AnnMarie McKnight -Wholesome Nutrition
Most people may have an idea of what a Nutritionist does and I want to expand further and explain a bit about how I work. As a Nutritional Therapist I help you to make the connection between what you are eating (or not) and symptoms you might be having however only addressing the symptoms is not addressing the whole picture.
Part of my 4 year studies in Nutritional Therapy was based on the principles of Functional Medicine which looks to uncover underlying causes of disease rather than just treating the symptoms. Therefore, my approach is based on the understanding that signs and symptoms are messages from the body that there may be an imbalance in any of the bodily systems e.g. the Digestive system, Immune system, Cardiovascular system etc that may be contributing to the development of a health condition and I look to address any imbalances through personalised dietary and lifestyle changes as well as targeted nutritional supplements where appropriate.
I believe that eating healthy doesn’t have to be hard and once we have an understanding of why certain foods are not good for our bodies then it makes any changes more doable and enjoyable. I don’t diagnose or claim to treat a medical condition and any diet and lifestyle recommendations are always made to complement your physician’s advice.
Who I work with
I specialise in working with people who want to lose weight, improve digestion & Thyroid health and get their energy back so that they can love their bodies again, rediscover the joy of eating and have the life they love without having to go hungry or eat expensive ‘health’ food. I am also an affiliate member of Thyroid Nutrition Ireland www.thyroidnutritioireland.com
Recent Thyroid Case Study
A recent client came to me as she was experiencing extreme fatigue, brain fog, constipation and indigestion. These symptoms can be indicative of an underactive thyroid but she was already on medication for a diagnosed underactive thyroid so what was going on?
Surely the medication should be helping these symptoms but this is something I see so often in clinic. What can happen is the thyroid medication can help initially but symptoms can start to come back and this can mean that a tweak is needed to the medication by her GP but in a lot of cases it doesn’t seem to make a difference and what I find is that the thyroid markers tested by the GP is not the full range of markers to find out what is really going on .
As approx 90% of Hypothyroidism is due to Hashimoto’s Hypothyroidism I wanted to know if her under active thyroid was due to Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis which is an autoimmune response to the thyroid gland and if so, the medication will only address the symptoms and not the underlying cause & like other autoimmune conditions can respond really well to dietary & lifestyle changes.
Private Testing for Thyroid autoantibodies was carried out and sure enough her thyroid auto antibodies were raised and a diagnosis of Hashimoto’s was made by her GP. We are currently working on gradual dietary changes to reduce inflammation in the body plus gut healing and stress relief and already she is feeling the benefit from increased energy and in improved digestive issues. I usually work with clients over 3 months at least to allow time for dietary advice to be put in place and for the benefits to be felt.
A bit about me
I have always been interested in diet and vitamins and how they can help having had my own issues with digestion from my teens when I was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) at aged 17 after spending a week in hospital undergoing test after test. I was put on a diet plan and basically told to eat more fibre but found I was still experiencing uncomfortable and sometimes painful symptoms and started to notice a connection between stressful times in my life as well as eating unhealthy foods or foods that just didn’t agree with me.
It wasn’t until years later after a visit to a Nutritional Therapist where I did more detailed functional tests including a comprehensive stool test plus food sensitivity test plus a protocol of personalised gut healing did I start to finally resolved my digestive issues. Having had awful perimenopausal symptoms in my 40’s I also found Nutritional advice plus targeted supplements to be a real help.
This was a huge eye opener for me so I decided to study Nutritional Therapy myself and from my studies and experience in working with clients I have seen how powerful food and the right nutrients can be in healing the body from pain, digestive issues, and many other conditions when it’s also matched with private support and accountability.
One to One personalised consultations are available online and group online programmes group for Weight Loss, Healthy Eating and Brain Health are held throughout the year so checkout my website for more information on these.
Irish Life Health cover up to 50% of Nutrition consultations depending on your plan.
A FREE 30 mins Nutrition Health Review call is available so check out my website at www.wholesomenutrition.ie to reserve your slot and get started on your health journey
Email: info@wholesomenutrition.ie
Phone 0868971712
