Thinking of having a Nutritional Therapy Consultation but unsure about what it involves ...
Wondering what is involved when you have a Nutritional Therapy Consultation? The following infographic from BANT (2018) sums up the process perfectly.
Nutritional Therapy Consultations work on a 1 to 1 with the client. Various tools are used to assess the clients needs before an individualised programme is developed.
At Nourish Nutritional Therapy this begins with a telephone conversation to discuss your needs and if this type of consultation process best meets them.
Before your first face-to-face consultation you will be asked to complete a simple health questionnaire and a 3 day food diary. I will analyse this before our first meeting. I will be looking for any imbalances in the various processes within the body, any potential nutrient deficiencies and I will research any drug/nutrient interactions you may be having. I will also become familiar with any medical diagnosis that you may have. I will use this information to start to build a programme of support for you. I take a functional medicine approach, so I will look at you as a whole not just your presenting symptoms.
On your first face-to-face consultation we will create a timeline of your symptoms, triggering events and build a picture of lifestyle factors that could be contributing towards your symptoms. We will discuss the findings from your health questionnaire and 3 day food diary. I will ask more questions, if appropriate. We will work together to look at changes or adaptations that can be made in your current diet and lifestyle choices.
The focus will always be ‘Food First’ with the aim to support digestion, absorption and elimination so that you get the most nutritional value from the food you consume. By improving the function of the gut this will have a knock-on-effect of supporting the gut microbiome which will give your immune system the best chance to do its job - fighting any inflammation. It will also support hormone function.
All recommendations will be negotiated … this is your journey and changes will be made at a pace you are happy with. I will be with you every step of the way.
By the end of your first consultation you will have made the first steps towards reaching your goals with a set of dietary and lifestyle adaptations that you have agreed upon. During the consultation process I will share the rational behind why these changes will be beneficial to you. All recommendations are based on scientific evidence and as part of my professional membership I am dedicated to keeping up-to-date with current research and practice.
Usually two further consultations are recommended to ensure that the programme is working for you and any adjustments can be made as appropriate. I will ask you to complete a more detailed food diary between consultation 1 and 2 - this is so that I can look at you diet on a micronutrient level and look at patterns in symptoms. Sometimes more consultations are required especially if your symptoms are complex and if you have had them for a long time.
This is your journey but it is a journey that we will make together.
If you have any queries please get in touch via the contact page.
L xx