30 Sep 2016 Sarah Dumont-Gale, Institute for Optimal Nutrition
My journey to study Nutritional Therapy started for me when I was 18 and living in Spain, away from home for the first time. A row of tequilas was my pre-drinking tipple and my kitchen cupboards were bare apart from a few packet of crisps, just incase my hangover wasn’t at code red and I could stomach some salty snacks. I am happy to say that this life binge was short lived, but after finishing university and going back home my body made me pay the price. I spent the next few years feeling sluggish, in pain, with a low mood even though I ate what I thought was a balanced diet, and exercised. I had a regular date with the doctor and each time he fobbed me off with more painkillers for the headaches or nausea tablets for my growling stomach. I was even offered anti-depressants, which I immediately declined. After almost a year I broke off my relationship with the doctor, as it just wasn’t working, and it was definitely him not me.
I then sought out a Nutritional Therapist who suggested a food intolerance test. My test came back flagging gluten, dairy and eggs, and whilst I was relieved to finally have an action plan, my first question was ‘HOW AM I GOING TO EAT?!’. It was a shock to the system but with the help of my Nutritional Therapist, a lot of research and self-experimentation (and failed recipe testing), I have slowly refined my diet and started to heal my body.
My own healing and the amazement of what food can do, fuelled my want to learn more about this amazing subject, which lead me to enrol with the Institute for Optimum Nutrition. I am simply fascinated at what the body is capable of and how harmoniously it can function when provided with the correct fuel. Along side this, I have a passion to help people just as I was helped, so hopefully one day I can inspire someone, just as I was inspired.
Sarah is currently studying with the Institute of Optimum Nutrition (eNTDC) and has just started year two of the Nutritional Therapy Diploma Course after first completing the Science Access Course.
