GUT ISSUES & NUTRITION

A brief look at gut issues and nutrition

From a nutritional perspective, I support eating disorder recovery by helping you rebuild a safe, trusting relationship with food and your body. This often involves stabilising blood sugar, restoring metabolic function, and addressing gut health, since restriction, bingeing, and chronic stress can all disrupt digestion and nutrient absorption. We work together to reintroduce balance and nourishment gently, supporting both physical recovery and the nervous system, so that eating becomes less about control and more about care, regulation, and connection. I can help you interpret and cope with scale weight flux, understand how to read the metabolic cues from you body, when weight restoration is happening (and not).

In my experience people with PCOS has often struggled for years to get diagnosed and then to find the right information to cope with their condition. Nutrition and exercise interventions play a vital role in managing PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) because it directly influences blood sugar balance, hormone regulation, and inflammation – all key factors in symptom control. A tailored nutrition approach can help support energy, mood, skin health, menstrual regularity, and long-term metabolic wellbeing, making food a powerful part of restoring balance rather than simply managing symptoms.

Emerging research highlights that nutrition plays a vital role in the treatment and management of chronic fatigue, as both mitochondrial function and immune regulation are strongly influenced by nutrient status.  A balanced, anti-inflammatory diet that supports gut health, blood sugar stability, and adequate protein intake can improve energy metabolism and reduce symptom severity. Tailored nutritional interventions, alongside psychological and lifestyle support, help restore resilience in the body’s stress-response systems and promote gradual, sustainable recovery.

From a contextual perspective, nutrition and lifestyle interventions during perimenopause and menopause are most effective when they’re personalised, taking into account a woman’s history, stress load, sleep, mental health, and social context, not just her hormones. For example, while resistance training is essential for preserving muscle and bone density, the right intensity and recovery time will differ depending on fatigue, cortisol levels, and emotional resilience. Similarly, nutrition isn’t just about cutting calories or chasing “clean eating.” In fact, overly restrictive diets can worsen symptoms by increasing stress hormones and disrupting metabolism. Common myths like “carbs make you gain weight after 40” or “fasting balances hormones” often overlook the complex interplay between the nervous system, thyroid, and sex hormones. A contextual approach recognises that nourishment, rest, and pleasure are biological needs, not indulgences, and that sustainable change comes from aligning physiology with lifestyle rhythms rather than fighting against them.

Supporting family eating sometimes also means helping a household navigate recovery, whether that’s a parent rebuilding a healthy relationship with food or supporting a child through an eating disorder. In these situations, my approach centres on compassion, education, and collaboration. I help parents understand what’s happening physiologically and psychologically when a loved one struggles with food, so they can respond with empathy rather than fear or control. This might involve learning to create calm, structured mealtimes, reducing focus on weight or appearance, and understanding that recovery takes time and consistency rather than perfection.

We also look at how family patterns around stress, time, communication, and emotional expression affect how food is experienced in the household. Relational nutrition models inform this work, alongside practical strategies drawn from clinical experience: how to manage mealtimes, respond to distress, and maintain your own wellbeing as a caregiver. My role is to support the whole system, helping families rebuild safety, trust, and nourishment at both the physiological and relational level, so that food becomes a pathway to healing rather than conflict.

Nutrition and physical activity are deeply interconnected. What and how we eat profoundly influences energy, recovery, and the capacity to adapt to training. Whether the goal is to begin moving more, fuel recreational sports, or train for strength and muscle gain, nutrition provides the foundation for performance and long-term health. There’s a lot of information out there and it can be hard to sort wat’s appropriate for you and what might have you on the loo with gastric distress and awake with hunger.

Nutrition offers a way to optimise body composition rather than simply chase a lower number on the scale. By fuelling the body well especially during resistance training, we can preserve or build lean muscle, which protects metabolism and supports healthy ageing. Muscle is the main ‘anti-ageing organ’ after all. Likewise, understanding how to eat before and after exercise enhances performance, reduces fatigue, and improves mood regulation through stabilised blood sugar and nervous system support. For those newer to movement, nutritional guidance can also help overcome barriers to activity such as low energy, gut discomfort, or fear of “getting it wrong.” The goal is to create a sustainable, evidence-based relationship between food and movement, one that supports strength, vitality, and confidence in the body rather than restriction or burnout. Making sense of how to eat whilst you incorporate more activity can keep you in relationship with physical activity for longer.

Nutrition and lifestyle support play an essential role throughout the cancer journey, from diagnosis, through treatment, to recovery and beyond. During chemotherapy or radiotherapy, the body’s nutritional needs often change: appetite may fluctuate, digestion can be disrupted, and maintaining strength becomes a priority. Tailored nutritional strategies, such as supporting adequate protein and calorie intake, managing nausea and taste changes, and protecting gut health, can help sustain energy, reduce side effects, and support immune resilience.

Exercise, even in gentle forms like walking or resistance bands, has strong evidence for improving fatigue, mood, and treatment tolerance, and can help maintain muscle mass and metabolic health. Beyond treatment, lifestyle interventions, such as adopting a balanced, anti-inflammatory diet rich in plant foods, fibre, and healthy fats; moderating alcohol; managing stress; and prioritising sleep, are associated with better recovery and reduced recurrence risk.

Living with or beyond cancer also brings psychological and existential challenges, and my approach integrates this mind-body dimension: helping individuals rebuild trust in their body, re-establish meaningful routines, and reconnect with nourishment as an act of care, not control. Nutrition and lifestyle choices become part of a wider process of healing, supporting not only survival, but quality of life, vitality, and a renewed sense of agency.

NUTRITION IN CONTEXT

As a nutritionist, I work with a wide range of gut-related concerns that affect everyday comfort and wellbeing. These can include IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), bloating, constipation, diarrhoea, reflux, food intolerances, and symptoms linked to stress or hormonal changes. Gut health can also be influenced by medications, restrictive eating, or trauma, so support often involves understanding your unique triggers, restoring balance through diet and lifestyle, and rebuilding a healthier relationship with food and your body. I also debunk a lot of myths around what constitutes ‘healthy eating’ so that you are equipped with the skills to discern what health messages to listen to and what to be skeptical of.

My Approach

My approach to nutrition and lifestyle support is grounded in both science, practice and lived experience. I work from a weight-neutral and intuitive-eating-informed stance, which means I don’t define health or success by body size, nor do I gate-keep information about weight science. Instead, I aim to help you understand how the body’s physiology, psychology, and environment interact, so you can make informed, compassionate choices that support your wellbeing in real life. That means what’s possible is different for everyone and we might be striving for relative health rather than absolute optimisation.

I draw on both the research and the realities of living in the modern world: helping you make sense of public health messages, understand the nuance in weight and metabolism science, and translate that knowledge into something practical, flexible, and self-supportive. The aim isn’t perfection, it’s confidence, curiosity, and a more trusting relationship with your body and food.

Let go of nutrition and exercise confusion and find a way forward that is well evidenced, realistic and tailored for you

You’re doing your best to take care of yourself, yet your body feels like it’s working against you. Maybe you’re navigating perimenopause and can’t seem to stabilise your energy or weight, managing PCOS and feeling frustrated by mixed messages about what to eat, rebuilding your relationship with food after disordered eating, or coping with the impact of a cancer diagnosis on appetite, strength, and mood. You might feel you’ve tried everything, restricting, tracking, pushing harder, yet still feel stuck, exhausted, or disconnected from your body. When your health journey becomes filled with confusion, guilt, or loss of trust in your body, it’s easy to lose hope. I help you make sense of what’s happening physiologically and emotionally, using an evidence-based, compassionate approach that integrates nutrition science, psychology, and lifestyle interventions. Together, we uncover what your body truly needs, without restriction or shame, so you can restore balance, feel stronger, and move toward sustainable wellbeing that fits your real life.

Get in touch to start the ball rolling

In a sea of different therapists it can be overwhelming to know who to trust. That’s why you can call me for free and chat for 15 minutes. Tell me more about what’s ailing you and ask me how I might work with you.