The Nutritional Supplement

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

The MSc in Personalised Nutrition.

What did you do before doing this course?

I was working in finance, focused on private equity investing in various sectors including the food sector, renewable energy and cleantech. I finished Bioscience courses in Physiology, Chemistry and Biochemistry before embarking on the MSc. I quit my full-time job at the time to work on my start-up enterprise, NOMOSU (‘no more sugar’).

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

As I was building a food brand focused on creating genuinely health-enhancing and/or health-supportive products, I wanted to learn as much as possible about nutrition, metabolic science and how diet and lifestyle impact human health. I was attracted to CNELM because it was evident that CNELM provides a rigorous, thorough, challenging and comprehensive education in nutrition science and also because it seemed very aligned with functional medicine and how the Institute of Functional Medicine approached nutritional therapy. This was the most in-depth Masters degree I could do and it was also great that I could do it while working as well.

Tell us about your new enterprise.

NOMOSU’s purpose is to create honestly sugar-free, organic, naturally-sweetened, health-supporting and seriously delicious treats. We intend to help to create an evolved food environment: one that helps people to prevent disease and optimise health, freedom and happiness. After researching and testing many different non-sugar, natural sweetening ingredients, we discovered the only company in the world that both grew organic stevia plants and extracted their sweetness using only water from start to finish. Their process does not alter the biochemical structure of stevia and results in no strange after-tastes that one finds in other stevia producers’ products. Their stevia allowed us to create objectively delicious, natural and natural-tasting chocolates and treats. We have read and continue to read all of the research on this fascinating plant that has been consumed by humans for 1,000s of years and we are continuously impressed by its medicinal properties. I have learned that how one processes and extracts ingredients is so fundamental to both their taste and health benefits. We are so pleased to now share these with the world. You can read more about NOMOSU at https://nomosu.com/.

Why did you start NOMOSU?

I started NOMOSU because I myself was looking to reduce my sugar intake, yet I still wanted to eat chocolate and cookies regularly. Everything remotely sweet on the shelves fit into 1 of 2 categories: A) ‘Naturally-Sweetened’ products that claimed to have no sugar added, but were filled with sugars in the form of agave syrup, coconut sugar, ‘coconut blossom’, date syrup etc., or B) ‘Sugar-Free’, yet containing artificial sweeteners such as sucralose or maltitol. Looking into the science on each of the artificial sweeteners clearly demonstrated to me that these were ingredients that could be or blatantly were harmful to human health. That started a journey with an unknown outcome, yet after years of R&D, hard work and collaboration, the result is here: it is possible to create honestly sugar-free, natural and organic treats that are healthful and completely delicious.

What or who has most inspired you in your work?

I have been inspired by wonderful entrepreneurs such as Renée Elliot (Founder of Planet Organic) who has become my mentor as well as educators on health, nutrition and longevity that are rigorously scientific and wise in their analyses of research such as Dr. Peter Attia and Rhonda Patrick. I have been inspired by all of the lecturers and teachers at CNELM and by how Kate created CNELM along with all of her knowledge and care to elevate nutrition education. I am both inspired by her and grateful to her and the whole CNELM team for allowing myself and others to study nutrition so rigorously.

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

I am happy about the way I approached the MSc while working on NOMOSU. This is what I found most useful and am grateful for during the MSc:

• Have a great support network: explain to your family, friends and colleagues that you are about to embark on an intensely rigorous study life-phase and ask them for support. I couldn’t have completed the MSc without great help from wonderful colleagues who – particularly during my dissertation – put in extra work to support me.
• Doing this MSc is not simply about achieving a diploma, it is about learning. This is potentially one of the most useful learning experiences for your personal health and wellbeing, as well as for those around you. Watch and re-watch lectures, take notes, review your notes and really learn the material. Discuss it with friends and family, ask questions, seek answers. Immerse yourself in the learning experience and reflect upon what you are studying, how it fits into a wider context, where it might apply. Apply what you learn to improving your own health and wellbeing, observe and consider what works and why or why not. Enjoy and fully indulge in this learning experience.
• Dive into chemistry and biochemistry. This is and will be super helpful to learn about nutrition and metabolism in an informed manner.
• Along with the other items on the reading lists provided by CNELM, read “Bad Science” by Ben Goldacre before starting your studies. This (and his book “Bad Pharma”) helped to prepare me greatly in terms of critically reading research papers, understanding the vast array of potential flaws, biases and misleading statements that can emerge in scientific research papers and how to dig deep into them to come to truly evidence-based conclusions.

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