Now more than ever it is important to look after our health.
And with this in mind I have decided to provide a free online nutritional therapy consultation to:
As these are some of the most vulnerable groups in our community at this time, I'd like to be able to help where I can and keep our community healthy and feeling supported (not isolated or fearful). I have been running online consultations for a number of years so I am fully able to provide my support and nutrition services by Zoom video consultation. As my regular nutrition practice has been inundated with requests for nutritional advice, I am increasing my clinic hours on a Monday so I can offer this free service to the people who need it most. This is for you if:
As your Nutritional Therapist, I’ll help you get clear on exactly what you need to do to energise your life. And I'll help you create a healthier more balanced relationship with food so you feel confident you’re nourishing your body with all the right foods. Please follow the links below to book in your free online Nutritional Therapy Consultation.* Places will be filled on a first come first served basis.
There has never been a more important time to put your health first.
Book your free Nutritional Therapy Consultation here.Terms and Conditions Apply
(I have completed additional NTEC accredited professional training in Nutrition and Cancer, 2018). Find out more about the work I do for the cancer charity Rainbow Valley here. Want to find out more about my other online nutrition packages?
Find out more about my other nutrition packages, which are all available as online consultations here. Sending you all love, Mary x
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Five reasons why you need to stop stressing over food elimination diets and do this instead.8/3/2020  Food elimination diets and food diaries are a great place to start when you have gut health issues or Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). They're often the place I start with my clients because it helps reduce some of the irritation and inflammation in the gut and provides symptomatic relief, which is great. But the long-game needs to be a multi-pronged approach. If you've already read my blog post: ‘The single biggest reason you keep getting gut issues you've never realised' you'll understand why simply removing lots of foods from your diet alone is not going to sort your gut health problems in the longterm. It's simply step one. The likelihood is there could be numerous underlying risk factors at play which may need addressing in a step-by-step approach. If you have been trialling free-from diets like the low-FODMAP diet or gluten and dairy-free diets for a while now, with some, or minimal progress, it’s definitely time to move on to the next step! Here are FIVE REASONS WHY you need to stop stressing over food elimination diets only and rethink your gut healing strategy. 1. You don’t want to be cutting foods out forever. If you have food intolerances that trigger digestive problems, including IBS, it suggests you may have a leaky gut. Cutting foods out may help reduce immediate symptoms in the short-term, but it isn’t solving the root of the problem – the leaky gut. Food intolerance is usually just a symptom of an unhappy gut. The heart of the issue is often to do with a leaky gut, which I've talked about before here. I'll be sharing my 5-step gut healing plan at my up-coming gut health event, Learn to Love your Gut. 2. The low-FODMAP diet is not a cure-all.The low-FODMAP diet can sometimes be helpful when there is chronic bloating, IBS and/or Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO). However, the Low-FODMAP diet is not recommended for long-term use (> 6 weeks). This is because the low-FODMAP diet is a low fibre diet and gut bacteria need fibre to flourish. Long-term use of the low-FODMAP diet has a negative impact on the diversity of bacteria in your gut. It's also incredibly challenging and it can make food anxiety much worse. It really worries me when clients tell me they have been following a low-FODMAP diet for months on end in a bid to control their digestive symptoms. Book a call and we can chat through some options!!  3. Acid-blocking drugs are not a long-term solution.Many clients need to take acid blocking drugs, for example, to control digestive symptoms in the short-term or to control the side effects of other medications*. However, acid blocking drugs are really only meant for short-term use. We need acid. It is our first line of defence against infection and helps us absorb protein and vitamin B12 from our food. Long-term low stomach acid increases the risk of bacterial imbalance in the gut e.g. ‘gut dysbiosis’ or Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth, (SIBO) because opportunistic bacteria thrive in low acid conditions. If you are on acid-blocking medication such as Omeprazole or Lansoprazole, purely for acid reflux or acid indigestion and not for any other reasons it is totally possible to balance stomach acid naturally. Check out my blog post on acid reflux or get in touch to find out more. *Do not discontinue any medication especially without speaking to your doctor first. 4. You're Experiencing FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out).Restrictive diets, including the low-FODMAP diet, can greatly increase the risk of social anxiety. Many people understandably worry about what they can and can’t eat, and where the nearest loo is. So much so they start to fear going out with friends. Eating out starts to feel like a huge no-go. I don't want you to feel like you're missing out on life. My 5-step gut healing plan will help you wave bye-bye to FOMO. 5. You've been told "there's nothing you can do".This recently published review points to several treatable underlying triggers for IBS which if given the right support (i.e. personalised care) can be identified and addressed! My learn to love your gut event is designed to help you get to the root cause of your digestive problems and support your gut health in five clear steps. Get your ticket now before it's too late. Can't make it? Get in touch with me here instead and we can arrange a chat. Don't normalise your symptoms any longer.   I'm absolutely ecstatic to share with you that my name has been published in an academic paper accepted for publication in the highly coveted BMC Public Health!  What is the title of the research paper?Evaluating differences in the clinical impact of a free online weight loss programme, a resource-intensive commercial weight loss programme and an active control condition: a parallel randomised controlled trial. (I love how it rolls off the tongue so easily). What was my role in the clinical trial?As the Nutritional Therapist, I was responsible for a group of individuals in a commercial weight loss programme. I supported the participants through a 12-week weight management programme which included:
What was the aim of the study?The aim of the research study was to compare the efficacy of three different (commonly used) approaches to weight loss. We divided volunteers into three different groups and measured the results. The three different weight loss groups were:
What are some of the health markers we measured? The markers we used to measure the volunteers' progress and compare results included:
So what is the best way to lose weight?Ah yes that age old question that everyone wants the answer to! Well the findings of this study suggest that both the online and face-to-face group approaches to weight loss are more effective than simply going it alone when it comes to short-term weight-loss. Both interventions were superior compared to the control group (going to the gym only) at achieving a reduction in body mass. For more tips on losing weight effectively in the longterm, check out my top tips here. What is the key takeaway message?Don’t go it alone when it comes to losing weight, getting fit and making lifestyle changes. Whether you find support online or offline, by being part of a supportive group and experiencing that sense of community, accountability and encouragement, may make all the difference. Find your tribe. Your supportive community could be your family, a Facebook group, your Registered Nutritional Therapist, or a commercial weight loss group (although choose this one wisely - no fads please!) I offer a range of nutrition packages which are designed to give you regular accountability and support. Book a call if you'd like to chat through your health issues and find a nutrition plan that will work for you. Massive congratulations to Mr Aidan Innes who wrote the academic paper and my colleagues and co-authors involved in this exciting project. Here is a link to the full paper: https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-019-8061-x What is the BMC Public Health?BMC Public Health is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on the epidemiology of disease and the understanding of all aspects of public health.   Why is it that our favourite foods, the ones we have enjoyed freely since a young age suddenly start to trigger digestive problems? Symptoms may include:
Suddenly we are eating these every day foods knowing that we’ll spend the rest of the night either in the loo, or trying to conceal embarrassing gas, uncomfortable bloating, or even mysterious skin rashes. There are many reasons why gut health problems, including Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), come about and I've talked about that before in another blog post here. But the single biggest reason you keep experiencing gut health issues could be that you’ve got a leaky gut. Have you heard of 'leaky gut?' The single biggest reason you keep experiencing symptoms could be your 'Leaky Gut'.  What is leaky gut and how can I help prevent it?Put simply, our gut is delicate and is easily damaged by our lifestyle (diet, stress, partying, medications). Our entire gut is protected by just one layer, which is only one cell in thickness (the epithelium). And this covers a surface area the size of two tennis courts! That’s huge!! When this barrier becomes damaged over time (known as “leaky gut”), our immune system can start to overreact and produce inflammation. And this in turn may lead to symptoms like indigestion, excessive gas, bloating, intestinal cramping and food intolerances. Our immune system is expecting to see fully digested foods (like proteins broken down into amino acids) but suddenly it sees foreign, (partially digested) molecules. So it does what it is designed to do – attack and defend. Our body may start to produce IgG antibodies which make us feel unwell, inflamed and anxious. Often it is these IgG antibodies that are measured in a food intolerance test. Removing trigger foods and keeping a food journal is a helpful place to start on a gut healing journey but simply cutting out foods or starting a low-fodmap diet is not addressing the underlying issue, the lining of the gut! Is it possible to heal a 'leaky gut'?The good news is that the cells of the intestinal lining replace themselves every three to six days. Given the proper nutritional support your gut can repair itself quickly and you may reach a point where you can happily reintroduce your favourite foods.* *(This refers to food intolerances only and not allergy. If you have a true IgE allergy continue to avoid the food for life). I explain the differences between food allergy and food intolerance here). Discover how to support a leaky gut at my Learn to Love your Gut event in Edinburgh. At my ‘Learn to Love your Gut’ event, I’ll show you how to support the lining of your gut so you’re really getting to the heart of your gut health problems for good. You will receive:
If you're unable to make it along to any of my live events, check out my packages or book a call and we can discuss how best to support you going forward.  |
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