Naturopathic Nutrition is holistic and preventative in approach. We look at symptoms within the context of the whole body, to seek out their root cause. I work with clients on a dynamic level to help restore and maintain the natural balance of the body.
No two people are the same and Charlotte Fraser Naturopathic Nutrition tailors every programme to your individual needs and circumstances.
There are a variety of evidence-based testing and assessments to support your health journey. These include laboratory analysis of the gut microbiome, genetic testing with DNAMap®, and food sensitivity testing. Additionally, I integrate objective and scientific cognitive health assessments for your individual needs with health screens for conditions such as depression, anxiety, stress, ADHD and others.
Creyos Health assessments are integral to every consultation to enable clients to objectively and scientifically monitor the impact of their nutrition programme.
Why might I need to look at my diet?
Mass food production, globalisation and disruption to our eco balance is having a serious repercussion on the nutritional health of humans. There is a big gap in the nutritional status of most people today, and that’s before we even take into account individual genetic inheritance and lifestyle factors.
Our food choices are more often determined by their colour, taste, texture and calorie content, rather than for their nutritional value.
When did you last pay attention to the warning lights on your dashboard? Do you feel tired all the time? Do you suffer from constant headaches. Constipation? Is your lower back pain really just down to sitting at your desk all day? It is just so easy to dismiss these things as we distract ourselves in our busy lives. Or are these signs and symptoms the expression of an unmet need, nutritional or otherwise? After all, how else is is our body able to communicate to us?
Often, it is only with the diagnosis of a more serious health condition – when the proverbial tyre falls off the car and stops us in our tracks- that we seek help. Even then, most people often just treat the immediate symptoms. This is often just a short term fix.
“If you’re an alive body, no one can tell you how to experience the world. And no one can tell you what truth is, because you experience it for yourself. The body does not lie.”
Stanley Coleman
Identifying and Bridging the ‘Nutrition Gap’
The nutrition gap describes the difference between the levels of nutrients you are getting from your daily diet, and those nutrient levels identified by scientific research as necessary for OPTIMAL health in the population. Many people don’t get the level of essential nutrients required for health and protection on a day-to-day basis, and the short-fall adversely impacts health, now and longer term.
Aside from dietary intake, various factors contribute to nutrient shortfalls. These include: food choices within any 24-hour, seven-day window; the source of the food; the nutrient content of the food we eat; the bodies ability to assimilate the nutrients; our fitness and movement levels; and lifestyle factors, e.g. stress, alcohol, smoking, medications – these all pull more heavily on our nutrient ‘bank balance’. Sometimes nutrient imbalances arise from trial-and-error over-the-counter purchases of supplements and this can also be costly.
Wherever and as much as possible, we work with foods easily sourced in local supermarkets and farm shops. However, it may be necessary to prescribe supplements to achieve the necessary therapeutic effect, and/or to bridge any significant ‘nutrition gap’ identified. In that event, I work with Food State and Wholefood supplements.
Cognitive assessments to objectively measure
With the close association between gut and brain health, Charlotte Fraser integrates cognitive assessments in all her nutrition consultations to measure how your brain is doing over time. As part of your nutrition programme, we will objectively check up on areas such as memory, attention, reasoning, and verbal ability—all cognitive abilities you need to function optimally in everyday life. This is not an IQ test—it’s a quick check-up on how you are doing today, like a blood pressure cuff for your brain.
The cognitive test is tailored to your own individual needs. There are also assessments for specific conditions. For example: ADHD, Anxiety, Autism, Early Alzheimer’s, Depression, Dyslexia, Menopause, Sleep, Stress, Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, Non-Alzheimer’s Dementia, Parkinson’s, PTSD, and Verbal Ability.
Why is measuring cognitive health important?
One person’s interpretation of ‘I’m fine’ can be very different to another person’s. We all have a subjective idea of how our brains are doing—some days we feel “off” or have “brain fog”, while other days we feel like we can take on the world. But how much better are we on the good days? Are lifestyle or health changes making a difference? That’s where cognitive assessing comes in. By putting a number to these subjective feelings, we can discover what is causing the good days in order to have more of them. When your brain is performing, every activity in your daily life will be easier, from remembering where you parked your car, to planning out the layout to your new room, to completing your work assignments on time.
An engaging and scientifically-validated cognitive assessment
Charlotte Fraser Naturopathic Nutrition uses a leading cognitive assessment platform, Creyos Health, formerly known as Cambridge Brain Sciences, to quickly measure brain health. These measures help us scientifically assess, monitor, and manage core areas of cognition to ensure that your treatment programme is on the right track.
Validated by decades of scientific research, Creyos Health measures the most important aspects of cognition. Performance is directly linked with the areas of your brain that are active when you are at your sharpest. But more importantly, the tasks are fun, and only take 1.5 – 3 minutes each to complete. Now, not only will you feel better, but you can objectively , scientifically track how your brain is responding to your nutrition and wellness programme. You can complete the Creyos Health assessments online from the comfort of your own home. View a sample Creyos Health cognitive health report here.