Today with the rise (and frenzy) of nutrition, there is a lot of misinformation and confusion as to what works in food for health, and what a nutritionist actually does to help you.  So I thought I'd start a blog that told stories - case studies, in the hope that you find a story that resonates with you, and you see the benefits of working with a nutritionist.

In Turkey at a detox last year I sat and chatted with a woman who was in the centre to detoxify as she had been on steroids for several months.  The steroids had been prescribed to her because she had started having asthma attacks .. for the first time, over the age of 50.  This didn't seem right to me, so I started asking questions thinking, something has changed to trigger her asthma.

I asked her about her lifestyle, what was the same, what was new.  She had been doing up a house.  This suggested to me that if she was living between houses there was an inconsistency in routine and eating.  So I asked if she'd had been eating take-aways.  She said she had.  

Then I asked if she had eaten a Chinese take away before her attacks had started.  Her memory twigged and she replied, yes, she had eaten a Chinese take-away and that very night couldn't breathe and had to call a paramedic.  It was 2 days later and onwards that the asthma attacks started.

I suggested she had suffered an MSG allergy attack, and that could be the focus of how best to treat her.  Of course, she had been pumped full of steroids and medication since, so she was in the right place - a detox centre - to get her health back.  

I then, working with the centre doctor, offered a list of foods to support the body through healing, specific to allergy and asthma.

A simple 10 minute conversation revealed a cause .. I asked her if the paramedics or subsequent doctors had asked her what she had done preceding the attacks and she said they hadn't.  All of their focus had been on acute care and she needed someone to work with her on the underlying cause.

It was a pleasure to have chatted to her so briefly and revealed what was relevant to her gaining her health back.  

Deborah McTaggart is a registered nutritionist practising in Barnes, South West London, and global via Zoom. She works with corporate nutrition and individuals on healthy eating, with a special interest in Men's Health, Shift Work Health, Travel Health and Avoiding Jet Lag. Contact me here for further information on nutrition plans.