Case Study – Laura, aged 56

Laura was an unusual case as on the face of it, she was super-healthy and super-fit.  However, she was literally on the floor with zero energy, was sleeping badly, had skin break outs and visual disturbances.

Laura had always run her own, highly successful business, so stress became a normality.  On top of this she was a very keen cyclist, doing challenging 3-hour training rides three times per week, or more, plus other gym work. However, she has always been virtually tee-total, never drinks caffeinated beverages and has a very strict diet; all major factors when looking at symptoms.  Her diet was very limited, however, as she has a severe allergy to gluten, garlic, onions and sweeteners and can’t tolerate beans or nuts.  However, that still provides plenty of useable foods which she hadn’t even thought about eating. 

Her body was crying out for kindness. Plus, she was eating loads of salads and ‘cold’ foods; the body needs warming foods to calm the parasympathetic nervous system.  I recommended a full panel of blood tests, which included cortisol and all the sex hormones.   Laura had very high levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, low thyroid function, low vitamin D levels as well as blood folate – all completely understandable from her symptoms.

I recommended she enjoyed a much more varied diet, with plenty of colour variety and more ‘sturdy’ vegetables such as broccoli, sweet potatoes, carrots and cauliflower, with quality protein at every meal. This would help support her immune system, ‘feed’ her adrenal glands and help raise folate levels.  She also needed to eat many more ‘warm’ foods rather than salads.  Additionally, she was doing lots of training rides in the evenings, thereby raising her cortisol levels and impacting on sleep, which she then changed to the mornings.  Her training regime needed further support from additional protein to ensure she maintained good muscle mass, as well as supporting her hormone function.  I recommended a protein-based fruit and vegetable shake from www.nutridyn.co.uk which she enjoyed mid-morning after her training, plus a high potency vitamin D supplement, an additional multi-vitamin and mineral supplement and omega-3 fish oils to support her skin, hormones and eyes.

Within one month, Laura was really starting to see improvements in all her symptoms and within three months she said her life had been transformed.