What is it?
Nutritional therapy involves the use of food and food supplements to cure and prevent disease and illness. Eating a so-called balanced diet is so fundamental to the promotion of good health that advice on diet is usually incorporated in other treatments and therapies - orthodox and alternative. However, nutritional therapists often take a more radical approach to diet, advising individuals to introduce new foods and to reduce or exclude foods which were previously a major part of their diet. Food intolerances, food allergies and long-term toxic reactions to certain foods are identified and treated. Food supplements may also be prescribed to correct any mineral and vitamin imbalances detected.
What does it treat?
Nutritional therapy can treat a wide variety of ailments, including migraine, hay fever, food allergies, eczema, asthma, inflammatory diseases such as osteoarthritis, fatigue, ME, fluid retention, irritable bowel syndrome and other digestive disorders.
A first timer's experience (30-year-old female sales agent): "I work for myself, and I realised recently that I was always tired and stressed out. Even though I get about eight or nine hours sleep at night, I would wake up feeling tired which would hang over me all day.
"I heard of a nutritional therapist through word of mouth and decided to go to her. She began by asking me about my own and my family's medical histories, my lifestyle, my levels of exercise and my diet. Then, she did a series of kinesiology tests. (Kinesiology testing is used by various alternative and complementary practitioners as a diagnostic method. By testing the strength of various muscles in the body, the level of functioning of organs, digestive system, glands, bones and circulation is calculated.)
"While she was doing this, I was lying on a plinth. It was very relaxing. Following these tests, she said I was only using about 50 per cent of my brain. She recommended that I have 20 minutes' exercise a day and 20 minutes' sunlight a day. She also suggested that I drink still mineral water and that I give up alcohol for a while to see how my body would react. She said I should stay away from foods containing yeast and sugar and eat more fresh vegetables - preferably organic. She also prescribed a list of supplements which I could try.
"After the hour-long consultation, I felt that making the changes to my diet would require a big effort. However, I was relieved to have found a way that would help me stop feeling I needed to sleep all the time."
An advocate's view:
Tess Doyle (53) is a spiritual healer. "I had been diagnosed with ME and later developed septicaemia in my foot and an ulcer in my leg. I had received orthodox treatment for these conditions but I felt I was still very unwell. This is when I went to a nutritional therapist. She began several different treatment programmes for me which have helped me enormously.
"Eighty per cent of my diet is now organic, and I grow some organic herbs and fruit in my own garden. I take a zinc supplement, a garlic supplement and vitamin C daily. I am also taking udos oils and udos greens, a concentrated supplement of organic vegetables.
"All these changes to my diet have helped my body heal itself. I am also taking Bach flower remedies for emotional healing. I do meditation and I walk regularly. Six months after beginning all these changes, I am feeling really well, although my foot hasn't completely recovered yet."
The medical view:
Dr Muiris Houston, Irish Times Medical Correspondent, says: "It can be difficult to differentiate between conventional and complementary nutritional therapies. The evidence for unconventional nutritional interventions is generally either non-existent or negative. There has been no rigorous research on individualised nutritional therapies."
There is no single umbrella organisation for nutritional therapists. Contact your local health food shop for information. Patricia Quinn (01-4513619) is one nutritional therapist based in Dublin who uses kinesiology as a form of diagnosis. Consultations cost between £20 and £40 per visit
