How I became a plant-based Dietitian

Like most people, I was brought up eating meat and fish.  But, when I met my husband who was veggie, he told me the story of his sister who cured a medical condition by eating a whole food plant-based diet.  I was blown away…

This was the first time I’d heard of anyone improving their health so radically with a change in diet.  I was amazed by the power of nutrition for the first time (and have been many times since!).  After lots of discussions together in our university halls about all the other benefits of not eating animals, I decided to try it for myself.  I’ve never looked back!  There are just so many good reasons not to eat animals.

After a few years and a brief and unrewarding stint as a traffic engineer (!), I decided to become a Dietitian myself so I could help guide people towards a better quality of life through changes in diet.

I call myself plant-based and not vegan because the vast majority of my foods are plants.  I occasionally allow some dairy and eggs into my diet to avoid food wastage from other family members.  My kids and husband are vegetarian but I use plant milks and don’t cook eggs for myself (tofu scramble, yum!).

Why did I specialise in IBS?

Well, one thing that I did struggle with once I started eating more whole plants was my gut… which I know you can relate to!  For the first time ever I started to get bloated, really smelly wind and crazy bowel movements!  Sound familiar?

While studying Nutrition and Dietetics at King’s College London, I became more fascinated by the gut.  It seemed to me where all the important things happened.  I was so interested in how what you eat directly affects how you feel, and more so that you could improve that by eating differently!

It was such a natural decision to specialise in IBS; it perfectly combined my interest in gut health with the problem solving skills I developed during my first degree in Physics.  After my training in the low FODMAP diet at King’s College London, I gained the knowledge I needed to help myself and others manage IBS gut issues.

But it seemed to me that on a plant-based diet, it was a much trickier thing to do and needed a lot more specialised guidance.  So now, every day I use this knowledge and my 10 years of experience to help myself and my clients manage gut issues on a plant-based diet.  All without irritating gut issues getting in the way or having to compromise on following a compassionate diet!

Get in touch

I’d love to hear from you!  If you’d like to know about booking to see me for dietary support but you don’t have IBS or you don’t follow a plant-based diet please get in touch and I’ll see if I can help.  I have a range of experience and I don’t like to turn people away if I can help.

Email me at Lizzie@greenhealthdietetics.com

or have a look at how else I can help…

How I Can Help You

• Favourite place I’ve visited: Sri Lanka for the amazing food
  

• Pets: two black cats (not plant-based!) called Pluto and Orion, it’s almost impossible to tell them apart!
  

• Strangest experience: sharing a taxi with a camel…

• Hobbies: dancing and singing (mainly around the house)