Certain nutrition principles can benefit every woman, however there is no one-size-fits-all diet.

Even people who share similar genetics and upbringing can have different nutritional needs.

Your sister may have some of the same genes you do but you won’t have the exact same set of genes.

Imagine if genes were a deck of cards and you get 26 cards from each of your parents. Then the deck is reshuffled and your sister gets 26 cards from each parent. The probability that you’d have exactly the same set of cards is almost impossible. The odds are that you would have about a 50% overlap of cards (genes).

You and your sister will also make different lifestyle choices, experience different environmental exposures, and make different food choices even while growing up in the same home, leading to different nutritional needs.

Bio-individuality is a concept we use in Nutritional Therapy that underlies our approach to each client’s nutrition.

We understand that each person’s body is uniquely different and therefore requires its own personalized approach to nutrition.

Our current circumstances, health challenges, environmental exposures, lifestyle, genetics, and health history can all impact our nutrient needs.

These factors influence whether we need more of certain foods while avoiding or limiting others.

For example:

• Someone who is pre-diabetic with blood sugar imbalance may need to limit carbohydrate intake while someone with balanced blood sugar will not. 
• Pregnant and breastfeeding women as well as children will need specific nutrients for proper development or growth.
• Those with digestive symptoms like bloating or heartburn can benefit from specific nutrients to improve function and gut health that are not needed once those problems are resolved.
• Someone with an autoimmune challenge may need to make adjustments to a typical whole foods diet in order to help reduce inflammation and the immune response.
• While one person can eat a healthy food like blueberries and feel great, another might have developed a food sensitivity to blueberries leading to an immune reaction and resulting symptoms when eaten.

Now…let’s throw another wrench in this, why don’t we...

 => Your nutritional needs can change over time through different circumstances and health challenges.

 Say what?!?

 Yes, your nutritional needs can change at any moment so once you’ve dialed in your nutrition, be open to the fact that it might need to change.

 I know what you are thinking, “How am I ever going to know what foods to eat?”

 Honestly, it’s about tuning into your own intuition. Trying foods and listening to your body’s cues, the way our ancestors used to do.

 When working with my clients, I teach them how to tune into their bodies and use their own intuition when making food choices (more on intuitive eating in next week’s email).

 I also use various assessments with my clients to make this whole process more efficient and effective.

Part of my initial client intake process is to have my clients complete a nutritional assessment and symptom questionnaire.  This helps to identify potential health conditions and body systems that need additional nutritional support.

This assessment also helps identify potential nutrient deficiencies so that we can select foods and supplements that contain specific needed nutrients.

Additionally, I have my clients complete a food and mood journal as part of their intake to help us identify reactions (energetically, digestively and mentally) that their body is having to specific foods and meals.

My clients also have the option to complete an MRT food reactions lab test to identify which foods are causing an immune response and potentially leading to symptoms.

There are other techniques such as a Pulse Test, various elimination strategies, and hands on testing of organs and systems to identify nutrients needs and foods to avoid, but I won’t go into those here.

At the end of the day my goal as a Nutritional Therapy practitioner is to help you identify the BEST foods for you at any given point in your life, with the goal of increasing function and healing, while reducing inflammation and damage.

Would you like to learn how to tune into your own body so that you can tune out all the noise around fad diets?

Do you want to feel confident with your food choices and know that what you are eating is serving your body and not harming it?

If your answer is “yes”, let’s talk!

Book a complimentary Discovery Session with me to learn more about Nutritional Therapy and how this approach, along with my coaching, can help you learn to tune into your body and confidently make food choices.

During this conversation I’ll bring clarity to my process and the transformation that's at your finger tips if you choose to work with me.  We’ll get to know each other and see if it’s a good fit.

There’s never a perfect time to get started so let’s just start!

Your Nutrition Guide & Health Advocate,

Heather Glenn, FNTP, RWP, HHC