The Nutritional Supplement

What Course(s) did you graduate from at CNELM and when did you graduate?

I studied the Nutritional Therapy BSc Hons degree course which took 3 years. I graduated in 2012.

What did you do before doing this course?

I started at CNELM right after my undergraduate at Leeds in Biomedical Sciences. It was a long slog but the qualifications set me up really nicely and I felt really lucky to have them. I hadn’t had a previous career, meaning my skills and business knowledge wasn’t as good as it could have been, so I had to learn this on the job!

What made you decide to embark on this course of study and what attracted you to CNELM?

I wanted to do a degree in nutritional therapy rather than a diploma, and after searching for the right course for months I decided on CNELM because they had brilliant lecturers and a super thorough course run by experts.  I also loved CNELM because they let me study around my own schedule and fast track certain modules. I wasn’t living in the UK at the time and could also study abroad.

Tell us about your new book.

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to co-author a book with an old client of mine, Rachel Kelly and together we created The Happy Kitchen, Good Mood Food. It’s a guide to eating well for mental health, and tells her story of recovery alongside recipes and practical advice.

One of the good things about the book is that there is something for everyone – though the title of the book is Good Mood Food, it isn’t just for those with depression or anxiety, but also those who want to work to improve their mental health and feel happy, energised, focused, sleep well and generally feel their best every day. Rachel and I wanted to create a guide that was as user friendly as possible, without expensive, hard to find ingredients or overly complicated recipes.

Though The Happy Kitchen is essentially a cookbook, we also wanted to ensure that our recipes were backed up with good quality evidence, explaining why certain foods helped Rachel with different symptoms she experienced. These references sadly didn’t make it into the book but are listed on our websites.

Unlike many other cookbooks, rather than laying out the recipes according to meal type (meat, fish, main courses or drinks) we structured them according to symptoms. Specific recipes are categorised according to whether they may help to improve energy, promote mood, calmness or mental clarity, or support hormonal peace and we also have a section for healthy comfort food. This means that even if you aren’t interested in the personal story or science, you can flick to find recipes that may help you feel better, with easy guides to the best ingredients to try and eat more of.

How did you get into developing a supplement range?

Diet is always the starting point when I’m working with clients but many of them are busy, on-the-go people that struggle to find ways to easily eat well all the time. My job as a practitioner is to help them do that but it isn’t always easy with hectic schedules full of travel, work, social lives and a lack of sleep.

So many of these people rely on really poor quality mass market products that use cheap ingredients, fillers and nutrients in the wrong forms, so I wanted to offer a top quality product that delivered the best ingredients in an easy, convenient solution. The formulations are as targeted at possible so that people only get what they need. The products are also based on the functional medicine model with ingredients that work to support each of the body’s major body processes. There really wasn’t anything else like it that I could find and so an old friend turned business partner and I decided to do it.

Is there anything you wish you’d known before finishing your studies that you might have prepared for differently?

I don’t think anyone ever feels like they know enough – I certainly don’t even now! There are so many things I wished I had known more about but ultimately it was experience that really taught me how to find my groove. I got stuck in; I spent time researching and doing CPD, which to me was invaluable because I was so often working alone.

What or who has most inspired you in your work?

There is an ever-growing list! Kate Neil’s knowledge and experience always astounded me and made me thirsty for more information. I also found Ian Marber massively inspirational, and still to this day I think he is a fantastically talented nutritionist, speaker, writer and entrepreneur. I had him to thank for my first job at The Food Doctor, where I really found my feet in the industry.

Anne Pemberton and Miguel Toribio-Mateas are some of the most talented and inspirational nutritional therapists in the country and I relish any chance to hear them speak at CPD events. I think Amelia Freer is a superb advocate for the industry – her advice is always sensible, achievable and based on sound science. I also love reading articles by Ben Brown and Dr. Allison Siebecker in the USA whose experience and knowledge with IBS is astounding!

Do you have any tips, hints, things you’d have done differently...?

As a nutritional therapist you have to wear many hats – consultant, business woman/man, accountant, marketer, social media expert, writer and public speaker to name a few. With more experience comes less time so my advice is to try and put as many systems in as early on as possible. This could be things like creating handouts to compliment your advice in consultation’s, writing templates for emails or reports, shopping lists and easy recipes.

I also found using Apps such as Quickbooks a complete lifesaver when it came to doing accounting, and I love Dropbox for my filing systems. Learning how to write detailed notes quickly and clearly (I find this really hard!) is also something you’ll thank yourself for later!