By Helen Duffy – Nutritional Therapist
Hello! My name is Helen and I am a fully qualified Naturopathic Nutritional Therapist. I trained for three years with the College of Naturopathic Medicine in London and Birmingham and am registered with BANT (British Association of Nutritional Therapists) and the CNHC (Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council) who assure that all their members are well trained, qualified and insured.
So what is Naturopathic Nutritional Therapy and how could it help me?
Some people simply want to check that they are on the right track with healthy eating, a kind of ‘nutrition MOT’ if you like, but most people I see want help with a particular condition or symptoms.
As a Nutritional Therapist, I recognise that each person is an individual with unique requirements and histories. This means that I take the time to explore your current and past health and lifestyle in order to define a personalised nutrition plan designed exactly for you and what you want to achieve rather than a ‘one size fits all’ approach.
Nutrition has to be one of the main elements, along with our genes and environment, that determines how our bodies will cope in the world we live in. You often hear the phrase ‘You are what you eat’ and, absolutely, this is so true in many situations. However, there is maybe, a more accurate phrase ‘You are what you absorb’ as many people can seem to eat nutritious, healthful foods, yet still something isn’t quite right. Maybe they still lack energy, still find it difficult to lose weight, still have that annoying PMS each month, still have blood pressure a little bit too high or achy joints in the morning. This may be that regardless of how much nutritious good food you are eating, if your body isn’t able to do something with all that goodness, it’s just passing straight on through (if you know what I mean!).
In a Naturopathic Nutritional Therapy consultation we look beyond a person’s set of symptoms to find the underlying imbalance in the body which is preventing the person from feeling their best. On many occasions, this may lead back to the person’s gut and poor absorption of nutrients due to years of prescription medication, stress or inappropriate food choices, to name a few. Nutritional Therapy works with a person (often alongside their GP and current meds) to rebalance and optimise the body systems in order to achieve health and vitality.
What happens in a consultation?
An initial consultation lasts about an hour and during this time I will need to know as much about your current and past health and lifestyle as possible. We will then identify goals that you would like to work on and agree how much you are prepared to change in your current nutrition habits and lifestyle. I will then develop a personalised plan focussing on these areas which will be sent to you 48 hours after your consultation. There may be some short term nutritional supplements or functional testing recommended so that we can really pinpoint exactly what is going on inside you body and therefore focus your plan more precisely. Most people will work with their plan for 4-6 weeks and then return for a follow-up appointment to see what progress has been made or address any difficulties that have arisen. One important point to make here is that your plan won’t necessarily be about eating less of all the things that you love, it will be about eating better and allowing your body to experience the health and vitality that comes from feeding each and every cell in your body exactly what it needs.
As Hippocrates said, ‘Let food by thy medicine; let medicine be thy food.’ Your body will thank you for it 🙂
For a FREE 15 minute chat to find out how Nutritional Therapy could help you, contact Acorn or email helen.duffy@northstarnutrition.co.uk
www.acornnaturalhealth.co.uk
