Our Approach to Nutrition
“I just don’t know what to eat or how much to eat”. “Carbs are bad”. “Should I be grain free?” “I heard the keto diet is best”. It goes on and on. These are some of the most common things I hear from potential clients when we first start to talk nutrition. I don’t blame them, it’s hard to sort through the latest diet fad and the numerous supplement ads promising to fulfill all your hopes and dreams in just 2 pills a day.
The word “nutrition” itself can be vague and far reaching depending on who you ask or what you read. Toss in there “good” or “bad” and you’ll drive a conversation so far down various rabbit holes and possibly start a heated argument. Folks can get pretty tied to habits and how they relate to the foods they consume. In these situations, I like to approach the conversation with curious questions. This helps me to understand current dietary habits, how those habits were formed and what emotional influences are linked to specific dietary habits. Humans are habitual in nature, so I’ve always found great success with this initial approach.
Moving from habits
to informed choices
Understanding what foods to eat, when to eat and how much to eat are unique to each individual. When I studied the various mainstream diets, they all had some sort of supporting data. Whether that’s stated clinical trials, various client success testimonials or some other research based validation. Within each of them, they create a blanketed promise that everyone could share in these same successes. However, making promises like that is just something I don’t agree with. I don’t say that to disregard the supporting evidence, I share that to reinforce the importance of nutrition being “unique to each individual.”
Many individuals can find success (as determined by individual goals) implementing the principles associated to various marketed one size fits all diets (i.e. blood type, keto, fruit based, vegan, paleo, etc.). However, how are we ensuring the dietary choices aren’t trading one benefit for another ailment? How are we taking into account other influential factors such as digestive impairment, stress, food allergy/sensitivity, inadequate activity (too much or not enough), genetic predisposition and of course prescription drug usage?
Nutritional Objectives
and tools to enable collaboration and progress
I aim to meet individuals where they are, avoid approaching too much too fast and narrow the focus to what matters most at this point in time. My experience has shown me the persons I tend to work with have primary goals either for addressing a chronic illness or certain symptoms.
Once we’ve completed your first comprehensive consultation, a custom nutrition plan will be developed and shared with you through the VSB Functional Health client portal. We will continually engage to review progress towards goals and make beneficial adjustments. With the right technology tools at our fingertips we can engage through the VSB chat, email or through one on one telehealth meetings. I’m committed to uncovering the root cause of health issues and developing unique options for restoring whole person health.