Thank you so much for being here! My name is Amelia, and I believe that the path towards healing is grounded in an intentional, comprehensive, and most importantly root cause approach. This means instead of correcting symptoms with band-aid solutions, with nutritional therapy, we will will uncover the dysfunction beneath the surface that is causing them, and address this from the ground up.

How Did We Get Here?

I would say that my discovery of my passion of holistic nutrition and wellness was a gradual one. I feel lucky to say that growing up, and in my young adult life, I never faced a true health crisis – something I have noticed in this field is often the catalyst for those who end up doing this work, having discovered the power of healing with food through their own personal health journeys. Because I did not experience such an immediate and drastic need for support, my interest and appreciation for this work grew slowly – but once I discovered it, I could not get enough.

When I was in college, I started weight lifting for the first time consistently. I think this was my first introduction to the wellness world, and you can imagine what perspective that brought with it. I was quickly pulled into wellness fads that were trendy – optimizing protein, in any way possible, was one of them. Protein powders, bars, snacks, etc. At the same time, after being curious and wanting to make the switch for a while, I decided to become vegetarian, which eventually turned into being vegan. I do not regret this decision or time in my life because I truly believe it is the path that led me to where I am today. However, I do believe that the decision I made to become vegetarian was not completely informed. When people would ask me why, I would say, “oh for the environment” or “for health reasons.” And while these both could have valid points behind them, I will admit that I never did the research to back my reasonings. That explanation was where it ended. But it worked for me, for a while. I was eating lots of vegetables, tofu, and lots and lots of beans!

Learning From My Vegetarian Diet

I was vegetarian for about five years. During this time, while I didn’t know much about nutrition, I knew that because I was not eating meat I would have to be more intentional about where I was getting my protein from (cue: the protein supplements). This was the beginning of me really thinking about what I was eating for the first time in my life. My mom had always cooked balanced meals for my family every night growing up, and I knew what a healthy plate looked like. At the very least, I knew that it was important to have a balance of protein and vegetables on your plate. But once I was in this position where I had to be more intentional to ensure I was getting all of these macronutrients, I started to become curious about the other components that made up my plate. I started to learn about amino acids, and how most plant based protein was not a “complete” protein, like animal protein was. Another piece of the puzzle I had to consider for the first time. What else was on my plate, or not on my plate, that is important to my health that I never had to think about before, I wondered?

Anyone who knows me know that I am the biggest questioner you’ll meet – always needing to understand the “why” – needing to question why things are the way they are, and if we have to accept them, or can they be improved? You can probably understand how this eventually led me to wanting to understand everything I possibly could about the food that was in front of me. How have I been consuming food my entire life, but never stopped to think about what I was actually putting in my body? Once I had this initial thought, there was no going back.

Down the Nutrition Rabbit Hole

I quickly immersed myself in the books, podcasts, articles, and documentaries breaking down all the perspectives – both objective and subjective – around food and modern day nutrition. In the beginning, much of what I consumed was confirmation bias supporting my vegetarian lifestyle. But very slowly, I became more exposed to the power of a well-rounded omnivore diet, and started listening to the stories of those who had healed their health issues with animal products. It was uncomfortable for me at first to sit in this information as it had gone against the way I lived for so long. But as time passed and my curiosity continued to rise, I began to understand the therapeutic nature of food, animal and plant products alike.

Small Improvements Add Up

Once I started making intentional decisions towards better health - cutting out ultra-processed foods and industrialized seed oils, limiting refined sugar, and prioritizing nutrient density was where I started – I noticed subtle, and slow changes. Like I said, I was not healing or recovering from a health crisis and was always in generally healthy condition. Instead of hugely impactful and drastic shifts, there were many small improvements in my quality of life that I noticed over time. Symptoms such as: clearer skin, waking up with an appetite and energy in the morning, not experiencing an afternoon slump, having steady blood sugar across the day, having no digestive issues at all, not having cravings or the need to snack – I could go on. These slow and steady improvements made me realize – wait, these aren’t things I have to just live with? I thought this was just a part of life!

On the surface, these were seemingly insignificant, but, as I would soon learn from studying nutritional therapy at the NTA, these were positive symptoms and signs that the body was in homeostasis – where it is supposed to be. These small, everyday symptoms being out of balance for most people is common. And because they are common, and we see them present in everyone around us, we accept them as normal. But the truth is – they are not normal. Every symptom is a message from your body that something is out of balance. And you know what else is true? You do not have to live with them or accept that this is the way that it is. This is where nutritional therapy comes in.