What is Nutritional Therapy?
Nutritional Therapy is the process of learning how to nourish your own bio-individual needs. It typically includes the process of slowing down, learning to listen in to your body, and gaining the knowledge and support needed to make changes.
Nutritional Therapy is unique because it pushes us toward a health mindset rather than a sick mindset. Most of us live with the idea that we are perfectly healthy until we are diagnosed with some known pathology. Then, we are sick. Sickness requires treatment, and often “life style” changes which include nutrition. This is the path for many people to their local NTP (Nutritional Therapy Practitioner). There is nothing wrong with this approach. Nutrition responds well to pathology. With strategies and knowledge, prediabetes can be corrected, chronic pain can lessen, digestive discomfort can disappear, eczema can diminish, and the list goes on! But ultimately nutritional therapy is about more than correcting pathology. It is about supporting all humans in their birthright to achieve deep health and wellness.
Regardless of whether your are looking to go deeper into your health, or you are looking to correct and heal from pathology - the road to healing will begin the same. The roots of nutritional therapy are: supporting digestion, optimizing blood sugar balance. including essential fats, balancing proper minerals, and getting the body to an ideal level of hydration. This sounds easy enough on paper. And yes, it is simple - but it is often a journey of unlearning certain habits and blazing new trails with the support of a coach.
The journey begins with a lengthy intake form called the NAQ that records symptoms from a functional perspective. What does this mean? It means you will be filling out of long form with a large assortment of questions. You probably didn’t know that if you are craving noodles it could mean that you have some imbalance in your blood sugar levels. You might not know that if you consistently wake up at 3am that your liver is working over time to keep your stress hormones in balance. You might not realize that if you are extremely sensitive to sunlight that it could mean you are not getting enough B vitamins to fuel your muscles. These are isolated questions, but in the context of a larger picture, trends can be seen. It is the job of the NTP to look at these trends and plan the best place to get to work.
Sometimes the healing journey can also include the week long exercise called The Food and Mood Journal. Not all NTP’s employ this, but it can be helpful. It offers a very deep dive into what you actually put into your body throughout the week. We often don’t link the burger and fries we had at lunch to our poor sleep that evening or waking up feeling tired. Likewise, the high protein lunch is not always connected to the very energized afternoon that we had on the soccer field. This week long food record can be particularly helpful for those with discomfort who are looking to remove “food triggers” that cause symptoms. When all is said and done, the FM journal supports the healing journey by drawing direct data into the conversation. This helps you and your NTP create a road map for change.
Many folks come to Nutritional Therapy because of pathology or symptoms. Depending on the symptoms, many issues can clear up within 6-8 weeks, and sometimes sooner. But it is at the close of the symptoms that NTPs can really take health to the next level. Ultimately health is not about “un-sickness,” it is about power, strength, and living with our full life force. This is where the real work can happen. When we strengthen our digestive system, become masters of our metabolic health, raise our intake of fats, and bring our minerals into balance with hydration - we truly begin to feel the power that we’ve had inside all along. We think better, move better, sleep better. We listen to each other better, and best of all, we listen better to the earth.
Nutritional Therapy is truly for everyone, because eating is a healing act. Food has become muddled in additives that we don’t even notice. It has been dumbed down for convenience, so that we don’t receive the nutrients that we need. But this is not the path to healing. The path to healing is nourishment. Nourishment is our birthright, it is for us and for our children. Consider your need for nourishment, and if you don’t know where to start, get an NTP, especially if you are having symptoms! The road to health is before you, and it is as simple as your next meal.
