What is Nutritional Therapy?
Nutritional Therapy is a complementary medicine that seeks to optimise health through science-based evidence and personalised recommendations. Because every single one of us is different, there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to Nutritional Therapy, which is why it’s imperative that each client receives individualised care.
Nutritional Therapy utilises a functional medicine approach, meaning that it attempts to address the root causes of symptoms. This can involve nutrition and lifestyle changes, supplement recommendations, and functional testing such as stool and DUTCH tests. Nutritional Therapy is not a quick fix; it promotes sustainable, collaborative changes that you can adapt to your life long-term.
Please note: Nutritional Therapy is not a substitute for medical advice, and it does not seek to treat or cure. Instead, it works alongside conventional medicine. People with, or who suspect, a health condition should always consult their GP, and GP should be informed of any new nutrition and lifestyle plan.
Who benefits from Nutritional Therapy?
Nutritional Therapy can work for people who want to invest in their long-term health and wellbeing, whether through weight loss, getting to the root of digestive issues, or a desire to have more energy and feel like the best version of themselves. Nutritional Therapy can involve perserverance to see the changes you want to make, which is why I employ The Rosy Method: Listen, Tweak, and Refine. It’s all about making small, actionable changes to reach your ultimate health goal, and I will be alongside you to coach you all the way.
How Nutritional Therapy works
Nutritional Therapy can support a variety of health issues, and uses functional medicine to do so. By this, I mean that we will look at your health history from birth to present day, and discuss your current symptoms, stress levels, mental health, physical exercise, and eating habits. I then present a few actionable recommendations, and we discuss how they can be incorporated into your everyday life.
Generally, Nutritional Therapy works best across at least a three-month time frame, as this allows us to have our in-depth initial session, along with a couple of follow-up sessions to tweak and refine the recommendations where necessary so that you can reach your goal. Ongoing Nutritional Therapy consultations are beneficial for some people, as some processes and changes take longer than others – some complex cases can take up to (and over) a year. Ultimately, by the end of your Nutritional Therapy course, you should be able to manage your nutrition-based health and wellbeing independently, and know exactly what works best for you.
Nutritional Therapy phases
The below phases are generally how Nutritional Therapy works, and is the cornerstone for The Rosy Method. It can differ for different clients.
Phase one: Listen and make the decision to change
Whether you want to explore how food may manage your symptoms, or you want to understand nutrient-dense foods and how they could support your energy, the first phase in Nutritional Therapy is always deciding and committing to making a change. With Rosy Nutrition, this first phase includes reaching out to make an appointment, or booking an initial appointment or package through our online system.
From there, you will be sent an in-depth health questionnaire and food diary which should be returned seven days before your initial consultation. This will allow me to have insight into your current and past symptoms, what your eating and exercise habits are, and what your health goals may be. Remember: This is a judgement-free zone and our consultations will work best when you are completely transparent in your answers.
Our initial session will involve me listening to your concerns, and we will discuss the key initial tweaks and changes you can make so that you can get started on your health journey. Our first follow-up session typically occurs two to four weeks later.
Phase two: Tweak and support
The follow-up sessions will see us revisit the initial recommendations so that we can understand what is and what might not be working for you, and make any tweaks where necessary. This phase is all about persistence and progress, as it’s the small changes that often lead to the desired outcome. During this phase, support can look like practical tips, health handouts, recipes, monitoring supplement use, and discussing any potential barriers to change.
Support can also be offered between these follow-up sessions for clients who feel like they may need extra motivation and accountability in order to make these changes.
Phase three: Refine and progress
The third phase of the Nutritional Therapy process is all about refining those changes that are working for you with the view of reaching your health goals. By now, you should understand the recommendations that are effective for your body, and we can work together to practically implement these into your everyday life. Here, we will also discuss any future barriers to change, such as work-life balance, family commitments, and what may have held you back in the past, along with strategies to overcome these.
Some cases are more complex than others, but you should allow for at least three sessions in total, if not more to address your nutrition issues and goals. It is worth noting that it can sometimes take a few months for these changes to become apparent, and they can happen gradually, so this is why it is important to persist as our body adapts. In our sessions, we will rate your health scores so that we can reflect on the progress that you have made.
Phase four: Maintenance
Ultimately, as a Nutritional Therapist I aim to arm you with the information, tools, education, and support that allows you to make long-term lifestyle changes. By phase four, these tools should allow you to feel ready to maintain or continue your health journey independently.
If, at any point, you would like a further consultation to evaluate how you are doing, or for further support, or to address any new nutrition concerns or barriers, please feel free to book in a follow-up session. If this follow-up is over 12 months after you last consultation, we will need to do another 60-minute consultation and symptom review.