Healthcare systems often prioritize speed and efficiency over empathy in approaching patient care. Here, the work of Sushma Bhanot offers a much-needed alternative. As a British pharmacist, Functional Medicine Practitioner, Ayurvedic consultant, homeopath, and educator, she has spent her career integrating science with compassion. Her impact goes far beyond clinical care as she’s emerged as a quiet force in reshaping how women experience health, how communities engage in healing, and how cultural traditions can coexist with modern medical frameworks.
Holistic Vision Rooted in Science and Service with Evidence-based Practices and Compassion
Bhanot’s professional journey began in the scientific field. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Brighton, followed by postgraduate studies at Queen’s University Belfast. With these academic credentials, she entered the healthcare sector equipped to work in conventional medicine. As a registered pharmacist and a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Bhanot gained first-hand experience in patient care, prescription management, and clinical best practices.
But the longer she worked within the system she loved, the more she noticed the disconnect. Many patients were prescribed treatments that addressed symptoms but left deeper issues unresolved. Chronic stress, emotional imbalance, dietary mismanagement, and lack of preventative care were common patterns. Rather than ignore them, she began asking bigger questions. Could healing be more than physical relief? Could care be extended beyond medication and into education, empowerment, and daily life?
Integrating Ancient Wisdom into Modern Practice
These questions led Bhanot into the world of functional medicine, not as an escape from science but as an expansion of it. She pursued a postgraduate diploma in Ayurvedic Medicine from the National Institute of Ayurveda and another in Homeopathy from the School of Homeopathy. Her studies were not casual curiosities. They were deeply researched academic practices that allowed her to understand ancient traditions with the same rigour she brought to pharmacy.
Through her professional journey, Sushma Bhanot recognised that meaningful healthcare must address more than just the physical symptoms of illness. Drawing from her background in pharmacy and complementary approaches, she began focusing on how mental wellbeing, confidence, lifestyle, and emotional balance influence a person’s overall health, particularly in women. This broadened perspective shaped her commitment to supporting women’s physical and emotional resilience through accessible knowledge, preventive care, and confidence-building initiatives. Her unique ability to combine scientific understanding with an empathetic, real-world approach to wellbeing became the foundation of her later work across education, business, and community service.
Coolherbals: A Platform for Women’s Wellbeing
In 2006, Bhanot co-founded Coolherbals, a UK-based company offering health and wellness products tailored to modern needs. While the brand is co-directed with her husband, her influence on its vision and product development has been distinct. Under her leadership, Coolherbals has focused on practical solutions to everyday health concerns such as weight management, skin issues, and hair loss, areas that often affect women’s confidence and self-image. Her goal has always been to provide women with effective tools that support their wellbeing in a holistic yet grounded way.
One of the company’s notable innovations is the Nutrigro® system, developed to address hair loss and promote healthy hair through evidence based therapies and scalp care. The product line reflects Bhanot’s methodical and research-driven approach, focusing on long-term improvement rather than superficial fixes.
Coolherbals offers a practical philosophy of wellness grounded in cultural insight and scientific care. In a market often saturated with fads and trends, Bhanot’s work stands out for its authenticity, accessibility, and commitment to empowering women to take charge of their health and confidence—on their own terms.
Educating the Next Generation of Practitioners
Bhanot’s belief in accessibility and empowerment led her to establish the Ayurveda Institute of Europe. The institute trains students in Ayurvedic therapies through accredited programs. It not only teaches techniques but also emphasizes professional ethics, cultural context, and integrative thinking.
The value of this work is not simply in skill-building. It is in creating a new kind of practitioner; someone who understands anatomy and energy, science and tradition, observation and empathy. Through the institute, Bhanot is creating ripple effects across the wellness sector, where practitioners are more informed, more responsible, and more capable of making meaningful change.
Her mentorship is especially impactful for women from diverse backgrounds. Many of her students turn to holistic or complementary health after facing their own health challenges or disillusionment with conventional care. Bhanot provides them with a path to reclaim their agency while also building careers that reflect their values. This is not just about health. It is about identity, livelihood, and dignity.
Community Service as a Core Practice
For Bhanot, healing extends far beyond the consultation room. Her charitable initiatives reflect a deep understanding that wellness must be communal, not just individual. One of her most impactful projects is the Great British Chai Party, a charity co-founded to address loneliness among the elderly. The initiative combines social connection with cultural familiarity, offering tea gatherings that provide both emotional support and a sense of belonging.
She also launched the Make it Beat campaign, which trains everyday citizens in life-saving techniques for cardiac emergencies. These programs are rooted in practical service but also in a larger belief – that every person should feel capable of supporting the well-being of others.
Her outreach has included free health checks, homeopathic clinics, mental wellbeing conferences and educational drives for slum children in India. Through these efforts, Bhanot does not position herself as a distant expert. She becomes part of the community fabric, advocating not only for health but for human connection.
Advocating for Cultural Inclusion in Healthcare
Throughout her career, Bhanot has challenged the idea that Western medical systems are the only legitimate model of care. She advocates for the inclusion of practices like yoga and Ayurveda within national health services, not as fringe alternatives but as validated methods with deep roots and proven results.
She has organised roadshows and conferences to support beauty and wellness professionals, especially mental wellbeing, and has played a key role in promoting International Yoga Day at the Houses of Parliament. These efforts are not merely symbolic. They are strategic moves to ensure that public health narratives include diverse voices and healing traditions.
Her advocacy is especially important for South Asian communities in the UK, where traditional health knowledge is often side lined or misunderstood. By speaking from both scientific and cultural perspectives, Bhanot legitimises alternative frameworks in ways that resonate across generations.
A Lasting Legacy in Health and Empowerment
Sushma Bhanot’s legacy is still unfolding, but its impact is already evident in countless lives. She has helped women regain control over their health, professionals find new purpose, and communities rediscover the power of collective care. She does this not through grand gestures but through sustained, thoughtful, and grounded work.
What makes her unique is not just her expertise but her intention. Every product, class, campaign, and clinic she has created comes from the belief that healing is a right, not a privilege. It should be informed, inclusive, and above all, compassionate.
In bridging pharmacy and holistic health practices, individual wellness and community service, tradition and innovation, Bhanot has not just expanded what it means to be a practitioner. She has certainly redefined it.