As a Nutritional Therapy Consultant, I utilize a unique approach to health that generates results by optimizing and supporting what is called the NTA foundations of health. When these foundations of nutrition are out of balance, a myriad of symptoms occurs that will send you on a wild goose chase if you try to treat the symptom.
Instead, I look at what foundation is out of balance and in need of support. When the foundations of nutrition are in balance and given the necessary support, it is amazing how quickly symptoms can clear. EVERYTHING is connected in the body and dependent upon these foundations functioning optimally and being in balance.
So what are the NTA foundations of health that I support as a Nutritional Therapy Consultant through my NTA training at the Nutritional Therapy Association?
The NTA foundations of health are:
- Diet
- Hydration
- Digestion
- Blood Sugar Balance
- Mineral Balance
- Essential Fatty Acids Balance
When these foundations are out of balance, it will affect everything including your need for vitamins, adrenal stress, thyroid issues, hormonal problems, cardiovascular problems, and immune system challenges.
There is almost always a connection to an imbalance in the foundations of nutrition when symptoms occur. I believe the answers to our health challenges lies in understanding the connection between our health and these crucial foundations that have a ripple effect throughout the entire body.
Let’s delve into each foundation of nutrition a little deeper and talk about some symptoms that a person can experience when a foundation needs support.
The Importance of healthy eating used by a Nutritional Therapy Consultant
The foundation of healthy eating and making adjustments to the diet is the starting point for everyone. The modern diet has lead to drastic changes in the average diet. As a result, many people are experiencing health challenges due to a processed food diet.
There has been an increase in consumption of refined/ processed foods, which line 80% of grocery store isles and kitchen cupboards. It may seem like simple, common sense to eat a nutrient-dense whole food diet of REAL food, but it is increasingly challenging in a world of convenient foods.
Eating a healthy diet is of extreme importance as the body is dependent upon obtaining vitamins, minerals, fats, protein, and carbohydrates from the diet found in whole foods. It all starts with the diet, fueling according to your metabolic rate.
Addressing food sensitivities that may be problematic for you, such as gluten, dairy, soy, and refined sugar, but again this is different for everyone. Identifying yours can be life-changing for digestive symptoms and immune challenges. Food sensitivities are often a “symptom” of poor digestive function as well.
With so many diets claiming to be the best, from paleo, keto to plant-based, it can be hard to know what to eat. As a nutritional therapy consultant, I help you to find out what diet is best for you because there is no one size fits all diet.
The foundation of Digestion
Digestion is one of my favorite foundations as your health begins in your gut. Learning how to improve gut health starts with supporting the primary organs involved in digestion.
Properly digesting and absorbing your food is key to good health as the body is dependent upon the process of digestion to provide the body with the nutrients it needs to perform all its various functions.
Eating in a parasympathetic state, having sufficient stomach acid (HCL), enzymes, and bile production and flow is needed to break down your food. Often these areas need support.
Also, 70-80 percent of your immune system lies in your gut, which is why immune challenges are connected to your digestive function with a need for a healthy terrain, gut flora, and intact gut lining.
Digestive symptoms such as bloating, acid reflux, burping, coated tongue, diarrhea, nausea, constipation, leaky gut, stomach pains, foul-smelling gas, bacterial imbalances, sense of excess fullness are all symptoms associated with poor digestive function. Many of these are symptoms of SIBO.
Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth is a common digestive problem. One of the underlying causes of SIBO that no one is talking about is having a sluggish gallbladder and low bile flow.
The Importance of Hydration
Properly hydrating the body is often overlooked, but water is the most important nutrient for the human body. Hydrating the body means drinking an appropriate amount of water for your body weight and activity level while also ensuring you are obtaining the necessary minerals that act as electrolytes to hydrate the body.
Signs of dehydration include headaches, back pain, cravings, cramps, migraines, etc. Water is important.
The Foundation of Blood Sugar Balance
The foundation of blood sugar balance is almost always the number one priority and foundation to be out of balance in so many people including “healthy” people. The consumption of refined carbohydrates, sugar, and processed fats is the number one culprit for throwing blood sugar out of balance, and blood sugar balance is directly related to the diet.
I LOVE bringing blood sugar back to balance. From mood swings, fluctuating energy levels, too weight gain, fatigue, dizziness, anxiety, insulin resistance, sleep problems, hormonal issues, sugar cravings, irritability, afternoon crashes, coffee addictions, you name it. This foundation is in some serious need of support and lifestyle/dietary changes by using foods to balance blood sugar.
A fatty liver disrupts blood sugar balance and is an underlying cause of diabetes, insulin resistance, and difficulty losing weight. A plant-based diet can reverse insulin resistance, and choline is an essential nutrient to prevent fatty liver.
Making dietary changes can have a massive impact on stabilizing blood sugar, reversing insulin resistance, and fatty liver.
Mineral Balance
Minerals have many roles in the body, such as:
- maintaining the pH balance in the body and of the blood
- helping with the contraction and relaxation of the muscles, including the heart
- are needed to build strong bones.
Most often, digestion needs to be optimized, such as optimizing stomach acid so that calcium can be broken down and absorbed.
Supporting the liver and gallbladder with bile production and flow is critical as bile is needed to absorb fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin K2 and vitamin D3. Vitamin D3 and K2 are essential to utilize calcium in the body to make healthy bones.
As you can see, it isn’t always just as simple as take a multi-mineral supplement. Each individual may indicate support in additional areas depending on what organs are presenting with signs and symptoms.
Fatty Acid Balance
With inflammation being at the root of many chronic diseases, it is essential to obtain the appropriate amount of fats in the diet that is in balance with each other. Fats are conjugated into hormone-like substances called prostaglandins, which can either be pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory.
The body needs both the ability to inflame to heal and to anti-inflame for the healing process. The body needs to be provided with the correct balance of healthy fats and the ability to digest and absorb those fats to assist with the healing process.
Omega-three fats are anti-inflammatory, help to reduce inflammation, promote weight loss, and improve insulin sensitivity. Are you getting enough omega-three fats in your diet?
The body then has an amazing capacity to heal itself and maintain homeostasis, as homeostasis is what the body is always looking to achieve. Nutritional therapy consultants look to find out what is out of balance and what organ is requires support. Symptoms are messengers of imbalances in the body.
Everyone deserves to have good health and your body also deserves to be taken care of. I hope to inspire you to know that there are things that you can do to optimize your health today.
By focusing on these foundations of nutrition or just taking small steps to making healthier food and lifestyle choices, your body will be thanking you!
As a Nutritional Therapy Consultant, I create tailored dietary and supplemental health plans to optimize an individual’s health by evaluating where imbalances lie in the body.
I then determine how to best support your body with both diet and supplement recommendations after evaluating a 3-day food journal, 300 questions on symptoms related to specific foundational imbalances, and conducting an initial interview where I get to learn about your personal story. Learn more about services here.
There is no one size fits all perfect diet or supplement that will work for everyone which is why I love getting to know YOUR story so that I can work with you to create a customized plan to bring your body back to balance and restore health, energy, good digestive function, and optimal weight.
I received my nutritional training through the Nutritional Therapy Association where I learned about dietary therapy and the NTA foundations of health.
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