Welcome to my frequently asked questions page! If you were not able to find the answers you require on my main pages, hopefully you will find them here. If your question is not covered below, you can request a call with me when I will contact you at a convenient time to discuss your queries, or email me.
Alible is an old English word that means “nourishing”.
Nutritional Therapy is an approach that can be suitable for us all – we all need to look after our bodies, and nutrition is a great way to support them! To benefit from the approach, you need to be motivated to make changes and be ready to commit to making those changes. You won’t see results just by talking about possible improvements to your diet, those improvement actions need to be applied.
If you have diagnosed health conditions and are taking medication to support a health condition, I will consider these in your improvement plan and develop a personalised therapy strategy that meets your needs. It may be that your medications or conditions limit the improvement measures we can make due to potential interactions, but together we will consider all options available to you to give your the best support we can.
It is important to remember that Nutritional Therapy can help to optimise your health, but cannot diagnose or treat health conditions. Therefore I may recommend that you consult a medical professional to ensure you get the best care you can. Nutritional Therapy can help you get relief from symptoms (as far as possible on a long-term basis) but the condition itself may not go away.
Nutritional therapy is a complementary therapy. This means it can be applied alongside conventional medicine you may receive from a medical doctor (alternative therapies typically shun conventional medicine).
It is therefore important that we discuss all medications, treatments and diagnoses you have received in order to avoid any recommendations that may negatively interfere with them. This is done via a health and lifestyle questionnaire before your initial consultation, and will be checked at each consultation to ensure there have been no changes that need to be considered.
If you are interested in working with me, but have questions you can arrange a free initial consultation. During this consultation, we can discuss your needs and any queries you have. This gives you a chance find out more about my approach and to get to know me a little before you make the decision to invest in optimising your health with me. Clients and therapists need to have a good rapport if the partnership is to be successful, and we all know that not all personalities work well together!
At the very start of our partnership, you will be asked to complete a comprehensive Health & Lifestyle Questionnaire. This allows me to get an understanding of your overall health, not just the symptom or condition you need support with, and your health goals. We will then discuss this at your Wellness Evaluation along with any other relevant information. You will leave with some small healthier habits for you to develop between then and your next consultation – we will agree these actions together.
At your next consultation (your Wellness Strategy Session) I will provide you with my analysis of the health information you provided. This will lead on to the strategy that I believe will best support you. We will also consider the progress you have made since we last met, and any challenges or changes that have occurred. Again, you will be given some healthier habits to develop that form part of the strategy. If you have committed to a Gold or Platinum package you will also be asked to complete a Food and Symptom diary at this point ready for your Nutrition Review.
Silver Package: At this consultation we will review your progress and any challenges or changes. We will also discuss any additional strategy points based on any changes discussed at the previous consultation. We will agree the final healthier habits that you will takeaway to develop over the agreed period.
Gold and Platinum Packages: As well as reviewing your progress, challenges and changes, we will review your completed Food and Symptom diary to ensure I have all the information I need to complete the analysis. We will agree further habits that you can develop until the next consultation when I will give you feedback from your analysis and Healthier Habits to address any concerns, and to fulfill the agree strategy.
Platinum Package: You will receive a quick catch-up call in between your formal consulations to help you keep on track with the agreed actions.
For each consultation (all packages) you will receive a summary of our discussions, along with some key references that were used.
In short, no!
I am not medically qualified and cannot therefore diagnose health conditions, or alter a client’s medication (or prescribe any). If any of your symptoms suggest you require medical investigations, I will recommend that you speak to your doctor – I may not continue working with you until you have done this.
As part of our strategy you may undergo functional tests which help us understand what is happening in your body. If there is any suggestion that medical support may be required, I will recommend you take these findings to your doctor.
In summary, a dietitian can prescribe certain medications; I cannot. I am only able to recommend nutritional supplements, if they would be of benefit to you.
Dietitians have different qualifications. Dietitians in the UK are required to complete Dietetic study programmes approved by the Health and Care Provisions Council (HCPC). Dietitians may be accredited by the British Dietitian Associations (BDA). As “Dietitian” is a legal protected term, all those wishing to practise using this title must be registered on the HCPC register. Unfortunately, neither “Nutritionist” nor “Nutritional Therapist” are yet a legally protected terms (due to differences in regulatory bodies I use the title BANT Register Nutritionist(R)). In terms of qualifications I have a MSc in Nutritional Science and Practice, and I am registered with British Association for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine (BANT) and Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC).
In addition, some dietitians who are hospital based may be restricted in their practice by NHS policies and approaches, whereas I have more flexibility to base our strategy on the latest science, functional testing (if applicable) and nutritional understanding. It can take several years before scientific findings reach mainstream medical practice.
If you are ready to commit to Alible Nutrition nutritional therapy or nutritional review services you do not have to pay the full cost in one go. Before committing, you are encouraged to book a free initial consulation to ensure that the service is right for you; there is no charge for this and there is no-obligation to continue working with me. Once you have decided to go ahead, you will be required to pay a deposit which covers your Wellness Evaluation. At the end of this consultation you will be asked to pay the balance in order that we continue working together.
If you have requested a talk or plan to attend an event, these are charged on an up-front basis (check event details for any variations).
Alible Nutrition nutritional therapy is a fully personalised service taking into account the individual’s overall health status, dietary preferences and lifestyle. If our discussions and the scientific evidence suggest that certain foods are contributing to your symptoms we will look at removing or reducing their role in your diet. However, I do not take a blanket approach and remove food groups from a person’s diet ‘just because’ – although you won’t be surprised to know that ultra-processed and junk foods are removed as much as possible!
If we agree that removing any foods may be beneficial, we will look at including alternative foods to support your diet and lifestyle. We will also monitor the effects of removing the foods (depending on the time available in your chosen support package, this may be done through advice only). I apply a food-first approach so will look to food to fulfil your dietary needs before adding in supplements.
There’s no doubt that organically grown products have health benefits, as well as being more environmentally-friendly – but they also have a high price tag. This can put people off buying them, and may lead them to questionning if other products are going to do them harm. There is also a small range of organic foods available to shoppers.
In general, many people in the UK do not eat enough whole plant foods whether they are organically grown or not. In many ways this is the thing to focus on. These foods add many vitamins and minerals, as well as fibre, to our diets. And, while the chemicals applied to non-organic products are not great, for most people the overall content of their diet is a bigger concern. Some of the chemicals applied to foods can be dealt with by the body’s natural detoxification processes (such as the liver and kidneys), assuming they are working well. Other chemicals can accumulate in the body and may do harm in the long-term – the consumption of a good range of whole plant foods can help to protect the body from these effects; as can rinsing and peeling fruit and veg if appropriate (yes, there are nutrients in the peel but this is where more of the sprayed chemicals may lurk too).
For non-plant foods, there is a risk that the chemicals have accumulated in the product from the animals’ diets. If this is a concern to you and money is tight, it may be better for you to consider buying less of better quality products.
One thing to be aware of, the use of chemicals is regulated within the UK and different rules apply to other countries – when reading articles it is helpful to check the country that the story or study applies to and the rules that apply there. Do those rules differ to those in the UK? The Pesticide Action Network is a useful resource for those interested in finding out more about this topic, including the option to receive their Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 list to help you make better choices when shopping (to obtain this you now need to subscribe to their email list): https://www.pan-uk.org/
One way to increase your organically-grown food intake is to grow-your-own. To do this as organically as possible you need to consider the soil content (when were chemicals last used in that ground, etc), and the fertilisers etc you apply, as well as the source of the seeds or saplings. It is worth noting that in gardening terms the word “organic” can simply mean plant and not chemical-free. Like with packaged foods, it’s important to read the label to understand what you are buying.
As a nutritional therapist I work with clients individually – we will consider their budget, diet and health needs when agreeing a nutrition strategy to ensure it will work for them.
Alible Nutrition does not sell food, nutritional, or functional supplements.
When working with clients I apply a food-first approach meaning that I look at the impact of food on the diet and food-based nutrient sources as the priority. If the client requires additional nutrient or functional support, I will recommend appropriate supplements which the client can choose to buy. I do have agreements with some supplement companies that enable my clients to get discounts and which may pay a commission to me, but clients are under no obligation to purchase from these companies, or to use the reference codes I provide if the do.
No.
As part of a nutritional therapy journey with clients it may be necessary to conduct tests to get a better understanding of what is happening inside their body. These may require stools, urine or blood. Tests will only be considered if they have the potential to provide additional information and influence our dietary approach – they will not be suggested if the results would not help or change our understanding.
If tests are thought to be beneficial I will discuss this with the client and facilitate the ordering process – I do not conduct any tests. Tests incur additional charges for which I may be able to arrange a discount for clients and receive a small commission. If the tests are available through the NHS I will suggest the client speaks to their GP to arrange.
Following the completion of a test I will review the results with the client and use these in the formation of our nutrition strategy.
It is good that you have sought the medical support that you need for your health concerns and I encourage you to follow the advice from your doctor and any treatment plan they have prescribed. However, the training doctors received is based on treating illness and symptoms, an approach that does often not consider the root causes of the illness. This is where biochemistry comes in – for the body to work well it needs the correct nutritional balance according to the demands placed on it by genetics, lifestyle choices, the environment, and more. Think about it – everything that happens inside our bodies needs fuel and raw materials. These things come from our food and drink.
As part of my approach, I include lifestyle-based recommendations alongside the dietary ones to help you optimise your health as much as possible. If I am aware of any therapists or groups who may be able to support you, I will suggest them to give you that extra help.
Of course, we don’t know the cause of all illnesses but we are aware of many of the nutritional associations where these causes are unconfirmed. As the science develops, so does our understanding.
Nutritional therapy is a complementary therapy. This means it can be implemented alongside conventional medical treatment.