Hi there and welcome to the Digestive Health for Women Podcast. The show that teaches you how to nurture your gut. I'm your host, Ashley StClair owner and holistic nutritionist at Wellness with Ashley today, we're going to talk about what an NTP is, how they can help and what to expect when you work with one.

Let's get started.

Okay.

So I've done a quick blog post over on my website about what an NTP does and what it's like working with me, but I'd love to talk. Talk you through it and discuss the process more in depth. So what does a nutritional therapy practitioner do? So as an NTP, I look at your nutrition, lifestyle and symptoms to see what the patterns are, what could be causing the symptoms such as the root cause and how we can use nutrition, lifestyle changes, and even supplements to help target the root cause.

And at the very, very least. Help get rid of those symptoms. So many times clients come to me because they've been told the symptoms they're experiencing are normal and they'll need to learn to live with it. In my previous podcast, I talked about my own health journey and how I was kind of brushed off like that.

Many of my clients come to me feeling. Defeated and feeling like they're just stuck living with these symptoms, but symptoms like bloating, diarrhea, constipation, brain fog, extreme fatigue, et cetera, et cetera, can totally be managed with nutrition and lifestyle changes. So can we always address the root cause?

Sometimes we can, but other times. Just reducing the symptoms, helping all of the body systems work well together, fueling your body correctly. And in a way that is perfect for it allows clients to enjoy a fuller, more pre pain-free life, which is all we can really ask for. Right. So I practice what's called bio-individual nutrition.

It's just a fancy title for working with whatever your unique body needs. So again, if you heard my previous podcast about my own health, What I've found that works well for my body may not work well with yours. So by fueling your body in a way that works best for it, you find that your symptoms are significantly reduced as well.

If your body is getting the fuel, it needs, it's going to be happy. And it's not going to be sending these warning signals to you. So wouldn't it be amazing to experience less bloating, less brain fog, more energy, to sleep better? All of these things can be yours by simply working on lifestyle and nutrition changes, which I know sounds wild, but it's a really awesome, not as easy as it sounds sometimes, which is why you need support through a nutritional therapy practitioner.

Okay. So you like the idea of a nutritional therapy practitioner? You've decided to work with someone. So what does it look like? Working with me? We hop on a complimentary discovery call. I want to know what's going on with you, your symptoms, your goals. If I could just wave a magic wand and fix whatever is bothering you, what would I fix? What would your life look like? We really dig in deep, even in 15 or 20 minutes, because I want to get to know you and understand you better. So we can make a very informed decision if we'd be a good fit to work together.

Once we've decided that it's a great fit, we start to work together. So some clients, they just want to work for three months.They might have financial concerns. Or they're highly motivated and know that just by making some tweaks to a few things, they're willing to kind of take the ball and keep running. Other people really like six months. So they have half a year to really hone in and work on their nutrition and their all the systems, making sure everything is working well together. And then other clients really like the year approach when we work really long and deep into all the health systems. Making sure everything is working well, optimally working together. So we really dig in deep and we can fine tune things maybe as new symptoms surprise, because when you work on one thing, maybe the body says, Hey, whoa, I need help here too. We also make sure that all of these new habits are just a routine. And everything is second nature. So there's all different levels of support and length of programs.

So we hop on calls each month and the first call is different than all the rest. Prior to the first call, you fill out an extensive survey and interview and a food journal, so I can see what you eat in a week. I take all of these things and I come up with recommendations and ideas that really gives me an idea of who you are and what your health is like at the first appointment, I ask deeper questions. I make sure that this picture is correct. If I have questions, maybe I want to know more about something we really can dive in deep and work on that together, and it's really exciting to get to know you even more. So once I've asked all these questions, we have recommendations. So I give you several recommendations that you can start implementing immediately, but these are not cookie cutter protocols or recommendations that are just way too hard to implement.

I come to this appointment with ideas, and then we work together as a team to craft your protocol. So you have complete control over the recommendations. I provide them and I will give you my reasoning on why they work and why this is maybe the next step for you, but you can decide which ones you'd like to try, or maybe even scale them back a bit, and which ones you'd like to save for a future appointment.

So some clients really like to jump in and change everything. They believe that their motivation is high and so they want to change it all and start seeing results quickly. Other clients prefer to change 1, 2, 3 things at a time. So they're less overwhelmed. If you're not sure which client you are, I always recommend starting with small changes that we build upon because it's way less overwhelming. And these 45 minute appointments we check in about once a month and see how things are going. Then we change out recommendations or supplements as needed, and you might need to fill out paperwork again so we can really track those symptoms.

It is so amazing to be able to see symptom numbers go down. It's a very tangible way. Say like, “yes, I'm doing the right thing. I'm on the right track. And it really reinforces those feelings of my symptoms are going down, I feel amazing.”

So like I said, we start with really small, easy changes that you can implement and, you know, you can. Then we keep adding on until you see a reduction in your symptoms and an improvement in your quality of life, unless you're that go getter that wants to completely overhaul your diet. I prefer doing the small changes. I know for myself, they're way easier to implement than trying to overhaul something completely.

So I'm available in between appointments via Voxer for voice chat or also through WhatsApp I'm around regularly. I'm not tied to my phone as much as some people are, but I, I do answer very quickly when I can.

I'm also able to recommend an order lap testing. So these could be things like GI maps for gut health testing or Dutch testing for hormones. I'm going to discuss these in a future podcast, and they're not necessarily for everyone, but they can be an amazing tool to see a more full picture and really dig into some of those symptoms you're experiencing.

Lab results while they're not necessary, also give that affirmation that reinforcement that we're on the right track.

By working with an holistic nutritionist you trust, you can absolutely transform your life.

Thanks so much for listening today. Be sure to send me any questions you may have, because I'd love to answer them for you. Also shoot me an email or message me on WhatsApp.

If I could wave a magic wand right now and solve your digestive troubles. And give you the life that you want to have completely symptom-free. What would that look like? I'm really curious. So send me an email, shoot me a DM on Instagram or send me a WhatsApp message. I can't wait to hear from you.

And remember I do have my free guide on how to get rid of bloating - so be sure to check that out.

Don't forget I'm growing my free community on Facebook, where you can connect with other ladies, just like you, who are experiencing or dealing with digestive issues where it's sometimes might feel awkward to talk about with friends or family, because they're either grossed out or they just don't understand. So my goal is to build a community of ladies where we're working together. You're getting education and you're building great relationships and support in a community of people who just totally get it.

And I'll talk to you next week.