The natural route to better health: what it's like to be a nutritionist

But the more she looked the more confused she became due to the amount of conflicting information on the internet.

Determined to educate herself properly, Julie enrolled on a course led by the College of Naturopathic Medicine.

Now working as a registered nutritionist, specialising in female hormones and menopause, she uses her knowledge and experience to support others.

Julie, who lives in Burntwood and runs Eat Well To Be Well, says she's always had in interest in health and wellbeing.

"I trained as a fitness instructor and in aromatherapy massage in my early 20`s and I used to run a Rosemary Connelly diet and fitness club as well as teaching aerobics classes, step and more recently Zumba in my local community alongside my full-time job.

"In 2017 , my mother was diagnosed with stage 4 bowel cancer and was discharged from hospital for palliative care.

"During her short illness my mother kept getting infections and the antibiotics she was prescribed used to make her really sick. I started to research natural antibiotics and we tried some different combinations which really helped to keep the infections at bay.

Following her death, I realised that I was experiencing menopause symptoms and had entered peri-menopause. Due to my family history, it is not an option for me to take HRT and so my research continued into natural therapies to support menopause symptoms," she tells Weekend.

After learning about the College of Naturopathic Medicine and spoke to one of their course consultants.

"I decided to sign up for their diploma course which was three years part-time and I was able to fit this in alongside my full-time employment," says Julie.

"From day one I was hooked and knew that this was something I wanted to pursue. During the process of attaining my qualification I learned more about the body, biochemistry and biomedicine and why I was experiencing the symptoms of hot flushes, night sweats, anxiety and brain fog, and then I learned all of the ways in which I could support myself through them.

"It only required some simple tweaks to my diet and lifestyle and suddenly things started to improve.

"I decided after qualifying in October 2021 to pursue this as a career and I now specialise in female hormones and menopause.

Julie, who a level 5 diploma level 5 in naturopathic nutrition, now runs a menopause support group in her local community, provides corporate menopause workshops as well as supporting clients on one-to-one basis through her private practice.

Nutritional therapy is the use of food as medicine, she explains.

"Diet and lifestyle interventions can be used to support any chronic health conditions. This includes diabetes, digestive issues such as coeliac disease, inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis, depression, weight management and much more.

"It can also be used as a tool to prevent the onset of chronic illness or disease or even just to educate clients around healthy eating as there is so much conflicting information.

"The client is supported through a comprehensive one to one health consultation the aim of which is to identify the root cause of their illness; this may involve some functional testing.

"Following this I develop a bespoke plan incorporating diet and lifestyle interventions and sometimes short term supplementation to improve their symptoms and promote healing," says Julie, who is registered with the British Association of Nutritional Therapists (BANT).

In her role, there is no such thing as a typical day as no two days are the same.

"I might have one-to-one clients who I see, usually face to face, but also on zoom consultations. I usually work two to three days per week in clinic seeing new clients or following up with existing clients to support them through their diet and lifestyle changes.

"On clinic days, I typically work a couple of hours in the morning and then take a break for lunch and then another couple of hours in the afternoon.

"When I am not seeing clients, I am spending time writing up client plans, writing news articles and researching specific conditions as although I specialise in female health, I can support clients with any chronic illness or health problems such as digestive issues.

"I also run a monthly menopause support group in my local community so I spend time preparing the content for the sessions.

"I have recently started to provide corporate menopause in the workplace workshops which are specifically designed to support, not only women in the workplace, but also employers and managers.

"I know from my own experience how difficult life became during the height of my menopause symptoms which could be very debilitating and had a significant on my confidence to continue in a managerial position.

"I was very lucky that I had a lot of support and was also studying for my qualification so I was learning how to help myself. It is so important for women to feel supported in the workplace so that employers can retain valued, experienced and skilled staff.

A couple of times a year I also provide menopause day retreats which is a safe and supportive environment for ladies to chill out, share their experiences and learn tips and tricks for managing their menopause symptoms at home.

"I market my services through social media so a proportion of my time is also spent, preparing and designing content for social media posts," Julie tells Weekend.

Health and wellbeing are subjects that she feels very passionate about and she finds being able to guide others towards making positive changes very rewarding. "I have lost both of my parents to diet and lifestyle related diseases and so it is important to me to be in control of and preserve my long-term health. I also wanted to be educated so that if I do become ill, I understand any diagnosis and how to help myself," explains Julie.

"I get a deep sense of satisfaction from helping others and seeing the difference that I can make to their lives when their health improves or they reverse a chronic illness."

Her advice for anyone seeking help for a health and wellbeing issue is to contact a nutritionist registered with the British Association of Nutritional Therapists (BANT).

"Always look for a registered nutritionist as this is still an unregulated sector, anyone can do a short course in nutrition and call themselves a nutritionist. BANT have a register of Nutritionists on their website (bant.org.uk). I offer a free short discovery call to discuss your personal situation and to provide some general advice on my services," says Julie.

For more information, email julie@eatwelltobewell.co.uk