Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food

"Let your food be your medicine and medicine be your food", said Hippocrates around 2000 years ago. The father of modern medicine compiled a list of over four hundred herbs and their uses and it highlighted the importance, which early physicians placed on good nutrition as a means of maintaining good health and well-being. Even in more recent times I’m sure we can all remember being told to eat our carrots so that we’d be able to see in the dark or finish up our fish, as it’s good for the brain.

Somehow these messages seem to have become lost in modern life. In the Western world it is estimated that 80% of us are malnourished. Poor diet, increased intake of junk food, a decrease of nutrients in the soil, chemical farming methods, global pollution and high-stress lifestyles are all thought to play a part in nutritional deficiency. We’re eating plenty of calories, but they do not contain enough vitamins and minerals to nourish us. We all lead busy lives and when time is short it is often our diet that suffers. The over reliance on ready made foods, takeaways, processed foods full of fat, sugar and salt, has led to a population which is not only feeling tired, stressed, and generally run down but one which is increasing it’s risk of developing degenerative diseases, such as heart problems, diabetes, and cancer, in later life.

Nutritional Therapy is not just about healthy eating and losing weight. It is an holistic therapy as it treats the body as a whole – looking at the causes of problems, rather than the symptoms - as is too often the case in conventional medicine. It is the application of nutrition science in the promotion of optimum health, peak performance, and disease prevention. It is a complementary medicine, in which a practitioner will work with a patient, helping the body rid itself of stressful substances, providing raw materials, and improving the assimilation of food in order to aid physical repair. By analysing diet, tailoring it according to individual needs and rectifying any vitamin, mineral and other nutrient imbalances, Nutritional Therapy encourages the body’s natural healing process and seeks to alleviate and treat common diseases and promote health.

Nutritional therapy has been shown to be beneficial for many conditions, especially heart disease, arthritis, digestive complaints such as constipation or irritable bowel syndrome, hormone imbalances, gout, asthma, cancer and diabetes. It's also used in the treatment of hyperactivity in children, chronic fatigue and obesity. Correct nutrition is crucial during pregnancy, too. ‘This doesn’t apply to me’, you might say. ‘I’m not ill at the moment’. But there’s a big difference between being 100% healthy and not being ill. Nutritional Therapy will also benefit you if you have no specific illness, but want to maintain a state of optimum health. By following a specifically designed nutrition programme you will experience, increased energy levels, improved sleep quality, clearer skin, prevention of premature aging and reduced risk of degenerative diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Many of us try to eat a healthy diet but get confusing messages from the media about what we should and shouldn't eat and which supplements we should be taking. Maybe you think you can struggle on with self-help, buying books and vitamin pills but without a proper understanding of how your body works, what has gone wrong and why, how do you really know what you might need? A visit to a Nutritional Therapist is well worth it as they treat each patient as an individual, taking into account every aspect of his or her lifestyle and background, which may have a bearing on their present position. The therapist then prescribes a diet carefully matched to the individuals' needs.

 I am a qualified nutritional therapist with my own practice in Biot. I am passionate about all aspects of natural health and will work with you to fnd the best régime to suit your lifestyle. I hope these pages will be of some help to you and you can always contact me for a personal consultation. If you are a registered member you can also see my Workshop entry here on The Riviera Woman. To make an appointment please call +33 (0)6 08 77 81 58 or go to www.nutritionaltherapy.biz