Consultant Nutritionist and Food Intolerance Testing, Faversham Kent, IBS Specialist Clinic - NUTRITION, IBS, INTOLERANCES, BLOOD TESTING

Amino Acids and Hypothyroidism

2/16/2025

When managing hypothyroidism, many people assume that taking thyroid medication is enough to alleviate symptoms. However, in some cases, this approach doesn’t fully resolve issues. One key reason is that proper thyroid function depends on more than just medication - it requires the right nutrients, particularly amino acids, to support thyroid hormone conversion........... Click on the button to read the full article.

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Weight Loss Injections

8/30/2024

A short cut for weight loss has been gradually growing at an unprecedented speed. Injections appear to be a quick fix for individuals desperate to lose weight and despite the expense they are signing up, some without checking the pitfalls or side effects. The article below (hit the button) explains the pros and cons of weight loss injections.
Ozempic is one such injection.
Are we being cautious enough? Are we aware of the dangers or blindly administering a drug we know very little about?

Click the button to find out more.

An appointment with a Nutritionist could not only save you hundreds of pounds, but educate and provide long term results, rather than short term weight loss.

Weight Loss Injections

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Slow Down Your Eating Style

5/16/2024

It's not a race! If you are used to eating on the hoof, bolting down food between school runs and excercise classes, rushing lunch breaks, eating in the car etc, you are not eating consciously.
Or Mindfully.............

Why is this style of eating not good for us?

Don't race ahead with eating as your 'satisfied and stop' signals wont be able to activate in time. This can mean you could over-eat and also suddenly feel very full.

The 20 minute window of opportunity is 'digestion gold.' Hormonal responses can have time to send signals to our brain and digestive system that we have eaten enough.

Stop eating when you feel satisfied, not full. This mans you have not overeaten and you are mindfully taking note of how you feel during meals.

Eating food triggers a chain reaction of events. Even a strong smell of food can act as a trigger in some cases.

SEE, SMELL, THINK ABOUT FOOD - Triggers saliva production in the mouth. There are enzymes in saliva which help to break food down and moisten it.

STOMACH IS TRIGGERED TO SECRETE MORE ACID.
SMALL INTESTINE PREPARES FOR 'PERISTALSIS' (THE JOURNEY OF THE FOOD).

When rushing food we are not allowing our GI tract to prepare.
Slow Eaters consume, on average, 2 ounces of food a minute.
Fast Eaters consume, on average, 3.1 ounces per minute, taking larger bites and chewing less.

This demonstrates that Fast Eaters are actually projecting lumps of food into their stomachs, creating difficulty for your stomach to turn food into liquid chyme. This potentially can lead to digestive issues such as acid reflux, poor gut health, bloating and gas.

Interestingly, you can reduce your calories, per meal by up 70, if you eat slowly. That all adds up over a day, weeks, months.

Sipping water whilst eating is also a proven means of improving satiety thus reducing calorie intake.

Reference: University of Rhode Island.

#nutritionist #dietician #digestive #issues #eat #slowloy #IBS #phlebotomist #Bluecrest #blood #testing #quality #B12 #diabetes #anaemia #vega #testing allergy #intolerance #insectbites #hormonetesting #menopausetesting #thyroidtesting #weightlossinjections #weight #loss #injections #mournjaro #ozempic #fertility #bloodtester #faversham #kent #whitstable #hernebay #bloating

Ketosis - is it safe ?

2/11/2023

There has been an upsurge of fasting and ketosis based diets. This is an extreme eating regimen which requires a huge amount of committment.
Is it safe though ? Ketosis could cause long damage to the skeletan, mental health, liver and cholesterol.
Click on the button below to read my article on Ketosis to find out more.

B12 & Folate Deficiency

5/31/2022

B12 and Folate Deficiency can be mis-diagnosed or missed altogether as the symptoms are so varied and similar to other conditions such as depression, IBS, eczema, menopause, CFS. A B12 blood test is a clear means of assessing whether deficiency actually exists. There can be false negatives however, it's never simple it is. So even if you have a negative result, there still could be underlying conditions related to B12 deficiency.

Limited eating such as vegan, fasting, smoothies, fussy eaters can all potentially develop B12 deficiency.

Treatment is very effective and patients described feeling incredible. How many of the boxes do you tick?

#B12 #deficiency #folate #crohns #blood #test #FODMAP #fatigue #menopause #feeling #tired #energy #dip #diarrhoea #itch #skin #faversham #nutritionist #kent #apotheca #herbalist #whitstable #canterbury #london #clinic #dietician #weight #loss #PCOS #bloodtesting #phlebotomist #clinic folkestone #slimmingworld #weightwatchers #chatham #rochester #fasting #weightlossinjections #weight #loss #injections #mournjaro #ozempic #fertility #bloodtester #faversham #kent #whitstable #hernebay

A Patients Story - Weight Loss and Change = Success

7/9/2015

A patient has kindly typed her story, hoping it will inspire other people to achieve their goals and to realise that whilst change is hard, the benefits are worth it. I dedicate this to my wonderful patients, and their journeys.

Getting Back Out There!

In May 2014, I received my diagnosis of Diverticulosis, I accepted it pretty much in ignorance of its future impact on my life.

Life, in its many forms, carried on....... Me, eating all the wrong foods, gaining more weight. Extra weight I did not need to carry as I also had arthritis. The blessed osteoarthritis - in hands and feet, which had made me give up the job I loved – Complementary Therapies.

The final straw – a much looked-forward-to evening out with old friends – I had to cancel – my bowel/colon had decided to go into overdrive. I rang the hostess who said she would be back in touch after that evening with a promise to help me – she kept that promise. She recommended a Nutritional Therapist to me – a partner and a circle of friends had benefited from seeing this lady for many different reasons and symptoms.

I made that ‘phone call. It brought me to Victoria Shorland.

6th January 2015 is a day I can truthfully say changed this stage of my life. A two-hour consultation was all it took.

A fairly strict eating regime was handed to me. No … regime is not a good word. It represents “must do”. Let’s change it to transition which represents “can do”. I will not deny it was hard at times. Eating white meat – chicken or turkey – day in, day out, can get very, well, very ‘bland’. I was allowed the occasional foray into the red meats, so I took the initiative to have red meats, coffee and quite a few other “no-nos” (let’s change that to “suggest-not”) purely on a reward system. My reward for tackling the ironing, sorting out my paperwork, writing up treatment forms … housework!!

I say reward because also during my initial two-hour consultation with Victoria, she and I discussed my life as it was up to that time. Although I bore in mind she is not a counsellor, she assessed me mentally and physically and imbued in me such a sense of motivation and a cheerfulness I hadn’t had a for a while. I was fair left reeling when I left – my emotions were indescribable.

The past six months have been quite an eye opener. I stopped blaming others for everything and something. You know, things like weight-gain. I gained it because I would not walk far “’cos my feet hurt”, it's too cold, too hot, it's too, it's too, oh, the list was endless. I gained weight because the biscuits and cakes were in the cupboard, because the bowl of fruit was purely for decoration.
I had blamed others for the fact that I was eating wheat and gluten and a hundred and one other things which aggravated my colon and blamed others for the fact that I had to run to the loo x-amount of times a day as a result.

With the food transition for the care of my sensitive and vulnerable colon, anything with wheat and gluten in it was a ‘suggest-not’. Cakes, bread, biscuits – things like that. Please note, I used that word ‘ suggest-not again. NOT BAN. The suggestion led me to a foray into the local supermarket. There are foods for sale, completely free of wheat and gluten!!   Yes, bread and biscuits!!   And a hundred and one other things!!

Now here’s one wonderful discovery – because it was suggested I avoid cakes, biscuits, bread, dairy products, sugars, reduce the intake of potatoes basically, and eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, there is one very obvious by-product – weight-loss! Yippee – 3 ½ stone to date. But I bore in mind that having to keep going to the toilet also can make you lose weight, but that is not a healthy way to lose one’s weight.

Also on my food-transition, was oily fish and supplements – oh and nuts which then produced another by-product – my muscles and joints improved and enabled me to restart my Reflexology Business.

I can almost hear you saying “You’ve made it all sound so easy”. No, it hasn’t been easy. It has been hard. There have been times when my halo could have slipped to bite into that big, sticky bun or fumble through that packet of custard creams just for the sheer hell of it. But when you have folk telling you how much better you look with both the weight-loss and skin condition due to drinking more water, comment on the new outfit, finding you have more energy by not carrying that extra weight around and not having your gut ‘bunged up’ with something not quite agreeing with it, who or what was I going to blame then?

Motivation is another by-product. There’s another word for that – proactive. Because I now had no one to blame anymore and found myself with energy to burn, I found myself starting to have another look at my world.

My world? The garden could do with sprucing up (gardening, I read, burns up those extra calories!) Wardrobe – needs some colour injection and updating. Skirts are on my shopping list – I must look at my dictionary to remind myself what a skirt means! Hair – could do with shortening to lengthen my neck! Sorting out paperwork – why do we accumulate so much?

WEIGHT-LOSS, A HEALTHIER COLON, CLEARER SKIN = VANITY OF THE BEST KIND

Oh, this list could go on … but I’ll close now. Not because I have to rush to the loo like I had to last year (this year, its perhaps once or twice a day, barring just three blips- sorry to be graphic) but there’s somewhere I need to go, there’s something I need to do, somewhere I need to be and it’s not the loo! …..

I AM WORTHY OF CHANGE – PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY

National Breakfast Week Jan 2015

1/24/2015

Breakfast – Love it or Hate It ?

It is National Breakfast Week so it seemed appropriate to write about it and hopefully inspire readers to make some changes.    I frequently hear patients complain about breakfast:

·         It’s too much of a rush in the morning.
·         I don’t feel hungry.
·         I am up too early to fancy eating.
·         I am on the ‘starve’ phase of the diet I am on.

So why is it so important ?

Breakfast provides the body and brain with fuel after an overnight fast - that's where its name originates, breaking the fast! Without breakfast you are effectively running on empty, like trying to start the car with no petrol!

Nutritionists advise that breakfast should be eaten within two hours of waking and a healthy breakfast should provide calories in the range of 20-35% of your guideline daily allowance (GDA).

Excellent sources of vital nutrients such as calcium, iron and B vitamins as well as protein and fibre. The body needs these essential nutrients and research shows that if these are missed at breakfast, they are less likely to be compensated for later in the day.

Fruit and vegetables are good sources of vitamins and minerals, so try to include a portion of your daily five at breakfast, eg, small banana, small glass of fruit juice.

Individuals who skip breakfast are far more likely to graze before lunch or over eat during the day generally, in order to compensate. Their cravings can be greater too, as their body cries for energy.

Cognitive function

Breakfast restores glucose levels, an essential carbohydrate that is needed for the brain to function. Many studies have shown how eating breakfast can improve memory and concentration levels and it can also make us happier as it can improve mood and lower stress levels.

Studies have shown that for children, breakfast can improve achievement, concentration, behaviour and grades. So, to put it simply, the brain needs that kick start in the morning, to help it work.

The NHS says:

"Eating breakfast has long term health benefits. It can reduce obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes."

Written By Victoria Shorland, Eat To Live, 07789512825 or www.eattolive.org.uk. Allergy Testing/Food Intolerance Testing/Nutritionist.

NEW BURST - B12 AND VASCULAR DEMENTIA

12/10/2014

NEWS BURST - B12 may have a role in the prevention of vascular dementia in elderly people, as well as mood disorders.

Do Diets Fail or Do We Fail At Diets

9/29/2014

WEIGHT LOSS

There is strong evidence that if we put points or calories against our eating regimen it encourages us to cheat, so we substitute good foods for bad foods at equal or slightly more calories. This gamble actually increases our calories by 5 – 10 % which is enough to trigger weight gain. Also it does not educate us to say ‘no’ , to be honest with ourselves, or to manage our food better. Managing your portions and the type of food you eat is far better than counting points, drinking endless shakes or avoiding food groups, as some diets encourage. How many diets have you paid for ? At what financial cost ? The very fact you are reading this means they did not help doesn’t it.

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