Who would benefit
from a consultation?
People tend to fall into two groups
- Those who have one or more of the conditions listed below, or any of those known to be related to lifestyle issues, whether ‘serious’ or less serious conditions
- Those looking to optimise their wellbeing and looking for advice on nutrition or lifestyle habits, particularly with transitioning or optimising a healthy whole foods plant based diet.
Health: It’s a lifestyle problem
It’s a lifestyle problem
Research shows a high proportion of our modern diseases are caused by the lifestyle we ‘choose’.
Lifestyle factors that affect our health are wide-ranging. They include issues such as the amount of sleep we get, the environment, our general mental well-being, and the nutrition in the food we eat.
Unfortunately, not all of this is a matter of choice. By the time we reach adulthood most of us arrive with a pre-conditioned response for instance, to the food we eat along with many other everyday factors we take for granted.
By making some basic changes you can regain control of your health. I’m here to help you on the journey.
Nutrition
- Which of all the diets I read about is the right one?
- How can I best lose weight and keep it off?
- Am I getting enough nutrients?
Health & Wellbeing
- What is causing my fatigue symptoms?
- What is causing my stomach problems?
- Should I be taking supplements? If so, which?
Medical Conditions
- I need help with a specific medical condition.
- Am I going to get the same disease my parents or other family members have?
- How can I avoid getting cancer/ heart disease or other common diseases?
What about protein?
“Some say you can never get enough protein but I think I read somewhere once that too much protein is actually a bad thing. Sounds crazy to me. I would really appreciate some guidance in this area because everything I read is so confusing.”
Diseases affected by lifestyle choices
The overconsumption of highly processed food is now recognised as one of the contributing factors to lifestyle disease conditions.
Dementias
Dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease, Vascular dementia and Lewy Body Dementia have been shown to be up to 90% due to lifestyle factors, and can be amenable to improvement with positive changes. This is especially relevant to those with a family history of these conditions.
Osteoarthritis
This is not just a wear and tear disease but involves inflammation in the joints. It has been shown to often respond very well to a (low inflammatory) whole foods plant based diet.
Heart disease, stroke, mini-stroke, and other cardiovascular disease including peripheral vascular disease and even erectile dysfunction
These occur from the clogging up and inflammation of our arteries, caused by fats in the diet, smoking, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Heart disease is our most common cause of death and disability.
Improving lifestyle especially diet has been shown to reverse this – this has been shown in several clinical studies and shown to work in clinical practice by many doctors around the world. The body tries to heal itself given the right food and environment to do so.
Diabetes (Especially Type 2)
This hallmark of this insidious condition raised sugar in the blood stream, but is chiefly caused by the excess of animal products, fats and processed foods in the diet causing insulin resistance in body tissues of muscle and liver.
It responds extremely well to diet and lifestyle changes and Type 2 control can be much better controlled and even achieve remission in many cases. Type 1 sufferers can reduce insulin requirements significantly also, avoiding ‘double diabetes’ from insulin resistance from suboptimal diet on top of the autoimmune Type 1 condition.
Autoimmune Diseases
These are an array of chronic conditions caused by the immune system being triggered by an interaction of genetic and environmental factors , with diet heavily implicated.
Rheumatoid Arthritis, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Thyroid diseases and others can be significantly improved and even put into remission with diet and lifestyle changes in some people. The results are often life changing.
Cancers
Bowel, breast and prostate, lung, bladder, melanoma are some of the most common. There is increasing evidence to show that diet and lifestyle changes can prevent some cancers, slow growth particularly at an early stage (prostate cancer), and improve outcomes in many of those with a cancer diagnosis.
Looking at the key concerns
Major Health Factors
Major factors which affect health include:
- Nutrition
- Exercise
- Sleep
- Mental Stress
- Social Interactions and life purpose
- Toxins – tobacco, alcohol, caffeine, environmental toxins e.g. pesticides, PCBs,
- Sunlight
Other Health Factors
Other conditions which have been shown, in the peer reviewed scientific literature, to respond to a whole food plant based diet include:
Weight Loss
High Cholesterol
High Blood Pressure
Gut Health issues such as Irritable Bowel Disease
Osteoarthritis
Kidney disease
Acne
Menstrual disorders including menorrhagia (heavy periods) and endometriosis symptoms
Migrain
Please Take Note
It is important to note I recommend diet and lifestyle changes in addition to, and not instead of, conventional medical interventions.
Each individual has a different disease risk factor profile with contributions from genetic differences and other environmental exposure factors so the response from lifestyle changes may differ between people.
“Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.”
HIPPOCRATES