I have always found it tough to answer the question ‘so what do you do?’ My work entails so many things, but in essence, I teach people how their bodies work and how to navigate their way out of the sometimes rocky terrain of chronic health conditions.

Philosophy

It’s my mission and passion in life to help people by seeking out the root cause of their imbalances and support them through the journey back to balance and optimal health. My education started in the early 80s when I attended the University of Cape Town and qualified with a BSc in Nursing. I completed training at Groote Schuur Hospital as an RN and RM. Disillusioned with the health care system I left the medical profession and pursued various commercial opportunities.

My own health challenges

However, my own health challenges in my late twenties led me to explore the field of natural medicine and various alternative health modalities to find solutions. Fertility problems came as a surprise to me as I had always enjoyed good health up till then. Armed with new insight to subtle imbalances in my system and harnessing the impact of more plants and fewer grains in my diet together with body work, I was blessed with an easy pregnancy and healthy son.

My daughter’s chronic health issues

My beautiful daughter followed soon after. Her health was rocked at the age of 6 months when she was hospitalised with a severe gastro infection. Looking back I see this was a pivotal turning point in her life and her health challenges continued to mount as she grew older. So much of my learning has come through parenting a child with chronic health issues relating to gut health, chronic viral infections, lowered immunity, food intolerances, histamine intolerance and or possible mast cell activation syndrome, anxiety and debilitating fatigue. Later came the realisation that most of the serious issues that ensued in her later teens were potentially as a result of an injury from  a fluoroquinolone antibiotic to routinely treat a urinary tract infection — and the list goes on.

Mom with a mission

I was a mom with a mission – determined to ensure that the root cause of her symptoms was dealt with and that we did not opt for the seemingly seductive route of symptom control through pharmaceutical drugs. This was not always easy through the years of teenage rebellion and single-mindedness. Thankfully she is now hugely improved and has primarily learned to self-navigate the rocky path of a chronic health condition.

Life-long learner

My passion and belief in Nutritional Medicine led me to formally study nutrition, and I opened my private practice in 2002. Soon after starting my practice I was introduced into the world and principles of Functional Medicine. This paradigm offered the perfect fit to what felt intuitively correct as a personalised template for healing. The supportive science and evidence has grown exponentially and currently offers validated solutions to the ever increasing statistics of chronic health conditions. Root cause processes such as inflammation, toxicity and oxidative stress are addressed through nutritional and lifestyle medicine. I continuously follow the cutting edge research and apply these principles in my thriving practice using individualised protocols. 

Mind Body Medicine

My own life experience coupled with groundbreaking research on the impact of trauma/ negative belief systems on overall wellbeing, confirms that this is frequently the missing link in the process of resolving physical suffering. Although frequently resisted by individuals, the power of this deeper journey is immense and necessary.