Who can benefit from Nutritional Therapy?

Literally, everyone can benefit! You don’t have to have a health disorder in order to benefit from good nutritional guidance, in fact, the best time to seek support is when you already feel in good health and simply want to make sure you stay that way.

Too many people take their health and energy for granted when they are young and so leave long term health in the hands of fate. Or as we Nutritionists would see it – in the hand of pre-disposed genetic health weaknesses. So when health issues do arise in later life we tend to resign to what appears to be common health symptoms; such as headaches, aches, pain, slow recovery after illness, digestive disturbance to the natural course of events, even signs ageing. Correct nutritional guidance at any time can both reverse chronic health conditions as well as to stave off symptoms arising in the first instance.

Is Nutritional Therapy the same as Dietetics? For instance, does Nutritional therapy utilise the standard British Food Plate?

No, it is not. Dietetics base their dietary guidance on the British Eatwell food plate. This is the icon we become familiar with in school and re-familiarised via newspaper articles and cereal boxes. It considers a one diet fits all approach: 15% protein, 15% dairy, 30% fruit and veg, 30% grains and other starches, 10% of foods containing fat and sugar.

The main flaw with the British food plate is that it’s based on the long-standing received wisdom from the 1980s, that fat makes you fat and carbohydrates are a harmless form of energy. We now know that both of these belief statements are fallacy based upon limited data collated from data across 7 countries. 22 countries were at the time researched however the data used to collate the BFP was cherry-picked – with overwhelming evidence from the other 15 countries at the time dismissed. The conclusion was created that fat in the body creates fat in the diet – the basis of Slimming World and other lobbyists.

However, advocates of low-fat diets failed to overlook one or two essential ingredients; the role of dietary carbohydrate levels. High-fat levels can only be manufactured if the body has high glycaemic index carbs. Further to this, dietetics do not acknowledge the importance of saturated fats in the diet. Plates also do not offer any information on levels of vital essential fatty acids – central to the correct function of every system within the body.

Protein is undervalued and ALL carbohydrates are lumped together under one label.

Nutritional consultation and therapy consider the individual according to their metabolic type; do they take fat on the hip and thighs of around the middle – for instance?. Is the client prone to inflammatory conditions? does the individual have high or low stomach acid? what are their hereditary predispositions? All of these factors and many more are considered prior to putting together the individualised health protocol, which will include sounds dietary advice, recommended supplementation and perhaps further areas of investigation via functional medicine test-kits.

Is Nutritional Therapy expensive?

Nutritional therapy can fit according to your budget.

The food does tend to be more expensive if one was to switch from non-organic meat and veg to organic meat and veg – for instance. However if one is prepared to be imaginative and work with the raw materials rather than purchase pre-packaged foods this can cut the cost down enormously.

If there is a chronic health issue needing to be addressed it is then certainly worth considering how much one would wish to invest in their health when working to turn it around. Functional medicine analysis can be considered as expensive – however, it is comparative to say servicing the car or annual MOT.

Supplementation is recommended when chronic health issues are in hand. Somewhere between £125 – £250 per month would be a reasonable investment in one’s own health when considerable build and repair work is required.

How soon will I experience results when working with Nutritional Therapy?

Nutritional therapy is not a quick fix, however, results, which are sometimes dramatic’ can be experienced in a relatively short period of time. If you have been put onto the right program for you – 21 days is a reasonable time to expect some validation that your health is is being supported.

It is important to understand however that unlike when using medication, system in the body may actually need to rebuild structure, tissue, cartilage before you notice results. Inflammation in the body should reduce within 14-21 days – but chronic or adrenal fatigue often takes months to years before the real work has been completed.

Is Nutritional Therapy appropriate for patients on medication?

It can be a little more tricky when the body is used to managing symptoms with medication – but yes it is perfectly possible to marry the two approaches.

Can I receive NHS or funding for my treatment?

Unfortunately, at this stage, Nutritional Therapy is a privately run practice and therefore NHS / funding is not available to cover costs.

Will I need to follow the diet indefinitely?

If the diet is correct for you, and you do not wish for symptoms to return then yes it would be worth your while to follow dietary recommendations. It should be made clear however that Nutritional therapy does not offer diets per se but optional ways of eating appropriately to the body-type.

Will I need to take supplementation?

Supplementation is used to support and manipulate unhealthy organs and systems toward better health. I do use supplementation in every instance with the client with whom I work.

Are supplements expensive?

Where budget is an issue, it is worth fixing the budget that feels right for you – we then work within that. When it comes to the quality of supplements, please be aware that generally, we get what we pay for. Most good quality supplements average at £35 per supplement. There are of course some fantastic supplements on the market that cost considerably more than this.

I have tried every diet going, and nothing seems to work for me – what makes your service any different?

The word ‘Diet’ really is the key difference. Any diet is usually focused around a sense of control and abstaining from so-called ‘naughty foods’.

Nutritional therapy may employ certain diets for the shorter term, or detoxification programs to ensure results with food as the chosen form of medicine. Beyond this, once the body has regained balance the way of eating that is appropriate to the Biotype / Bodyshape ought really to become the long-term approach to eating.

I have a chronic health condition that is seemingly unrelated to Nutritional Therapy – how might Nutritional Therapy help my condition?

Almost all health conditions relate and therefore influenced by the environment we create in the body, which is ultimately the result of our food choices.

When looking at influencing a health condition with food choices, we consider the following:

Levels of inflammation in the body versus inflammatory/anti-inflammatory causing foods.

Levels of stress in the body versus stressful foods / least stressful foods to the body.

Levels of stagnation versus foods that create mucous and stagnation in the body and those that create freedom, movement, and energy in the body.

Yin / Yang forces of food, relative to the condition.

Foods that bring energy to a specific area of stagnation or inflammation in the body.

Levels of hydration levels. Utilising hydrophilic foods versus foods that require to extract water from the body to break down make use of. How the body handles oils (essential fatty acids) is also key to how the body holds water at a cellular level. Without correct oils in the diet, these oils do not then exist in the body. However, they are required within the lipid membrane of each cell and without which exists cellular dehydration or chronic water retention, increased cholesterol coating around the cell, an acidic cell, a toxic cell.

Nutritional Therapy corrects all of the above.

I hear you talking about Biotype – it’s not a term I have heard used before, can you explain it to me?

The ultimate rule of thumb is the ‘one man’s meat is another man’s poison’. There are five Biotypes, which means body-type defined by their dominant gland. The significant dominant gland dictates how the body breaks down and utilises different food groups, it’s a tendency toward weight gain, the size of meal portions that serve as healthful, whether three clear meals or snacking is more suitable to the body-type. The list really does go on.