I want to start my tale by saying that nutrition, health and wellbeing hasn’t always been a part of my life. I grew up a child of the 90’s where ham with teddy bears in, Lunchables, Sunny D and those bags of crisps where you add your own salt was all considered part of a healthy diet.
I moved into my 20’s (and 30’s!) not being able to cook much more than pesto pasta or ham and cheese on Ryvita crackers. My idea of a healthy dinner was choosing a Waitrose microwave meal over a Sainsbury’s one. So it’s fair to say, I didn't have the most nutritious background to start with.
But like many clients I have since worked with, you don’t know what you don’t know. So it wasn't until my health started to deteriorate in my early 30’s that I actually started to pay an interest into what I ate and drank.
I had no idea that what I was (or wasn’t eating) was impacting my health. I thought taking lots of supplements like Berroca, vitamin C and Echinacea would be the remedy to my ailments and give me the boost I needed to have more energy, better sleep, improved skin health, stronger immunity etc etc etc… How wrong I was.
So what was the turning point?
I had suffered for over 12 years with severe IBS following a trip to Thailand during my uni years. I had also come off the contraceptive pill after 16 years, having been put on it as a teen to help with my skin. Which ironically became the worse it had ever been, after coming off it.
So there I was, struggling with eczema, acne, IBS, a constant runny nose, sore throat and generally run down, stressed and living off coffee, ready meals and biscuits.
I’d had enough. This can’t be my life forever?
I went to the doctors and was basically told:
You have IBS - we don’t have medication for that
You have hormonal acne - you can go back on the pill
You have eczema - here’s some steroid cream
Yes people get run down and sick. You can’t take antibiotics for that
Upset and confused, I left the surgery feeling lost and unheard.
Surely there is another option other than medication I thought?
Soon after, I was talking to a friend who is a PT and the topic of nutrition came up. Clearly, nutrition was not on my radar but I started researching it for health benefits and then discovered nutritional therapy, naturopathic nutrition, functional medicine and I felt like I had an epiphany moment.
Are you telling me that there is a way to find out the root cause of my symptoms and then work to improve them naturally?
Well this sounds like something I want to explore more.
It just so happened, that at that time, I was having a pretty rough time at work. I was working very long hours in events and marketing and I was starting to look at other job opportunities.
This is when, during my late night internet scrolling, I came across the Naturopathic Nutritional Therapy diploma at The College of Naturopathic Medicine.
I read what was covered in the syllabus over the 3 years and I liked the sound of it.
Hang on, so I could train to help people improve their health naturally by understanding the root cause of their symptoms, whilst at the same time learning how to improve all of my own health issues?!
Now this is where people tend not to believe me…
But I promise, it’s true!
Within a week of learning about the course, I went into work, quit my job and enrolled to become a Nutritional Therapist, starting just a few weeks later.
You could say I was taking a bit of a punt for sure! I definitely had some raised eyebrows from friends and family. Especially since they knew my diet consisted heavily on pastries and Lucozades.
But how glad I am that I did it.
A year of learning Bio-Medicine and then 2 years focused on Nutrition, was without doubt, one of the best decisions I have ever made in life. I absolutely loved it.
Each week I was so excited to go to my lectures. I became more and more fascinated by the human body and wondered why we don't learn all of this stuff at school?!
Surely, understanding how to look after your health both mentally and physically should be a fundamental part of our education?
I remember learning to make sandwiches and chocolate cakes in food economics. Maybe we should change the curriculum?!
So what happened next?
I decided to work with a nutritional therapist myself to see all of this in action whilst I was studying.
I completed a comprehensive stool analysis, which diagnosed the cause for my IBS straight away. Something which 12 years of testing at the hospital had not discovered!
We worked on hormonal balance and detoxification, which was greatly supported by the improved gut health. My eczema naturally cleared up as I ate a more clean diet and my constant sickness and malaise dissipated.
I slowly learnt to cook for myself with the help of Deliciously Ella and Joe Wicks and began to take note of what was happening in my body and why.
It was a hugely eye opening experience.
I cannot describe the relief when my body started to heal itself after years of being out of balance.
So where am I today in my wellness journey?
Well, I started The Natural Balance clinic at the beginning of 2020 and since then my team has grown to 3 wonderful Nutritional Therapists.
It is so apparent now that health is multifactorial and taking into account not only the physical and mental health of someone but also their family, work and social life truly makes nutritional therapy a unique complementary practice.
Understanding that we are a sounding board for our clients to offload some of their deepest worries and fears is not only a confidential privilege but also a gateway for us to help them improve their life in every way.
Nutrition has changed my life in every way possible. I think, feel, look and sleep better since taking care of my body and I am constantly rewarded when I am able to help those around me to live a better life.
I love being able to share knowledge that will enable others to help themselves. I enjoy seeing my clients' symptoms improve and helping them make small changes that will see big results.
I hope that by sharing my story it gives people hope that you can live a better life with full health.
Kelly Mulhall
Registered Nutritional Therapist, Health Coach, Master SIBO Practitioner
Kelly is a Registered Nutritional Therapist who focuses on positive physical and mental wellbeing, achieved through diet, lifestyle, sleep and exercise. Having struggled for years with IBS and hormonal imbalance, and increasingly frustrated with the lack of support and helpful advice from her GP, Kelly began her own journey of healing the body from the inside out. After seeing huge improvements she quit her job to study nutrition and focus on harnessing the healing powers of food to help other people in similar situations.
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