My own journey to personalised nutrition

When my mother was in a care home she once told me: “You've got to still be well enough to make sure they look after you.”

She was right. You do have to stay on top of things and be your own health Personal Assistant to get better or manage your condition.

The ball will be dropped. Not intentionally. People in the medical system are busy and human. Admin processes are sometimes convoluted. Systems can be obscure.

We have to be proactive. Listen. Ask for clarification. Explain how we feel. Reiterate. Rephrase. Chase up. Discuss the next steps. Trusting but be discerning. Sometimes negotiate. We have to keep the ball rolling.

Years ago I went to see my GP because I was tired all the time and lacked energy for no apparent reason. Some of my friends probably remember my ability to fall asleep pretty much anywhere, like a kitten (minus the cuteness).

My GP looked for infections and checked my vitamin levels. All clear / within ranges.

That was all. I just lived with my fatigue. Sometimes it was better, sometimes worse but I didn’t question it any further. It eventually went away, just like it came, mysteriously.

A couple of years later I had digestive issues that were rather crippling, mostly of digestive nature. No medication seemed to help. I got some investigation done and was asked to remove a few food groups at a time for a while to see if my symptoms improved. They didn’t. Looking back, I actually didn’t do the food exclusion exercise properly. Bummer.

Then again I dropped the ball. Sometimes symptoms got less bad, but I could never put my finger on why that was.

I came to accept my “fate”, thinking that it was ok to feel that way, and that my symptoms were normal for me.
Thankfully, nutritional therapy came my way and that empowered me to continue the investigation for my digestive issues.

Most people who study nutritional therapy do so because of their own health challenges. That wasn’t my thought process when I embarked on my journey as a 40-year-old + student. I wanted to change career and do something that I felt was rewarding and meaningful: helping people feel better. Helping myself along the way wasn’t much on my mind. This said, I quickly became more aware of the power of nutritional therapy and soon started experimenting on myself.

At school (ION) I learned the impact of food and lifestyle on health and well-being. I started to think more about what to put in my mouth. When shopping I read the labels and decided what to buy based on the ingredient list, not the pictures and my craving. I became more interested in food and started to cook from scratch more often, exploring new ingredients and getting creative in the kitchen. A more diverse diet, more fibre and probiotic foods proved helpful. Progress was subtle, but consistent and I became less troubled by my symptoms.

I did a private stool test which revealed that I had gut bacteria imbalance and fungal overgrowth. The results helped me understand too where my gut needed most support. I adapted my nutrition accordingly (including some herbal treatments for the infection). Slowly my digestive issues improved even more.

I also did a few genetic tests as I was curious to find out about my risk factors to develop certain health conditions that seemed to run in the family. Plus I wanted to understand how my genes influenced the way by body dealt with food. The tests showed that some of my digestive functions weren’t performing too well and needed support. Some of the test insights were confirming what I already suspected, such as a reduced ability to produce certain digestive enzymes and to get rid of certain toxic elements. I had already worked to some extent on these issues, but having the facts black on white motivated me to implement my nutritional interventions consistently, which paid off.

The digestive complaints that distressed me for so long are now a distant memory. An additional benefit is that my skin became clear. And that’s not a trivial fact for me, my skin appearance had been on mind all the time since my teen years.

Thanks for nutritional therapy, I’ve managed to get on top of two health issues that conventional medicine couldn’t resolve on the long term, simply because the impact of food on the body had been left out of the equation.

I now know what food and how much of it will cause symptoms so I feel empowered to decide for myself how much “suffering” I’m ready to take on. And I know what food supports my body best. Despite limiting or excluding some foods, I enjoy my meals more than ever because I’ve introduced so many new ingredients. I find the infinite possibilities of cooking exciting, so much that I’ve now embarked on a professional cooking course (watch that space!).

I believe everyone of us should have the knowledge about what food does to our unique bodies, and how to use food to optimise our health. Finding this out takes some time and effort but can be so beneficial for our immediate and long-term health and well-being.

If you’re suffering from symptoms, do keep searching for a solution, perseverance will pay off. I’d love you of course to consider working with me. I have some details here if you’d like to read more about my nutritional therapy. You can also book a free discovery call to speak with me in all confidentiality about how we might work together.