Your Comprehensive Health Assessment completed during your initial consultation helps me identify your specific dietary needs. Taking into consideration results of specialized diagnostic tests (i.e. food sensitivity testing, celiac panels, Candida or SIBO, etc.) and an analysis of your various symptoms, I might recommend eliminating certain foods that could be the primary cause or source of aggravation for a particular condition. Inflammatory reactions can also be attributed to the way that we eat food. As such, I help you track your food intake, looking at the specific ways and times that you eat—so we can determine which dietary changes will positively affect your health.
Discussion during your inital consultation also helps me recognize the potential for disordered eating in the form of food avoidances (i.e. eliminating foods for restriction as opposed to ethical preference or physical need) and to maintain a complete, balanced diet every day. I want to support you by starting from a time in your life that you felt most comfortable in your own body. Ultimately, I want to help you feel comfortable and confident in your own skin, which might include losing weight. When it comes to successful weight loss, good nutrition represents 80% of the battle—and exercise won’t yield results without it. Together, we’ll think about how I can help frame your journey in a healthy, positive way.
Following the completion of your CHA, I use your individualized treatment plan to incorporate the aspects of certain diets that will help you live a fuller and healthier life. Rather than rigidly follow any of a number of fad diets that exist, I focus on empowering you to balance mindful eating with the occasional indulgence.
Finally, throughout this journey, if you’d like me to collaborate with your other healthcare providers, I’m happy to do so. And if your needs go beyond my scope, I can refer you to anyone in my diverse network, including personal trainers, nutritionists and counselors.
Supplements
Navigating the world of supplements and diets can be overwhelming. Supplementation involves the intake of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients in dosages that are much higher than would be achieved through diet alone. I use the foundations of physiology and biochemistry, coupled with evidence-based research,when prescribing supplements and dietary changes. Appropriate supplementation at specific dosages can optimize inherent physiological processes to achieve a desired outcome. These prescriptions are individualized to address a person’s health concerns and goals.
Orthomolecular medicine aims to maintain and optimize your health through nutritional supplementation. For example, taking moderate doses of magnesium can help initiate better sleep and reduce muscle tension. Taking B-vitamins can support your liver metabolism, while taking high doses of vitamin C is supportive for your immune system, and supports tissue health.
Specific diets
Low-FODMAP
FODMAP stands for fermentable oligo-, di-, mono-saccharides and polyols. These are the scientific terms used to classify groups of carbohydrates that are notorious for triggering digestive symptoms like bloating, gas and stomach pain. A diet low in fermentable carbs known as FODMAPS, is clinically recommended for the management of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Paleo
The paleo diet allows you to eat only those foods that humans ate when they first roamed the planet millions of years ago. This diet can improve your health by processed foods and refined grains that have little nutritional value and too many calories. Emphasizing clean eating by ensuring adequate protein intake and loading up on fruits and vegetables that are bursting with healthy vitamins, minerals, and fibre, this diet fills you up faster so you eat less—helping curb weight gain.
Specific Carbohydrate Diet
The Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) diet is based on the principle that certain carbohydrates, specifically monosaccharides, require minimal digestive processes and thus are easily absorbed. When nutrients are fully absorbed there is less irritation to the gut and a cessation in microbial overgrowth, allowing inflammatory conditions to subside and the intestinal lining to heal.
Keto
The ketogenic diet (or keto diet) is a low-carb, high-fat diet. It involves drastically reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This reduction in carbs puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis. When this happens, your body becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy. It also turns fat into ketones in the liver, which can supply energy for the brain.
Intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting is not a diet, it’s a pattern of eating. You schedule your meals so that you can get the most of the foods you’re eating and allowing your digestive track to rest. Intermittent fasting doesn’t change what you eat, it changes when you eat. You have designated times when you’re allowed to eat and time frames where you are not, in turn, optimizing time spent in the fed and fasted states.
