Nutritional Clinic Services

Optimise Your Health with Nutritional Therapy

What is Nutritional Therapy?

Nutritional therapy is a science-based, individual-centred approach to healthcare that employs assessment and intervention using nutritional, lifestyle-based and related health sciences in order to assist the individual to optimise his or her physiological, emotive, cognitive and physical function.

Wellbeing and good health are a consequence of metabolic homeostasis, where the individual maintains equilibrium in his or her throughput of energy to sustain body function, structure and information. Supporting homeostasis is the key focus of nutritional therapy, which in turn recognises that diet and lifestyle are among the factors that most profoundly influence it. Homeostasis is maintained by the constant adjustment of biochemical and physiological pathways by both endogenous and exogenous means.Nutritional therapists often work alongside GPs and other professionals helping clients who have chronic health problems that conventional medicine can find difficult to treat.

Functional Medicine

Functional medicine emphasises a definable and teachable process of integrating multiple knowledge bases within a pragmatic intellectual matrix that focuses on functionality at many levels, rather than a single treatment for a single diagnosis. Functional medicine uses the patient’s story as a key tool for integrating diagnosis, signs and symptoms, and evidence of clinical imbalances into a comprehensive approach to improve both the patient’s environmental inputs and his or her physiological function.

The Institute for Functional Medicine teaches health care professional’s how to apply these principles in practice through an intensive 5 day training course called Applying Functional Medicine in Clinical Practice™.

Christine Bailey, Director of Advance Nutrition has attended and completed the inaugural AFMCP™-UK training in London in 2011.

At Advance Nutrition we use this functional model to assess health. This looks carefully at the interactions between different systems in the body together with your presenting signs and symptoms health and medical history and where possible test results. The goal is to identify and address underlying causes of health problems often due to imbalances in body system, rather than simply focusing on symptoms. In addition Advance Nutrition combines nutritional therapy with life coaching. This means we enable you to establish positive health goals and teach you how to adopt lifestyle and behavioural changes to make dietary changes achievable and manageable in the long term.

A Personalised Nutritional Programme

Nutritional therapy recognises that we are all unique and no one diet or health treatment programme will be suitable for everyone. Nutritional therapists are trained to consider you an individual, to look for potential underlying causes of health problems which may be contributing to your symptoms.

When developing a wellness programme for you we consider your health history, genetic predispositions, environmental inputs and physiological processes. Assessment includes the use of appropriate tests and observations, such as case history, anthropomorphic measurements, physical signs, laboratory tests, and nutrition/lifestyle analysis to determine an educational nutrition programme. Assessment also provides the basis for referral to a licensed physician, or other healthcare professional if necessary.

Here at Advance Nutrition recommended educational nutritional protocols are provided for each client. They may include, among other information,nutrition / lifestyle modification, nutritive supplementation, understanding of physiological / biochemical pathways, and evoking of regenerative processes. The use of food and lifestyle changes is recognised as a principle component of achieving and maintaining optimal levels of health. Research is increasingly recognising that foods have nutritive value beyond simply caloric or macronutrient quantity and quality. Christine Bailey, a qualified nutritionist and chef at Advance Nutrition will work with you to achieve the best food selection for your personal needs.

Recommendations will include dietary and lifestyle changes tailored to your lifestyle and requirements. While the focus is always to promote a high quality nutritious diet, nutritional supplements may also be recommended.

Working within the Healthcare Sector

Christine Bailey is registered on the NHS Directory of Complementary Therapists and is an approved Nutritional Consultant with Pru Health Insurance. As such we work closely with doctors, consultants and other professional practitioners to further your health and wellbeing. Improving your nutrition can make a big difference to how you feel and perform whether you have significant or minor health concerns. It is also crucial for maintaining optimum health, maximising longevity and healthy ageing and boosting mental and physical performance.

Educational Nutrition Protocols to Support Health and Wellbeing

The educational protocols recommended may include, among other information, nutrition / lifestyle modification, nutritive supplementation, understanding of physiological / biochemical pathways, and evoking of regenerative processes. The use of food and lifestyle changes is recognised as a principle component of achieving and maintaining optimal levels of health. Research is increasingly recognising that foods have nutritive value beyond that related to caloric or macronutrient quantity and quality. As a qualified Nutritional Therapist I can work with you to achieve the best food selection for your personal needs.

Food supplementation is sometimes challenged by people who recognise that a balanced diet should meet everyone’s unique biochemical needs. Whilst Nutritional Therapists are trained in the application of food as a health modifier, they also recognise, as do more and more scientists, that there are distinct benefits to the use of specific food supplements and nutritional substrates in conjunction with both a healthy and well balanced diet and a specific lifestyle programme.

Severe deficiency of the vitamins and minerals required for life is relatively uncommon in developed nations, but modest deficiency is very common and is often either not recognised or not taken seriously. New evidence, however, may change this thinking. Particularly significant is recent research that suggests moderate selenium and vitamin K deficiency lead to accumulated damage over time as a result of vitamin and mineral loss, leading to age-related diseases.

This research, just published in the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Journal, demonstrates the need for public health initiatives aimed at identifying, treating and taking seriously modest vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

“This paper should settle any debate about the importance of taking a good, complete, multivitamin every day,” said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the (FASEB Journal).

“As this report shows, taking a multivitamin that contains selenium is a good way to prevent deficiencies that, over time, can cause harm in ways that we are just beginning to understand.”

McCann JC, Ames BN. Adaptive dysfunction of selenoproteins from the perspective of the triage theory: why modest selenium deficiency may increase risk of diseases of aging. FASEB J. 2011 Jun;25(6):1793-814. Epub 2011 Mar 14. http://tinyurl.com/64h5sx2

Choosing a Practitioner

It is important to choose a qualified Nutritional Therapist who has undertaken all the necessary training to understand the theory and practice of Nutritional Therapy. At Advance Nutrition we are fully qualified, insured and registered with the Complementary & Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC) and the British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy (BANT). In addition we have completed The Institute for Functional Medicine ntensive 5 day training course called Applying Functional Medicine in Clinical Practice™ and are certified to use their logo.

Nutritional Intervention can be helpful in the following conditions:

Nutritional Clinic Services

Cardiovascular Health
Children’s and Teenage Health
Diabetes and Insulin Resistance
Digestive Health
Fatigue and Low Energy
Fertility
Healthy Ageing
Immune support
Pregnancy and Postnatal Support
Skin Health
Sports Nutrition
Stress and Adrenal Support
Mental Health / Addictions
Musculoskeletal Conditions
Weight Loss and Weight Management
Women’s Health

Advance Nutrition also offers a range of Wellbeing Programmes including:

On Your Marks..Sports Nutrition Clinic
12 Week Weight Loss Programme
Younger You: Weight Loss and Healthy Aging
15 minute Health MOT
Arterial Health Test
Corporate Wellbeing Packages