Nutritional Therapy

The role nutrition plays in optimizing health is rapidly gaining a renewed interest in today's society.  With the increasing number of scientific research studies backing up what holistic health professionals have known for decades, you are what you eat, proper nutrition has become a fundamental part of any course of treatment.  If you do not provide your body with optimal nutritional requirements the fight against any disease will be a much greater challenge despite the use of medical intervention, be it conventional or holistic in nature. 

A nutritional consultant provides his or her client with the most up-to-date nutritional information and can develop individually tailored recommendations to treat many of today's health concerns such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease and cancer.  In addition, a holistically-oriented nutritional consultant understands the connection between certain foods and specific modern-day disease conditions such as allergies, inflammatory disorders such as arthritis, asthma, weakened immunity, emotional and mental disorders, Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), fatigue, headaches, hormonal imbalances, infertility, skin disorders such as eczema and psoriasis, stress, and much more.

Our society is now beginning to realize that the chemically-altered foods developed over the past several decades are far from meeting our nutritional needs.  With its plethora of additives, preservatives, pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, artificial flavours and colours, trans-fats, and genetically-modified substances modern day "foods" are not only failing to meet our nutritional requirements but may actually be contributing to serious diseases such as heart disease and cancer.  North Americans are now striving to achieve optimal health by getting back to the basics of nutrition and including whole grains and legumes, fresh fruits and vegetables and limiting foods with detrimental health effects such refined flours and sugars, dairy and red meat.

Healthy eating is very simple and, with the guidance of a qualified professional, can be implemented into one's lifestyle without feeling deprived of enjoyable foods.  A nutritional consultant may also recommend specific supplements to combat various health conditions and can inform his or her client of how vitamins and minerals interact with each other to enhance effectiveness, as well as which supplements offer the highest bioavailability.  Certain diagnostic tools, such as hair analysis (see article on "What Your Hair Says About Your Health") can detect specific nutritional imbalances and determine the best approach to an individualized program to meet the client's specific health requirements.