MEET AMY
Are you constantly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of conflicting health and wellness advice?
It feels like the advice changes on a weekly basis.
Red wine is good, until it isn’t.
Eggs are bad, until they’re not.
Intermittent fasting, artificial sweeteners, sun bathing, red meat, keto, juicing and the list goes on and on.
Where do you even begin?
It’s clear; we are genuinely confused about what it means and how it feels to be truly healthy, and getting to the bottom of it all is a lot for you to add into your already busy lives. Which is where I come in!
I began to take diet and lifestyle seriously following two things.
The first was taking back control of my own health issues after the doctor offered me the most common thing they seem to have in their arsenal for women: the contraceptive pill (for bad skin). I headed to google and began questioning things. My acne breakouts weren’t a deficiency in a pharmaceutical drug. They were a deeper sign of metabolic dysfunction. My questioning never stopped and probably never will. I learned that bloating after every meal wasn’t normal; waking up after 8 hours of sleep feeling like I needed another 8 hours wasn’t normal; not being able to go anywhere without a bag of snacks wasn’t normal; needing an afternoon nap as a twenty something wasn’t normal. And that was weird to me. Because I was doing everything I was told that makes you healthy - you know, a balanced vegetarian diet, whole grains, super berry powders, supplements, cooking mostly from scratch and limiting added sugars.
The second thing was when my two grandparents developed Dementia. Again, I was outraged at the lack of support and knowledge from the doctors. Desperate, we started looking online for anything that might help.
Pretty quickly, we found a lot of common sense stuff, like feeding and supplementing the brain with what it needs to function properly, like saturated fats, omega 3 fatty acids, B vitamins, Vitamin D and glutathione. Getting regular exercise - even just walking - as well as activities like puzzles and crosswords. And of course the biggie, maintaining blood sugar levels. Why didn’t the doctors, social workers or any other NHS healthcare professional we came into contact with, tell us any of this?
Why is it that we have to take it upon ourselves to go looking for basic dietary and lifestyle interventions that can support - and reverse – metabolic dysfunction and chronic disease?
I began to realise that we don’t have a healthcare system. We have a sickcare system. My grandparents were showing signs of metabolic dysfunction for years - prediabetes, high blood pressure, underactive thyroid, prescribed all sorts. Their GP would’ve known this, but the system is such that you don’t get help until you’ve got the issue, and then the default is symptom management with drugs. There is very little emphasis on disease prevention and even less on dealing with the root cause.
I learnt an important lesson:
There are different levels to the term ‘healthy’.
There is the health that keeps you getting out of bed every morning with the ability to perform everyday tasks at a reasonable level. This is the health that your doctor is referring to when they describe you as ‘healthy’.
Then there is optimal health, where the body is functioning at its very best level. You are no longer a mere passenger in your body, at the mercy of food cravings, energy crashes, memory loss, mood swings or chronic disease. You become the driver.
Experiencing the demise of any loved one with a disease can ignite something within. For me, it was the determination to spread the knowledge that we have way more control over our health than we are led to believe. We know from epigenetics that even if you have the gene that makes you more likely to contract something, like the APOE4 gene and Dementia, it is not a given that you will get it. Your diet, lifestyle and environment all play a huge part.
I feel so strongly that millions of people are suffering unnecessarily due to the failure of our healthcare system to see the body as a whole, affected by every diet and lifestyle choice we make.
This is why I decided to take my knowledge to the next step and become a qualified Nutrition and Weight Management Advisor. As a member of the Royal Society for Public Health, I will work with you to achieve diet and lifestyle changes that will help create the level of health you are searching for.
I also have certificates for:
Pre and post natal nutrition
Childhood nutrition and obesity prevention
Nutrition for sports and exercise
Nutrition for older adults
I am constantly striving to learn more about the body and how we can best support it. I am also studying via the Nutrition Network, to become certified in therapeutic carbohydrate restriction to support a wide range of health concerns, including type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s and addictive eating.
Instead of focusing on the latest trend, quick fix or blinkered calorie counting, our ethos at bFRANK is to work on the fundamentals first. Small changes to your physical, mental and environmental health add up over time to create the foundations for a long term health span.
You can join our live courses, hire me for 1-1 coaching and nutrition advice, stay up to date with my latest blogs and podcast, and follow me on social media for more regular updates.
