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Why I Practice as an IBD and Fertility Dietitian

I do not live with Inflammatory Bowel Disease but……I live with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I have really great days and not so great days…


My bowel movement can be impacted within a day or could be brewing over a number of days; escalated by my own gut environment, food and stress. My gut environment changes everyday; if you know what I am talking about? Eat the same “ok”  foods on a different day and the unthinkable happens !!!!


I don’t always have a handle over what IBS contributes to my daily life…I mean I really need to run to the toilet as I am typing this !!!  STOPPPP….and I’m back but feeling hallow....I have kept this part of my life experience on the down low because its not like I have IBD or anything... so what am I complaining about !!


I do not eat too much at conferences or parties not because I am a dietitian and eat like a “bird” BUT mostly out of fear I’d need the toilet for longer than three minutes and become the topic of discussion. If you know me you’d know I am a foodie and anything can trigger my gut !!


I use my advice to clients on myself and they work mostly but not always and so I tweak my strategies and I share them with clients. So this is why I encourage having reviews after the first consult because there is so much to learn and apply.


When I had my very first IBD client, it was to manage IBS and I knew that I was in the right space to provide nutrition therapy. As I upskilled in IBD nutrition, I realised that there was much more to nutrition therapy in IBD than just IBS management and my passion for helping IBD clients grew.......


Our bodies are never the same everyday. Our stress levels, diet, hormones anything that is part of keeping our lives ticking is always fluctuating or changing and this is precisely why I empower my clients with tools and strategies  they can use to manage their own bodies in response to their environment and daily lives….this is an ongoing process and you are the person to work at managing your own gut symptoms with help from nutrition therapy. RESTRICTION is NEVER the answer !!!! I know from my years of practicing dietetics that you have to constantly tweak your diet.


I am the dietitian that is passionate about helping people get their IBD and IBS under control and I know I cannot guarantee a symptom free life…what I can do is help you keep your gut environment in good health so that it can promote better control.


In the fertility space, to emphasise my WHY, I had my kids in my 30s. I did not personally struggle with falling pregnant and had manageable pregnancies with a few scares here and there…..I know people who struggle with conditions that have impacted their fertility, prenatal and postpartum journey. Improving gut, egg, sperm, and endometrial health to conceive and hold a good quality embryo and to nurture it to develop into a healthy baby is what it is all about and more.....


I never knew half of the things I now know to help my own fertility journey and so my kids had health troubles as early as 2 weeks of age. I wish I knew..


I wish I knew that nutrition can make a HUGE difference prior to my own two conceptions…..We do not think about these things until something happens…why wait for something to happen when you can prevent it? I wish I had thought to ask….


So, my WHY for being an IBD and Fertility dietitian is to help you help yourself and your future kids have a better quality of life…by improving health !!


Dietitians are not only needed for weight loss management. Not all of our assessments focus on weight. We (I) can help in the most basic thing as managing side effects that medications brings….the ones that are relevant of course…think constipation, diarrhoea or nausea !!


So please know that YOU MATTER and I really do care.


I can help you if you let me !! I am a Dietitian in the IBD and Fertility Space and I come with some lived and learned experience...joannaaaron@i-on-nutrition.com





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