The Role of Clinical Nutrition in creating Health and wellness

What is clinical nutrition?

Clinical nutrition is the study of the relationship between food and a healthy body. More specifically, it’s the science of nutrients (the substances your body needs to live and grow)—how these substances are processed by your body and how they work individually and together in maintaining health.

Clinical nutrition takes into account many different factors. Among these are your age, possible physical symptoms, the environment in which you live and in which your food is grown, and consideration of the correlation between nutritional factors and disease progression.

Conditions influenced by clinical nutrition. Current published research shows many conditions known to have a strong nutritional component. Among these are

• cardiovascular disease,
• bowel cancer,
• obesity,
• type 2 diabetes,
• hypoglycemia,
• irritable bowel syndrome,
• food sensitivities,
• poor energy and sudden energy drops,
• moods swings,
• inflammatory conditions.

Understanding the role nutrition plays in your life—including your medical history, family history, and personal lifestyle—helps to identify changes to eating that could promote improved wellness. For example, by identifying foods that may be “reactive” for you, digestive disturbances such as bloating and irritable bowel syndrome are frequently resolved.

Good nutrition also can play a vital role in facilitating weight loss, enabling spinal adjustments to hold, reducing stress and inflammation in the body, increasing energy, clearing “brain fog” and stabilising blood sugar metabolism.

When working with a client on clinical nutrition, we   explore

•  the role nutrients play in your life.
• What are your eating habits and lifestyle?
• Are you experiencing symptoms that might be a result of diet?
• Are there imbalances that can be noted?
• Finally, what are you hoping to change—and what have you already tried?

In addition, various tests can be utilised to help determine.

• vitamin deficiencies,
• possible food sensitivities
• unhealthy bacteria levels in your gut
•  the presence of toxic heavy metals.

These are non-invasive tests, many of which can be conducted in the office. Most of the time, however, the use of a health appraisal questionnaire and keeping a food diary will tell me most of what I need to know.

After evaluating your information, I outline any dietary changes and nutritional support that will help re-create your good health and wellbeing.

While the emphasis is on the benefits of healthy eating, in the short term, vitamin, mineral and herbal supplements may be beneficial to help balance any existing deficiencies and set you on a path to optimal wellness.

I look forward to talking with you about how adjusting the foods you eat can positively impact your health. Please contact us.

To learn more, read Clinical Assessments and Screening Tests.