My Approach
In a nutshell…
Natural Health Practitioner
Food-first naturopathic approach
One-to-one appointments only (no group sessions)
In-depth health history taken, through online questionnaire and your initial appointment
Functional testing available - nutrigenomics (genetics of how you deal with nutrients/food/hormones), stool tests, hormone tests, cortisol testing, organic acids, food intolerances, hair samples, advanced thyroid testing, metabolic markers etc.
A written nutrition, supplement and lifestyle plan developed with you at each appointment. We can use everyday fresh whole foods, superfoods, herbs, naturopathic remedies, medicinal mushrooms, orthomolecular compounds, vitamins and minerals to nourish from a cellular level.
Personalised recommendations based on research by modern medicine and over thousands of years of traditional medicine
No faddy diets
Read more…
I’m pretty sure we all know we should be looking after ourselves better - eating better, sleeping better, working smarter not harder, doing more exercise, being kinder to ourselves. But how well do we achieve it and what do we need to prioritise?
The food and drink we choose to put in our bodies has a much bigger impact on our energy, hormones and sleep patterns than we realise. Not just that, but our genetics, lifestyles and any health conditions will affect how we absorb and use nutrients. Genetics also affect your susceptibility to chronic conditions, and providing a better environment for cell reproduction through increasing nutrients and reducing stressors will improve your future health.
My job as a Nutritional Therapist is to uncover areas in your life where you need additional nutritional support, and work with you to make changes that promote repair, healing and growth, to improve your health now and for the future.
In our consultations, we will discuss your health now and in the past, family medical history, medications, supplements, food preferences and what you typically eat - digging deep to find what’s really going on. We’ll discuss what could be the root causes of your health issues, and how to support these issues with food, supplements and lifestyle changes.
As a Nutritional Therapist practising natural medicine, the time we spend together is invaluable, whether through online consultations or face to face. You may be coming to me after feeling let down by the NHS and the health system; you may have had many contacts with many healthcare professionals, but no-one yet has put all the pieces of your puzzle together. You may have been living with symptoms for a while and have done your own research, and feel you know your own body better than a doctor who only sees you for 10 minutes, or a consultant who only works within a single medical specialty. Or you may be receiving care from your GP or consultant, and are after a complimentary medicine that works alongside your current treatment. This is your chance to be listened to, for all your worries to be heard without judgement, and to start your journey to better health.
My approach
My main aim when working with you is for you to be able to take away what we discuss, and make changes that stick and make a difference to how you feel.
I don’t run group sessions, everything we do together is personlised for you. Having spent most of my working life as an analyst dealing with statistics and people represented as ‘numbers’, I’ve seen more and more how the idea of a ‘typical’ or ‘average’ person can’t be used to predict outcomes for any individual, because we are all so different.
I don’t normally recommend any particular ‘diet’, or look at calories, fat or carb content, but rather work with you to identify beneficial foods to include regularly, and foods that may be aggrevating symptoms that you’d do better to avoid. I do tend to recommend some supplements, at least in the short term, to provide nutritional support while you get used to new food habits. Any supplements I recommend will be compatible with your medication or other treatment, minimising interactions. There may be lifestyle changes I’ll ask you to look at that can reduce your stress and toxins exposure. I may recommend blood, urine, stool or nutrigenomics testing, in order to delve deeper into your health issues. This is individualised nutrition, so no two ‘plans’ are the same.
Before we meet, I’ll ask you to complete an Initial Consultation Information Form (please note this is best completed as an online form via my secure portal, but you can see the information I collect here); this is the first step to my getting a thorough picture of your health history, which we will delve further into in our consultations. I’ll need you to be open and honest about your food, drinks and medications, and to be able to commit to at least two appointments with me, putting some changes into action between these two sessions.
I do love food! I believe in supporting sustainable and local farming, and using seasonal foods. I believe we’re better off choosing organic produce where we can, eating wholefoods, cooking from scratch, and avoiding toxins in our foods and lifestyles that put additional loads on our liver and body in general. However, it’s just not worth stressing about having a 100% perfect diet! I think we should be looking to traditional cuisine for inspiration, foods that previous generations across the globe ate before industrialised farming and our ridiculous food industry took over, it just makes sense - we should be maximising the foods and culinary herbs that really nourish our bodies and souls, whilst also nourishing the soil, oceans and the planet.
Signature Programme
My signature programme is the Four Pillars of Hormone Health.
By first concentrating on diet and lifestyle to improve sleep, stress, blood sugars and gut function, we tackle these aspects of your life that have the biggest impact on your female hormones.
Stress: Whether you have symptoms of PMS, menstrual issues, perimenopause, menopause or are experiencing infertility, stress is often a factor. When in a fight-or-flight situation, your body prioritises immediate life-saving functions, and more long-term functions such as reproductive health are left on the back-burner until the threat has passed. If you are under constant stress from work, family, social and status anxiety, financial pressures or even over-exercising, your reproductive hormones are likely to be out of balance as your body is not prioritising their production.
Sleep: If you are not getting sufficient regenerative sleep, this increases your stress levels, adds additional strains to your body, and leaves you at risk of weight gain, high blood pressure and developing conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.
Unbalanced blood sugars add to the stress levels, impact energy levels, may cause you to crave carbohydrates or junk food, and affect sleep patterns. Additionally, the hormone insulin which is released to deal with the sugar/carbohydrates you eat and put the energy to use (or storage if there is too much) is a factor in conditions like acne and PCOS. Long term imbalances and consistently high blood sugars eventually lead to diabetes - a condition in which your blood gets sticky from the sugars and can damage blood vessels and cause nerve issues.
Gut health and detoxification: it’s so important to have regular bowel movements as this is how your body gets rid of the hormones you no longer need. If your body is not able to effectively deactivate and excrete hormones, they can recirculate and cause your body to have heightened responses to these hormones.
You will also have free access to four mini-courses to take you through each of these key areas that are so important to tackle in order for your hormones to be better balanced. These courses are available to be purchased separately on my website for £29 each. Each course is designed to take around a month to complete.
With diagnoses of PCOS, endometriosis, fibroids, adenomyosis, with these four ‘pillars’ balanced, your hormones stand a better chance of being in balance, thus improving your symptoms. My dietary and lifestyle recommendations will take into consideration your previous health history, your symptoms and any medication you’re using including contraceptives or HRT.
Having used dietary and lifestyle changes that aim to get to the root cause of hormone imbalances, after around 10 months we will investigate any persisting symtoms and check how you’re doing, by using functional testing. This will then help to form the plan you take away at the end of the programme to ensure you can support your own hormone health going forwards.
Testing (one of these is included in the plan; we will decide which one is most appropriate based on any symptoms that are still persisiting 10 months into the programme, having followed my personalised nutrition advice to improve stress, sleep, blood sugars and gut health, and your goals for the future):
DUTCH hormone test: this looks at how your body is using, deactivating and getting rid of hormones. Any issues identified by the test can be supported through targeted nutrition.
Nutrigenomics test: there are several tests available, each looks at weaknesses in your genetic profile that affects how you deal with substances in your body such as hormones and nutrients, and which functions need further support.
Stool testing: this gives us a comprehensive look at the bacteria that make up your gut microbiome, and identifes any pathogens, or issues with the gut lining. In order have a better balanced microbiota, we can use diet and supplements to encourage growth of those specific bacteria most likely to strengthen the gut wall integrity and reduce reabsorption of hormones and toxins.
