DEBBIE UNGERER
SERIOUS ABOUT HEALTH
PERSONALISED NUTRITIONAL THERAPY
Digestion & Gut Health / IBS
Constipation, diarrhoea, acid reflux, abdominal pain, bloating, brain fog and intolerance of certain foods can indicate poor gut health or imbalances in hormones. A digestive system that's not working optimally may negatively affect absorption of nutrients from food, which can leave us vulnerable to illness. Gut bacteria are important for health, and an imbalance in their type and number can contribute to poor excretion of hormones and other toxins. Diet and lifestyle adjustments can restore balance in the digestive system and functional testing can be used to identify thing like Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), low stomach acid, parasites, or unwanted bacteria such as H.Pylori.
MY APPROACH
Energy Balance, Fatigue & Metabolic Disorders
Diets high in carbohydrates, sugary snacks and processed foods can cause blood sugar imbalances leading to insulin resistance, hormone imbalances, cardiovascular disorders, cholesterol issues and weight gain.
Immune System & Inflammation
The immune system is dependent on a diverse balance of gut bacteria and key nutrients. Recurring colds or viruses, fungal infections, allergies and autoimmune disorders are indicators of a malfunctioning immune system. Inflammation is most commonly associated with pain. But there is another type of systemic inflammation that can go unnoticed while it quietly leaves a path of slow devastation in our bodies. A personalised nutrition and lifestyle plan focusing on gut health and nutrient status can dramatically reduce the root cause of inflammation and improve the immune system overall to protect against infection and viruses.
Hormone Imbalance
Poylcystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), PMS, "man boobs", menopause and fertility issues are amongst the most common hormonal disorders. Symptoms associated with PCOS include weight gain, irregular periods, excessive male-pattern hair growth, acne and difficulty conceiving. There are many ways that nutrition can support and manage hormonal imbalances to improve reduce symptoms of imbalance in both men and women.
Stress
Modern, busy lifestyles, sustained with caffeine, sugary snacks and alcohol, can lead to adrenal fatigue and stress. Functional testing, looking at the levels of stress hormones cortisol and DHEA, can provide an indication of an inappropriate stress response which can affect energy levels, and contribute to fatigue, emotional imbalances, systemic inflammation and other disorders.
Naturopathy sees you as a whole person with a unique set of physical, mental, genetic, environmental and social circumstances, combined over the course of your life to influence your individual health status. A Nutritional Therapist will use functional medicine tools to identify and assess any resultant imbalances, intolerances or deficiencies in your body, and work with you to implement focused diet and lifestyle strategies aimed at restoring balance to the body, promoting the body's own self-healing mechanisms. These strategies will take into account any prescribed medications or diagnoses and work alongside these.
People come to see me for many different reasons. Many have been struggling for years with diets that don't work, digestive issues, hormone imbalances or chronic symptoms which don't seem to respond to conventional treatments. Some people are tired of conventional medicine and want to try a more natural approach. Others may come to me after they've been diagnosed with a serious condition like type 2 diabetes, autoimmune conditions or cancer. And many come to me because they want to feel healthy again after cancer therapies. Whatever the reason, what's always true is that they realise its time to take their health into their own hands.
As a Nutritional Therapist, I am not limited to 5 or 10 minute appointments. I will take time to listen to your full story and look beyond your current symptoms to help you find the root cause of your current health status. I will gather and consider information from all aspects of your life, working like a detective, collecting clues and analysing your individual circumstances to create a joined up picture of what might be going on in your body as a whole, allowing me to identify any diet or lifestyle factors which may have contributed to your current health condition. Once this is done we can work together to make incremental changes that will lead to a healthier body and a happier life. Changes as small as 20% can improve your health and wellbeing by as much as 80%.
But did you know that 1 in 2 people will get cancer in their lifetime?! 1 in 2 !! Stop and think about what that means for a second... Look around you... think about the person in closest proximity to you... if it's not them that gets cancer, it's going to be you! Scary isn't it!
But we don't have to accept this as an inevitable fact of life. 93% of cancers are considered to be lifestyle cancers - this means they are entirely preventable, i.e. there is something YOU can do to improve your odds and reduce your risk.
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I was lucky enough to have an amazing surgeon who was able to remove the cancer from my body, but this didn't mean I could avoid chemo. My protocol recommended 12 rounds of adjuvant chemotherapy, and though I dreaded the thought, I prepared well and was ready for the challenge. As determined as I was however, the third round of chemo floored me - I ended up in hospital for 7 days with neutropenic sepsis. For me it turned out that chemo was likely to be a bigger risk to life than the cancer itself. So I stopped! But I knew I had to replace it with something else.... something BIG! So, I turned my back on traditional cancer treatments and my old lifestyle, and started a whole new and exciting food and lifestyle ADVENTURE!!
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