Anyone seen a 'nutritional therapist'?

[BumperliciousNeedsaGlassofWine]

I am thinking of visiting a nutritional therapist for advice on combating feeling a bit down and very tired. Has anyone seen one and can you share your experience? I know some people are a bit dubious as they aren't official health practitioners. What do people think?

me again Bumper - ok, been thinking about how to give you an example of the different advice, to illustrate to you why i felt the money on the therapist was money well spent.

Talking about breakfast dietician said eat brown toast, or wholegrain cereals, fruit juice. Nutritional Therapist said, processed bread and cereals are full of shite, additives, salt, sugar etc. Try to eat rye bread (less processed, no additive etc) or "artisan" bread ie baked traditionally not processed and mass produced like most bread you buy in supermarkets (you know the stuff)....she said eat lots of protein and a decent amount of fat in the morning, it will sustain you for longer eg cheese with rye bread, eggs, smoked salmon etc. And fruit juice also pretty bad news unless v. diluted 'cos of effect on blood sugar levels. She said, avoid processed wheat but don't worry too much, just be aware that most people eat far too much of it and it's much better to vary your grains, so try out different types of pasta (spelt, kamut, rice pastas) and different types of bread (spelt, rye, brown rice bread) and other grains for variety.

Hope that shows why personally i found paying for nutrional therapist to be more worthwhile and informative.

Thank you CCH, that's the sort of thing I was interested in hearing. Thanks for the advice.

Message withdrawn

sounds to me as if you already have a prefence and have made your mind up.i think you are looking for us to endorse your decision...well frnakly only you can do that

no regime (medical/alternative/lentil munching/whatever)offers a cure it all.the best treatment is exercise, rest, activities, self-worth and self -belief. it is not rocket science, does not come with a price tag or fancy therapist either

this is about you and addressing the issues that make you feel sad. it is important to maintain your locus of control and not chase a cure-it-all

i do hope something works for you

Yup after reading about it I lost confidence in the tradtional "food pyramid" and the "healthy" options we are offered by conventional advice. I now eat a lot more fat, a lot less grain, a lot of nuts and oats and quinoa, etc. Somebody said earlier (Pruners?) about eating nuts, berries and the odd boar and I do fall in with that more or less.

Pruners, I agree with you about holistic being synonymous with "alternative (sorry that last rant wasn't directed at you, I just picked up on what you said about vitamin deficiencies being mainstream)

Scottishmummy, I appreciate the advie you have offered. I honestly wasn't just looking for an endorsement, I was looking for different view points. but the only alternative view points seem to have been "some nutritionists are quacks and will take you for a ride". I know that, and I hope that I am intelligent enough to know if someone is trying to feed me a line. Until I try it I won't know. The treatments that you described (exercise, rest, self belief etc.) are all perfectly sensible. I know they are the answer, but knowing and doing are different things. The exercise thing is part of a vicious cycle where I am too tired to exercise therefore I feel worse. I need to break out of the rut. Self belief? Well, I don't know where to get that, but if anyone can give me the name of a therapist who can help...

I haven't seen a nutritionalist or dietician but I think I eat a fairly healthy diet. However last year I found I was getting very run down and could not shake off colds etc. My local health food shop owner (who has a degree in complementary medicine) recommended a couple of things including a food supplement called Kiki superfood, and the results were pretty impressive for me. I was always dubious about supplements, and agree that a healthy diet is not difficult, and should be adequate, but the difference this supplement made to my health and well being was very noticeable.

I'm keeping an open mind.

Scottishmummy,very good point about the way those who advocate alternative ways still seek conventional titles such as doctor.

Countryhousehotel's advice on food is sound but (and no offence meant here) definitely not rocket science.

I find you can't go wrong if, before you reach for anything,you ask
'Has this been buggered about with?'
Thus for grains,fruit and veg,plain yoghurt, good meat and so on,answer is no.

For stuff like Cheerios,cereal bars,processed meat products,refined flpour products, the answer is obviously yes.

There ya go.

I like F&Z's idea. I kind of imagine myself going o see someone who does tests and then tells me that I am deficiant in .... zinc or b12 or whatever. Tells me to eat alot more.... spinach or for you.... beetroot is the thing or ...and this will make me feel a lot better.
This is how I imagine it. But i could of course be talking nonsense.

My dh was told he had broken his back when we lived in Turkey (he hadn't but that is another story).
Anyyyywaaaayyyyy, when he had been run through a battery of tests,blod tests and scans, one of the things that came back was that he was deficient in zinc and needed to take a supplement urgently.

As you can imagine,that was our highest priority, in between having him taken in a wheelchair back to the Uk and contemplating me, with a three year old and a three month old baby, suddenly becoming the main breadwinner.

A proper old fashioned medically qualified doctor can spot vit. B12 defiiciency. (It's usually something that affects elderly people who are less efficient at processing B12, or vegans.) You don't need to pay someone who calls themselves a nutritional therapist or holistic nutritionist or whatever title they have invented.

I've found acupuncture very helpful for improving energy levels - I am quite a low energy kind of cat anyway but the acupuncture seems to help even it out to make the energy that I do have last all day, if you see what I mean. I am well aware that it may be placebo, I get to spend an hour or so with a very lovely therapist listening carefully to all I have to say and treating me with unconditional positive regard, but it works anyway.
Supplement-wise, a few years ago I had a bit of a result with chromium supps for really unpredictable blood sugar levels. However, I am now much more careful about eating regularly and trying to eat low GI food, especially in the morning (porridge for breakfast etc) and that really helps with blood sugar. When my DS was the age your LO is now, I used to make a point of having a really high fat, high protein breakfast - a big bacon and avocado sandwich in good brown bread (but much more bacon and avo than bread) was a favourite and used to really help.
Looking at your message of Wed 27-Feb-08 22:50:28, I wonder if your evenings need to be rethought - do you not start cooking until your DH gets home?