Am I able to access the programmes where I am located?
All programmes are currently available to clients across the UK, USA and Ireland.
Appointments take place remotely via Zoom, and any testing can be arranged locally to you (either by home-based testing kits, or through local blood draw services as required).
What's does a Sjögren's diet look like?
There are a number of popular books and online articles talking about "autoimmune" or "anti-inflammatory" diets. These diets, each with their specific strict rules, can be wildly contradictory. From the 'autoimmune paleo' diet, to raw vegan juicing diets and other 'anti-inflammatory' diets - I'm sure you've come across some of them.
While each of these approaches certainly have their merits, what they also share in common is that they are all 'one size fits all' approaches, which do not address all of the
specific and individual reasons why you may have developed autoimmunity in general, and Sjögren's in particular. Also, diet is only one component of a more comprehensive approach that's usually required to get the results you are looking for.
That's why all of these contradictory diets can work well for some, a little bit for others, or not at all for many.
Since they are not targeting the specific underlying causes of why Sjogren's may have developed in any individual, it is simply luck of the draw if and when it works. And it can take a
long time of trial and error to find that out, still with no answers or improvement many months or even years later.
Most of the popular diets claim to 'heal the gut'. Gut health is indeed of paramount importance, but the gut is only one piece of a larger puzzle, and might not even be what's causing the problem for many people. There are
many possible causes, which can only really be discerned with a proper health history and appropriate lab testing.
Rather than having a rigid or dogmatic view of which "diet" works best, my approach is to look deeply at the reasons as to why you may have developed Sjögren's as well as what seems to be driving it forward, and to address those issues with personalised evidence-based diet and lifestyle strategies.
This truly individualized approach is impossible to package into a book to be promoted as 'the solution' to the masses, but it is how real Functional Medicine and Naturopathy is practiced - comprehensive and individualised.
We'll make intelligent dietary swaps and additions, and try to limit the removal of otherwise healthy foods
without good reason. This approach helps to create a sustainable path forward for you that isn't as restrictive as many of the popular DYI 'solutions' out there.
The bottom line:
The common denominator between ALL good autoimmune dietary approaches is the removal of processed foods. The rest can indeed vary, sometimes dramatically, but will always include plenty of fresh vegetables, fruit, healthy fats and quality sources of protein as a baseline.
From that foundation, we'll get specific with varieties and amounts of each, and add specific therapeutic foods and supplements tailored to your
full health picture.
And that is a true Sjögren's diet - one that is tailored for you as part of a comprehensive strategy.
What does the whole programme process look like?
This is the entire process, from beginning to end:
1.
Book a free 30 min consultation to discuss your programme options.
2. You'll send back a short health questionnaire, intake form and a three-day diet journal.
3. Your initial consultation will take place over Zoom, and we'll spend about an hour discussing your health history, symptoms, medications, diet and supplements in detail.
4. A few days later, your initial protocol and testing recommendations will be ready. We'll meet up again over Zoom for about 30 minutes to go over it together and make sure it all makes perfect sense to you.
5. If you decided on the 'Restore' or 'Regenerate' programmes, after 1-2 weeks we'll meet up for a 20-30 minute check-in to touch base on how you're getting on with your protocol, answer any questions you'll likely have, and to find solutions to any obstacles that might be getting in the way of carrying out your protocol fully.
On the 'Regenerate' programme, we'll do these check-ins more frequently, which really helps guarantee you the best possible outcome.
6. After about 6 weeks we'll meet up on Zoom for your first proper follow up consultation, and we'll review your symptoms and protocol in detail, as well as the results of any testing that you have got done in the meantime.
7. Then we'll repeat steps 4 to 6, until the end of your 3-month programme.
At that point we'll do a final evaluation and discuss what the best next steps would be for you, now that you have a highly-refined protocol in hand and are hopefully starting to really see improvements in the way you feel.
What happens after I've completed my 3-month programme?
Generally speaking, 3 months is the minimum time we would expect to start seeing sustained improvements to your symptoms - some people may see improvements sooner, some take a little longer, it all depends on your individual situation.
At the end of your programme, we will be able to have a good thorough evaluation of how you've responded to your protocol overall, and it will be clear at that point what the best next steps would be for you.
Your options at that point would be:
a) Roll over into a follow up programme, perhaps with less frequent consultations and check-ins. This would be entirely tailored for you, based on what your final protocol looks like, how you're feeling and what you think would work best for you.
b) Book a follow up consultation for a couple of months down the line to assess how you've been doing on your own, and if there is anything we can look into or tweak for improved ongoing results.
c) Continue with your final protocol on your own, and reach out if and when you feel you could do with some more support.
Whichever path you choose at that time, our 3-month journey together will have revealed a great deal about what's driving your Sjögren's, what you need to focus on most moving forward, plus you'll always have someone to turn to that knows your case in detail should you ever feel the need for further improvements.
