Sirona-health

General information

The basis of Nutritional Therapy

Nutritional Therapy is the application of nutrition science in the promotion of health, peak performance and individual care. Nutritional therapy practitioners use a wide range of tools to assess and identify potential nutritional imbalances and understand how these may contribute to an individual’s symptoms and health concerns. This approach allows them to work with individuals to address nutritional balance and help support the body towards maintaining health. Nutritional therapy is recognised as a complementary medicine and is relevant for individuals with chronic conditions, as well as those looking for support to enhance their health and wellbeing.

Practitioners consider each individual to be unique and recommend personalized nutrition and lifestyle programmes rather than a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Practitioners never recommend nutritional therapy as a replacement for medical advice and always refer any client with ‘red flag’ signs or symptoms to their medical professional. They will also frequently work alongside a medical professional and will communicate with other healthcare professionals involved in the client’s care to explain any nutritional therapy programme that has been provided.

What does a nutritional therapy session typically involve?

Before the first consultation, the practitioner usually provides a health and nutrition questionnaire for the client to complete. An initial consultation typically lasts 60 to 90 minutes, and in this time the practitioner asks detailed questions about current health concerns, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment, medical history, family history, lifestyle, levels of physical activity, use of medication and supplements and diet. The practitioner then evaluates individual needs and uses the extensive evidence base for nutritional science to develop a personalised, safe and effective nutrition and lifestyle programme.
Follow up consultations are generally after four weeks in order to monitor progress and make any necessary adjustments. Further follow-ups may be required depending on each individual situation.

Choosing a practitioner

Training:
It is important to choose a qualified nutritional therapist who has undertaken all the necessary training to understand the theory and practice of nutritional therapy. For more information follow the link - www.cnhcregister.org.uk/newsearch/index.cfm

Voluntary Regulation:
By choosing nutritional therapists registered with the CNHC you can be confident that they are properly trained, qualified and insured.

Professional Association:
By choosing a Nutritional Therapist who is a member of BANT you can be confident that they follow the strict CNHC Code of Conduct, Performance and Ethics and the BANT Professional Practice Handbook, have professional indemnity insurance for clinical practice and also meet the membership entry criteria.

Training and Regulation:
I am a fully qualified Nutritional Therapist (Diploma in Naturopathic Nutrition from The College of Naturopathic Medicine). I am also a member of the British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy (BANT), the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC) and the Naturopathic Nutrition Association (NNA). I am fully insured to practice as a Nutritional Therapist in the UK.