441
Hours
Mon–Fri 8am–5pm
Dr Naidu
Mon–Fri 1pm–5pm
Call Blouberg Doctors Open in Google Maps About Dr Naidu at Blouberg Doctors

Century City Health

Address
Unit B2, Mayfair Square, 13 Century Way, Century City, Cape Town, 7441
Hours
Mon–Fri 8am–5pm
Call Century City Health Open in Google Maps

For medical emergencies, call 10177 or 112, or go to your nearest emergency room. Please do not use the email addresses above for medical advice, clinical consultations or urgent care, contact the consulting rooms directly for those. Information here is general and does not replace individualised medical advice given during a consultation.