A nutritional therapy consultation is a detailed clinical assessment of your health status, dietary patterns, and biochemical individuality, conducted by a practitioner trained to identify and address nutritional imbalances contributing to your symptoms or health goals.
Initial Consultation (60–90 minutes)
Before your first appointment, you will typically complete a detailed health questionnaire and a three-to-five-day food diary. The consultation itself begins with a thorough review of your health history — including diagnosed conditions, medications, supplements, digestive function, energy patterns, sleep quality, menstrual health if relevant, stress levels, and family medical history. Your practitioner will take time to understand not just your symptoms but their context: when they began, what makes them better or worse, and how they interact with each other.
Dietary analysis examines not just what you eat, but when, how much, food preparation methods, eating environment, and your relationship with food. Some practitioners use validated nutritional analysis software to quantify macro and micronutrient intake against reference values and your specific calculated requirements.
Functional Testing
Where indicated, your practitioner may recommend functional laboratory testing — available privately — to assess areas that standard NHS panels do not routinely cover. These may include comprehensive stool analysis, organic acid testing, hair mineral analysis, food intolerance panels, advanced thyroid markers, sex hormone profiles, or nutrigenomic testing. Results are interpreted in the context of your full clinical picture rather than in isolation.
Your Personalised Protocol
The resulting plan is specific to you — not a generic clean-eating guide. It will address dietary changes, therapeutic food choices, targeted supplementation with dosage and timing, and lifestyle adjustments prioritised by likely impact. The plan accounts for your practical constraints: budget, cooking ability, household situation, and cultural food preferences.
Follow-Up Appointments (30–45 minutes)
Progress is reviewed, symptoms reassessed, and the protocol refined. Nutritional therapy is rarely a single-session intervention; meaningful biochemical change requires time, and the practitioner-client relationship is an important part of the therapeutic process.
