Principles of Nutritional Therapy

In an ideal world, all the nutrients we require in the correct amounts would be taken in with our food as part of a balanced diet.

Unfortunately, in our fast and furious modern society this is not always the case. Farming and environmental issues mean that many foods have suffered a natural decline in nutrient levels. Plus, the ‘’age of the ready meal’’ has brought not only speed and convenience but also a whole host of chemical additives, preservatives, colourings and flavourings all convincingly packaged to disguise often poor nutritional content. With foods like these being eaten every day it is no surprise that chronic health problems such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease are becoming 21st century epidemics.

Malnutrition is definitely not a thing of the past; it comes in many different guises and surrounds us all every day. To add to the impacts of our depleted diets, environmental pollution and the use of antibiotics and other drugs can reduce the body’s ability to absorb and use nutrients correctly. This further diminishes our chances of optimum health and contributes to illness.

Nutritional therapy takes all of these things into account and each patient is treated as an individual:

Everyone’s nutritional needs are different and each food and supplement programme is carefully tailored to suit the particular needs and wishes of that person. Nutritional therapy identifies and addresses the underlying cause of a health problem, not merely treating the symptoms as many medications do. Each person is treated as a whole. All aspects are considered to account for the fact that the body functions through a complex web of interactions that need to be working in harmony to achieve optimal health. A nutritional therapist may recommend levels of nutrients way above RDA’s (Recommended Daily Amounts) as set by the government. RDA’s are simply a guide to the minimum amounts of nutrients we require each day to prevent diseases such as scurvy. Therapeutic levels of nutrients help address disease and promote optimum health.   As the old saying goes, prevention is better than cure. Nutritional therapy works to prevent disease and maintain health as well as tackling illness.

Why choose nutritional therapy over a dietician?

Dieticians only work with RDA’s. They don’t always appreciate the importance of nutrition in more complex health issues such as stress, depression and menstrual problems. They may focus only on treating a particular problem, not looking at the patient holistically. They may not consider wider issues such as environment. Their research base is often narrower than nutritional therapy and little regard may be given to preventative medicine and optimal health.