FAQ

Nutritional Therapy is not an alternative to seeing your GP. It is advised that you visit your GP in respect of any new and persistent symptoms, in order to obtain a diagnosis and possible treatment. Nutritional Therapy is a complementary discipline that can help support your health and assist you to manage long-term conditions, often alongside your GP

‘Kickstart’ is defined as ‘to give new energy to something’. And this is exactly what will happen during our session.

I will provide you with a confidential, judgement-free space to focus on what it is that is getting in the way of you feeling your very best. I will help you consider your next steps to resolve or improve your current situation. 

This session takes place ordinarily online on Zoom (but could be on the phone) and lasts around 30 minutes. It is free of charge and there is absolutely no obligation to book anything further or make any purchases.

However, if I think you may benefit from my services (and you want to hear about them), I can tell you more and answer any questions you have. You can read more about how I work here.

There will be absolutely zero pressure…it’s totally not my style. And if you don’t want to hear more about my services, that it absolutely fine too.

I also have a wide network of other practitioners (nutrition and other disciplines) with expertise in specific situations that I can signpost you to (or refer you to in some cases, with your agreement, of course).

Please rest assured there will be no actual kicking – physical or metaphorical – involved! 😊

Book your free Wellness Kickstart Call here.

Coaching in general is used to help you to get from where you are now to where you want to be, by taking action and keeping you moving forward. Health coaching is just focused more specifically on your health but also on the many things that may affect if.  It’s all about helping you grow in the direction that you want and becoming the person you want to be.

As your coach I will help to facilitate this growth, challenge you sometimes (kindly!) and hold you accountable (an important part of getting results). I will also be your cheerleader (minus the pom-poms!)

My approach is always to work with diet first. The use of supplements will depend on your preferences and budget (cost of supplements is additional to programme & package costs).

The right supplements can be greatly beneficial in meeting your desired outcomes. I often recommend supplements as a way of managing symptoms short-term or supporting the body longer-term. Supplements are also used extensively in some situations – for example, when healing the digestive system.

Recommending supplements requires specific expertise to ensure the right form appropriate to the circumstances, dose level and synergistic activity (many supplements work better in certain combinations). It is also important to consider the safety aspects and potential interactions with medications, other supplements and nutrients.

I am fully trained in all these areas.

At the outset, many of the clients I work with are taking a significant number of supplements. In these situations, my work often involves rationalising the number and recommending better quality supplements suited to the circumstances and desired outcomes.

I would recommend caution in choosing supplements independently – which at worse can be detrimental to health but is more likely to be potentially ineffective and therefore a waste of money.

Change isn’t always easy and other commitments and life in general, have a habit of getting in the way. This can lead to us shoving our own care to the bottom of our ‘to-do’ list – which is part of what got us into this situation in the first place. It’s not your fault, it’s just what happens.

So how can we change this? It will involve you making a commitment to spend some time on you. And in reality, if you are in a situation where you are supporting others, how much longer can you continue to do this well, without seeing to your own needs? An important part of coaching is to help you to continue to find the time and space you need to move forwards.

In terms of specific changes that are recommended, these will be negotiated with you, to ensure that they are realistic, manageable and you have the tools that you need. We will go at your pace.

Yes. (only joking!).

I know that with some nutrition practitioners, you are likely to leave your first session with a plan to go gluten-free, dairy-free, caffeine-free and fun-free and are also highly likely never to return!

In reality, I know that this approach doesn’t work, no matter how ill someone is feeling. Depending on what we are trying to achieve, there may be periods of time where it is suggested that you remove some things from your diet. In some cases, this may be in your best interests that this removal is permanent (for example, gluten where you have coeliac or other auto-immune disease).

But my aim is always to expand your diet as much as possible rather than reduce it and to keep any periods of temporary reduction to a minimum – this way you will always get a wider range of nutrients and lower risk of developing deficiencies.

As outlined above, my approach is about finding foods that you love (that your body will also thank you for) and gradually changing the way you eat, ensuring that you have the tools and coaching to make this as easy as possible.

After all, abstinence is a good thing that should always be practiced in moderation…so someone once said.

Although often well-intentioned, many of these ‘messages’ are flawed, faddy and may sometimes be a result of vested interest (for example by the food industry or pharmaceutical companies).

The truth is, there is no one diet or way of eating that is suitable for everyone as everyone is ‘biochemically unique’, the result of which is that we react differently to the same things.

People often ask me what is the perfect breakfast or the best superfood or whether they should take x supplement and you might have similar questions. The real answers depend on what you are trying to achieve and your individual back story – including your likes and dislikes, personal values, disposable income, cooking skills, time, family set-up, working environment, symptoms, your metabolism, genes and so on. These are the kinds of things that I investigate when we are working together.

Similarly, in relation to adopting a vegan lifestyle, this can suit some people down to the ground, gelling well with their values and leading to thriving health. For others, it can be a disastrous choice, leading to a plummet in health. For example, many people have a genetic ‘error’ which means they less able to convert beta-carotene (from yellow, red and green vegetables) into Vitamin A (retinol) which is found in animal products. For these people over time, a vegan diet could lead to significant depletion of an important nutrient and resulting health effects.

Therefore, I don’t make any sweeping recommendations about specific diets, rather it is about finding the right options for you to try which fit in with your back story and aims. This personalised approach can be greatly enhanced by optional testing. We will then monitor your response to the chosen options and tweak/adapt as required. You can read more about how I work here.

Of course. Depending on your particular disability, I may be able to cater for your requirements within one of the clinics I work in. However, if you would find it easier to be seen in your home environment, please let me know.